#wish I could say that this will be a significant drop in action

[striving-artist]

so. in your opinion. what are the knockon effects of mccarthy's speakership being so weak? in what ways will that strengthen altrightism or weaken the base gop?

At the highest level, looking at this as how it will effect the citizenry: This will change very little. Unfortunately, that's because almost nothing was going to be passed into law in the 118th Congress. So there wasn't much to reduce. And the critical stuff will get passed with the same amount of pain as it has in previous years. It will be painful, but the government will get funded, and the debt ceiling will raise as needed. The price to do it will make us all sick, but, that's not really new is it?

Drop down from 30,000 feet though...

McCarthy gave away the store. I can't say that enough. The one vote threshold to call for a vote of no confidence is insane. However, I don't think many no confidence votes will occur. What I DO think will happen is that it will be a constant threat. Kevin didn't like your tweet? time for a vote. < that's a joke, but... the minute he caves to a first stupid demand, it's over, and based on the last four days, he has the moral temerity of jello.

The already glacial pace of Congressional action will slow further. If a Democrat makes a statement that Boebert hates, and she demands that McCarthy punish the dem, and he doesn't? She can threaten to call for a No Confidence Vote. Now, obvs, Kevin doesn't want that to actually go down and embarrass him further, so he will placate her. Maybe that means caving to the direct demand, or maybe it means she gets an extra 50k in funding from his PAC. (he did this to get the 14 votes that moved. He gave them money. literally. cash in exchange for the vote. i am not joking. it is that broken in here)

This is going to give the AltRight side of the GoP a lot of potential power. Like. A crap ton of power. But there is a plus side to that. It's power, but in the same sense that receiving a big bucket of gunpowder is a lot of potential power. Sometimes, they'll use it and do things that delight their base and get them interviewed on all the shows, and terrify everyone left of them. And sometimes, they're going to blow their own hands off. Kevin will be forced to let them do what they want, and they have made clear that they want chaos. They do not want a functioning federal government, and when they manage to break something, everyone will know who to blame.

Now this part is me speculating. I know it sounds weird, but: I think that this is going to empower the AltRight in congress, and that will weaken the GoP base.

Not the zealots, they aren't going anywhere. But this is not going to be two years of bragging. It's going to be two years of republican in-fighting, which has gotten very personal, very fast. It is going to be two years of airing grievances on the news and the internet. It is going to be two years of coverage of them fighting and fighting to pass a bill by a margin of one, only for it to be DoA when it hits the Senate. It's going to be two years of the AltRight fucking around, and then rapidly finding out.

There will be people who are on the edge of Strong Support who will drift away from the party out of shame to be associated with it. There will also be folk who double down and love the GoP harder for blowing shit up. The thing is though, Most of America prefers a veneer of centrist civility, and the shenanigans that Kevin's Speakership will encourage are not going to be civil. Most Independents absolutely want that civility. The GoP does not have room to lose support. Texas was a 6pt race in 2020. Texas. The GoP is alive now because of REDMAP. which was hella effective and evil

2022's midterms should have been a bloodbath. The party in power always gets destroyed. That's how it goes. Instead, Kevin has a four seat majority. There was no red wave. There was barely a ripple. All of the things that dems ran on in 22 are going to happen again, but louder in the 118th congress. This congress is going to alienate part of their base in order to keep the others. It is going to be embarrassing for moderates and centrists, and it is going to be a joke every time Kevin has to kneel and beg for permission to do his job.

None of this is a guarantee that the GoP won't gain power or do terrible things, but within Congress, the last four days shot every republican reelection campaign in the foot. Thousands of campaign ads will be made against them using this. They looked like fools, and their opponents will make sure everyone remembers that in 2024

My biggest concern is this: Congressional Republicans have a figurehead now, not a leader, and when there is no one leading a mob, it becomes a riot.

#us politics #kevin mccarthy #wish I could say that this will be a significant drop in action #compared to if this hadn't happened #but lets not lie #the 118th was never gonna get anything done #which means we get to watch them throw tantrums

[osaevsky]

hey!! idk if ur requests are open so go ahead and just ignore this if they are or if u just don’t wanna do this request

i just wanted to ask if u could write about any bsd character(s) of ur choosing reacting to a jealous s/o?? maybe them teasing their s/o or smthh? up to you!

take caree! ( ´ ꒳`)ﾉ

⠀ wish i didn't care ⠀⠀⚝ headcanons on how they would react to their significant other being jealous. included: dazai osamu, chuuya nakahara, ryunosuke akutagawa, atsushi nakajima.⠀;    ♡

🥮⠀⠀·⠀⠀⚝⠀⠀⠀;  word count: 1.2k + warnings: not proof read. gender neutral reader, angsty if you squint, talks of jealousy, insecurity, teasing / innuendo in dazai's, talks of insecurities due to past situations, slight toxicity in akutagawa's behavior + thoughts.

🥮⠀⠀·⠀⠀⚝⠀⠀⠀;  author's note: so sorry for taking sm with the request, but thank you regardless for requesting. take care as well, moot! <;3

osamu dazai ;

appeasing any type of jealousy with dazai would be… interesting, to say the least. if it isn’t known by now that he would still flirt with other people, it’s about to be. 

he does it out of fun, to spite you even: he can’t hide it that he enjoys seeing you just slightly angry at him, taking it out one way or another. just have your fun with him after -if that’s how you want to go about it-, the thought of riling you up and getting under your skin is, truthfully, entertaining.

it’s all harmless flirting in the end. he would not take it as far as seeing you actually hurt by his actions. 

he would not bear that, nor anyone crossing his boundaries if they began to step on them just for following his ‘’harmless joke’’, that doesn’t look so harmless now that you're upset about it.

depending on how you approach the topic, that’s how he goes about it. 

if you decide to stay silent, acting as if his flirting, comments, jokes… any of that didn’t take any toll on you, yeah, he is the one that would tease you till he gets out the truth. 

dazai would feel satisfied after hours of no end, just saying ‘’c’mon! just tell me, love, what’s wrong?'' ''you felt jealous, is that it?’’ ‘’awh, that’s actually really surprising, isn’t it now?’’ 

dazai would do that till you snap. again, it’s just for the fun of getting you riled up before he actually does anything to reassure you. 

at that point, he is much softer, more caring and careful with his choice of words. he drops his persona and all that previous teasing to talk to you, kiss you, cuddle- whatever it might be that helps you feel great again and realize he is not leaving you for anybody else. 

chuuya nakahara ;

out of these four, he is the most mature one. straight to the point in all the senses. 

doesn’t do shit to make you feel jealous, ever. he would not entertain anyone’s advances, nor would he let anyone even believe they have a chance with you. 

chuuya doesn’t need to say that he is possessive or jealous out loud for it to be noticed by you. he doesn’t even feel the need to say why he is the way he is, or acts a certain way around you when he -or his insecurities- might feel threatened. 

he won’t talk about the actual root of the problem unless you’ve been together long enough that he begins to see the brighter side of opening up and explaining why he feels that, how it affects. 

now, if you’re the one feeling jealous. like it was said, he won’t entertain anyone, but if it still happens that your mind begins to wander off to some unpleasant thoughts about your relationship, or your insecurities take over, he will be straight to the point.

there’s no hiding from him, not avoiding the topic. he will read you like an open book, and it will be much more work if you keep on hiding it so just cooperate and talk it out like adults. 

chuuya would try to understand you, as always. he might be blunt, maybe a little too much since he feels dumbfounded as to why you would feel such things when he has certainly made sure he had done everything right to please you. 

but still! he will try, and he will talk it out with you one way or another. not pushing you to explain any past issues that you might have with the topic, not digging too much till he makes you feel dumb for feeling the way you feel. 

just, the right amount of talk where he gets to see you feeling secure again by his side. and he will make sure to do this every time. 

atsushi nakajima ;

my boy, he will certainly be the more insecure one in the relationship if you’re not the type to get jealous easily. well, even if you are, he will surpass you slightly. 

those feelings aren’t foreign to him, but the way to solve the issue is. it’s an issue on both sides for him. as if he hadn’t had enough on how to not feel bad for being jealous, insecure, or anxious- now he has to see you going through the same. 

and he most certainly feels bad for you as well, because he knows what it's like, and how shitty it is, but he doesn’t really know how to help you or talk it out at first. 

atsushi would notice your mood shifts, the way you gaze up at him as another persons’ eyes linger on his looks a little longer than usual, on how you hawk, making your presence known after they tried to brush their fingers against his. 

he believes that the correct way to make it up to you during those moments is to place that same hand on your thigh, squeezing it lovingly, his eyes on yours completely as he makes a question, a half-smile on his lips when he waits to hear your thoughts. 

it’s his way to make you join the conversation, to make you feel like you belong, and to make it known that you are his. his movements might be subtle, but they’re effective. atsushi is respectful, and doesn’t enjoy the thought of leaving you behind and uncomfortable, or letting any jealousy take over your emotions. 

ryunosuke akutagawa ;

fucking oblivious. to everything and anything. 

can’t even put a name on his own thoughts before you two get into an argument about it. yeah, you’re jealous, and so is he, but you’re the only one capable of actually expressing how you feel about it and why it's bothering you so much.

those conversations only arise in heated moments. either one of you both snapped at each other, or the topic was brought up at some point, and escalated. 

if he can’t even put a finger on his jealousy and see that it isn’t anger but something else, don’t expect akutagawa to see through you like any other person would and treat you kindly, and patiently. 

in fact, he actually cares. he cares for you, he loves you, and wants to keep you by his side. akutagawa can see that you want the same from him as well, which is what fuels him to actually keep going with the relationship.

but he is indifferent to higuchi’s tactics, or to anyone else's. he only sees you and he is blunt about it as well, telling straight off that he has a partner, but since he doesn’t really care about the other person, he doesn’t really stop them either. it’s a waste of time from his point of view to try anything else.

that’s why he can’t understand your thoughts and feelings. he did his job, he has announced he has a partner, why are you still arguing about it? yeah, they kept flirting, but he doesn’t care for them, so?

makes akutagawa look like a hypocrite since this story wouldn’t go the same path if you did the same (but that’s for another post).

definitely would be the hardest to actually make him understand why is so off putting to see him being nonchalant on the topic, or not being able to bring it up as it ends up in a fight. 

but he still loves you, no matter what he might say during those moments and no matter how hard it is for him to put himself in your shoes for once. akutagawa will keep trying because you’re what keeps him going. 

#bungou stray dogs #bsd #bungo stray dogs #bsd x reader #bsd x you #bungo stray dogs x reader #bsd dazai #bungou stray dogs x reader #bsd chuuya #bsd chuuya nakahara #bsd ryuunosuke akutagawa #bsd akutagawa #bsd atsushi #bsd atsushi nakajima

[mysticmunson]

can we have a blurb about reader returning to school and being cornered by jason? 🙃

so funny enough i almost wrote this in the original post but i decided not to last minute so this is perfect. i hope you enjoy this darling! i wrote this in one sitting so just let me know if i fucked something up lol.

tw: language, a/o/b dynamics, unwarranted touching (not assault)

word count: 2.1k

Waking up just as the sun peeked behind the huge oak trees in the yard, you woke to an empty bed for the first time in days, Eddie returning to his place before you both made your return to school. 

Nerves had kept you tossing and turning, wondering who knew or who would notice. You felt different, physically and mentally, and when Eddie came back from presenting, most figured it out, although an alpha’s transformation is more drastic visually.

The warmth of your sheets comforted you as you stared at the popcorn ceiling, making shapes from the ridges. The birds outside chirped to each other, rustling by and landing on a branch. Your smile at the peaceful scene was cut short by your alarm clock, jumping out of your skin before slamming it to snooze.

Applying makeup with shaky hands and putting on a blue, cotton dress with sneakers, you tried to regulate your fears before they got the best of you. Grabbing a snack on your way out, you took a long exhale once on the opposing side of your front door, wishing you could hide for a bit longer.

Your stride gained momentum as you neared Hawkins High, grateful to see Robin being dropped off by Steve, rolling her eyes at something he said from the inside of his BMW. She caught your gaze and let a grin spread across her freckled cheeks, signaling you over as Steve drove away.

“Hi Rob, thanks for your help last week.” You said as you approached her, feeling blood flood to your cheeks at your compromised state. She snorted, swinging an arm around your shoulder, her jean jacket rubbing against your bare arm.

“Anytime, just owe me a movie night this week since it didn’t happen on Friday.” She compromised, making you laugh and agree, knowing she didn’t say this with accusation. The tiled halls were bustling with students, not taking much note of who was coming in and out of the doorway.

Thankful for the busyness, you felt a significant weight being lifted from your shoulders, but still kept your eye out for Eddie. He was notoriously late, so you figured it would be awhile till he returned. 

Robin rambled about her movie night with Steve and how he hogged the popcorn and burnt it, something you always managed not to do. As she continued her rant, you saw a quick glance of a basketball player whose name you couldn’t recall. He quickly disappeared into the sea of teenagers.

Trying to shake it off, you figured it was awkward eye contact, knowing you usually cowered away with awkwardness yourself at that. You bid goodbye to Robin as you entered your first period, taking a seat at the end of the middle section, attempting to garner as little attention as possible.

As class went on, you could feel sets of eyes lingering longer than usual, blaming it on your heightened nerves and that it would all calm down soon enough. The math equations scribbled in your notebook were barely legible, foot bouncing beneath your metal seat until the first bell rang. 

Grabbing your bag, you took one step out the door until a hand grabbed you, yanking you into their chest. While the action startled you, the recognition was instant as you saw his curls, smelled his potent aura, and the lips pressed to your cheek.

“Hey pretty girl.” Eddie greeted, intertwining your fingers as you both descended down the hall. He was in an Ozzy Osbourne tour shirt from ‘84, a pair of black ripped jeans, and bracelets on his wrists with one dangling cross earring in his right ear. You wanted to bite him.

“Hi Eds.” You smiled, quickly wrinkling your nose, “Did you skip first period?” Your question made him scoff, shooting air as if he couldn’t care less. While you did care about his education and making sure he graduated this year, you both knew this past week was eventful to say the least. 

Forcing glares to anyone giving less than a smile or not looking at all, Eddie was on high alert with you on his arm, his chest puffing in authoritative nature. He had the urge to stay by you in every class, but knew the teachers would either give him detention or kick him out. 

So he dropped you off at every class, racing back when class finished to repeat the action. The only time he didn’t was when they were going to lunch as the cafeteria was right between both rooms, a bit of distance between it. 

The fluorescent lights felt more intense as your exhaustion settled, rubbing your upper brow as another scientific theory was explained poorly by the P.E. teacher who was brought in to substitute. As he began to describe Newton’s laws, the bell signaled lunch, your stomach grumbling as if on cue. 

Filing in with the array of overly energized underclassmen and chronically stressed upperclassmen, you went in the direction of the lunch room until someone called your name. Walking to the side to fully turn around, you didn’t see anyone looking your way besides for quick glances, making your brows furrow. As soon as your back turned, you heard it again, this time closer until a majority of the students were down the walkway, getting their daily dose of cold meatloaf.

“Well hi there sweetheart.” You heard a chilling voice, not belonging to the one shouting your name previously, only to notice Jason and two of his teammates beside him. Their looks made you feel two feet tall, biting the inside of your lip to avoid crying which made you even more frustrated. 

The influx of emotions were too much, if this would’ve happened weeks ago, you’d just walked away with no comment. However, your feet now felt cemented in place as he loomed over you, a few strands of his blonde hair falling out of place.

His friend backed away, continuing a conversation aside from you as Jason smiled, leaning against the lockers beside you. His eyes sparkled with mischievousness, unable to read his direct intentions.

“So a little birdie told me you had a life changing weekend…” He trailed off, his fingers trailing against your elbow, “I could take care of you, would never have to lift a finger or be scared ever again. I would keep you safe.”

Swallowing the lump building in your throat, you could only muster up a whisper, barely recognizing your voice. “Eddie takes care of me.”

This made him chuckle, rolling his eyes as he grabbed your arm lightly, his golden skin warm against your tricep. His rough fingers brushed against your dainty dress, feeling much too thin at the moment, making the tears come to your waterline.

“I could truly take care of you, want you to be my omega,” He cooed, his free hand catching the stray tear, “No need to cry, I’ve got you. I’ll drive you home today.”

As he finished his sentence, you felt your feet be lifted from the figurative quicksand,  turning on your heels. A burn blossomed within your ribcage providing you a shortness of breath as you wiped away the dampness on your cheeks. Breezing through the now empty lunch line, you bought a lemonade and treat from the end cart, the older woman giving you a look. One that meant you better eat something better tomorrow, you smiled at her in appreciation, knowing her for years.

Eddie was looking amongst the crowd before he met your sight, shoulders relaxing visibly as you walked to him, sitting at the seat saved beside him. The boys of Hellfire gave you a kind smile and a hi before going back to their campaign talk. 

“Where’s your lunch?” Eddie questioned as you popped open the plastic covering the small rice krispy treat. You shrugged, taking a bite of the sugary snack as Eddie began quietly reminding you how important it was for you to eat well, particularly after heats.

The anxiety didn’t leave as you took a sip of your drink, nearly choking on it as you saw the basketball team sitting at their typical table, including their MVP. His touch taunted you, his voice grating as he spewed false promises, but nothing felt worse than seeing his false smile and almost trusting him. 

You didn’t like Jason, but the nature aspect of alphas and omegas was irrefutable in the beginning stages. He was telling you what you wanted to hear, things Eddie didn’t have to directly vocalize because you already knew he was your alpha, knowing he would provide for you.

“What’s wrong? You’re scared.” Eddie interjected your psychoanalysis as you twisted a sticky piece of puffed rice in between your fingertips. Shaking your head, you tried listening to Gareth describing their next attack, but Eddie reigned you back in.

“Hey, talk to me, please.” He whispered, his hand grabbing your knee in a comforting manner, the best feeling you had experienced all day. Yet the whiplash of feelings made the tears resurface, opening your lips to speak before clamping them shut and scurrying out of the lunch room.

You didn’t look back as you went straight to the parking lot, inhaling the fresh air intensely as if you hadn’t breathed in a minute. The sound of sneakers followed behind you, feeling Eddie behind you mentally until his hand reached your lower back.

“It’s nothing.” You muttered, wiping your black stained tears, sniffling. It was naive to believe you could hide things from each other anymore as every interaction was more intense than the last, feeling your bodies mush into one cohesive response system.

He didn’t need to edge you on, only raising his eyebrows and staring down at you. Damn those soft, brown eyes that always made you melt, enticing you with every blink. He hugged you close to his chest, hearing his heartbeat evenly. 

“Jason talked to me in the hallway,” His body instinctively tensed, “S-said he wanted to be my alpha, drive me home, and take care of me. I don’t want that, you’re my alpha.” Nuzzling deeper against his band tee, his jaw clenched in an attempt to reign in his anger.

“He’s not going to lay a hand on you, baby doll, but let me pay him a visit.”

The final bell rang to signal everyone out for the day, escaping as fast as you could for the gravel filled parking lot. You waited near the steps for Eddie as cars sped off, blasting the newest Billy Joel or Soft Cell record, much different from your alpha’s taste.

Peace only lasted so long though as Jason drove around the road, looping back to pull up in front of you. His car purred to a stop, hopping out and pushing his sunglasses to his hairline. 

The green letterman jacket on his arms squeaked as he outstretched his arms, waiting for you to come closer until he saw your hesitation, sauntering a few inches closer. His breath fanned against your face, tickling your lower lashes to make you blink harshly.

“You have two seconds to back the fuck off, Carver.” Eddie all, but growled at the shorter man before him, leaving the double doors a foot behind you. 

Anger was laced with every word as his disdain for the spoiled rich kid interfered with his newfound alpha protectiveness. His knuckles cracked as they clenched at his sides, only opening a hand to push you behind his frame. 

“How about you learn to treat your girl right-” Jason began until Eddie grabbed him by the collar, lifting him from the ground. 

While they both were newfound alphas, having an omega meant enhanced results, like an increase in strength. He saw the flash of fear in his light colored eyes, making his brain produce serotonin. 

“Say one more thing to her and you’ll never speak again or be able to have children, got it?” He ordered, watching as the boy in his grasp rolled his eyes before he slammed his body into his car, grunting in pain.

“Eddie, please.” You begged softly, not wanting to risk suspension or a crowd of people who couldn’t give less of a shit of his well being. Thankfully Jason nodded, making Eddie release his firm grasp before walking you back to his van.

The ride was quiet as he drove down the winding roads of Indiana, the leaves going from green to orange, some scattering the ground. His hand rested on your upper thigh, tight as if you would vanish right beneath him. A part of him feared you would really leave him for Jason, someone who could take care of you financially and not have the town's eyes on them in a negative light.

“I wouldn’t dream of leaving you, handsome.” You spoke as if to his thoughts as he smiled, eyes still trained on the black road before him, lifting your hand to put a gentle kiss on your soft skin. 

#elora writes #elora rambles #alpha!eddie munson x omega!reader #alpha!eddie munson #omega!reader #eddie munson stranger things #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson imagines #eddie munson smut #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson #eddie munson gif #wayne munson #stranger things 4 #st fanfic #rockstar eddie munson #eddie munson oneshot #eddie munson lives #eddie munson headcanons #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x you

[hopleii]

what I think karasuno's love language is. . .

content: karasuno x gn!reader (seperate), fluff, not proofread, idk what else

a/n: first time writing for these many characters so excuse the trashy writing kwjaudhwfe

WORDS OF AFFIRMATION

men who thrive on verbal expressions of affection and loves giving it back! he finds joy and fulfillment in using his words to uplift and appreciate his partner. for him, giving sincere compliments, and positive and reassuring words is his way of showing his love and affection! frequently expresses his affection verbally, often saying "I love you" and reminding his partner of the love they share <33

sugawara, nishinoya, daichi, hinata, yamaguchi, kinoshita, tanaka

ACTS OF SERVICE

men who live by the quote "actions speak louder than words" and puts in effort to make his partner's life more comfortable and easier. whether it's cooking a meal, running errands for you, or helping you in any possible way he could, it's him saying "I love you"! even if it's a small gesture such as leaving thoughtful notes or doing a small task for you, his intentions are pure and he just wants to show how much he cares about you and cherishes you <33

asahi, daichi, kageyama, tsukishima, ennoshita, sugawara, narita

GIFT GIVING

men who love giving you gifts, it doesn't matter if it's expensive or not as long as it reminds him of you he's buying it and shoving it in your face! he often buys things that he thinks you'd like or things that would help you in your everyday life! he is attentive to your wishes and desires, often taking note of hints dropped in conversations to surprise you with something you wanted. <33

tanaka, nishinoya, yamaguchi, asahi, daichi, kinoshita, hinata, tsukishima (controversial but !!!)

QUALITY TIME

men who would spend all eternity with you as long as it makes you happy, it doesn't matter what time of day or night, he wants to be with you! he loves your company, just being with you and basking in silence is enough to send butterflies to his stomach. whether it's a hobby, watching a movie, cooking, or exploring new places he's happy just being with you! he craves deep and meaningful conversations that allow him to share his and your thoughts, emotions, and dreams. <33

tsukishima, daichi, hinata, yamaguchi, asahi, sugawara

PHYSICAL TOUCH

men who find feelings of comfort by touching you, holding you, anything. he'd always crave your touch and loves holding your hand, making comforting and affectionate motions on your palm with his thumb, thrives on physical contact, often seeking hugs, cuddles, and close embraces to feel connected with you! also kisses, whether they're sweet pecks or passionate kisses, they hold deep significance for him as expressions of love! <33

hinata, sugawara, ennoshita, tanaka, nishinoya, asahi

© — hopleii

#haikyuu #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu karasuno #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x you #haikyuu x y/n #haikyuu x gender neutral reader #hq x reader #hq x you #hq x gender neutral reader #sugawara koushi #sugawara x reader #daichi sawamura #daichi x reader #asahi azumane #asahi x reader #tanaka ryuunosuke #tanaka x reader #nishinoya x reader #nishinoya yuu #tsukishima kei #tsukishima x reader #kageyama tobio #kageyama x reader #hinata shouyou #hinata x reader #yamaguchi tadashi #yamaguchi x reader #works—💌

[always-outlander]

Outlander 7x02 Thoughts & Easter Eggs

Spoilers below the cut for “The Happiest Place on Earth”

Wow, what an episode! There’s so much to unpack here but I will start by saying that I deeply enjoyed this one. A lot of direct from the book dialogue, some plot that was reworked and-in my opinion-for the better. Brilliant acting by many but especially Sam and Cait. It had a lot squeezed into it but let’s get into it.

Alan Christie

To start, we finally had the resolution for Malva and learned that Alan not only assaulted and abused her for her entire life, but was also the one who killed her. This was such a sensitive storyline and to have those flash backs with Malva made me emotional. Jessica Reynolds is a wonderful actress and her Malva was perfect. This scene was the first one I could feel the pain point of having to end season 6 prematurely. The gap between Malva’s death, followed by the hiatus, to now reach the culmination here almost made the impact of Malva’s death take a back seat to the beginning of these new storylines. You can feel that 7x01 and 02 were meant to be a part of that ending, but what can you do 🤷🏻‍♀️ that’s me being nit picky.

But back to Alan. This was almost exactly what happened in the books and I was happy that Young Ian made such a brief appearance. That spacing between episodes likely made people forget that he had a little romance happening with Malva, but his honor once again rang true with his actions here.

Major continuity error with Claire’s wig though– only when she is burying Alan does her hair grow 3 inches, then magically is cut again for the remainder of the episode.

Mrs Bug

Book readers know the upcoming storyline with Mrs. Bug, and we set the foundations this episode when Wendigo and his men come to the Big House in search of gem stones. There they uncover Arch Bug’s hidden gold (which is very significant later on). I loved seeing this preview of what is to come.

Mandy’s Birth

Amanda Fraser is born and we get a very quick moment of happiness for this little family, when the hammer drops that she has a serious heart condition that Claire cannot fix. This is the impetuous behind the MacKenzie’s and the Frasers separating for what I assume will be majority of the season. The scene with them all at the stone circle was very touching and I felt like Cait and Sam’s acting shined brightly here. The best part for me was the quote from Jamie taken directly from the books where he tells Claire

“For your sake, I will continue–though for mine alone…I would not.”

I also deeply enjoyed the Disney tie ins from the book, the humorous moment where Jamie tries to understand how a giant rodent is meant to be fun for children, and his wishes to Jemmy to give a mouse named Michael his regards. All direct from the books, and delivered perfectly.

Bree meets William

The moment we’ve (I’ve) been waiting for, WILLIAM has graced our screens. Though it was short, I squealed when I saw him and Lord John together, especially him in his red coat. You can certainly see the resemblance and while we have yet to see his acting chops on full display, Charles appears to be a perfect casting. He has the cocky confidence of a young Jamie Fraser down pat, I’m curious to see what other nuisances he brings to the role.

Lord John and Jamie

This scene was touching and so well done, Sam and David have always had such great scenes together and really made this relationship between these two men such a beautifully complicated thing. John has long been trying to convince Jamie to do the right thing and fight for the British, but you can see his true intentions here more than ever. If Jamie fights for the British, he can protect him. When Jamie chooses to fight opposite John and William, he knows he cannot.

In a last act of love and friendship, John returns the gem to Jamie from his escape at Ardsmiur. Something we know meant so much to John. His love for Jamie will always win out in the end, and I loved that the scene had room to breathe at the end. John crying alone in his room, and Jamie’s pause outside the door and his watery eyes was perfectly done.

Claire’s Breakdown

In the last scene of episode 1, Claire and Jamie have a discussion about Tom Christie and his confession. In the show, they chose to end that scene with Claire going to sleep while Jamie takes revenge on Richard Brown (and what a badass scene that was). In the books, the moment ends with Claire and Jamie trying to be intimate again, and Claire having a breakdown.

The show has now taken that scene and moved it into episode 2, which actually felt a lot better to me having watched it this way. I was sad that this moment was removed from episode 1 but beyond happy to see it here because it was another wonderful showcase of Sam and Cait’s acting and Claire and Jamie’s love. In the books, Claire cries because she is sad for Tom, for Malva, for Frank. Jamie tells Claire to weep for them because you “canna keep a ghost at bay. He tells her to let them in and grieve for them so she can heal.

In the show, Claire cries for the loss of her family –Fergus and Marsali, the MacKenzies, and Jamie mentions Faith, Murtagh, his mother and brother. They have both lost so many, and he encourages her to cry for them. To me this was so much more poignant and relevant to the events of the episode. I really loved this change.

The Throwing of the Gem

Another iconic scene the we finally got to see brought to life was when Jamie gives Claire the gem stone and tells her that she can go with Bree, or go back if he should die. The acting in this was so perfect and in the books, Claire throws the stone far into the woods to prove to Jamie once again that she is never leaving him. I enjoyed his little jab that she should probably go and recover it.

Wendigo Donner

The return of Wendigo Donner finally closed the loop on the big house fire, and I’m so excited to see how the beginning of episode 3 starts. The highlight of this scene for me was the callback to season 3, when Claire is pretending to be abducted so that Jamie can get what he needs from Lord John Grey. In this scene (and in the books) Jamie is lying to Donner about not having gemstones in the house, but then changes his tune once Claire’s life is in danger. He leans into the ‘disgruntled husband upset with his wife’ tune and tells Donner that Claire hid all the stones while he was away, so she is the only one who knows there location (thus making it impossible to kill her). The humor in Claire’s eyes made me laugh in an otherwise tense scene.

We get much of the same dialogue and story beats as the books here but the one subtle change happens when Jamie finds out that the man in their house is in fact Donner and not some random group of men looking for money. As soon as he hears his name, he lunges for Donner to seek revenge on what he had done to Claire.

In the books, Claire slips out of Donners arms and lunges after him, with Jamie holding her back at the waist. They try to plot an escape but one thing leads to another and Jamie actually kills Donner with a knife before the ether explodes. In the books, it is because Young Ian lit a match to help illuminate the dark room everyone was sitting in. Big change, subtle change, but one I’m interested in seeing them explain next episode.

All in all I loved this one, I’m enjoying the changes made and the pacing of this felt better than the first episode. Would love to hear your thoughts!

#outlander #outlanderedit #jamie x claire #jamie fraser #claire fraser #sam heughan #claire x jamie #jammf #caitriona balfe #james alexander malcolm mackenzie fraser #outlander 7x02 #outlander ep: the happiest place on earth #outlander books #outlander spoilers

[thotsforvillainrights]

I dont know if these are if y’all comfortable with this sort of request, so I’ll write down two under the same umbrella.

1. A smutty fic of spinner’s pregnant s/o bouncing on him while he’s gaming

Or

2. Egg laying (I’ll let you have some creative freedom on this one)

If your uncomfortable with both, then maybe spinner pounding at his s/o will be just as fine as well

(I wish I was comfy enough to expand my smut capabilities but alas, I'm just relatively too vanilla for these things. Maybe it would've been different had I answered this earlier and not went through what I went through here recently with my loss... And then on top of that, I'm just way too boring for the egg laying. I'm sorry anon, but I will still try to deliver some reasonable Spinner smut for you.)

~Serious~

-Shuichi Iguchi Smut-

Serious-acting or speaking sincerely and in earnest, rather than in a joking or halfhearted manner.

No time like the present right? Why hold something back when you can be honest at this very moment. Besides, he'd appreciate it right? Hiding how you feel about things would only hurt him in the long run. They bubble up and spill over, tainting and blurring the lines of your otherwise comfy relationship.

You roll over to your side and watch him mindlessly scrolling on his phone. His eyes seem dead tired and his head is obviously elsewhere. Why else would his finger be scrolling so quickly, not even pausing to watch more than a millisecond of the videos on his page. Seems like there's something on his mind as well. You're not able to put a finger on the sudden split second panic that dropped your heart when his eyes quickly shifted toward you. Both of you swallowed, staring a hole into each other for a while now. He locks his phone up, sighs, and places it on the messy bedside table before turning himself on his side, mirroring you. "Is something wrong?" You ask first. He takes a moment to search for the right words to say. Finally he decided to just come out with it, his own thoughts circulating around what he's been hiding from you first. Imagine your surprise when he admits it.

The very thing you wanted to bring up for yourself.

"I don't think I'm serious enough in bed. Y/N it worries me. I always ask how you feel and you always tell me things are great. But that's the problem. I don't want them to be just great yknow? I want them to be amazing. I was chatting with Dabi the other day and I asked him some advice on...personal things. I wish I could sum up what he told me in a better way but he essentially called me a sissy and that I was lackluster and not-" You smile sweetly and place a single index finger over his lips to silence him. The worry hasn't left his eyes despite the calm and reassuring look in yours. "First of all, it's no good to listen to Dabi. You remember the last time you asked him for advice and he made you insecure for the rest of the week, right?" You watch him slowly nod, silently cringing at the memory. "Second of all, yes I was actually going to bring it up myself. I don't want you to think too hard on it! I wanted to say it without hurting you or making you think you're not good enough. I love the way you treat me. I love how gentle you are but I'd appreciate if you could stop asking me several times during sex if I'm okay. It...well it just...it kills the mood." You looked at him with an apologetic expression. "Shuichi I don't want you to push yourself outside of your comfort zone, but just at least try to treat me a little rougher? If not in your actions then at least in your wording right? Try that first and the rest will follow." You reassure him and smile at the spark in his eyes. The determination to try something new just for you. Well it'd make any significant other feel special wouldn't it?

"Right now then." He cuts you from your thoughts. "I'm sorry? What did you say?" You search his face for some understanding but he isn't budging. He's serious...

"Right now, Y/N. I want to try it right now." He stares at you, the fire in his eyes not subsiding. As if you'd already answered him, his hands start roaming up your sides very slowly. He's awaiting his answer. You finally smile sheepishly and nod. He returns with a nod of his own and lays you back first into the faded cushioned duvet. He's a man of his words, his sharp nails digging into the plush, sensitive skin of your upper thighs. You bite your lip and turn your head to the side, searching for something in the room to focus on so you don't yelp out. Right about now he's wanting to apologize a million times again for the marks he's leaving on your precious skin. He's wanting to bring a cold wet towel to wipe away the scratches and nail marks, to soften the burn of the way too rough hickeys. However, he's made his resolve to keep it up. Quitting now wouldn't yield the results either of you wanted. So he persisted in his actions. He at least used his tongue to lap at your skin after leaving his marks, a silent apology he hoped you'd caught onto.

"Don't turn away from me." You hear his voice, heavy and low for the first time. He's trying to be stern. It doesn't feel like him, but you know it's him. Your head is playing tricks on you or maybe it's just too dizzy from the heat of it all. You turn to look up at him right as he's slipping his joggers down ever so slightly, just enough to free his cock. He's blushing but his expression remains serious. He's usually flustered when he strips down for you, listening to the way you tease and compliment him while he scrambles to find himself in the moment. Not this time, no. He doesn't give you time to process when he reaches down and slides your underwear to the side. Usually he'd take his time to gently undress you while leaving butterfly kisses all over your skin. He'd practically worship you but again, not this time.

"If you turn your gaze from me, I'll stop." Before you could complain, he forces his way into you. Quick but not as easy as he previously imagined. You're tighter than he thought. Maybe it's been a while since the last time, he admits it to himself. He wants to whimper for you, to moan out praises of your name. He stays silent, only opting to grunt as he continues working himself into you. He's rewarded with your sounds instead. There's so much heat in the air now that it makes your throat thick. You wouldn't stop it even if you wanted to. He seemed to fit so deliciously inside while still stretching you out. More and more, deeper and deeper until he's fully buried himself within you, balls flush against your warm skin. He shivers while gripping tightly at you, holding you so you couldn't get away even if you wanted to.

Leaving more marks to be examined later.

"I said if you looked away from me that I'd stop. Open your eyes Y/N. Don't let me have to tell you again." He warns. Your Shuichi? Warning you instead of apologizing? Can things be too good to be true? You crack your eyes open and stare directly at him. You don't even take a minute to ponder on things. You can't think right now of anything else but him...this. He makes double sure of it as he starts to move, huffing at the way your walls seem to flutter around him before clamping down. You're all too good for him. He feels awful for gripping you so tightly, for ripping into that perfect skin, for saying such things to you, for pounding into you like this, staring at your half lidded wet eyes. However, on the flip side of things, he's strangely proud of himself for taking this initiative for the first time. Proud for squeezing and not letting go, for fucking every last little gasp out of you, for hearing his name slip from those beautiful lips.

For being the reason you feel lightheaded.

For knowing he's the only one making you feel this way right now.

So he lets that pride carry him further and further.

"Look at me or I'll stop. Don't look away." He reached down to grip beneath your chin and yank your attention to him. "Whose is it?" You feel a bit of shock and excitement creep up on you after the question. A challenge coming from him? Instead of taking the time to tease him, you decided not to push the moment any further. Knowing him, he's probably going way too far out of his comfort zone you think to yourself. So you comply like a good little partner for now. "Yours..." You whisper out. It's not good enough for him. "I asked you whose it was. Answer me louder." His thrusts become more urgent. He's close, his hips are stuttering, a tell tell sign of his upcoming release. "Yours Shuichi." You moan for him, feeling your own release creeping up as well. "Louder." He demands. You once again comply, saying his name an octave higher. "LOUDER." He grips your chin tighter. You find yourself letting go of all restraint as you call out his name again and again, louder and louder this time without command. You're coming and so is he. By now, the neighbors are likely growing weary at the all too thin walls of your apartment. Neither of you could care less.

Not with your sense of newfound satisfaction. Later you'd both awkwardly apologize anyway. Right now, you needed to focus on regaining your breath and running the thought away of your throbbing soreness from his thrusts. He'd apologize when he's come back to his senses anyhow.

#bnha #mha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #smut #minors dni #minor dni #shuichi iguchi #spinner bnha

[honeydjarin]

KELDABE KISS

FIVES X READER

Fives draws attention to the nameless thing that is growing between you

genre: fluff

word count: 660

a/n: I’m struggling to get back into writing (and doing creative things in general), so I’m starting with baby steps

“What are you doing?” you ask Fives, voice low. Not that there’s much need to speak so quietly, there is no one else around to hear. The hallway you’re in is empty, save for the two of you. It stretches out, a pristine void on either side of you, but the world seems to curl in much closer in your current position. 

“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.” Fives’ reply is sheepish and just as quiet. Despite the apology, he doesn’t let you go. Rather, he pulls you further into his chest, ever closer. One hand slides up to cradle the back of your neck, keeping you in place, and you can’t help but sigh at the touch. He’s warm. Heat radiates at every contact point, making you go soft. You could break away from his grasp if you really wanted to, he wouldn’t go against your wishes, but you’re inclined to stay right where you are. 

You’ve seen him do this with his brothers—foreheads pressed together in friendly and familial affection, a form of greeting, or simply a connection. 

This seems different, far more intimate, even if the position is the same. 

Fives’ toothy smile hasn’t dropped once since he pulled you to him. His eyes gleam like he has a secret, some sort of inside joke for one, but there’s no malice behind his gaze. Far from it. His eyelids settle at half mast and yours follow suit, too comfortable in the moment to give the action any thought. 

There has been something building between the two of you for a while now. It sends your stomach spinning and chest burning with each gentle look or brush of skin. Fives seems to have taken it upon himself to leave you as flustered as possible at every opportunity, flirting relentlessly. Then, when you don’t think you can take anymore, he tugs you into his side, allowing you to find shelter in the very man you seek to hide from. As embarrassing as Fives can be, you don’t want him to stop. 

Even with all that has transpired, you've never given this thing between you a name, and he has never been so forward before.  

“Fives,” you start, but your voice fades just as quickly. You intend to admonish, to warn, to… something. Your intentions for speaking slip from your mind as his nose brushes against your own, a small action that you have no doubt was intentional. Finally you settle on “we could get caught.” 

Doing what, exactly, you’re not sure. 

Fives has made no move to close the gap between your lips, as small as it may be. This isn’t that kind of kiss, even if you’ve daydreamed about kissing him properly plenty of times. Sometimes he catches you, a smirk growing across the lips you stared at for just a little too long. You deny it every time, of course. Because that would draw too much attention to this nameless thing.   

This press of foreheads is not that which filled your thoughts so many times (although now, having experienced it, you’re certain it won’t ever leave). This is different, both innocent and intimate at once. There’s nothing inherently wrong with what you’re doing in this hall, and yet it feels too significant not to go unnoticed by any potential passerby. 

“So what?” he asks, his voice rumbling in his chest beneath your hands. “It’s not like anyone is going to say anything. And even if they did, it’s not like Rex or the General would care.” 

He’s right, of course. No one on the ship would care if you were caught. Surely they’ve all seen this nameless thing growing as well.

You’ll have to talk about it soon. This moment isn’t one that can be brushed away. You don’t want to let it fade to nothing. And if the way Fives is holding you is anything to go by, you don’t think he’s ready to let this go either. 

#fives x reader #arc trooper fives x reader #fives x you #arc trooper fives x you #fives x yn #arc trooper fives x yn #fives x gn!reader #the clone wars fanfiction #tcw x reader

[bamdelune]

In Hindsight 📹 Ch. 07: "when the clock strikes"

notes. long narration ahead. occurrence of the reader's symptoms (nosebleeds, headaches, feeling faint)

When Baizhu gave you the go-ahead to get discharged, you figured that it was only appropriate to go back to campus after a few weeks of rest. Thus why days later, on December 13 2022, you decide to come back after only attending classes from your bedroom. You could only thank your teachers that their materials were at least found online as well. You groan at the thought of the mountain of assignments and projects you had missed for the duration of your stay at the hospital.

When you enter your first lecture of the day, a swarm of students crowd your figure along with the concerned face of your professor. They exchange (more or less) well wishes for your health and you are bombarded with questions of what happened to you.

"I just needed a little time to rest, that's all!" was your excuse. You were not about to tell everyone and their mothers the exact reason why.

The school day passes by without anything significant happening, only the presence of a light headache began to form in the back of your head albeit, you try to push it out of your thoughts.

As you were leaving for the day, you bump into Kunikuzushi in the school courtyard.

"Sorry— Oh? Kuni?" From the past few weeks, he's taken the time to come by your place frequently to check on you and you were happy to say that you became fast friends. His little visits became somewhat a comfortable routine between the two of you. Which was enough to allow you the use of his nickname.

Kunikuzushi looks up from his tablet and his eyes widen a little. His purple hair slighty disheveled but somehow, it still looked good on him.

"(Name)?" He confirms.

"Didn't class just finish for you too? Where are you going now?" You ask, stuffing your earphones in the pockets of your pants.

He looks around for a bit, "Dr. Baizhu asked me to drop by today so I'm heading to the hospital."

"Ah." An idea pops into your head, "Hey, come to think of it, maybe I should come with you too."

Kunikuzushi sighs, "(Name). You just got out of the house today, are you sure you want to tire yourself out like this?" You then press a finger to his lips to stop him from continuing.

"I told you, I'm fine. Come on." Your hand falls and tugs at the gentle fabric of his long sleeve, dragging him away to where the hospital was a few blocks away.

The walk was short albeit filled with comfortable silence here and there. Both of you didn't have anything interesting to talk about but it was nice to know that the awkward ice the two of you shared has melted into a budding friendship with Kunikuzushi.

You have regretted a lot of things before. You regret letting Aether cook breakfast this morning, you regret picking up that totally random drink from your usual at the cafe, and lastly, you regret skipping the painkillers for the headache that was building up from this afternoon. The next thing you know, you stumble slightly beside Kuni and hold the wall of the walkway for support which doesn't escape the boy beside you.

"(Name), hey! What's happening?" He is quick to slip his hands around your side to support you a little while his eyes scrutinize your expressions for an idea of what you could possibly be feeling. You shake your head to dismiss him but then feel a wet sensation coming down from your nostrils.

Kunikuzushi swears, "Shit, you're fucking bleeding. Here, let me— hey, no, no. (Name), keep your eyes open just until I get you to the hospital."

Your vision fades in and out of blurriness as the headache you're experiencing is practically sending pangs of pain from every part of your skull, the nosebleed you have isn't helping a lot too.

You hear Kunikuzushi fumbling for his next course of action but it comes across as muffled. He hails a taxi that was just about to pass by and throws your arm around his shoulders as he lays you inside. You don't catch the driver's expression to know if he was surprised a half-conscious person with a nosebleed just entered his car with a slightly frantic intern of the hospital.

Kunikuzushi's POV :

Kunikuzushi paces outside the door to your room with Dr. Baizhu in it checking on your unconscious figure that laid peacefully on the hospital bed. His palms clammy, the intern doesn't bother to bring attention to the sore parts of his body.

Why was he worried?

He knew it was concern for you but was it really only just concern that came from someone in the medical field to a mere patient?

Or was it him letting down his walls, disregarding Baizhu's warning when he first started watching you.

He tried keeping his distance with you that day you all baked cookies, that this was the only time he was ever going to hang out this long with you.

But you.

You.

You had this energy, this aura that just acts like a magnet when it came to other people. Maybe that's why you were well-known as a singer-songwriter. You just attract. That's all there is to it. You were a magnet.

And unfortunately for Kunikuzushi, he is the south pole to your north.

And that's when it dawns on him that not only has he crossed the line when he considered you his friend, but when he started letting you get close to him as if your life wasn't on the clock with only ten months left.

synopsis. You are a singer-songwriter. Music has always been a part of you, it's a part of your identity that no one can ever take away. However, there's always a catch: you are diagnosed with a chronic illness that puts your life on a timer. Those who have heard your countless melodies have grown to notice that the notes on the sheet played a gloomier tune. Would the snarky and capable medical student you've met be able to bring life back into these melodies? Even as life begins to seep out of your own body? (scaramouche x gn!reader)

tags. gender-neutral reader, angst, fluff, crack, heavy contexts of death and illnesses, friends to lovers, slowburn, profanities, drinking (characters are in college), suggestive themes but no nsfw.

taglist. (open, reply or send an ask to be added) — @beriiov @alatusorrow @br0oke96 @ohmyfinggod @itzblazekun @featuredtofu @sketcheeee @lazy-sanns

masterpost ★ masterlist © bamdelune 2023. do not repost, translate, plagiarize any of my works without permission, thank you so much! reblogs, notes, and comments are always appreciated!

#bamdelune #genshin impact #genshin #genshin x reader #bamdelune's bookstore #genshin smau #📹 (in hindsight) smau #scaramouche #scaramouche x gn reader #scaramouche x you #scaramouche x reader #wanderer x reader #wanderer #kunikuzushi x reader #kunikuzushi

[sanzu-sanzu-sanzu]

the sano brother

Fem!Reader / one-shot / 1K

2005, in a universe where shin doesn’t die lol

.

.

.

“Your brother’s actually pretty cool.”

If this were the first time she’s heard a girl actually being endeared by Mikey, Emma might pause and turn to look, narrow her eyes in incredulity. But most girls are weird that way, she finds—at least the ones who only try to be close to her to get to her brother—so she simply walks straight ahead.

“Ah-huh,” she murmurs, but loud enough to not expressly say she doesn’t need you telling her about it.

“Funny, too.” Oh? Is that a chuckle curling the edge of your words? Like a well-kept, newly-formed secret? She chances a glance at the corner of her eye, more interested in the action than the cause of it because, if anything, this is the first time that she’s seen you smile. A smile that isn’t forced or simply polite.

(Except maybe for that one time last week when she’d stupidly blurted out that she doesn’t actually get along with any of the girls in class, to which you simply shrugged and smiled, said Doesn’t matter; we’ll have each other now.)

It’s been exactly one week and three days since Emma has known you, so, really, it’s not such a big deal that she can’t tell what you’re thinking right now. Even though she’s the one from class who’s spent the most time with you so far—buddy system for new kids, some rule—and has, inadvertently, been spending significant hours trying to figure out what goes on in your head. One thing she finds out today, though, is that you’re actually secretly sweet enough to bring her a get well soon card—along with the past two days’ school works. She thinks that your loopy cursive is funny, too, a fact that she chuckled at even though you didn’t. The morose expression barely shifted; she caught the tiny, polite curve of your mouth and that was all.

You don’t say anything else so Emma is left to listen to the quiet pitter-patter of your footsteps and the delicate chimes of the bells of your bike. She isn’t yet fully well, you could see, and you hesitated when she offered to walk you to the nearest station, but she’d insisted; she had to make you wait for almost an hour in the Sano residence, after all, and this is the least she could do.

She wonders what you and Mikey possibly talked about. Come to think of it, she wasn’t even aware he came home early.

“Does he actually know that much about bikes?” You instantly scrunch your forehead. “Sorry, I mean…I mean he fixes bikes, so of course, right? Duh.” The last part you whisper to yourself even though she hears.

Now Emma turns her head to fully listen to what you have to say because this is the closest she’s seen you to stuttering. You glance at her once, only to return your gaze straight ahead.

“It’s just cool.” She catches a tiny, tiny smile. “I think it’s very cool. Being so knowledgeable about it.”

“Well, he is obsessed with them. I guess you have to be if you’re in a biker gang.” Or is it because you’re obsessed with bikes that you have to be in a biker gang? she wonders, though not out loud.

You face her with an incredulous look in your eyes. “Wait, he’s in a gang?”

“President of a gang.” She definitely has to let you in on these things so you’ll know which ones to avoid. (Though the answer is most of them.)

This is the part where most people either shriek, terrified, or swoon with hearts in their eyes, and Emma is more or less left to pick them up. But you laugh. “You’re kidding.” And there is, indeed, genuine disbelief in your voice. “He doesn’t strike me as the type, to be honest.” And now it’s her turn to smile, pleasantly surprised, because she’s never heard anyone say that about Mikey.

“He even dropped a wrench on his foot when he turned and saw me…”

Emma can’t help but laugh. The image of Mikey hurting his big toe is funny, if only because it’s so unlikely.

“I even laughed so hard, it’s embarrassing.” You shake your head at her unabashed expression. “Really, oh my god. I wish I didn’t but that was my initial gut reaction. But he—“ you snicker out a laugh. “But he was laughing while saying I should maybe try to be a little more respectful to my elders.”

Bold of him to hit you with the older than you card; Emma rolls her eyes. The guy’s practically older than you by only about a year, big deal.

“And he.” Today, she discovers that you pause a lot while you talk when you’re embarrassed. “Well. He has such a weird laugh. He’s very weird,” you say, still with the sweetest smile on your face.

Emma can’t help but be genuinely intrigued, but then also endeared. It’s usually Mikey telling her of how ‘weird’ her friend was, or classmate, or whoever had the (un)fortunate experience of having to be entertained by Mikey in her stead, in circumstances similar to this. How could Mikey be so clumsy—so uncool—in front of a girl?

She watches as you smoothly fold your bike—smoother now than ever before—stepping on the entrance stairs before turning to her for one last time. “Tell him thanks again for fixing my bike. I know it’s not as interesting as an actual bike, but…it runs easier now.” Even though she has half the mind to tease you and say, ‘You can tell him that yourself tomorrow,’ Emma has to pause and blink in wonder:

Since when did Mikey ever fix anyone’s bicycle? That one’s definitely a whole new level of sweet. He’s gonna need to answer her questions.

When she arrives home, it’s Shinichiro’s lopsided grin—his gangly frame resting lazily on the doorframe of his room—who greets her. “Well, your friend’s bike working okay now?”

It takes about a minute for the gears in Emma’s head to catch up and make sense of his words, before it all clicks. All of it. But then when she finally recovers her words, Shinichiro’s eyes have already left her. His smile telling her his mind is somewhere else. “Funny girl. Got lost while on her way to the bathroom.”

She sighs. Because, of course it has to be the weird older brother. Oh, hell, the other is just as embarrassing.

-

tagging: @prettyiolanthe 💘

#woah i have a taglist! #tokyo revengers #tokyo revengers x reader #sano x reader #tr x reader #tokyo revengers x you #tokyo revengers x y/n #tr x you #tr x y/n #emma sano #sano emma #mikey sano #sano manjiro #sano mikey manjiro #toman #tokyo manji #tokyo manji gang #sano mikey #shinichiro sano #sano shinichiro #shinichiro sano x reader #shinichiro sano x you #shinichiro sano x y/n #sano shinichiro x reader #sano shinichiro x you #sano shinichiro x y/n #shinichiro x reader #shinichiro x you #shinichiro x y/n

[xuune]

dropping this here because I kinda wish I'll snap out anytime soon from listening to the playlist you made for your last art, but here I am, booming 8:00, get me some, wyd, wounds will h.eal, and enclosed in my earphones at midnight. i think your music taste is fire, i'll give you that. mygods (ง •_•)ง

anw, I wanted to ask on how you decide and plan expressions/interactions for the characters when you draw your works? I always find your works to be so expressive. thanks in advance if you ever see this :OOO

p.s. I LOVE YOUR OCs, i think i'm in love with rael i genuinely wish they'll give me a headlock or smthn and i'll be happy p.p.s. i would marry your art if I could (i'm this fkn close 🤏 pls dont sue me)

(sorry for taking so long to reply, you'll know why once you read the rest of this lol)

im so glad that you had those as your faves bc those are some of mine too :D i've been seeing a few ppl rly enjoy 8:00, and if it wasn't for my friend recommending me that song, we wouldnt be here, and those drawings wouldnt have existed either, let alone the animatic i did

thank you for thirsting over my ocs, you don't know how much of a compliment that is whenever i see ppl react that way to them LOL. thats how i know i peaked with their design 😎 stay tuned for some other oc art, cuz im currently working on a piece for my friend's ocs. his ocs exist in the same universe as mine :)

i'll answer your question about planning expressions and interactions below, bc i have a lot to say about that:

when planning for expressions and interactions, i'm usually trying to answer a couple of these things:

what moment do i want to highlight

why is this moment significant

how do these characters feel in the moment, how to they react to each other, what's their motivations

what body language best answers the question above ^

basically, i'm asking myself "what's the scene?" -> "what do the characters feel in that moment?" -> "how do they act this out to convey that?" (that's how i was taught to read scripts for plays. you must understand character motivations before you figure out how to act their feelings out)

it's very important to have a good balance of body language and dialogue to convey the mood if/when appropriate, since sometimes strictly relying on dialogue to sell the moment w/o body lang or vice versa can tank the execution

i assume that you're more interested in how i planned the interactions for them sharing music? lmk if there's like specific ones, bc i can explain more for whatever else it may be

anyways, i start off with scripts of some kind. my scripts can be very barebones that just note a specific scene (i.e. "working at desk, listen to music together before class starts"), or that i build a moment based on a piece of dialogue (i.e. "better not queue anything lame"). here's the notes i made when i made the 8:00 animatic, since thats big on body language

i wanted to get down my main ideas first, which was figuring out the the lyrics i wanted to use paired with dialogue to match. i dont show my thinking much on some of my notes, but what i was getting at this:

story moment: dk connecting the context of the song to his intimate moment with bkg

key moments: waking up, playing with hands, eye contact w/ bkg

i didn't expand on the ideas for how those moments would look until i actually started thumbnailing for the animatic, which i showed briefly here. here's what i kept in mind for their expressions/interactions:

dk shies away from directly confronting bkg outwardly expressing his feelings for him via the song. he avoids it and changes the topic verbally to make the conversation lighthearted -> "what expresses avoidance?"

bkg is direct about his feelings, his actions and expressions must convey a direct confrontation, an attempt to make dk acknowledge how he feels about him thru the song and potentially get a response from him -> "what expresses straightforwardness?"

here's what i decided would visually answer those questions

the implications of character's expressions also factors in the circumstances of their situation. without the context, the execution tends to fall flat. if you didn't know that they were listening to a song that's all about romantic pining, then you probably would've been questioning why the fuck are they just staring at each other, or assumed that one is shy of the physical interaction when that's not the point; its the dawned realization and the acknowledgement of the other's feelings.

my other drawings for that thread followed the same kind of planning tbh, lol. all those drawings had the lyrics set the stage for how the characters are feeling, and i'd have to figure out what about their facial expressions and body language best matches the context of the situation. here's this brief example:

but yeah, that's generally how i plan for expressions/interactions. sometimes i just get a rush of interaction ideas that is centered on one specific question i want to explore, like:

what do their mundane parts of life look like?

how do they physically react to realizing their feelings for the other?

how is someone anxious about the other person's perception of them in the comic i'm drawing?

and then build off from there. hope that helped :D

#answered asks

[cooki3face]

what’s going on within the divine masculine collective | divine masculine update | June 30, 2023

Channeled messages for the entire collective:

Sevens are really heavy within everyone’s group.

Seven symbolizes a full and complete world or generally completion, perfection or wholeness. As an angel number number seven means that someone is ready for their spiritual awakening to begin or open up. It’s linked to deeper meanings, big picture thinking, and true wisdom.

I kept dropping large amounts of cards while shuffling for my piles

Divine masculine collective has a lot to say, a lot they wish they could say, or a lot they really want to say. Throat, chakra, blockages, delays due to communication words being messed up or messages not being conveyed, completely or in manners that are understandable divine masculines may have a hard time speaking or a hard time getting their words out correctly they mean one thing and say another, etc. etc.. .

There’s an energy of indecisiveness

could be presenting as making a decision to speak or not, come forward or not, or in which ways they will choose to present themselves or come towards their divine feminines when they come forward or if they should at all.

——————————————————————————

- pile one 🖤 -

Channeled messages for pile one:

Dm is pile one could be looking things up or doing research on ways they could improve, looking for guidance, or ways they could sort out their current situation.

Month of June and July might be significant or even June July and August (large breakthrough window)

Angel numbers: 7644, 333, 555, 7632, 111, 711, 7

divine masculine energy is low or he could be drained or feeling trapped or weighed down by negative energy

The color blue, orange, or red could be significant

Dm in pile one could be experiencing a heart chakra opening or really feeling an outpour of love and admiration for his divine feminine at this time. He may be dealing with a karmic or there’s some type of third party interference. She could be mimicking his divine feminine or watching her heavily and trying to immolate her energy as best she can. There’s an energy of divine masculine, holding back he could be holding onto truths or things he needs to say. But there’s also this antsy energy that’s coming through. He could be really anxious or he could be feeling really reckless or impulsive even to say something or take some type of action whether that be towards his divine feminine or in some type of situation within his life at this time.

With the moon in reverse there, be a lot of inner confusion going on within divine masculines mind at this time and possibility even insecurities and deep rooted fears as well. I got the word worthiness and he could be wondering or asking himself if he’s even still worthy or if he’s worthy in general of divine feminines love, attention or even a place in her life at this time. My flame in my candle just went out. There’s confirmation here of divine masculine feeling like the may lack some sort of inner light or his mood and thoughts completely draining his energy and robbing him of inner strength. I’m also getting release of fears as well, he may be working towards releasing deep rooted fears (fears regarding relationships, fears regarding his own self worth, fears regarding communicating with df within the next three months)

with releasing fears though I do believe there is a lot of fear manifesting in whatever the situation is that has cause divine masculine and divine feminine to not be communicating, he could be trying to over come the fear to come towards divine feminine and tell her things. Someone’s shadow self is coming out here or there’s aspects of someone’s personality or habits that they try to hide that are coming to the surface and being shown in the light or being revealed. This could be divine masculines show self. I’m getting reflections as well, I’m getting “I’m starting with the man in the mirror” divine masculine is starting to see a lot of his own flaws and a lot of things that may hold him back and there’s an awakening or a breakthrough happening here for him.

Divine masculine in pile one may struggle with self compassion, being patient with himself and being gentle with himself and giving himself room to exist and room to expand and express what needs to be expressed emotionally. He could have certain mindsets or belief systems set in place in which he may be in denial about how emotional he is by nature or he may think or believe he has to push all his emotions down, or even may struggle with allowing himself to feel his emotions and process things completely. He may struggle with substance abuse and alcoholism. There’s something happening here where divine masculine is finally realizing the way he is wired, realizing that he may need to feel all his emotions to reflect, may be realizing he has to quite drinking or using drugs, etc. the heart chakra is incredibly significant. I’m hearing “open your heart chakra to active your throat chakra” or “speaking from the heart”

Six of pentacles in reverse, divine masculine may feel he owes someone something in matters of the heart or relationships but I also feel that this may have to do with his material and physical life as well, he may owe someone money or someone owes him money. There’s something here about owing debt, someone in debt or one sided charity. Someone could’ve done something, sacrificed something or worked very hard for something to not get something they were promised. Money and finances could be significant.

-

advice for divine masculine if you’re listening:

There’s a lot of fear here somebody is really really worried about something that has to do with money or financial security or money being scarce. I’m hearing spirit telling me to be brave in this situation, or to hold onto your strength in the situation and to take back your power listen to your intuition and trust your intuition trust that there’s a possibility for you to get out of this situation you could need to use your natural given talents or gifts to get yourself out of the situation. You could be really resourceful or be somebody who has a knack for wiggling out of tricky situations , you could’ve lost touch with how capable you are of being able to survive and persevere through rough situations and it’s time for you to reconnect with that part of your self. There is a strength that you have here that you’re not using you should be really smart you could be really strategic. There’s something about the mind that’s incredibly significant here you’re not thinking as broadly as you could there’s something you could do there is a solution. I’m also hearing pay attention to little details. You come from a long line of people who have not come from much and have survived with very little or you have this inherited gift to take small things and make them big. You’re not in touch with how powerful and how resourceful and flexible you are. I’m getting strong and durable.

Spirit wants you to stop using something in excess as well here I’m hearing anything done in excess could be harmful. You need to cut back on something or stop doing something so much. There’s a lot of imbalance within your life and within your spirit and you require a lot of inner healing and self love and self care to outgrow your life as you know it and the things that cause you to feel so horrible. Spirit could be asking you to stop using drugs or alcohol so much you’re robbing yourself of the opportunity and the ability to be in tune with yourself and with source, from the opportunity to process and grow and learn from your pain and your experiences. You feel stuck because you’re causing yourself to stay in a stagnant place because you’re unwilling to be uncomfortable when you have to.

It’s time for you to let go of these negative thoughts and the self imposed distractions or restrictions and all of this negative energy that you use to torture yourself on a regular basis you are manifesting your own downfall and you are fueling the energy of your insecurities and your fears, by being your own biggest bully, by being your own biggest critic It’s time to let go of that. It’s time to love yourself better it’s time to respect yourself more, time to value yourself more it’s time to step outside of your mind and your anxiety and your fears and see yourself for who you really are and who you’re meant to be and what you’re capable of and what you could have. You need to redefine who you are in your mind.

-

advice for divine feminines in connection with pile one divine masculines:

Allow yourself to change, allow things around you to change. Release his tendency to try to control the outcome of situations for fear of disaster. I see you trying to become this energy of sort of disaster control and a lot of this is stemming from anxiety and fear of finding yourself caught up in situations you can’t get out of or won’t be able to get out of but that is not even a possibility because you’re extremely divinely protected and loved pile one divine feminines. Your spirit guides would not allow you to be trapped by anything or put in a situation that you could not get out of or that wouldn’t benefit you in the long run. You’re holding onto a lot of fear and a lot of hurt. Let it go. I hear you saying what if this happens,,, what if that happens,,, what if I can’t do this or what if- let that go.

If you’re in separation with your divine masculine right now, or something happen with this connection or within this relationship, that’s causing you a lot of pain I’m hearing deep wounds I’m hearing heartbreak or something happen within just the relationships within your life in general you could’ve not have had the best circumstances or luck when it comes to your personal and romantic relationships. allow yourself to process this pain, allow yourself to feel this pain, be open and in tune with yourself, inspect your wounds, look at what is happening, look at the way that you feel. don’t take that privilege away from yourself because it’s hard for you or because it hurts. breathe through it. Let it flow through you like water, the only way out is through, allow yourself to feel this so that you can grow from this and so that you could turn it into a lighter energy, so that you could spin gold out of it.

Focus on the things that are really important within your life right now, within your physical, material life. Projects you need to work on, tasks you need to complete, important things you need to get done for yourself in order for you to have certain opportunities or reach certain goals, pour some energy into continuing to build things for yourself and build a foundation for yourself. Focus. Focus. Focus. Focus. 

-

Things divine masculine would say to divine feminine if he could:

“I do love you, I need you, and I’m not ready to communicate that yet or I just don’t know how.”

“I can’t give you what you deserve and what you need.”

“I’ve been looking for you.”

“I appreciate the way you waited for me in my times of constant hardship.”

<3!

_____________

pile two

pile three

#self love #self care #self improvement #self expression #healingjourney #divine feminine #divine masculine #divine feminine collective #divine masculine collective #divine masculine update #divine feminine update #twin flame #twin flame update #pick a card #pick a pile #tarot readings #tarot readers of instagram #tarot readers of tumblr

[scribe-of-stories]

10 Songs, 10 People

Was tagged by the pleasant @mrbexwrites whom graced us with her songs

Rules: Put your music on shuffle and list the first 10 songs that come up. Then go about describing how they relate to your WIP and or worldbuilding.

In truth I do not have a designated Lexical playlist, but what I do have is one massive playlist of songs that I can easily relate to characters/worldbuilding. I will admit to cheating and skipping a few songs due to irreverence or for being clown core.

Soft tagging: @rewritingrosie @squarebracket-trick @artcoffeecats @vicstmichael @sam-glade and whomever else wishes to join in.

Hero - 11vx

Wonderfully upbeat and woefully short. I always have seen this song as the theme that would play around the protagonist's "turning point" in Lexical. When they make a connection with their Inscription that lets them overcome something, or finding a weakness or solution to a situation. The title really says it all.

The Stains of Time - Kit Walters

It's video game music, it's MGRR, it's fight music. Specifically I'd say it's villain centric fighting music. I've got this character in my head who connects the concepts of water and time whom I could easily see this song fully being about. Where Hero is about the protag winning, Stains of Time is about Villains hamming it up.

Little Lion Man - Mumford and Sons

Ken, Host of Fangs, Lord of Hearts. No Inscribed has had an easy life. This one's life is full of regret, broken relationships, and estranged family. Like several Lexical characters he began his existence as the protagonist of his own story and has gone through several iterations; he has landed as a semi-significant side story of the Stage City campaign I'm running. "I really fucked it up this time, didn't I my dear?" perfectly fits him.

Gunman/Blotter - sageiskami

Hey it's more fight music! Specifically fight music that samples a literal fighting game. It's violence turned into entertainment for the ones doing it; and that doesn't describe any character better than it does Model Tom. She's a Shape of Flesh, a shapeshifter, a sociopath, and absolutely having such a fun time being a villain. He's extremely fun to roleplay as in Staged City, which is a slightly worrying statement.

Children of the Omnisiah - Guillam Davis

A haunting church choir with a back drop of electronic noise. I've come to associate electronic elements in songs with the Wyrd side of Lexical; and with it, this song goes with the Angels of Heaven. Invasive creatures from the edge of human imagination come to reap the souls of humanity and remind them of the gods they used to worship.

Bright Shadow - Hydelic

A comparatively (mostly) calmer piece. Wind, gears, windmills, nature, and the connective rhythm that ties them together. I find this song ties closely to the magic practitioners of Lexical, especially to one specific one: Richard Dahlmann. He comes from a long family of magicians, will workers who tame the Wyrd without ever fully giving one's self to it. A proud Old Warden. Fully human but able to play a song and have the world listen.

Numb - Freya Cathine, Jack Victor

There is a certain amount of humor and irony to this song I can't ignore, but read straight this song could easily be sung by Joshua of Broken Whole. Most of his life is inescapably about his relationship with his father. At first all his actions as a way to escape from under his father's influence; then during the story itself facing the same life his father had and attempting to do different. "To be more like me, and less like you" Joshua says into a mirror.

Fire Fire - Steam Power Giraffe

A song about a burning disaster and the affect it has on the survivor. The Wardens, Old and New, have attempted to keep Earth and humanity from itself for as long as recorded history. Whether it's the secret society of wyrdlings and wizards of the Old or the Inscribed costumed heroes of the New, history rhymes with itself. Disaster comes regardless of anyone's attempt to stop it, and those that manage to live through it can never fully walk away from the memories. Despite their good deeds and their heroism the history of the Wardens is full of failure and an inability to meaningfully save the world.

Hajnal - Venetian Snares

I love this, easily one of my favorite songs. In the context of Lexical it describes the First Wave, the several thousand first Inscribed. Those troubled individuals who woke up to a world carefully playing along to an old tune strung by those in power, and shattering it with drums and electronics. The First Wave marked the end of many things: mainly the Old Wardens, the Wyrd masquerade, and most world governments. It's hard to maintain a functional civilization when a politically charged maniac who can manifest explosions targets effectively any head of state. The First Wave turned Lexical into the Earth it now is, forever changing it's music.

No one is Flying the Plane - Panzerballett

Another favorite of mine. Organized discordant chaos held together by an underlying beat. This is the theme of the Staged City, the story of New Maine buckling underneath the unrelenting crises that plague it. Of course it's also specifically about one character, the BBEG of the campaign, one underlying beat of the song: (spoilers ahead for Staged City) The Baron. Nothing is actually happening naturally, everything is a stage being prepared for this one villain.

#writeblr #lexical earth #writers on tumblr #writeblr game #Broken Whole #Staged City #I did not have the restraint to write short descriptions for each song #but I hope y'all find the world building enjoyable

[constellationmelody]

What a surprise that today’s the new episode dropped today! I loved it so much that I listen to it twice. The first during work because I couldn’t wait until class time where I need to listen to something while doing my art project in class, the second time... during class while doing my art project.

The ‘mysterious planet’ earth is the Indus valley of the intergalactic world. Cool Clementine to offer that to the crew but the episode perfectly articulate my thoughts on why trying to fix past mistakes, even if you had the power to do so, is bad idea. Even if She could wave her hand and give them what they wish for, The characters went through some character developments that fundamentally changed them, why would you exchange all that to go back to their statue quo? The crew develop a bond that's deeper than friends, they are now a family (aww~).  Leif's got it all figured out, I gotta give him props for that. I bet even if his past was rewritten and everything was perfect, he'd still be unhappy. Who would wanna miss out on a kickass journey sailing among the stars as a space pirate, finding tech lightyears ahead of Earth's, and meeting the amazing Bert Bert? And of course, meeting some of the coolest people in a time traveling, dimension hopping Diner. They may be from earth but the likelihood of crossing each other’s paths, becoming friends with something in common is not even slim, it’s none. I wanna hug Gloria. Hopefully I’ll never know the pain to lose parents that way, though when the time comes when I have to say good bye to them, I see how soul crushing grieving look like and that isn’t a gradual linear process. I dread that day.  Effie is a really wise lady. Had someone like her been in my life, I’m 100% sure I wouldn’t turn out to be an atheist. Or at least be a deist. Amusing that in her lil sermon, she was hoping they stayed and let out a sigh of relief when they told her that they weren’t going to take the deal.   Although Ava is all about the science and logic when it comes to persuading Caspar to stay, he's totally justified in feeling annoyed that she's not taking him as a person into account. Deep down, she cares about him a lot and likes his company even though they bicker a lot, even if she can’t or doesn’t realize it yet. It's a significant change in her attitude compared to the last episode of season 2 when she did not understand what’s Caspar's purpose being in the diner but now running around the landscape looking for him, wants him to stay. It’s not like the whole science discoveries and whatnots is gonna end if he hop off the ship.  Loved that Leif, Caspar, Ava and Effie were excited to commit crimes. Lol, Effie’s mischievous behavior. “Wellll, while the cat’s awaaaaay.....”  BTS wolves are back! J-Hope-wolf is adorable for trying to communicate to Caspar that he wanted rabbit stew. Good thing that Gloria is there to feed the baby.  I love Caspar naming weird things random words. I vote for shopzies 1+ Agreed what Gloria said about respecting ancient lost civilization places and not judging harshly. That’s my thoughts on Mesoamerican's culture. Gruesome yeah, but to them, They thought of their action as noble if you consider the context. Rooting for Gloria to punch Clementine on the Tit!  I hope i wrote this articulate enough and make sense. Especially between Caspar and Ava paragraph.  Pretty sure I’ll listen to it again a few times until the next episode.  YUS! I headcanon Clementine as a redhead. 

#Midnight Burger #as usual #I wrote a long thought review on the episode

[freifraufischer]

It's been a rough month for the Pokemon Company and I thought I'd give a summary for those of you sane people who are not obsessed with collecting little (and sometimes very big) creatures.

I'm not one to try and set developers on fire when something isn't to my taste and in fact I stopped playing Pokemon Go when I found that it wasn't making me happy anymore. With that preamble I want to say this is not a call for action or a condemnation ... I'm not here to tell you how the Pokemon Company is the richest franchise in the world and they should do better. Nor am I here to excuse what in some cases were stunning decisions.

In background: The flagship games of the 9th generation of the Pokemon franchise were released late last year and while I adore them and they may be my favorite Pokemon Games ever they have some very serious flaws. There are frame rate and performance issues. Those issues may be related to how old the hardware of the Nintendo Switch is and may be related to the fact that the ocean around Paldea is literally bigger than the planet earth and the skybox is bigger than the sun. The switch is old hardware but I don't really think it's fair to expect my hand held game console to render celestial sized objects. The games has many charming qualities but it also sacrifices some things that have been expected from the franchise over the years. You can enter very few buildings and most of the NPCs which often had wonderful bits of characterization in past games wander around with single speech bubbles like "I need a new notebook" or "I wish I had a lechonk."

There have been three patches since game release and the only seeming attempt to address any of the performance issues was a note on the second patch that said they were removing pokemon and NPCs from some parts of the map to reduce issues. If it did anything I didn't really notice but as I play entirely on hand held I don't think I'm a very good judge of it. The performance issues never really impacted my enjoyment of the games but I do understand why for others it is unacceptable. Their frustration doesn't negate my fun and my fun doesn't make their frustration invalid.

The 1.2.0 Patch was dropped 3 months ago to coincide with the inevitable announcement of DLC. And as one should probably expect with the painful technological history of this game there were two very significant issues. 1.2.0 came with the introduction of an ingame event introducing two new Pokemon that were part of the DLC. Some players who were online and in game when the patch dropped encountered this event but because the pokemon didn't exist instead they caught a bad egg which they could not delete and which prevented them from catching one of these special event pokemon. At the same time a very small number of people encountered a save corruption glitch that seemed to wipe out many hours of progress from months of playing. Now to stress these save corruption incidents were extremely extremely rare given the number of players of this game. So rare that it seems that it was essentially impossible to replicate. Content creators on youtube and people on twitter were quick to blame a feature that connected Pokemon Go to Pokemon Scarlet and Violet but a significant portion of the people who had the safe file corruption never connected to Go and the issue hasn't really been a topic of discussion in Go only players who used the feature very heavily. After a number of weeks Nintendo appears to have found a way to restore files for people who contact them and there are no reports of this glitch from 1.3.0 onward (where we are now as of the writing of this).

The save file corruption issue caused a lot of fear in the community (remember these are collecting games and as there is no cloud saving at the moment there are no backups--more on that later). The general state of the games on release have left many lingering frustrations and anger among some of the most intense fans. Oh and while this is not related to this post except tangentially the people running Pokemon Go decided to anger their player base with deeply painful and unpopular changes dressed up with language that amounts to "we're doing this for your own good." There is a complicated relationship between the developer of Pokemon Go and the Pokemon Company in general and that's for another time ...

Woooeh that was a lot of background.

So what could have happened in the last few weeks.... that could possibly make this worse? Well three almost unrelated things ...

It started with the competitive/esports side of things. The Japanese and South Korean national championships and qualifiers for the Pokemon World Championships in August were plagued with bugs. Some tools were not working and some matches were decided by who experienced fewer bugs. The events are having to be replayed and some worlds invites were revoked and the people told they had to qualify again--including a former world champion. Messing up the national championships in two of your largest markets because your game now famous for it's bugs and performance issues was certainly not the news they wanted.

Then late last week one of their weekly raid events went awry. While people wait for DLC to drop (vaguely sometime because the only date we have is Fall 2023 for the first part) the thing that keeps things active in the game are special events where unusual pokemon can be caught. It so happened that last week the featured pokemon were special in that they don't normally appear in raids and have some ingame unique qualities to them. The easiest way to explain this is that there is a crafting system in Scarlet/Violet where when you kill or catch a pokemon it gives you some crafting material. You catch a Pikachu it gives you Pikachu fur. Let us not dwell on the idea of how you got Pikachu's fur from it as no good can come of pondering some things. The loot drop pool for raid pokemon also include this crafting material for pokemon that are within the game's pokedex. Now most of the really special pokemon in these limited time events are not within the games pokedex so the game doesn't try to generate the crafting material.

Well for the first time last week the raid pokemon were from a sub group of pokemon within the game that do not drop crafting material but the apparently automatically generated raid reward pool... tried to drop the non existent item.

And if you were lucky enough to get None x 2... your game crashed.

They pulled the event raids within a few hours and we have no word on when we'll see them again (and it has also put on hold future raid events the next one would have been announced a few days ago).

The third part of this triple whammy has to do with a service called Pokemon Home. Now remember Pokemon is at it's heart a collecting game and you can carry your old friends from game to game and still preserve (if not always use) a pokemon you caught long ago in a different game. It's a feature that isn't useful to many casual players but for the most loyal of the franchises players it is deeply emotionally important. There have been many versions of the storage service for this purpose and the most recent one is a subscription service that costs USD 15.99 a year. Historically Home compatibility has not been available at game launch because the developers want you to play the game not just dump your years of pokemon in immediately. Generation 8's Sword and Shield took around 4 months to get compatibility but for the last titles of Generation 8 Briliant Diamond/Shining Pearl and Legends Arceus it took longer (a full 6 months for BDSP).

Compatibility with Home for Scarlet and Violet were slated for "Spring 2023" (though an English language Pokemon video presentation said "Early 2023" but that may simply be a translation variation). Either way people are inpatient understandably in my mind given that this is a paid subscription service and given the game's now history of save corruption with no public explanation of what caused it or if it was fixed. The community's tolerance of the wait ran out a while ago... and last week (before the raid glitch happened) a date was announced. We would have Home Compatibility on 5/24 with all these features.

The next day--after the raid glitch happened but likely unrelated to it--the Pokemon twitter announced that they'd made a mistake and that it wasn't coming on the 24th. The date was "yet to be announced" (let's not dwell on people who announced something telling you that it wasn't announced when they were pulling the announcement because Franz Kafka died 99 years ago and he never met a Pikachu or a video game developer in his life).

And that's where we are.

When will the raids be turned back on? Who knows. When will Home compatibility come? "Soon". Will these games ever get performance patches.... never.

#pokemon

[carnelianwings]

Harvestella Review

Short version: Fantastic OST, compelling story, inclusive gender options (you can choose Male, Female, or Nonbinary for your self insert protagonist), 9/10 would recommend.

(Long version behind the cut)

Long version: If you go into this game expecting 50+% farm sim and the remainder is action-adventure JRPG, you'll be disappointed. Based on where I am - as of the writing of this review I've completed the Main Story and I'm working on the Epilogue - the game is more like 70% JRPG, 30% farm sim. If I were to describe the game, it would be like taking a Star Ocean or a Tales game, deciding that the item crafting/cooking system wasn't ~enough with farming monsters for drops, and making it literal farming. You want money? You mainly get it by sending things off in your Shipping Box, with some supplemental income via side quests. You want healing? You gotta eat for that ... which uses ingredients from the crops you farm. But even if managing the farm eats up your time, the game is very well paced for that - the opening chapters go in seasonal order (starting in Spring) and I had plenty of time to both finish a chapter of the main story for the town themed after that season and completing all the side quests while doing farm "chores" every morning. Story is amazing, in my opinion. If you like Star Ocean's (especially SO3) or Tales' (namely Graces) storytelling, this will be right up your alley - I happen to love both, so there were points where I just Could Not Stop Playing. All I will say is don't let the first 3 chapters lull you into thinking this is a typical fantasy JRPG, if you do the side quests and pay attention, you'll quickly realize there's a lot more to the world building that meets the eye (that will also become significant as you keep going in the game). Also, Go Shiina's work on the OST is fantastic, really goes well with the story to help make the emotional hits hit harder, while giving you all the hype for boss battles. (SqEnix, free the OST from Japanese iTunes jail already, let me give you money for it!) I'd comment more on the story, but it's hard to say much about what I loved about the story without spoiling it - the late game reveals were really good and I loved every moment of it. Probably helped a lot that Aria's my favorite out of all the party members. Lack of voiced story dialogue wasn't actually a big deal to me, but I played a lot of 90s JRPGs that weren't voiced so it was a bit of a nostalgia trip in that sense. Combat is pretty straight forward, nothing truly special there, if anything I wish that "dash" Step skill wasn't a skill reserved just for melee classes but just a default combat maneuver (how old school action RPG of them - reminds me of the older Tales games where you had to unlock Backstep as a skill), There's some room for finesse, but a significant contributor to how well you do in fights is how well have you managed your farm (for in-combat healing/food buffs and how much money you have for weapon upgrades) and how much have you gotten to know your party members (for combat buffs/class skills). If you're like me and kept up with the farm and did every character story (you get prompts in-game in the form of letters) you'll probably be fine. If anything, combat's pretty much where I took a point off - it's pretty straightforward, but in my opinion this isn't a game you should be buying for the combat system, you should be buying it for the story. Customization is pretty basic (iirc just hair color and a few other simple things), but since I'd gone into this completely blind (I didn't even read a single review, just thought it looked interesting based on the Steam page) I wasn't expecting anything to begin with so it was more like a pleasant surprise to get the choice to have a few cosmetic changes. I like that they included nonbinary as a gender option - I know that alone got a friend of mine interested in the game. Personally I like the default outfit and I like how your outfit changes in combat to match your current class by adding in a "signature" aspect of the corresponding party member's outfit, but that's a YMMV. Overall, a fantastic game, one best played with as few expectations going in as possible, beyond knowing that it's a story-heavy JRPG with a fantastic OST and a side of farm sim. YMMV if you think it's worth it at full price, but in my opinion, definitely worth it on sale.

#harvestella #review #i can't remember the last time I stayed up until 3 am playing a game and went oops #and i did that multiple times with harvestella either as a One More Day or I Need To Know What Happens Next #definitely one of the best games i've played recently #sqenix messed up on marketing this as a farm sim with a side of jrpg #it's definitely a jrpg with a side of farm sim #the focus is the story not the farm sim

[royal-whims]

cw: (minor?) suicide ideation mention (not crucial to plot)

“Villain!”

Hero’s high-pitched voice shrieked throughout their house. Villain sighed from where they were sitting at their desk and set down the tea they were sipping. So much for peace.

They swiveled around in their chair just in time for Hero to swing open the door of their office and storm in.

“Barging into my house now are we? I didn’t know you were so eager to see me.” Villain remarked calmly.

Hero was flushed, chest heaving as they breathed. Their hair and clothes were messy as if they had just ran here from their house and Villain frowned. It wasn’t like Hero to be so…disheveled.

Hero growled, face contorted into a threatening glare. They stalked closer to Villain, breathing labored and heavy.

“Where. Are. They.”

Villain raised an eyebrow. “You’re going to have to be a little more specific, darling.”

“You know who I’m talking about!” Hero exclaimed frustratedly. “My significant other, what did you do with them?”

Now that was new to Villain. They hadn’t heard anything about a stolen lover, and certainly hadn’t participated in it. They had other focuses than spending their time tracking down Hero’s family. Though they couldn’t say the prospect didn’t entice them, they mused with a smile.

Villain leaned forward with a smirk, “Oh dear,” they said, playing along, “I hadn't imagined you would be this upset at me for taking them, seeing as you give yourself to the world so easily. What's another part of you?"

Hero snarled.

“What did you do with them?” Hero hissed, trying to force their hand, but Villain just kept smiling wordlessly.

Hero let out a low, frustrated guttural sound and Villain chirped at how desperate and evil it sounded. “Just because you’ve been silent for a week doesn’t I’m not afraid to fight you,” Hero warned, a dangerous edge to their voice.

I'm so scared, thought Villain, rolling their eyes.

Still, they reveled in Hero’s anger and annoyance. Messing with Hero was always more fun when Hero didn’t know they were being messed with. Granted, Villain didn't know what this was about either but continued stringing them on.

“Hmm, what did I do with them exactly? Well, I certainly don’t want to spoil all the fun by telling you, but let’s just say they'll be...wishing for the end if my plans follow through.

Hero slammed the wall, “Dammit, Villain!” They breathed heavily for a minute before their eyes flickered and they turned fully to Villain.

They took dangerous steps further into the room, peering down at Villain from where they remained sitting, unperturbed. Villain vaguely wished they had a cat they could stroke on their lap to fully complete the scene.

Hero stopped in front of them, chest hefting with vexation, eyes glowing with rage, whole body tense. They raised a shaking hand to Villain’s neck-

“Ah ah ah,” Villain tutted, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Hero fumed.

“You’re going to have to control yourself dear Hero,” they said, enjoying this way more than they should, “I am the only one who knows where your, ah, beloved is, and you’re not going to get anywhere without me now are you?”

They watched hero’s body visibly tremble with the effort to not strange Villain right then and there, instincts fighting against reason. Hero was always so easy to rile up.

Hero’s hand dropped with a heavy exhale and Villain looked up at them. They looked defeated. Their head drooped and their expression was so downcast that if Villain was a better person they would feel inclined to put on arm on their shoulder or tell them, it's okay. They weren't, of course, so instead the display just made them mildly uncomfortable. Hero sunk down to the floor in a sort of pseudo-crouch, a mix between a kneel and sitting ross-legged and Villain wondered how it could ever be comfortable. They began to vaguely wonder, what had happened to their love?

It couldn't have been a mistake; there had to have been some sort of sign that nefarious actions had led Hero to believing it was Villain's doing. Hero seemed much too distraught for it to be otherwise. Villain assumed the lover didn't run away out of lack of love, because, as dramatic as Hero could be, Villain highly doubted Hero would blame relationship issues on them.

"Please..."

They looked up from their musings when they heard Hero's (small?) voice ring in the room.

"Don't- don't hurt them." Hero's head was in their hands.

"I didn't even- I didn't even get to know before they were gone and then suddenly.."

This, Villain realized, may be a good opportunity. If they could figure out the details of the case, they might piece something together.

"Life's unfair, isn't it?" Villain responded.

"I just don't know what you want. I didn't- I know we fight but I didn't think you hated me that much that when we haven't even seen each other in weeks you'd just-"

It had to be personal motive, Villain realized. The only thing that made sense was someone...who wasn't Villain...wanted to take a jab at Hero.

“You- you took them in the middle of the night and I just- I couldn’t-.”

Hero curled over and reduced into not quite sobs but something close. Villain’s eyes darkened.

Someone had been messing around on Villain’s territory. Hero’s emotions were all good and well, they enjoyed riling them up from time to time; Villain wouldn’t even pretend they were above kidnapping. But they hadn’t. They hadn’t done this and someone else had and now Hero was doubled over before them keening over a loss they had no hand in. And Villain was angry.

They kept their expression mostly schooled so as not to reveal their thoughts, but let slip some measure of dissatisfaction, both to jolt Hero and serve for their next agenda.

"I’m not entertaining this any longer.”

Hero looked up from their hands, eyes wet and glossy. They clearly thought Villain meant their intrusion, but they secretly meant the game of the real kidnapper.

“Cease with your sobbing now,” Villain said offhandedly, garnering indignant protests from Hero which they ignored.

“You don’t have to be so distraught,” Villain said, “I haven’t hurt them…too badly.”

“But…what do you plan to do with them?”

“Well, if my plan was to use them for ransom, I have you now, don’t I?” Yes, that would make sense for why someone would kidnap Hero’s love. But then that meant someone knew Hero’s identity.

“Was that your plan?”

Villain cocked their head to the side.

“I’ll tell you that now your love is safe.” Though, could they promise that?

Hero sniffed.

“Y-You said they were going to wish for the end.”

“Figure of speech. I have to keep you on your toes don’t I?” And I said no more sniveling.”

Villain heard the harsh exhale. “You prick.” Hero muttered. Villain smiled to themself.

While Hero mumbled, Villain thought about who, who could know hero’s identity? Who would be enough of a fool to attach hero on Villain’s territory.

They’re brain ran through names until it stopped, pinned at one.

“By chance,” Villain ventured, “did you see any symbol’s outside your house when looking for your significant other?”

Hero looked suspicious, but Villain couldn’t really deal with that right now when they had a clue. “Yes,” Hero said slowly, “ a white rabbit.”

Antihero, Villain closed their eyes, exhaling, then blinked them back open.

"What do you say we pay a visit to a friend?" Villain smiled at Hero's confused expression. “I’m sure they’ll be…glad to see both of us.”

"Why-"

"Questions," Villain cut off, standing up and moving to pull Hero with them, "Are not for people who want to see their lovers again."

As Hero stood up and the two of them walked out, Villain decided not to question why they were helping them anyway.

#heroes and villains #villains #writing #creative writing #writing snippet #my writing #writeblr #snippet #flash fiction #not a prompt #dialogue #based off a tiktok prompt