#she has such a deep character that you can keep exploring different parts of her

[bluebayousblog]

RUMOR HAS IT (pt. 11)

(Drew Starkey one-shot)

This is not a full on story but if you want more l'll be happy to add on upon request

Plot: in which drew and isobel address a false rumor in the most abstract of ways

Setting: post business cocktail

Disclaimer: Isobel is an OC, 18+

Table of Contents:

PART TEN

Isobel hadn’t expected the various changes that came with exploring a relationship with Drew, but one thing in particular that stood out was how things had abruptly shifted the dynamic she had with Chandler. His stutter that he’d randomly developed when he was around her two summers ago seemed to have vanished under the impression that she was now with Drew.

The way he was now addressing her was with a boldness that came off as him having the ego boost of someone who’d figured out a secret they shouldn’t have. Isobel knew Chandler would never hold it over her head, but she wasn’t sure if he would use the forbidden knowledge against his older brother.

He loosely promised her he would keep what he knew a secret, and for some reason she trusted him to keep his word. Him finding out wasn’t ideal, but the aftermath wasn’t as bad as the outcome she conjured in her head. It was actually nice having someone know about her and Drew and accepting it for what it was. It was a sense a relief, that same feeling she was hoping to feel when she tried to confide in Charlotte at the party a few nights ago.

But it was different with Chandler—he was family and his opinion resonated with her more than that of a friend, just like her mother or father’s would. It gave her hope for those next steps, if she ever got the courage to tell her parents—or if she ever allowed herself to feel something for Drew that was worth sharing with the people she loved.

Being home for holidays was sort of putting a roadblock on the progression of their relationship. They were were obviously trying not be physical with each other, but the fact that they would be in the same residences majority of the break forced Drew’s attention to remain solely on her—there were no distractions.The pessimistic side of her wondered if they were still at school if he would’ve been entertaining another girl by now. And then there was the naive side of her that possessed her right mind when she was around him or got the chance to feel his lips pressed desperately against her own, that had her feeling content with having Drew to herself for the time being—because never did she ever allow herself to hope for a future.

Until now.

In the small instances where she imagined telling her mother about what was going on with Drew, or how she swooned when she saw the qualities that made her cherish her father and Charles so deeply embedded deep in his character. She let herself hope in those little moments.

Standing across from a guy she just met at the hands of her calculating mother, she wished in this moment she could scream at the top of her lungs that she didn’t need be introduced to another business associate’s son because she had someone already—she had Drew.

That’s all she could think of as her eyes settled on “Zachary but you can call me Zach” as they stood at one of the little tables at the company’s winter business cocktail. She studied his face, but all she could think of was Drew’s ocean blue eyes that sometimes looked green depending on the light. She sized him up and noted how she didn’t have to crane her neck to look up at him like she did with Drew. Zach lacked everything she found endearing about Drew, it made her appreciate the little things about him even more.

Zach was rambling on about Fortune 500, and from the minor slurring she’d caught in his speech she figured he’d been indulging in the open bar and complimentary champagne this evening. She listened for as long as she possibly could before the feeling of eyes settled on her claimed her attention as she looked to her right just for her eyes to immediately land on Drew’s pointed stare. He looked bothered, she could tell by the deep crease in the center of his eyebrows, and the frown edged on his lips. Isobel gave him a subtle smile, but his face remained stoic. Every part of her in entirety was desperate to go to him to place her hands on his face and melt the tension from his features.

She wasn’t aware of how long she’d been looking over at him but she did notice when his eyes shifted as if he was looking through her and suddenly her line of sight was being blocked by Zach’s sliding over around the table to move closer, “Dance with me, Isabella.” He requested as his breathe immediately burned her nostrils from the crude scent of alcohol.

“No, I’m fine thanks.” Isobel decided to ignore the fact the he’d referred to her as Isabella, so the situation didn’t get prolonged more than it needed to be. She wanted to be anywhere but over here, not only because she was uninterested, but being around a wasted man while she was sober was just no fun at all.

She could tell he was not expecting her answer from the way he harshly blinked his eyes, he looked like the kind of person who didn’t often face rejection. He quickly recovered with a lazy smile then leaned his body towards her. The feeling of his hand appearing on the back of her elbow burned her skin as he slid his finger down until he was loosely grasping her arm, “Come on let’s have some fun.”

“Did you not hear me I said no-“ he didn’t even let her finish the sentence before his grip tightened around her forearm.

Her heart began to race in panic, but she let him slightly pull her towards him, giving him a false sense of her compliance and immediately forced her arm out of his bruising hold. She was now free from his restraints but fear that he would try something else had her looking for someone who could intervene and her eyes went straight to Drew. A bit of relief washed over her when she saw him stalking over, but her breathe hitched at him storming towards her one second and Charles stopping his pursuit the next.

Just as that relief was about to leave her again, her father’s large build slicing through the crowd toward Zach kept her calm. She gasped when Richard Cooper shoved him away from her and the general vicinity of the table. Her father was a muscular guy so the little shove practically sent him flying across the room. Richard didn’t give him another second of his attention before signaling for security, and pulling her into his arms. There she felt utterly safe like nothing could ever happen to her. It was what she was anticipating to feel when it was initially Drew coming for her.

“Are you okay, sweetheart?” Her father’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts as he scanned her from head to toe in concern.

Her eyes followed the security pulling Zach out of the building while his mother shouted expletives at him as she trailed behind them. It was when the door shut that her body finally allowed herself to actually breathe, “I’m fine.”

Her mother appeared just as she answered him with worry etched onto her face, and immediately grabbed Isobel and pulled her into her embrace before giving her a once over just as her father did. Everyone seemed to be minding their business for the most part. Only the guest in the general area that saw her father diffuse the situation were pathetically pretending not to eavesdrop.

“I’m so sorry I let you go off with him, Isobel, his mother was just begging me all night to introduce you two.” Her mother’s voice was strained, she could literally hear how it pained her to realize she potentially sent her into harms way. It made Isobel hate the asshole even more for making her think such a thing. “You have nothing to apologize about, Mom, I promise you I’m okay now.” She reassured.

Lora gave her a weak unconvincing smile then pulled her back in to squeeze her into one of those soul crushing hugs. Her back was facing everyone while in her mother’s arms, but she could feel Drew’s presence when he walked up to them, the familiar feeling of his eyes piercing into her made the hairs on her arms stand in attention. Isobel attempted pulled out of Lora’s embrace, but she only allowed her to stand at her aside as she kept her arms locked around her waist.

Drew was already looking at her when she looked towards him, his eyes seemed to be darting all over her body, standing silently beside Charles.

“I’m never letting another man near my daughter again, you hear me, Lora? Tell those desperate ass women we are not interested in a son-in-law moving forward.” Isobel knew her father was partially joking, but his words hit a nerve.

Charles smiled in obvious agreement with his friend, but to her surprise Drew never reacted to her father inadvertently denouncing him as her potential husband, he looked stiff like he was using all his restraint to hold himself back, his eyes being the only thing that was moving freely.

“For once I can agree with you on the matter.” Lora gave her another squeeze before reluctantly letting her go. Every one hummed in agreement, and Isobel couldn’t help but squint her eyes at Chandler who was obviously amused by her father’s proclamation as he discreetly jabbed an elbow into his brother’s side to which Drew ignored.

“-Are you sure you’re okay, Isobel?” Drew’s words were rushed as they escaped from his lips. He tried his best to stand there quietly, to pretend like every inch of him wasn’t dying to go over to Isobel, wrap his arms around her, and make sure she was okay. Not just physically, but emotionally, he knew she tended to internalize what she was truly feeling and he needed to know that what just happened didn’t fuck with her head.

His question caused everyone’s eyes to snap to him before immediately going back to Isobel as they awaited her response. He’d been hesitant in asking with everyone standing here in fear of what would leave his lips with the adrenaline rushing through his body.

He didn’t care if she was going to be upset with him for his outburst. He could keep their physical relationship to himself, restrain himself from touching her when it’s all he could think about doing, but he couldn’t pretend he didn’t care about her not when that was something he’d been doing from first moment he laid his eyes on her.

“I’m fine I’m just kind of tired.” She smiled, with her mouth and eyes as he watched as they warmed before his own, he couldn’t help but wonder if anyone else saw it too—the gleam in her eyes. Once again it felt like they were the only ones present in the moment, one glance shared with her feeling like eternity when reality only seconds had passed.

“Drew take Isobel home and makes sure she gets there safely.” His father’s request caused his eyes to leave Isobel for what felt like the first time tonight since she arrived. He didn’t know what to think of his father’s behavior tonight, in the beginning the man was staring daggers at him across the room, and now he was being supportive? Drew wasn’t sure of what exactly, but he felt a reassuring energy coming from him.

Charles had stopped him from potentially killing a man for touching Isobel, and for an intuitive man like his father, that could be enough to confirm any conjectures he’d formed about Isobel and Drew when they returned home yesterday.

“That’s a good idea, do you want any of us to come with you?” Isobel’s mother asked, he still could see the terror in her eyes. When everything was going down and she ran up to him and Charles’ scrambling to find her daughter it only added to his anger and desperation to get to her.

“No, I’m fine you guys stay here and enjoy the cocktail.” Isobel insisted before giving both of her parents a hug and walking over to slip beside Drew.

His body routinely reacted as it always did to the feeling of her next to him, the hairs on his arm stood erect, his side warming like they were two magnets pulling towards each other. Richard, Charles, Cooper, Lora, and Catherine were talking while Chandler was absorbing every word—the younger Starkey enjoyed gossip just as much as their mother. Drew didn’t hear a word they were saying, he couldn’t when Isobel’s arm was grazing his side. God he wanted to grab her waist and just hold her but he refrained.

Then he felt a tickle on his knuckle and looked down to see her blindly curling her pinky around his larger one. That simple touch alone made it feel like his heart was going to pound out of his chest as it filled with an inexplicable feeling. It was so minuscule, but that lock of their fingers represented how they made each other feel, the part of them they were hiding from everyone. And Isobel reaching out to him in that way, no matter how discreetly in front of their families, was comparable to how a quick peck from her on his lips could make him feel—content yet desperate for more.

“You ready to go?” He asked loud enough to to gain everyone’s attention again.

Isobel nodded her head and let his pinky go, ready to get out of there and just contemplate her feelings under her shower head. She giggled to herself as Chandler insisted he leave with them. She could tell Drew was annoyed with his little brother tagging along just from his left eye twitching, but he didn’t protest, “You guys are doing a horrible job of being discreet by the way.” Chandler causally threw out as they walked out of the building.

“Wait, really?” She groaned, if her heart rate went up anymore tonight she was going to go into cardiac arrest. She knew she was giving more attention to Chandler’s implications about her and Drew being together, but at this point she didn’t have it in her to care.

“No, not really, I think I’m only noticing because I know what’s up with you two.” He grinned with pride, obviously still finding amusement at how worked up Isobel was about all of this.

“You don’t know shit, get in the car.” Drew mumbled and rolled his eyes as he unlocked the door for them.

This time last year she wouldn’t have expected any of this, they were all three as trio becoming closer and it was all because a split decision to let Drew ‘get a feel of his observations.’ The statement was corny looking back, but thinking of it made her chest warm.

Chandler did most of the talking as Drew drove towards her house which was about five minutes away from C&S, thankfully no one asked for details about what happened earlier during the ride, especially when she hadn’t even fully digested the whole thing herself. Isobel was the only one who entertained his rant about his parents not letting him have ‘at least one drink’ at events while Drew rubbed his temples with his pointer and middle finger at all the talking, she couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

It was hard trying to remain platonic with Drew after blurring so many lines with him, but sharing a car with two people she’d known for years made her appreciate the moments in between the lust when they were keeping their hands to themselves a little bit more. She could look back at this as a time where they were picking up where they left off as friends.

“Chandler, wait in the car while I walk Isobel up.” Drew said while pulling into her driveway. Seeing the empty garage and the barely lit house filled her body with dread at the view, she wanted him to stay with her.

Isobel stayed silent as she attempted to get out of his truck as gracefully as she could in a dress and heels but graciously took Drew’s hand when he finally came over to help her down. The feeling of the hand he used to grab her left hip and steady her body searing through the silk of her dress onto her skin, “Will you stay until my parents get home?”

Drew’s mouth slightly opened and then closed, a little taken aback by her question. But after what happened tonight he would do anything she asked to make her feel safe, even if it was risky.

“How about I take Chandler home first, and come back-“

“-No I don’t want you to leave.” It took a lot for Isobel to admit she needed someone, but despite her usual hesitancy the words left her mouth with ease.

One of his hands tightened into a fist, barely stopping himself from reaching up to comfort her. He loved this feeling, a girl showing her vulnerability, and him not wanting to run away, he’d never felt the need to stay before, “Just go upstairs I’ll be right up behind you.”

Isobel sighed and gave him a squint letting him know she was expecting him to do exactly as he said before punching in the code to the house and slipping behind the wooden door. It was his turn to sigh, now facing his brand new truck he was about let his imbecile of a brother drive home without his supervision.

“Chandler, the keys are in the middle console go ahead and drive yourself home.” Drew grumbled.

The last thing he wanted was for the eighteen year old to be behind the wheel of his baby, but when it came to Isobel he’d let his little brother drive it across the country. Chandler jumped at the opportunity, choosing to access the driver seat by crawling up from the backseat which was no easy feat for a boy with his height but he managed, “Wipe that look off your face I’ll get it home safely, you can go in there and tussle tongues with your girlfriend.”

Drew didn’t bother to respond, slamming the truck door in his face and making his way back up the pathway to front door. Just as he entered the house and was turning to shut the door his entire body cringed at the sound of Chandler revving his engine.

He was in the same position as earlier, the house empty and Isobel just a staircase away, and his eagerness to see her hadn’t waned in the slightest. She wasn’t in her room when he walked in, but he could hear her humming behind her bathroom door. The warm vanilla scent escaping from the cracks of the enclosed area telling him she’d was in the shower, so he waited for her. Drew felt like he could wait on her forever in any given circumstance, but waiting on her to finish showering as the sound of her melodic voice filled his ears was becoming his favorite—he was the only one who got to witness this side of her.

He sat on the seat in front of her vanity, her sweet humming relaxing him to the point where he could have dozed off. And then the door swung open and there she was clad in an oversized t-shirt and just like that night in her apartment a few days ago he couldn’t tell if she was wearing bottoms or not. He loved every inch of her body, so even just getting a glimpse of her legs made his stomach flutter—it was pathetic how hooked he was on her. As if him suddenly realizing all she had to offer so late into knowing her made every glance thereafter knock the breathe out of him.

“You look adorable.” Drew smirked as he stood up and reached to flick the fluffy pink headband she had holding her long, dark hair back. She rolled her plump lips together like she was embarrassed and his heart skipped. “Thank you, Drew, take your jacket off.” She demanded, walking up to him then sliding her hands into the inside of his suit jacket and helping him push the sleeves down his muscular arms with his tinted blue eyes looking down on her. She walked away from him to to hang it on a hook that was attached to the back of the closet but the smell of her remained.

Isobel wanted to jump Drew, to thrust herself into his big arms, but she didn’t. The girl just put his jacket elsewhere and turned to make her way towards her bed. She sat there and just swept her eyes down his body for a moment just to take in how good he looked in a button up and slacks. Drew looked sexy, he looked like a man and it was times like this, including the fact that he was a close family friend, that she couldn’t believe they were involved, “Come lay down with me, please?”

Drew had been the practical one out of the two when it came to them following her rules she set for them, so she made sure to bat her eyes when she asked. Isobel had some self-control, she didn’t have anything sexual in mind, she just wanted to feel him against her.

“I can’t take all this shit off just to get into bed with you, Izzy, we don’t know how much time we have.” Drew stated, referring to his formal wear he still had on from the cocktail.

She couldn’t help but smile at him remembering how anal she was about germs from clothes getting on her comforter.

“Well just don’t worry about it, I’ll wash my bedding tomorrow,” She rolled her eyes when he raised his eyebrows in shock, Isobel wanted him in her bed and she wasn’t about to let anything get in the way of that not even the fact that they were in her parent’s house, “I just want to be with you right now.”

He didn’t argue as he moved to slip off his shoes before crawling into bed with her. He rested his weight on his arm and leaned over so he was looking down at her face. The lights were dimmed, so he couldn’t make out any of the brown specks he usually saw in her eyes, but they still gleamed from the moonlight streaming in.

“I let Chandler drive the truck home.”

“-What? Wait I didn’t even think of the fact that he probably wanted to go home, I thought he would just stay.” Isobel said as instant regret filled her at her insistence that he didn’t leave her alone. Drew had only had that truck a few weeks, and now he had someone whose driving was sub par at best driving it because of her.

Isobel could do this whole thing with Drew, she could have an intimate relationship with him with no strings, but she didn’t want to be an emotional nuisance. She tried to keep things surface, drawing the line at anything that wasn’t just for physical satisfaction, but what she needed from him tonight was comfort and when he did that for her she couldn’t help that her heart warmed in reaction.

“You have nothing to feel bad about, some guy put his hands on you and you said you wanted me here so I’m here, Isobel.” He said her name with finality as if he was warning her not to argue, so she let it go, though fear of being an inconvenience was swallowing her up inside, “Tell me what happened, baby.”

Her entire body shuddered, if he called her that after every thing he asked from her she would be at his beck and call. She loved how deep Drew’s voice was and hearing him use that name for her in that grainy drawl was pleasuring to her ears.

“It was nothing really he was drunk, wanted to dance with me, and he didn’t like that I declined.” She trailed off, trying to make sense of it in her head. It would be a perfect world if no one brought it up, if everyone just went on thinking she was invincible and strong, but Drew wasn’t going to let that happen.

“Don’t minimize it Isobel, just because he was drunk didn’t give him the right to grab your arm and fucking corner you.” Drew was irritated, she could see it in his eyes, hear it in the clipped tone of his voice as he stared deeply into her eyes. That crease was back between his eyebrows, and though she was right below him his eyes still darted up and down her face as if he couldn’t decide what part of her to focus on. “You didn’t deserve that tonight, I don’t see how anyone would ever want to hurt you, Is.”

“I know, I’m just glad you were there.”

His eyes dropped to Isobel’s lips when she gave him a grin, “You promise you’re okay?”

“Drew.” She groaned, dragging out his name, Isobel wasn’t used to anyone besides her mother and father being this concerned about her feelings or well-being, but she couldn’t definitively say that she hated it, “You don’t have to keep worrying—I’m fine, promise.”

Drew sighed as he tucked his face in her neck. He breathed her in, hearing her emit a giggle as his nose tickled the sensitive skin. God, Isobel was his favorite—favorite person, favorite smell, favorite everything—the thought felt rudimentary, but that was just him putting it in simple terms.

“I’m sorry I almost caused a scene earlier at the event.” Drew lamented after pulling away from her to look her in the eyes once more. It was all a blur, that moment from when he saw her struggling to get away from that man to when his father was holding him back. Charles had always been subliminally against the idea of Isobel and Drew coming together in any manner, but for once part of him was grateful for him in that particular moment.

Him intervening had somehow brought Isobel and Drew closer.

“You have nothing to apologize for, you’re not the one who grabbed me, Drew.” She comforted him, she hated that she was making him feel like he had to apologize for wanting to protect her.

“I know but I could’ve ruined everything for us—I was just so pissed off. No other man deserves to touch you, Isobel.”

No other man.

Isobel stayed quiet when he brought his hand up to cradle the side of her face, so he kept going.

“I know you’re not mine Isobel but let me think it for just this one night so I don’t go insane.” He sounded desperate but couldn’t find it in him to care, he was always hopeless when it came to her, sometimes it was just harder to mask.

Isobel softly pecked his lips, straining her neck to reach his mouth, and Drew pushed forward deepening the kiss so she wouldn’t break it. He loved when their kisses began like that, her teasing and him chasing her. His hand splayed across her rib cage causing her shirt to bunch under his rough touch. Kissing Isobel and hearing the sweet sighs of satisfaction leave her throat always made him feel like he needed to anchor onto something before he fell and that showed in the way his hands blindly fisted the fabric of her tee and the groans the tongueless kiss could pull from him.

“I’m yours, Drew.” Isobel mumbled as their lips continued to connect.

She’d been telling an abundance of lies as of late to protect what they had, but she wasn’t sure the one he’d just blatantly asked her to say was completely void of truth.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART TWELVE

#outer banks #drew starkey #drew starkey smut #drew starkey x black reader #drew starkey x black!oc #drew starkey x oc #drew starkey x reader #obx fandom #obx jj maybank #rafe cameron #rafe imagine #rafe cameron smut #drew starkey content #obx fic #rafe x reader #rafe cameron x reader #rafe cameron x smut #jiara #jj maybank #college romance #friends to lovers #romance #black reader #obx #black oc #Isobel Cooper

[navarice]

my dearest fellow mdzs stans, i really don't want to spoil anyone's fun but sometimes some things must be said. please do NOT mistake fanon characteristics for canon characteristics because by GOD is it frustrating to dissect a character when all anyone wants to do is blindly turn away from the very vivid and metastasizing flaws.

jiang cheng is an extremely complicated character, and that's why we love him. but by god, he is a jealous, self-victimizing asshole with a massive inferiority complex who likes to torture (probably) innocent look-a-likes of his (as far as he knew) dead adjacent family member. jesus christ this isn't some simple case of miscommunication (well it is but, you know no amount of communication will ever mend the giant chasm that developed between them. especially not with asians raised within the most classical case of asian parenting, i mean come on now) but a matter of deep and intense self-loathing developed since early childhood projecting violently outwards. let me be clear. he hates wei wuxian. he loathes him. he wants to kill him with his own hands again and again so some part of his convoluted sense of justice and superiority will be fulfilled. he's a classist, a bully, and abusive to everyone around him. ong at the end of mdzs, i was nearly crying tears of joy when jin guangyao flayed him flat on his ass bc that man needed to hear it. he needed to feel it. he needed to stop blaming others and blame himself.

and!! he's homophobic!! the entire cultivation world is, yes, but he's the only one we see give wei ying and lan zhan active shit for it!!

point is...his complexity makes him interesting. as a child, he was pretty alright tbh. he was understandably upset when three of his dogs got taken away and he saw his dad give a completely random kid such a gentle hug when jiang cheng never received one so far. he was a kid, and it was sad and helped the readers get a glimpse at the already dysfunctional family dynamics before wei ying came into the picture. as an adolescent/teen, yes he had a lot of unresolved rage and inferiority issues building up when he was constantly being compared to wei wuxian by his mother and not given enough reassurance from his father (once again, all present before wei ying...everyone just likes to dump the shit on him bc it's easier to point fingers at others than at yourself). perhaps he could have turned out differently if literally either of his parents stepped up and took accountability. however, after the burning of lotus pier? after the golden core transfer? after wei ying stuck around as his subordinate just as he promised, and protected jiang cheng like he promised, and defected just to save the yunmeng clan's reputation so jiang cheng doesn't have to put up with the other clan's shit, still continuing to keep his promise? after wei ying's death? idk abt y'all, but all bets are off bro.

mxtx makes it a point to make him so irredeemable. he's an exploration of what can go wrong if you let your traumas, self-hatred, and revenge fantasies blind you. he has the worst traits of his parents for a reason, directly contrasting with the other sibling, who is a perfect picture of eldest daughters born into a dysfunctional family. jiang yanli has the best traits of her parents (in terms of compassion and standing up for her family), but the family dynamics also made her the way she was. the responsible, the mediator, the occasional mother, stepping in where madam yu cannot.

there's just so much potential to hold him accountable buried under the pretense of misunderstandings and kinnie moments. he just had so many chances, more than any other character, to make a different choice. to actually look past his misgivings and unlearn the bad habits he used to protect himself as a child. i'm not saying he has to magically heal from all his traumas, but at the very least know not to be like his parents. but he wasn't written that way. because that is what happens when you give into your insecurities and generational trauma.

bottom line: jiang cheng is a fantastic archetype that needs to be explored in all his authenticity, including his moments of loyalty and cruelty.

#jiang fengmian is literally yue qingyuan #embarassing af #as a mu qing apologist this was hard to write #but it needed to be said #jiang cheng choose an issue to cope with challenge #mission impossible #i'm not coming for anyone really i just needed to vent out everything bc he fr pissed me off in the novel haha #character study #jiang cheng #mdzs #mao dao zu shi #wei wuxian #wei ying #the untamed #the grandmaster of demonic cultivation #he just gives me a glutton for punishment vibes and i will not let him hide behind jc stans #the founder of diabolism #madam yu #jiang fengmian #jiang yanli #dysfunctional family relationships go brrr

[sofiaispunk]

dbf!Joel Miller x Reader - Part 1

"So, Dad, what's the plan for Thanksgiving dinner today?" you asked, trying to keep your voice casual.

"We're going to have a big feast, just like every year," your dad replied. "Your mom's been cooking for days."

"That sounds great," you said, trying to sound enthusiastic. "Are the Millers going to be there too?"

"Yeah, they are coming over later. Why do you ask?"

You hesitated for a moment before and shrugged your shoulders.

"Just excited to see Sarah."

Your dad looked at you thoughtfully for a moment before continuing with a sigh. "You know, things haven't been going well for Joel and his wife lately. So be nice to them."

Your ears perked up at the mention of Joel's marriage. "What do you mean?"

"Well, apparently, his wife has been having an affair for months now," your mom chimed in, her voice low. "Joel's been trying to work things out, but it's been really tough on him and Sarah."

Your heart sank as you processed the news. You couldn't believe that Joel was going through something like this. "That's terrible. Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Not really," your dad said, shaking his head. "Joel's been keeping it to himself mostly. I think he just needs some time to figure things out." Your dad continued.

As your parents finished their conversation, you couldn't help but feel a sense of sadness for Joel. You never liked his wife. Irene Miller was a striking woman, with sharp features and a perfectly coiffed brown bob. Her makeup was always immaculate, with bold red lips and dramatic winged eyeliner. She carried herself with a regal air, as if she were above everyone around her.

Her appearance was matched by her character, which was equally sharp and critical. She had a way of talking down to people, making them feel small and insignificant. She was always quick to point out flaws and mistakes, never missing an opportunity to criticize.

Despite her outward appearance of confidence and superiority, you couldn't help but feel that Irene was deeply unhappy. She seemed to take pleasure in tearing others down, as if it was the only way to make herself feel better.

You had seen her belittle Joel in public before, criticizing his choice of clothes or the way he talked. It was clear to you that Irene had no respect for her husband, which only made you dislike her more. In short, Irene was a woman who valued appearances over everything else. She cared more about how she looked than how she treated others, and it showed in the way she acted. She was a difficult person to be around, and you just couldn't understand why Joel had chosen to marry her. 

 Joel Miller on the other hand was he complete opposite of his wife. Joel was a handsome man, with soft brown curls that fell across his forehead and deep brown eyes that seemed to sparkle when he smiled. He had a warm, welcoming persona that drew people in, making them feel comfortable and at ease around him. Despite the age difference between him and you, he was still in great shape, with a lean, athletic build that spoke of a life spent outdoors.

Since you were a teenager you had always admired Joel's appearance and presence. He had a way of making you feel special, even when you were at your lowest. He had a kind, gentle way of speaking, always listening to you with his full attention and offering thoughtful, considerate advice.

Joel was a man who valued the important things in life - family, friends, and experiences. He was always looking for new adventures and ways to explore the world around him, and he never took any of it for granted.

You knew that Joel was a truly good person, and you couldn't help but feel drawn to him. Despite the fact that he was married and much older than you, you found yourself constantly thinking about him and wanting to spend more time with him.

 You knew that your crush on him was impossible, but you couldn't help it. As you were lying on your bed daydreaming about Mr. Miller, you made a mental note to be extra kind to him during the holiday and try to lift his spirits.

Part 2

#joel miller #joel miller x y/n #joel miller x reader #dbf!joel #dbf!joel miller #the last of us #fanfiction #joel miller x you #joel miller fic #dbf!joel smut #dbf joel miller #dads best friend #sarah miller #tommy miller #the last of us hbo

[darklight-owl]

Owl Reviews Stuff She Just Finished: Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright

So yk I didn't know what to expect going into this game, I'd seen really funny dialogue of it and mostly got it because I was extremely hyperfixated on Layton. But I did NOT expect such an emotional rollercoaster of a game with themes that tie into both Professor Layton and Ace Attorney and utilizes the strengths of each series so efficiently. I did not expect this game to make me cry. I did not expect this game to become one of my favorite Professor Layton AND Ace Attorney titles. But it did so I have to talk about it.

With two successful IPs on the cover this game could have easily been halfassed but every corner of it is full of passion for both titles. I mentioned before how they build off and complement each other and I think that's a result of the people working on this game having an in-depth knowledge of what makes PL and AA work and what their shortcomings are.

For example (I mentioned this in the liveblogs but may as well repeat myself here) Ace Attorney games are often limited to just the courtroom and investigation, not to mention you're not going to see 90% of the characters ever again after the case is done. This is serviceable for the kind of game AA is but it makes the world itself feel a bit uninteresting. However Professor Layton games have you confined to one town and make you explore it in depth, with recurring background characters who all have different (yet basic) personalities. Because of this, the Layton segments where you walk around town become crucial parts of the game where you can interact with future or past witnesses as they go about their lives, making these witch trials feel like they're taking part within an actual community, which make the emotional beats in the trials hit REALLY hard.

In turn, AA strengthens PL by adding variety. Layton games can be a bit monotonous if you're not engaged since the gameplay mostly consists of talking to people and solving an occassional puzzle, and there's a lack of interesting smaller mysteries to keep the audience engaged while they work on solving the bigger ones. But Ace Attorney games thrive on side stories, they're what make the trials so interesting! So by adding the smaller mysteries in the form of witch trials and mixing in clues about what the Hell is going on in Laberynthia you make a much more dynamic story that never feels like you're getting nowhere.

Enough about story structure and nerd stuff like that though, let's talk characters!

I love the main four and have always loved the main four so I'm not gonna talk abt them. The original characters for this game were freaking amazing. I see a lot of people really dislike Espella (which is understandable since she's probably the weakest of the cast) but she's pretty alright imo. She's going through a lot of things with the entire town despising her and [SPOILERS] so it makes sense why she would act the way she does, even then I feel like most heartfelt moments with her were a bit forced, which kind of lessens the impact of the last scene. I LOVE the relationship between her and [ANOTHER SPOILER] as well as the dynamic she has with Maya though.

I LOVE BARNHAM. He's one of my favorite prosecutors, he may not have any deep angst or trauma like so many of my favs do, but he's just a well meaning dude who thinks he's doing what he needs to to protect his town, even if it means casting wiitches into the flames. He also goes through a little character arc of his own where he also starts to bend the rules, the only laberynthian to do so. It's fun. Barnham is my best friend.

Unfortunately I can't talk about Darklaw or The Storyteller without getting into spoilers but basically: I love Darklaw and think she deserves the world, I'm on the fence about The Storyteller and feel like parts of his character were extremely rushed.

The secondary characters are also great, you have your classic goofy witnesses but also some really heartfelt characters and relationships in the trials, this is nothing new for Ace Attorney but when you include the conscious knowledge that these characters are going to be cast into the fire then these mini stories are enough to move me to tears (Looking at you, Golden Court).

Anyway, overall a fantastic experience that caught me completely off guard. No notes. I give it 10 burning witches out of 10.

Oh. And also:

#once again spoiler free so i can convince you to like the things i like #sorry for the incomprehensible rambling these 'reviews' are essentially excuses to ramble anyway so #i have a lot more concrete thoughts on this than i did for ghost trick i think thats bc im familiar with these series and ik how they work #owl reviews stuff she just finished #plvspw #professor layton vs phoenix wright #plvsaa #professor layton #ace attorney

[kinglazrus]

Beep boop hello to you! Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💚

I adore whoever made this ask game. Thank you for sending me one, Lexx! This was so hard to choose, so these aren't in any particular order.

The Moment It Breaks

Description: After months of lies and secrets, it finally happens. His identity is revealed in the worst of ways—in the middle of a ghost fight. Now everyone knows that Tucker Foley is the Tech Hunter

Reason: I made this AU for the Danny Phantom au zine, Reality Trip, and I have had so much fun playing with it. It started as a throwaway wondering "what if Vlad approached Tucker instead of Valerie?" and grew into something huge. I've always adored no one knows aus, and this one takes it a step further. I'll be posting the fic to Ao3 soon, and I've got big plans for the rest of this AU.

The Haunting of Danny Fenton

Description: Valerie knows Danny Fenton, everybody does. Youngest of the family, son and heir, future owner of Fenton Works. Notable for all those reasons and infamous for none of them. Where Maddie and Jack are the local quirks, Danny is the tragedy. And, for the next week, he's the Red Huntress' newest client.

Reason: I adore writing Valerie's point of view. She's my favourite character, so it's a bit criminal that I don't have more fics focused on her. I've also used some different narrative techniques in this fic playing with perspective, which has been a lot of fun.

The Punishment Fits the Crime

Description: Ghosts are naturally drawn to death. Danny, however, finds himself drawn to those who have wrongfully died. He always said he would never hurt someone who doesn't deserve it. It's not his fault that he keeps finding people who do. Or: Danny is a vengeful spirit.

Reason: My darkest fic, tonally. I got the idea to turn Danny into a vengeful spirit and immediately decided to push it as far as I could. There's only a couple of chapters up right now, but the tags tell you all you need to know about the direction this fic is going.

The In-Laws

Description: Harriet and her son, Kwan, meet each other's boyfriends through a family dinner. Hopefully, Vlad Masters and Danny Fenton can get along for one meal.

Reason: Because it's fun! This is a very light-hearted, humorous fic, and I had a great time with it. I like to write all kinds of pairings, and this was a great way to explore two I hadn't yet: Vlad and Harriet, and Danny and Kwan. Bad News shippers come get your juice.

Blossoms On Her Tongue

Description: Years after Undergrowth’s attack, Sam’s ghost powers from that day are slowly returning. Sam is excited at first, both at the chance to grow closer with Danny, and the opportunity to use her own powers for good. But things aren’t as great as they seem. After all, plants don't mix well with the cold.

Reason: I can't actually say because that would be a spoiler! But there's a specific dynamic I wanted to explore for the trio and this fic was what came out of it. I've got three parts planned for this series, each one focused on a different member of the trio.

Honourable mentions that I almost picked for this:

The Survivalists (of course)

Prince Before King. Genius Before Fool.

Not Your Danny

Deep Wounds

Dead Man Walking

Until Death Do We Part

#the king answers #lexosaurus #there are more honourable mentions than fics I was allowed to pick #almost tossed one of my YJ fics in there but my blog is just all danny phantom stuff so I resisted

[reallypleasanttree]

Hey there I’m a huge fan of your works and stories ☺️💯. And I was wondering, what inspired you to write such a beautiful,tragic, and heartwarming story about Kanroji and Obanai?

First off, thank you so much! ☺️ I adore tragic romances, so when I finished reading Demon Slayer I was torn to shreds by Obanai and Mitsuri’s story. Their type of love is my ideal where they simply accept each other as they are. It’s simple and sweet.

They were stripped of their happy ending. If they just had the courage to express their feelings before the end, they could have been happy together. It hurt so much. Especially with the way Obanai viewed Mitsuri and believing he needed to be reborn just to be with her? Heartbreaking. Mitsuri would have loved him no matter what his upbringing was. They both viewed each other in a positive light, but the way they viewed themselves was negative. Obanai thought he was a corrupt, vile creature while Mitsuri was insecure and wanted acceptance. If they had been able to see themselves the way the other viewed them, they could have confessed before the final battle. It devastates me every time and I have to remedy it.

Anyway, I read a ton of fanfics for Obamitsu. “Nights” by Rottorex, Peppermint Tea” by prettyshimmie, and “to die nobly, to cleanse his filthy blood” by Clemsmelody helped inspire it. I started daydreaming and plotting out my own fic.

After a few days of thinking through plot points, I decided to go for it. “Wedding Plans” was supposed to be three chapters. 🙃 however, I kept writing more and more about Obanai’s backstory and deep dived into his psychology. I couldn’t just make him suddenly be better in two months and not explain how he got better. I wanted to show a realistic recovery for someone with depression, anxiety, and childhood abuse. It doesn't happen over night and it takes a lot of effort.

As someone with depression and anxiety, I drew from my own experiences. The part where Obanai didn’t know how to tie his shoes? My parents never taught me, so I taught myself. When you realize your parents didn’t teach you the bare minimum to dress yourself, it hits you like a brick. You explain away their actions and accept it as the norm because that’s what was expected of you.

With Mitsuri, I admire her personality. I love people who are exceptionally kind, always wear a smile, and genuinely care about you as person, not just for show. She’s a normal girl with insecurities and wishes to be accepted. Everyone can relate, I’m sure. Also, I love writing her awkward moments. I wanted to show a relationship gradually develop from a place of admiration and respect. Also, it was fun coming up with different scenarios and how to apply their past lives to the modern era.

To be honest, the parts I write in the Demon Slayer canon universe are primarily inspired by fan art. I wanted to highlight little actions and moments that lead to Mitsuri and Obanai falling for each other. I’m so excited to share the next flashback scene, but I don’t want to spoil it.

When it comes to writing, I love angst, but I have to even it out with lighthearted moments. Like Mitsuri making Obanai food for the first time and then he has a panic attack. My partner calls it "dark cotton candy fluff", which cracks me up. Plus with the cast of characters in Demon Slayer, it makes it easy to keep it heart warming. Kyojuro and Gyomei especially. 🥰

To sum it up, I was inspired to write Obanai and Mitsuri’s story in the modern era because I wanted to explore the beginnings of a relationship, Obanai’s past and family, and ultimately give them the happy ending they deserved.

As for my other Obamitsu fics, I write them on a whim and let my steam of conscious take over ("To my love", "Positive, Positive, Positive", "I want to live this life with you", and "Mrs. Iguro") Or they are discarded scenes from "Wedding Plans" (See "Bitter Torment").

#obamitsu #obanai iguro #mitsuri kanroji #demon slayer #mitsuri x obanai #obanai x mitsuri #writing asks

[oraclebabsday]

um hello!! im very new to comics, but of the characters I’ve seen so far, I really like Barbara and I was just wondering if you had any comic recommendations on where to start..? its very confusing trying to get into it all, but I’d like to be able to hold a conversation about someone I find interesting with my boyfriend so I can hear him info dump on me more cus he’s deep into dc so :)

Hi!!! That is so sweet omg 😭 Welcome to the weird wonderful world of comics!!! and also i’m so sorry for what I’m abt to throw at you lmao

Since you’ve sent this ask into an Oracle-centric blog, I’m gonna keep this rec list Oracle!Babs-centric (& also encourage my fellow mods to add on if they also have some recs!) I actually don’t have a whole lot of recs for Batgirl!Babs anyways, but I’ll be tagging my gen dc blog at the end in case you’d like to talk abt those or any other characters!

Also before I get Into the recs, I wanna give you some words of encouragement: there’s no right or wrong way to read! You’re also likely gonna have some well a lot of confusion at the beginning, esp bc there will be Events™️ that have ramifications™️ and you’re not always given full context of what’s come before or what’s happening concurrently with what you’re reading. I’ve been doing this for awhile and if I’ve learned anything, it’s that the more that you read & explore, the more fun you’ll have & the more things will usually start to make sense! But it’s all gotta start somewhere first! :D and you’ve def chosen a great character to be your launching point!

Im gonna be hopping around a bit in my recs here but I’ll try to keep it mostly in chronological order. That said, first up:

Suicide Squad (1987) - she appeared semi-regularly starting in #23! This was also her debut as Oracle! I really enjoyed the overall run & would normally highly recommend it, but also want to warn that it’s a pretty heavy read in terms of content itself (canon-typical violence ofc esp for a SuiSq comic, discussions of suicide ideation, period typical stereotyping/‘subversion’ of said stereotypes, but that’s a deeper discussion for a different blog) For that reason, I don’t necessarily recommend it for a first-time reader, esp if you’re wanting to solely focus on Babs. Team books usually aren’t super great when you’re reading for an individual character, in my experience, esp in a case like this where the character isn’t always necessarily part of the team or appears sporadically enough to disrupt the flow of following a storyline.

Birds of Prey (1999) - This team book breaks that prev rule tho, bc Babs is the leader & is in Damn near every issue of this run 😂 There’s several smaller team-ups before the main ‘99 run (BoP:Manhunt, BoP:Wolves, etc), which are also good as a prelude before the main run itself. This will be the longest thing that will give you a LOT to parse through & ymmv with a lot of it. (Dixon & Simone are the most prominent writers for it & without getting Into It they each have their Issues™️ & Crimes™️) It also crosses over with a few events/references others. Imo it’s a good window into what comics are like overall, esp when you get into a longer run with multiple writers at the helm. But it has an added bonus of keeping a pretty small cast at its forefront (for about half the run, it’s solely Babs n Dinah!) It also has a follow-up run in 2010 which is broken up by-

Oracle: The Cure - (technically a 3-issue mini-series but!!!) this one’s a culmination of Oracle & Calculator’s (it’s not rivalry? That can’t be the right word… Uhhh, nemesis-sitch?) from BoP & leads right into bringing Babs back to Gotham in Steph’s Batgirl run as well as the next BoP run I mentioned just a sec ago. It’s what I like to call connective (t)issues lol. Ymmv I think depending on if you’ve read BoP ‘99/TT ‘03 beforehand, but I hadn’t read a lot of TT before reading it at the time, and I enjoyed it a lot!

A couple individual issues I wanna suggest:

Batman Chronicles #5 - Oracle: Year One!!!!! Cannot rec this one enough!!! In lieu of reading Killing Joke (which really only serves Bruce, Joker, Jim Gordon’s characters) read this!!! LICHERALLY her origin in coming into her own as Oracle!!! This one is THE place to start, actually, before you read anything start here 😂

Batman: Gotham Knights #6 - okay, this one is admittedly a self-indulgent rec. Without spoiling the plot, it’s CLASSIC soap-opera level shit. The TENSION at play & the layers of Bruce & Babs dynamic, the messiness of the batfam!!! 👌 *chefs kiss* GK as a run in general too was a LOT of fun for me & Babs is a pretty prominent player in much of it, but this issue rlly takes the cake for me ngl

And to tie it all together for an extra couple of Important Event recs that you’ll run into esp if you pick up BoP first:

Batman: No Man’s Land - okay, this event was a Behemoth. It’s a LOT to read, but it is REALLY good imo as a launching point for where Bat-comics were at the start of the millennium. Babs takes the narrative role SO many times throughout & she rlly comes into her own by becoming a linchpin for the info system she builds for the batfam. Again, I don’t wanna discourage you when I say it’s a Long read, bc it’s well worth it imo, but also 100% okay to skip when you’re just starting out! It’s a big time sink!

Batman: Officer Down - okay put away the meme forJUST A SEC, our old friend Jim Gordon’s been shot & it’s up to Batma- oh wait bruce sulks by Jim’s bedside while Babs rallies the troops and GETS SHIT DONE to find who shot her dad? INTERESTING 🧐 In all seriousness tho, & compared to NML, this is a much easier bite-sized event that can give you a taste of what Event/crossoverComics™️ are generally like 👍

Bruce Wayne: Murderer?/Fugitive - okay so, take that same energy of the batfam having to Put In The Work to help Bruce out & flip it around bc now Bruce is the Main Suspect. The drama, the Intrigue™️. Pretty much everyone in the fam gets a moment to shine & this is def peak of how Babs fits into the fam during this era. This one runs a bit on the longer side & babs is again, more of a support role here, but god damn I loved it a lot!

I feel like I’m obligated to at least Mention Batman: War Games, mostly to note that it finally shakes the foundation of Oracle being the batfam’s main support (her CLOCKTOWER gets nerfed in this event 😭) If you read all of BoP and skip over this event & then are confused abt why Babs is suddenly being ejected from Gotham, just remember that her clocktower gets blown up, Steph dies, Bruce n Babs have a falling out & that’s basically why Babs starts flying around the country & settles in Metropolis for a bit instead of going back to Gotham. I reread this event at least once a year bc it gave me brainworms, I can not in good conscience recommend it to anyone bc no one understands her (War Games) like i do 💕 Godspeed if you decide to read it o7

Other recs/mentions:

Batgirl (2000) - okay if you end up reading NML, you’ll be introduced to Cass in it, & this run picks up with her. Babs is in it a LOT at the beginning as supporting cast to Cass (up to War Games ofc, but I won’t say much more abt that lol) I’m ngl, when I was trying to get more into comics, this run was what HOOKED me

Batgirl (2009) - so in a similar vein, Babs also features as a support for Steph too in her batgirl run. It’s… different from Cass’ run, but I also rlly love this one too. And also am forever bitter that the Batgirls run didn’t realize their potential BUT WE’RE NOT GETTING INTO THAT HERE.

Gonna mention Batman: Gotham Knights one more time bc again, while Babs isn’t a main focus, I think it’s rlly good at tying the batfam together during that era & giving a reader glimpses into other characters/dynamics. I think I got more out of it after I had read a few other runs from this time period (namely Robin, Azrael & some prominent stuff with Huntress), but can also see it as a potential launching point for new readers too 👍 if you wanna get more into the batfam/Batman but are intimidated by the Big Runs, this can potentially be a good bridge!

Gonna rapid fire mention that Babs as Oracle has a lot of appearances in Robin (93), Nightwing (96), JLA (96), Azrael (95) and obvsly Batman/Detective Comics from the 90s into 00s. I’ve read a few of these runs, and ymmv depending on how attached you may get to certain characters. But that’s what comics is all about! Getting attached and exploring other characters n teams n stuff!

A Gen note that I wanna end on: I wasn’t exaggerating when I said earlier abt how the more you read the more you’ll have fun. I can’t even begin to count the number of times that I’ve read something from a 90s/00s comic & was essentially jumpscared by a sudden Oracle cameo that I wasn’t expecting! She pops up in so many things throughout the universe at the time!!! She was THE info broker for all the supers!!! It makes me so insane that DC threw that all away to magi-cure her and demote her back to batgirl when she had grown so much 😭

anyways I hope you have fun!!! And again if you’re ever looking for other recs my more Gen dc blog is @dyketectivecomics! If my fellow mods or anyone else have some recs to add or to dispute haha, I’ll be tagging this so others can see/rb/reply to add their recs too 👍

Okay! \o/ that’s all I got for now! Happy reading anon!!!!

#barbara gordon #oracle #oracle day #birds of prey #reading rec #~randy #added a cut bc length 👍 and to add a warning that this isn’t just a list #I wanted to include some commentary bc having a reading list is good sometimes #but also having a Guide™️ is what I’m ultimately aiming for when I’m curating my lists now in 2024 #esp bc I’m gonna be revamping the duke list soon but THATS a convo for the duke blog 😂 #okay enough tag rambles. I hope this helps anon! sorry it took a Hot Sec! #you sent this right as the holidays were swinging at me full force 😭

[mdhwrites]

Idk if you talked about this before but what's your thoughts on the Blight parents' relationship? Asking this mainly because I saw a long post saying all of Alador's actions were forced by Odalia (even the scene of telling Amity to drop Willow) and the only reason he neglected the kids was because he worked to protect them hence he wasn't abusive. Imo he and Odalia got along fine in their debut so when the "odalia abused alador" reveal dropped it was surprising for me. Since they were also hexside friends, I wonder if the show would've explored that aspect of their relationship before it went downhill (it would've been cool as Odalia as a character feels wasted)

I absolutely have talked about this before, in part because between S1 and 2, the Blight Family was actually one of the most interesting parts about the show for me. They were literally the first blog I wrote about TOH because I thought people treated them unfairly, especially Odalia, because High Society Characters are different from ones we normally sympathize with. If you want to see that version of the Blights, where they're both neglectful and making mistakes but also genuinely meaning well by their kids, I have a story called The Power of Love that explores a LOT of TOH's post S1 potential but especially Amity and her family alongside with making Boscha a real character. I've also just talked about them being shit in the past but I really want to focus on this in this blog: They're both terrible people. Everyone likes to focus on the fact that Odalia is a greedy capitalist but an honest story would recognize that Alador is a mad scientist. That Odalia would sell her children to get ahead while Alador would experiment on them if allowed or if he saw it as useful to his research. He makes robots though, so that's never in question. Amity ONLY gets Alador's attention... By besting his own creation. He watches that whole fight in Escaping Expulsion like he's studying it and liking the results. So yeah, he notices Amity is strong and is able to use that against Odalia to make her not be the dumbest form of villain, so they can claim to have some sort of principles... But how much do you really think that matters to him?

His statement when Luz tries to end the fight by saying the investors get it is that she has a point. Not that they are maybe going too far or that the abomiton's job of destruction is bad but just that the point has been made. Because that's what matters to him. After all, they specifically know that this creature is going to kill Luz. This isn't an interesting experiment for Alador. He doesn't care. He'd rather get this over with so he can go back to his lab.

Even Clouds on the Horizon actually reinforces this. Yes, he complains about not having a weekend off in five years... But that's FIVE. FUCKING. YEARS. There's a point where you know... Maybe he should have complained about this? Questioned anything. But that raises the question of: Before this... What the fuck else was he doing with his time? Both Escaping Expulsion and Reaching Out have him entirely in mad scientist mode where you might distract him for a moment but he will just keep working and ignore everything around him. That's part of WHY he likes Odalia. Odalia loves to talk. Loves to be social. Loves to remove the part he doesn't care about and easily gets distracted during. Even in Clouds on the Horizon, he doesn't explicitly state that his complaint is a lack of time with his kids. He's finally feeling it now because, if we're generous, Amity opened his eyes but... That implies he's a good person. That he just needed a reminder of who he was deep down, just like his daughter did (because Amity frankly has similar issues to this). But... if he were a good person, jokes like 'Immediate execution" would be done instead by having imply that the punishment is very light, revealing that his true nature, when he's not thinking, is kind. But it's not. It's more extreme than expulsion and goes all the way to murder. And why shouldn't it? He still had to have had this talk with Odalia. Agreed with the outcome. Learned the lines. If he was mad about it, he doesn't need to be at that meeting. He could be home working. This was instead important enough to him to get him out of the house. Same goes with dismissing Willow. He took time out of his day for that and didn't keep on script. Him cutting Amity off is not his job there unless he wants it to be. He defers power to Odalia though because she is better than him at this stuff. She is comfortable interacting with other people in ways he is not and their relationship is pretty much divided by those lines. It's very businesslike but neither person actually gives a fuck about people so why shouldn't it be more about collaborating strengths than it is anything emotional? And here's the thing: I'm just going by what the show shows us. Because if we claim Odalia made Alador do everything he does in the show... Who is Alador? We never get a real glimpse of that. If we even say the abomatons aren't something he wants, then he isn't an inventor. The best we have is he'd like to be a layabout and that doesn't technically include his kids. He could just be lazy then and do whatever he wants because that's what he already did... But at least he was making something.

The closest we have to anything else is Amity claiming that he used to spend time with his kids. We have literally no evidence of this, his personality doesn't support the claim, he didn't give a shit about Amity's well being until she challenged his creations as he was entirely on board with destroying social life, twice, so why should we think he was some paragon? Why should we believe Amity who doesn't even go on to ask about his fate once they're back in the Isles and she sees her siblings? Who seemed to care MUCH about her mother's opinion for Reaching Out rather than literally ever bringing up her dad?

It's revisionist in a way that tries to rewrite their dynamic into something more complex than it was. To try and make there be a point to Alador when him having control of the Abomatons doesn't even go anywhere because they still get shot down and still have to leave Alador behind to fight the damn things while they go rescue Luz. Cut out literally the entirety of Clouds on the Horizon and make it the Hexide kids rushing to the Day of Unity instead and you have a different force that can hold back the abomatons while Amity and co go off to help Luz. Worse yet, replace abomatons with "Elite EC Coven Scouts" and you effectively get the same result making Alador and Odalia even more pointless besides a very minor road bump on Amity's character arc all things said and done with how easy her rebellion against them is. They have no point in the story so people are going to scramble for some deeper meaning. Some reason they should exist by having them tackle something as provocative as domestic abuse or the like. But it doesn't. Instead, it's just inconsistent, wasteful writing that has no point to exist when the main character it should be affecting, Amity, is barely a part of any of it. She has some of the least screentime of any character in Escaping Expulsion. She isn't a part of her dad's transformation in Clouds except in an abstract way where Alador just wanting to spend more time video gaming would have been as meaningful with how shit their relationship is at the end of Reaching Out because they wouldn't even let us have a hug in that episode between the two because TOH refuses to just let a plotline end simply even when it involves extremely minor characters. And Reaching Out is the closest we come. An episode where Alador still rigs an entire abomaton to make sure Amity goes to the tryouts without knowing it's Odalia's dream not hers. And if Odalia really was the reason he did EVERYTHING... Shouldn't he know her better than that? Almost like maybe he sees the EC as a good future for Amity too because that's success and he clearly cares about success to some extent. Otherwise, he wouldn't have married a woman as greedy as Odalia. And even if in real life, I've watched a relationship turn toxic the minute they got married, nothing about either character, from their Hexide days, to a decade ago, to now, seems all that different from each other. They just now have kids they neglect or use as free labor. And yes, it's really that simple, no matter how much that fucking blows. And a final note actually: This is my interpretation. We get such little time with Alador and Odalia that statements like "This is why he likes her" are going to be somewhat subjective by how you interpret their relationship. If you think it's as shallow as Alador just found her hot and married her because of that and has been trapped for 16+ years... Well, A: why are you trying to paint him as sympathetic when you seem to not like him? but B: why hasn't her mistreatment been even longer? More over the top? We're just missing basic answers to these characters because they're so bog standard (even if Odalia feels like she comes from the 80s or 90s cartoons more than literally anything I grew up with) that I have to stretch and use literally every scrap of screentime we get with these characters because not only do they get so little of it, their family/kids reflect such little about themselves because none of the elements cohere into something whole. They're bad and really only stand out for that fact versus other one off villains because, well, they're related to Amity. But they're also dealt with just as easily as any villain of the week the show does so they have this weird contrast between Amity's importance and the importance the show actually gives them. Which again: Sucks.

#Odalia Blight #Alador Blight #the owl house criticism #toh critical

[anneapocalypse]

They’re all pretty related, so in case you want to merge or skip some: I’m curious about 9, 20, 21, and 22 for 🔥 choose violence 🔥

For the 🔥choose violence 🔥 ask game!

Disclaimer: provocative name aside, I am not actually trying to be mean here, these are just my opinions offered for Entertainment Purposes™️, and I’m not mad at anyone who has a different opinion.

9. worst part of canon

The lack of forethought about representation when the series began. The first game was like, "Seven skin tints! The dark ones looks Bad in our engine! Your family is white no matter what! Brown people are from Over There somewhere! Asians????" Since then, I think the games have each improved on that situation, with increasingly better character creators, more diverse companions, and a more diverse world generally. But I think that there's still a lot lacking, and part of that is because the first installment laid a pretty weak foundation, so all subsequent canon is having to correct for better representation rather than building on a strong start. A few big things I would love to see in DA:D are a better variety of hair textures and styles, a better variety of Asian features in the CC, and more Asian (coded) characters in the world generally since that's an area where it's really been lacking. (Lighting that doesn't wash out medium skin tones to ghosts wouldn't hurt either 😉 but when it comes to video game lighting I assume that we'll just be trading one problem for another. I look forward to experiencing a New Problem.)

20. part of canon you found tedious or boring

Inquisition's Too Many Collectibles. I don't mind collectibles, especially when there's an actual reward for collecting them, but Inquisition just has too many. Was it really necessary for us to discover landmarks and regions? Like, could those not have been the same thing? It's fun to treasure hunt and everything but did we need to hunt for astrariums and shards and mosaic tiles and bottles? None of those things are bad on their own, but there's such a thing as Too Much, and I think Inquisition crosses that line somewhere.

21. part of canon you think is overhyped

Marrying Alistair to become Queen! Like, that's fine if that's the ending you want. Me, I've romanced Alistair multiple times and I've never felt like becoming Queen Cousland was like, the Ultimate Ending to that story. My first ever Warden, Jolene, was a Cousland who romanced Alistair, and while I'd watched Mr. Apocalypse play parts of the game, I was unspoiled for the romance, so I wasn't gunning for any particular ending, and because Alistair clearly didn't want to be king and because he seemed so uncertain of what would happen to their relationship (despite her being a perfectly valid candidate for queen), Jo ended up deciding to let Anora keep the throne and ride off into the sunset with Alistair. I wanted a happy ending for that first run and to me, that seemed the happiest for both of them.

Since then I've also done a tragic Alistair romance with an Aeducan, who starts out a real asshole and has kind of a redemption arc as a Warden, culminating in her giving Alistair the throne because she believes it's his destiny, and sacrificing herself to kill the archdemon because she knows she can never be his queen. I loved that one too! It was so juicy.

I'm not opposed to Queen Cousland or anything, I just remember a time when it was so venerated as the ending for Origins. Really, I just don't think of any outcome in an RPG that way. What I enjoy is exploring all the possibilities.

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

Once again, consider "everyone" to be a bit hyperbolic, but I am really, really interested in the politics of the setting, something I think maybe a lot of fans consider to be boring or "not that deep." 😂 Dragon Age does not always handle its power and oppression narratives perfectly, for sure, but I also think a lot of the worldbuilding shows a level of understanding of structural power that it maybe doesn't always get credit for. When a group is marginalized in this setting we can identify actual systemic barriers to social advancement for that group, not just "people being mean" on an individual level like you sometimes see in lazier narratives. Orlais isn't just fancier and snootier than Ferelden; it actually has more barriers to upward mobility in place! Society is more stratified, and power is more concentrated, even though both nations are monarchies.

I love the fantasy politics--of people in day to day life, of factions, of nations, of religion. I love it because, at its best, Dragon Age does have some interesting things to say about the nature of power. It's easy to say "Chantry bad" or "nobility bad," but to me it's much more interesting to explore why these institutions function the way they do, the ways in which they concentrate power, and the means they employ to keep it. And controversial statement, maybe, but you can't effectively explore the politics of revolution and social change without understanding the structures you're trying to change. Sera's right about one thing: it's not as simple as just lopping off the top.

#ask anne #peforby #ask meme #choose violence ask game #dragon age critical #blunders of thedas #thedas politics

[precipikitten]

okay while im thinking about p5r third semester, it really reminds me of the book The Lathe of Heaven, but goes about a similar hypothetical in an extremely different way which i love and i wanna talk about it.

In that book the main character, George, takes drugs to prevent deep sleep because his dreams uncontrollably change the past and world around him, and he's the only one who remembers the previous realities. He gets arrested for abuse of this medication and sent to a sleep researcher and psychiatrist called Dr. Haber, who slowly gets convinced of this power and starts remembering the previous realities too. Though initially trying to get George to take control of his power so he won't be afraid to sleep anymore, Haber starts trying to induce dreams of a better world in George's sessions.

Now immediately there's obvious parallels: A psychiatrist who discovers reality can be altered and immediately thinks to leap headfirst into using this ability to improve the lives of ordinary people without their knowledge. The humble soon-to-be god of a new utilitarian world. But here's where these stories start to differ.

Haber tries to suggest a dream of "peace on earth" which results in a reality where humanity is peaceful because they're united against the threat of an alien invasion on the moon. George tries to get a lawyer so he won't have to continue seeing Haber, but she suggests a dream of "the aliens being off the moon" which results in a reality where the aliens have invaded Earth. Haber then suggests a dream where "racism doesn't exist" which results in a reality where everyone has grey skin, and the lawyer, Heather, never existed because her mixed race was such a big part of her personal identity. By the end of the book Haber has figured out how to dream changes to reality for himself, so he doesn't need George anymore. George is able to stop him from ruining reality further, but by the end they're living in a reality comprised of random elements from all the others.

William Haber is a man who tries to play god and fails, his fault primarily lies in thinking that making sweeping changes to all of reality for the sake of a utilitarian utopia can be done by one man and involve decisions made on a dime. We're against him primarily because he only cares about intentions, not consequences: he keeps making things worse and worse because he doesn't know when to stop.

On the flip side, Takuto Maruki is a man who tries to play god and succeeds. Everyone does live in a happier world made specifically for them, there are no huge Butterfly Effect results of his changes that accidentally make things worse, and people are happy because of his actions. But we're still against him. He's easier to sympathize with, sure, but he's still a dictator over reality. He's still erasing experiences incredibly valuable to people's identities for the sake of a world where people get to live contentedly, where nobody has to work for change. Were his ideals taken to their extreme he'd remove more and more free will, and depending on how you look at it he might've ended up creating a eugenicist's society or something to that effect. He's only different from Yaldabaoth in method and intention.

Where The Lathe of Heaven asks "What would happen if a human tried to continue playing god after everything went wrong?", Royal's third semester asks "What would happen if a human tried to play god and everything went right?" and they're both such intriguing questions and explorations of a similar theme, imo.

#persona 5 royal #p5r spoilers #p5r third semester #takuto maruki #the lathe of heaven #long post #reagan.txt

[therealnightcity]

Character Study--Ares

Layer 1: The Outside

-Name: Ares Tanner

-Eye Color: Deep brown, 'ganic eyes

-Hair Style/Color: Ares has wavy black hair. She usually keeps it up in a bandana and out of her face while she's working.

-Height: 6'3, 191cm

-Clothing Style: Ares' style leans towards the practical--anything she can get dirty and not worry about it too much. She likes pieces that are well made, and meant to last, sturdy jeans, leather jackets, and hard-wearing nomad tops, and work boots. When she's working she keeps her hair tied up with a bandana and out of her face, and has a pair of goggles hanging around her neck. She keeps buying pairs and losing them, so there's at least 6 different pairs scattered throughout her house. Her preferred colors are earth tones, with flannels mixed in, and comfy, fitted tanktops. She's not afraid to show off her tattoos. They cover her arms and most of her chest, and she likes being able to see them. Most of her clothing is a little worn, a little dusty but she tries to clean up before she goes into the city, even if it's only switching out her jacket for one that doesn't have splotches of oil on it.

-Best Physical Feature: She used to be insecure about it, but over time she's come to love her nose and freckles. It's not the smallest but it has character and she thinks its interesting, and can't imagine herself looking differently. The freckles are little reminders of how much time she spends in the sun, hiking, and exploring and driving--doing the things she enjoys.

Layer 02: The Inside

-Fears: Being alone--it's just her and her dogs and her mechs in the Badlands, and most of the people in her life are temporary presence, and there's the desire to get attached, but the expectation that they'll leave too. It's something she's usually good at ignoring but there's occasionally the fear that she'll never meet anyone, and it'll always just be her.

-Guilty Pleasures: Sleeping in late, campfire coffee (she doesn't like the fancy stuff), and really good melons (she blames Dakota, and her stash of real fruit for that one). She also loves watching the street races in the city--being surrounded by all the cars and people is additctive to her.

-Biggest Pet-peeves: People who try to stiff her out of payment for their cars--happens more than she'd like to admit, especially with a handful of her more unruly clients. It's one of the few ways to genuinely get her mad, and just the absolute disregard that a lot of the people in Night City have for the Nomads--wrinkled noses and passing to the other side of the street. She knows that it's partially a lack of knowing/unfamiliarity, but it doesn't mean it doesn't sting. Or that she's treated differently when she's dressed like someone from the city, as opposed to someone from the Badlands.

-Ambitions for the Future: Ares would like to keep running a garage, but move closer to the border of Night City, and somewhere it's easier to acquire new parts for her job. It's inconvenient to have to keep making trips and they eat through gas like crazy. She wouldn't want to cut ties to the Badlands completely but I can see her settling in the city, or at least nearby if there's enough incentive, and more clients. and she wouldn't be opposed to finding someone to share it with.

Layer 03: Thoughts

-First thought waking up: Five more minutes pleaseeee--and then 10, and then 15, and so on. Her dogs usually get her out of bed, and then her first thoughts are getting them fed and watered and walked before taking care of her/figuring out her plans for the day

-What they think about most: Ares' mind bounces from topic to topic, but she's usually thinking about her cars/work--the hobby and her job tend to blend together, and her work-life balance is dubious at best. And then her dogs--they're basically her children, and you can usually see them hanging around the garage while she works/supervising. She's always planning her next foray into the city, and what places she's going to hit up, or where she's going to hike next--her mind is rarely still.

-What they think about right before bed: Not much, Ares stays up until she's exhausted, and sleeps hard. She has time for couple errant thoughts, usually involving the day she's had or going over earlier conversations before she's asleep.

-What they think their good quality is: Ares is warm, and very engaging. She loves to listen to others talk, and give them a place where they can feel safe doing so, and feel heard. She cares a lot, and this can lead to her wearing her heart on her sleeve a little but it's also a strength of hers too.

Layer 04: Either Or

-Single or group dates: Ares likes either, it depends on whether the mood is more intimate/focused or more adventurous, and the other parties personal preferences. She's always down for exploring the Badlands or Night City, so she'd seldom turn down the opportunity. If it's just her and another person, she prefers to go somewhere more quiet so they can hear each other better, and get the opportunity to know each other more.

-To be loved or respected: Ares would much rather be loved. She knows that's always going to be people that don't respect her, and instead of looking for it in people that she knows she's never going to get it from, she choses to prioritize relationships where it's mutual. She's not someone who wants to have a deal of authority, or be respected in that regard--she'd rather be left to her own devices, than have people she has to manage.

-Beauty or Brains: Ares is fascinated by a good conversation or one that can make her think. It's not to say that she doesn't notice beauty, but it's not the most important thing to her, and her definitions of beautiful have always been a bit skewed anyway, more drawn to gleaming chrome, and danger than what's traditional. And she sees the beauty in being able to understand someone--see how their mind works, hear them reason things out and how the world looks through their eyes.

-Dogs or Cats: Ares is definitely a dog person--she loves how affectionate they are, and loyal, and they're easier for her to travel with than cats. She doesn't have anything against the latter, but prefers dogs. She has two, a pit bull (Luna), and a chihuahua (Jiji).

Layer 05: Do They…

-Lie?: Occasionally--she tries not to, and it's not as if it makes much different because she's not very good at it. She'll tell little white lies to save someone's feelings, or not be rude, but she's not good at coming up with one on the spot, and would rather just be honest. If there's something she doesn't want to talk about, she'll usually talk around it or try to redirect the conversation than outright lie.

-Believe in themselves?: Sometimes. Ares is confident in her physical skills/mostly confident in her appearance, but when in an unfamiliar environment, she's much less confident, and more hesitant. There's a bit of insecurity in who she is as a person, and perceived lack of adequacy--she knows she's not organized, or the most together, and sometimes things slip through the cracks, and it's a source of guilt and worry for her.

-Believe in love?: Yes--she definitely has, Ares loves easily and strongly, and has had her heart broken a couple times. It hasn't swayed her completely, but she tries to keep it more quiet than she had previously, and there's more hesitation

Layer 06: Have They...

-Been on stage?: No, and doesn't have much desire to--Ares doesn't want to be in the spotlight, and would much rather have it focused on someone else.

-Done drugs?: They've never appealed, although this is more from a lack of access than any moral objections to them. They were expensive and hard to obtain, fortunately for her. The Corpo stims and their ability to push productivity would be a little too tempting for her

-Changed who he was to fit in?: She hasn't in the Badlands, but it's something she struggles with more in Night City, and feels awkward and out of place in comparision. The Badlands are what make sense to her, and Night City is so different, with a completely different, unsaid set of rules, that everyone seems to know but her. It's less of an attempt to fit in, and more of one to just avoid trouble, which she seems to have a proclivity for wandering in to

Layer 07: What's their...

-Favorite Color: Earth tones--olive, terra cotta, sage, brick red. She leans towards warmer, more muted colors.

-Favorite Animal: Ares loves dogs, but horses are also another favorite--there's something really fascinating about them to her, even if she'd never own one

-Favorite Book: Ares reads just about anything she can get her hands on--romance, fantasy, fiction or nonfiction, it doesn't really matter to her. Her favorites are romance novels, the trashier the better, and they're definitely a guilty pleasure of hers. She loves poetry too--especially ones about the natural world. Kerouac's particularly resonante with her, and she has a couple verses that she's penned out scattered around her house.

"As I was hiking down the mountain with my pack I turned and knelt on the trail and said 'Thank you, shack.' Then I added 'Blah,' with a little grin, because I knew that shack and that mountain would understand what that meant, and turned and went on down the trail back to this world."

-Favorite Game: Ares likes activities over games, especially because most games necessitate memorizing more rules than she wants to--she'd rather go for a hike or practice her guitar, or read, over playing a board game. She won't say no to an occasional game of cards though, to pass time if someone else offers.

-Day their next birthday will be: March 21st

-How old they will be: 28 (she's the only one out of the three siblings that knows her birthday)

Layer 08: I…

-I Love: Learning, whether it's about people or machines, and figuring out how they work

-I Feel: Curious--my life feels like it's heading in a different direction than I'd expected and I don't know if that's a good or bad thing yet

-I Hide: My fears and worries, that I'll just be alone. I should be grateful to have what I have, and the independence but I wish I could share it with someone

-I Miss: My parents, and feeling that belonging. I couldn't keep moving with the Nomads, but I wish I had a place where it felt like I fit

-I Wish: To find a sense of purpose, something new--I need a change, to unlearn old patterns and discover something else, instead of what's comfortable and safe.

#cyberpunk 2077 #virtual photography #cyberpunk ocs #oc: ares tanner #character headcanons #my writing #aaaa this took way longer than it should have--I'd like to do Avi's too eventually <3

[femslashhistorian]

Trekkerverse Christine Chapel/T’Pring series fic rec

Alsike is one of my favorite authors, but I had not read any of their Christine Chapel/T’Pring fics until recently as I had never watched Strange New Worlds. In late December they published an AU that sounded like fun and I overcame my reluctance and I read it (after all I had watched other Star Trek before). I did not regret it as I was able to get into this hilarious story and I loved it. (Hint: read The One Where They're Professors)

After that I was hooked on the ship and continued to read this series of T'Pristine stories, and I couldn't stop.

They blend philosophy, Star Trek and a beautiful love story into a spectacular fanfiction trilogy.

Trekkerverse Series by Alsike

Fandom: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (TV)  

Ship: Christine Chapel/T'Pring (f/f)

The Trekkerverse series also includes a couple of loosely connected stories for another ship, but the three Christine Chapel/T’Pring stories form a trilogy

1) A Hermeneutics of Ass-Fucking by Alsike

Complete, 1 chapter, 6k words, 2022

Mature; No Archive Warnings Apply

“So far as I can tell, most worthwhile pleasures on this earth slip between gratifying another and gratifying oneself. Some would call that an ethics.” Maggie Nelson, The Argonauts

Dr Christine Chapel always figured that T'Pring was a Vulcan's Vulcan, and never expected to find her here, on Betazed, living a very different life than she'd had before. But, no one gets out of a relationship with Spock unscathed. And sometimes the ways you tried to change yourself to keep him end up showing you who you want to be.

2) Erotic Vulcan Love Poetry by Alsike

Complete, 1 chapter, 7k words, 2022

Teen and up; No Archive Warnings Apply

It had just been a one time thing--sex to soothe the hurt feelings and lingering resentments between them. But both being attached to universities and the good old conference circuit means that Dr Christine Chapel and T'Pring are still in each other's orbits. And well--good sex is good sex, right? No reason to turn it down.

There's no way this could become feelings.

Fuck.

3) Like a Sea Turtle to their Beach by Alsike

Complete, 9 chapters, 38k words, 2022

Teen and up; No Archive Warnings Apply

Vulcan calls.

Things have been going well for Christine and T'Pring, negotiating how to be together and feel settled in their relationship. But both good things and bad things can make things harder. The emergent telepathic bond should be a good thing: it's a connection, a sign of intimacy. But it's also a reminder of everything T'Pring has lost.

When the family that disowned her after the disaster of the kaliffee requests her return, T'Pring is certain that they won't want her back, not who she is now--who she's _with_ now. But she needs to go anyway and find a way to leave her past behind so she can fully move forward.

-----

My Thoughts

This is an amazing series of fics that you should definitely read if you are into Star Trek and femslash fanfiction.

It is very well written and the characters are beautifully flashed out (really great for someone who did not watch this show). Ultimately this is a enemies to lovers story; maybe more of an "I hooked up with the ex of my ex and fell in love" story.

The 3rd part is the longest and explores T'Prings past, her struggle as an outcast and the possible reconciliation with her family.

It takes place mostly on Vulcan and dives deep into Vulcan society and its issues with (non)conformity. And it does wrap up T'Pring's and Christine's love story when they finally overcome their insecurities.

This is an incredible trilogy of fics, an amazing love story and one of the best Star Trek stories that I have ever experienced. And that includes a lot of official novels and canon shows and movies.

 Quote from A Hermeneutics of Ass-Fucking

Christine was both out of her depth and really in her depth at the same time. She felt herself smiling, a little manically. This was definitely not okay. “Yeah, you want to spank me or something? Because I really don’t think this is the best way to handle emotions. Which, as human, talking to a Vulcan, is kind of a hilarious thing to say.”

“Do you want to be spanked?”

Christine froze.

“I had not thought of that. But if that is something you enjoy, we can include it as part of our pre-sexual negotiation.”

Addendum: How much Star Trek do you need to know?

Of course, you'll be fine if you watched Strange New worlds, but I think there are also other ways to enjoy this trilogy if you did not watch this show but have some prior knowledge of Star Trek and Vulcans.

I have never watched Strange New Worlds but I have watched a lot of the older Star Trek shows and movies and read a lot of the novels from the 80s and 90s. I really loved the ones focused on Vulcan society, Vulcan culture and Human & Vulcan interaction (and not just Spock) and I felt right at home when I read this trilogy.

Even if you know very little about Star Trek, it is worth doing some googling to read this story.

Update (added after the original post): 

The author wrote more excellent fics in the series and more stand alone fics for this ship. Check them out!

Notes:

This was cross-posted to tumblr and my WordPress blog. Check it out for more femslash fanfic recs. 

#christine chapel x t'pring #star trek femslash #star trek femslash fic rec #fanfic rec #fanfiction recommendation

[yuridovewing]

Do you have any pmd ocs?

*grabs my toyhouse* do you know what you've just done

I'VE GOT TOO MANY!!!

Jokes aside, my biggest hyperfixation is my own PMDverse lmaoooo. It involves both my interpretations of canon characters and plotlines (which take a backseat admittedly but theyre fun to ruminate on while i replay the games) and my own PMD plotline! It's called Starfall and it features these three dweebs called Team Starlight as they're all trapped in Ultra Space and have to make their way back home, as well as find the other Pokemon who have been lost to Ultra Space (like Asha's family, the Rescue Team Silverwind)

There isn't really a Hero/Partner dynamic with any of these, though the closest would probably be Skylar/Asha.

Valerie is a Popplio with aura deficiency from being kept in her egg for too long, so she's had a very sheltered upbringing due to her overprotective brother. She's in the most dangerous position and she's the newest victim to Ultra Space, so Skylar and Asha have taken her under their wing to protect her. She's a very kindhearted and loving Pokemon, who tries to see the best in others, but she's also rather ignorant. She also harbors deep insecurity though because of her condition. She has always wanted to be an explorer, but never believed she could be one. While she's frightened, a part of her is also a little excited at the opportunities being in Ultra Space will give her. Though she doesn't know what sort of plot she's been thrown into...

Skylar is the "Hero", a human who was turned into a Pokemon with no memories of their human life. They're the de facto leader of the group and are actually very excited to be in Ultra Space: they're fascinated by how the Ultra Beasts live and they welcome the adventure they've been thrown into. They can be very rash and run into situations- they get a little too comfortable too quickly, which can annoy the Ultra Beasts. They don't really even mind being an Espurr- Aside from the headaches, it feels better than their human body... at least for now. But their amnesia terrifies them- whenever they're asked about their human past, they can't say anything- they just feel anxiety.

Asha is a Gligar that's very cautious and reserved, and wants as little nonsense and distraction as possible at achieving their goal of finding their family and home. Which is hard when you're a dimension traveler with two very curious companions. She's the one keeping everyone on track... with varying success. But her biggest issue is that she's actually a "glitch". She's the child of two Pokemon from different timelines that were never supposed to meet. So her aura is very unstable and can cause distortions. She believes that strong emotions make it worse, so they try to keep their emotions under wraps- which is difficult since they have a short fuse. She's deeply ashamed of this and is very resentful of her condition, and even wonders if she's more of a liability than an asset. Though they want to find their family again... they wonder if it'd be safer to stay out of their lives.

Can't get into all of it without spoilers but yeah I'm kinda obsessed with them. Those are the main three but I have several ocs that I sorta hyperfixate on one at a time- current one is Team Silverwind actually but I haven't properly updated their bios LOL. Please ask me about them though I love them sooooo much

(I also have a PMD OC askblog called @bugsofpetalroot which I haven't updated in a hot minute because I got too anxious, which I've been trying to work on, but I'll get back to it a in a bit I swear. It's about autistic bugs trying to find community in a world that feels like it's out to get them. Also I primarily post about these guys on my main @perenlop and art blog @asterbats. I actually just posted some stuff of my new PSMD team last night hee hee :3)

#also uhhh note some of the toyhouse stuff is outdated LOL im still updating some of these profiles #but yeah. im autistic about these things #mail #buddyfrjend

[koocycle]

That one ask about why over wine is so great>>>>>> I totally agree! This depiction of two imperfect people who suck at communicating has to be one of my favs yet. It's so bothersome when a male is acting so mid towards his s/o but he's portrayed as a "saint" for having the "patience" to "deal with" his woman. When in actuality he's being complacent and expecting the problem to solve itself if he brings flowers, and then his sweet little wife will go back to being happy being a trophy for him to show off. So, it's very refreshing to see this kind of portrayal. Sure, oc is a bit sassy and passive aggressive, but part of it is bc she feels the outcome wouldn't be in her favor if she were vulnerable. So, the only way to feel like she's won is to fight jk instead, to win against him instead of the problem, but we know that the "win" is only a win in the moment. And mind y'all that this is a woman who feels like she's lost her individuality. She doesn't have any purpose for herself to explore and put on effort towards. She can relax all day but take it from someone who knows, staying at home all day doing nothing gets so damn depressing. If it was a dude in her place, (trash) people would suddenly give a damn and preach about how unfair and frustrating that would be but they'll portrayed a woman with the same problems as unappreciative and snobby. The thing with jk is that each and every time he's like, "you don't have to lift a finger" but that doesn't mean oc doesn't want to. It's frustrating and stifling. When people are able to live comfortably, they will still work because we all need to keep our hands busy with things that we love. And in the end jk might be "trying" but you can't say you're attempting to fix things with all your might, when your solution to helping a deep wound between you two is just soothing it with expensive pain relief. It won't get rid of the wound, and while it may ease the pain in the beginning, it's only temporary, and oftentimes, when you take the same pain reliever for so long, it soon stops taking any effects and might even cause more harm than before. His luxury bags and dresses are nice, but the perks aren't really there anymore, it's overused and the pain still comes back. Without trying to mend things with anything of substance, those things he buys end up being useless. Can't patch up a marriage with duct tape bestie 🫡 He can't replace his absence with gifts and he can't take away boredom with luxury. And then my guy has the gall(is that right) to be jealous of other dudes who pay attention to her in public spaces. Jk! She needs u and she needs hobbies 😭😭😭

So basically, it's such an amazing work and you're so cool for it!! Idk if any of that made sense but oh well! I like the story and the depth that the characters have and you're amazing at writing 😘

thank you so much for taking your time to send this in 🥹 i appreciate you so much!!

very true when you say it’s sad to see that he thinks their problems will just vanish with the help of luxury gifts and a steady paycheck at the end of the month. while he gets praised for his work, she just gets to stand by his side like a trophy, yet shes lowkey treated as a nobody. almost like her attitude is some sort of defense mechanism!

and i love you so much for adressing the issue at hand, where you describe her as “someone who has lost her individuality”. i’m taking it from you and me both when you say it gets damn depressing to stay home every single day. there are people who can do it, and there are people who can’t. but models are very creative individuals! creative people need a space to let their creativity run free and often times when they don’t have the opportunity to, they can become very miserable! i mean, did you see the difference during the scene with taehyung? it was huge!! she definitely appreciates jungkook for everything he gives her, but she doesn’t need much of it at this point.

you’re the one who’s so cool for taking your time to send in your thoughts!! 🤍 really, you’re making my day here :( thank you ily

#inbox: over wine

[cocosnows]

A Lone Sword

This is an AU that explores a different outcome on the incident at the twins’ house, as well as insights on Vergil’s attachment to the Yamato and overall a new perspective on their brotherhood.

NOTES: It is super self-indulgent and might be out of character/I got the DMC lore wrong. English is not my first language and I have no experience in writing, so excuse me if it’s poorly written.

Thank you for reading! ^^

———————————————————————

Chapter 1

“Life had always been this way… and it will always be” — a young Vergil pondered as he walked around his house. He had always thought Dante was a spoiled brat. Even as twins, he felt Dante always did whatever he wanted whenever he said so; and the worst part was that his Mother always gave him the right.

The silver haired boys were both 12 years at the time. And they didn’t seem to get along too well, as they both seemed to differ in energy levels and preferred activities. But somehow, Dante, seemed to always win the arguments whenever they fought (which was very often, by the way). This bothered Vergil greatly, as he felt it unfair.

“When am I ever going to get MY time…”, Vergil pondered.

“It’s always do what Dante wants… but why can’t I do whatever ~I~ want once in a while”

As the child thought this, an idea popped up in his mind. He thought it would be a good idea to watch over the books of the local library as he usually did, to keep those stressful thoughts away; and have that desired alone time after a long day of dealing with Dante’s carefree whims.

When Vergil arrived to the library, the shopkeeper was actually joyous to see him. It seemed that the child’s visits came more and more often as time passed— and the librarian loved his enthusiasm and curiosity towards the books, which was rare amongst the children of that small city.

The child couldn’t stop looking at that one specific book: a collection of poems written by William Blake. The librarian felt some sort of deep compassion and understanding for the child, and turning to him in a gentle voice he said:

“Do you like that book…?”

The child turned to see the man and nodded with a worried expression. The man smiled, and told him:

“It’s ok… you can have it. It’s all yours”

The child’s face lit up.

“Really?! Thank you so much!”

The child picked up a pen and drew his initial on the cover of the book, much to the librarians’ surprise. After he finished drawing, he told the librarian:

“My twin brother… he’s always grabbing my stuff… so I have to make sure this is mine”.

The librarian let out a soft chuckle as he witnessed the innocence and spontaneity of the child.

Vergil thanked the shop owner and took off to his home. The librarian watched over him as he walked away with a fond expression.

—

After some time, Vergil arrived home. He was greeted by his twin brother’s usual high energy, which rarely ever matched his own. Today, he was carrying the wooden swords they use to play with. Vergil’s face instantly turned serious.

As soon as Dante opened his mouth, Vergil already had an answer:

“No, Dante. Not now. I want to read right now, so don’t disturb me”.

Dante frowned and told him:

“You didn’t even hear what I had to say!”,

to which the other child answered:

“I don’t care Dante! Just leave me alone!”.

Dante dropped the wooden swords in an instant and threw a slap to Vergil’s face. After this, they just kept on throwing punches to each other in a very common scene for that family… just until Eva arrived.

“Children! Oh my… what did I tell you about fighting? Look at you, you’re bleeding!”, said Eva to the boys.

The twins, having all sorts of bruises on their faces, stood up in a jolt as soon as they saw her.

“He did it! He started it!”, Vergil exclaimed, pointing at Dante.

“He didn’t even listen to me, mom! He was so rude!”, Dante answered.

The woman just sighed in distress, as she has dealt with these same quarrels countless times, and said:

“Vergil, please don’t ignore your brother—”

Just as she was about to continue, Vergil let out a loud groan.

“It is ALWAYS my fault and never HIS, I am SO DONE”, Vergil exclaimed as he ran away from his family and into the house’s garden.

“VERGIL!” Eva exclaimed, but the child refused to listen.

Dante looked over to the floor and saw the book that Vergil had brought. He picked it up and kept it. His mother decided to leave Vergil alone for the time being, so he had time to unwind. She escorted Dante back inside, while thoroughly scolding him for his aggressiveness and behavior.

Vergil walked over to a little playground and sat down on one of the benches.

“It’s always the same… he gets his way and I’m the one at fault. I can’t stand it.”

Vergil groaned.

“I wanted to read that book so bad and now he completely spoiled my mood.”

The child crossed his arms and pondered for a short while.

“It’s all Dante’s fault as always…”

Just as he was thinking this, he felt a dangerous presence behind him. In just a second, he had a swarm of demons wanting to kill him behind his back.

He swiftly dodged the demons’ attacks, but as he ran towards his home he found a grim scenario that made him froze: his home was burning in a pillar of flames. The moment he stopped in his tracks to watch the horrible scene, the demons took the opportunity and attacked him.

They pierced his body countless times with their long, slim swords. His chest, arms, legs, hands… all pierced by the demons’ weapons.

“It hurts… it hurts… it… HURTS…!”

The child was silent, but under his painful expression lied a yearn for help.

“Someone… anyone… please… help me”

The image of his mother and brother appeared inside his mind…

But no one came to his aid.

And the demons were ruthless in his endeavor, as they pierced his body until they left him unconscious.

After some time, the child woke up. His body ached and everything burned. But even so, he stood up and was determined to walk towards his home. His mind was fuzzy and the tears rolled uncontrollably down his face, but something made him go towards the house- towards his family.

As he walked, he felt some of his wounds closing and healing due to his demonic lineage, which made him able to survive such ruthless and deadly attacks. This allowed him to move a little more freely with each step.

However, the moment he picked up his pace, a second horde of demons approached him. But this time, something unexpected happened: the legendary sword Yamato appeared right before his eyes as if summoned by his desperate cries for help. He picked it up from the ground and wobblily started fending off the attacking monsters.

The boy was panting and grasping for air, but he kept walking towards his burning home, holding the Yamato close and using it to help him walk. His clothes were all ragged: he was left shirtless and covered in his own blood.

As he got closer to his house, he thought of his mother, his brother, the demons… the emotions were overflowing and he couldn’t stop crying. He thought to himself as he sobbed uncontrollably:

“I’m alone… no one is here anymore… Dante and mom… they must’ve fled… they’re… gone… … maybe mom didn’t even—”

Just as he was thinking, he heard a distant sound that made him stop in his tracks. It was a voice… a faint voice. The child’s expression changed from helpless to worried, and he turned desperate to find the source of the sound.

He walked even closer to the house and heard the faint voice again:

“Ver…gil!”

The voice was followed by several coughs.

The child’s eyes turned very big as he let out a big gasp. He exclaimed his brother’s name, hoping for an answer. He ran towards the main entrance of the house, but as soon as he was about to enter, the door busted open.

A sobbing, coughing child came out of the door, extremely agitated.

“VERGIL!”, the child exclaimed as soon as he saw his twin brother, and ran directly into him for a hug.

Vergil was suddenly petrified.

He looked behind his brother, and caught a glimpse of the grotesque scene that occurred inside his home. Dante noticed and immediately ran to close the door, sobbing profusely.

“N-no, Vergil… *hic* y-you can’t see! *hic*”, he exclaimed as he blocked the door with his body.

Vergil, with a somber expression, and tears rolling down his face, asked his brother:

“Dante… what… what happened?”

Dante started sobbing even harder. It was hard for him to catch his breath, as he inhaled a great amount of smoke. He gathered a little bit of air and, just when he was about to speak, a demon peeked behind his brother.

Dante peeled his eyes as he screamed his brother’s name.

“VERGIL!”

The child’s reflexes activated instantly, drawing out the Yamato and fending off the demons in a whim. Vergil turned to Dante again and exclaimed:

“It’s not safe here, Dante. We have to go, NOW!”

Vergil’s expression turned serious and determined, but Dante was still inconsolable. Vergil grabbed Dante by the arm and dragged him out of the house.

“With the Yamato…”, Vergil thought, “no demon… no… nothing can hurt us”.

And thus, the silver-haired children ran away from the burnt house that was once their home… with no destination and nothing more than their own company and a lone sword.

CHAPTER 2

#a lone sword #DMC #dmc dante #dmc vergil #dmc fandom #vergil #dante #dante sparda #devil may cry #dmc au #I was kinda shy to post this #hope u like it #TT #my first fanfic #so nervous #please dont flop #i made this with my tears #summoning the dmc community #dmc3 #dmc5 #i have a part 2 already #hehe #fanfic #au

[mariamariquinha]

What's behind...

Well, it's been a while since I wanted to bring this kind of "trivia" about the things I write here.

Music has always been with me as an emotional and life support - basically everything I do involves music. I love it. With my stories, it's no different; each thing takes shape through other stories that the songs I listen to tell or represent. 

Today I start with this small project for my multi-chapter stories, Versos de Placer and Bossa Nova. In the future, when I start writing more, I can keep doing it.

Let’s go, then?

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Bossa Nova - Benny ‘Borracho’ Magalon

Being a minor character in a B-movie of very dubious quality, writing for Benny is always an adventure, but at the same time a great writing exercise tool (for those who like that approach) or even pure and simple creativity. I like to say the benefit of writing for him is having the one and only physical sketch that Maurice Compte brought us, which was awesome because the guy knows how to be pretty as fuck.

ANYWAY

Bossa Nova was planned a little more closely than Versos de Placer, so even the title was chosen from a meticulous perspective of a Brazilian musical rhythm - with meaning. I've already explained this here, so I won't extend myself and go straight to the structure of the story haha

THE DIVORCE: 

The moment that kicks off the whole story is the main character's divorce. There was a past and an established relationship between everyone, but the trigger for everything we've been doing since then comes from that moment of separation.

The reader and Theo, her ex-husband, had a crisis through cheating. Therefore, this plot was thought with a song in mind:

DREAMS - FLEETWOOD MAC

I think it's common sense that the Fleetwood Mac drama yielded that impeccable album called Rumors and ‘Dreams’ is my favorite song by far - theirs, of course, because there's so much fucking artistic pain in there.

--

Now here you go again, you say you want your freedom Well, who am I to keep you down?

--

Players only love you when they're playing

--

Theodore was the antagonist due to a classic but no less painful situation, which opened wounds that the reader disassociates, but that she feels. Parents don't know about suffering; the brother, limited to a minuscule fraction of the divorce bureaucracy. She knows that, deep down, Theo became empty and selfish enough to find what he wanted, when he wanted it, no matter what it could cost him, and hopes that he will be frustrated in the end (overcoming? I don't know her). ‘Dreams’, for me, is the biggest representation of someone mourning towards a person they loved but couldn’t have because, in the end, this someone choose to be with another someone. Tell them, Stevie. Tell them! 

FEMALE ENERGY PART. 2 - WILLOW

BEING HERSELF AGAIN:

In another, slightly older post, I mentioned how I constructed father-daughter relationships differently in my two "biggest" stories, and that applies a lot with this aspect in particular. In both cases, I explored something that is personal to me, which is my relationship with the men I live with in life - I work in a predominantly male place, a father who is present but a difficult family history in this regard. Here, I think it's important to use such relationships to demystify the woman built under what she lives with a man.

The Bossa Nova reader is not as close to her mother as she is to her father; this dynamic will often interfere with her future relationships, from what to expect from a man to living with other women. When she loses Theodore, she finds herself alone. The father would not understand her like the mother, but how to talk to this figure who has always been partially distant?

--

Oh, and I'm falling into the arms of naked truth Not surprised to see the sky and know what I must do

--

I am human, I am woman Drifting down my life

--

The changes she has been going through include facing her own nature and looking for all the personality hidden in a failed relationship. We still have a lot to explore here, but I value that heartfelt, honest parallel as we build a background romantic drama.

BILLIE BOSSA NOVA - BILLIE EILISH

THE FIRST DATE:

Oh yeah, yeah, I’ll be the devil’s advocate here and give credit to a white girlie using a latin rythym to make money. SORRY. The song is a banger tho, I like Billie. 

That’s basically the beggining (where we are now btw) of Benny and reader’s relationship. No one wants to prove anything or have high expectations - it came naturally and they linked right away. A few drinks, a kiss below a lamp post, a football game and sex. Everyone could do that. Makes sense for me. 

--

'Cause waitin' for it gets so borin' A lot can change in twenty seconds A lot can happen in the dark

--

I'm not sentimental But there's somethin' 'bout the way you look tonight, mm Makes me wanna take a picture Make a movie with you that we'd have to hide

--

For me it’s the basics of: hey, found you really attractive, let’s fuck. In a way, they both don’t want complications and happens that Benny and reader can provide that to each other. I wouldn’t say they are 100% in tune, but they both agree that they should do what they should because there’s nothing better than a few orgasms. 

FADE INTO YOU - MAZZY STAR

THE FIRST TIME:

This song was mentioned in the last chapter of Bossa Nova and it wasn’t just because. 

--

I look to you and I see nothing I look to you to see the truth

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Some kind of night into your darkness Colors your eyes with what's not there

--

I think that's something we'll explore in the future, but there was a reason Benny was wary of the reader in her house and genuinely indulged in lying on the floor with her to relax. I hate being that playful type of person who puts metaphors into everything because sometimes life is life, but they both knew it wasn't going to be, generally speaking, a grab and go thing. It's the beginning of opposition to what they think will be that 'convenient meeting', even if they don't know it yet. She knew him, but she didn't know who he was; the same happens with Benny. In the living room, the two of them are discovering themselves and understanding that to get where they wanted, they would have to find a balance point, something that would erase a more difficult reality for a moment of satisfaction.

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P.S.

It's a little early to bring more of this, we have a way to go, but I think it's worth sharing this kind of creative dynamic to help set a good narrative tone and involve those who follow the story. 

I want to take this opportunity and thank everyone who has been giving me this strength here, as well as congratulating all the fanfic writers who keep sharing incredible stories with dedication and affection. You are amazing! ❤

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No pressure tags: 

@cheesybadgers

@thesandbeneathmytoes​

@nerdyreaderpapi

@thoroughlymodernminutia​

@the-hinky-panda​

@mysoulisasunflower​

#benny borracho magalon #benny magalon x reader #benny magalon fic #benny borracho magalon x reader #den of thieves #den of thieves fic #maurice compte #female reader