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mysecretlittlelibrary · 9 months

Text

So Much To Teach

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Reader

Word Count: 3.4k

Warnings: quite a few; dom Spencer kinda, oral (f receiving), age gap; reader is 21+ but it's a lil dubious by default bc he's her professor and therefore an authority figure but shhhh its fine shhhh, fingering, marking a little bit, p in v sex, they both talking diiiiirty, minor praise, risky sex, multiple orgasms, edging- I think I got everything??

Genre: Smut

Summary: You want your professor's attention but you had no idea what would happen if you got it- you also had no idea you'd get it by talking to a classmate

Part 2

***

Professor Reid is by far your favorite teacher ever and you make sure to make it as obvious as you can get away with. You're always early to his class, you sit in the front row, ask questions as often as you can, take full advantage of his office hours- all of it. You're determined to make Spencer Reid think of you as often as you think of him. Unbeknownst to you, you didn't need to put so much effort into capturing his attention. Not that you'd ever be able to tell, Spencer is always the epitome of professionalism. Well, almost always. He's human after all and you- you might as well be a siren. On the days you come in wearing your shortest skirts, toying with the hem absentmindedly, it's practically impossible for him to keep his gaze above your desk. He's not careless though, only allowing himself to stare when he's not the focus, during exams for example. He especially loves presentation days because he can spend them shamelessly eye-fucking you while you're busy addressing the class. You never seem to notice the way his attention drifts to you, and he's counting his lucky stars for it. He's plenty aware of the implications of his little crush. He wouldn't be so stupid as to make a move on you, especially while you're still his student. Spencer has spent more than enough time convincing himself that the risks outweigh the reward. For now, he'll have to be content watching you from a distance, even when you saunter into his office in your tight blouses to discuss your homework. On those days he knows the memory of your boobs practically spilling out of those shirts will keep him up for at least another hour later that night.

Weeks of your silent game that you're sure he's not actually picking up on have you growing bored of focusing only on getting his attention. Sure you want him to think about you, but you're not so crazy to think he'd risk his job to say, bend you over his office desk like you so desperately wish he would every time you go in there. You're young and in college and while the boys here do not hold your attention the same way, you're not above a little distraction. Which is why today you walk into class chatting with another student, a guy named Matt who has been trying to get you to notice him for a while now. Professor Reid isn't in the class yet and you hop on top of your desk as you talk to Matt about some sports thing. You're not totally following but he's cute so you giggle and pretend you get it, swinging your legs and batting your eyelashes in the way you know college boys respond so well to. You hardly even notice Spencer enter the classroom, but he zeros in immediately on the sight of you smiling at some kid. Matt's a good student, Spencer really has nothing against him, but he rolls his eyes at the two of you knowing that Matt would never be able to keep up with you.

"Quiet down everyone. Miss y/n your butt belongs in a seat, not on a desk and Mister Lewis I suggest you find somewhere to sit as well so we can begin." Spencer addresses you and Matt sharply, catching you off guard. He's never spoken to you that way but you can't help the amused look on your face as you mutter an affirmative and hop off the desk to sit in your chair. Maybe something's going on that put him in a bad mood. The class goes by smoothly after that and Matt is at your desk as soon as Spencer dismisses you all. Spencer has to turn his back to the room to hide the way his face twists up watching you.

The next class again, you walk in with Matt, this time Spencer is there already so you sit directly in your seat but Matt stays and talks to you while you wait for class to officially start. Spencer has to tamp his desire to break the conversation up for no reason until enough students pile in that he begins the lesson. This goes on for two more sessions, you walk in with Matt, twirling your hair, giggling at him, flaunting your gorgeous figure in flattering outfits that he openly gawks at you in, all while Spencer tries to keep himself from the edge of insanity. He has no right to be so put out by this, you're a student for crying out loud. He tries to remember that, tries hard to keep himself in check even as Matt basically invades your personal space as you're sitting on your desk before class again. You let him get entirely too close for Spencer's liking and when he sees you lean forward he can't stop himself from interrupting.

"Miss y/n." Spencer drawls out in a way that makes you want to shiver. "I've already told you desktops are not for sitting. Don't make me tell you again." Spencer says effectively ruining whatever was about to happen between you and Matt. He even backs off to let you get down from your desk.

"I'll see you after class okay?" You tell Matt sweetly and Spencer absolutely cannot take any more of this. He begins his lecture though his mind is somewhere else through most of it. He's busy planning. When the time comes and he dismisses the class Matt is quickly making his way to you and Spencer realizes he has to move now.

"Miss y/n. You don't have a class after this do you?" Spencer asks.

"No professor. Is something the matter?" You ask.

"There's something I'd like to discuss with you. Come with me to my office." He instructs.

"O-okay?" You frown. Matt does too from where he stopped when Spencer called your name. Spencer waits for you to finish collecting your things before he heads towards the class's exit. "I'll- I'll catch you later I guess Matt." You say over your shoulder before following Spencer. You try to think what this could be about. Your last paper was great, you know it was, plus there's no way he's through grading those yet, you aced the most recent test you took- there's no way he's calling you into his office because of the desk-sitting thing- is there? When you reach Spencer's office he shuts the door behind you and stands on the other side of his desk. He doesn't sit- which you find strange but nothing about this has been normal thus far.

"Is there a problem sir?" You ask sitting down.

"Is there a problem?! You- never mind. No y/n, no problem." Spencer forces himself to restrain that overwhelming urge he has to yell over Matt or simply split you open on his desk, or in his office chair, or against the wall- he shakes the thought from his mind, scrambling for an excuse for calling you to his office. "I just wanted to discuss something from- your paper."

"Oh you've started grading the papers?" You ask. He's only just gotten to them. He doesn't even think he's graded yours all the way through yet but he can't tell you the truth, that you're only here so you didn't walk out with Matt.

"Yes I have and there was something interesting... in your paper. I just need to find it, give me- a minute." Spencer shuffles through things on his desk, he's stalling and he hopes you don't notice.

"Professor Reid?" You tilt your head at him.

"Just a minute y/n." He mutters.

"Professor." You frown, your voice is forceful enough that he glances up at you. "I know you know exactly where my paper is. And I know that if there was really something you wanted to discuss in said paper you'd already have it memorized. You're almost irritatingly punctilious, I've been in your office more than enough times to know that. So what's really going on?"

"I suppose I should've expected this from one of my smartest students." He muses with a shake of his head.

"I know we're not friends by any means since you're my professor and all but we're both adults and I hope you'd respect me enough to tell me the truth." You tell him.

"Believe me I am trying very hard."

"To tell the truth or respect me?" You cross your arms.

"I respect you implicitly and because of that telling the truth here is- conflicting."

"Professor Reid, what am I doing in your office? I've asked you much harder questions than that in class."

"If only you knew." He scoffs.

"Professor-"

"You're right. I didn't call you in here to discuss a paper." He sighs knowing he's out of escapes. "It's that boy you've been draping yourself over all month." Spencer says through clenched teeth.

"Matt? You called me in here to discuss Matt? Why? Is he failing or something?"

"No. He maintains a solid B average in my class."

"Okay, then I'm really not understanding professor. What does Matt have to do with anything?" You shake your head.

"It is infuriating to watch him with you as if he has even the slightest chance of satisfying you in any way." Spencer walks over to you as he speaks, punctuating his sentence by leaning against the arms of your chair which forces you to lean back.

"And- what makes you the authority on who could satisfy me?" You ask breathily, blinking up at him.

"Considering you haven't even tried to move away from me I'd guess you know as well as I do." Spencer stares at you intently.

"Are you making a move on me professor?" You ask with feigned innocence that you know he sees through.

"Am I not being clear enough?" He asks.

"I dunno."

"Then allow me to make myself unequivocal." Spencer closes the small gap between you two, pressing his lips against yours fiercely. His hands hold your face as he pours all of his feelings and frustrations into this kiss. You grab hold of his wrists as you surrender yourself to the feeling of his mouth on yours. When he finally pulls away you're both left panting but a dam has been broken with that single kiss and your hands are pulling off his tie before he's even realized it. You stand up and kiss him again, fingers tangling in his hair, while his hands settle against your waist easily. He doesn't let you lead things for long, turning you both to sit you on his desk. "I'm going to show you everything that silly boy could never give you." Spencer grumbles against your lips.

"I never pegged you for the jealous type Professor Reid." You giggle.

"I've never been good at sharing." He quips kissing his way down your throat.

"Go figure." You mutter with a breathy sigh when his kisses turn to nips and sucks. "Careful. If you visibly mark me I'll have to lie." You tell him which only seems to spur him on and you yelp after a particularly harsh bite.

"Lie?" He frowns at you.

"I mean I can't very well say 'Professor Reid gave me those hickies' now can I?" You say and Spencer laughs as he drops into the chair in front of you.

"No, I suppose not, but you can absolutely use them to let people know you're taken." He says shuffling closer to you and pulling your underwear off from under your skirt.

"By people you mean Matt don't you?" You smile, amused at how miffed he is over your little distraction.

"Say his name again in here and I'll turn that ass of yours so red that you'll still have trouble sitting by next class." Spencer glances up at you with a warning look that has your exposed cunt clenching around nothing. An action he doesn't catch, seeing as your skirt is still hiding your center from him. He bunches your skirt up at your hips as he lifts you onto his desk and adjusts your legs so your feet are on it, knees wide so he can simply watch how your pussy glistens for a moment. His gaze is intense and soon you're squirming against the dark wood he's displayed you on.

"Professor Reid, touch me- please." You pout at him.

"Someone's getting impatient huh? You just look so pretty I can't help but want to stare." His words make you blush and the restlessness gets worse as he leisurely folds the sleeves of his button down shirt to reveal his forearms.

"Please professor-" You sigh.

"I like hearing you beg." Spencer's grin is nothing short of sadistic but he leans forward and lets his tongue drag through your wetness with a satisfied groan. He shifts to hold your legs open as he feasts on you like a man starved. It's hard to keep track of his tongue, thrusting in and out of you, circling your clit, disappearing entirely as he suckles harshly on the bundle of nerves all with incredible veracity. It's like he figured out how to read your body before he even began and he's got you teetering on the edge faster than you'd like to admit. Your hands tug desperately at his brown hair as you feel your orgasm building. Before you can even warn him of your incoming release he's switching his tactic, dragging you back from that end, still pleasing you but rather than feeding the fire he's simply maintaining it where it is.

"No!" You whine before you can stop yourself when you feel your orgasm slipping further away. His responding chuckle only adds to your frustration.

"If you're gonna cum princess it'll be when I'm ready for you to. Understood?" Spencer doesn't even lift his head as he speaks. He nips at your swollen clit when you don't answer and after a yelp, you manage a response.

"Y-yes sir." You get out.

"Good girl." He mutters lapping at your juices yet again. Same as before, he easily works you towards the edge with his tongue in all the right places, and like before, when your orgasm is in reach he walks you backwards. This time you manage to hold back your sound of frustration and then his fingers enter the mix and your small whimpers become full on whines as he curls two digits inside you just right to have you arching off of his desk. With his mouth focused solely on your clit while his fingers thrust in and out of you diligently, not to mention the previous denials, you're practically shaking as he works you up again.

"Professor Reid please let me cum this time, please sir- fuck I can't- I need to cum so bad. Please professor- I- I can't. Oh god." Your breathless pleas are barely sensible, but they satisfy Spencer and he doesn't pull back this time, doesn't stop until you're clenching around his fingers and spasming on his desk, struggling to handle the impact of your own orgasm. He watches the way pure ecstasy washes over your face with a smirk on his face as he helps you through it with gentle strokes of his fingers. When your breathless gasps become more subdued he pulls his hand away from your center. Before you can fully recover, Spencer pulls you off of the desk and turns your back to him, bending you over the desk with a hand at your back.

"Fuck- I need a condom." He mutters.

"Do you have any?"

"I- no? I don't regularly fuck people in my office y/n."

"I- have one in my bag. Front pocket." You mutter. Spencer reaches for your backpack and grabs the condom quickly, rolling it on with ease.

"I'm going to absolutely ruin you for anyone else." He tells you before thrusting himself into you. Inch by inch he slides deeper inside you and pinned against his desk all you can do is moan at the fullness. He sets a rhythm as soon as he bottoms out, his dick dragging against your walls with each hard thrust.

"Fuck- god that feels good." You mewl.

"Yeah? You like the way my dick splits you open don't you? Knew you would. You're absolutely perfect for me. Just me. Isn't that right?" He grunts through his filthy words, each one punctuated with another forceful thrust.

"Yeah- yes. God- yes."

"Say it. Say your mine princess."

"I- I'm yours sir. All yours. N-no one else's. No one else could fuck me like this- m-make me feel like this. Just you. Holy sh-shit." You pant out. Spencer's thrusts are rocking the entire desk at this point and you are sure the skin where your hips are ramming against the edge will be sore tomorrow but right now all you can focus on is how good it feels to be fucked like this. Better than you imagined and god you hope he never stops.

"Good girl." He breathes out.

"Feels so good Professor." You whine.

"I know, fuck I know. You feel so perfect y/n." Spencer groans. His hand wraps around your throat and pulls your back against his chest as he fucks you. Spencer's other hand, slides across your waist, finding your clit easily. He toys with the bundle of nerves and your hands grip the edge of the desk as you whine.

"Oh my god." You gasp.

"Let go for me y/n. Wanna feel you on my dick." Spencer says, kissing your shoulder. Your hand grabs at his arm desperate to ground yourself as your orgasm washes over you. Spencer hisses, your nails digging into his skin deliciously. His hips stutter and he groans, long and deep, as he spills into his condom, face buried in your neck. You both remain where you are, panting in the aftermath of it for several moments before Spencer breaks the silence.

"Did you have a condom because you planned on fucking Matt?" He asks and you can't help but laugh.

"No, I just always carry some. I like preparedness." You say, stuttering a bit when Spencer chooses to slip out of you while you speak.

"I'll have to start keeping some in here." He says, pulling his condom off and disposing of it.

"Planning on building a roster for yourself Professor Reid?" You quip adjusting yourself to lean back against the desk instead of still bending over it. Your tone is light but you'll admit you won't take it well if he says yes. Spencer frowns at you as he reaches into his desk for something.

"Is that a serious question?" He asks walking over to you with a packet of wipes in hand.

"Well it was a joke really but if you want to take it seriously be my guest." You shrug. He kneels in front of you, his frown deepening as he considers your words.

"No y/n I'm not 'building a roster'. The only person I'm planning on fucking in here is you, but it shouldn't be your responsibility to provide contraceptive methods for that. Also I've been inside you, I think you can call me Spencer when we're alone." He says gently cleaning you up. You try not to squirm at the intimacy of the whole thing.

"Oh. Okay." You can't think of anything else to say.

"Let me make something clear to you I'm not- I didn't just fuck you to get it out of my system and move on after this y/n. I'd actually like to continue something with you- unless of course, you have no interest in that, I won't pressure you. Although I can't imagine you can go back to Matt after that."

"You really hate him huh?" You laugh.

"He's a fine student. I just don't particularly like the way he drools over you." Spencer shrugs. "But it won't matter if you choose to see me again."

"I will. See you again I mean. This was fun." You say. A knock on the locked office door stops Spencer from speaking.

"Professor Reid?" A voice calls on the other side of the door. A student.

"Just a moment!" Spencer says, he quickly takes a moment to adjust your hair for you and pick up some of the scattered things from his desk while you fix your clothes.

"Spencer where is my underwear?!" You whisper at him.

"Oh I'll be holding onto that." Spencer winks at you, tapping his pocket where your panties are no doubt stuffed. You shoot him a look but grab your backpack and head towards the door.

"Thank you for answering my questions Professor! See you in class next week." You say loudly as you open the door. A boy you don't recognize is on the other side of it. He must be from one of Spencer's other sessions.

"Yes of course. See you next week." His response is almost dismissive, enough that this other student should have no idea what was going on before he showed up and only once you're practically out of the building do you let your giddy smile take over your face as you walk back to your apartment.

***

Part 2

#criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds #spencer reid smut #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid

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last-flight-of-fancy · 9 months

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hi hello i hope you don't mind but Special Interest Infodump Mode has been activated please keep hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times-

this explanation comes to us courtesy of Dark Road! You know, that cutesy little mobile game where literally the whole cast except the two protagonists dies. This is on brand bc the explanation has it's own fridge horror levels to it if i think too hard about it tbh.

So, worlds have hearts. We've known this since KH1, seen what happens to a world that loses its heart, and how they can be affected. It's rarely been expounded on beyond that however, aside vague allusions to the titular Kingdom Hearts being/harboring the Heart of All Worlds.

(which has. other implications now that i think about it but that's stepping into theorising territory. im sorry im trying really hard to stay on track honest)

fast forward to Dark Road, where we have a bunch of kids venturing out into the worlds for the first time, and as such have to have things explained to them (and thus the audience). NOW i will note here that KH looooooves unreliable narrators and characters imparting incorrect information without knowing it, so there is always the possibility that this could later turn out to be wrong, but currently I see no reason this would be the case and thus for now i feel safe in taking their words at face value unless otherwise contradicted.

Why are there no people? Because each world is alive, and after the Keyblade War sundering THE World into MANY Worlds, each needed to recover and restore what was lost; life, time, movement.

This bit here is important, bc as a result

All of this is the direct result of the Keyblade War of old. Even after so much time, the bits of worlds are *still* recovering, and I do think there's something to be said about how like... the repition between worlds and their apparent stagnation often *stops* after Sora visits them. I don't think it's because Sora's special(tm), but rather just because of who he is; the Dark Road kids are told never to interfere, and as a result the worlds they visit that Sora also visits later are exactly the same to Sora as they were 80+ years before.

But when Sora visits the same world only a short time after his first visit, things CHANGE. Hercules' story moves forward, Simba is having a crisis about being king, Jack Skellington has learned his lesson about Christmas and is on to new shenanigans. And that's only in kh2! in kh3 we see Twilight Town fill with people, barren Olympus expands into a full town (and there's more there too with BBS and how the Wayfinder Trio may have been Olympus' start towards restoring itself completely, and Sora's later arrival more speeding things along)

my point here is *connections*, which is a consistant and overarching theme of the series. Empty worlds are baby worlds, still healing and restoring from being broken away from the rest, and what helps along that healing? Being connected to others.

Which is to say that the keyblade weilder's doctrine of 'do not interfere' while most certainly well-intentioned (as Dark Road also points out, one persons darkness is anothers light, and morality is not a solid truth across worlds, so interfering is risky at best and dangerous at worst), the flip side to this is that without being connected, without that ''interferance'', the world's restoration stagnates and struggles. It will still get there eventually (the Tangled world seems to be doing alright for example), but chances are it might've been a little easier/faster if someone had done a little interfering.

tldr keyblade war broke the worlds and reset them all to zero. As the worlds heal time stops until it's People finally pop back into existance and their stories can resume. And that's how the invisible crowds in early kh games are canon.

#I HOPE THIS MAKES SENSE INFODUMP MODE IS NOT ALWAYS GOOD AT BEING CLEAR #and also i kept slipping into speculation mode #im sorry i cant help it kh does this to me #its just so juicy #stop talking to yourself flight #kingdom hearts #meta

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kokoch4n3l · 2 months

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DEAD GIRL’S BEACH࿐ྂ KUROKAWA IZANA x f!oc x SANO MANJIRO

TWO — beachy dreams

“he had trauma stemming from childhood. abandonment issues? currently unsure. he says he has a house on the beach. rich? 100% sure. lol would he adopt me if I ask?” — MAYA'S ROUGH NOTES ON K.I

chapter summary: Maya finds herself at Chifuyu's place with his rowdy friends before hitting the club and she's drawn into flirtatious exchanges with a mysterious club owner. Tensions arise when a revelation links Maya's work to her social circle. Izana gives her an intriguing invitation.

chapter warnings: mentions of body image, clubbing, alcohol use, intoxication, mentions/implications of forced prostitution, mentions of gang violence, inaccurate depictions of psychiatric hospitals, f!oc with zero self preservation skills

word count: 4764

moodboard | masterlist | previous | chapter 3

"didn't know you were keeping this pretty lady to yourself Chifuyu! How cruel" One of Chifuyu's friends, Mitsyua Takashi, says with a soft croon

It's 7 pm and Maya's just reached Chifuyu's place due to a change of plans. Originally it was supposed to be her and him going to some restaurant to catch up but Chifuyu's friends from middle school had also been pestering him to meet up which resulted in Chifuyu changing plans last minute and bringing Maya to his place to pre-game before going to a club. Chifuyu had picked her up from her apartment and brought her to his apartment where his friends had already come inside due to having the code for his door. "Mitsuya-kun, she's 6 years younger than you" Chifuyu hisses at Mitsuya, hiding Maya behind him

Maya felt her cheeks tinge pink at the attention she was suddenly receiving from all the people in Chifuyu's apartment. There were so many people there and she kind of hated Chifuyu for not warning her earlier. There were mostly only guys here and 2 other girls. Everyone was dressed in typical club attire. Maya herself was in a matching set, a lilac mini skirt and a matching crop top in the same colour. The crop top had a spaghetti v-neck line and was slightly cinched in the center. It was backless, held together by a button she had taken around 10 minutes to do by herself. Both pieces clung to her skin, accentuating her thin body and even somehow making her lack of boobs look bigger. Slightly that is(Maya unfortunately wasn't blessed in that area). The fabric of both pieces were slightly sparkly and she had done matching makeup with it and wore platform heels and a leather jacket on top and two diamond studs in her ears. Of course, she couldn't forget the two necklaces she was wearing. One was a gold oval pendant with a delicate border and the outline of a daffodil flower in the center of it. The second necklace, also gold, was a small butterfly pendant. Maya never exactly took these necklaces off. Yes, she was supposed to remove her jewellery for her job but Sunshine Grove was surprisingly lenient. But still, she always kept her necklaces tucked underneath her shirt and only ever wore stud earrings or none at all at work. "Oh well—"

"Oh my you're so cute" Maya feels her face being grabbed "Matsuno, where have you been hiding her!?"

Maya comes back to face with a tall girl with ginger hair and brown eyes. "Guys please stop scaring her and embarrassing me" Chifuyu grumbles in annoyance at his friends, pulling Maya out of the tall girl's grasp

Maya turned bright red and shifted on her feet, unsure of what to say in front of so many people who were clearly older. "This is Kaneko Maya. 5 and 6 years younger than all of us" Chifuyu says "stop scaring her I swear to god"

Maya waves nervously and the room gets quiet for a moment. She shifts. Oh man, this was a bad idea. She should have just told Chifuyu that they could reschedule but her damn lovesick brain just accepted the offer of going with him and his friends. What felt like hours to Maya was a mere few seconds to everyone else and they all started introducing themselves to her. Well, all except for the ginger-haired girl, Shiba Yuzuha's, younger but very tall model brother, Shiba Hakkai(he's apparently afraid of women). Maya doesn't usually drink much. So as the rest of them around her are taking a few shots, she sits on the sofa next to Tachibana Hinata who just doesn't drink at all. Maya can't help but notice the four leaf clover necklace she was wearing. "So when did you and Chifuyu-kun meet?" Hinata asks

Hinata seemed sweet. Like too sweet. Like an angel from fucking heaven. "uh... When I was in middle school... Like 7th grade"

Then comes Hanemiya Kazutora who leisurely takes a seat in front of both of them on the coffee table. Kazutora was Chifuyu's roommate and really the only other person Maya knew here. Maya knew about how Kazutora went to jail in his youth and got out recently but she didn't ask for what. "so how's your job with the crazy people doin' Maya?" Kazutora asks with a grin and Hinata gives Maya a confused look

Maya laughs nervously. "Uh... I'm a psychiatrist... I work at a psychiatric hospital"

"Oh wow... Must be hard work" Hinata says with a smile "That's great that you got hired this young. I heard hospitals rarely hire people fresh out of university"

Maya nods. "Yeah got rejected by everyone at first and ended up at this shitty psychiatric hospital, Sunshine Grove, just outside of Tokyo. They pay well but the place is scary"

"Sunshine Grove, huh" Kazutora says slowly as if trying to remember where he heard the name of the hospital

But Kazutora's thoughts are cut off by Draken, a super tall intimidating guy with a dragon tattoo on the side of his head, calling them and telling them it is time for them to leave. The room is filled with hooting from the boys. Maya can't help but laugh a bit. Chifuyu's friends were nice. "Come on Maya, we're gonna have so much fun tonight" Yuzuha says pulling her off the couch

They make it to the club not too long later. Maya is linking arms with Hinata and holding hands with Yuzuha. The lineup is pretty big and Maya wonders how long it will take for them to get in. But to her surprise, the boys are all walking straight up to the entrance. "Huh? shouldn't we get in line?" Maya asks Hinata

Hinata and Yuzuha look at each other for a moment then at Maya. "ah~ the boys know the owners" Hinata explains "we always come here since it's the safest out of all the ones they own"

Hinata's words raise a few red flags in Maya's head. Safest out of all the ones they own? What did that even mean? "a friend's I'm assuming" Maya says as they reach the bouncer

Yuzuha scoffs. "Please, the last thing any of them would call each other is friend"

That concerns Maya even more. If they weren't even friends, why the fuck were they here. They make it to the front of the line and instantly the bouncer starts letting them in but stops Maya. "Hey, she's with us too" Mitsuya says lowly and Chifuyu looks pissed now

The bouncer scoffs. "I know you guys are special guests of the Haitanis but I'm sure they wouldn't want a minor in the club either. ID"

Maya feels embarrassed by this. She pulls her phone out of the inside pocket of her leather jacket, takes her ID out of her case, and hands it to the bouncer. "Birth year?" The bouncer asks

Her cheeks burn in embarrassment as all of Chifuyu's friends watch the entire thing play out. "1996" She squeaks out

The bouncer looks between her and the ID card a few times then gives it back to her and lets her in. "Oh god that was embarrassing" Maya whimpers to Chifuyu who now has an arm around her shoulder, guiding her through the club up to the VIP section

"It's fine Maya" Chifuyu says with a laugh into her ear over the loud music "Can't control how young you look"

Her heart beats faster when she feels Chifuyu's breath against her skin. He guides her to sit in the VIP booth and then slides in next to her. His arm goes around her shoulders once again as he talks to his friends. Maya feels her face go pink. Thankfully the lights are dim and no one could tell. "let's go get the ladies some shots" Mitsuya says and drags Hakkai and Draken with him

"Fuck I have a feeling all of us are gonna black out tonight" Kazutora says with a laugh

The music is more muffled in the VIP section. Maya wonders if it's because of the connection Chifuyu and his friends have with the owners that they're able to be here. Honestly speaking, despite having known Chifuyu for so long, she's never been to the club with him. It was usually only restaurants, cafes, parks and just fun places like that. This was the first time Maya was out clubbing with Chifuyu. "You okay?" Chifuyu murmurs into her ear, her breath brushing against her skin

Maya's heart beats faster at the feeling and she suppresses a shiver. Chifuyu's arm around her shoulder tightens and he pulls her a bit tighter into his side. "listen, anything happens tonight, you're not feeling well, something does something, everyone is here for you. Not just me, okay?" He says and Maya almost flinches when she feels his lips brush against her ear "Understand"

She almost can't respond. "Y-Yeah... I understand"

Chifuyu is probably tipsy because he kisses her cheek and turns around to talk to Kazutora. Maya sits there stunned and if it weren't for the flashing neon lights, everyone would see how flushed her face was. She lets out a shuddery breath and gulps, hoping no one saw that. Thankfully everyone was too tipsy to actually notice and soon after Mitsuya, Draken and Hakkai bring more shots, they drink some more and everyone is drunk. Everyone except Draken and Mitsuya who were apparently the designated drivers for tonight. Jun thinks she's drunk, somewhat. She stumbles off the dance floor away from Hinata and Yuzuha to the bar where the music wasn't as louder. Everyone was scattered around, talking to girls or whoever. She's drunk out of her mind at this point and just one more drink away from blacking out. Just as she's about to call the bartender over, someone stands beside her. "haven't seen you before" someone says,

Maya looks up and sees a very tall guy. His hair is short, coloured purple and black. His skin is pale and his eyes are lilac. Woah he was handsome. "I doubt you could keep track of who comes and goes unless you're here every day" Maya tells him with a smile

The man chuckles. "This is my club sweetheart, I know who comes and goes"

Maya giggles drunkenly, too far gone to remember that Hinata and Yuzuha said the boys weren't that good of friends with the club owner. "Really? You're rich?" she asks and leans in closer

The man sighs and leans in closer as well, with a tentative finger brushing one of her wavy locks behind her ear. "All pretty girls are gold diggers huh?" he says it more to himself than to her

Maya pouts. "'m not a gold digger" She pokes his arms and has to tilt her head back to look at him despite wearing heels "I have student loans and need to pay them off y'know"

The man starts to laugh and he drapes an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in closer. Maya stumbles forward and he catches her against his chest. "I like honest girls..." He murmurs sweetly, sounding like he was crooning

Maya finds herself attracted to the club owner. Not just because of his money but he was definitely very charismatic. Her hands somehow find their way up, hooking her fingers into the belt loops of his pants and he smiles, seemingly satisfied by her action. His free hand comes up and cups her cheek, brushing his thumb against her cheekbone in a gentle affectionate manner. The same way she wanted Chifuyu to touch her. Maya's expression turns sour at the thought of her unrequited love and she turns away from the club owner. "Hey, what's wrong sweetheart?" he asks, holding her cheek again to make her face him "thought we were having a moment"

"Need a drink..." Maya says with a frown as the man keeps his arm tightly around her shoulder

He presses her into his side and chuckles. "yeesh, I know that look" he says and asks the bartender to make her a drink, on the house apparently

Maya looks up at the man and sees he's already looking at her. "So what's your name pretty lady?" He asks

"Maya" She answers, not smiling anymore

She needed more alcohol before she could smile again. The man, however, grins. He's charming and clearly doesn't mind Maya's mood swings. "Haitani Ran, owner of this as you already know"

Maya had a feeling she had heard this guy's name somewhere. She couldn't put her finger on it. But the bartender puts her drink in front of her so she doesn't think about it anymore and basically chugs it. Ran then decides to order shots and Maya might as well be blackout drunk at this point. But at least she wasn't thinking about Chifuyu anymore. "so cute, hm" Ran says pressing her into his side

His skin was warm and despite how sweaty the club was now, Maya couldn't help but like it. Ran smelled really good too. Like that expensive cologne she smelled at Sephora the other day when she went shopping with Chifuyu. Jo Malone if she remembered correctly. "You've got this lovesick look in your eyes" Ran says as he holds her cheek in one hand, making her tilt her head back so she is looking right at him

(Eye contact was important for Haitani Ran. It was the way into a woman's heart after all.)

"I do?" she mumbles drunkenly, practically leaning into Ran at this point who didn't mind, holding her up against his side

"Yeah, someone break your heart?" Ran's tone is condescending but also holds a sense of curiosity in it

Maya groans. "Not yet" she pouts, her words starting to slur together "he doesn't like me back... Haven't confessed to him 'cause I know he doesn't like me... Says 'm too young for 'im"

She feels dumb dumping all her feelings to a stranger but she's far too intoxicated to care. There was no harm done anyway. "poor little girl" Haitani Ran coos, his tone almost mocking as he runs a hand through her hair "I guess he's missing out on the fun of younger girls, hm..."

He sounds dangerous. Scary. Had Maya been sober she would have run far away from Haitani Ran the moment he came up to her. But with the mixture of the alcohol and her lovelorn state, it was hard to really get a grasp on reality and the dangers of this situation. "younger girls are adorable and real needy" Ran murmured, looking down at her "You sure are needy"

Maya wanted to retort, say something back but she finds herself getting a bit lost in her own head trying to come up with a response to him. She just stares up at him until she's suddenly ripped out of Ran's arms. "Hands off Haitani" A familiar voice warns as her back is now pressed against someone's chest

Maya looks down at her waist where a strong arm is tightly wrapped around her and she faintly recognizes Mitsuya's rings and watch. "Oh, this one of yours Mitsuya?" Ran says with a chuckle "C'mon don't be greedy. Was just havin' some fun"

She feels Mitsuya hold her tighter and Maya's knees feel weak so she leans back against him. "We all know what your version of fun is. Take videos and use them till they're dead. Leave her alone" Mitsuya says angrily

Maya can't see Mitsuya's face but she can assume he's probably pissed as hell. "What's going on?" she slurs, turning her head back to look at Mitsuya

Mistuya and Ran are having a staring contest— Mitsuya looking pissed off and Ran just smiling like nothing is wrong. Maya on the other hand is too drunk to really care. Mitsuya is pissed off and Maya is admiring how hot he looks angry like an absolute idiot. Were all of Chifuyu's friends this hot? She sighs dreamily, admiring the way Mitsuya's neck tensed when he got angry. God-fuckin-damn. "stay away from her Haitani" Mitsuya hisses

Ran only laughs. "You're not a part of Toman anymore Mitsuya, I have no need to listen to you" He walks closer to them and leans down so he's on eye level with Maya "We've only kept our hands off Shiba and Tachibana out of respect for Mikey and Kisaki and for the sake of old times... Else—"

"Shut up" Mitsuya says before Ran can say anything else and looks down at Maya, hoping she is too drunk to remember any of this

Chifuyu had explicitly told all of them he didn't want Maya to they used to be a part of Tokyo Manji Gang and Mitsuya wanted to respect his wishes. "Not her" Mitsuya says and it's not up for discussion

Mitsuya drags her back to the booth and makes her sit down. He's standing over her, holding her face in his hands checking for injuries or something. Maya doesn't know. Mitsuya's cold hands just feel really good to her heated skin right now. "You sure have a thing for attracting dangerous people, hm?" Mitsuya says with a laugh, brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear

Maya just stares up at Mitsuya, openly admiring him now and he laughs. "fuck you're cute" He coos and ruffles her hair like she's a little kid

Maya doesn't really remember what happens after that. She was up with a pounding headache in Chifuyu's room, lying in between Yuzuha and Hinata who were snoring away. They were both still in their outfits from last night as well as Maya. But she had a familiar zip-up hoodie over her two-piece outfit. Chifuyu's grey hoodie sits on her shoulders and Maya's heart flutters. Had she not been feeling like absolute shit, she would have been squealing and kicking her legs like a middle school girl. But Yuzuha and Hinata were still sleeping so she kept herself quiet. She carefully gets off the bed, trying her best not to wake the other girls and picks her purse off Chifuyu's bedside table and heads to the bathroom connected to the room. She closes the door and turns on the light and gasp seeing her face. Her mascara was running down her cheeks like she'd cried and her lipstick was smudged. Maya shudders at the thought of all of Chifuyu's hot friends(and Chifuyu himself) having seen her like this and pulls out makeup wipes from her purse. It was a good thing she kept makeup wipes, moisturizer and things like that in her purse. Thank god for Sephora and other brands selling mini versions of their products. Once Maya gets her face clean and fixes her hair she leaves the bathroom and picks her phone up from the bedside table, leaving her purse there instead. As expected, her phone was dead. She puts it on charge and sighs. Yuzuha and Hinata were still dead asleep. The digital clock in Chifuyu's room shows it was 10:45 am. Maya zips up the hoodie about half way and heads out of the room silently so she didn't wake the other girls up. As she heads for the kitchen, she hears voices.

"Haitani is a fucking bitch" That was Draken

"Did he try anything?" Now Chifuyu

"She was too drunk to tell me anything but I don't think so" Next Mitsuya

Huh? What were they talking about?

"All that matters is that she's alright" Now that was a new voice

Maya pulls down the end of her mini-skirt and walks over to the kitchen. Immediately their conversation stops. The boys all look at each other nervously and before Maya could say anything, Mitsuya speaks up first. "Good morning Maya, I made soup. You probably feel like shit"

Maya just nods and looks at the newcomer who was wearing a suit and looks slightly awkward right now. "Oh yeah uh... this is Tachibana Naoto, Hina-chan's younger brother" Chifuyu says "and Naoto this is Kaneko Maya"

They both greet each other and Maya takes a seat at the dining table next to Kazutora who looks like he doesn't want to be up right now, his duel coloured hair sticking up in multiple directions. As Maya looked over at the couch she could see Hakkai knocked out, snoring away, sleeping in a somewhat uncomfortable-looking position. As Maya slowly sips the soup Chifuyu starts talking about what Naoto does. "He's a detective. Handling the Tokyo Manji Gang case right now" Chifuyu says with a grin

Maya nods. "Oh that's cool. I'm a psychiatrist"

Naoto seems genuinely interested. "Really? Where do you work?"

"Sunshine Grove. It's like outside the city—"

"Sunshine Grove?" Naoto's voice completely changes "You work at Sunshine Grove?"

Maya nods slowly. "Yeah..."

Naoto looks worried and that makes the rest of the boys worried as well. "Why what's wrong?" Draken asks the detective

Naoto shakes his head. "Uh... Insider info. I found out Toman's number 3 is possibly admitted in there for cocaine addiction"

Maya raises a brow. Now that was news. She had no idea someone like that was admitted to Sunshine Grove. "Wait seriously?" Kazutora is wide awake now and the rest of them have dark expressions on their faces

"Apparently," Naoto says "It's not confirmed but, it's what my sources say"

They all look toward Maya as she's drinking her soup. Her eyes widen realizing they were expecting an answer from her. "O-Oh... I wouldn't know. I don't work with the patients who are there for addiction. That's second floor, I work fourth floor with the criminals"

Mitsuya starts to laugh while Chifuyu groans. "C'mon I thought I told you to tell them to switch you to another floor" He complains

Maya only pouts. "4th floor makes more money"

Mitsuya laughs even harder at that. "see I told you. She just attracts bad people"

"Do not!"

Later when Hinata and Yuzuha wake up, Naoto insists on exchanging numbers with Maya. "I know there is this whole doctor-patient confidentiality thing and I won't push it... But um... If there is ever anything wrong, please tell me" The detective says with a small smile, his suit jacket now worn by his older sister

Maya nods and they exchange numbers. Hakkai and Yuzuha leave not long after and then followed by Mistuya and Draken. "I saw that~" Kazutora teases

Maya pulls the hood of Chifuyu's hoodie over her head and collapses on the couch. "Saw what?" she asks, bringing her bare feet up on the couch, sitting in a kind of fetal position

"Naoto's got the hots for you~" He says in a singsong voice

Maya narrows her eyes. "Nah uh!"

"100 percent. I saw it too" Chifuyu says teasingly from the kitchen where he is washing the dishes "he was blushing so damn hard. So fuckin' cute"

"Shut up" she grumbles

Maya had in fact not noticed any of what Kazutora and Chifuyu were talking about. She had been too preoccupied looking at Chifuyu to really look at Naoto. Now she just feels bad. Naoto was about 4 years older than her, of course, Chifuyu was encouraging this. Chifuyu had never been a huge fan of age gap relationships especially if it's more than 3-4 years. Maya, as a psychiatrist, does not blame him. But oh how she wished she was born earlier so Chifuyu would at least look at her as something other than a child that hangs around him. She figures it was alright. Even if she were the same age as Chifuyu, she wouldn't have confessed anyway.

Why?

He just doesn't like her that way.

Monday comes along pretty fast as usual. Maya clocks in and greets the other doctors leaving from the day shift. She does her usual, give all the 4th-floor patients their food, collect their trays, bring the cart back down to the 1st floor then come back up and give either Mr. Ueda company or talk to Mr. Kurokawa if he is awake. "You know, you're rarely asleep," Maya says taking a seat on the chair in his room "When do you sleep?"

"I'm in here all day, I sleep when I want," Izana says simply with a shrug "You on the other hand doctor, I still don't understand why someone as young as you would take the night shift. You still have a lot of living to do"

His words sounded oddly ominous. But Maya just shrugs that feeling off with the thought of it just being her nerves and not yet used to the night shift among criminals. "I do my living on the weekends, Mr. Kurokawa," Maya tells him "went out clubbing this weekend and got blackout drunk... Wait you don't have a problem with alcohol do you?"

Maya realizes she had a slip of the tongue. She wasn't supposed to be talking about alcohol or things like that with patients. "Calm down doctor, I think we're past the point of a normal doctor and patient relationship. I basically know everything about you. And no, I don't have an alcohol problem. I'm not here for that" Izana says with a lazy grin "How about you continue your story"

Maya shifts a bit in her seat. She looks at the small notebook in her hand and flips through the pages to where she had written down possible offences and the possible things wrong with Izana. She crosses off alcoholism. So far the ones circled were abandonment issues, mommy issues, narcissism and sociopathy. She was starting from scratch with him so she had to make some assumptions. "Um... Well... Went clubbing with that guy I told you about on Friday. He's..." She pauses trying to find the right words "Older... like about 5 years"

"You like older men, doctor?" Izana is teasing her and it works, her cheeks flush

Maya clears her throat. "Anyways..." she grumbles "I met his friends for the first time... They were nice. We went to a club, and got blackout drunk. Everyone ended up crashing at his place and in the morning one of the girl's younger brother came to get her... He was a police officer and now my crush is trying to set me up with him"

Izana laughs. "Police officer? A psychiatrist and a police officer. That sounds chaotic"

Maya just shrugs. "Forget that, he's trying to set me up with someone else and it's just... ugh" she groans

Izana laughs even more. He seems to be enjoying her misery. "Don't laugh at me" she whines "You're probably single too"

Izana gives her a mocking smile. "I don't have a lack of ladies, doctor"

Maya doesn't doubt him one bit. Izana was handsome. She can imagine him being the center of attention wherever he goes despite his condescending behaviour. Some girls were into that after all(Maybe Maya too). They end up dropping the topic and soon another starts and then another. Izana tended to avoid talking about his past, particularly his childhood. Maya would try her absolute best not to push it. However, after spending hours of the night just talking, the topics would shift into typical first-date or ice-breaker questions. "So if money wasn't a problem where would you live?" She asks

"Money isn't a problem, doctor. I'm rich" Izana tells her "I can live where I want. What about you?"

Maya thinks for a moment. "The beach"

"The beach?" He repeats "Really?"

Maya shrugs. "Yeah, why not? Warm weather all the time, nice view. It'd be nice"

Izana hums, seemingly agreeing with her. "I can agree with that. I have a beach house. Bought one recently because my younger brother likes the sea"

Oh? He has a brother? "that's sweet... how much younger is he than you?" Maya can't help but start jotting things down in her notebook again

Izana watches in amusement. "3 years. An annoying little shit sometimes but he does what I say because I'm all he has left"

Now that was ominous. "hm... What do you mean?" Maya asks slowly, furrowing her brows

Izana doesn't say anything after that. At the end of the night before Maya leaves, Izana speaks up. "You know when I get out of here, you can come visit my beach house" He suggests with his usual lazy grin

Maya laughs a bit. "I don't think that's very appropriate Mr. Kurokawa"

She bids him goodbye and Izana sighs, staring at the metal door. "Well see about that, doctor"

notes: I’m creating a tag list for this fic so if you’d like to be apart of it tell me :)

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floradinterlunium · 10 months

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Times Tae Debunked Tkkrs and Affirmed Jikook

I know a lot of Jikookers aren’t happy with Tae right now. They hold him responsible for stoking the fire that fuels Tkkrs. And Like I’ve previously stated I’m not one to police peoples feelings or opinions. Your anger is your own, same going for your opinions.However, in the spirit of peace and reconciliation I want to remind everyone of all the times Tae has intentionally and unintentionally debunked Tkk and affirmed Jikook…because he has done so more than any other member.

Tae has a personality that you either choose to hate or you choose to love because he’s an enigma. It’s often times difficult to know if he’s as oblivious as he seems, a genius mastermind that plays the airhead card, a free spirit or all of the above…my vote goes to all of the above!

There are moments where it’s clear Tae is up to no good and is trying to serve JM and JK their just desert for abandoning him by exposing their location. Other times it seems like he has put zero thought into the implications of his words. However, regardless of his motives (or lack thereof) Tae is pretty good at playing games in the category of “softly exposing Jikook.”

So for funsies lets kick this off with one of Tae’s favorite games called…..

“Whose Room is It Anyway?”

When on tour it appears as though Tae never knows where other members rooms are. He’s either always messaging the group chat to find out where everyone is OR he’s just plain ole confused about whose room he’s in.

Exhibit A. Osaka V live

I don’t think there’s a jikooker alive that hasn’t heard of this Vlive. However, When most here the words “Osaka” and “V-live” what typically comes to mind is JK clearly muttering the name “Jimin” whilst being butt naked in a dark room listening to sexy time music.

However, what’s often overlooked is the how and the why we know this sensitive information. You see this gem of a jikook moment came to us for one reason and one reason only and that reason is Kim Taehyung and his childlike innocence (then).

Tae has never been good at operating solo on his Vlives. He tends to run out of things to say and in this live that’s what happened. He ran out of things to talk about so he called on his fans to give him suggestions. They suggested he go to another members room. But Tae being Tae...didn’t know ANY of their room numbers! Don’t believe me...I have the receipts!

See he didn’t know any of the members room numbers. He texts the group chat to get members room numbers and I guess it was Jin that replied with the members room numbers. Not JK. Jin. Tae decided to go to JK’s room (my guess is because he can pull the hyung card on him and sort of voluntell him to go along) and he messaged JK to let him know he was coming but JK never responded. We know this because when he arrived JK asked him multiple ties what he was doing there.

Now I won’t analyze this Jikook moment because it’s been analyzed enough. What I want to point out is how in this moment Tae unintentionally debunked every Taekook claim because HE. DIDN’T. KNOW.JK’s. ROOM. NUMBER!!!

I don’t know about you but I’m 100% certain that I wouldn’t need a third party to tell me where my boyfriends room was!

Now some may cry...this was just one time...he probably just forgot! And I would respond...haven’t you heard the news????? Tae is the grand champion of the game Who’s Room Is It Anyway!

Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look at a few more examples

Exhibit B. New Jersey Vlive

This moment is another famous Jikook Vlive most known for Jikooks tension. However, when watching this I also noticed that while Tkkers for some reason also like to claim this live as their own, Tae debunks them. I mean he again broadcast his lack of knowledge of where JK’s room is. Take a look for yourself down below .. .

Tae didn’t know whose room he was in. My guess is he thought it was either JM’s or JK’s room.

Now to be fare... a “valid” question does arise...and that question is if he didn’t know JK’s room number, how did he get there??

And to answer that question I’d say he could have done many things including but not limited to texting the group chat...but in reality its neither here nor there because this one simple fact remains...TAE WASN’T CERTAIN OF THE ROOM HE WAS IN! If he were dating JK he wouldn’t need to ask him...he’d know!

How’s the old saying go???

First time can be a mistake.

Second time is a choice.

Third time.. third time is the vminkook live

Exhibit C. Vminkook Live

Again another famous vlive with popular Jikook moments...the most popular moment being Jimin’s TMI where he exposed how frequently JK comes to his room. It was a funny moment...a funny moment that yet again Tae used to debunk Taekook by broadcasting how unfamiliar he is with JK’s room situation.

What boyfriend would so frequently be confused as to where his partner is sleeping? Moreover, why would that same boyfriend confuse his partners room for his best friends?? Hmmm??? Either JK is cheating on Tae with JM and has been for years or JK has never been Tae’s boyfriend!! I’d bet on the latter considering Tae’s jovial expression when admitting to the fact he never knows where JK’s room is!

First time is a mistake

Second time’s a choice

Third time is a habit...a habit that spells out the phrase “GET.OUT.OF.YOUR.IMAGINATION”

Now this next round of Tae Games is pretty spicy. The game is called-->

“Karma’s a B**H ”

When it comes to Jimin, Tae can sometimes act like a jilted bride. He doesn’t like it when Jimin “ditches” him for JK. When this happens Tae sometimes makes a point to call him out …

Exhibit A: The Salty Smirk

I’m not certain if this is Tae punishing JK for keeping his JM from him or punishment for JM for ditching him or BOTH? Either way Tae was not shy about exposing JM’s and JK’s whereabouts (at god awful hours). And he didn’t just expose where they were...he exposed why Jimin wouldn’t join him...

JM wouldn’t be joining Tae because JK wouldn’t let him. UM? What? Jungkook...the maknae, the member with the least amount of seniority is keeping JM, his hyung from hanging out with him on vlive? I don’t think people understand enough how much Tae exposed them here! And that smirk...he knew what he was doing!

It’s not just oh Jimin can’t come because he’s hanging out with JK...it’s no JM can’t come because JK won’t allow him! Let that sit with you for a second! “JK is stopping Jimin from coming!” Tae is strongly insinuating that Jikook’s power structure is outside the normal hyung dongsaeng dynamic. Tae straight up destroyed any theory that he’s dating JK by exposing Jikook’s relational dynamics. The boy is chaotic!

Exhibit B & C

Again with exhibit B we have Tae exposing Jimin’s whereabouts and why he’s not with him. It seems like Tae is quite salty about getting left at the alter and JM always running off to be with JK?!/!?! Don’t believe me....look below!

Still don’t believe me? Here’s one more moment in which Tae is in the mood for chaos.

Now, in this moment Tae doesn’t mention why Jimin decides not to join him at the gym but look at his face...look at that smirk!! Doesn’t it remind you of something else??? Maybe it reminds you of Exhibit A. It seems like he is itching to tell us why Jimin didn’t join him but this time chose not to say it aloud but definitely hints at...that smirk can only mean it’s something spicy.

And don’t we later learn that Jikook had many drinks that same night...because they were sending Hobi off??!!?!

I mean this boy is chaos itself! and We may be like...what the hell happened to this Tae? The Tae that loved debunking his own ship and exposing Jikook!.!

My response to that is I don’t doubt that Tae still exist seeing that the above photo is recent...he may be chaotic and irking peoples nerves right now but he really has done a lot to show the world that him and JK are nothing but friends! He has directly debunked tkkers and indirectly debunked them SOOO MANY TIMES! The only way they’d believe him is if photos were leaked of him with someone else....wait! That already happened and they still don’t believe him... I guess now the only thing he can do is come out with it and say he’s dating Jennie...and hell he might! AFTER his album comes out there might be an announcement!?

I’m actually crossing my fingers that they do make the official announcement after his album drops! But let’s wait and see. In the meantime I am holding my judgement because for years the above Tae is what we got and what we loved!

There are so many more instances of him debunking his own ship and affirming Jikook but here are just the standouts!

#jikook #kookmin #jikook is real #kookmin is real #Tae loves chaos #BTS JIKOOK #BTS KOOKMIN #jungkook #jimin #Tae loves jikook #I'm holding out hope

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adracat · 1 year

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G Witch episode 16 thoughts

Or the episode where the real plot thickens. No offense to earth and Guel but these are the sort of stakes and drama I'm weak for. Truly a wonderful present to receive on this blessed of Sundays! Just in time for Walpurgisnacht too

And we start off strong with this heated Prospera and Bel confrontation! Cont. from last time, Bel just learned Eri Samaya is not Suletta Mercury or even alive anymore, but a mysterious 3rd thing-- her biometric code uploaded to the cloud aka Aerial. We learn her immature body couldn't handle it so she perished. Eri is now entirely composed of Permet particles, and without Aerial housing her consciousness she'll dissipate. The Gundam is literally possessed by a child's ghost.

And it seems with a permet score of 8, the datastorm can be extended with Quiet Zero and create a space for Eri to live. Or that's the implication, I gather. How exactly that would happen is a mystery though I suspect it would mean granting Eri a new physical body, perhaps by 'overwriting' Suletta's mind/soul. (Well this is sounding familiar, isn't it 3h fans?)

But amid all this, there's the matter of Benerit's leadership. Without Delling, they need someone to control the various corporate beasts so it's decided they'll hold an election. Awfully democratic of them tbh. Though I wager leadership might boil down to whoever can crush hardest in a Mobile Suit royale.

We know Shaddiq will be throwing his hat in the ring, as will our prodigal failson Guel by the looks of it. Speaking of, I wish he had a bigger moment with his brother but maybe later? Their surprise was pretty good, and I enjoyed Guel's talk with Petra. She's grown up quite a bit from the shallow bully/fangirl of the first season.

Moving on to Mio, I went nuts over this shot. Suletta is fulfilling all her promises!! Even cleaned her disaster area of a room and messaging three times per day. She's unnervingly good at following directions tbh.

Adored this so much too. Lauda is grateful to GUNDARM for their aid and subsequently clears them of suspicion in the terrorist attacks. He goes out of his way to say Mio is free from the dueling games too, but Mio could care less about that petty nonsense. Her heart and mind is set on Suletta.

Quick mention to Secilia for being the most relatable person in the show. She just wants to sit on this god forsaken couch, watch the drama, and see who'll be Miorine's husbando. She's so funny, I swear.

And ofc we get spacian/earthian hostility in the wake of the attacks. You can't blame these kids for being scared and lashing out at the nearest targets but also Earth House was clearly not involved and aiding students during. Even Lauda of all people can understand that. They are grieving for a friend apparently which just complicates the situation further. Sad for all tbh

Martin steps up to defend his housemates, which was nice to see, but it's Mio who is able to shut down their hostility with a clever bit of blackmail. She's so cool and taking no one's guff this season

Nika had a brief interaction with Sabina, but it was insightful. We understand Sabina's loyalty to Shaddiq now as she's an earthian who was taken in by Grassley. Like Nika, she wants to become a bridge for spacians and earthians. Their methods contrast Nika's but they're all coming from the same place. Sabina is anyway. Shaddiq is a bit more inscutable.

Detective Mio is exploring all avenues in her quest and the space assembly league are all too happy to collaborate. They all find Shin Sei and Prospera suspicious, it seems. Valid observation. She does manage to locate Nika, sorta, and brings that information back to the others.

Mio is so adorable when Earth House thanked her for everything. This is probably the first time in years people appreciate who she is on her own merits and formed bonds that aren't conditional or tied to her father. It was just a really wholesome moment. Ah I love her and Earth House! Especially after hearing that first drama cd sketch.

Shout out to Till for shipping these two like the rest of us. Solid wingman right there. Poor Suletta doesn't quite know where they stand after all this time and doesn't want to be a nuisance, but still desperate to show Mio her dedication.

Just look at this pathetic puppy face 🥺

Only a monster could say no to that look, and luckily for her Mio is an understanding and loving bride.

Prospera Jumpcare. Watch out y'all, this one has a mean bite. Her showing up suddenly was unnerving. For the love of all that is holy, never do this again lady. Creeping me out somethin fierce.

HOO BOOOY where to begin? So 5lan was rejected from Aerial immediately, unlike when Eri was humoring El4n and Mio. Is this a sign she's grown in power or just fed up with 5lan's gremlin antics? Could be a combo of both! I take this as confirmation there were multiple failed clones/instances of Eri and Suletta was the lone sucess. The others look Eri's age. 12 of them in total, making Suletta unlucky 13.

I kinda felt sorry for 5lan here, cause he has a right to want to live and not be a tool but also... I don't like him and wish him nothing but misery for being a creep + striking Bel, who I do love. Poor Bel is not having a good week in between Prospera's guilting and now 5lan's.

And we finally arrive at THE SCENES we've been waiting for. It's so wonderfully tense but also tentatively hopeful at the start. Suletta who wants nothing more than to bridge the gap and Mio who wants the same.

Mio starts off with an empathetic apology, stating she understands Suletta's choice in ep12 even if it was traumatic for her. But the reconciliation derailed the moment Suletta declares her mother was right after all. She did the right thing. Run gain one, move forward and gain two.

Mio is galvanized by this logic and hastens to ask Suletta how she can smile at something so terrible. She might understand why Suletta killed for her sake, but she doesn't get how Suletta can just blindly accept everything is ok; that murder was right. Then Mio goes directly in, striving to make Suletta understand. She presses her about her mother, asking if Suletta would do anything. Including giving up her dream for Mercury or killing again.

Her answer, while terrible, is yes. To all of it. Suletta would forfeit the school for Mercury. Would kill again at the behest of her mother. Would do anything so long as her mother said it was right.

Suletta only sees the positives. She got to go to school, have friends, and meet Miorine who she loves. All because she moved forward at her mother's demand. It's horrifying but it makes perfect sense why she would think this way. It's clear from her anxious gestures she's not wholly oblivious to the horror either, but deems her discomfort inconsequential when she gains so much from obeying.

Hearing this speech is the breaking point for Mio who dashes away, leaving a forlorn Suletta to gaze after her. And we're swiftly shown what exactly she has on her mind

This scene was electric from the start. Someone is finally calling out Prospera's manipulation and while she's unflappable as always you have to admire Mio's fire. She wants Suletta to be freed and doesn't care a whit what Prospera thinks.

GOOOOOD this quote. We know Mio loves Suletta genuinely but Prospera only sees her 'daughter' as a tool to be tossed around and used by others. Her phrasing is disgusting in this exchange. 'She's a good little girl, isn't she?' *shivers*

Prospera proceeds to lay her cards on the table and is amazingly forthright, declaring her intent. She reveals her hungry fixation for vengeance and 21 yr long grudge against Delling.

Ngl it's pretty hilarious that Mio doesn't mind the idea of these adults killing themselves fighting each other so long as she and Suletta are left alone. Mio in protective wife mode fr.

It's not that easy however, as Prospera coerces Miorine to help her with QZ. And the first step is to become president of the Benerit group. Miomio for President 2023!! Will she find a loophole from this dire situation? Cast your votes now as we await what becomes of our stellar cast until the next Suletta Sunday~

#gundam witch from mercury #g witch #sulemio #miorine rembran #suletta mercury #prospera mercury #belmeria winston #nika nanaura #g witch spoilers #g witch episode 16 #suletta x miorine #you can do it Mio!!#it's rough being the dueteragonist

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chloe-caulfield94 · 5 months

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Thoughts on Grahamfield?

Thank you for an interesting question. I'm going to split my answer into two parts - first my thoughts on Warren himself and then my thoughts on shipping him with Max.

I like Warren, if only for the fact that on two separate occasions he helped Max when she was in a tough spot.

The confrontation between Max and Nathan at the parking lot in Episode 1 could've easily turned out to be deadly. Most likely, Nathan was still armed. We know he didn't throw his gun away after running from the bathroom, because he had the exact same pistol on him in Episode 4. Which also goes to show he would go around campus armed.

So if Warren hadn't tackled Nathan to the ground, allowing Max to hop into Chloe's truck, it's very likely Nathan would've pulled his gun out to threaten Max with and then shot her, just like he had shot Chloe. Only this time there would be no one to rewind the murder.

The confrontation in Episode 4, in the boys' dorms, was even more likely to have a fatal result. We know for a fact that Nathan was armed. This time it was Chloe acting as a distraction, pushing Nathan away long enough for the cavalry, in the form of Warren, to come to the rescue. Had it not been for them, Max would've likely been murdered by Nathan.

I think it's interesting that on both of those occasions Warren acted in tandem with Chloe. I don't think that takes away from Warren's or Chloe's efforts. Helping others is not a zero-sum game, where only one person can get the credit. And I think it's only fitting that a kind person like Max, who cares about others, has other people coming to her aid when she in turn needs it.

I will always appreciate Warren for giving Nathan a well-deserved beating. Remember, the confrontation in the dorms takes place mere minutes after Max finds in Nathan's drawer the horrifying picture of unconscious Chloe, which Nathan kept as a revolting souvenir. At that point, neither Max nor the player (if you play for the first time) knows why Nathan went around drugging and kidnapping girls. So the implications of the picture were obvious and horrifying. When you heard Chloe and Kate tell about their encounters with Nathan for the first time, wasn't your takeaway that he attempted to date rape Chloe and date raped Kate? What other explanation there could be for a boy drugging girls unconscious and bringing them to a secluded location? And the revelation that Nathan "only" wanted to take pictures doesn't make his attempted kidnapping of Chloe any less fucked up. At that point he had already killed Rachel by overdosing her. So despite the crocodile tears he recorded in Max's voice mail, he didn't mind the possibility of overdosing yet another girl for the purposes of his "art". Why would he mind it? This time it wouldn't be his friend, just some "whore".

So I will always think kindly of Warren, if only for the fact that he gave Nathan a little bit of his own medicine. That the made Nathan feel just as powerless as Nathan did to his victims.

I guess you could say that Warren's fights with Nathan were motivated by his desire to impress Max (in the parking lot) and to avenge his wounded male pride (in the dorms). But I think it would be an extremely uncharitable interpretation. Even if the abovementioned emotions factored into his actions, that doesn't change the fact he did help Max on those occasions.

I always find it funny that the dynamic between Max, Warren and Brooke is a representation of the "high school boy is trying to win over the affection of a beautiful girl but is completely oblivious that a cute nerdy girl in glasses is totally into him". I love the fact that in this context it makes Max into the "popular girl". Honestly, the best case scenario would be Warren finally seeing the writing on the wall and realizing how lucky he is to have someone as cool as Brooke crushing on him. And for some reason he really has trouble realizing that. Even in the alternate timeline he's dating Stella. I ship Warren with Brooke, mainly for her sake. That girl is a go-getter. She set her mind on something and is reaching for it. That always warrants my respect.

A thing I like about Warren is that he can be a gracious loser and that's an increasingly rare talent. After Chloe texted him about Max kissing her, he texted Max saying: "Your friend Chloe txtd me that I'm out of the loop now. She sounds hot so I get why. Now I get why you didn't want to 'Go Ape' with me. You should go with Chloe". Seriously, he took that like a champ, on the chin.

Some fans consider Warren to be “creepy” or even “stalkerish”. The most convincing piece of evidence supporting this accusation is him waiting outside Max’s dorm at the beginning of Episode 2. If Max walks over to the window quickly enough, she can see Warren peeking from behind corner, looking at the dorm door, almost certainly in anticipation of Max walking out, to chat her up.

Honestly, I don’t think this is such a damning piece of evidence. Yeah, he wanted to invite her to the movies. Would it be any different if he sought her out during the day, at school? I also don't find his behaviour around Max in general to be inappropriate or creepy. Awkward, perhaps. We need to keep in mind that it's not like at that point he had been hounding Max for months, refusing to take no for an answer. At the beginning of Season 1, they had known each other for no longer than a month (Max had just moved back into town at the start of the school year and it was only October). Their interactions so far involved him borrowing Max his movie stash and them exchanging some text messages (well, at one point it devolved into him sending text messages and Max not responding). I really don't think that at that point him trying to ask her out is somehow inappropriate or pushing.

There's also the shrine in Warren's locker Max can find in her nightmare. In my mind the nightmare represents a twisted version of reality, shaped solely by Max's fears and doubts. The opposite of how Max truly feels and thinks. Just like we shouldn't believe the lies told about Chloe by "Other Max", I don't think that we should treat the shrine in Warren's locker as some revelation.

I think it needs to be said - an unrequited crush doesn't make you a creep. It seems that Warren has a genuine crush on Max (I hesitate to call it love, because in Season 1 they had known each other for a month and they hadn't even been on a single date yet). But even if you see Max didn't return his feelings (I sure see it that way, based on the totality of interactions between them), that doesn't make him a stalker or a creep. If you disregard BtS (where Rachel was equally as interested in pursuing Chloe romantically, if not more, as Chloe was interested in her) and only take into account Season 1, then it is clear that while Chloe was deeply in love with Rachel, Rachel only saw her as a friend. But it would be wrong and unfair to say that Chloe was a creep for being head over heels in love with her friend who didn't love her back. It would be wrong and unfair to say that Chloe's monthslong search for Rachel wasn't a proof of her genuine friendship, loyalty and commitment to Rachel, because she had unrequited love for her, which somehow tainted her motives. I think the same reasoning should apply to Warren.

Now let's move on to the ship itself. Having said all that, that I like Warren, that I don't think he's a creep and that I think his crush on Max was genuine, I see no way for Grahamfield to work, if we're sticking to the events of the game.

In the Bae ending, even if the love between Max and Chloe remained purely platonic (the last diary entry before the final choice is always, regardless of player choices, Max saying that Chloe is like family to her and that she's about to find out if what's between them is love or friendship - so let's consider a timeline where Max decides Chloe is like a sister, not like a girlfriend to her), then the Grahamfield ship still would have zero chances of ever floating, for the simple reason that one half of it is dead.

And in the Bay ending, I can't imagine Max ever ending up with Warren. Bay Max has just killed her best friend by pushing her back in front of a barrel of a gun. The friend whose last words were always that she loved Max ("I love you, Max. See you around" if you overdose her in Episode 4, "I'll always love you" if you sacrifice her in Episode 5, she always says that regardless of player choices). Max immediately seeking solace in the arms of a boy she barely knows, that she hasn't even been on a single date with, would be extremely out of character for her. And I don't think she would be interested in pursuing Warren at a later date. She would always have at the back of her mind that he's among the people she killed Chloe for. I think that would poison any chance at a relationship.

A few months ago I exchanged comments with another LiS player regarding the ending. They told me that they sacrificed Chloe, because they preferred Max to end up with Warren. Granted, they were more of a casual player - they admitted to not reading Max's diary, not even a little bit. But even if you disregard the diary and even if you interpret the relationship between Max and Chloe as purely platonic, at least from Max's side, I can't imagine Max ever thinking like that. Wouldn't that be a totally unhinged way of thinking? Sacrificing a life long best friend for a boy that you've met a month ago, that you haven't even been on a single date with? Who is basically a stranger that you know very little about?

In a timeline with no Storm or in which Warren survives the Storm, I can easily see him and Max becoming friends, if only for their shared taste in movies.

In a timeline with no Storm AND in which Max's feelings for Chloe are different from the ones she expresses in game (in her dialogues, internal monologues and diary entries) I can imagine Max and Warren going on dates. Whether that would result in a relationship or not is impossible to say, because we have never even seen them on a single date. Maybe they would immediately hit it off. Or maybe after fifteen minutes they would both be tired of each other. Who knows?

So back to the question of how I feel about Grahamfield - even though I don't ship that particular ship, it doesn't offend my sensibilities. The only ships that offend my sensibilities are those which pair up abusers with their victims, which is clearly not the case here. But I just don't see that ship happening if we stick by canon events. If we imagine some sort of alternate universe, divergent from canon in the ways I described above, then I guess that could work.

#max caulfield #warren graham #grahamfield #brooke scott #grahamscott #chloe price #nathan prescott #life is strange #lis

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incorrectshantaequotes · 6 months

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Shantae Headcanons - Couples/Romance

So! This is a bit different! Currently, I'm trying to get my writer brain back in gear (or more accurately get it focused on Shantae) so I can finish up that Halloween fic that is very late right now, and I tend to find that my writer brain is far more stimulated when I write down these headcanon posts. So, naturally, I got to thinking about what to write a headcanon post about, and I figured, "hey! romance is a fairly good topic!"

The only issue with that is, well...as any long-time followers of this blog will know, aside from Shantops and Skylo (and also Twitchegar but they're fairly minor characters so yknow), which are fairly locked in as my headcanons at this point, I don't really have any solid headcanons for couples. Even with some couples that make frequent appearances on this blog, I'm willing to go for different options if it's submitted or if it'd make a particular quote that much funnier. And, honestly? I do not see that changing as I write these down.

...buuuuuuuuut that isn't going to stop me from writing down headcanons regarding what these characters are seeking out in a relationship! And also writing down how the dynamics for a character's various options would work out. So, with that in mind, let's hop to it!

NOTE: EXTREMELY LONG POST UP AHEAD. Like I say that a lot but good god this is a long one. I thought I ran into a text limit like twice and for good reason. You've been warned

Shantae/Rottytops

Starting strong with the fan favorite half-genie and zombie couple...when it comes to who started crushing on who first, obviously, Rottytops was first, like, right from the get-go - with her initial internal thought of "oh hey this girl's cute" rapidly spiraling into "I would propose to her on the spot without hesitation." Shantae, meanwhile, only started reciprocating around Pirate's Curse, but while she might not show it as blatantly or as frequently as Rotty, she is equally down bad for the zombie.

I imagine Rottytops as something of a casual flirt - before she met Shantae, during the games themselves, and even after they've gotten together to some extent! She enjoys getting a rise out of people, and flirting with them is both fairly simple and something she doesn't mind doing. She's definitely had a few relationships before Shantae, but nothing particularly serious. All of which is to say that, when she started having actual, deep, serious feelings for Shantae, Rotty had absolutely zero frame of reference, which was both frightening and incredibly exciting at the same time.

Rotty's exact reasons as to why she's so attracted to Shantae are...basically what's stated in-game, but to dig deeper into it, it's that right from the start, Shantae has looked at Rotty - a zombie girl who introduced herself by trying to eat Shantae's brains, a known trickster who wasn't that well-liked even among her fellow zombies, and who Shantae has no reason to trust or have any faith in, especially right after Risky's Revenge - and saw someone who could do better. Someone with potential to do good. Granted, that sentiment was initially expressed as frustrated disappointment, but even then Rotty was dumbfounded once she absorbed the implications of that. Even her brothers haven't expressed that kind of faith in her...more because they think she's fine as is than anything, but still! And while her initial reaction was to try and cling to that bit of faith before what she felt to be an inevitable loss of it, eventually, Rotty decided to take up the hard task of actually improving herself, and doing good, showing Shantae that that tiny bit of faith wasn't misplaced. And that one change in philosophy really made all the difference.

As for what draws Shantae to Rotty...well, after she realized that Rotty was never really malicious, and just trying to connect with her the only way she knew how, she naturally started viewing her a lot more charitably. And it was with that fresh perspective that she started noticing a few things. Like, for instance, how adventurous Rotty is. Daring. Bold. Everyone else Shantae knows tends to think at least a little bit before they say something, but Rotty is never afraid to speak her mind. She is loud, outspoken, and everything Shantae can't - refuses, really - let herself be, and as someone who's always at least a little worried about presenting herself as an ideal hero, a shining beacon to look to and inspire, there's something very appealing about a girl who just. Doesn't give a shit about any of that. And what really did it for Shantae is just how outspoken Rotty is regarding her. Rottytops has seen some of the aspects Shantae views least charitably about herself, mainly her temper, and in spite of it all, Rotty sees the world in her - and as the queen of self-esteem issues (even if most of them were ironed out post-Pirate's Curse), there's something very awe-inspiring about that to Shantae. Especially as Rottytops became more of an ally, her mind just...she had to wonder. Consider the possibilities. Something about the prospect of getting closer to Rotty got her heart racing, and yet- Rotty would have said something if she felt the same, right? Did she really want to risk losing it all?

Then Seven Sirens happened, and as Shantae and her friends were heading home, her mind happened to wander back to the moment where she encountered "Fillin" in her cage, and without the stress of dealing with the Sirens getting in the way, she then properly processed...literally everything in that scene, and that was when it clicked for Shantae that, "oh. OH. I don't think either of us are normal about this, actually." That was what finally compelled Shantae to confess, because, well...even if she was wrong, after all the shenanigans Rotty went through to get in just because she thought she might not be invited, she was fairly certain a love confession wouldn't get her to leave. And she was right on that front! Very, very right.

Their exact relationship hasn't overtly changed that much on Rotty's end, it's just that Rotty's turned her more subtle flirting into something significantly more blatant. She loves showering Shantae with affection, both physical and emotional, both because she feels Shantae deserves more of it and because she enjoys how easy it is to fluster Shantae with her flirting. She's also made more of a habit to let Shantae in on her schemes, which Shantae appreciates since it helps avoid another Fillin incident - not to mention, it lets her help Rotty be more reasonable with her schemes, pull her back when she might be going too far or redirecting her efforts if she thinks they might be a bit much...and, on the occasion that one of Rotty's schemes is perfectly fine and harmless, give Shantae a chance to lend a helping hand. Never let it be said that she doesn't have a mischievous side to her.

As for Shantae, she doesn't have nearly as much dating experience as Rotty does, so while she'll gladly return the favor when it comes to giving her affection, she doesn't do it to quite the same frequency as Rotty does, at least in public - partially because some irrational part of Shantae's brain is worried about doing too much, partially because Shantae personally likes to be a bit more deliberate with her affection. When in private, however, she's willing to get very intimate in a way that Rotty's previous relationships have not prepared her for in the slightest. She'll hold her close, whisper sweet nothings in her ear, slowly run her hands through Rotty's hair and down her back...and, honestly, Shantae would be lying if she said that there wasn't any appeal in flustering Rotty just as much as she can fluster her.

Rottytops personally gets a bit thrilled about the idea of Shantae having a darker side to her - I mean, just look at her initial reaction to Nega Shantae in Friends to the End - and it's a subject that comes up rather frequently in her more wild fantasies. Though, if push were to come to shove...she fell in love with Shantae for her kind and caring nature, and ultimately, Rotty prefers Shantae as she is. Although she'd never publicly admit it. She has a reputation to maintain as a bad influence, after all! That being said, Shantae is a lot more willing to play ball than you might think, at least in private, and has a few ideas of her own that she'd be far too embarrassed to try with anyone else, much to Rottytops' delight.

The most anyone else knows about that last part is when, one time, Rotty was walking home with about two dozen obvious bite marks and a dopey smile on her face, and Sky felt the need to stop her because she was worried that Rotty had run into a pack of feral zombies. She did not understand why Rottytops burst out laughing until she brought it up with Shantae and the half-genie went about as red as her outfit, muttering that she didn't think it was THAT obvious...at which point, Sky resolutely decided to never ask about Shantae and Rotty's private life. Ever.

Sky/Bolo

Moving on to our OTHER main protagonists...Sky and Bolo, despite being the only two characters who actively pursue romantic relationships in the games, have somehow never caught on that a potential romantic relationship with the potential to fill both of their needs is right there, and I imagine it takes them a little while longer for either of them to catch onto that little fact yet...as in, several months after Shantae and Rottytops have officially begun dating longer. I internally like calling this ship "Three Feet in Front of You" after the famous Mulan bit of "You missed! How could you miss, it was three feet in front of you!", because if that isn't a perfect summary of their relationship up until they actually start dating, I don't know what is.

I'm not going to get into how they start dating because I have an entire fic about that - a fic which I really need to get to writing the other three chapters for at some point - but the tl;dr is that Rottytops, tired of waiting for them to get their heads out of their asses, decided to play matchmaker, and while said plan...didn't quite work the way she intended, it DID ultimately help get them together, albeit in a very roundabout way.

Both Sky and Bolo are bisexual. For Bolo, it was more of a quiet "huh" realization, with a very casual acceptance and slight change in lifestyle, but nothing particularly groundbreaking for him. Probably realized it before the events of the games, even. Sky, on the other hand...as I've said before, I imagine she was repressed for a WHILE on account of her parent's pressure, so she just assumed she was straight because she did experience attraction to men, and it wasn't like her parents would accept any other option. right? Or so she assumed. So, what exactly got Sky to realize she was bisexual? ...Rottytops. It was Rottytops. And that is a secret she fully intends on taking to her grave - no pun intended - because she knows Rotty would never let her live it down if she knew.

That being said, Rottytops was not Sky's first sapphic crush, at least beyond anything superficial. This is going to slightly spoil that fic I mentioned earlier whenever I DO get to finishing that second chapter, but that honor actually goes to Harmony - Rotty's plan to get Sky and Bolo together involved using Harmony to inspire jealousy in Sky, but what happened instead was that Sky quickly found herself to be incredibly attracted to the half-genie, and ended up asking her out. The relationship was short-lived, but they're on good terms, and Sky has entertained the idea of opening up her and Bolo's relationship and bringing Harmony in...but it'd take a while for her to bring up that possibility to Bolo, both because she'd want to get a good feel for what a stable, long-term relationship feels like before potentially shaking it up, and because Sky feels incredibly guilty about how she acted back then, even with Harmony being understanding, and it'd take a long time for that guilt to fade. Everyone agrees that Harmony was a significantly better choice than Barracuda Joe and Armor Baron, though.

Sky has a very specific type that pretty much all of her romantic endeavors fall under. She looks for someone who's...responsible. Someone grounded. Strong, both in a physical and metaphorical sense, someone she feels she can entrust her life to and be safe with. Barracuda Joe counted as a high-ranking lieutenant in the Ammonian Army who plays the straight man to Ammo Baron's over-the-top antics, Armor Baron...was at least able to act the part as a trusted authority figure in Armor Town up until he pulled out the rug from under her with his enchanted armor, Harmony goes without saying, and even if he can be a bit dense sometimes, Bolo was the one who taught Shantae how to fight, and he was shown to act as a babysitter for a bunch of zombie kids, so he can clearly be responsible if the situation calls for it. Bolo, meanwhile, is a lot less picky, more just looking for someone who appreciates him for who he is and doesn't automatically write him off as some meathead, and Sky is more than happy to oblige on that front.

Another criteria for Sky's romantic partners that Harmony accidentally introduced is "do Sky's birds like them?" Both Harmony and Bolo pass this criteria with flying colors, with Sky's birds absolutely adoring Harmony, and Bolo being the only human besides Sky who they trust and can really handle them. This has been a major relief for Sky, as she can often worry about how her birds are handling things without her whenever she leaves for an extended period of time, so having someone she can trust to keep an eye on them is...nice! Especially considering how both Shantae and Rottytops swear that Sky's birds are demons in disguise after one extended babysitting session. She had no idea they could get that agitated just from her not being there.

Sky and Bolo aren't the most physically affectionate couple, especially compared to Shantae and Rottytops, but that's more because they just show their affection in significantly different ways. For Sky, that comes in the form of meticulous planning, though she's thankfully toned it down to a much more reasonable level from the control freak/"planning their marriage after only a few hours" level of planning shown in Pirate's Curse. In Sky's eyes, the best way to show her love to Bolo is to give him the perfect date, or the perfect gift, and the level of planning and scheming she will do to achieve that is enough to impress even Rottytops. Bolo, meanwhile, is the more physically affectionate of the two, but for the most part his love tends to come in the form of gifts, whether it be traditional things like flowers and chocolates to the significantly less conventional when he puts his metalworking skills to good use. Sky actually finds herself more interested in the latter than the former, because Bolo's fairly good at doing metal sculptures - even if the finer details can escape him - and she's found herself far more entranced by the level of love and heart he puts into them than any of the traditional gifts she used to daydream about. It's a surprise for both of them, but it works.

Sky's always supported Bolo and helped with his insecurities, but now that she's DATING him, that support has become a lot more vocal. She's formed an unofficial alliance with Rottytops with the mutual sentiment of "if anyone talks shit about either of our partners we will beat them to death," and the intensity of this alliance is honestly a bit frightening for both Bolo and Shantae, but at the same time extremely flattering for both of them.

Risky Boots

This section is going to be a lot shorter than the other ones, because, well...I don't really ship Risky with anyone? And the amount of people she CAN be shipped with is very slim, especially considering that she is absolutely a lesbian in my mind and there is no budging on that front. It also doesn't help that romantic relationships require a lot of emotional vulnerability and getting Risky to be emotionally vulnerable in any capacity is like pulling teeth through a maze made entirely of knifes and trying not to get a single scratch. Buuuuuut, she IS the main antagonist of the franchise, and I have thought over a few options before, so getting into those now...

Risky/Empress Siren: AKA the "hand in unlovable hand" route. Noooooooot even remotely healthy for either party but it's definitely an option! In this case, I imagine the relationship springs up relatively naturally after Seven Sirens - Empress Siren survives, pulls herself together like I've described in my previous Siren headcanon posts...and at some point, her mind wanders to Risky. The treacherous pirate who hoodwinked her, keeping her just out of reach of pure ultimate power, and ultimately equally responsible for her downfall as that accursed half-genie...but. She's cunning, incredibly vicious, has a lofty ambition, and isn't exactly bad on the eyes, either - all of which are traits Empress Siren can admire and approve of. So, compared to Shantae, who she just actively wants dead, Empress views Risky both as a respectable and worthy rival AND as a potential romantic prospect. She either wants to kill Risky in a climactic battle or to have her as a consort when she launches her reign over the world; they're interchangeable to Empress, really, and either way she WILL openly flirt with Risky...though, exactly what Empress Siren considers flirting is not quite what most people would consider flirting.

Naturally, Risky is not at all enthusiastic about this, for a multitude of reasons - Empress Siren is vile even by her standards, she doesn't appreciate being viewed as some sort of prize, and she's still a bit pissed about the whole "stealing her body" stunt. Yes, she expected Empress Siren to betray her in advance and made sure to prepare properly, but she wasn't expecting it to happen it like THAT! ...But. As much as she hates to admit it, Empress Siren is a formidable opponent, and her twisted affections are one of the few weaknesses she can readily and easily exploit, so sometimes it's more practical to just suck it up and play into it, if only so she can get the upper hand. And if she has the occasional fantasy of a better world - one where Empress Siren isn't an egomaniacal ex-tyrant to make the Pirate Master proud, one where she's interested in Risky for who she is rather than what she has to offer her, one where Risky could, just maybe, have a partner who wouldn't be scared of her reputation or her many, many enemies, one who could keep up with Risky in a fight and on the sea, one who she could share her self-proclaimed throne as the Queen of the Seven Seas with? Well, that's none of Empress Siren's business. Even if sometimes those fantasies are the only way Risky can manage to lock lips with the siren without giving the game away. ESPECIALLY considering that, actually.

Risky/Giga Mermaid: If you want an actually HEALTHY relationship for Risky that's also at least somewhat feasible...Giga Mermaid. This sounds like a crack ship and I can't really blame you if you think that but let me explain my reasoning here. As I sorta went into near the end of the Risky/Empress Siren section there, on top of literally ALL the aforementioned issues I mentioned before, I imagine Risky would have a few...concerns about how her lifestyle would affect the life of any potential romantic partner. Empress Siren side steps all of those concerns and would be PERFECT if not for her entire personality being a red flag in and of itself, but Giga Mermaid also manages to avoid most of the concerns Risky would have. Intimidated by Risky's reputation? Well, she's giant, so I imagine that not a lot actually intimidates her to begin with, and besides that Risky saved Giga Mermaid in Pirate Queen's Quest, marking her as one of the few people Risky has actually been nice to and meaning she actually has reason to see Risky in a positive light. Risky's enemies? After Techno Baron kidnaps her twice, Giga Mermaid would definitely invest in better security, and with her size and at least some magic she can hold her own in a fight when she's actually thinking straight. Risky being at sea most of the time isn't an issue for someone who's naturally aquatic, either. The only real potential issue is how Giga Mermaid would react to Risky's ambition, as well as one on Giga Mermaid's side: her reputation as a ruler. Oh, and also how they would even meet up again, but I have that covered.

The way I'm envisioning this would start is fairly simple: Risky's out on the sea, figuring out her next plan after Seven Sirens, and she finds that resources on her ship are running low, so she elects to head to a nearby island for a quick and quiet supply run...only for Giga Mermaid to suddenly emerge from the water and stop the ship in its tracks. After a bit of outraged raving from Risky, Giga Mermaid very calmly explains that the island Risky's trying to head to is currently home to a secret but very IMPORTANT meeting between a bunch of major political powers, meaning that the island is currently armed to the teeth. That gets Risky to shut up real fast. Right now, that island is a death trap for any criminal there, let alone one so infamous as Risky. Even with a disguise she'd get figured out pretty quickly with so many on the look out for potential miscreants who might want to crash the party, and she can't exactly go on the offensive with her supplies being low...so Giga Mermaid gives her a simple offer: she'll give Risky that favor Risky insisted she owed her for saving her life back then, stowing Risky and her crew away somewhere secret and away from prying eyes until the meeting is done in a few days. It burns at Risky's pride a bit, but she really doesn't have any other option that ends in her favor, so she takes Giga Mermaid up on that offer.

Once Giga Mermaid settles her and the Tinkerbats in, Risky initially assumes that it's going to be a quiet couple of days without much to do, except...as the sun begins to set on the first day, Giga Mermaid shows up, done with the meeting for the day, and just. Talks to her. Initially she tries to ask about Risky in an attempt to understand her more, which naturally results in Risky dodging those questions like the plague, but the pirate ends up opening up more the second day when Giga Mermaid comes in steaming and vents about some of the politicians she had to deal with, inadvertently revealing more about herself in the process. This continues on as the days go by, with Risky gradually becoming more comfortable with Giga Mermaid, up until the sixth and final day of Risky's stay, where she can tentatively call Giga Mermaid a friend...and, possibly, a bit more in her dreams. But she's also sure it won't last. And when all the other political parties leave, and Risky is finally able to get her supplies, she bids Giga Mermaid what she assumes to be a final farewell, because she isn't giving up being the Queen of the Seven Seas for anyone, not even for royalty, and having a friendly relationship with a pirate has to be a breaking point for her, if just because of her reputation...only to abruptly have those assumptions thrown out the window when Giga Mermaid bluntly informs her that she doesn't care what wild assumptions people might make about her for hanging out with a pirate, and for that matter she isn't going to fight Risky on her ambition either.

Naturally, Giga Mermaid's blunt confession confuses Risky to the point where she gets right in her face and asks if she's lost her mind. Giga Mermaid admits that, while she does have a few issues with Risky's choice of career, she can acknowledge that Risky is her own woman and she can't exactly STOP her. She does, however, have one suggestion: speaking from her experience dealing with other politicians and her own royal court, there are quite a few corrupt nobles out there. Ones that people probably wouldn't miss if they were gone…and also happen to have quite the mass of wealth to their name. If Risky shifts targets from large towns to those few nobles, she'll get just as much, if not MORE than she did before, and still maintain her fearsome reputation as Queen of the Seven Seas without anyone questioning her too much. It'd just be that who fears her the most would be a bit, ah, shifted, is all. And…Risky has to admit that she raises a valid point. Incredibly valid, actually. Some could accuse her of becoming soft, sure, but those voices wouldn't be quite so bold with a sword at their throat. The only real potential protestor to all this would really be herself. And while that's not enough to sway her completely…Risky does say she'll think on it.

And so, the unlikely friendship carries on, albeit meeting in secret - more at Risky's insistence than Giga Mermaid's - with Risky gradually leaning more into morally gray territory rather than being an outright villain as she speaks more and more with Giga Mermaid, even if she'd never admit it. And then - it happens. Risky doesn't know what prompts it. Maybe it's being at sea with no one to interact but the Tinkerbats for a while, maybe it's the way Giga Mermaid laughs when she regales the queen with the tale of how she utterly humiliated a major noble - one who, coincidentally, happened to give Giga Mermaid a lot of trouble during that fateful political meeting - or maybe it's just because she's wanted to do it for a while, but during one of their meetings, Risky ends up kissing Giga Mermaid. Just a simple peck on the tip of the queen's nose, nothing more, but it's still enough to get Risky to freeze up, internally reprimand herself because what is she DOING, and immediately start barking out half-baked threats to keep Giga Mermaid from mentioning the incident to anyone…which all promptly fall short in the face of the surprised, but sly smile on Giga Mermaid's face. She wasn't EXPECTING for Risky to feel that way towards her, but she isn't complaining, and casually mentions that there's a spell she uses whenever she has to go to a political meeting not in her own kingdom, and therefore not built for her size, that she'd like to show Risky next time they meet. Confused, but mostly just relieved that Giga Mermaid isn't going to say anything, Risky agrees to see the spell. Cut to a few days later, when something suddenly stops Risky's ship. She instinctively looks around to see if she can spot Giga Mermaid…only to hear her clear her throat at a considerably quieter volume than usual. Risky turns around to see the Giga Mermaid at a more human size with the slightest of smirks and a raised eyebrow. Turns out, that's the spell - something that shrinks Giga Mermaid down to a more manageable size, if only for a few hours. And that's when she gives Risky another offer: a true, proper kiss this time. Risky takes the deal without any hesitation.

OKAY. Risky/Giga Mermaid scenario over. So, what relationship could possibly top that? …honestly, nothing; that scenario ended up being more intensive than I expected, but! Anyway, for the last Risky ship, I have one quick offering: Risky/Squidsmith. This one is definitely a crackship since the two haven't even interacted, but it IS pretty funny to me because, if you don't already know, I headcanon Squidsmith to be Bolo's mom, as detailed here. So the way I imagine this working is that Risky ends up walking into a bar where the Squidsmith is at after a long day of work. And in a brilliant moment that shows exactly where her son got his denseness from, she proceeds to not recognize Risky at all and casually flirt with her. Risky attempts to dissuade her, but Squidsmith is insistent, and eventually…Risky sighs, deciding to humor the woman and stay at her temporary home for her work for the night. And then that night goes very well for her, so when Risky happens to run into Squidsmith again…she a bit more easily persuaded this time. And the next time. And the next time. And the next time…and all the while, Squidsmith STILL doesn't connect the dots, and does not until word eventually spreads to Shantae via Bolo and she promptly realizes just who Bolo's mom has been dating. Naturally, hilarity ensues.

The Half Genies

So! Onto the half-genies! These four tend to be subject to the whole "whoever I ship is subject to whatever would be funniest" phenomenon the most frequently, since I don't really have any particular ships in mind for them. There's still more to talk about than Risky, though...which, uh, might not QUITE be the right thing to say considering how long that Risky/Giga Mermaid section ended up being. Hopefully I don't have to break up the list this time.

Starting with a half-genie I've already mentioned - and have notably more solid headcanons for - Harmony! I've only very briefly mentioned it before in a different post, but I firmly think she's asexual, though still open to romantic relationships of the sapphic variety. There's a certain level of irony to this because Harmony is also built like an Amazon, and there are a lot of people who find her attractive...and Harmony, through a combination of the aforementioned asexuality and just not having a lot of social interaction to go off of, has been completely oblivious to this up until recently. Up until she was used for the set up for Rottytops' plan to get Sky and Bolo together that ended up resulting in her briefly dating Sky, to be precise. It was her first experience being in a romantic relationship, and even if it wasn't exactly perfect by any stretch, Harmony still thinks of it fondly. If Sky were to approach her with the prospect of including her in Sky and Bolo's relationship, she'd be more than happy to say yes.

Harmony is actually fairly similar to Shantae when it comes to romantic relationships - she may be incredibly confident in herself, with a lot of experience in defending her town, being a leader, and keeping a calm and level-headed demeanor, but a romantic relationship is still a relatively new and exciting prospect for her, so she can be a bit nervous, especially in public settings. To be quite honest, though, she doesn't mind. It's actually part of the appeal of a romantic relationship to her, that she's so incredibly new to the whole thing and vulnerable in a way she normally isn't. Harmony takes her duties as a Guardian Genie very seriously, making herself a pillar of strength and self-confidence that others can look up to and depend on...but that doesn't mean that Harmony doesn't want some support herself, sometimes. And sure, with the Half-Genie festival she's gotten some friends who are more than willing to help in that regard, and she's very thankful for it, but- part of what appeals so much about a romantic relationship to Harmony is the prospect of someone who she can always trust to have her back when it all gets to be a bit too much. Someone she can trust to protect her at her weakest, and someone she can protect in turn. It's part of what made Sky so appealing to her - she'd heard how Sky helped Shantae through some of her lowest moments, and then seeing Sky with her birds, being so gentle and caring and kind...she may not have been the one to ask for a relationship, but she accepted it incredibly quick.

With all that being said, I, uh. Don't really have anyone I ship with Harmony besides the whole "did previously date Sky"/"would be open to a Sky/Bolo/Harmony polycule" thing. Like, I see a lot of people attracted to Harmony, sure, but not so much in a romantic relationship with her. In all honesty besides the polycule scenario I think Harmony's best romantic option would probably be a civilian? Which we don't really have any particularly stand-out examples of, so...yeah. I did have a fic idea for where Harmony strikes it up with that one zombie tourist girl NPC we see in Seven Sirens, though. Unfortunately I do not remember any of the details in the slightest so you'll have to get back to me on that one.

Getting to the other three...the two most prominent ships involving them are here are Zapple/Vera and Plink/Vera, and while I still don't plan on locking down a solid headcanon for which one I'd go with...I will say that, at least in the early days of the blog, I tended to lean more towards Zapple/Vera, but I have been seeing the appeal of Plink/Vera these days. So, getting into those ships now-

With Zapple/Vera, I imagine the dynamic doesn't really change much from the one I've given them as friends. Zapple is similar to Rottytops in that she can be a bit of a troublemaker, but whereas Rottytops just loves causing problems on purpose, in Zapple's case it's moreso because she has at least five different conspiracies in her head at all times and doesn't fear god. Vera's used to this just from knowing Zapple for so long, but dating her ratchets up the intensity somehow just because her dating ideas really aren't too different from the multitude of times she's gone "hey Vera you know what would be a cool idea" or went "Vera there's no time to explain we need to commit arson." You can never say a date Zapple plans is a dull one, that's for sure. But she's also a lot more...attentive to Vera than before. She's always known Zapple cares, willing to help her with any problem that arises and helping lift her spirits with her dry sense of humor and sheer enthusiasm, but now she pays attention to Vera's physical and mental health with the same paranoid intensity she gives her various conspiracies, declaring herself Vera's medic and fussing over the smallest things in a way that Vera finds both hilarious and heartwarming. As for Vera's side of things...again, it's similar to before, where she acts as a grounding presence for Zapple both in terms of her more adventurous ideas and her wild conspiracies, it's just that it's gotten notably easier - partially because Zapple is more willing to listen to her, and partially because Vera's found that any sort of physical intimacy makes Zapple's brain short circuit, and she's more than willing to take advantage of that if it keeps Zapple from staying up all night with a conspiracy board.

As for Plink/Vera...while the two might PHYSICALLY be far apart, when you have friends with teleportation magic, any given "long distance" relationship becomes a lot easier to manage, and this one would be no exception. Vera's taken a liking to showing Plink some of the natural wonders of Siren Island she never got around to seeing during her brief stay with the Half-Genie Fesitval, and seeing her eyes light up with delight at whatever Vera shows her is always worth a smile in her eyes. Plink, meanwhile, doesn't come up with the date ideas that often, but when she does, they're always spectacular. One particularly memorable moment in their relationship for both Plink and Vera is when Plink took Vera up a grassy hill late one night, refusing to elaborate what for to avoid spoiling the surprise, sitting her down, and then using her magic to let Vera see what was effectively the supernatural equivalent of an aurora borealis, with equally fantastical sights and colors to be seen. Both of them are also fairly physically intimate, with Vera being especially so when Plink is distressed, holding her close to calm her down. Meanwhile, Plink will give Vera hugs and hold hands with her often, but can be a bit nervous to take it beyond that. Doesn't mean she hasn't, though. Overall, just a particularly nice relationship...nothing crazy, but neither Vera nor Plink mind that at all.

Slightly breaking the mold and going back to Zapple here - ever since I've written my updated Siren headcanons post, which I linked earlier in Risky's section, one ship idea involving Zapple that showed up out of nowhere but has grown on me is Zapple/Octo Siren. Again, this makes more sense if you read that headcanon post, so I recommend you read that, but anyway…after all the Sirens are redeemed, I imagine Octo Siren just. Lives in Zapple's house now. They threw her in there when they kidnapped her for her own good, and she sees zero reason to leave after the fact. I stand by this regardless of whether they'd be in a romantic relationship or not, but it also happens to make for a great starting point for one! Because, as mentioned earlier, Zapple's brain short circuits with physical intimacy, and pretty much all of the Seven Sirens have zero sense of personal space. Which, well. Zapple DID catch onto that a bit with Lobster Siren, but she just figured that she didn't get out much and shrugged it off. It was only when the dust settled and everyone could let out a sigh of relief that she realized that, oh, no, they're all just like this. And now she's living with a girl that is not only fairly attractive, around her age, if a bit older - or at least the equivalent of that by Siren standards - and she shares a mutual understanding with, but also just...has a habit of casually draping herself over Zapple like she's a living lounge chair? Forget short circuiting, something in Zapple's brain has caught fire at this point and the fans are working overtime in a feeble effort to solve the issue while smoke blows out her ears.

Meanwhile, completely oblivious to Zapple's plight, Octo Siren...well. She has to admit, there's actually something of a romantic spark in her heart regarding Zapple, what with the softer side Zapple showed her that fateful night, the way she can relate to her mental struggles, the more wild side of her life that seems both a bit frightening and exciting at the same time...but, she also doesn't want to make the same mistake did with Shantae, even if the half-genie wasn't dating Rottytops at the time, and she's about...75% sure that Zapple and Vera are dating. So, Octo Siren doesn't say anything, intending to latch that romantic spark down, only to find it growing stronger and stronger until one day, she finally cracks a little and asks Zapple if she and Vera are dating. Whatever response she was expecting, it was not Zapple snapping her head over to Octo Siren and very bluntly informing her that Vera and Plink are dating, and also you have been driving me insane for the past three weeks for the love of god please date me.

Needless to say, after a lot of confusion and some explanations, the two ended up dating. Now with something of a proper sense of boundaries, Octo Siren has actually toned down how physical she is with Zapple, which is both a slight disappointment and a MAJOR relief because, as nice as all that contact and touching was, she also kinda needs her brain intact to do her job properly. Octo Siren will still drape herself over Zapple like she's a lounge chair, though, especially if she can tell Zapple's had a long day or that she's making a bad decision for herself - like, say, staying up all night to figure out conspiracies. Octo Siren doesn't have that many date ideas, but everything I said about Zapple's dates regarding the Zapple/Vera ship applies here as well, and while at first Octo Siren finds herself terrified...she also loves it a little? It does not take long into her and Zapple's relationship to become an adrenaline junkie, though thankfully one with more common sense, much to Vera's relief. Zapple is also equally attentive to Octo Siren, which is maybe a bit weird for her since she really hasn't anyone hovering over her like that in her life, but still rather flattering. Octo Siren has found that a good way to keep Zapple from committing to a bad idea - or just to receive a LOT of comfort after a particularly bad day - is to fake having a minor cold, and then watching as Zapple drops everything to help Octo Siren out.

Holly Lingerbean

Now, ending on a bit of a high note...Holly Lingerbean! Some of you are probably wondering WHY Holly in particular instead of, say, the Barons, but I went with Holly for three reasons: firstly, I am incredibly biased. Holly is one of my personal favorite Shantae characters just because she hits a lot of the right buttons for me. Secondly, there's only like two things to talk about for Holly, whereas with the Barons I'd probably have to break up their list twice just going off of Risky and the section with the half-genies. Thirdly, she's like half the reason I had the idea to write this PARTICULAR headcanon post in the first place, but I'll get to that in a bit.

Getting into the first ship, which long-time followers of the blog are probably expecting a bit...Holly Lingerbean/Nega Shantae! These two actually fairly consistently show up in my quotes as a couple, whether that be in a romantic sense or a platonic one, and, well...to be completely honest, I don't really ship the two romantically, it's just that: A.), Holly's like, one of the only few characters Nega Shantae could plausibly be interacting with besides the main four and Uncle Mimic, so it makes sense to put them together, and B.), like I mentioned before, Holly's one of my favorite Shantae characters, and she and Nega Shantae have a very interesting dynamic where, with Nega Shantae's over the top villainous personality, it's maybe one of the few times Holly can actually reasonably play the straight man, and obviously Nega Shantae can play the straight man to Holly just as well. So, in other words, this was mostly a pairing formed out of convenience that serves the actual gimmick of this blog pretty nicely...but, uh, again, I honestly don't ship them that seriously. I DO think they could work as a couple, but I'm personally not that invested in figuring out the specifics. I imagine they'd give off old married couple vibes, i.e. Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck in the Looney Tunes Show.

Now, to the main event...some of you are probably aware of the Holly redemption AU I have going on with Living Memoir, though I haven't really added to it beyond that initial fic. But that's hardly for lack of trying! I've had plenty of ideas for it, some of which have shown up in other places - hell, the thing about Giga Mermaid having a spell to shrink herself down to a more normal size is actually from one of those fic ideas - and when it got around to pride month last year...well. I ended up having an idea. An idea completely out of left field, mind you, but one that seemed only captivating, so I mused on it. And mused on it. And then I mused on it a bit too hard, and it has been driving me insane ever since, DOUBLY so after I did my updated siren headcanon post and my brain was filled with ideas anew. But I have had approximately no place to really talk about it...until now, when I wrote this headcanon post specifically talking about couples. So, without further ado - Holly Lingerbean/Lobster Siren! ...I swear I can make this make sense

I'm not going to go too much into how they meet because I DO plan on writing that fic at some point, but to make a long story short - Shantae teleports to Siren Island with Holly, still early on in her path to redemption, in order to talk with Zapple and Vera and figure out where Harmony is, since she figures Harmony would be the best mentor for helping Holly expand her magical repertoire beyond...existing, and also messing with memories. Holly, meanwhile, doesn't really care too much about all that jazz, and just wants to get a tan...or at least act like she's getting one. But, as she manages to set herself up in a resort and get out the tanning board, she happens to spot someone out of the corner of her eye - Lobster Siren, currently hiding the best she can and spying on her. Vaguely knowing who she is from Shantae's brief rundown and not really having any thoughts about Lobster besides "huh, she's kinda cute now that I see her in person," Holly asks if she can get the waiting staff so she can order a drink. When Lobster doesn't respond, Holly remembers that she doesn't speak English, and considering her silent nature, opts for sign language instead. She is beyond pleased with herself when she gets a response, Lobster Siren asking in sign how she knows that - ha, success! - only for that pleasure to promptly shatter into a million pieces as she's informed that the particular sign language she's speaking is several centuries out of date.

Legitimately distressed from this news, as taking the time to learn that language to speak to the deaf and mute was one of the few achievements about herself she could still hold high, Holly does what she deems to be the most healthy and normal method of dealing with this issue and very quickly speedwalks away from the problem, ignoring Lobster Siren's cry of concern. This seems like a perfect plan up until Lobster Siren, very quickly fed up with being ignored, teleports directly in front of Holly and physically holds her in place so she can get her to stand still and tell her what's wrong. Because, with Lobster Siren...well. She'd been intending to avoid Holly - first impression spotting her arrival with Shantae a biiiiiiiiit too similar to Empress Siren for her tastes - but now that she's actually interacted with her...there's clearly something different going on here. Empress Siren only bothered learning the language of the surface to better convey her superiority to them, while Holly, as rude as she might have been at first, clearly learned sign language to actually TALK to people considering her reaction. So, beyond feeling a bit guilty for inadvertently causing Holly distress, Lobster Siren wants to take the time to understand Holly better - both how she knows a language lost to time, and how she is as a person. Holly, meanwhile, had pretty much all of her thoughts leave the room as soon as Lobster Siren grabbed her by the wrists and looked at her with that intense gaze, as her status of "mildly interested" very quickly spiraled into "down atrocious," and it goes from there.

Holly is a similar case to Zapple where physical intimacy makes her brain go blank, only with the main difference that she has not had any kind of physical intimacy for a good few centuries, so it is notably worse. Less touch starved and more touch drought. Also, since Holly's not the best at reading people and Lobster is not the best at communicating, for a good while Holly completely misinterpreted Lobster's complete lack of personal space as her being physically possessive, which, ah...really, only made Lobster Siren that much more attractive to Holly. As big as her ego is, it's all mostly hot air, so the idea of someone finding her valuable, someone treating her as important and worthy, even if she's not busy being a hero or a showman or whatever and just being HOLLY? To the point of them physically pulling her close, as if to say "back off, she's mine?" Oh, that gets Holly's heart racing and her brain to melt out her ears. Even when the misconception is cleared up, her immediate first thought is "okay I know you aren't actually like that and that's fine but maybe you could act like you are? for me? please? pretty please?" And Lobster Siren...is actually completely fine with that, since, as previously established, all Lobster Siren did for Holly to think that was act as her usual, lack of personal space self, so she just...deliberately does that afterwards. And Holly loves it.

As for Lobster Siren's end…she's not down as bad as Holly is, but once Holly does tell her exactly how she feels? She can't help but love her back. For one thing, Holly's one of the few people she knows who isn't either frightened of her - i.e., most of Siren Island's tourists - or babies her, and instead just…treats her with respect like an actual adult. Sure, the two aforementioned groups are getting better at that, but Holly did it right from the start and has no intention of stopping. It also helps that, even if Holly's not the best person in the world by a long shot, she is willing to try and get better, which is very admirable in Lobster's eyes. And, what ultimately ends up sealing the deal for Lobster Siren, at least when it comes to turning their friendship into an actual romance, is just how deep Holly's devotion is for her. How much Holly wants to be with her, how much she sees in her that, honestly, Lobster Siren doesn't see in herself most days, how she is 100% willing to spend the rest of her life with her, without hesitation, and without regret. It's frankly surprising how devoted Holly is to Lobster, but she finds it very sweet...if not mildly concerning at times. Again, down atrocious. Once, Holly described an elaborate fantasy she had of Lobster Siren within minutes of them first meeting to her, of her dragging Holly down to the depths and then showing her all the incredible underwater sights, holding her close to make sure she doesn't fall into the abyss of the sea, scaring off any undersea predator that dared draw near, and Lobster politely waited for her to finish before interjecting with a concerned [So did you forget the part where you need to breathe?] in sign, to which Holly went, "Huh? Oh, no, I'm a memory; I don't actually have to breathe if I want to. Why? Are you interested?"

Holly may not be much of a physical fighter, but if you cause Lobster Siren distress in any way, well...she can certainly verbally eviscerate you, and she is damn good at it, what being a former villain and all. Shantae, Bolo, and Lobster Siren are all quietly relieved that Sky and Rottytops don't like Holly enough to include her in their unofficial "if anyone talks shit about our partners we beat them to death" alliance. They fear what the world would look like if they did.

#shantae #not a quote #headcanons

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lakesbian · 7 months

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I want you to know you have completed rewired my brain about aishalec…. I was staunchly against it on principle when I first read worm (I was like 17 and very anti-most-age-gaps). You have made me a believer

i'm still curious about where exactly the common fandom misconception that aisha and alec have an age gap (in the sense of 'a significant difference between their ages') comes from. like people have been thinking that forever, there's a comment on one of the chapters from like 2010 where someone is like Umm isn't it weird and creepy that alec is trying to hang out with aisha...he's like brian's age...and wb is like. no hes 15. maybe it's the narration in worm being focused on aisha being brian's Little sister + the only age she's mentioned as being is 13? doesn't explain why people keep assuming alec is older than he is despite him being the second most immature-behaving undersider but who knows. aisha and alec do actually have a smaller difference in age than brian and taylor--the info on the character page for aisha during her pre-timeskip imp era says she's 14, so the implication is she had an offscreen birthday around or shortly after leviathan/getting her powers (WORST fucking birthday ever lmao. thats a lie alecs were the worst ever. second worst birthday ever?). alec meanwhile is said to be a young 15 at the start of worm, and leviathan is really not long after the start of worm chronologically, so they're like. a year and change apart in age. they will survive having dumb little crushes on each other that don't go anywhere ! and furthermore it's reallycute that the 2 undersiders on the team with the trauma pertaining to SA that the other undersiders Don't Get get to, for once in their life, enjoy doing dumbass teenage "teehee i'm putting my feet in front of you on the table" "heehee i'm playfully shoving them off now" shit with someone who Gets Them w/ zero expectation of it escalating to points they're not emotionally ready for. playing video games together CAN fix them. if aishalec has 100 fans i'm one of them if aishalec has 10 fans i'm one of them if aishalec has 1 fan it's me and i just got rid of everyone who was interpreting them wrong etc etc

#ask #worm spoilers #scarf don't look

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frankenjoly · 3 months

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Mistaken (or not)

mushiranpoe “reveal” ft atsushi’s tiger senses

“So, you can recognize pretty much anyone you’re more or less familiar with just by smell alone, right?” Naomi was saying, with a mischievous smile that (surprisingly enough) didn’t scare Atsushi. Yet. “Wanna play a bit with that?”

“What do I have to do?” Atsushi instantly asked in return, undeniably curious.

“Can you tell us who’s gonna be here next before they enter?” Given how they were currently at the cafe for what was intended to be an informal gathering, the mix of sounds and scents made for quite an interesting challenge. And it seemed fun, so why not? Besides, and as if on cue, he almost immediately sensed the first example of the night.

“Dazai-san.” The response came out of his mouth with confidence, and Atsushi shared a smile with not just Naomi but both the Tanizakis when Dazai was indeed sitting at the table with them.

“What are we doing?”

“Testing Atsushi-kun’s tiger senses.” That time it was Jun’ichirô who spoke.

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

The game then carried on for the next half an hour, as the rest of the Agency members started making their respective entrances.

“Yosano-sensei.”

“Kenji-kun.”

“Kunikida-san.”

“The president.”

And of course, with every new right answer, Atsushi was feeling more and more confident. Not like he hadn’t been from the start; if there was something reliable, those were his tiger powers.

“Now it’s Ranpo-san.” Very few remained, and maybe he could end up with a total amount of zero mistakes even. “Poe-san and Oguri-san are coming too.” It would have made sense, since every time those two tagged along it was with and because of Ranpo. Except when the door opened, it was Ranpo alone.

“What’s up?”

“I thought you weren’t coming alone.” Atsushi said, shrugging. “Guess I got mistaken.”

And while he was on his way to start accepting defeat, Yosano started giggling, and it was just a matter of barely a full minute till giggles turned into straight up roaring laughter.

“Yes and no, Atsushi-kun.” Her words caused Ranpo to laugh as well, and both Dazai and Naomi followed shortly after. It didn’t take more for Atsushi to understand the implications, and it definitely was showing all over his face because…

“It’s like that, but also we weren’t doing what you think. Now.” Ranpo commented.“Ah, I didn’t–” Yes, that had been the first thing coming to his mind. But who could blame him, with no further context? “Congrats, by the way.”

(Also on ao3.)

#mushiranpoe #perfect crime trio #nakajima atsushi #armed detective agency #bsd atsushi #bsd ada #bsd #bungou stray dogs #my stuff #clau stuff #ficlet #i was torn between saying which ship it was or keep the surprise #and decided to say it and “clickbait” with how it happens #it's not a full reveal bcs some do know already (like yosano)

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sophosthewisebunny · 3 months

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Stuck on campus for another hour and my headphones are dead so have an Umineko thought dump

I continue to be thinking Very Hard about where the gold came from. Hearing that Kinzo got rich by being ahead of the game during the war gave birth to my Italian Spy Beatrice theory but now I am thinking. The implication that at one point Kinzo chose “everyone else” as a sacrifice for the sake of him and Beatrice… what did he do to get that money???

Haha. Isn’t it so funny how Shannon and Kanon were conspicuously absent when Kinzo died. Haha. What could it mean.

Sad Catatonic Beato is the worst thing to ever happen to me. My darling my dearest my girl. I miss you. Ronove and Virgilia miss you. BATTLER MISSES YOU. Don’t give up babygirl 🥺 come back to us we love you 🥺

So anyway. In Ange’s future the Rokkenjima incident is constantly referred to as an “accident” and zero explanation is given as to what the accident was which makes me think that it’s purposefully hidden so the player can’t figure out a missing piece of the puzzle. I don’t know what said accident is but could it perhaps be the solution to Beato’s final riddle? (“You are alone on the island…)

I am watching everything Shannon and Kanon say and do with a fucking magnifying glass. I’m restraining myself from rewatching the first few chapters of episode 2 because I think it will Tell Me Things.

I don’t think I said the words “I think the magic is all rooted in the maladaptive daydreams of two young girls” but. I think the magic is all rooted in the maladaptive daydreams of two young girls. Beato and Maria closing themselves off in the golden land where they have just their fantasies and no real people can ever hurt them again near the end of episode 4 really cemented this one for me.

Ange is so important to me and I hope we still get lots of Ange content even though piece!Ange is gone. She’s my second favorite after Beato. She means the world to me.

Have I mentioned lately that I was right about Kinzo being dead and have been since the first scene of the game

#lyta liveblogs umineko #umineko #lyta liveblogs #on early episode 5 #but these are some cumulative thoughts #well. really mostly episode 4 thoughts

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giggly-squiggily · 10 months

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Hiya, Squiggles! Howzit going? It's me! Two-parter anon😌. I've been summoned by the mention of a game! Building on my hc from the previous hc to drabble game that Kunikida deals with Dazai by tickling along his spine. My hc this time is that Dazai has grown deathly afraid of Kunikida because of his notebook. Kuni has zero shame in materializing tickle tools when the two are in private. And yes, in theory, if he touches Kunikida, the ability doesn't work, but if Kunikida manages to materialize a tickle tool before Dazai can get to him, he's dead, gone, six-feet under😂.

kjakekjarkjekjrjke Two-parter anon! It's great to hear from you again! :D And YESH! This is freaking adorable and I'm so pumped to write it! I've gotcha covered :D

“Oh no, no no no! Put that thing away right now!” Dazai's once smug grin was now doused in nerves as he backed up against the office couch, eyes trained on the notebook Kunikida pulled out. “You don’t have to do this!”

“Don’t have to, no. Want to? Absolutely.” Kunikida flicked it open, writing along the page with easy flourish. “Don’t bother lying to me, Dazai. You clearly want this too.”

“W-What? What are you even saying? Of course I don’t want that!” Dazai had reached the end of the couch, cheeks reddening at the implication. “Can we talk about this over drinks? My treat!”

“I like this better.” Kunikida’s page glowed as it shifted. Seconds later he was holding what looked to be one of those grabber claws short people used to get things off high places. He’d have to get Chuuya one. “Now, where should I start?”

“Noohohohoho! Don’t plehhahahase!” Dazai raised his hands up, giggles bursting through his lips. “Kuhuhuni I’m shahha-AHHAHhahhhhahrry!” Almost immediately the claw was upon him, pinching and prodding at his ribs. Normally this device wouldn’t have such dexterity, but Kunikida had modified it so all the fingers wiggled like a regular hand. “Dhohohoohoohn’t tohoohohuch me wihiihihhith thahhahat thihihiihng!”

“Starting to regret messing with me today? Shame it always has to come down to this.” Kunikida angled the tool so it wiggled beneath his arm, making Dazai arch and cackle. “If you simply listened when I told you to stop originally, we wouldn’t be here right now.”

“PFFT- NAHHAHAHAHHAHA!” Dazai flailed, trying in vain to shove the tickly contraption out of his armpit. He twisted onto his side, curling up the best he could. His armpit was now protected!

And then the claw went for his neck. Lovely.

“Let this be a lesson for you, Dazai.” Kunikida puffed some as Dazai howled in mirth. “If you choose to mess with the Doppo Poet, he’ll wreck you with his words.”

Send me a headcanon and I'll write a dabble for it!

#headcanons to dabbes #tickle #tickle dabble #bsd #kunikida doppo #dazai osamu #tickles for Dazai lols #I need one of those claws #shortpeoplelife akjerkjaerkjaejkr

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hadesknockedupintheunderworld · 4 months

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Okay, so I went looking for the Sonic 2 game manual last night for...reasons, and I decided I needed to share this page

So as I've said before, it's not as if I've consumed even half of the Sonic media out there. So my idea of the origins of Sonic and Tails I gathered through a tiny bit of Osmosis, tidbits from different tv shows (namely Sonic's depiction of how he met Tails in Sonic prime), and different origin stories via tv shows and comics. This is all to say that I was more than a bit uneducated, so I was under the impression for a while that Sonic saves Tails from the bullies who pick on him, and then he decides to take him with him (and so begins Sonic 2)

But given what a friend of mine described as implications that Sonic 1 (the game) is not the first time Sonic and Eggman have fought in addition to this page, my friend pointed out that this page from the manual may imply that Sonic and Tails were crafted originally as childhood friends. And that both blew my mind (!) and caused a couple puzzle pieces to click into place in my brain.

Despite Sega getting rid of the canon character ages, we at least know from the past that Sega/Sonic Team has had no problem depicting younger (and often very young) characters as fighters in battles against Robotnik or other villains (and this isn't even to mention this in various comic or tv show continuities). Back then (at least with just this game manual as context), there is not only a non zero chance that Sonic has been fending off danger (and potentially even Robotnik) since he was very young, but also the implication that he and Tails have known each other the longest. Since there are no ages mentioned at this point (for the record, I have no access to magazines or reporting on the game at the time of release, so you can take this with a grain of salt), to me it's possible to interpret Sonic and Tails originally being only a couple to a few years apart in age. To me it's possible to interpret their backstory as this:

Before Sonic would fight Robotnik and come to be known as a hero, he'd fight off these bullies picking on this little fox kit. The fox kit himself, known to the animals as "Tails" came to regard the hedgehog as his hero, so he came to follow Sonic around and try to catch up with him. Eventually, Sonic would officially begin to travel with Tails and look out for him, but he had a tendency to leave Tails behind when going on adventures focused on fighting off villains such as Robotnik, who would threaten the natural land and its inhabitants. But the young fox, determined to be like his hero (the young hedgehog) and to not be left behind (both when it came to fighting and because Sonic tended to get a laugh out of speeding ahead while Tails struggled to catch up), would practice flying until he could keep up and learn how to fight (partly by trying to use his Tails to his advantage, and partly by watching Sonic).

And to me, this sets up an interesting dynamic with them. Sonic is a bit of a jerk, but he ultimately cares about Tails' well-being. Tails deals with his hero acting like a bit of a jerk and leaving him behind by trying so hard to be able to join/catch up with him (and later be able to stand on his own too). This also sets them up as younger, likely orphaned, children who travel together and take care of each other. With all of this in mind too, it also makes more sense to me as to why the original Sonic Movie (currently known as "the ova") depicted Sonic and Tails having their own personal home base they live at together.

And this is more of a side thing, but after reading that excerpt from the manual my friend and I just couldn't help but think about Sora and Riku (Kingdom Hearts). While I have for a while found my brain drawing many lines/parallels between these pairs (although compiling all of these would be an essay for another time), this excerpt sort of set it in stone for me. I'll explain under the cut.

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So, in case you're not a Kingdom Hearts fan or entrenched in the part of Soriku fandom doing deep dive analysis and theory making and making fan translations, I'll set up Sora and Riku for a moment.

Sora and Riku are two young boys who live on Destiny Islands. They've known each other since they were very young, and, although they had other friends, the two have always considered each other best friends. They also often went out to a small island (dubbed "the play island") to play together, where they had a "secret place" to play. This "secret place" was a place where the two played together and was to be a secret between only the two of them. The two would play and dream of adventure, and Riku would dream of leaving the islands one day. At the young age of 5, he was given proof of the existence of other worlds in the form of Terra (a stranger from another world—a keyblade wielder) who would ask him why he wants to see "the outside world".

"To protect the things that matter" is a desire that lasts even until Kingdom Hearts 3 (11 years later), and (as fan translators have found out) takes a progression over time in the original Japanese from "the precious things" to "the precious people" to "precious person" (or person I cherish). The "person I cherish" in question, is highly implied to be Sora. I don't have the space to throw evidence here unfortunately, but there is a good amount (I'd suggest checking blogs such as @/blowingoffsteam2 and looking into the necklace theory and the sleeping realms theory as a start, as these will lead you to other blogs. Or you can dm me I suppose. I have a store of screenshots and kh media to draw from, just know...it's a lot).

Anyhow, with all that in mind, I also offer up an excerpt of Riku's story from the KH character files (this is a fan translation of the Japanese version), which serves to tell us a bit about Riku, he and Sora's relationship, and his perpective of the Dark Margin scene from KH2.

Translation by keijithekit on twitter

After all, when you're a child, a year is a big age difference, so I played the older brother and took Sora around with me everywhere. When did that change?

Other fan translators have also interpreted the original japanese as saying that Riku not only played the "older brother" role, but tried (perhaps not very well) to play this role. This is a short story that gives implications of feelings (and even the roles you take in another's life) changing over time. This is to say that Riku had once tried to play older brother to Sora, protect him and play with him, but over time things...changed.

Sora and Riku, as young children and all the way through to KH2, were best friends and friendly rivals. The two would often race, spar, and start up contests, with Riku winning the most. This is an important part of their relationship—as friends who drive each other to become better through competition. As Sora would fight to catch up to Riku, to beat him just once (which would also start him down a path of proving he doesn't need to fully rely on Riku anymore), Riku would fight back, get stronger and run faster so he could still be better.

Riku in KH1 (like classic Sonic as implied by the earlier excerpt from the Sonic 2 manual) is a bit of a jerk, and he often enjoys proving that he's "better" than Sora (faster and stronger). Sonic values the idea of freedom, and Riku too wants to be free, wants to explore the outside world. And Tails is a bit like Sora, who tries until he can catch up to Riku, until he can beat him just once. When Riku tells Sora in kh1 that he can go home and he (Riku) can handle everything else, Sora proves that he has the fighting prowess to stand on his own feet now and doesn't need to leave it all to Riku. Of course, Tails is a bit like Riku too. He doesn't just want to be able to catch up to Sonic, to stand on his own two feet, he wants the kind of strength Sonic seems to have (to be able to fight on his own, and to be able to protect what he cares about). And likewise, while Sora isn't initially as driven to leave their home as Riku is (as he both wants to see the outside world with him and likes his home), he also comes to value the idea of freedom, of living your own life.

And this is all to say that the parallels aren't one to one for me (especially as I believe Sonic and Tails can each parallel both Sora and Riku), but I see them regardless.

Let's return back to the Sonic 2 manual and that excerpt from Riku's story in the character files and compare the the two possible interpretations of these different backstories.

"Two childhood best friends grew up together. The older one often took care of the younger one, and the elder would try to play the older brother role to the younger as they took the younger everywhere with them. Likewise, the younger idolized the older one. The two would often compete, which would drive each of them to become better as the older would try to stay on top and the younger would keep trying to catch up and win even once. One of them desires strength to protect the things that matter (such as their best friend). The other desires to be as strong and fast as the other, fighting to be able to rival them competitively. While the older would spend time protecting the other, the younger one day is able to prove that they can stand on their own, no longer needing the older as they once did, not allowing the older to make them stay behind."

"Once, a very young kid was saved by one just older. The younger started to idolize and admire the other as their hero and began to follow the older around. Eventually, the older would begin to take care of the younger, but the older would often show off their own speed and strength and leave the younger behind. The younger, determined to be able to catch up, to be able to stand with the older, flies and trains until they can (and desires too to be able to stand alone, to have the kind of strength the older possesses, to not need the older). As the two grow older, the younger eventually is able to catch up with and fight beside the older (and too develops their own ways to fight). The two, from this point forward stick beside each other as much as they can (to the point that if they aren't adventuring together, they are often in contact)."

ㅤ

Okay, I've kept you all here long enough. I mostly was hoping I could shed a bit of light as to why this excerpt from the Sonic 2 manual reminds me so much of Soriku. Food for thought, right?

#Sontails #Soriku #Sonic the Hedgehog 2 #sonic the hedgehog #tails the fox #miles tails prower #Kingdom Hearts #parallels #essay time #i just be ramblin #The 'reasons' in this case were mostly me wondering why Sontails isn't that big of a ship (especially considering people's tendencies to #ship the two male best friend characters who fight together and especially because Tails was Sonic's first friend to be introduced)#and why the fandom has been so set on the 'they must and always will be practically blood related siblings or you're wrong' interpretation #So I looked up the Sonic 2 game manual to see if it would shed some light on what I was wondering #And what I found just gave my friend and I brainrot #(also consider that a piece of media or it's creator labeling two unrelated main characters as sibling like has never stopped people from #shipping them anyways or interpreting it as a coverup for queerness or as writers queercoding in a way that circumvents censorship)#If you liked this post at all you can thank my friend #1. For starting this discussion after I showed them the excerpt from the game manual #and 2. for saying 'oh yeah you could post about that conversation we had if you want'#Also side thing that didn't really fit in the post. If Tails was saved by Sonic and became a hero to him before Tails decided to follow him #around‚ does that not parallel Amy's story of being saved by Sonic‚ who would become her hero‚ and following him around after that?#More food for thought. Even the Archie Sonic depiction of Sonic CD (issue 25 of mainline) had Sonic racing Metal Sonic to save both Tails #and Amy‚ who both touted the 'my hero' line and were glad Sonic would come to save them #In terms of the interpretation I drew using only what I know from Sonic Prime and that game manual for context‚ I actually quite like the #idea that Sonic and Tails grew up together‚ with Tails having quite a bit of admiration and an unrealized puppy crush‚ and with Sonic #initially trying to play the role of older brother. And I like the idea that when they get older that relationship evolves until the nature #of it is unclear‚ where the only certainty they have is that they aren't like blood related siblings and that they just want to be together #forever (you know a 'is this platonic or romantic or what? who knows' kind of deal.)#unbreakable bond

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aquaburst3 · 5 months

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By popular request...or an anon commenting me last night about enjoying me creating posts about the flaws in TWST and wanting me to talk about the worldbuilding aspect specifically along with me having some free time between jobs, here it is!

Disclaimer: Keep in mind this is all personal opinion. If you enjoy the worldbuilding in the game and find zero problems with it, great! I don't care. You are entitled to your opinion and I am entitled to mine.

Where do I even begin? The shorter question would be, "What isn't wrong with it?" xD But seriously, oh, boy—there's a lot. Hell, this is pretty much my go-to example how NOT to write an urban fantasy world.

The closest thing I can compare the world of TWST to is the movie Bright—and that's NOT a good thing. For those of you who never had the misfortune of watching that late 2010s trainwreck, it's about a cop played by Will Smith teaming up with an orc to retrieve a magic wand. Sounds cool, right? However, like with TWST, the worldbuilding is something to be desired. It's an alternate universe where two thousand years ago there was a big war between The Nine Races where the orcs supported the Dark Lord, but an orc defected and lead an army that defeated him. Despite everything, it's pretty much exactly like real life with a few added fantasy elements. It even brings up real world pop culture references, containing such cringey and problematic lines like, "Fairy lives don't matter" after the Will Smith cop squishes a pixie that's on par with a raccoon in that world.

The worldbuilding in TWST feels like that. It's exactly like real life but with a few Disney and fantasy elements slapped on top, like magnets on a fridge. There is hardly any deviation from real life. Things like planes, cell phones, methods of measuring, days of the week, etc all exist just as they do irl. When you stop and think about it, half of these things shouldn't exist and the other should be a little different.

Yana also never thinks of the implications all of this alternate history. Magic always existing and the Greek gods being real should have a huge ripple effect, creating a completely different history compared to real life, but yet it doesn't. Hell, the whole idea of knowing that the Greek gods are real alone would massively change world history, since they would be a proven concept, snuffing out every other religion in existence! The world should be more massively different than ours with Disney sprinkled on top. There's no imagination about how a world like this would work. To quote Lindsey Ellis, "You cannot import elements from our real world without including all of the history that comes with them. You can, but it's lazy, and it sucks." xD Sure, you can write a fantasy world with cars and stuff, but the histories and the ways those exist in those worlds cannot be the exact same. There must be some divergence for it to make sense.

None of the new worldbuilding elements sense or feels woven in. It feels like Yana tossing out whatever idea she comes up up with at the wall and seeing what sticks. A lot of it starts to fall a part or even contradicts itself.

Take the whole Stitch or Tsums events. The existence both of these imply that aliens exist. That brings up a lot of questions like...

What is this world's policy for alien life?

Are aliens well known entities for this world?

What are other's reaction to this?

How did his story play out in this world if that's the case?

Everyone in this world has a Disney counterpart, right? If that's the case, wouldn't that mean there's some TWST version of Stitch running around Night Raven?

Is any of this ever addressed? Nope. That's stupid. World shattering shit like that should be addressed. While I know these are probably more than likely corporate mandates, especially since Tmus are a Japanese Disney product while Stitch is super popular in Japan, she could've added a disclaimer saying that it's a crack au that has nothing to do with the canon. The fact that these are both canon is mind boggling.

Plus, both of these events create a giant plot hole. If aliens are known to exist in this world, then why the fuck can't Yuu go home? If aliens exist, wouldn't there be portals and other ways for them to go home? It just makes Yuu and the rest of the cast look like total dumbasses for never thinking of this!

It goes beyond stupid events, but happens in general. The game routinely brings up similar elements without thinking of their implications on the game as a whole. Take the whole existence of STYKs. It was never once brought up or foreshadowed in the game, but brings about a lot of questions that are hardly explored. Like if this has existed for hundreds of years, how the fuck hasn't anyone heard of it? If STYKS is attached has a branch which is like our world's, someone should've blew the whistle eons ago. Surely, someone as smart as Idia or another mage should've been able to hack them and expose that to the public. Right? Wouldn't there be more of a public outcry for stealing people away, including royalty? Wouldn't there be government oversight about this? None of these questions are never addressed. Yet that element is slapped in without a second thought. Same also goes for all of the new lore in regards to Lilia's past, those pointless prophet dreams or how Playful Land works.

The magic system and how overblot works also fall apart the more you think about it. According to the light novel, only one out of ten humans is a mage. The percentage goes up in other races, but it remains about the same. But that makes no sense. TWST isn't like the HP universe where mages are isolated from the outside world, they are a part of society. Wouldn't it be the DOMINANT gene after over centuries of mages fucking mortals? I think it being more like the ATLA or BNHA universe where mages are the majority would make a lot more sense. That's what I did in my fic. Hell, it would make the world more unique, because usually fantasy stories have it where mages are a minority.

How overblotting works is never fully explained. All that we know, despite being on the seventh fucking story arc, is that whenever a mage uses Okay, sure. But there are times where that isn't the case. Characters who hard use up any magic like Leona and Vil overblot. Even if you argue that they were emotional during those bits or something, wouldn't the other part play a bigger role, since they used up so little magic in those cases? How in the fuck is that unknown concept to the general public? Wouldn't that be common knowledge? Diseases like Alzheimer's aren't something that everyone experiences, but this existence of those things are still common knowledge. Hell, why is it extremely rare in the first place? Wouldn't it be more commonplace? I feel like having it be a biological consequence of a mage using up too much magic and it being a well known down side to the world like how it is in my writing makes a lot more sense and is much simpler.

The lore around the fae also make zero sense. Common elements in fae lore like never thanking them or accepting gifts from them for you owe them a favour to cream and honey making them drunk are never brought up or mentioned. These are not random tropes brought up in shit like Baldur's Gate 3, but ingrained shit to the fantasy genre. You can't strip them out, because it is what makes the fae, fae. Hardly any types of fae from folklore are ever brought up outside of dragons and Tinkerbell style pixies. Characters like Vil who act very fae like are completely human. To be honest, I genuinely get the sense that Yana has done no research into this topic at all, because that's how out of touch they seem compared to how they are in folklore and other fantasy series. But if that is actually the case, then she should've looked into it more or consulted another writer who knows a lot about it.

Plus, the whole idea behind Briar Valley also makes no sense. They are completely isolated from the rest of the world...because…well, nothing, besides possibly vague hatred of tech. That's dumb. Countries don’t isolate themselves for no reason. There is always some sort of explanation for them to do that, whether it's manufactured for political gain like Panem or out of protection like Wakanda. Seriously, am I the only one that thinks that Brier Valley is just the fantasy Amish? As for the Spinning Wheel Wars, that will be explored in more depth as the fics go on.

If you want to see a world similar to TWST done right, watch The Owl House. That series, too, has a modern fantasy world. Unlike TWST, it seems like a fantasy world with modern elements instead of the other way around. Despite having phone-like devices and manga, it feels like stepping into another world.

Either way, if you wondered why I came up with completely different worldbuilding for my fics—this is exactly why. The worldbuilding in this game is pure dogshit. I wanted to create something leaps and bounds better than the bullshit we got. The fact that me, an amuetur writer, gets complimented and praised for the worldbuilding in my fics and it being better then the game is truly sad. Yana is a seasoned professional with a published manga with dozens of volumes under her belt, she should be better at this than me, not the other way around! Same goes for @stormkitty97, because she helps me brainstorm ideas for my shit and uses it in her writing, too.

The biggest sin of all is that there are some genuinely really cool ideas in TWST. The idea of turning into a monster whenever you use up too much magic is terrifying. The story could've done so much more with that if it made more sense!

As much as I might get hate for saying this, Yana reminds me a lot of Stephanie Meyers in the sense that she can come up with cool concepts and ideas, but has no idea how to execute them properly. I would love to see a better professional writer tackle a concept similar to overblot, because it would be cool and scary in the right hands.

I think one big lesson that amuetur writers like myself can learn from the worldbuilding in TWST is that if you are a "Pantser", aka someone who writes on the fly, like Yana, great, all the more power to you. Hell, I confess that I'm more like Brandon Sanderson in the sense that I'm a mixture of both a "Pantser" and an "Architect" Writer, and I came up with some elements of my worldbuilding on my TWST fics as I was writing like the characters being able to teleport. But for fuck's sake, have a solid plan for your worldbuilding and stick with it. Because constantly throwing ideas at the wall beyond the outlining stage will eventually make these contradictions arise and make your world fall apart. Also, if you are building a modern fantasy world like TWST, always think through the implications each element bring. Adding in elements from our real world will always drag along all of the history tied with it. Having your modern fantasy world seem like TWST or Bright is the last thing you want.

#aqua rambles #twst critical #twst negative #twisted wonderland

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