HI SAMMM, TRICK OR TREAT!!!!! surprise me, i only ever did trick or treating myself like once when i was a kid asfvkjash. i kno it's not spooky day in ur part of the globe yet, but i hope u have a great halloween when it does arrive :D

HAPPY HALLOWEEN ZAK!!!

hdkdbfn i trick or treated until i was like,, 13 and by then i was 'too cool' to trick or treat but i should've trick or treated more :( (tbf tho i'm not the biggest candy eater so i'm not that miffed about it) but this is the first year (aside from you know, covid) none of us go trick or treating! cuz my youngest sib is also in the 'too cool to trick or treat' phase of their life

i'm so excited for the discount candy bags the day after tho LMAOOO

you get a trick!!! bc i have memes to give like candy lolol

bakerlon pv reminding me of how much i wanna squeeze luke’s ass like does he know he has the best tush in the nxx or is he completely clueless

asfjkhvJHAVKSFHJASF YOU KNOW as plump as his rump looks like in his bakerlon card, i actually think luke's ass would, in reality, be mid. which, i know, is shocking coming from Me Of All People but i dont think it would be of Ideal Squeezable nature, i think itd be more on the toned/hard side because he works out a bunch. not bony by any means, but still like. it aint cake.

it's fine it's still grabbable just dont try to smack his ass because 1) he'd jump like 5 feet into the air out of shock and embarrassment and 2) you will injure your hand

buns of steel

— Nina LaCour, We Are Okay

based on that one @actualbird ask about luke, rosa and oranges... :P

a mix of uwu, crying, and help me for the fic writer ask game

[source by actualbird]

HJFIOJASIOHGIOW HARPER ;;A;; 💖💖💖

A very short collection of Giann & Marius fic recs

(for @roshie-writes who asked in this post and I didn't want to go over the character/word limit in the comments)

i see dead people (against my will) by @samsspambox

Artem, for as long as he could remember, was able to see things others couldn’t.

Yes, Senior Attorney Artem Wing can see ghosts.

He could see ghosts and hid the ability for as long as he could remember. That was his life and, frankly, it was a good one. No one but Neil knew about his ability (and even then, he was still skeptical), he had a crush on a coworker for the first time in his life, and no ghosts had ever come to haunt him.

He just never expected to see Giann von Hagen back in the NXX office.

or alternatively: artem wing sees the ghost of giann and has to deal with the fallout. which may include telling his maybe friends

While the focus of Sam's fic here is mostly on Artem & Giann, there's a lot of Giann content (and a lot of Marius, too)! It's Marius having to come to terms with Giann dying and ghost!Giann trying to communicate with his brother through Artem. Also Giann being a little menace and found family shenanigans if you enjoy that :D

There's a Giann death scene so heads up for that (but I personally find it to be really well written). Overall this fic is a good mixture of comedy and angst and it absolutely does pull at the heartstrings!

-

you can run, you can hide, but this email WILL find you! by @actualbird

from: Vyn Richter [[email protected]] to: Marius von Hagen [[email protected]] subject: Tutoring Details

Good day, Marius.

I am Dr. Vyn Richter, a professor as well as a friend of your brother, Giann. I am sure that at this point, he has explained to you his request that I be your tutor. I agreed, though the wording of his explanation to me seems that this is a non-negotiable for you. Rest assured, I will ensure that our classes will not be a hindrance in any way. Instead, what I have planned is a course to aid your transition towards your postgraduate studies.

Attached is the syllabus and schedule for our classes, both open to reasonable adjustments. If you have questions, you may email me any time after 12:00pm.

Best regards, Vyn Richter, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Psychology Stellis University

from: Marius von Hagen [[email protected]] to: Vyn Richter [[email protected]] subject: Tutoring Details

Cool, got this. See ya. ✌️

Sent from my iPhone

-

Before going missing, Giann asks Vyn to tutor Marius. Vyn agrees. (A story of annoyance and acceptance, all told through emails.)

If you enjoy epistolary fic, look no further than this one Zak wrote a while back! I still think back to this fic and your question gave me the chance to go back and have a reread :D

The main focus is Vyn and Marius figuring out their tutoring sessions (and a prelude to found family), but there's also a lot of background Marius & Giann and Vyn & Giann. It's tagged as comedy and light angst, so you know what's going down with Giann during the events of the fic :')

10/10 would recommend, I mean the fic is already on this list of recs but I just want to reiterate that this one is really good.

-

Tiny plug-in for myself but it's just chapter 3 of my fic The L stands for Lukecrative (link leads to ch3) for a very specific scene when Marius has a flashback about getting ice cream with Giann as a kid. You don't necessarily need the context of the previous two chapters to understand what's going on, but I've provided the link for the ease of navigating straight to the ice cream scene if you wish.

-

Posts here on tumblr:

Time by @samsspambox -- a giann von hagen musing (about marius, about his mother)

yes marius and giann have matching tattoos and heres how they (emotionally) end up getting it by @actualbird -- 1.5K words; Giann takes Marius to get a tattoo and then decides to get a matching one, too, because he doesn't want Marius to be in pain alone

hey, who made the NXX logo? also by @actualbird -- Giann commissions Marius to make the NXX logo we see in HQ

@cheri-carnival 's translated comics from artist 君楽研 (jun le yan) [1] [2] [3]

Some fic concepts by me based on fake titles Sam gave me, but the second one spotlights Giann and Marius

-

Hope you find something you like in here, roshie-writes!! Have a good rest of your day!

WIP Asks: time travel marius makes his mom go on an emotional rollercoaster

I need to know. Now.

It's another long moment - Carenina can almost see the thoughts ticking over in his head, before he says, "Mother?" Carenina's heart breaks. Austin was Papa, twice, and mere moments ago, but their second son just called her Mother. Giann calls her Mom. Carenina isn't around to encourage this son to do the same.

Essentially, about four months into her second pregnancy, Carenina comes back to her bedroom with Austin at the end of the day to find twenty-two year old Marius lying on their bed in quite a weak state (having time travelled from the present by accident after getting injured in the present). Confusion and a lot of emotions ensue.

(or, Sci provides her own wish fulfilment of wanting Marius to know what it's like to be held and embraced by his mother even just once. it started with that and then @/lukepearcing indulged and brainstormed with me, and so HERE WE ARE)

Two sequel fics to this also planned: Marius processing all this to the biggest sceptic he knows in Luke (thanks to @/actualbird for the notes on the Mariluke believer/sceptic foil because it works like a dream for this), and then Austin PoV when Marius can't help but talk about what happened for once, because his father deserves to know.

(Thanks for asking about this one Rose, because it's like 70% of the freespace in my brain right now! And I need to keep writing it!)

*knock knock* hello! trick or treat!

Is that Sam? Sam of the Spam box? The beloved Sam that they churn up into a vaguely meatlike meal in a metal tin?! If that’s really how they made you, im so sorry,,, we should really boycott Spam if they’re making it out of you and your clones.

Anyway thank you so much for the ask! I originally saw the idea come from your blog and was super antsy to get on it but I’ve never done an ask game, so as you can see this has gone on way further than Halloween actually has.

I started off with the low pixel images because they were the ones I got from Google images, but then I took it way too far and had to edit things for every response so yeah lol, still nothing compared to @actualbird ’s trick-or-treat adventure but I had my fun!

Oh yeah, I should probably give you a candy:

It’s the only thing I have left on me. Just some gummy worms.

Is this representative of my surrender? Have I recognized that the only thing I have left is myself? Have I let the brain rot win, taking over all my physical possessions and replacing them with the things that crowd my dash? Or have I given up on throwing jpegs into Procreate for the last two days in order to continue with a joke i no longer think is funny? Do I think that the only treat on Halloween is the presence of dear friends, and by presenting some worms on a platter show my willingness to offer my companionship to any who knock at the door? Were gummy worms the candy I just so happened to be craving at this very moment?

Who knows, but for now I’m just glad you all stopped by :)

Thanks so much again for the inspiration, Sam, and now that this is done I’ve gotta reorganize my drafts! It’s been a while since I’ve made an actual post lol. Stop by any time, and blink twice if you’re actually being ground up and canned for the consumption of others. (◍•ᴗ•◍) see ya!

DAVIS’ Mixes: Three Shows and a Movie

Quick note: Seeing that Rosa is now officially dating the LIs across all servers + I’ve had musical brainrot for the past few weeks...I thought of making mini playlists for each of the LIs and their respective relationships with Rosa using three songs from Broadway + one love song used in the movies. (￣ω￣)

Additional disclaimer to this note: These are all my opinions based on what I’ve played so far on global + what I’ve seen from ‘net searching（；^ω^）And also using YT links in the emojis...since I have no Spotify （；^ω^）But listed down the songs too, just in case!

Anyhow, rambling over...I hope you enjoy them!

(Keeping it under a cut in case you want to scroll on by, and that’s okay too. Have a wonderful day~)

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Luke Pearce (Keywords: Childhood, Support, Uncertainty)

🎼 |  🎼 |  🎼 |  🎬

- With So Little to be Sure Of (Anyone Can Whistle)

- I’ll Cover You (Rent)

- The Next Ten Minutes (The Last Five Years)

- Can You Feel the Love Tonight (The Lion King)

[Behind the Songs: LukeRosa is a ship years in the making, with all the angst and sweetness it entails. I wanted to capture that somehow in these choices: the support they gave and will continue to give each other + the uncertainty for the future + the childhood element via a Disney song.]

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Artem Wing (Keywords: Cherish, Discovery, Meeting)

🎼 |  🎼 |  🎼 |  🎬

- Sun and Moon (Miss Saigon)

- Till There Was You (The Music Man)

- What More Can I Say? (Falsettos)

- The Luckiest (About Time)

[Behind the Songs: There’s a lot when it comes to ArtemRosa: of pining, of imagery referencing how she brought light to his world, of their insecurities because of how they perceive the other. But representing those elements aside, I also wanted to show how much they cherish/treasure each other.]

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Vyn Richter (Keywords: Promise, Desire, Curiosity)

🎼 |  🎼 |  🎼 |  🎬

- Some Enchanted Evening (South Pacific)

- Unexpected Song (Song and Dance)

- All I Ask of You (Phantom of the Opera)

- Hungry Eyes (Dirty Dancing)

[Behind the Songs: VynRosa is an exercise in trust at its core, I believe. Mostly in Vyn’s case, learning to trust in these new and unexpected feelings for Rosa, and in Rosa herself. So I wanted to show that mostly, compounded with learning desire and letting go of control aren’t so bad at all.]

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Marius von Hagen (Keywords: Teasing, Honesty, Seeing)

🎼 |  🎼 |  🎼 |  🎬

- People Will Say We’re In Love (Oklahoma!)

- You Matter to Me (Waitress)

- Only Us (Dear Evan Hansen)

- It Had to Be You (When Harry Met Sally)

[Behind the Songs: The playful nature of MariusRosa is definitely something I wanted to show, but I wanted to focus more on Marius’s honesty when it comes to his feelings for Rosa. It was a matter of choosing songs where his feelings are laid bare for her: in their simplest form, out loud, no matter what others may say.]

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And for the bonus DLC:

Rosa (Keywords: Choice, Confession, Sure)

🎼 |  🎼 |  🎼 |  🎬

- I Chose Right (Baby)

- Love Song (Pippin)

- What You Mean to Me (Finding Neverland)

- Come What May (Moulin Rouge)

[Behind the Songs: Rosa’s list is a bit more generalized, made to suit whoever the chosen LI (or someone else you ship your Rosa with) would be. I was more trying to showcase the certainty she has in her choices + her determination to stand by them, + a dash of slice of life with her partner.]

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Dedicated to @actualbird and @babylulururu, inspirations and friends ˙˚ʚ(´◡`)ɞ˚˙

jenny jenny, dearest jenny. if u are amenable, pls tell me about ur wip named "eliot you fucking asshole" because im so curious as to what exactly eliot has done this time, HKJBFKJKSFA

listen, zak. I love eliot spencer. so much. and I love the idea of him totally emotionally destroying quinn even more. so here's an excerpt:

When they were done, Eliot got his breath back and asked, “Who do you work for?”

“Your pillow talk can use some work,” Quinn said, collapsing back onto the mattress with a sigh. “You don’t see me bringing up your arms dealer boss while we’re in bed.”

Eliot caged Quinn in with his arms and looked down at him. “Are you using me to get intel?”

“Right, because your dick is so talkative.” Quinn rolled his eyes. “Relax, Spencer. I’m having sex with you for fun, not for some secret agenda. And no, I’m not telling you anything else today, so stop trying to interrogate me.”

this is actually the fic I was working on for nanowrimo last year (and it's still a long way from finished aghh) but I genuinely wanna finish it if only because the angst will be delicious.

WIP GAME

Rules: Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

I don't normally do these but @hihereami tagged me and, objectively, the truth is funny.

I'm not fitting the brief, since I don't have a WIP folder (I have the story I'm working on and then the other stories that I am not writing), these are just the top few stories in the folder. Not all of them are posted, though - see if you can tell which ones were crumpled up and thrown in the trash can lol.

jsu4t1bs

console cowboy

i guess.

dropbox

crying about your family? in MY -

well respected man by the kinks starts playing

DOING MY BEST,

blugh,

hell ya

o;lk

lcmdnwma

-.5

rt2

hisge

mdbaic

aidn

ferret!

Along with like five untitled documents. They didn't earn a title. Stories only get titles when they earn it.

OK, in retrospect, this may only be funny to me, but it is funny to me that some of those documents are super intense, long, good stuff, and they're titled Like That. Thanks for the tag Ami!

EDIT: I forgot to mention important context that I do not split up anything I write by chapters, and I don't have different documents when I do different drafts. So a story that is, literally, 250 pages and 100k long is hypothetically in one document called "jb". The only thing that gets in the way of this is that it's really tedious waiting like four minutes for your document to fully load, and Google Drive REALLY doesn't like 250 page documents so it starts fucking with how long it takes to type something, so a lot of the much longer stories in there are split in two like "jb" and "jb2". If a work ever gets to "jb3" I'm going to delete it because that's no longer a good story.

I'll tag @actualbird if you haven't already done one, because I feel as if that also has to be funny and you have like a new story every two seconds.

NXX Group Chat: School Archives Room Analysis

This chat has been on my radar ever since I read it from the Symphony of the Night event. It struck me as a little odd, especially the beginning, so I wanted to do a little bit of an analysis on it to figure out why. 

Analysis will begin below the cut.

Note: This analysis is done for fun. I am not a professional linguist. For more of a linguistics analysis, please check out actualbird’s analysis on how each of the suitors text. I am coming at this analysis from an American viewpoint and will be analyzing the story as its written in the Global Server. My primary objective here is to figure out what is going on is in this particular group chat, and how and why it leads to an argument. There will be spoilers for the Symphony of the Night event.

Context: This particular group chat occurs after Vyn takes MC Rosa to Abyss for the first time in this event. After a short chat with the Abyss bartender/owner, Vyn brings MC Rosa outside and tells them that there was a killer in the bar. The client then gives them a new task at the Stellis Junior High School Archives, and that is where this chat comes in.

For the sake of clarity, I will be only focusing on the part of the conversations that occurs before Artem asks MC Rosa about the new task location.

Vyn makes the decision to ask MC Rosa about her well-being in the group chat. - This is notable for a few reasons. First, Vyn’s decision to put this information in the group chat serves two functions. The first function this serves is to connect with MC Rosa and to check on their mental well-being after the shock of what happened at Abyss. Vyn wants to make sure that MC Rosa is alright, no matter what particular option you choose. The second function that Vyn’s message serves is to send the implication to everyone else reading the conversation (Marius, Artem, and Luke) that something happened at Abyss that possibly affected MC’s well-being.

Marius asks in the group chat about what happened at Abyss. - Even though the focus at the beginning of the chat is between Vyn and MC Rosa, Vyn’s choice to ask about MC Rosa’s well-being means that everyone else in NXX can see their conversation as well. As a result, Marius responds to the implication hidden in Vyn’s question to Rosa: that something happened at Abyss, something dangerous. Marius’s question makes it clear that he wants to know what event could have affected MC’s well-being, out of concern for her. Marius’s question also serves as way for the other suitors not present in this group conversation at the moment (i.e. Luke and Artem) to also get information regarding what happened at Abyss so that all of the members have the same information.

Vyn responds to the literal meaning of Marius’s words. - Interestingly enough, Vyn responds to Marius question by responding to the literal meaning of Marius’s words. (i.e. “What happened?” “Nothing for now.”) In doing so, Vyn either doesn’t see or purposefully ignores the implication present in Marius’s message: that he [Marius] wants to know what happened at Abyss so that he [Marius] knows. In responding to Marius’s literal question, Vyn is also withholding information. In Vyn’s eyes, he can see implication in the question, and is choosing to withhold the information that he got from Abyss until he can address the members properly and inform them. Here’s the kicker. In Vyn’s eyes, responding to the literal meaning of Marius’s question and withholding information is framed in a positive light, due to the story’s implication that Vyn is likely trying to figure out how to inform the group of the increased danger surrounding their investigation.

Marius responds to Vyn by bringing the subtext in Vyn’s previous message to the surface, and commenting on that. - In Marius’s response, he acknowledges Vyn’s answer to him as a valid one. But implied in Marius’s response is the idea that from his perspective, Vyn is deliberately withholding information, and Marius is not happy about that. Because Vyn is unwilling to be forthcoming with the information regarding what happened with Abyss, in Marius’s eyes, Vyn is deliberately distancing himself from the rest of the group. That deliberate distancing also seems to rub Marius the wrong way because it seems like Vyn is placing himself above Marius (and subsequently the other members reading the messages). To that end, Marius’s comment also serves to position the conversation as an “Vyn v. NXX” conflict to try and bring in the other suitors to support his side. By clearly responding to Vyn’s remark in the group chat, Marius is also subtly alerting the other suitors (Luke and Artem) that something happened at Abyss, and that what happened at Abyss cannot stay between Vyn and MC. In Marius’s eyes, the implication in his remark is clear - For everyone’s sake: Everyone else needs to know what happened at Abyss.

Vyn responds by confirming Marius’s implications on both fronts - that Vyn is deliberately withholding information AND that it’s due to the fact that Marius is a child. Vyn also introduces a sarcastic tone, upping the emotional temperature of the conversation to be more combative. - Vyn’s response here is very terse, and I find it really interesting. With only two sentences, Vyn cuts to the heart of the implications behind Marius’s remark and responds to it. From Vyn’s perspective, he’s doubling down on his original point - that nothing happened at Abyss. Using sarcasm, he also gives Marius a veiled warning, by implying that if Marius continues to pry into the incident now, Marius will be scared (like a child). The second thing I find interesting is that Vyn’s usage of sarcasm. By introducing sarcasm into the conversation, Vyn is able to reinforce the idea that Marius is a child, but also diverts Marius’s focus away from the line of questioning regarding what happened at Abyss. I’m not sure if Vyn’s sarcasm was intentional, or if it was an unconscious response, but at this point of the conversation, it seems like Vyn successfully turned and ended the conversation regarding what happened at Abyss. It also suggests that Vyn is intentionally baiting Marius too, wanting Marius to respond to the implication that he [Marius] is like a child.  

Marius responds to the sarcasm and implication in Vyn’s response. - In response to Vyn’s sarcasm, Marius ends up matching the combative tone Vyn introduces and responds in kind. Marius directly brings up and addresses the subtext behind Vyn’s previous remark by acknowledging Vyn as a “senior,” with wisdom. By placing the term “senior” in quotation marks, Marius is mocking Vyn by implying that Vyn is “significantly older” and reinforcing their 6 year age gap. Marius also addresses Vyn’s conscious decision to withhold information by sarcastically referring to it as wisdom. Marius’s sarcasm here serves to express his displeasure with Vyn. It’s clear that Marius does not like that Vyn likens him to a child that will not be able to handle the truth behind what went on at Abyss, which places Marius in an inferior position in this conversation, and Marius also does not like that Vyn brushes off his [Marius’s] concerns, which serves as way for Vyn to distance himself from Marius.

Artem enters and lowers the emotional temperature of the conversation. - When Artem enters the conversation, he points out that Marius and Vyn’s current conversation is not about the events that happened at Abyss, and that the preceding conversation between them is a “meaningless dispute.” Artem gets to the heart of the matter between Marius and Vyn and addresses the subtext in both of their responses, but does so in a way that leaves no room for a rebuttal. Artem’s response to Vyn and Marius implies that Vyn and Marius’s dispute is something that is wasting the time of everyone involved, and also serves to point out that personal disputes between them is not the purpose of the group chat. In this way, he points out how off-topic Vyn and Marius’s current line of discussion is from the investigation at hand addressing the heightened emotional temperature and combativeness from them. By also referring to Vyn and Marius’s current line of discussion as meaningless and an inconvenience, Artem distances himself from Vyn and Marius, taking the position of a neutral third-party, and enforces the idea that their personal squabbles are bad for everyone in this chat. Artem’s reframing of Marius and Vyn’s dispute as meaningless and as an inconvenience serves as a reminder to both of them that all the NXX members are in the chat and can see what is being said and works to lower the emotional temperature of the conversation.

MC Rosa responds to Artem, and does not respond to the conversation between Vyn and Marius. - This moment is particular for two reasons. First, apart from Vyn’s initial question to MC, this is the first time that MC has acknowledged someone else in the conversation: Artem. In the chat itself, MC Rosa said nothing when Marius came on and did not respond when Vyn and Marius were arguing. Second, by responding directly to Artem and not acknowledging the argument between Marius and Vyn, MC is aligning herself with Artem’s viewpoint that was expressed in the previous message without needing to literally say the words: I agree. The fact that there was only one way to respond to Artem’s message, not to mention that was the first time the player could respond after the argument between Vyn and Marius, seems to suggest that MC didn’t want to get involved in the argument.

Vyn and Marius acknowledge and address the subtext behind Artem’s first message, but crucially don’t address the literal meaning or apologize. - After Artem directly responds to MC’s acknowledgement, Vyn and Marius chime in and respond to Artem’s first message closing the argument between them. Marius responds first. In Marius’s response, he touches on the subtext behind Artem’s words. Marius admits that the discussion between him and Vyn is an argument, but does so by re-introducing sarcasm into the conversation. This is a pretty dangerous tactic, since the introduction of sarcasm could increase the emotional temperature of the conversation again and start up a whole new argument. By utilizing sarcasm, Marius puts distance between himself and Vyn. Through his words, Marius tries to place himself above Vyn through literal meaning: that Vyn is someone unpleasant to have an argument, and also through the implication that he [Marius] recognizes that their argument was childish. The key here, is that Marius does not apologize for the argument that he and Vyn had in the chat and Marius does not acknowledge that their argument was meaningless. Vyn responds second. When Vyn’s responds, there’s an interesting trick that happens. Marius’s sarcastic rhetorical question is acknowledged implicitly, but explicitly, the content of Vyn’s response refers to Artem’s first message. In Vyn’s response, he points out that he’s working and lacks the time to argue with Marius, without explicitly saying so. In refusing to acknowledge Marius’s presence in his reply, Vyn’s also trying to distance himself from Marius by focusing on the fact that he [Vyn] has refused to engage with Marius. The implication in Vyn’s response is that he also acknowledges the argument between himself and Marius as an argument. However, just like with Marius, Vyn doesn’t apologize for the argument they had. Then Artem comes in with expert timing and re-directs the conversation back to the Main Character, ending the argument before it can begin again.

Ending Thoughts/Observations: I initially found this exchange interesting because of the argument that occurred. When I look back on the exchanges in that particular event, this one sticks out because this is the first time that we (as players) get a glimpse regarding what NXX investigations may have been like when it was just Vyn, Artem, and Marius. Going through the chat and the different ways the conversation can progress in game, I think that this particular exchange explains why and how Vyn and Marius get into arguments. It seems to be due to the fact that they both seem to operate on the idea that the other person they’re talking to will “get the implication” behind their words. I won’t speak as to whether or not they’re successful or not (that’s a conversation for another time), but here specifically, when Vyn and Marius addressing each other, the report about what happens at Abyss turns into an argument because they’re on two different wavelengths regarding what to disclose and how to do so. Vyn is clearly approaching things from a more cautious perspective, preferring to disclose only as much as necessary, at least until he’s able to properly report on what happened (at least, that was implied in the later half of the story). But what’s interesting is that Marius is also coming from a similar place, asking about what happened at Abyss because he also is being cautious. Neither Vyn nor Marius are wrong in their approach in communicating or their intent. Unfortunately, it just didn’t work out this time. In this particular exchange, they aren’t able to see eye to eye regarding the other person’s intentions, and that seems to be where the misunderstanding starts. A few more brief interesting thoughts: - The introduction of Sarcasm and how it can be used to change conversations. It’s clear here how Sarcasm works to derail the initial conversation. Now that I see it, I can’t unsee it in this exchange. Honestly, I don’t think the introduction of sarcasm by Vyn or by Marius was necessarily intentional (but probably more of a product of their personality), but that was the end result. - Artem’s importance as a conversational de-escalator. Artem’s perspective as a third party (outside of Vyn and Marius’s relationship of tutor and student) and his blunt conversational style works really well to cut to the heart of both Vyn and Marius’s words when they’re communicating. He also brings their subtext to the surface, and resolves this particular exchange by reminding them of the consequences to their actions. He’s also able to redirect the conversation back to the task at hand, which is pretty important, given how quickly an argument can occur. - Lack of an apology. There is acknowledgement from Vyn and Marius about their argument and it’s interesting that both of them acknowledge their back and forth as such, but interestingly enough, neither of them explicitly give an apology. No “I’m sorry.” This makes sense in the context of Vyn and Marius’s interactions in the main story, since neither of them want to look weak or admit fault in front of MC Rosa in public (especially not around the other suitors). They dance around the issue, but no explicit apology is given in this particular interaction.

about ur WIPs in the WIP tag game: "marius-centric z fic" OHO????? im so excited for that oh gosh i love marius-centric fics. whats it about, if u dont mind me asking? also, wishing u a wonderful day and the best writing vibes for whatever u wanna write :D

hi Zak!!!!

of course i don't mind!! i'm actually pretty nervous about this one since even after a while i don't feel like i have a good grasp on marius' character and default to 'bratty mysterious ceo' but he's also one with a secret identity that fits in well with the series about finding out secrets LMAO

and that's the just of it, the nxx find out he's Z, illustrious artist extraordinaire! obviously there's gonna be more, but a lot of it is definitely up in the air. like, i do wanna have something about marius being burnt out and how the rest of the nxx take him to do stuff that help them with burn out. i also want the rest of the nxx to figure it out one by one (like a 3 + 1 type of thing) and have it be a little bit different than black sheep but the same fundamental formula.

but i'm also having trouble figuring out how the hell the rest of the nxx gets introduced to art (artem's is easy. just stick his art in a movie, but the rest? i mean, maybe luke can commission something lolol)

along the same lines, i'm also thinking about luke's portion of the series cuz the rest of the nxx does know that he's raven, but that one i think i wanna delve into the implications of being raven! like okay, we know he's raven, but what does he do? and yeah more series stuff!

thank you for asking <3

i associate u with luke so hard sometimes i accidentally call u luke instead of zack in my head. ALSO THE COSPLAY IS SO COOL ARUGHHH

SCREAMING CUZ YOU ARENT THE ONLY ONE ANON AJHFVASFASFAKJ, A BUNCH OF MY FRIENDS ALSO...

these are just the most recent instances, it makes me laugh EVERY TIME

also, thank u so much for ur kind words on the cosplay :DDDD im SO DANG EXCITED TO WEAR IT OUT ALL COMPLETE W THE WIG AND EVERYTHING EEEeeEEeEEeeeee!! ive also contemplated getting red contacts for it but thats still up in the air, im not sure if i can stomach putting a Thing In My Eye but also....the peak kinning tho.....

papaya :3c

o SHIT man uhhhh

ok honestly my like. MAIN song that is Literally Me is nineties by michigander 

but second tier songs for my aesthetic include we’re not just friends by parks, squares and alleys and this must be my dream by the 1975

thing that amuses me: when my dog sleeps sometimes all his paws twitch like this tiny close open close open thing w/ his toe beans. since dogs also go thru REM, it's likely he's dreaming about running around and his paws r reacting. it makes me very happy to see he's having cool dreams of chasing stuff.

OH GODS THATS SO ADORABLE ;;

i hope he dreams of running around and having fun with you! he sounds like such a darling aaaaaa 

also would it be alright to send my love to your doggo?? i love dogs so mu c h hhngg

G, Z and M for the ask meme, please 😊

Hello exhausted-impact!!

G: Care to share a favorite crack fic?

I know you technically asked for one but I'm giving you more anyway! I'm going to assume that they are ToT crack fics, and if so, allow me to point you to (if you haven't already read them):

Come and Spaghet It! by @samsspambox || samandspam

“Pasta night started by accident”, one of the officers told Luke as they shoved another forkful of the vegan chicken alfredo. “One of the lawyers, I don’t know if you know them yet, made way too much spaghetti and didn’t want it to go to waste."

or alternatively: Artem stress makes handmade pasta and Luke unknowingly eats some at the Stellis Police Department.

This was one of the first ToT fics I read when I got into the fandom last year and it's such a fun one. Also read the end notes section because it's hilarious

-

hey google? how do i recover from telling my boss to fuck off online? by @samsspambox || samandspam

The world of entertainment was a fickle thing. Artem was used to this idea. In fact, he was sometimes the subject of such internet trends. He would review a movie, people would talk about the movie more, and then people would forget about it. He still didn’t know how his little website got so popular, he just wrote what he thought and needed someplace to put it.

That’s how this whole thing started.

or alternatively: kiki and artem have internet beef. hilarity ensues.

Hands down one of my favorite Kiki fics! It's miscommunication done well and I personally think it's hilarious. The fic also uses fun HTML/CSS, references Artem's dislike of Kanon, and comes with a clickable link! :D

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and i would walk 1,300 steps (just to be the man to fall down at...the reindeer workshop) by @actualbird || reptilianraven

“1,299 steps, huh?” Ria peers over to look at Artem’s fitbit.

“One more step ‘til the high score, then,” Marius smirks, extending his leg. “Do you think what DAVIS said would happen will actually happen when we hit 1,300?”

“Doubt it,” Luke rolls his eyes. “Most that’d happen is a prize from the staff.”

“We are likely only going to exacerbate Ria’s aching feet, should we wander around any longer,” Vyn tells him.

“Agreed,” Artem nods. “I think it’s time we call it a night.”

“You guys are no fun,” Marius whines, but he doesn’t protest as the rest of them start walking back to the parking lot.

And after one step, a large blue circle of light appears underneath all their feet before phasing the team completely out of existence.

-

DAVIS: The Teleport Point opens at a random point for the first time after 100 steps and leads the player to the Reindeer Workshop. Once the first is unlocked, the others unlock after 200 steps, with six Reindeer Workshops in total to visit. Cumulatively, 1,300 steps are needed to unlock all workshops.

[Based on the Xmas Partyland Map Event]

This fic delves into game mechanics (if you've played any of the map events, you'll be relatively familiar) and contains some of the best Artem lines. Okay, everyone has good lines in this, but *vague gesture* it's all delightful. It's a short read so I'd definitely recommend it, even if you haven't played this specific event!

-

farm time??!? by lawlietss (who I'm afraid I don't know the tumblr handle of?)

The NXX team play Stardew Valley for some good old fashioned team bonding. There's more problems than profit.

Okay, this isn't strictly crack (it's tagged as comedy), but if you're familiar with / have played sdv then you might enjoy this. There's MC marrying Harvey to spite everyone and Vyn naming the farm Farm Farm in the most deadpan voice possible (among other things). Would recommend if you also enjoy NXX team shenanigans!

M: Got any premises on the back burner that you’d care to share?

I... do have some actually. I'm keeping quiet about a lot of them because I don't want to raise expectations, but here are a few that I've been playing around with:

An Ever After High / fairy tale AU focusing on Vyn and Artem as foils (enemies to friends arc)

A Kiki and Vincent fic because there is tragically little content about the two of them, let alone both of them interacting with each other (probably strangers to friends and bonding over shared interests)

Possibly something about Zangr that actually has him as a main/POV character??

Z: Major character death–do you ever write/read it? Is there a character whose death you can’t tolerate?

I'm not sure if I could write major character death, haha! In original works, sure. In fic? I don't know! It's also something that I don't usually read, especially if I gravitate toward found fam / team dynamics. I will admit, however, that I have read a few ToT fics where Luke dies out of morbid curiosity. (Not him dying of morbid curiosity, I'm the one who is curious.) So while it's not something I stay away from entirely, it's also something I don't necessarily navigate toward.

Thank you for the ask!! Have a lovely day :D