Hi! I'm Juju (or Juju Starr more formally), 23 yo queer gorilla, and this is a multi-fandom blog, primarily focused on my writing! Rarepairs, crossovers, OCs, x reader — I do a little bit of everything. I write in English and sometimes Russian.
Minors and ageless blogs are allowed on my farm, but do not interact with posts marked with MDNI. I will be blocking you.
This is my Writing Manifesto which I recommend to read to gather an understanding of what I write mostly.
Requests are put on pause. You can send, but do not expect them to be done any time soon. When requesting, check the Manifesto above to make sure I'm the best person to write something for you.
AO3 link might be added later.
We grow bananas of following varieties:
Call of Duty x Baldur's Gate 3 masterlist
Call of Duty masterlist
Baldur's Gate 3 masterlist
Merlin (BBC) masterlist
Stranger Things masterlist
Miscellaneous masterlist
Also check out my Gorilla In The Snow masterlist for tips about Russian language and culture for your writing!
List of some tags you can use to navigate or block to avoid seeing something you're not interested in:
#banana leaves - every piece of my writing
#banana peels - my visual artworks
#juju's grumbles - my yapping/shitposts/thoughts
#juju sad - a portion of grumbles that might be upsetting
#juju's replies - ask replies
#not juju's - every reblog
#juju can read - reblogged text posts, fics and others
#juju can't read - reblogged visual posts, artworks and others
#x reader - tagging every x reader post
I also tag fandoms, ships and characters so you can sort by those too.
I hope you enjoy whatever bananas you pick on my farm!
Artwork for the @st-fromthegrave-minibang
Based on "Radio static" by @karlachismylife
It was an honor to work with Jj, he keeps inspiring me every day, without him I wouldn't gather might to work on anything for this beautiful fandom.
As I was finalizing this piece, I kept thinking about this video. Somehow this is exactly what I was thinking about, when drawing this: ugly messy female rage. Kali does many critically important things in Janes story. One of the being that she fights for the freedom to be furious, to be enraged. Sadly, her own creators grew too weak to handle her.
Thank you for showing me this beautiful character and for being so very sttentive and forgiving to me as I was discovering my own love for dear Kali.
Please, get furious, get wild, show your anger even if you think it might make you ugly. Let yourself be free.
The artwork (and the depiction of Kali in the pic) was inspired by traditional depictions of Kali Ma, the divine mother and a feared protector in Hinduism. The d brothers might have not realized what they did by giving Kali Prasad her name, but she will forever be the protector of the weak and a loving older sister.
Brought to you thanks to the amazing @st-fromthegrave-minibang, I present you a collaborative work with My Paris (@nrdmssgs). Please check out their artwork for the fic on ao3! Or here on tumblr!
Honestly even if the fic isn't the best, I enjoyed writing it, I ABSOLUTELY ADORED seeing the artwork nrd created for it, and I am so happy there's an event to honour our faves that were dealt dirtily by the canon! Who needs canon, am I right?
CW: ~6.5k words, T rated, Dad Benny AU, henderhop (Jane/Dustin), jonali (Kali/Jonathan), Bob/Joyce, with minor violence and horror elements, takes place in spring after season two
Summary: After Jane closed the big Gate, life seems to get back to normal: she and her sister live with their beloved grumpy dad Benny Hammond and spend time with their partners, Dustin and Jonathan. However, when one early spring night Kali returns home from a date, sleepy peace of their home gets disturbed by a horrific vision of Jane's mama being abducted into the Upside Down. It's up to them to rush to rescue her, not realizing this might be a trap and the danger is lurking somewhere else.
Link to full fic on AO3 here
Dividers credit @lobster-graphics
Gravel rustled under the tires as Jonathan pulled into the driveway. Kali glanced at the weak yellow porch light shining through the windshield and casting warm highlights inside the car — she heard Benny grumbling about the lightbulb needing replacement just a couple days ago, something about his girls needing a proper light to feel safer coming home at night. With a flicker of glossy reflections in her eyes, Kali turned to Jonathan and saw his mouth curl up into a bashful smile, mirroring hers. Safe. It was an easy feeling to get used to.
She tilted her head, studying Jonathan in the dim oil painting lighting; he tightened his grip on the steering wheel, seemingly out of words for the evening.
"Thanks for tonight," Kali's low voice sent visible shivers along his skin. She opened the door, letting still, cool spring night fill the interior, and stepped outside, rounding the car to lean onto the driver's open window. "See you tomorrow?"
Jonathan breathed out a quiet "yeah", leaning in for a soft press of lips. Kali brushed messy fringe off his forehead and took in his face — he was smiling and blinking sweetly, as if surfacing from a deep dive into a murky warm lake. With a chuckle and a wave, she straightened up and shoved her hands into the pockets of her long coat, hurrying to the porch and up the stairs. The gravel stayed silent: Jonathan was watching her come inside.
The door let out a muffled thud closing behind her. Shedding her coat off the shoulders, Kali tilted over to one side, peeking further down the hall: the lights in the living room were still on, quiet TV static polishing her brain like a raspy washcloth. With a quiet smile, she silently sneaked through the doorway and found just what she expected: curled up on the couch, there lay a small figure with a nest of curls on her head, tucked in the corner between a pillow and an armrest. Jane's face was smushed into the soft padding, her breathing seemingly slow and even, like that in a deep state of sleep.
She must've stayed up late watching another movie from Benny’s large collection; left unattended, the screen was now filled with flickering dots, taking up more space the longer Kali stared at them—swelling like a cloud of toxic spores, they seeped through the dusty glass of the screen with a hypnotically monotonous hiss, clinging to her skin like a synthetic film scented with electricity, narrowing her peripheral vision to nothingness. The static paralyzed every signal in her nerve endings, clogging her skin like itchy dust and preventing her from taking a full breath. The hands of the clock, rubbed with static electricity, stopped their circular patrol.
Kali shook her head, throwing off the suffocating blanket of noise, coming to her senses, and turned back to the couch. As she carefully slid her arms under Jane's relaxed body and braced herself, preparing to stand and carry her sister to their bedroom, her head suddenly rolled from one shoulder to the other.
Beneath the disheveled nest of curls that fell into her eyes, Jane's sleeping face was contorted with painful agony.
"Jane?" Kali froze, her dark brows furrowed, and involuntarily clenched her hands tighter, shaking Jane’s thin little body slightly. Her fingers began to tingle, as if tiny black specks of the interrupted signal had already settled on her skin and begun to eat away at her flesh. "Are you okay? Are you having a bad dream? I'm with you, sister, it's me, you're safe with me."
"Sister..." Jane's head fell back limply with a soft whisper. The static that kept spilling out of the TV while Kali wasn’t looking finally filled the room and swallowed it, muting both sisters.
Firefighters and Disability Rights UK coming in swinging for trans people. Not a combination I could have predicted in a billion years, but grateful all the same.
Write to your MPs to request they sign the Prayer Motion to get the guidance withdrawn.
Every single one of these politicians has a spine of steel; terfs own the media, the government, the courts, so these MPs will face a deluge of harassment and lawfare for standing behind trans people. It would be better for them personally, and their careers, for them to throw trans people under the bus like the rest of Labour.
Welcome back comrades! Get prepared for the second edition of NikPrice week ! Whether you are here to write, draw, create renders or simply to enjoy the content, we are all here to spread the love for our favorite duo once again !
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us here with asks or our twitter page.
☀️ Prompts ☀️
🍂 Instructions 🍂
❄️ FAQ ❄️
🌱 AO3 collection link: HERE 🌱
Happy creating!
Below the cut are text versions of the attached images
Prompt List
SFW
Day 1 - Under enemy fire
Day 2 - Road Trip
Day 3 - Snowed In
Day 4 - A well deserved break
Day 5 - Date Night
Day 6 - Alternate Universe
Day 7 - Meeting the Family
NSFW
Day 1 - Fully clothed / cockwarming
Day 2 - Scent Kink
Day 3 - Exhibitionism
Day 4 - Aftercare
Day 5 - Dry Humping
Day 6 - Roleplay
Day 7 - Anonymous / Secretive Sex
Instructions:
This year’s ship week has a theme! NikPriceWeek2026 revolves around Four Seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.
2. Participants will still follow the usual format of 7 SFW and 7 NSFW prompts with a total of 14 prompts of your choosing. You are free to choose either prompts or both, you can also combine prompts, go nuts!
3. Every entry must incorporate a seasonal theme in some way, however there are no strict requirements on how you use the seasons. You are completely free to structure your week however you like, for example:
All 7 days can be centered around Winter
7 prompts divided into 2 Summer, 3 Autumn and 2 Spring related prompts
Alternating seasons every day
4. The only requirement is that the chosen prompt reflects the atmosphere, symbolism, aesthetic or the feeling of a season.
5. Participants who manage to include all four seasons across their entries will receive a special commemorative art illustrated by our honorary artist!
6. You’re free to post your entries wherever you’d like. We’ll mainly be on Twitter and Tumblr to interact and reblog/retweet posts!
7. All content should be tagged accordingly (e.g., NSFW, sensitive topics like MCD/dubcon etc)
8. No plagiarism, No AI
9. Be respectful to all creators, no harassment or hate allowed
10. Posting period starts from 6/7/2025 to 12/7/2025
11. Late submission extended to 6/8/2025
FAQ
Can I include other characters and relationships in my work?
Absolutely. But the focus should be on Nikprice as they are the heart of the event, entry focused on another pairing as the primary will not be accepted.
Does it have to be "reboot" Nikprice?
OG/Vintage Nikprice is very welcome. How about vintage Price and reboot Nik, or vice versa? All the Niks and all the Prices, please and thank you.
Can I mix sfw and nsfw prompts?
Yes. NSFW prompts are only limited to 18+ accounts and just make sure your work is tagged appropriately
Eligibility for the commemorative art
To qualify for the special commemorative art, you only need at least one entry featuring each season (Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter). This means even participants who completed only 4 prompts total can still earn the art, as long as all four seasons are represented across their entries.
Honestly. I just don't wanna talk about the cod 4 trailer. Maybe I'm just in an extra bad mood today, but even the thought of opening this app and feeling obligated to discuss something made me so fucking upset.
For this set of prompts. Comrades, send me a heart and a pairing/character (then I'll choose pairing myself) from following fandoms: Call of Duty, Baldur's Gate 3, Stranger Things, BBC Merlin, Resident Evil, including crossovers. I'd like to collect all the hearts :)
CW: 1318 words, established SoapGaz, literally no plot only fluff, just the lads being tipsy and making out, brief allusions to sex (not happening), VERY brief and jokey piss drinking mention (not happening), hints at war-related trauma for Kyle.
Kyle finds him partially on accident, just passing through, when he notices the familiar tuft of fluffy hair peeking out above the sofa's armrest. Upon closer investigation his guess is confirmed: Soap is lying there flat on his back, heavy drunken breathing and head bent under an uncomfortable angle, scruffy cheek pressed into the cushions.
"Kyle?" It's as if Johnny notices his closeness with a sixth sense; bleary blue eyes crack open unevenly and Soap cracks his spine in a couple of places just to scoot up a little and put his head on the armrest fully to be able to look at Gaz upside down. He's smiling; Kyle can't help but let his face crack into an amused smile in response, propping himself on one arm against the couch's backrest and leaning over Johnny.
It's nice when someone's so happy to see you that their entire face changes shape and goes crinkly with crow's feet and happy nose scrunches. It's even nicer when it's someone who does the same to your face.
"Ah missed ye," Soap slurs his words, but the sincerity is obvious. His large, clumsy paw comes up, accidentally smacking Kyle in the face at first instead of gently cupping his cheek - this upside down shite must be hard for a drunken sergeant; then Johnny's large fingers slip and get caught in the chain hanging loosely off Kyle's neck.
For a moment Gaz tenses up instinctively, glancing at the dangling trap, but the illusion just as quickly dissipates into the stuffy air of someone's living room. Soap's hand isn't clutching his dogtags - it's just a neat silver chain. War is far, far away from them here; there's party noises sneaking into the dim living room of someone's house, laughter and chatter of voices that have never had to yell for retreat over the comms.
There's Johnny, tugging him down by the chain insistently and pressing a hot kiss to his lips. Kyle finds purchase with his left hand on the other side of Soap's body on the couch, caging him in. His nose smushes against the jagged scar on Johnny's chin; he can feel Soap's mouth open wide in a sloppy, heady kiss that's hard to resist and not match in the greediness. Johnny's tongue tastes of whiskey and coconut rum.
Before Kyle can catch himself, Johnny licks a stripe down - or up, directions are all confusing in this particular configuration - his chin and to his neck, catching warm, salty skin between his wet lips and suckling with suprising gentleness. It still goes straight to Kyle's crotch - he isn't exactly sober himself and he loves Soap's mouth very, very much. Part of him wants to crawl on top of Johnny as they are and feel that slick, hot tongue glide down his chest and stomach, directly into a sloppy sixty-nine on their friends' couch with everyone just two rooms away.
Before that thought can travel through his pores into Johnny's system - because then it will be really damn hard to stop from execution - Gaz starts pulling away and gets caught by his nape with a sweaty Scottish paw.
"Soap," his own voice sounds like it's tinted with amber alcohol and velvet red want. He has to find balance and move one hand to grab Johnny's wrist - pulse thrumming for him - and pull it away gently. "I gotta take a wee, man."
"Mah mouth's right here."
Kyle groans, turning away with his nose scrunched in disgust and almost falling to his knees in exhasperation, but his snickers betray him and match Soap's giggles.
"Arsehole," Gaz lovingly shoves Johnny's face into the couch. "Ya kiss your mum with that mouth."
"Ah kiss yers, too," Soap grins and lets out a deflated "oof" as the next blow lands into the centre of his broad chest - his reflexes too slowed down to protect him from Kyle's gentle fists.
Kyle only punches him in passing; he really needs to take that leak and then he's planning to come back to this mohawked disaster he loves so much - but he gets stopped and yanked back once again, failing to retreat his hand quickly enough from where Soap can still grab it.
"Dinnae take long, aye?"
Johnny's voice falls several pitches with the sudden surge of desperation. He's a clingy drunk; and, as Kyle looks at him in the strip of light coming through the open door, his eyes look like they're about to fill with tears at the mere thought that Gaz won't come back as quickly as possible. It's an infections need, a disease that hits Kyle in the solar plexus and immediately spreads the virus through his system, making his heart and lungs clench.
He feels the same need to let Johnny shove his hands under his skin, through the dense layer of muscles, straight into the soft mush of internal organs and grippy bones - closer than it's humanly possible.
"I won't," manages Kyle hoarsely and stumbles out of the living room, wincing at the light, to find his way to the bathroom. At least some pressure that threatened to combust him there on the spot is relieved when an ungodly amount of liquid leaves his body; taking a few precious seconds to shove his head under cold water - the heatwave is deadly - and let it soak him all the way under his collar, Kyle finally makes his way back.
While he was absent, Soap managed to turn over onto his side and is now laying with this chin propped on his own meaty shoulder, eyes glistening wetly and full of beastly, carnial longing. Kyle sees helicopter blades and fountains of dirt bursting up from bullets hitting ground reflected in those crystal blue irises - and, almost on impulse, surges forward to cover Johnny from the impact.
The only impact is his knee hitting the sofa; Soap perks up and huffs, shifting and reaching his hands to help Kyle settle on a couch that's clearly too small to fit two well-fed sergeants. Johnny is a furnace; it's almost unbearable with the current temperature, but neither of them even tries to create any space, only intertwining their legs more. Soap's coarse leg hair scratches Kyle's skin as Johnny shimmies his leg further between his; they bump foreheads, something - might be a crushed TV remote - pokes Gaz in his ribs before sinking into the couch abyss and disappearing forever.
Finally, they're as close as possible, glued to each other's sweaty skin and breathing the boozy breath out of each other's mouths. Soap's heavy, hot arm pins Kyle down with its weight draped over his waist, Kyle's hand is fisted greedily into Soap's sweat-soaked tee.
There's a beat of silence between them, only heavy breathing and the party murmur daring to interrupt. Kyle's eyes shift and scan all over Johnny's face, drinking it in and seeing the same frantic gaze in return.
They kiss way too slowly for those kinds of eyes, but they don't rush; it's a heavy, deep kiss that immediately drives their hands to move, grope, squeeze and go back to holding each other's faces like they're bowls of refreshing water offered in the desert heat and they just can't stop drinking. Johnny pushes Kyle onto his back, traces the silver chain again, brushing against the shaved hair on the very back of Kyle's head; Kyle drags his fingers through the sweaty mohawk, tugging gently and pulling Soap's weight tighter onto himself.
Neither of them is hard. If anything, they turn into liquid, desperate to merge and soak each other up; their kisses smear drool over their mouths, sweat stuck on their upper lips getting dragged into the mix.
Someone enters the room and immediately backtracks with a gasp followed by a burst of giggles back where the main party is happening. Johnny and Kyle don't give a fuck; their leave is too short to spend time not making out.
While I'm on a zenace thought dump, may I also have your attention for this scene
Because there's clearly a seat to the right so Zeno COULD sit further from Grace and CHOSE NOT TO
Also my dearest wife noticed that despite sitting as close to her as possible (fuckin' simp), he's leaning away to give her a little more space T_T He's trying so hard, I can't with this guy. Grace, what have you done to this man...
Luis Serra is a known flirt, sure, and he never misses an opportunity to make his man flustered till Leon's ears are completely red; but no one ever believes him that it's actually Leon who's constantly all over Luis.
Leon's there hugging Luis from behind and nuzzling him like a big dog. Leon's there sticking his tongue into Luis's mouth at every opportunity. Leon's there grabbing Luis around his middle and dragging back to bed when he attempts to escape and catch a breather.
Leon tells everyone Luis is a horny catastrophe and everyone believes that Dr Bare Titties drains Leon every night. When in reality it's Leon and his superhuman stamina and drive threatening poor Luis.
Leon found someone who is ready to accept all that pent up love, sometimes overwhelming and overbearing, compulsive and inconsistent at times when he withdraws and drowns in the darkness; someone who loves him back just as fiercely and makes him feel safe and at home. And he absolutely, one hundred percent, indisputably translates that into fucking the soul out of Luis as much as he can and being unapologetically horny for his husband. All Luis can do at this point is accept his fate, honestly.
And obviously it continues well into their 50s. Old man Leon might be even worse than young Leon, because he gave up on masking his overly affectionate self even a little bit. If they're out with friends and he wants his husband, he's pulling Luis into his lap mid-coversation.
Luis learnt Leon got the Elpis treatment and immediately realized he's in for it the very same night Leon comes back home.
Sometimes the day starts so shitty that all you've got left to do is think about Jill and Leon fighting over Claire's attention in the most insufferable, obvious and pathetic lesbian way. Trying to one-up each other at the shooting range, arm restling, tripping over their feet to offer her a jacket first as soon as the temperature drops 0.2 degrees (she literally has her own on). Showing up with ridiculous flowers at any occasion (or without one). Getting a little too into their friendly sparring if they notice Claire is watching them. Hearing her mention a researcher whose works she's interested in and hunting down any available publications for her. Making sure her bike is in top notch condition before any problems even start t arise.
Neither of them is able to avoid saying stupid bullshit when they attempt to ask her out properly. They both are Chris approved. Claire is endlessly entertained.
It's a throuple, obviously. These two idiots are into each other just as much. After Claire takes pity on them, they develop clinginess-2000 and call her while she's away with TerraSave from their bed, pouting and asking when she'll be back.
thank u !! i actually have a lot of songs about them like : wonderwall by oasis + your call by secondhand serenade + every breath you take by the police + la da dee by cody simpson + i wanna be yours by arctic monkeys + time after time by cyndi lauper. Sorry its to long lol
This is actually SUCH a nice zenace playlist, I genuinely am in awe at how you people just... gather songs so perfectly. Because yeah! He's a yearner! He only feels like he's where he's supposed to be by her side! She's constantly on his mind and he doesn't even know what that means!
I pulled some lyrics from these songs that feel like the most zenace to me, all credit to you though, I absolutely adore this list!!
Wonderwall - Oasis
I mean, this one here says it all:
Because maybe
You're gonna be the one that saves me
But also this whole thing is probably Zeno later down the road as he realizes he's actually in love, especially if their relationship post-RE9 is defined by him beind some kind of prisoner/asset and Grace having the "reigns" over him, and maybe he feels like their time together is coming to an end, because her investigation is ending or something, idk, that's a whole fanfic premise there already (I bet someone already wrote it):
And all the roads we have to walk are winding
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding
There are many things that I would like to say to you
But I don't know how
Your Call - Secondhand Serenade
Honestly this one punched me in the gut, because there's something beautiful in Zeno thinking at first him and Grace are meant to be (not necessarily in a romantic sense in his mind at that point) because they were both "made" and ending up finding out she was not made & their love isn't predetermined & it all conflicts with what HE was made to do, you feel me? I'm talking about these ones:
I was born to tell you, "I love you"
And I am torn to do what I have to
And again, Zeno being allowed to start completely from scratch after he fails with Elpis and loses his powers and all he has is Grace and her love and a whole world in front of them:
Stripped and polished, I am new, I am fresh
I am feeling so ambitious, you and me, flesh to flesh
Every Breath You Take - The Police
I mean we've already talked about this one, but yeah, Zeno being absolutely normal and not scrolling through her photos in the reports, and then feeling these Scary Unfamiliar Feelings (lab tube baby's first crush):
I feel so cold, and I long for your embrace
La Da Dee - Cody Simpson
This one might hilariously have the most lyrics that are just SO perfect, like:
Every time you're not in my arms
I start to lose myself
^ Zeno after he carried Grace in his arms ONE time. Or this one, okay man, we all know you wear shades because behind them you have the eyes of the most pathetic wet puppy:
Someone please pass me my shades
Don't let 'em see me down
This one is core zenace to me, because Zeno can't help but feel like he belongs at Grace's side and is desperate to be the same for her:
Yet I'm feeling like
There is no better place than right by your side
And finally Zeno going through the city and thinking OMG THIS IS THE SPOT WHERE SHE TIED HER SHOES 6 YEARS AGO AND WE GOT A PICTURE AS HER HAIR FELL SO PRETTILY AROUND HER FACE- I mean uhh wow random street corner:
All these places packed with people
But your face is all I see
I Wanna Be Yours - Arctic Monkeys
I mean here it's basically the whole song being Zeno's inner monologue, especially with the slightly unhinged undertones of:
I wanna be your vacuum cleaner
Breathin' in your dust
My guy, you know you can just ask her out, right?
Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper
I feel like this is quite literally them, as in Grace asks Zeno to slow down with his long strides and he immediately corrects his walking:
Then you say, "go slow"
And I fall behind
And obviously the chorus as the concentrated Zeno yearning+watching Grace's every move in hopes to become "her" place in the world:
If you're lost you can look and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall I will catch you, I'll be waiting
Time after time
That was a blast! Thank you, I'll be definitely rotating these when I'll be writing my proper zenace pieces (there's a whole list of ideas+requests already, god I need more time in the day for this)
hey, OP, may i add one more song suggestion to zenace?
its from this tiktok i saw few months ago
shamless by camila cabello
at first, i was like, huh, good song choice
but since we are discussing songs for zenace, i feel like the tiktok OP song choice made even more sense to me...
extracts from the song-
So many mornings, I woke up confused
In my dreams, I do anything I want to you
My emotions are naked, they're taking me out of my mind
i feel like, over the years zeno stalked grace, he kinda developed erotic/ just plain domestic family life dreams of her and he's kinda confused but intrigue with the dreams...
these dreams of his may or may not be the direct cause for his yearning for grace...
Right now, I'm shameless
Screamin' my lungs out for ya
Not afraid to face it
I need you more than I want to
Need you more than I want to
when zeno bridal carried grace from rpd to ark, i feel like he holds onto her extra close to his chest, like a lover waiting for their partner to wake up cuz thats like the first and last time he might get close to her proximity without alarming her...
the only time he gets to enjoy the object of his desire and the only time he allows himself to be shameless with his love
I really like the idea of him having random dreams about a relationship with Grace, maybe they're super fragmented and unclear and confusing - OH DUDE!! What if he thinks that's just some memories passed down to him from Wesker (the whole plot revolves around clones potentially retaining memories of their originals!!!) that got conflated with his thorough research of Grace?? What if he feels extra wrong and broken and defective because he (as he thinks) can't retain the memories properly?? And then on top of it they're getting weird and explicit (not just in erotic but also just very vivid and, uh, what's the word... consecutive? like, they expand on this relationship he's imagining, all fragments of one big whole dream) with Grace?? Delicious
And you are SO correct about him holding her extra close (he did NOT have to do that, we see you, simp-1000) because he thinks it might be the only time... but I also think he didn't think anything at all, it was just an instinctive thing to do, because maybe he had imagined doing it so many times he lowkey forgot it was all just in his had. My guy has no purpose in life beyond very sad and unfulfilling work, I bet he's a maladaptive daydreamer and zones out in his office all day...
Then again, he was hoping so much Grace would actually listen to him, maybe he was like "she's gonna wake up in my arms and feel so safe with me :3 i'm gonna be her hero!" without taking into the account that he just told her she's the reason they tortured kids for decades and also nuked a whole city full of innocent people. Whoops.
I think another top tier zenace moment to me is "S-so what, I-I was made?" - "Correct."
Dude he looks SO whipped here. He SOUNDS whipped. He's like 🥺🥺🥺 we're the same isn't that cool?? don't you think it's cool?? 🥺Grace do you like me now that you know you're a clone???
His face literally says "oh my god she's gonna realize everything and fall into my arms finally!!! just watch!! i'm so ready for it!!"
He's staring at her like she's a flower about to bloom thanks to the water he poured on it
Like she's the fucking moon in the sky
That's not how you look at a useful tool aka a key to something you want, that's how you look at something you ACTUALLY want. Desperately, might I add. Almost like you've spent eight years yearning for something and you finally are about to have it.
I see some people poking at "plot holes" in RE9, but to me the only plot hole was that Zeno let Grace fall to the ground instead of catching her immediately and cradling her face as she passed out. But that would probably lead to him getting his head blown off by Leon immediately so I'll forgive that.
It's my second favourite zenace moment. First is his stupid little impotent push after Elpis release and third is him holding her in his arms.
CW: Graves x Ved'ma (female OC), a heavy-themed plotless drabble, episodes of war (it's about Russia's war on Ukraine), drone attacks, thoughts about nuclear war, allusions to Ved'ma's past and to Phillip's work. Basically a vent piece due to some recent events.
"I heard."
Ved'ma doesn't look up. In the poor lighting - she sat in one place for so long the sun set and she still didn't turn the lights on - her eyes clearly reflect the endless stream of news she's soaking up like an old porous sponge from the screen of her phone. White, white, white - long text posts; blue - pictures from another meaningless big political meeting; a splash of orange - a video of something burning.
She pauses on that one. Stares at it for some time, as if trying to make out what exactly is engulfed in flames on the screen. Phillip approaches carefully, leaning over her shoulder to look too.
He isn't surprised to not recognize the bulding a drone is crashing into with a loud orange explosion, erupting into black smoke. He can't read the caption either - it's in Russian.
"That's-"
"Not my house."
Ved'ma finally lifts her head - her neck cracks painfully - and straightens up with a wince. Graves reaches automatically, places a firm, calloused palm on her shoulder and begins squeezing and kneading completely wooden muscles to bring them back to life.
"No victims in this one," she says, and they both know - it just means there were in some other place. There always are victims. The whole world is full of them.
They both aren't, though.
Phillip thinks - if she was just a civilian, he would say: it won't last forever. He would say: it will end eventually. Maybe he would even say: they'll pay for it.
Ved'ma is a civilian only on a technicality - the one that made her knee painfully swell yesterday out of nowhere again and the other one that could cause her problems with papers if she wasn't dating Phillip motherfucking Graves. She won't buy "it will end soon" or "justice will prevail"; she won't even buy "it will end some day" and "they won't win".
Maybe she would fifteen years ago, when she was still Ellie with a burning heart and unbeatable idealism in those dark eyes - the one Graves helped snuff out with the very same hands that are stroking her warm skin and reintroducing bloodflow into her neck now. Maybe even Ellie wouldn't - only the little girl that was dreaming of marrying Tin Man and living in a country of blacksmiths with him.
But the wicked witch sitting in his living room is full of bitter battery acid. Her passion went rancid and bled black out of her eyes. She knows war is endless, she knows there is no justice in the world, she knows she has no power to make anyone pay.
"They will burn with all of us," Graves says instead, leaning in and pressing his face into her temple. His voice rumbles deep in his throat, like an engine of a death machine - he doesn't mean inferno or some divine punishment after death; he means literal fire, atomic bombs going off and taking the melting world apart. His eyes flutter closed when he feels Ved'ma's hand come up and hook over his neck, pulling him even closer.
They would make a fine couple of nuclear shadows together. A tad bit confusing, but very sincere.
"I want them to burn," Ved'ma's voice carries so much hatred it comes out audibly compressed out of her constricted chest. It ignites Graves: not because it turns him on - too scary for that; but because he effortlessly sees through it for what it really is: stubborn, undying, same as ten and twenty years ago love.
The girl never changed, Ellie never truly died - they're here, in his, no, their living room, living and breathing the same dream of a better world. They just got older. And - Graves smiles against her cheek uncontrollably - even more beautiful.
"I got a good contract today," he murmurs and, before Ved'ma can chew him out, adds, sliding an arm around her waist. "A special delivery. To someone you would approve."
He could be lying: there is no way for her to know if he's telling the truth. When she tilts her head back finally - neck mobile again - and looks at him directly, Phillip sees quiet, calm trust in her eyes.
The words "I love you" can't come out of her mouth: too inapproriate in the moment. Instead, Graves settles on taking a soft, thoughtful kiss.
He can't burn them all for her. But unlike most days, today he can light a little match.
thank u !! i actually have a lot of songs about them like : wonderwall by oasis + your call by secondhand serenade + every breath you take by the police + la da dee by cody simpson + i wanna be yours by arctic monkeys + time after time by cyndi lauper. Sorry its to long lol
This is actually SUCH a nice zenace playlist, I genuinely am in awe at how you people just... gather songs so perfectly. Because yeah! He's a yearner! He only feels like he's where he's supposed to be by her side! She's constantly on his mind and he doesn't even know what that means!
I pulled some lyrics from these songs that feel like the most zenace to me, all credit to you though, I absolutely adore this list!!
Wonderwall - Oasis
I mean, this one here says it all:
Because maybe
You're gonna be the one that saves me
But also this whole thing is probably Zeno later down the road as he realizes he's actually in love, especially if their relationship post-RE9 is defined by him beind some kind of prisoner/asset and Grace having the "reigns" over him, and maybe he feels like their time together is coming to an end, because her investigation is ending or something, idk, that's a whole fanfic premise there already (I bet someone already wrote it):
And all the roads we have to walk are winding
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding
There are many things that I would like to say to you
But I don't know how
Your Call - Secondhand Serenade
Honestly this one punched me in the gut, because there's something beautiful in Zeno thinking at first him and Grace are meant to be (not necessarily in a romantic sense in his mind at that point) because they were both "made" and ending up finding out she was not made & their love isn't predetermined & it all conflicts with what HE was made to do, you feel me? I'm talking about these ones:
I was born to tell you, "I love you"
And I am torn to do what I have to
And again, Zeno being allowed to start completely from scratch after he fails with Elpis and loses his powers and all he has is Grace and her love and a whole world in front of them:
Stripped and polished, I am new, I am fresh
I am feeling so ambitious, you and me, flesh to flesh
Every Breath You Take - The Police
I mean we've already talked about this one, but yeah, Zeno being absolutely normal and not scrolling through her photos in the reports, and then feeling these Scary Unfamiliar Feelings (lab tube baby's first crush):
I feel so cold, and I long for your embrace
La Da Dee - Cody Simpson
This one might hilariously have the most lyrics that are just SO perfect, like:
Every time you're not in my arms
I start to lose myself
^ Zeno after he carried Grace in his arms ONE time. Or this one, okay man, we all know you wear shades because behind them you have the eyes of the most pathetic wet puppy:
Someone please pass me my shades
Don't let 'em see me down
This one is core zenace to me, because Zeno can't help but feel like he belongs at Grace's side and is desperate to be the same for her:
Yet I'm feeling like
There is no better place than right by your side
And finally Zeno going through the city and thinking OMG THIS IS THE SPOT WHERE SHE TIED HER SHOES 6 YEARS AGO AND WE GOT A PICTURE AS HER HAIR FELL SO PRETTILY AROUND HER FACE- I mean uhh wow random street corner:
All these places packed with people
But your face is all I see
I Wanna Be Yours - Arctic Monkeys
I mean here it's basically the whole song being Zeno's inner monologue, especially with the slightly unhinged undertones of:
I wanna be your vacuum cleaner
Breathin' in your dust
My guy, you know you can just ask her out, right?
Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper
I feel like this is quite literally them, as in Grace asks Zeno to slow down with his long strides and he immediately corrects his walking:
Then you say, "go slow"
And I fall behind
And obviously the chorus as the concentrated Zeno yearning+watching Grace's every move in hopes to become "her" place in the world:
If you're lost you can look and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall I will catch you, I'll be waiting
Time after time
That was a blast! Thank you, I'll be definitely rotating these when I'll be writing my proper zenace pieces (there's a whole list of ideas+requests already, god I need more time in the day for this)
Nothing to see, just Craig answering the question "Who would Zeno want to recruit on his team - Leon, Ada, Jill or Chris" with "I would say Grace but she's not an option..."
he KNOWS Zeno's down bad for her and would take any opportunity to have her at his side...
(Starts around 25:22)
Also him describing what Zeno would have for a drink >< this guy (Zeno) is such an extra loser, what do you mean a purple drink with an umbrella in it... everyone can see how stupid the guy is...
