a meme specific to my interpretations

so my dog has now caught TWO gophers this week alone. she’s taking bookings for pest control rentals at this point

house

also theres a new character named bea (?)

no idea what animal she is (or why she gets a normal name) also i was right abt the no roo. but theres also no owl!!!! again!!!! what!!!! why!!!!!!!!

Ok everyone look at one of my favorite Charles Addams drawings

hi still (semi) off the grid until tuesday but um thoughts on jimmy snuggerud

making fakemon is fun. :3

Bargaining

dark!Joel Miller x f!Reader

Bargaining Masterlist

Summary: You try to bargain your virginity for your family’s safety. Word count: 1.8k

Warnings for full fic: 18 + mdni , Dubious consent, virginity loss, unsafe p in v, mentions of STDs, pet names, dark, age gap, survivalism, I do Not condone this. Reader is in her early 20’s, Joel is in his 40’s. Reader’s inner thoughts are in italics. This is my first fic, please give feedback.

“Wait. I can give you something else. My virginity.”

He raises an eyebrow.

---

Joel Miller, the infamous raider, stands before you. He and his band of men control these parts, and they provide “protection” from clickers and other raiders in exchange for a monthly payment. Your household (its just you and your younger brother) usually give them a large basket full of vegetables. But this month something, maybe a gopher or a deer, tore up your garden, eating everything. You had nothing else to give. When Joel’s men had broken down your door you begged them, told them you’d give them double next month. They threatened to take your brother instead, put him to work. And then Joel strode through the front door, filing the doorway with his large form. He wore a red flannel, thick tan leather jacket, heavy boots and tight jeans with his knee cocked out and his hands on his hips.

“What’s taking so long in here? There trouble?” He asked his men. They nodded to you and Joel’s gaze shifted to you. An intense gaze, one that made your knees weak and your chin tremble. You swallowed and pulled yourself together.

“I’m sorry, an animal destroyed our crops. We can forage and plant again. I promise next month we will pay double.”

He shook his head sadly and your stomach dropped.

“Sorry sweetheart, can’t go around making exceptions, even for someone as pretty as you.”

One of his men stepped forward and made to grab your brother’s arm. Pretty? Maybe there was another way.

“Wait. I am still a virgin. I’m unused. I have no diseases, which is good because out here if you get sick you could die,” you ramble, shifting your weight from foot to foot.

“I’m clean. I’ve never been touched by a man. And I wouldn’t just be giving you sex, or safe sex, or my virginity, I’d be giving you a piece of me, my dignity, my identity, my soul.”

He grins wickedly at that so you plow ahead. He likes to have power, you can read it in his face, so you use it to your advantage.

“I’d be yours, claimed, forever marked by you, by my first time. Yours to ruin. Yours to torment, yours to degrade, yours to fuck, yours to fill. You can stretch me out and when your cum is dripping down my thighs and I am reduced to a sweating, sobbing, shaking mess on the floor - striped of my dignity and humanity, then you can proudly sit back and see your power. How you’ve ruined someone, claimed them, destroyed them, owned them.”

Damn you’re really trying to sell this. He has to take bait, you can’t let them take your brother.

You have his undivided attention, his eyes never left yours throughout your whole monologue. He seems surprised and a little impressed by your unexpected language. Now that you’ve said your piece, finished begging, he breaks eye contact. He shamelessly looks you up and down like he’s inspecting a horse to buy. He says nothing but gives one curt nod.

You loosen a sigh of relief. Your brother would be safe. You turned to face him, you had been standing a step in front of him, protecting him with your body. You knelt down and put a hand on his check. “Go upstairs, and don’t come down till I tell you. Okay?” You tell him softly. He nods silently and heads for the staircase in the corner of the room. You straighten up and turn to face Joel again. There’s something on his face, almost like a sad understanding as he watches your brother leave.

“Alright sweetheart, where do you wanna do this?” He asks gruffly in his thick Texan accent.

Oh god this is really happening.

“N-not upstairs.” Is all you manage to get out. Your mind seems to be going blank with the anxiety and shock of what’s about to happen. When you don’t move or say anything else he just nods and grabs your hand, pulling you from the main room where all his men remain, rifling through your things. He pulls you through a door and into the kitchen. He closes the door and pushes a chair underneath the doorknob, jamming it.

“Don’t want anyone interrupting us.” He smirks at your widened eyes. “You know sweetheart, you sure do have a filthy mouth. Saying all those things.” He’s shaking his head. He finally lets go of your hand to take a step back and look you over again greedily. Nothing soft remains in his eyes now. No, the only thing you see is a predator. His hungry eyes devour you. All the warning bells are going off in your head, every instinct telling you to kick him in the crotch and run. But you know you can’t, because although you know you could probably outrun this big guy, there are too many of them, and your brother is upstairs. So, you take a deep breath, loosen your fists and accept you fate. He notices the little movement. He notices everything.

“Ready sweetheart?”

You give a small nod, still unable to speak. You’re afraid of how small your voice will sound. You will not appear weak in front of him. You hold your chin higher and meet his stare.

The corner of his lips pull up in a wicked grin. “Good.”

And then he moves, and he’s so fast you don’t even know what’s happening until you’re pushed up against the kitchen island. With a broad hand he pushes you down and pins you between your shoulder blades. He’s got you bent over face down on the counter. Your breasts are pressed against the cold granite and your nipples harden against it. He presses into you from behind and you can feel his considerable bulge. With one boot he hooks your foot and slides it out, spreading your legs further for him. You hear the metal clanging as he undoes his belt and lowers his zipper. You don’t turn to look. There’s no need, you know he'll be big. With his cock freed he closes the gap between you, leaning further into you.

Shit. This will be painful.

He's even larger than you thought. You feel his hard cock behind you, pressing against your ass and the small of your back. His head tilts and you feel his hot breath on the curve of your neck. His lips glide over your shoulder. “So soft.” He inhales deeply, smelling your hair. “Mmmm.” With one hand he reaches up and grabs at your breast roughly. He can feel your hardened nipple through the thin fabric of the dress. He lets out a low growl and gropes you harder. You can feel his breathing getting faster. He reaches back down to pull your dress up above your ass. It bunches around you hips.

“Hold this sweetheart.” He whispers in your ear. You obey, grabbing the bunched up fabric with one hand and bracing yourself on the counter with the other. He pulls back, and pulls your underwear down to your ankles. One hand moves to your hip, keeping you in place. With his other hand wrapped around the base of his cock he notches at your entrances and pushes in half way. White hot pain flashes through you. He’s so big and your body was not prepared for him. He pulls out almost all the way and pushes in again, all the way, hips snapping. Searing pain, he is splitting your insides apart. You hiss in pain.

“Sorry sweetheart, didn’t say this was gonna be nice for you. Remember this is your payment. Take it.”

He chuckles darkly and slams into you again. You shake your head.

No, no no no, it’s too much.

You can’t breathe. You feel a trickle of blood run down the inside of your thigh. Your hips dig into the countertop and you know there with be a line of bruising left on your skin. You’ll have bruising on the side of your hips too, his fingers are griping you so tightly.

“That’s a good little virgin. So fucking tight. Relax sweetheart. Don’t fight it.” He grunts. “I know your pussy will want it anyways.”

He sets up a rapid pace, slamming into you roughly with each thrust. It’s dry and painful and you hate it. Hate him. But after a few minutes when your body has adjusted you begin to loosen a bit. You still hate Joel, hate this man who runs these lands like he owns them. But you can’t deny that your body has stopped protesting. So you try to drown out the obscene sounds of skin slapping and his grunting behind you. You let your mind travel far away and forget that it is Joel behind you.

You’re not sure how much time has passed, but you feel a change behind you, the hot breaths on your shoulder blades are uneven and the pace is different, slower and deeper. He lets out a pained moan then pulls out of you, there’s a seconds pause then you feel hot liquid spill over you. It hits the small of your back in ropes and drips onto your ass. He sighs deeply from behind you. You finally turn to look at him. He’s staring your body, satisfaction on his face as he watches his cum drip down you. You whip your head back around before he can catch your eye.

There’s silence as he watches you and catches his breath. Finally, he reaches down and pulls your underwear back up. He takes the dress out of your grip and tugs it down. He runs his hands over your waist and ass, smoothing the fabric and feeling you up. One rests at the small of your back and presses the dress into the wetness there, letting to fabric soak it up and stick to you. He grins.

“Alright sweetheart.”

 He gives your ass a smack then lets go of you. You push up and raise yourself off from the counter, resting on your elbows. He says nothing else as he moves to the door, unwedges the chair and opens the door. He looks back at you. You’re still leaning against the counter for support. He eyes your shaking legs, your ruffed up hair, your wrinkled wet dress. “See you next month.”

You’re in shock. That’s it? You don’t move as he leaves and whistles for his men to follow. You don’t move till you hear the front door slam behind them. Then you sink to the kitchen floor.

You don’t understand, Joel is infamous for being violent and cruel. You know that could have been much worse, that he could have beat you, that he could have passed you around to his men afterwards. But he just left. Suddenly you feel grateful. Then you silently curse yourself for it, reminding yourself that even though it could have been worse it was horrible that it ever happened in the first place. That someone threatened your family, that they took something from you. That they acted like they owned the place. You grit your teeth. No, the only thing you’re grateful for is the fact that it’s over. You stand on your shaky legs and reach for a kitchen towel. You call out for your brother, letting him know that they’re gone and he’s safe. You clean yourself up and you hear his little feet running down the stairs. He bursts into the room and flies at you in a hug. “Your big sis took care of it. I’ll always protect you remember. It’s okay. It’s over.” You pat his back and comfort him.

See you next month.

hiii you said you wanted to get asks about psychonauts so I hope this is good ^^

I really like all your adult designs for the whispering rock campers & I like how Elka and Vernon are both in the “I can’t question my identity rn I’m fuckin stressed” (especially Vernon, love that silly guy)

And I’m getting that your Vernon is the type to try to absorb himself in his work and cut social situations out & since he’s older, he’s less talkative (probably, he realised that people didn’t ever want to listen to him talk due to his habit of rambling and not getting to the point of what he wanted to say. which is sad ).

But then I also have to wonder… is he still a dog owner? Or does he mourn his youthful days when he was able to walk his dog around the block for a seemingly infinite stretch of time…nothing in their way but the various manholes and gophers…truly, the pressing questions…

Anon im giving you a gold star for this ask. You’re the only one who’s noticed the vibe I was going for with Vernon! At least as specifically as this! I was definitely trying to basically answer the question “What happens when a kid who’s constantly being told he’s annoying and no one wants to listen to him finally starts registering what he’s being told.” Because. The answer is that he’ll probably reach a point where he just stops talking.

A few people who have noticed his mental connections in my design interpret it as him being skilled with mental connection now that he’s older! Which is really sweet! But also . Kind of the complete opposite of what’s actually going on with him. He’s naturally very talkative, of course, but once he resigned himself to just sort of shutting up because no one wants to hear his stories, all his thoughts and ideas weren’t able to stick in his head and they often start manifesting outside of his head as a result! Gets kind of muddled for him sometimes, having them all out in the open like that.

It’s also why he’s a True Psychic Tales illustrator, not a writer. He’s resigned himself to just being the translator for other people’s stories than thinking of writing his own. And, yeah, absolutely throwing himself into work a lot more since he doesn’t feel like he can contribute well to any sort of social situation.

I think he’d like to get a dog, but with the whole “throwing himself into his work” thing, I don’t think he has the time for a dog anymore. Something tells me Lady was pretty old when he was young (idk why, Lady is just an old dog name to me) and he just never really got around to getting his own. Maybe someday!

Your Exams End (and you visit the Hosts)

———

Got a request? Send them in to the ask box!

———

Haruhi

Haruhi is just as stressed

You go home to her house and watch a crappy movie

Fall asleep within the first 30 minutes of the movie

Ranka was not exactly impressed when he saw the both of you but he let you rest

Tamaki

Party time B)

Shopping and buying you everything you even pick up to look at

A banquet of delicious food

Cries when you just want something easy like a sandwich

Holds you on his lap and lets you ramble on about everything that you’re worried about

Kyoya

Nap.

If you think that he being awoken is bad, imagine his rage when someone wakes you up

Will order a comfort meal for you when you wake up

If he happens to fall asleep with you, you will not end up getting out of bed for another 10 hours

Twins

You are such a mess after exams that they double-team this one

Relaxation in a nice bath, or at a bright beach

Mischief takes a back seat this time

Kaoru probably would be silent the entire time, just listening to what you needed

Hikaru would likely be the gopher for all this, complaining but following through in the end

Mori

Just a calm place to rest

Solid chance that he’s exhausted from exams as well

Loose hugs

Will give a stare at anyone who tries to get you to do anything

Honey

Has a large dessert planned for you

Eats half of it before you even arrive

The other half is confiscated by Mori to keep it out of his greedy hands

Nap time together

You’re absolutely exhausted so he won’t have to ask you twice

So many stuffed animals (Honey is your favorite to hold though)

VG: The Lion of Theluji Mountains - PART 1

Ever since the Outsiders joined the Pridelanders, an intense rivalry had formed between the Pridelands' majordomo and the Outlands' former scout. When Simba had asked for the Morning Report, Zazu and Vitani both scrambled for the opportunity.

Zazu cleared his throat, "All seems to be in order, sire --" "Nothing out of the ordinary, sir." Vitani cut in without thinking. "Ugh... The tree dispute between the baboons and galagos have died down. Surely, a 'monkey off your back'." Zazu straightened, "The wildebeest are grazing in the same spot as usual, if that's 'gnus' to you. And --" "Most of the herds were wrangled back in their place. There are still stragglers." the lioness felt herself becoming competitive. Zazu cleared his throat, "Th-The rock pythons can't quite 'wrap' their minds around why the aardvarks are being rather 'nosey' --" Vitani scowled at the hornbill and quickly returned to her stoic gaze at the King, "The overgrazing these last few months led to a premature --" "Ah, as I was saying --" "Last night --" Simba couldn't keep turning his head to listen, "Alright, alright! Enough! Okay? I just... One at a time, please." He turned to the lioness and gave an initiative nod, "Vitani?" Vitani, rather pretentiously, stuck her tongue out at the old majordomo in victory. "Poppycock..." Zazu muttered to himself. "Well, she's new to the Pridelands." Simba shrugged, "Vitani, what about the herds?" "Well," Zazu put his wings to his hips, "just so you know, young lioness, it takes years and years of reporting and knowing the Pridelands like the back of your wing to get to my level!" Without Zazu looking, Vitani rolled her eyes. Funnily enough, the King did as well, just as bored of the majordomo's ramblings as he always has been, ever since he was a cub. The lioness continued her report about the herds' statuses as the sun continued to rise. ____ Days later... Too much time had gone by. Zazu still hadn't come back from his business trip. The pride watched as the King paced around the main den, worried for his old friend. "It's been almost two days, now," Simba muttered, "it isn't like him to be this late. Something has to be wrong. Really wrong." Suddenly, news came, as if on cue. "Sir!" barked a creature emerging from the spot of earth outside the entrance. It was Gopher the mole rat, a long-serving scout of the majordomo. "News from the Underground; Zazu is reported to be missing in Theluji Mountains. He was last seen entering strong currents." "The blizzard," Simba sat up, "I should've known!" The Guard's eyes widened. What was a blizzard? "I should've had him deliver my message to King Sokwe after the storm." Simba turned to the lionesses, "Forgot how harsh the wet seasons could be, there..." Vitani may have rivaled Zazu, and she may have thought he was a stuffy, perfectionist, gossipful interloper, but she never wished a travesty like this upon him. After a hushed discussion with the Guard, Vitani suddenly spoke up. "We can bring Zazu home." "You?" the King was wide-eyed, "You don't know the terrain. Kion's Guard needed escorts, even." "You could get lost, too!" Tiifu cried, "Then how will Zazu get home? It's not worth the risk." Vitani gently loosened herself from Tiifu's seemingly clingy embrace, "I appreciate your concern, but someone's gotta find him. We're big lions, he's a small bird. I'm sure my Guard and I can handle it better than he can." Simba sighed, "Alright, but be careful with the weather. It can get unpredictable. Beware of ice and winds. You could freeze to death if you don't find shelter." "We'll be back in no time, sir." the leader smiled assuringly. Tiifu frowned, and clung to Vitani again. "Tiifu," the Guard leader whispered to the lioness, "I'll be alright. The Guard and I can handle the elements." Tiifu watched as the Guard took off. "Please, please, be careful..." ____ Almost there... The Guard had walked for hours, now. The Theluji Mountains was far west of the Pridelands, already too far from what the Guard knew. "Must be it." Vitani said, looking up. "Loooong climb up." Imara sighed. Vitani lifted a paw, "Welp, here we-" Suddenly, Gopher appeared from the ground. The Guard nearly jumped. "Wait! Before you proceed..." the mole rat leaned closer, "...Beware of the beast that lives in the Mountains." "...What?" "Word from Underground is that a big, hairy beast emerges from his cave to snatch up prey." "And Zazu's up there..." Shabaha pointed out, "Hopefully he wasn't... you know..." Kasi cringed, "Oh, no... Oh, Simba would not wanna hear that..." Vitani turned to Gopher, "Thank you for letting us know." Gopher saluted courteously and sank back into the hole. "Come on, girls." Vitani prepared to leap, "Till the Pridelands end..." "Lion Guard Defend!" the rest finished in unison. ____ The Guard miserably wandered through the blizzard, unknowingly going in circles as winds from the storm had covered their tracks in the snow. The poor savannah animals shivered hard. Their eyebrows and eyelashes appeared gray from frost. Their eyes, themselves, couldn't help but constantly shut from the dry, crystalline wind. In their closed eyes, they hadn't noticed Vitani slowly taking on a strange appearance as days passed on their trek. Her fur seemed to be growing more and more dense, and long. Her signature tuft hung over her eyes, protecting them from the ice, but blocking them from seeing. They'd eventually found a small, uninhabited cave to rest in. When the Guard finally laid their eyes on Vitani, they gawked. "What?" Vitani glared, "Why are you looking at me like that? Do I have something on my face?" "Vitani..." Kasi slowly approached, "Your fur... i-it's..." "Like a CLOUD!" Shabaha cried before excitedly leaping to Vitani. With no impulse control, she proceeded to feel Vitani's soft coat. "Wha-?" Vitani slapped Shabaha's paw away, "Quit it! What are you...?" "Odd... must be a dormant trait," Tazama spoke up, "I mean, you've always had an unusually long coat, even back home..." "Are you saying she adapted to the climate?" Kasi asked. "Must be so." Tazama looked at her leader. "We can talk about this later." Vitani stood up, "Come on, Zazu can't keep waiting..." ____ Later... The Lion Guard seemed to make it to another part of the mountain. The change in air pressure meant they were much higher now. They called for Zazu, their voices giving them away to listening ears all over the mountains... Vitani was pulled from her intense focus as her ear swiveled to a sudden scraping sound. Pebbles skidded down and brushed against her shoulder. She glanced up, confused at where it came from. A pair of eyes stared from a cave above. The winds of the storm masked the deep rumbling heard from inside. Too disoriented from the loud, nearly-opaque wind, Vitani couldn't get herself to find the source of the falling pebbles. She stared a few seconds longer. "Vitani, I see a new landmark up ahead!" Imara called, loud enough to be heard over the winds. Vitani shook the "Ah, coming..." The eyes watched the lioness catch up to her group. Soon, the eyes disappeared into the darkness as the rumbling faded out.

To Be Continued... ____ (Wintertani is back! This December, I thought about fleshing out the story of Vitani's winter coat by adapting it into a Vitani's Guard installment, given the fitting snow themes. Speaking of which ngl it was fun to draw all this snow. Easy too

I was gonna have more panels where Vitani would compete with Zazu, and Gopher would deliver the news to everyone (there needs to be fanart of him, underutilized little guy). Maybe I can do that thing where I add something the next day. But idk. While I kinda wanna give this a colorful storybook feel, I wonder if the fic, itself already has a clear enough picture for certain scenes.  Heck maybe I'll post art of those in separate uploads 🤷 The first scene was inspired by some awesome headcanon I saw floating around Reddit where Vitani and Zazu would be sassy rivals towards each other, given Vitani's former scout position in the Outlands paralleling Zazu's majordomo/ambassador duties in the Pridelands)

Introduction

| Mina | 18 | she/her |

Amateur writer suffering from twisted wonderland brain rot. A sucker for rare pairs.

Masterlist

Writing

treasure beneath your mask (Kalim x Ruggie)

the film studies' gopher (Deuce x Epel)

Story Analysis

Heartslabyul

Heartslabyul vs Alice in Wonderland Theme Analysis

Scarabia

Kalim Unique Magic Analysis

Kalim Disney Inspiration

Pomefiore

Epel Unique Magic Analysis

Miscellaneous Ramblings

Chapter 4 Aladdin References

Silver's Ring in Chapter 7

Honestly one of my favorite ship dynamics that I never see folks talk about is where they're just... Orbiting each other like satellites. A deep closeness, but not quite something explicitly romantic. Everyone around them has conflicting opinions on their relationship, but they never label it. Heartfelt declarations of trust, love, and friendship are non negotiable

Enchanted Neighborhood Chapter 4

~2275 words. Sora/Kairi. Post-Canon. Family AU, SoKai Parents AU. Reunions, Fluff, Winnie the Pooh.

This is a sequel to After Ever After and Love’s Cost. There are five chapters total and the story will update weekly on Fridays.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5

Summary: Sora introduces his kids to his friends in The Hundred Acre Wood, and they make new memories together.

Haruto wasn’t sure where to look as he followed Dad, Emi, and Pooh. Having a Keyblade was awesome if it meant they got to go on adventures like this. Up ahead was that table they saw in the book, and at the table were a small pink pig, a mopey donkey, two kangaroos, a rabbit with a scowl on its face, a whistling gopher, a rambling owl, and a purple elephant. 

Cool, more talking animals. It was too bad the animals back home didn’t really talk. Guess these guys in Pooh’s world were more like Uncle Donald and Uncle Goofy than Destiny Islands creatures. 

The rabbit seemed to be scowling at a flash of orange streaking back and forth near the table. “Tigger,” he said as the streak sent everyone’s napkins flying, “stop bouncing around and—”

"The wonderful thing about Tiggers is Tiggers are wonderful things!” the orange and black-striped tiger sang as he bounced on his tail, completely ignoring the rabbit. “Their tops are made out of rubber! Their bottoms are made out of springs!”

“Tigger!” Dad cried, his eyes lighting up, and Tigger stopped bouncing. All the other animals looked at Dad, and their faces brightened and all of them but the donkey smiled. Even the donkey’s eyes got a little brighter though, so Haruto figured that was the best he could do. 

Wow, these talking animals must really, really like Dad for them to all be so happy to see him.

“Sora!” they all cried, and a moment later, Tigger sprung at Dad, knocking him over and making them both roll over the green grass. Dad’s laughter filled the air and when they finally settled, he had a big smile on his face. 

When Dad smiled like that, Haruto felt like everything was gonna be okay. Memories of when he was little and Dad seemed invincible came to mind. But seeing Dad like this really drove home that he’d been a kid once. Which meant maybe he understood all the weird teenage and growing up stuff too. 

The other animals quickly joined Tigger in greeting Dad. Dad got a whole bunch of hugs and head pats as he greeted them all. It helped that he remained on the ground so he was closer to their level. It reminded Haruto of all the times Dad had dropped to his knees to be eye level with him when he was younger. How it made him feel safer and more comfortable. 

“Piglet!” Dad cried. “Rabbit! Kanga and Roo! Gopher! Owl and Lumpy! And Eeyore too! It’s so good to see everyone again.” 

Dad really was good at this stuff, wasn’t he? No wonder he had so many friends. 

“It’s s-so good to see you again t-too, S-Sora,” Piglet said, his little pink face beaming. Dad giggled and lifted Piglet up with ease. 

“Oh man, is it good to see you again, Piglet! You haven’t gotten blown away by any strong breezes recently, have you?” 

Piglet shook his head. “N-No. P-Pooh has kept me very g-grounded.” 

Dad carefully set Piglet down. “Good, glad to hear it. And Rabbit, how are your vegetables doing?”

“There are good days and there are bad days,” Rabbit said. “Maybe they’d grow better if someone stopped bouncing through my fields.” He gave Tigger a pointed look, but Tigger just said hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo and kept bouncing. Did Tigger ever stop bouncing?

“And your tunnels Gopher?” Dad asked. “How are those going?”

“Same as ever, sonny,” Gopher whistled. He dug into the ground to demonstrate, and Dad commented on how awesome his digging was. Again, Haruto was impressed by how Dad knew exactly what to say to his friends. It wasn’t at all like how goofy and awkward Dad could be back home. 

“Owl?” Dad asked next. “How are your relatives?” 

Owl cleared his throat and puffed out his chest. “I’m glad you asked. My Uncle Albert recently went to sea again, and…”

The other animals groaned, and Owl rambled on for a good couple of minutes about Uncle Albert’s misadventures before Dad politely shut him down and turned to the elephant. “Lumpy? How’ve you been?”

“I’ve been great, thank you, Sora,” Lumpy happily trumpeted, and Dad smiled and patted Lumpy’s head. 

“Eeyore?” Dad asked the donkey next.

“My house got knocked over again,” Eeyore replied, his voice dull and lifeless. 

Dad scratched his cheek, a pained smile on his face. “Oh, sorry to hear that.” That was definitely his ‘this is an awkward situation and I don’t really know what to say’ look, but he was trying.

“Don’t be,” Eeyore replied, “it’s probably my fault anyway.” 

Dad didn’t say anything to that, just turned to the two kangaroos. “Kanga? Roo? You doing okay?”

“Better than ever!” Roo said, his little face beaming as he bounced up and down much like Tigger.

“It’s good to see you again, Sora,” Kanga said. “And who are these people with you?”

Dad’s smile got really big, but before he could say anything, Pooh interrupted. “They’re Sora’s children. Sora’s a father.” 

“That’s right,” Sora said, beaming proudly at the three of them. “These are my kids. Kairi and I got married, and I’m a father now. This is Emi, our youngest,” he said, ruffling Emi’s hair. Emi giggled and beamed up at Dad. “She’s eight years old now and very good at hide-and-seek. You’ll have to challenge her to a round.” 

“Yes!” Emi cried. “I’d love to play hide-and-seek!” 

“We can play after tea,” Rabbit said amiably. 

Dad looked to Miyu next, and she cleared her throat and introduced herself. “Oh, I’m Miyu. I’m fifteen, and, um, I like reading books and playing tag?” she offered. The animals all greeted her politely and promised to supply storybooks and play tag after tea.

“Guess it’s my turn,” Haruto said. “My name’s Haruto, and I’m Sora’s son. I like running, painting, and guessing games.” He grinned as the animals greeted him. Was he proud to be Dad’s son? Yeah, yeah he was. And it wasn’t just because Dad was cool now. No, ever since Mom had told them what Dad did for her and then Dad had nearly died saving them, Haruto could deal with a few dorky Dad-isms because Dad was a good guy. And seeing him today, he could see why Dad was so well-loved. 

“Well, shall we?” Pooh asked, gesturing towards the table. The group took their seats, and Miyu was on Haruto’s left and Dad was on his right. To Dad’s right was Emi, and the animals were seated at various other spots at the table. 

Eeyore, who was seated on Miyu’s left, gave her a morose look. “Sorry you have to sit next to me,” he told her in a flat, lifeless tone. 

“Oh, it’s okay,” Miyu replied. She looked at Haruto, clearly trying not to giggle, and he just shrugged.

“Here, dears, have some tea,” Kanga said as she carefully poured them all cups of tea. Roo added cream for them, and Gopher dropped a few sugar cubes in as Owl stirred with one of his claws grasping a spoon. Pooh dropped lumps of honey into the tea with plenty of helpings for himself in between, and Tigger bounded around singing about how delicious a good afternoon tea was. Lumpy used his trunk to carefully place the cups of tea and little plates of cookies in front of them, and Haruto tried to be on his best behavior. Really though he had to sneak a lot of looks at Miyu to remember all those obscure rules Mom and Dad had tried to teach them about fancy dinners and afternoon tea. 

The conversation was lively and the cookies and tea were pretty good. Presently, Dad asked him, “You having fun?” in a low voice. Dad’s eyes were bright and he was taking in everything around them like an eagle watching a field. 

“Yeah, I am.” Haruto said, then frowned. Dad was clearly having fun. A lot of fun seeing friends he hadn’t seen in ages. Haruto thought about his conversation with Miyu earlier. How much fun and how many old friends had Dad given up for their family? 

Of course Dad noticed something was up. “Hey, what’s wrong?” he said under his breath as he reached for his spoon.

“I’m fine,” Haruto said, then caught himself. Nah, he wasn’t fine, he had something on his mind, and it would hurt Dad to push him away. “Um, it’s nothing bad, I just have some stuff I want to ask you. Can we talk about it later?”

Dad’s expression softened. “Sure.” 

The tea party was fun, and Owl regaled them with story after story of his aunts and cousins and uncles and other relatives until Tigger challenged them all to a bouncing match. When they were all bounced out, they took a brief break and then played hide-and-seek and tag. Once they were worn out from that, they returned to the table to read storybooks, paint, and play guess who games. Miyu and Emi both giggled when Dad put on one of those goofy sets of glasses with a fake mustache, and Haruto cracked a grin too. 

Dad laughed and ruffled his hair. It was funny how Dad was just a little shorter than him now but was still acting so Dad-like. “See, the secret to being cool is being willing to make a complete fool of yourself,” he said, gesturing to his goofy glasses. “It’s when you care too much what other people think that you’ll have a hard time.” 

“But you care what we think,” Miyu pointed out.

Dad’s expression softened, and he took off the glasses. “Of course I do. You’re my kids, and I love you with all my heart.” 

Man, didn’t Dad ever get embarrassed about so openly admitting to stuff like that? But he wasn’t embarrassed, he was smiling like he really meant what he said. And Haruto knew he did. Maybe that was why he could say he loved them so easily, so openly.

“We love you too,” Miyu mumbled, her face red, and Haruto nodded.

“We do!” Emi cried. “You’re the bestest Daddy.” 

Dad smiled, but a moment later, a tear ran down his cheek. He started and then chuckled as he wiped his face. “This again, huh? I guess no matter what age I’m still a softie.” He rubbed the back of his neck, smiling awkwardly. 

“You are,” Haruto agreed, “But that’s okay.” It would be weirder if Dad didn’t wear his heart on his sleeve.

“And you shouldn’t change,” Miyu said quietly. “Don’t ever change, okay?”

Dad’s eyes softened. “I won’t. No matter what I look like, I’m still me.” He rested his hand over his heart as if to prove it.

Emi grinned, a mischievous spark in her eyes, and Dad raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Wait till Mommy sees you!”

Dad laughed. “Oh man, she’s gonna be in for the shock of her life. Seeing me like this again, I wonder what she’ll say.” He rested his hand on his chin as he thought about it.

Lumpy’s big ears perked up. “How’s Kairi? Is she doing okay?”

“She’s doing great,” Dad said. “She’s pregnant again, but once the baby’s born, I’ll bring her to visit, I promise.” 

At this revelation, Dad’s friends all cheered and celebrated and congratulated him. Dad couldn’t stop smiling, and it made Haruto excited about meeting his younger brother too. Another younger sister would be cool, but Haruto just had this hunch he was gonna have a younger brother, and he couldn’t wait to meet him.

When Emi was busy playing with Dad’s friends some more, he pulled Haruto and Miyu aside to a nearby creek with a grassy riverbank. 

“Is now a good time to talk?” he asked. “I can tell you both have something on your minds.”

Haruto looked at Miyu, and then they both nodded. The three of them sat down, and Dad took his shoes and socks off and let his feet soak in the cold water. Haruto and Miyu joined him, and Haruto wasn’t really sure how to start. Thankfully, Miyu spoke up.

“It’s just that… meeting your old friends, we’re realizing how much you had to give up for us. For our family.”

“Yeah,” Haruto said. “And also, you were really young when everything happened. I guess in my mind you were always eternally ‘Dad,’ but today I fully realized you were just a kid when a lot of your adventures happened.” 

“I was,” Dad said softly, “and it’s why Mom and I wanted you guys to have a normal childhood. And having a family was something we both wanted. I won’t lie and pretend it wasn’t an adjustment, but you’re our greatest adventure, and we wouldn’t change a thing about our family.”

He smiled and put his arms around each of them. Emi joined in too, giving Dad a hug from behind, and soon all of Dad’s animal friends had joined in. The group sat at the creek and chatted and had fun until the sun sank low in the sky. At that point Haruto felt a strange tingling in his arms and legs, and he looked at Miyu to see if she felt the same thing. The expression on her face told him that yeah she did. 

“Guess it’s time to go,” Dad said as he started fading in and out too. “Pooh, Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Gopher, Owl, Lumpy, we’ll be back soon, okay?”

A chorus of agreement sounded out, and Dad grinned. “And next time, I’ll bring Kairi too!” 

With that they felt themselves being swept out of the book.

I'm hoping to compile a completely fresh load order on my series s - and I know it's never going to be as good/run as good as series x or PC or whatever, it's all I've got to work with atm. I have a decently stable load order currently and it's nice but I feel like it could be so much better. I know I definitely want the game to look nice, run nice and look "new". I know I definitely want as much character customization as possible without it being "too heavy" and taking up too much space - I'm used to playing on PC, although it's been at least a couple years in all honesty, and having racemenu and all of the fun stuff that comes with it - I also am really in the mood lately to play as an Argonian or Khajiit, but my favorite race to play as is Dunmer so mods that enhance any of them would be appreciated. I also really enjoy having a mod/mods that make the NPCs look better, in the past I've definitely used Bijin mods but I'm willing to give something else a try for a new" look. I definitely enjoy having expanded armors and weapons and retextures like aMidianBorn and whatnot so I'd like to definitely have something that covers those as well, I also enjoy alternative armor options. I enjoy having follower mods, currently using Inigo and I love him but I'm open to trying out others. I definitely want a perk overhaul, I've been using ordinator and while it's nice there's definitely things about it that I don't quite like so I'm open to trying something new, I'm just not sure what. It's been a long time since I've played with combat mods but I last tried wildcat and it was decent for sure but I'm not sure it's something I want to add in again, or any combat altering mods at all unless they're just /that good/ that I have to have it. I'm all for adding mods that are "dlc" like, eg. Wyrmstooth, but I don't want to "overload" my load order with those types of mods so only "the best of the best" are what I would want to add. I've considered doing a load order based around Legacy of the Dragonborn - watching and rewatching Gopher's playthrough of Leonard and Inigo using it has definitely inspired that - but I feel like basing a load order around a single mod seems "silly" in that I know there would likely be a lot of incompatibilities with other things I would want to use. But maybe someday I'll give it a go, or maybe someone can show me a load order using LotD that has everything or mostly everything I'm hoping for. Any help/recommendations are greatly appreciated. I just really want to get back to playing a game I love that I haven't played much in a long time. I also am really trying to get back to and start a new playthrough in Oblivion, I have thousands of hours invested in that game - definitely my favorite of the series - back on the Xbox360, but Skyrim's "updates" have somewhat "ruined" the replayability for me, but I'm definitely trying. Anyways, I'm rambling, thanks for reading and hopefully helping me out a bit. I should also mention that I have the Anniversary Edition.

The Tangled Ramble

Bro. Why. This show was both enjoyable and absolutely incredibly infuriating. If it wasn’t for Cass and Varian I swear, but at the other hand it was them who were like super wronged? Like, bro, how obvious is it that one of the writers either has no empathy or is a straight up narcissist. 

My poor alchemist boy made some bad choices but let’s not forget that the guy kind of responsible for the whole rock thing and also responsible for his funking citizens decided to nicely ignore everything. But the most ridiculous thing about the series is that sometimes people just.. don’t do anything?? Like, Raps, the snowstorm is over, can you maybe for jishoap’s sake go 15 mins to Old Corona and just check in on Varian after he pleaded you for help?? Like, bro, again, the snowstorm is over, put the damn gopher down and go be empathic and caring which is supposed to be one of your key character traits! Just incredibly weird writing, creating problems and drama by just having haha funny episodes and pretending nothing happened?

Even though it was pretty friggled up and manipulative, at least Varian could return to a semi normal life and then what happened with Cassandra like? Yeah you ignored her, stepped over her boundaries multiple times and overshadowed her in every single episode in the first season, let’s not talk about the second one and then you’re surprised she finally wants something of her own you can’t somehow take from her? Bruh

Anyway I love those two a very normal amount and I’m just frothing at the mouth just a little it at some of the writing. Frothing at the mouth in like a negative way, not a ‘i want to consume this artwork’ kinda way.

Ok so here’s some thoughts, I am perceiveable now

Don’t mind me rambling on to you about something that Isnt the intertwined arts of leadership and deception, I just think you’d have good insight on this:

I wholeheartedly believe if rantaro wasn’t killed off so early he would have been the antag, Like??? “Don’t worry! I’m not a bad guy!” Immediately after introducing himself.

I think if you have to say you’re not bad and justify that you’re not bad, you MIGHT BE BAD

Not to mention he’s the ultimate survivor and he survived we don’t know how many games. That shit would’ve came up and he would’ve caused a lot of problems, on purpose or not. What if he just?? Embraced that role and became a goddamn menace to everyone??

We quite literally do not know shit about his personality because he got killed off early. He could’ve been so horrible. Honestly he had so much potential to be the actual goddamn threat

Like?? Everyone would be so worried about Kokichi kinda fucking everything up. And then in comes rantaro. Who ACTUALLY fucks everything up and everyone is like “oh shit forgot about him uh oh”

not at all!! my ask box is always open for anything, not just tialod, though you will notice that my ability to answer in a timely matter isn't always very good (sorry about that!!)

ooo amami as the antag is a very interesting thought! You're right, he was definitely set up to be an antag and he would have made an interesting one, because there are so many possibilities with him and his situation.

A lot of it hinges on how much he actually remembers from the beginning, though. Since his message to himself mentions his talent and the fact he was in a previous killing game, and since that was in his Ultimate Lab that was only made available in Chapter 5, I do genuinely believe he had no idea about his talent or specific circumstance in the short span he was alive in canon. All he knew was he had a perk that nobody else had, and he probably connected some dots with that that made him act shifty as hell, but it could also be used to end the killing game. Things he mentioned that made it seem like he knew more - like the Ultimate Hunt - were just mentioned in the Survivor's Perk.

A lot of his advantage is based in one specific situation happening that didn't even work out in canon for him, and the concrete knowledge that the mastermind is in the academy. Admittedly, knowing there is a definite mastermind could definitely spur him into being a threat past Chapter 1, growing more desperate to find them and put an end to this, but I don't think his talent and association to the previous game could actually come into play until he discovered his lab in Chapter 5, which personally takes away a lot of the fun of Amami specifically as an antag.

For the sake of fun, though, let's say Amami remembers everything in terms of being the Ultimate Survivor and the previous killing game, but in a fuzzy enough way that it can coincide with the Flashback Lights - maybe he later assumes it took place during the Ultimate Hunt, and that he was recovered by the Gopher Project and got a new title for being the only one to actually escape the Hunt's clutches, whatever. He lies to the others about forgetting his talent because that's obviously not information you just freely give out. That would give him some fun possibilities in terms of motives for being a menace!

From the way I see his character in canon, I can't imagine he would actively enjoy causing problems. He gives the impression of a mediator to me, someone who prefers to keep things civil and work things out somewhat diplomatically - which probably comes from having so many sisters, to be fair. But he's also very cold when it comes to the topic of the killing game, collected and full of ominous warnings, and that would go tenfold if he actually remembered the previous killing game. He may not enjoy it, but he definitely would do it, if he thought it was for the best. It might be fun to lean into a whole 'I know best' mentality with him, actually, playing around with his big brother complex too, reflecting the more classmates lost to him losing his sisters, on top of the inevitable self-importance that comes with knowing more than anyone else.

Perhaps he thinks the mastermind of his first game is the same as this one. That would make him more eager to expose them, to end the game - to avenge his previous classmates. He can't remember who the previous mastermind was but he knows there was one. Perhaps he's willing to gamble as long as a majority survives. After all, anything is better than one, right? Or perhaps he has to prioritise ending the killing game because of his own paranoia - what if it continues and continues and continues? If they can make one killing game, two, what's stopping them from going on?

Sixteen, thirty-one, is nothing in comparison to infinity.

Motives and general Amami character analysis aside, I do think the idea of his dynamic with Ouma in this situation would be particularly interesting. Because yeah, everyone would definitely be more concerned about whatever overt off-the-walls bullshit Ouma is doing than mild, vaguely ominous but helpful Amami in the corner. It leaves Ouma to be a very convenient and easy scapegoat for anything Amami does, and Amami is smart enough not to make himself obvious about things. He doesn't want to draw the mastermind's attention any more than he does by simply existing in this killing game.

And it's strange, because while I can see Ouma playing along on the principle of it helping further along his own plans anyway, I also can't see him being very happy at being used as a pawn. He's very suspicious of Amami and his behaviour anyway, but being accused of things out of his own hands kind of pisses him off, because he expects things to go a certain way. Amami is sort of like an unknown variable to that. I could imagine a sort of implicit, passive aggressive rivalry going on between them.

The reveal that Amami is more involved in anything than the others thought would be very delicious though!! He can't hide all his actions, and the further the game goes, the more cold and serious he becomes, driven by the fear of being unable to end this game before he winds up the sole survivor again. It becomes obvious that he's pulling shit, and it's like uncovering a threat that was always laying dormant - suddenly the class is left scrambling to accept that Amami isn't nearly as innocent as they thought he was.

All that said, I would like to make an argument that Amami is already an antag, technically.

Amami is Akamatsu's antag.

They're very similar, and also very different. They both show an ability to lead and a level of determination, and both are trying to keep everyone happy and together - mediators. But Akamatsu is emotional, passionate, warm and hopeful with a tendency to lash out where Amami is cooler, calculative, composed, more focused. Akamatsu is flying by the seat of her pants while Amami has an actual plan, has experience.

Obviously, they were only alive for one chapter so it might just be because they had to squeeze all the character interactions in before they died, but it really does feel like, in Chapter 1, in Akamatsu's POV, Amami gets more of the spooky future antag focus. He gets the ominous quips, he gets the visible concern - at one point, Akamatsu mentions that something Amami had said really affected her, placing emphasis on it.

In contrast to how Ouma is treated in this chapter before the trial, Akamatsu seems to write off a lot of his behavioural quirks as being childish, or not taking things seriously. A lot of their conversations boil down to his whole liar-liar schtick, and from what I can remember, Akamatsu herself never really singles him out in commentary. He definitely still stirs shit, but mostly he's just annoying, and there isn't too much emphasis on it. It's not treated like a threat, really. Not in comparison with Amami.

Because to Akamatsu, Ouma can be written off as lying, as running his mouth, as playing around. Amami is serious, and he knows something.

Amami is Akamatsu's antagonist.

Plus, narratively, it makes a lot of sense to me if they got rid of a protag-antag pair in one trial. It's like wiping the slate clean and letting the new pair step into the spotlight.

We never see Amami through Saihara's eyes in canon. But we see him take Ouma seriously, and that's when he becomes a recognised threat.

Basically - yeah, I agree with you. Amami definitely could've been the antag if he survived, and now I'm really itching to write a one-shot.

It would be a fun AU, to explore a canon divergence where Saihara and Ouma die in the first trial instead, leaving Akamatsu as the protag and Amami as the antag. At first, nothing can ever be fully linked to him, it's all coincidences, until it can't be any more. And Akamatsu is frustrated because he knows things, it's so obvious, but it's confusing to talk to him because he acts so amiable about it. It feels wrong to get mad at him like that.