#(cause 16 sue would know that story & everything wrong with it)

[liroyalty]

And then we wonder why this one is hesitant towards being open towards others, especially romantically.

[fernrisulfr]

Unpopular FGO Opinion/Rant

The title is there to warn you ahead of time, so if you’re still reading, buckle up. I recently lost my significant other, and the person who shared this opinion with me, so I’ve decided to rant about it on Tumblr. Cause why not. I’m aware this isn’t a popular opinion, at least not based on who I follow, but here it is. MUSASHI IS TERRIBLE.  She’s bad. I hate her. I’ve felt every time she’s been in the story of FGO has made things worse/lowered the quality. It’s gotten to the point where the moment she arrives I go “Ugh. Musashi” and attempt to get through things that much faster so she’ll go away. She is overtly shilled. All I ever hear is “Oh she’s such a chaotic bisexual!” and “That’s my wife!” but here is the thing people. She is the waifuest of all waifu bait. Like this woman is practically to FORUMLA. But let’s get into details shall we? So first off her design. There’s a lot of problems here, but it mostly boils down to two points. Her colours and her eyes. We’ll start with the latter. Musashi’s eyes are dead and soulless. They’re pale and lifeless. It is a blank stare which contains nothing. These are dead eyes. Next we have the issue with the colours. Part of the problem here is the mixture of red and blue, which due to their contrast can be very difficult to pull off, particularly when using such vibrant shades. Replacing one with a shade of purple would have made for an easier transition; but this is only part of a larger problem. Her skin is pale, her hair is pale, her eyes are pale, and then she is wearing a mixture of vibrant blue and red. It clashes horribly. None of these colours go together from a design standpoint. Like can these colours go together? Totally! But not in these shades. Further adding to the problem is that with her eyes and hair being such faded, sort of pastel shades, her face sort of blends together, and it again causes the difference between the faded colours of her head and the vibrance of her clothes to be even more apparent. It would have worked better if they’d say given her vibrant eyes to give the outfit something to match with, or if they’re dressed her in more pastel/pale colours (though ones different enough from her hair to not simply make her appear monotone.).

Now we will address Musashi as a character. Again, she is VERY “quirky waifu” flavoured bait. Everyone constantly talks about how cool, pretty, and strong she is, and that’s just in the actual STORY. Servants have completely dropped character to praise her for some reason or another. She is the Mary-est of Sues. Let’s look at her flaws, which aren’t actually flaws because the story never actually addresses them. One is that she’s a big eater with a love for Udon. Having a large appetite is one of the biggest cliches among “waifu quirks” in anime. It’s massively overdone and very common. Than we have the fact that she is literally a Shotacon, which people tend to overlook. Both in the story and in general, despite that it’s deeply concerning. I’ve seen who completely loses their shit over Prism Illya and the Lolicons (and they’re not wrong), but they absolutely ADORE Musashi, despite the fact she goes around constantly to young men and talks about how they’d “be perfect if they were a little younger”. To offer the biggest and worst instance of this, was when in the much praised Shimosa, she said this to FUUMA KOTARU. Fuuma, who as is only looks to be about 16 to 18 years old physically, and he isn’t young enough for her! Musashi is a Shotacon, and this should be deeply more concerning to people in and out of universe than it is, but both in story and out of it people tend to just shrug it off and ignore it, where I will bet had she been male and doing this about girls they’d lose their shit over it. (And they would be right to.). Actually as we have Blackbeard, we can see very clearly that they would. (Blackbeard is awful, which is a shame because aspects of him had potential, but he’s a Lolicon so he’s firmly in the “Ugh. Go away, Blackbeard” category.). 

Finally we’ll talk about Musashi’s two biggest contributions to the story in the form of Shimousa & Lost Belt 1. Warning for spoilers of some sort ahead. So firstly we’ll address Shimosa. Everything in Shimosa involving Musashi was bad. I hated it. All the parts of it I enjoyed were the parts where she wasn’t there or not directly involved. Muramasa was good. Fuuma & His Robot Mom were interesting to watch, though it feels like there could have been more there. Aspects of the individual Swordmasters were interesting and would have been fun to explore. Here is the thing though. The story shills Musashi so fucking hard. From the moment she arrives, every NPC immediately praises her in some form. Oh she’s so beautiful, or strong, or blah blah blah. The story is less about the Master of Chaldea, and more about her. The forced support thing was also just awful. Like it’s awful normally to be honest, but losing the choice of a servant in those boss fights is just even worse. I realize that I’m boiling things down to a few things at a time, but if I gave the full rant, we’d be here all day, across multiple posts, and I’d have to research specific examples and go through all of Shimousa and Lostbelt 1 again. 

Speaking of Lost Belt 1. Didn’t like Musashi there either. I slowly “Ugh”-ed louder and louder the more I realized her arrival was incoming. Now to a degree I understand why she had to be there, unfortunately. Shimousa was a sort of Proto-Lostbelt, and the implication was she was from a Lostbelt that had already been pruned, these facts were in and of themselves interesting and relevant to the story, but it was also wrapped up in Musashi’s everything. Musashi is bad, I can’t express this enough. She is a Mary Sue. She shows up and she’s just “oh so perfect” and any “fault” she has really isn’t one, or get’s shoved aside and never addressed again, or gets fixed almost immediately. Anyway. Lostbelt 1. The main issue is that again, she shows up, gets shilled hard, pushed directly into center stage, and in this case suddenly gets a much larger part in the goings on than those around her, even if those servants are more relevant to the narrative, and all so people can once again go “OH SHE’S SO POWERFUL.”. It’s bad. 

I look forward to when she dies, so that she will stop haunting the narrative. Yes, I know that much about what is to come, but not much beyond that so I cannot give proper commentary. 

This has been my rant. If you made it this far, congratulations. If you don’t agree with my opinion that’s perfectly fine, you’re entitled to your view on the matter just as I am entitled to mine. I just needed to get this out of my system. I’m sorry it’s not more comprehensive. I also apologize that there’s going to be a second rant about Lostbelt 3 incoming, unrelated to the above topic. 

[f4liveblogarchives]

Fantastic Four Vol 1 #187, #188, & #189

Thur Aug 22 2019 [02:04 PM] Bocaj: 187 issues later, still fantastic but not necessarily still four [02:05 PM] Wack'd: Eh, they're still pretty Fourish [02:05 PM] Wack'd: Unless you count Franklin I guess [02:05 PM] Wack'd: Sure, Thundra, Greer, and Impy have been around a lot lately, but Greer insists she's not part of the team and Thundra and Impy don't really play well with others [02:06 PM] maxwellelvis: Also, Impossible Man's been KO'd by an unseen assailant. [02:06 PM] Wack'd: Also true [02:07 PM] Wack'd: Anyway, on the plane ride back from New Salem, the team recaps a little [02:07 PM] Wack'd: Agatha left that place in the hopes that others have her kind would be encouraged to join her, and she blames herself for raising Nicholas badly [02:07 PM] Wack'd: These are, again, the kind of details it might've been nice to have during the actual story so we could wring something out of them [02:08 PM] Bocaj: "Thundra and Impy don't really play well with others" I posit that Johnny and Ben historically haven't always played well with others [02:09 PM] Bocaj: Sometimes a family is that cat woman stray you adopted, the woman from an alternate universe where men are considered the weaker gender until you slammed her universe into another, and that annoying alien [02:09 PM] Bocaj: We'll call him the 'urkel' type [02:09 PM] Wack'd: Let me rephrase that to "are openly contemptuous of others and seem hesitant to do even the bare minimum to lend aid" [02:09 PM] maxwellelvis: Yeah, but in a different way from Impossible Man, who literally nobody except other Popuppians can stand to be around. [02:09 PM] Bocaj: Ok well thats different [02:10 PM] Wack'd: The Four discover Impy, knocked out but apparently unharmed. Sue worries that whoever did this might still be in the Baxter [02:11 PM] Wack'd: We can also add to George Pérez to the long list of comics artists who are bad at drawing children but very good at drawing tiny adults

[02:12 PM] Bocaj: George Pérez can draw a lot of things, in terms of range and also in terms of numerical things on a page but children are black magic that eludes him [02:13 PM] Aleph Null: i relate because children are also black magic that eludes me [02:13 PM] Wack'd: So Johnny flies outside to look in all the windows while Ben decides to go floor by floor. Reed is out out because they made a plan without him and Sue has to heal his fragile ego [02:13 PM] Wack'd: “Without my stretching powers, I'm not really good enough to be anything more than a nursemaid!” [02:13 PM] Bocaj: fuck off reed [02:14 PM] Aleph Null: can we retitle the blog to “fuck off reed” [02:14 PM] Wack'd: This is a nice moment

[02:15 PM] Wack'd: Honestly I like how forgiving everyone is being of Agatha. Not that anyone on this team has room to throw stones [02:16 PM] Wack'd: Oh my god Johnny is also like "man, running off on my own like I always do probably hurt Reed's feelings" [02:16 PM] Wack'd: Anyway Ben runs into KLAW! [02:17 PM] Bocaj: Ulysses Klaue Klaw? [02:17 PM] Wack'd: Whose shtick at this point is still being made of sound and also being able to fire sound monsters at people [02:17 PM] Wack'd: And not, you know, having a claw [02:17 PM] maxwellelvis: His artificial hand is his claw. [02:19 PM] Wack'd: Oh hey it's this guy

[02:19 PM] Bocaj: oh thats a bad look [02:20 PM] maxwellelvis: Actually that's not that guy. That's a different guy. [02:20 PM] Wack'd: Back in #20 he got the ability to alter non-organic matter because he was exposed to an atomic incident [02:20 PM] Wack'd: Since then he's had a couple of appearances in the 70s, one in Two in One and one in Iron Man [02:20 PM] Bocaj: The guy I knew as Molecule Man is a multiversal bomb [02:21 PM] maxwellelvis: Wait, I saw that guy shrivel up and disintegrate when separated from his wand for too long. [02:22 PM] Wack'd: Yes [02:22 PM] Wack'd: This got undone in the Iron Man appearance I mentioned [02:22 PM] maxwellelvis: oh [02:22 PM] Wack'd: Where he also gained the ability to possess people [02:23 PM] Bocaj: There was a shitty Avengers Assemble episode about Son of Molecule Man [02:23 PM] Bocaj: It had a stylistic flashback to EMH [02:23 PM] Wack'd: Given how fucking often these books are like "oh, they killed him, he's gone for real" and then in a completely different book he comes back to life and then he returns to his original book with a long winded explanation... [02:23 PM] Wack'd: I'm not sure why you would've assumed that he was actually dead [02:24 PM] maxwellelvis: Because this time he left behind a body. [02:24 PM] Wack'd: That doesn't mean anything! [02:24 PM] maxwellelvis: Well, a pile of dust in a ragged old Molecule Man costume. [02:24 PM] Wack'd: At the end of his first appearance the Watcher aged him into oblivion [02:26 PM] Wack'd: Agatha filling the role of "lady who tells Reed to suck it the fuck up" now that Medusa's gone

[02:28 PM] Wack'd: Anyway Ben gets turned into glass, Johnny is drowned in midair, Sue is...uh...

[02:28 PM] Wack'd: Sure, that's how that works [02:29 PM] Wack'd: And Reed tries to fire on the two but his gun is turned to helium and he's knocked out [02:30 PM] Wack'd: Okay so uh [02:31 PM] Wack'd: In the aftermath of that Iron Man I mentioned, Klaw found Owen's wand, with Owen's mind trapped inside, and gave it to a guy he met on the street so Owen would possess that guy [02:31 PM] Wack'd: The narrative notes that the guy was a boxer so I should probably also note that the guy was a boxer in case it becomes relevant [02:33 PM] Wack'd: So! The Four are incapacitated! Who cam save them now! [02:33 PM] Wack'd: Why, Impossible Man, of course. Not because he cares about the team, but because he's angry that someone defeated him in combat [02:34 PM] Wack'd: Impy can shapeshift so Molecule Man can't really do much to him [02:34 PM] Wack'd: And Impy removes his ears and makes himself into a non-sound-conductive material so he's immune to Klaw [02:34 PM] Wack'd: And then he kicks their asses [02:35 PM] Wack'd: Owen had been planning on using Reed's psi-amplifier (from that time Ben and Hulk switched brains) to make it so he could keep his ass in this body forever [02:35 PM] Wack'd: But Reed manages to cut the cord mid-process, sapping Owen back into his wand [02:36 PM] Wack'd: And undoing all the damage he caused [02:36 PM] Wack'd: AND THEN REED PICKS UP THE WAND WITH HIS BARE HANDS, LIKE AN IDIOT [02:37 PM] Wack'd: W E L P

[02:38 PM] Bocaj: Basically Lunella becoming Smartest was long overdue because Reed is dumb [02:38 PM] Bocaj: Someone needed to explicitly be smarter than him or else it would be very sad [02:39 PM] Wack'd: Don't think it's escaped my attention that this is our second evil Reed storyline in which Reed isn't actually evil [02:39 PM] Bocaj: Hm [02:40 PM] Bocaj: At least it’s not an evil Sue storyline [02:40 PM] Bocaj: Those are bad in many many ways [02:40 PM] Wack'd: If Gerry Conway's read on the Reed/Sue divorce arc was "if they're going to split up it should be because Reed does something truly ghastly", it seems like Wein's was "people seem to really want to make Reed a jerk, so how do I do that without altering the fact that he's genuinely a nice person" [02:42 PM] Wack'd: I loathed Conway's take, but Wein's is even worse because it denies the idea that Reed has anything to be culpable for. It seems like people have been shilling him constantly recently--Sue noticing Counter-Reed is unaffectionate to spot the ruse, Ben assuming Counter-Reed is obsessively watching the Negative Zone because he wants to save his counterpart, Counter-Reed immediately becoming a selfless paragon when his headache wears off [02:43 PM] Wack'd: And this issue, too, with everyone but Agatha assuming Reed is entitled to authority and feeling bad for hurting his feelings by doing their own things [02:44 PM] Wack'd: Maybe I'm being uncharitable because he's the cripple-the-b**** guy, but it does really seem like he sees nothing wrong with Reed's normal pattern of behavior and is mildly baffled anyone would. Which would fit well with his aesthetic of overwhelming nostalgia [02:45 PM] Wack'd: Anyway

Thur Aug 22 2019 [02:46 PM] Wack'd: So Reed's brain is trapped in Owen's wand now [02:47 PM] Wack'd: Ben destroys the Psi-Amplifier so Owen can't take over Reed's body permanently [02:47 PM] Wack'd: Owen, in retaliation, traps Sue, Johnny, Ben and Impy in an adimantium cube [02:48 PM] Wack'd: While he goes to blow off some adimantium rage [02:48 PM] maxwellelvis: Spider-Man and Venom ~ Maximum Carnage (Genesis) - Main Theme [02:49 PM] Wack'd: Johnny uses his heat to expand the air in the box, forcing it open, but it takes basically everything he's got [02:49 PM] Wack'd: You would think everybody in that box would die a million times of heat stroke but I guess not [02:50 PM] maxwellelvis: I was about to question the presence of Adamantium in an FF story, then I remembered that A. it's past 1975 now so Wolverine is a thing, and B. Len Wein is one of Wolverine's co-creators. [02:50 PM] maxwellelvis: And I think he first coined "Adamantium" to describe what his claws are made of. [02:51 PM] Wack'd: Watcher has gone from a white Grey to a fat bald guy to a Tor Johnson character

[02:53 PM] Wack'd: Watcher is still not talking, which Ben takes as a sign of apathy [02:53 PM] Wack'd: "Why don't you go to sell tickets to a funeral," he asks [02:54 PM] Wack'd: Ah yes, my favorite Tom Hanks movie

[02:55 PM] maxwellelvis: "You should make'em bugs!" [02:58 PM] Wack'd: Credit where it's due, I think this is genuinely the coolest monster design we've had in a while! You can see some remnants of the Kirby aping that still, in 1977, has not worn off, but it feels novel applied to brick and mortar, and I love the arrangements of the windows and the way the structures on the roof jut out of it's shoulders

[02:59 PM] Wack'd: Reed agrees to stop resisting, and the building returns to normal [02:59 PM] Wack'd: And then his friends show up and Reed starts resisting again [03:00 PM] Wack'd: Thanks to that resistance, Owen can't do anything to our heroes directly, and has to settle for transforming their surroundings [03:00 PM] Wack'd: This would be a lot simpler if they just kept the "no organic matter" limit from his first appearance [03:01 PM] maxwellelvis: Blame Steve Gerber, I guess. [03:01 PM] Wack'd: Impy tries to hit Owen with a giant mallet but Sue stops him because she doesn't want to hurt Reed [03:02 PM] Wack'd: Impy takes it well

[03:05 PM] Wack'd: Unfortunately, Reed's body gets knocked out anyway [03:06 PM] Wack'd: But while this renders the Reed inside of Owen's wand unconscious, it sends Owen into spasms of pain [03:06 PM] Wack'd: Causing him to release his grip on the wand, dropping it into a nearby factory furnace [03:07 PM] Wack'd: And so normalcy is restored--OR IS IT?! [03:07 PM] Wack'd: Reed's decided to resign from the Four [03:07 PM] Wack'd: And Sue's going to join him because "I already deserted my husband once, I'm not going to do it again" [03:07 PM] Wack'd: *sigh* [03:08 PM] Bocaj: 😐

Thur Aug 22 2019 [03:10 PM] Wack'd: FANTASTIC FOUR VOL 1 #189 [03:10 PM] Wack'd: Is a reprint of Annual ’66 [03:10 PM] Wack'd: Moving on [03:10 PM] Wack'd: As if there weren't enough reasons to hate Wein, it certainly seems like a lot of issues get delayed while he's around [03:11 PM] Wack'd: This is the second in less than ten issues [03:11 PM] maxwellelvis: That might explain why Chris Claremont took over Uncanny X-Men almost immediately after Wein revived it

[irageneveart]

there are so many things a 16 years old person should be doing beside throwing hate, BUT HERE YOU ARE BEING A BRAT

@bfmyers I really can't take this anymore, are you really that full of hypocrisy to scream TOXIC left and right while you yourself use your free time to only spread hate? I don’t usually do this and I try to stay away from useless discourse but you're just kicking on my nerves way too much

under the cut cause boy I have a lot to say. (really, it’s long. I needed to point out everything)

I'm going to kindly tell you to fuck off artists' backs.

you have 0 fucking knowledge of what you're talking about yet you're making callouts and worse, people agree! the same people who supported the artists before by reblogging and liking their art are now shitting on them and "ihh no more reblogs from them" only because you write a lengthy shit in which not only that you threaten a human being, you don't even know how to argue. a link to a picture and screaming "toxic" ISN'T A GODDAMN ARGUMENT

people of this community, PLEASE use your fucking brains and don't bow your head to what every nameless kid has to say. you don't have to believe me either, just use your fucking brain and heart and do the decision making yourself

Now, you did a callout post on @dbd-omija pointing out how toxic they are!!! omg gasp animal death? abuse?? HOW IS THAT pOsSIbLe

where have you been until now because this is a horror community:

in the TCM universe inbreeding is mentioned multiple times

in the Halloween movies Michael kills two dogs and eats one of them

omija clearly stated they went with the 1978-2018 timeline BUT NO YOU KEPT SCREAMING BECAUSE HOW DARE THEY SAY SOMETHING AGAINST YOU

on that matter: in the halloween movies Michael's cult makes him rape his niece, in another movie Laurie, before jumping to what it seemed her death, kisses Michael's mask lips. GASP, when will you sue the directors?

after he escaped, Max literally slaughtered every living creature in that farm. put the DBD devs on your "I need to sue them cause I have something to say against this horror game!!!" list

If there’s something I can agree with you on, it’s about tags. Yes, these are triggers, yes tagging is important, but let’s not forget that being in this community IS about being surrounded by triggers. out of courtesy sure, we should tag our stuff accordingly, but to go all out to say “omija, if you’re reading this, i’m going to pee in your mouth.” HOW. IS. THIS. ACCEPTED?! HOW

HOW THE FUCK PEOPLE WHO REBLOGGED THAT CALLOUT THOUGHT YES THIS IS GOOD?!!?!

now you said that Omija's making all of these seem cute and that’s the real problem. this is where you are sooo wrong and let me explain:

a round head doesn't instantly make everything cute. there are many many details that the human eye perceives as cute, things that artists go to when they want their art to be seen as cute. from the color chosen to the way their eyes and mouths are drawn, to the very line work they’re using. yes, shapes count too, but this is not the case and we should get out of our tiny box and see the big picture. Their comics are not meant to be cute, actually much respect to them for being brave enough to approach well known subjects that are not explored. But that’s it. If YOU see it as cute then it’s your problem really. Art and fiction is prone to interpretation

If anything, how much cute stuff we have in the community should be the anomaly, not that someone draws anxious Bubba

omija's Amanda and Bubba art is problematic! someone asks why, you: because is toxic!!!

really? I actually think that, given their individual personalities, omija portraits the ship’s dynamic really well. Amanda is not dealing well with her feelings and with humans and Bubba has problems understanding things in general. they are two deranged people finding a way to cope and to accept another human presence nearby. "Amanda is picking on a disabled person how can you say it's well!!!!" let me remind you that his entire family is picking on his disabilities and the fact that he loves but also FEARS his family is a big theme in Leatherface's story and personality

Also, another argument of yours was about “the power play” and how that’s problematic. I’m...honestly surprised you even thought of this argument because the entire slasher fandom, the movies, everything slasher related IS BASED ON POWER PLAY. Have you read what they wrote for Laurie/Michael to say the ship is based on power play and it’s wrong? No, me neither, cause I don’t care, but you seem to care enough to vomit about it. Go read some things and tell me how problematic the writing is, you need to call out writers too after all

Btw, surprise! I don't ship neither of the mentioned ships, but I can use my brain enough to see what omija does is actually well made and well thought, sick, weird in some instances, but well thought. kudos to you artist. I can also see those who ship Laurie and Michael are still nice people

But just like you and many others I have my own morals (do you now? Exposing yourself like that to NSFW content while so many people are scared for their life because of people like you? hmmmm) and I can’t really stand explicit pedophilia. I’ve read so many books or seen so many movies where it was mentioned, it’s a trigger factor, it’s taboo, therefore is normal to be used in darker works. It all depends on the circumstances and the way it is presented, cause it’s a piece of fiction. Nobody attacked George R. R. Martin for the controversial things he had written in his books right? I wonder why

Because, another surprise, fiction is different than reality and only this argument alone should be enough, but some monkey brains out there will come to scream at me how fiction affects reality. Someone who writes a murder mystery isn’t actually killing people when they put pen to paper. People who play shooter games do not wish to shoot people in real life. Someone who writes about rape will not welcome the rapist in their arms nor do they wish to rape someone. So on, it’s simple, again, we just need to use our brains.

If you have bullying-related or a family related or any thing related trauma and you see a Michael/Laurie fic or Quentin/Freddy or whatever other ships or subjects you have seen around, and decide to click on it, and then you have a negative reaction, that fiction is not harming you. Your unresolved trauma is harming you. Your decision to read something when you know it triggers you is harming you. The past actions of yourself and those who inflicted harm upon you are harming you. All of those things – your trauma, your real-life bullies, your actions – are real, and have the ability to harm you. (the italic bits are from @dracfics who said it better than I ever could put in words. Thank you)

next on your "who am I going to shit on today" is @renlvbon

not gonna lie, for the omija callout I read everything searching to see whenever you are right or not. I don’t personally know either of the artists but I could read enough to see you’re just a self entitled person with something to say regarding everything. for ren's callout I simply skipped after I saw your argument.

you're not doing gods' work by opening people's' eyes that they can or should portray the characters the way they are, disabled and gross. no, you're just picking on someone's art style

Can we stop this toxic nonsense???

don't get me wrong, I agree that we shouldn't make them supermodels and we shouldn't erase what they are, fucking ugly and gross killers, but saying people who don't draw them a certain way are cowards or calling them out or whatever else shit is TOXIC and ANNOYING. We all change them more or less, we have to because none of us are the original creators! We’re just thirsty people making them to be what we want and what we imagine because they’re fucking fiction

I’ve seen people agreeing with you saying the artist should consider real people with disabilities or on the heavier side (“like me” they pointed out). I’m so sorry if this comes out as rude but if you search or need validation in a horror community that’s not a good thing at all! Body positivity and a healthy approach to disabilities should. not. be. searched. in. a. horror. community or any community on tumblr for that matter. You want some positivity on that? In a real case scenario with them we all would die, no matter how you look like

Going back to the artists, some people don't have experience/ are insecure/ are uncomfortable drawing body hair or fat bodies or whatever. That doesn’t make them fatphobic or whatever shit I saw you writing in your tags.

Drawing a black character less than the color YOU think is good? Have you ever tried to color skin? There are so many ways to do it, there are so so many colors you combine and you play around with + lighting and shading that alters everything. and yeah maybe some people pick a different color, a lighter one, or a more yellow one than they should for asiatic people, or whatever. but these tones are NOT easy to get well (you can always put a brown color down and to call it a day, but maybe people won’t want that. They don’t want to be disrespectful, exactly cause there are predators like you that don’t know how to help, only how to fucking scream). Or maybe they simply don’t know how. Every artist has their own range of comfort zone, be it about subject - composition - colors - etc. I don’t do well with neon colors for example, it happens. Hell even the screen you’re using alters the colors

How about giving actual tips, support and explanations instead of rude call outs? And don’t come at me with the “color picker” shit cause color picker from a real life photo is hell and if you don’t know some color theory your art is going to look dull and lifeless regardless

The only time I can agree that whitewashing is wrong is when white-supremacy, nazi and other ugly shits like these are coming into the topic. But it’s not the case here

some young artists don't have the skill to draw certain body shapes, or body hair, or even a non-anime face. some others think putting a scar on the character’s face make them 'uglier' and ‘scarier’ and for them that's enough AND THAT'S ALRIGHT

drawing something that's supposed to be ugly but still having anatomy and proportions and a functionable mouth or eyes placement or whatever ISN'T EASY. ofc, you can go all out if that's what you want, but personally I want things to still be working because at the end of the day every single one of them is human. I'm not drawing dark fantasy in this fandom, I'm drawing slashers

NO ONE IS DRAWING FOR YOU. NO ONE IS USING THEIR SKILL TO MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD. art and writing, especially when is made in the free time of the creator, is made FOR THEMSELVES. If there are people enjoying it? Yay, that’s a win, but no one expects everybody on this planet to like what they’re doing. We’re getting back to that golden rule, DON’T LIKE: MOVE THE FUCK ON/ BLOCK AND LIVE YOUR LIFE. EASY. no one uses these unnecessary callouts for anything, if you have something to say do so kindly, if you can’t, just vent to your friends

So now let’s wrap it up cause IDK how many of you even make it through this point

can we fucking stop making young artists and writers cowards for drawing or writing how they can and however they fucking want? Please and thank you

this shit going on with "the best artist/writer for x y z character" or "conventionally drawing ugly Bubba uwu" will just destroy the confidence of whoever wants to keep drawing or writing or joining the fandom. There’s no competition who draws Bubba the ugliest nor who writes Michael the best. if you can do things a certain way, do it, and let the rest draw and write whatever they can WITHOUT FEARING THEY'RE NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

now I'm waiting for your very "well" argumented reply but I hope you'll understand that what you're doing is TOXIC and you should stop or at least change your way to address things. You’re talking to other human beings, not a void when you can throw any random thought you have in the morning. I don't care about you to be honest, but there are so many people out there following your words mindlessly and the creators are suffering and it's not fair.

don't forget to tell me to go kill myself. have a nice day

[moonbeambucky]

The Price of Gold (Part 16)

Pairing: Lance Tucker x Reader Word Count: 2076 Warnings: angst

Summary: As a sports journalist you’ve traveled the world interviewing famous athletes. You’ve loved your job up until you find out your next article is on the last person in the world you ever wanted to talk to, Lance Tucker.

A/N: This doesn’t follow The Bronze canon though some film details are mixed with real world events. Written for @green-eyeddragonfanfiction Dragon’s 3k Follower Creative Content Challenge. My prompt was “I can’t be in love with you!” gif source (x)

PART 15 | THE PRICE OF GOLD MASTERLIST

Your jaw dropped down thirty-six floors to the ground level and then some, feeling as if your mouth was so wide you could swallow an entire subway train. Your heart forgoes its steady beat for a wild rhythm of a song you couldn’t hear since your ears were clogging up.

The vents in Sue’s office blew out hot steam and you were instantly sweating, beads trickling down your temple and appearing above your top lip. You wanted to scream and cry at once but you felt frozen in your seat, staring back at the picture of you and Lance together.

“You lied to me,” Susan said as you looked up at her with guilty eyes.

What could you say? There was obviously no denying it, not with the proof staring back at you. Sorry doesn’t explain why you lied but is that what she wanted to hear? Or did she want to hear the truth? Did she want to hear about half a lifetime of memories with the boy who became an Olympic winner after breaking your teenage heart? You told her from the start this was a bad idea but she didn’t listen.

“It’s personal,” you muttered quietly.

Susan clasped her hands together and you could see the tension in her fingers, turning white as she squeezed her own skin. “Be that as it may this company has a reputation. I have a reputation and as your editor and boss this is something I should have known about.”

Taking a deep breath to steady your nerves, “I apologize. It wasn’t something I wanted to discuss but my prior connection with Lance Tucker has no impact on my work today.”

“No impact?” she scoffed. “Is that why you missed the opening?”

Sue cocked her head waiting for your answer but you simply couldn’t respond. She was right, from the start your relationship with Lance affected everything, from the petty and childish ways you both acted until you finally resolved the issue from your past and moved forward. Everything was perfect until that phone call.

Something didn’t feel right. There was no point in lying to Susan now, you had to put everything out there if you were going to get to the bottom of this.

“Something happened,” you began, and Sue sat back, preparing herself for whatever you were going to say next.

After skimming through the events that transpired and briefly describing Dorothy’s condition you explained the phone call. “He said that I called his mom but I never did. Sue, this woman was like a second mother to me I would never jeopardize her health over this article especially when things were progressing.”

Sue frowned, also puzzled by your story though it wasn’t the full truth.

“Because of the phone call Lance pulled out of the article.”

“Shit!” she cursed, huffing loudly.

Sue slammed her hands on the desk causing a few papers to move around. As you stared at the photo on her desk you wondered how it ended up in her hands. That was the picture your mom accidentally sent to your work email, and your computer was on but you remembered logging off, specifically pulling your phone charger out of the port to take with you.

“Who gave you this picture?!”

Your foot nervously tapped as you waited for the elevator to descend. Harsh puffs of air blew out from your flaring nostrils, you felt like a bull ready to charge. Once the doors opened you began your stampede, zeroing in on the person who fucked everything up like they were a matador waving a red cape, except in this scenario the bull will not go down.

“How could you?” You harshly pulled Heather’s chair back, spinning her around to face you.

“Excuse me?” she feigned snotty innocence before dropping it when you told her about the photo. “How could I? You’re the one that lied Y/N! That article should have been mine considering I actually like the guy!”

Your head shook in disbelief, if she only knew the pain she caused to the supposed “guy she liked.”

“Oh but wait that’s another lie! I saw the way you looked at him,” she paused to pull out her phone, bringing up a photo of you and Lance kissing at the table from the night of your birthday, unaware someone had snapped a photo of what they tagged as #TuckersGoldenGirl presumably because of the glow of the candlelight.

“I can’t believe you Heather. I thought we were friends,” you sighed.

“You thought wrong,” she snapped back.

You once considered Heather a close friend. She understood your schedule and always kept in touch while you were away, keeping you updated on all of her dates, she even tried to introduce you to some guys when you would hang out outside of work. She was always there for you but you were wrong and it hurt.

“Sue knows you lied so now I’m gonna write that article and then I’ll be with Lance. He wants someone like me anyway– ruthless, determined… someone who knows what it takes to be the best!”

You couldn’t help but chuckle at how wrong she had everything. “You don’t know him at all and there is no article Heather because of what you did. Why would you call his mother?”

“I needed information, not that she would give me anything,” Heather blew it off not understanding the severity of the situation. “Besides he’s a big boy, one call to mommy won’t hurt.”

Once again you found yourself in a situation where your hands became balled into tight fists and it hurt you to the core to restrain them at your sides and not put them through Heather’s face. There will already be repercussions from lying to Sue; you do not need an assault charge on top of it.

“You stupid girl, you have no idea what you’ve done!” you exclaimed, thinking about Dorothy’s health while she mistook it.

“Whatever, there will always be more articles,” she laughed wickedly, unaware of the person standing behind her.

“Not for you Heather,” Sue sternly said. Heather turned around to face her boss who stood behind her looking unamused by the young woman’s antics. “You’re fired, pack up your things and go.”

Heather stood up, pathetically begging Susan that she had it all wrong and that you should be fired. It was quite comical especially since you saw Susan approach Heather’s desk midway through your conversation though you didn’t let that on. Alyssa arranged for security to escort Heather out of the building as you followed Sue back to her office.

“I’m honestly very sorry Susan. Lance and I were really close during our childhood but we had a falling out. I hadn’t really thought about him in years and when you approached me for the article I panicked. Funny thing is we patched things up,” you sighed heavily, briefly recalling all of the wonderful moments you and Lance shared, from dinners to Weeki Wachee and even splitting your pants.

A wave of hot tears threatened to spill, your lip trembling as you remembered your nights together, in each other’s embrace once again. Your voice cracked as you continued to apologize, “I should have told you though.”

Rummaging through your bag you unsuccessfully searched for a tissue, looking up to see Susan place a box in front of you for the tears that began to fall. Nodding a thank you to her as you wiped them away along with your running mascara.

“This is all my fault. If you knew about this then Heather wouldn’t have tried to sabotage the article but more importantly she wouldn’t have disturbed Dorothy Tucker.”

“I’m sorry you felt you couldn’t tell me you weren’t comfortable doing the piece. I would never have put you in that situation,” she said, offering a smile of relief. “Unfortunately your undisclosed relationship puts you and this company at risk, especially with pictures of you and Lance on Instagram. We are unbiased journalists Y/N; we show no favoritism to any athlete, sports team or league.”

Sue took a few sips of her coffee that was evidently cold by her disappointed face after setting it down. “Here’s the bottom line, as long as everything was consensual…”

She paused, waiting for your answer to which you nodded, “Then everything is fine. Well in this case it’s not fine. Had you been able to run the interview you would have to disclose your prior relationship but now we have nothing.”

Sue informed you that you’d be suspended without pay for the next two days, the days you technically would have still been in Spring Hill for, and that you would have to reimburse the company for the expenses of the trip that did not produce the article it was intended for. It was a financial sting but no pain compares to the heavy lump in your chest, the now broken heart that longs for days it was overflowing with the love you felt for Lance.

Pushing up from the chair you thanked Sue and began to leave, “Y/N I just have to say one more thing,” she said, waving you back. “Talk to Lance. Speaking as your editor I would love to run that article.”

You wanted to say he probably blocked your number by now but she continued, “But as your friend…” Sue smiled and once again tears made their presence known, burning their way out upon hearing her words, “…you obviously care for him. At the very least he should know the truth about the phone call.”

Wiping away a few more tears you nodded with a tight lipped smile, “Thank you Susan,” you said. She walked you to the door of her office, wrapping her arms around your back for a brief but firm hug.

Before heading home you made a stop to a bakery nearby, getting an order of chocolate dipped cannolis for yourself because after today you absolutely needed the sweets. While retrieving your mail you noticed your elderly neighbor struggling to balance a few bags and grip the handrail of the staircase.

Moving quickly before she lost her balance you came up beside her, “I can carry those if you’d like Mrs. Daniels.”

She thanked you as she sluggishly made her way up the steps, you followed with precaution in case she needed your assistance. Thankfully she was she was only on the second floor, you had six excruciating flights to walk up thanks to your building not having an elevator.

When she made it to the front door her keys jingled loudly as her shaky hands struggled to insert the key but finally she unlocked her door.

“Thank you dear,” she said. “Did you just move here?”

You smiled in return, shaking your head no. Mrs. Daniels was one of the first people you met when you moved in a few years ago and granted you hadn’t seen her much it goes to show how little time you actually spent here.

After waking up the rest of the way you finally made it inside, kicking off your shoes for the comfort of fuzzy socks, trading your restrictive clothes for leggings and a soft t-shirt, once again ignoring the blue one that reminded you so much of Lance’s beautiful eyes.

Grabbing your laptop you ate a cannoli on your way to the couch, making yourself comfortable as you stared at an empty screen. For the two days you were at home you worked hard, pouring your heart out through every word you typed.

Back at the office you were focused on making arrangements for future articles with athletes or their agents. Lance was always on your mind but you tried not to focus on him. It didn’t help when rumors circulated around the office about Heather’s dismissal. Even though she was no longer your friend you knew firsthand how damaging rumors can be, Lance’s reputation is proof of that. You gave a generic answer about her unprofessionalism, it was the truth any way and no one needed to know any further details.

Every night after rushing through dinner you went back to your laptop, writing, editing and rewriting, staying up well past a normal bedtime until everything was complete. Hovering the mouse over the send button you closed your eyes, took a deep breath and clicked. The email to Lance was sent and now all you could do was wait.

PART 17

[overlordbravery]

OC Tag Meme

Tagged by @robin97 Thank you~~

1. Choose an OC. 2. Answer the questions as the OC. 3. Tag 5 people to do the same.

Due to the story I am working on you guys are going to deal with Billy my complete original character/story.

More under the cut

1. What is your name? William Kerchel the Second. But please, call me Billy, William reminds me of my father... Not that I have anything against my father! I just, I’m not that mature.

2. Do you know why you are named that? Well, I assume it’s because neither of my parents are particularly creative, nor interesting.

3. Are you single or taken? I am happily married to my Wife. (Billy’s wife is his Government Grade Axe) You say this as if there is something wrong with that. (He’s cradling her to his chest right now just so you know.)

4. Have any abilities or powers? None! Well, I guess that depends on what you Ancients consider powers? I live in a world of synthetic technology so one hundred percent of the population is a cyborg, some people have more upgrades and implants than others. But generally I’m faster, stronger, and smarter than what anti-chippers would be. If we’re getting technical. (He’s lying, Billy is dumb as all fuck. Everything else though is spot on.)

5. Stop being a Mary Sue. I do not know who this is...

6. What’s your eye color? Honey Brown

7. How about your hair color? Auburn.

8. Have any family members? William Kerchel and Tabitha Kerchel are both alive if I’m correct I never interact with them, however, I was taken into mentorship at age thirteen and have never been back. I do now have an adoptive daughter Candy... she’s more like a little sister in all honesty.

9. Oh? How about pets? No. Too busy. We might get an androdog. But we have that on the back burner for right now.

10. That’s cool, I guess. Now tell me something you don’t like? Illicit Vermin

11. Do you have any activities/hobbies that you like to do? I have this fun hobby of talking other people when they’re too afraid to talk. Or when I have already Exterminated Illicit’s and am bored in their home. It can get lonely being an Exterminator so I tend to talk for them. I’m also VERY good at mimicry. Which I suppose can be due to my vocal upgrades but like, I got it spot on guys.

12. Have you ever hurt anyone in any way before? Of course not! I only hurt Vermin.

13. Ever… killed anyone before? I kill Illicit’s daily. It’s my job, it’s what I do for Limbo and I enjoy this civic duty.

14. What kind of animal are you? I do not understand? Homosapien? That;s the scientific term right? (Yes Billy... But i think they mean--) Yep, Homosapien. That’s the animal I am.

15. Name your worst habits? Recently my worst habit is eating people... It’s not like I mean too I’m just so hungry...

16. Do you look up to anyone at all? I used to look up to my mentor. Then I had a moment of looking up to Candy. but with everything going on in my life I just... No... Everything is in shambles I guess even my view on other people.

17. Are you gay, straight or bisexual? I am happily married to my wife. (He never thinks about it I am under the assumption he is asexual as he only has very strong platonic feelings for like anyone and it’s never gone farther than that.)

18. Do you go to school? Nope. My last day of school was my occupation test at the age of Thirteen. now if I need to know something it’s sent to me to download.

19. Ever want to marry and have kids one day? Welp.. I’m already married to my job. And I have a little sister. So.. .I think I’m good.

20. Do you have any fangirls/fanboys? I don’t know if he counts, but I will say Trask because he is very obsessed with me lately. And Maker do I hate that jerk.

21. What are you most afraid of? Becoming Illicit. That my paranoia is correct that I’m already illicit and the people that should Exterminate me to keep Limbo safe are covering it up.

22. What do you usually wear? Pitch Black Suit, and Button up shirt, with a cobalt blue tie and matching handkerchief.

23. What’s one food that tempts you? Human Flesh?

24. Am I annoying to you? This is the most anyone has ever really spoken to me. So no, I’m very excited right now.

25. Well, it’s still not over! Nice!

26. What class are you (low/middle/high)? Limbo has erradicated class! Money is not a thing, it’s all about hours and how much you work here. And everyone has about the same hours... I guess I always work technically... Hmmmm... I guess I’m a bit more privleged if I were to actually think about it. But thinking is deviant so I’m done with this question, thank you.

27. How many friends do you have? Candy... Tim... Lilly... Three. i have Three friends.

28. What are your thoughts on pie? I mean it’s pretty good, yes.

29. Favorite drink? Ha, well coffee of course! (He’s lying he drinks Hot Chocolate out of a mug so everyone thinks he’s drinking coffee.)

30. What’s your favorite place? The Spire. Ohhhh, it’s so beautiful and full of so much history. It’s almost like I can hear our ancestors in the walls.

31. Are you interested in anyone? My Axe. How many times do I have to say this.

32. That was a stupid question… Yes.

33. Would you rather swim in a lake or the ocean? Well, we have a beautiful River in Limbo, we do not have a lake nor an ocean. Soooo, neither?

34. What’s your type? Sleek smooth metal that feels like silk despite being the strongest metal we have encountered. Programmed to only work for me. And KILLER in personality. HA! GET IT!? KILLER!? Cause that’s my axe.

35. Any fetishes? Fetishes? Oh! OH DEAR! (He is blushing and hiding his face just so you know.)

36. Camping or outdoors? Camping is an illicit activity as it requires you to be out after curfew. SO, outdoors during Work Hours I suppose?

I’m tagging @zombiemayday @prince-of-the-jellies @big-sad-emo-dad @flightinflame

[audarkmist]

What are some ways we can serve others

Dear Anon,

I never really researched it so I may have only picked up things while casually reading the bible. 

The ways I have tried to serve others.

- Creative: I try to be creative based on the person since God made everyone different. I know just because I like mint chocolate does not mean every one likes mint chocolate. I learn about a person to find the best way.

- Ask: I sometimes want to ask the best way I can improve. I do not do this too often or it can come off as strange (nosy, dependent, people-pleaser, clingy, insecure). I just mean occasionally ask how you can be there for someone.

- Inspired: I take note of things that melt my heart.��I think love inspires more love. Pay attention to these heart melting moments and soak them in.

Ex: I once saw a man in a store and the child in line who was trying to pay at the cash register could not afford the chocolate bar he wanted to buy. He spent maybe 5$ and made this child’s day. I was the cashier so I can’t like give him anything for free sadly even if I want. It is inspiring to see someone go so far. I did the same one day for someone when the power went out so all the credit cards and debits were denied. I paid for them with my student card because that did not run on power because it was a special system. He asked me repay me and I said it’s alright. I just hope one day he will do the same for someone in need one day. 

Ex: I once heard in the news there was a tourist group who was about to get killed by Muslim terrorist in the Middle East. They wanted to kill the non believers of the bus. The Muslim women quickly gave their hijab to the non Muslim women to confuse the terrorists. They were willing to die to protect the non Muslims from the Muslim extremists. I am not sure how I can implement this since I have never been in such a situation. I just hope that if  similar scenario was ever to occur where people wanted to kill others that I would remember this story. 

The ways the bible demonstrates serving others. 

-Extra Mile: The bible asks us to “go the extra mile” for others.

Verse: Matthew 5:41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.

Ex: When I am asked to do a chore like dishes I might want to sweep. I know this is case by case basis depending if you are really busy (maybe studying for an exam). I admit doing this is hard taking a lot of will power on my part. I am working on trying to do it more. 

-Give to all that ask: The bible says to give to them that ask. I think this one is even harder than the last when it is not to borrow. It takes a lot of judgment too on our part to discern the appropriate times and things to give.

Verse: Matthew 5:42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. 

The words do not bid us idly give alms to the idle or the impostor or the scammers as in 2 Thessalonians 3:10 “If a man will not work, neither let him eat”. It does not want us to give something harmful to someone even if they asks.

-Share: It is pretty simple “sharing is caring” when it comes to material items. 

Verse: Hebrews 13:16 But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

-Give Extra: In this case if you wrong someone so they want their “due” give them extra for the sake of love. 

Verse: Matthew 5:40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. 

Ex hypothetical: Say I wrong someone then they want an apology. I should try to go above and beyond the apology. I should try to maybe bake them cookies, maybe send them a sweet letter, maybe hug them or something. 

- Use your gifts: God gives us each gifts whether we know it or not. It might sound strange but he gives some the ability to be especially good at comforting, some at having faith (every believer has faith just comes more naturally to some), some at doing miracles, some at praying (every believer prays some just do it more maturely), some at interceding, some at discernment, some multilingualism (to translate the word), some at loving (everyone loves just comes more naturally to some), some generosity (hopefully all believers give only some it does come more naturally), some wisdom, some social skills, some literacy, some art and so on.

Verse: Peter 4:10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Confession: I do not really know my gifts so I try to do things I think might be my gifts? I mean I know French so sometimes I translate (I just don’t know where all the Francophones are at). Maybe I am good at praying? Might just be that God is so merciful. I guess this could be close to like a “calling”

-Highly regard others: Just try to see the best in people esteeming them with something they can teach you. 

Verse: Philippians 2:3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

- Volunteering especially for the lonely and needy.

Verse: James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

Ex: I try to volunteer every year to serve free cake to the new immigrants of Canada. It is just such a joyous moment especially to hear their stories of success. 

-Encouraging others: Try to motivate and assist others.

Verse: Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

-Defending the ones without a voice: This one is definitely hard to find the best approach. I am not even really aware of much injustices (at least in my own country). I am not sure if speaking up for people online is enough for this takes real world boldness. I mean keep a look out on this one if an opportunity arises.

Verse: Jeremiah 5:28 They are fat, they are sleek, They also excel in deeds of wickedness; They do not plead the cause, The cause of the orphan, that they may prosper; And they do not defend the rights of the poor.

Historical ex: In times of racist slavery people wrote to governments, walked in protests if there was one, spoke up against segregation on buses, spoke to the public and so on.

-Love lavishly: The parable of the good Samaritan shows we ought to love lavishly. 

Verse: Luke 10:35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.

Treat the least as you would Jesus: This is especially for fellow Christians. It is not only for  others Christians since it follows the “love your neighbor as yourself” with examples. I mean looking at the good Samaritan Jesus was trying to show who we should show compassion on (anyone in need). Give food to them who are hungry, drink when thirsty, housing when kicked out or lost, clothing when naked and visitation when sick or imprisoned.

Verse: Matthew 25:35-36 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

-Many more: I’m sure there are many more ways. I just want us to keep in mind one thing…

Verse: Colossians 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the LORD, and not unto men.

Are these little overwhelming? 

In the end there are these that can be pretty hard. I see there is no wonder why God says our best works on our best days are as “filthy rags”. I can understand why Paul called himself the great sinner. I notice we all need forgiveness just the same for failing to have perfect love. 

I do not want someone to read this to think they must do “works salvation”. I mean after all it just goes to show we are “in over our heads”. That is we could never fulfill the law good enough please God. 

Repentance is not “fixing yourself” it is turning from everything to come to the savior. Indeed we must even repent from any sense of self righteousness leaving no room for boasting in ourselves. Salvation is “nothing in my hands I bring simply to the cross I cling”. 

Verse: Jeremiah 9:24 but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,“ declares the LORD. 

When we do good works such as serving others it out of love and thankfulness to our Lord. The Lord who loved us first

[doyoueverstopandthink]

a list of random things my friends and i have texted each other since i've moved into my dorm

"long story short i spiked the ball at his face and broke his glasses" -c

"YOUNG ME IS A FUCKING CARBON COPY OF MY MOM WHEN SHE WAS YOUNG???" -me

"i just wanna walk up to my parents and scream about how much i like girls. buuuuuut i can't so depression." -me

"and tiktok just showed me three v e r y attractive shirtless men BUT NONETHELESS SHIRTLESS LIKE BRUH I AM IN A PLACE OF LEARNING" -c

"me: i'm about to go into music theory suddenly knowing everything about it from binge watching jacob collier's videos about music theory 😎 younger sibling: i'm about to go into my math class suddenly knowing everything from a 5 minute khan academy video. and i'm about to solve world hunger from 5 minute crafts. me: you're so mean."

"[sends picture of 9+ empty water bottles] so we cleaning the depression room, and yk what- at least i'm hydrated." -c

"me: i hate shaky bow with a burning ipassion. l: ipassion. a product by apple."

"did el really think it was a good idea to go 'hey f let's facetime and practice together!' because we all know that they're just gonna spend the entire time staring at f cause they're in love with her." -g

"i just bought like 55 pictures and it was? what? $4? but im an impatient bitch so i paid an extra $16 for shipping" -me

"g: did you seriously order a shit ton of pictures? me: yeah g: and half of them are of f? f: omg really me: i'm gay okay"

"you should start every morning by getting on your knees and... pray to god?" -random kid next to me in the dining hall

"c: el- BE A FUCKING AUTHOR OR IM SUING YOU WHEN IM RICH me: how the fuck am i meant to give you the money if im fucking poor c: ill sue you for something idk me: donating, then??? c: ill give you a ton of money and then ill sue you for it"

"i have my nightly cry on facetime with my boyfriend in the staircase" -g

"i rewrote this essay four times and still haven't done my physics homework" -me

"me: im watching narnia in spanish and only like 10% of this is making sense older sibling: good"

"would anyone else like to pour monster on my face" -i

"[about frankenstein] 'it's about gay college dropouts' omg how did you know" -me

"l: how's it feel knowing all your friends are in committed relationships and you're just reading fanfic constantly me: BITCH me: you're not wrong but still"

"f: [math teacher] was talking about his experience with calc and said your class was probably his favorite class he's ever had and that you were really smart me: omg shut up im gonna cry"

"me: i saw someone else wearing a common sweatshirt that you have and i was like 'that's f's sweatshirt why are other people wearing it???' f: that's fucking precious"

"i don't know if it was just me, but i grew up irish dancing" -my conductor who grew up in ireland

[meher-sumedha]

Alright I am writing this shit even tho it has only 5 notes cause I can't think about anything else. Also, read at your own risk cause it's adult. Also I'm writing the story from first person POV'S: Also I fucking swear if anyone reblogs this shit I'm gonna sue.

Another Love : Chapter 1

Nesta :

Cassian and I were flying in the mortal lands. I just smiled at him and he held me tighter. We were flying so high that we could see the view of the entire land. From this height no body could see the miserable lives of the people who lived here. Just the greenery of the forest. Cassian started to come close to the ground and then I saw her.

"Sorry Cassian", "For Wh-", I pushed him off of me and went tumbling through trees. There, I saw her. She was tied to the back of a van. The ropes were soaked with vervain.

I ran towards her and started freeing her. I slapped her cheek a few times. "Hope HOPE, C'mon I need you to wake up". "Mom? MOM? How are you even here - What are you doing here?".

"Honey there's no time for asking questions" The rope finally came off and I hugged her fiercely. "Hope I need you to get as far as you can from here, you'll meet a person with wings and you'll tell him that you need help, ALRIGHT? ".

"HEY, get back in the damn van" A person shouted. "Go Hope go, I'll take care of myself, tell the long haired man that Nesta Archeron sent you okay? " I helped her out of the van.

"Mom what about you? ", "I'll be fine honey, just go, FAST NOW! ".

Hope ran and then 5 men started closing in on me. "We'll have fun with this one eh, she'll make a fine doll for us at night" One said to the other. "We'll see about that, the highest bidder will get her and Briallyn gave us special orders for this one. " Briallyn? Briallyn. What part does fucking Briallyn have? Shit shit shit shit shit.

It's fine. I can fight them off, can't I? I have a dagger on me but they all have swords. Well there's nothing left to do but find out then.

I lunged towards the first man and stuck my dagger up his shins and retrieved it. Another man tried to stab me from behind but I kicked his groin and drove my elbow up his nose. He stumbled and I took that opportunity to stick the dagger in his foot. He shrieked with pain.

Two others came to me from opposite directions and I moved back and they bumped into themselves and collapsed to the ground. I saw five other people coming towards my direction and I couldn't fight anymore.

I decided to summon my power then, the only option left. I let everything fade away slowly, the sound of their footsteps, my thumping heart, EVERYTHING. Until I could see that golden thread and pulled it.

I could only see silver flames everywhere until the shouting of the men stopped. I clutched my chest and saw 9 people around me. Some with their throats cut and some without their heads at all.

I suddenly felt a pang through my chest. I looked down and the last thing I saw was an arrow covered with my blood.

Cassian:

"For wh-" I was cut off by Nesta throwing me to the grounds. I fell directly into a trees and my wings were getting stabbed by a millions of branches until I finally felt to the ground. Why the hell would she pull this shit? Did I do something wrong?.

I got up and started walking when I heard someone shouting my name. I ran towards the direction from which the sound was coming and when I reached there. It was not what I was expecting at all.

"Cassian, are you cassian? ", A 15-16 year old redheaded girl came towards me and asked. "Who's asking? I don't really care I have to go". "Listen to me Mr. Mikeal Jackson, Hayley, I meant Nesta Archeron told me to find you so just answer the question or leave."

Nesta. NESTA. "Is she okay? Did somebody hurt her? Where is she? " Millions of questions were running through my head and the one I couldn't bear to ask - Is she dead?. "I-I don't know but please she told me to find you. Are you fucking Cassian or not cause I need to find a way to help her? "

"I am. Where is she? " I asked and suddenly heard men screaming. I ran towards that direction and that girl ran even faster than me. All the time clutching her hands to her ears to block out the shouting. Halfway the shouting stopped but we still kept running.

"MOM! MOM! " The girl started shouting when we reached there. 9 men were on the ground. Some beheaded and some with their throats slitted. I tried to listen to anything but I couldn't hear anything except the rustling of trees now and then.

I then saw something on the ground. Nesta's father's wood piece. No no no no no. The girl fell on her knees and started crying. I tried comforting her.

"They took her-they took her and now it's my fault" The girl said in between sobbing. "It's-it's alright, we'll find her" My voice cracked and it was like I was trying to assure myself that.

Why do I feel like I want like Hope Mikealson to suddenly appear in ACOSF, like she meets Nesta when she and Cassian were flying overhead the mortal lands and that she's actually Nesta's daughter from another dimension cause I remember gwyn saying there were 26 dimensions and that i could add that Nesta lived another life when she was under the couldron. Message me if you want me to write a story on this Or Just Like this post. (10 notes at least)

[arsenicolada]

I have seen that 'story' go around a lot and I still don't know what it is. WHAT is My Immortal??

Ok buddy get yourself comfortable cause this is gonna be a long one:

Let’s go all the way back to 2006, when the internet was just becoming a thing to young people. Back when a majority of the websites we know today were either just starting out or just starting to pick up in popularity, including fanfiction.net. A lot of fanfictions had already filled the archives, both bad and good, but one fanfiction in particular caught people’s attention almost immediately. And it was ‘My Immortal’ by “Tara Gilesbie”, or ‘XXXbloodyrists666XXX’ as was her username on the website. Supposedly taking place in the world of Harry Potter, this particular fanfic gets to a point where, had it not been for the actual characters’ names being present, you can’t really tell what it’s supposed to be referencing as it has very little acknowledgement of the source material’s canon. The story’s main focus is “Tara’s” self-insert OC, Ebony Dark’ness Dementia Raven Way. Also known as Enoby, Egogy, Evony, Ibony, or just Tara. To anyone who has only heard of ‘My Immortal’, it just sounds like your typical run of the mill “mary sue” fanfiction. But what made ‘My Immortal’ stand above the rest were three things: the butchered grammar, the author’s seemingly obsession with the gothic subculture, and the mary sue herself.

The grammar is terrible, there is just no other way to put it. “Tara” had a very distinct way of writing, which was better exemplified in her ‘author’s notes’, her little thoughts that she always puts at the very beginning of each chapter or sometimes at the end. And other times in the middle of her story, to either talk back to the ‘flamerz’, go on about how much she loves a band she mentioned, or point out a pun she made. And it all greatly resembles someone sending a text message:

“AN: STOP flaming! if u flam it menz ur a prep or a posr! Da only reson Dumbledeor swor is coz he had a hedache ok an on tup of dat he wuz mad at dem 4 having sexx! PS im nut updating umtil I get five good revoiws!”

That kind of style is present throughout the whole story. Granted the actual chapters have better spelling, but the way it’s put together is all the same. And it actually worsens the further it goes to the near point of illegibility. In fact, legend has it that the story’s grammar was apparently so bad that fanfiction.net deleted it due to the sudden drop of intelligence on the site. No one knows if that’s true, most likely not as that seems like quite a stretch. However, it was actually deleted, perhaps by Tara herself, though she later reposted it.

But the real kicker is exactly how the fanfic interprets the source material. Hogwarts is no longer a school of wizardry divided by bestowed houses, but is now a more high school-based setting where everyone is divided by cliques, though only three are present. Goths, preps, and posers:

•Goths are the good kids. They’re the only ones who understand this dark and depressing world better than anyone else, and shows their individuality by shopping at Hot Topic together and listening to the same exact bands. They’re also half vampires for some reason. And they’re all part of Slytherin even if they’re originally from another house in the actual story.

•Preps are the mean kids. They just like, totally don’t understand goths so they’re like so mean to them and call them scary and stuff. They’re all just bitchy and are like totally jealous of the goths and only shop at stores like American Eagle and only listen to crappy music like Hilary Duff. And all those stupid preps are in Gryffindor.

•Posers are just goth wannabes who listen to Avril Lavigne and probably don’t even know who Good Charlotte is. What houses are they even in, no one knows and no one gives a shit. They’re mostly there just to show the reader what being goth is really all about.

And above them all is the only true goth, the queen of Mary Sues herself, Ebony. Now the definition of what makes a “mary sue” has been drastically skewed over the years, and probably shouldn’t even be relevant anymore, but if you at the very least want a true-to-heart example, Ebony is the way to go. Tara’s obsession with being goth is greatly reflected in this character. She loves bands like My Chemical Romance, Good Charlotte, Simple Plan, and Evanescence (who wrote the song ‘My Immortal’ which this fanfic is named after). She shops at Hot Topic and wears the type of clothing that any 13 year old goth wishes they could. In fact, Ebony’s outfits are always described in great detail and takes up to almost paragraphs in every chapter:

“For example today I was wearing a black corset with matching lace around it and a black leather miniskirt, pink fishnets and black combat boots. I was wearing black lipstick, white foundation, black eyeliner and red eye shadow.”

And trust me when I say they only get longer. It isn’t just the outfit descriptions though, the whole entire story is written in Ebony’s favor. Like a Hot Topic being in Hogsmede despite it being a nonmagical store (not to mention being an american chain) and a club where Ebony’s favorite bands just happen to be playing concerts in despite being muggle bands. And how cutting, underage drinking, and smoking is glamorized as being “dark” and “beautiful” and has no repercussions whatsoever. And how there’s no uniforms so Ebony can show off her over the top wardrobe.

Since Ebony is the main character and this is a fanfiction, all of Tara’s favorite characters from the Harry Potter world are Ebony’s gothic friends and accompany her in Slytherin, even if they’re canonly in other houses as I’ve mentioned previously. And all of Tara’s hated characters are Ebony’s enemies, and are depicted as either nasty preps or a bunch of posers that belong in Gryffindor. It doesn’t stop there though, as all the male characters have a thing for Ebony because she is just so sexy and looks exactly like Amy Lee. But Ebony only focuses on her two main love interests, Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter, who now goes by Vampire Potter because he likes the taste of human blood.

This is all just the very basics of the fanfiction, there are plenty of more absurdities you’ll stumble upon the further you read. Like Voldemort and the Death Eaters disguising themselves as My Chemical Romance, Snape video taping Ebony taking a bath, characters from different sources making cameos like Marty Mcfly, the list goes on.

But what truly, TRULY made ‘My Immortal’ such a phenomenon is that no one knew if it was legit. There were two sides to how people felt about it, those who thought it was a real story and Tara at the time was another young angsty teen who had just been introduced to the internet (which would explain the terrible grammar and botched sex scenes), and those who thought the story was one big joke written by a genius troll who made Tara up as a persona, which was extremely plausible since everything about the story was so wrong and completely blown out of proportion that there was no possible way someone could’ve come up with it and been completely serious. But people on the other side have argued that they’d have a very, VERY dedicated troll.

One of the biggest factors to their argument was Tara’s friend Raven, who not only had her own OC named Willow that was featured in the story, but also had a helping hand in writing it. She even had her own fanfiction.net account called ‘bloodytearz666’. Raven was Tara’s creative filter, as she was in charge of spelling and grammar and came up with some plot points in the story. At least until chapter 16 when the two apparently had a falling out and Tara killed off Willow, but later brought Willow back as an apology. So this troll would’ve had to not only make Tara, but also make Raven as a means to support their persona, unless Raven was created by a second troll. But both of those trolls would’ve had to write other stories pre and post ‘My Immortal’, as well as manage several social media accounts, which is a whole lot of effort just for the sake of making a joke.

Since the story was made, many people have come forward claiming they are the mysterious Tara, with promises of more material and continuations of the infamous story. So no one knew for sure who Tara is or her whereabouts. Until now.

After years and years of shrouded mystery, “Tara” has finally logged back into her more than decade old account and revealed herself to be Rose Christo. As it turns out, she co-wrote ‘My Immortal’ with Raven, who was actually a real person and her friend, during a very hard time in her life. And it wasn’t for a reason most might have thought. She revealed that she purposely made it as bad as possible so she could gain enough publicity to find her younger brother that she had been separated from.

She even wrote a memoir about it that is set to be published in 2018, which you can read about here.

You can also read the fanfiction itself if you’re interested here. Even if it did turn out to be a fake, it’s still a very humorous read, and very interesting since we now know its backstory.

EDIT: So as it turns out the whole thing with Rose was a hoax and the real Tara is still out there. Waiting, longing, in a dark alley with her hand stretched out so that I may one day shake it.

[thenightling]

Dickery vs. Competence: Morpheus and Daniel sins: Comparison

Post made for the request of @zalemoonshadow  

Disclaimer.  Some of these might not be Sins per se but they are acts of questionable competence.   Also I am aware that Neil Gaiman is not accountable for the content of the spin-offs, One-shots, and “Sandman Presents” titles.  And I doubt Daniel’s screw up list would be so long if he was the one writing those...

Sins: Tally:

It’s hard to measure Morpheus’ sins vs. Daniels and a bit unfair.  Morpheus had eons to f--k up while Daniel has only had twenty one years.  If I was to measure Morpheus crimes between 1988 and 1996 and Daniel’s sins between 1996 until 2017 it would read like this...

Morpheus:

1.  Ignoring Nada’s pleas when he went to Hell for his helm.   He does eventually rescue her and apologize but yes he did leave her there for ten thousand years.  At least she got to slap him.   I fear when Sandman finally gets adapted as a film or TV series because this is probably Morpheus’ most “problematic” behavior, leaving his lover in Hell for rejecting him.  And then the fact that she forgives him would also be seen as “problematic” because today it’s very unfashionable to forgive “abusers” even if they truly are remorseful.    

2.  His excessive punishment of Alexander Burgess.  Yes, Alex carried on his Father’s act of holding Morpheus prisoner, and threatening Morpheus and mocking him, but Alex was afraid of what Morpheus might do to him if freed (and with good reason).  And poor Paul’s crime was apathy and for it he lost his lover for over six years. 

3.   Not doing more for Rachel (Constantine’s junkie lover) when he obviously could (Issue 3). 

4.  Almost killing Rose Walker.  (He didn’t want to and mercifully he didn’t have to).

5.   Killing his own son.  Even though, yes, it was out of Mercy he could have offered Orpheus a new life with a Dream-created body.   But I do understand that he probably wanted to be reunited with his long lost wife finally.   I don’t really consider this a crime but you know Morpheus did.  Though I think his real crime here is far older.  Abandoning Orpheus in his hour of need before and after his adventure in The Underworld.

Actually, that’s kind of it, isn’t it?

Note: I will not call Morpheus’ not wanting to kill the Dream Vortex(s) a sin.   That’s a virtue, the value of life.  

___________________________

Daniel:

1.   Ignoring the banishment of an apparently important entity by a Nightmare Judge (Once Cain was banished human beings became dangerously violent toward each other). 

2.   Allowing (Or somehow not noticing) Merv using sleeping Human souls as slave labor, resulting in a man mistaking Merv as a God, and in the waking world attempting suicide and causing permanent brain damage.   Seriously WTF?!  (This REALLY happened in The Dreaming Comics).  I don’t think Merv ever realized what he had done.  And this felt so very, very... off...

God, how I hated The Dreaming spin-off, specially the crap of Nuala going back under her Glamour and the writer trying to make that somehow “empowering” that she was again hiding her true self, when she learned not to do that to try to appease others in the original Sandman.    The idiot who did this really missed the point here. But sadly that’s just my anger, and not something I can blame Daniel for.

3. Leaving his semi-competent Dream beings to handle a civil war by themselves with the feeble excuse of “I didn’t want there to be any martyrs.”  Among Nightmares??!

4.   Altering Lucien’s memories about Matthew’s Death after giving Matthew the speech on why you shouldn’t change memories like that. 

5.  Transforming a psychotic dead human into a Dark Sue Nightmare and not doing a damn thing when things go horribly wrong.  WHO does that?!

6.  Making The Justice League do his job for him when Starros invade The Dreaming.  It was a cute story but seriously... why?!

7.   Apparently killing the Corinthian ...again.   This is based solely on panel art.  Observe.

Correct me if I am mistaken but I don’t think that skull should be there.  I could have sworn the original Corinthian skull was used in the creation of The Second Corinthian (if I’m not mistaken) so either the illustrator forgot the Corinthian was re-created OR Daniel killed him... again.   And if so... Why?  He was mostly reformed (Literally and figuratively).  Admittedly this is probably an illustration Easter Egg mistake. 

8.  Constantly bragging about how much better / nicer / kinder he is to Morpheus.   That egotism makes Morpheus look modest.   

9.  Allowing Matthew to die and not even trying to talk him into living and then replacing Matthew very quickly with an unlikable but color coordinated twat of a white raven.

10.   Not doing anything when The House of Mystery has been repeatedly stolen, misused, destroyed, and or even merged with The House of Secrets.   These are pretty big events.

11.   Banishing The Second Corinthian to Earth (What could possibly go wrong!) and replacing him with Echo, a notoriously unstable former human turned Nightmare, all as punishment for what happened when Corinthian tried to stop a serial killer he accidentally unleashed.   And all while Daniel was reminding them that if he was his “old self” he would have just uncreated him, ignoring that the original Corinthian was uncreated for being a murderous psychopath, not for trying to stop one. 

12.   In “Everything you wanted to know about Dreams” he let Nuala screw up several drams or somehow did not notice this happen...

13.  Also in “Everything you wanted to know about Dreams” (This probably shouldn’t count as canon and was done as a cute sort of joke but I’ll list it anyway.) Lucien and a bus is sent into The Waking World to retrieve several dreams and nightmares that enter as the result of someone waking up a sleep walker.   Does Daniel do anything for himself or his realm... at all? 

14.  Allowing a Nightmare to steal Dream Sand and relying on another dream to get it back, despite there being a huge conspiracy tied to the events or again, somehow not noticing the events until after the fact. (Merv Pumpkinhead one-shot)  

 15.  Leaving Abel (apparently) to track down wayward Nightmares.  Morpheus did that for himself!

16.  Allowing Japanese Death deities to “Poach” sleeping mortal souls to help power their realm.  (See Lucifer comics where Lucifer threatens to tell Dream what they are doing with sleeping mortal souls.  How did Dream not notice?!)

17.    Being “so helpful” in Dark Nights Metal so far.   I wasn’t going to list this one in case Daniel gets more useful in the December issue but so far his appearance has been little more than a page cameo to remind readers that he’s DC canon.

18.  And apparently allowing this to happen...

19.  Somehow there has been more damage to The Dreaming during Daniel’s reign than during the seventy two years Morpheus was trapped in a giant snow globe.

______________________________________________

Overall sins of Morpheus:

1.  Leaving Nada in Hell.  Sure, he rescued her later, but it was ten thousand years later and required Death telling him he was wrong.  

2.   Apparently destroying most of The Dreaming for centuries after Nada rejected him.

3. (Through Retroactive content in The Dreaming spin-off comics) Severely punishing Lucien by transforming his white raven form to black for some undisclosed sin.   Unless the theory that he IS Adam is correct and it’s for his mistreatment of Eve I’m not sure what the Hell Lucien could have done that was so bad.  Did he mistakenly put a non-fiction book in the fiction section?  Lucien is Dream’s most loyal servant, as repeatedly confirmed in the original Sandman comics, and praised by Morpheus for this reason.

4.   What Morpheus did to “Emperor Norton” and his mind for his petty competition with the younger siblings.

5.  Not doing more to help Rachel when Constantine implored him and almost doing nothing.

6.  How he treated Lyta and Hector Hall when he found them in Brute and Glob’s Dream Dimension.   Not even allowing Lyta a proper goodbye to her husband or even giving Hector the time and knowledge to process the truth of his situation.   

7.   Repeatedly behaving like Rumpelstiltskin in regard to Daniel, making it all too easy to frame Morpheus for Daniel’s abduction / murder.

8.  Not being there for his son in his darkest hour all because Morpheus was bitter / hurt over their falling out when Orpheus was grieving his wife.   And this ultimately leads to centuries of torment for Orpheus as a severed head looked after by priests before finally having to be put out of his misery by his own father.

All in all, despite his colorful history and many mistakes, Morpheus did set most of them right, and tried to atone.  Daniel is just... not that good at his job...

Perhaps there should be two Dream of The Endless ruling The Dreaming?

[setgamesettingstotroll]

FE8 Draft Log 3

Lords ‘n’ Consorts, oh my~ Otherwise known as: Shinon/Mandi’s Fire Emblem 8 Draft Log. Part 3

Welcome back, everyone. Welcome to part three of my Fire Emblem Sacred Stones draft run.

For those of you new or just now finding this log:

First Log with the rules and things: http://setgamesettingstotroll.tumblr.com/post/114341729022/fe8-draft-run-log-1

Second Log: http://setgamesettingstotroll.tumblr.com/post/116299103872/fe8-draft-run-log-2

And of course, my partner in this draft is ALynnL/Sue, it would be rude of me not to include hers here, too.

Part one of ALynnL's draft: http://setgamesettingstotroll.tumblr.com/post/114649739552/fe-8-draft-log-1

Part two: http://setgamesettingstotroll.tumblr.com/post/116698310697/fe-8-draft-log-2

And with that covered, I'll be putting the rest of this under the cut to spare everyone's dashes.

So here we are, beginning where we left off with Ephraim getting ready to enter the Za'albul Marsh to face off with Selena the Fluorspar and hand her severely misguided ass to her on a Platinum Platter.

Before we begin, I'm putting here for note that I trained Ewan up from Pupil class to Shaman in the Tower of Valni as per allowment.

Ewan's new stats:

Shaman Level 1 Exp: 0

HP: 22 Mag: 6 Skill: 5 Spd: 12 Luck: 8 Def: 2 Res: 10

And now we're off to the Marsh!

========

Ephraim leads everyone towards Za'albul marsh in search of Myrrh, and on their way they learn from soldiers and villages that she's been captured by General Selena. With no choice, Ephraim grimly steels and prepares himself to fight the General to get his friend, and my draft unit, back. |D

Our scene opens with Selena holding the Dragonstone and both marveling and wondering at it. It does indeed look like an ordinary stone. She's also heard the reports of Ephraim and company nearing and curses the fact she's forced to return to the Capital immediately otherwise she'd get rid of them. Well, you're in luck, you're not gonna make it back to the Capital at all and die facing Ephraim.

Before we get ahead of ourselves though, Myrrh appears before Selena asking for the stone back. She tells Selena the story of the darkness and how it has warped things. Selena understands, and tells Myrrh of how she came to be a General, being a commoner from an impoverished town and the Emperor saved them.

Selena asks if it's possible to save the Emperor and Myrrh sadly tells her it is impossible. A soldier arrives saying Ephraim and his company has arrived. Selena tells the men to ready themselves to meet them head on. She releases Myrrh and tells her to return to Ephraim's side, and apologizes that she can't give her Dragonstone back, as she vowed never to fail her Lord again, and if she wants it, to tell Ephraim to come take it from her.

Before Myrrh can protest, Selena tells her to go before the area becomes red from the fighting.

She rides out and orders all the troops to arms.

When we ride up, Seth states the obvious we already know that the enemy is already lining up and that it's Selena leading them. L'Arachel shares her knowledge about the woman, saying she wields the power of the Thunderstorm and uses it to attack from afar without mercy.

Annnd then Seth tells Ephraim to be cautious when facing her. No shit, Seth, but really, stop throwing off Lord Ephraim's groove, he does what he wants. GET LIKE EPHRAIM, SETH. -shot-

With that all said, I'ma take my own advice and get like Ephraim and smite this chapter right proper!

Let's go~!

[Chapter 13 battle, start!]

Soooooo before we begin the smiting, I'm putting note here that I've graciously used the Dragonshield Ewan came with to bolster Marisa's Def up from 4 to 6 because she's gonna need it for this chapter.

Annd 5 turns in Tana takes one too many hits. So much for getting like Ephraim. -shot- xDDD

Annd after that reset....

Eff. I won, but it took an assload of time and I ended up offing the mage that was carrying that speedwing (it wasn't a droppable item either, effff) but I got the red gem and the energy ring.

Selena wasted all her boltings trying to hit Kyle the whole time. WOMAN. YOU HAVE EARNED LORD EPHRAIM'S IRE BY ATTACKING HIS KNIGHT ~husband~ MULTIPLE TIMES. I hope you've come to terms with any regrets and Gods you serve, cause you've earned a one-turn death.

In other words, Ephraim gave her arse the heave-ho.

And fuck, I forgot to get Tethys' starting stats. Eff. Oh well.

Turns taken: 18

Penalty taken: 15

Total turncount: 33

Stat time:

Ephraim:

Level: 18 Exp: 34

HP: 31 Str: 13 Skill: 15 Spd: 19 Luck: 14 Def: 14 Res: 5

Franz:

Level: 4 Exp: 25

HP: 43 Str: 17 Skill: 17 Spd: 20 Luck: 12 Def: 16 Res: 8

Kyle:

Level: 18 Exp: 68

HP: 37 Str: 15 Skill: 12 Spd: 12 Luck: 9 Def: 12 Res: 5

Cormag:

Level: 14 Exp: 8

HP: 34 Str: 17 Skill: 14 Spd: 13 Luck: 5 Def: 14 Res: 3

Ewan:

Level: 7 Exp: 80

HP: 26 Mag: 11 Skill: 6 Spd: 14 Luck: 12 Def: 2 Res: 16

Natasha:

Level: 9 Exp: 51

HP: 27 Mag: 9 Skill: 6 Spd: 13 Luck: 9 Def: 5 Res: 13

Colm:

Level: 4 Exp: 21

HP: 37 Str: 17 Skill: 19 Spd: 22 Luck: 15 Def: 8 Res: 8

Joshua:

[Only gained exp]

Tana:

Level: 14 Exp: 27

HP: 29 Str: 9 Skill: 15 Spd: 20 (capped) Luck: 15 Def: 7 Res: 10

L'Arachel:

Level: 6 Exp: 9

HP: 20 Mag: 7 Skill: 9 Spd: 12 Luck: 13 Def: 5 Res: 9

Marisa:

Level 8 Exp: 63

HP: 26 Str: 7 Skill: 14 Spd: 14 Luck: 11 Def: 6 Res: 4

Tethys:

Level: 2 Exp: 90

HP: 19 Str: 1 Skill: 3 Spd: 13 Luck: 11 Def: 5 Res: 5

Dozla:

[Didn't see combat this round]

Ughhhh I'm not ashamed of the penalty I took, it was an outright honest mistake on my part and I learned my lesson and came out much better this time around. I'm more or less pissed at myself for taking out that mage with the speedwing before Colm could get to them. |D I HAVE MY PRIORITIES, OKAY?

Moving on.

=========

Ephraim returns Myrrh's dragonstone to her. But it's with a heavy heart that she accepts it.

Myrrh mourns and grieves the loss of Selena, asking Ephraim why it must be so that we must fight even against good people to right this wrong. She does not blame the Lord, but wants to understand. Ephraim sadly tells her he has no answers for this, but he will press on towards the Capital in search of one. He wants to learn the truth behind all of this.

YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH EPHRAIM -shot-

==========

We interrupt your scheduled draft summary to bring you this side note:

Before heading to Grado Keep I make a sidetrip to restock on stuff. Javelins (the lifeblood of my lance users), some slim weapons and a few handaxes and some more mend staves.

Fed Joshua the Talisman to up his Res from 2 to 4, and fed Natasha the Energy Ring to make her mag go from 9 to 11 in preparation for early promotion since I'll be starting chapter 14 and there's only, what, 21 chapters to fe8? Meaning I need to pick up the damned pace and I need another offensive magic user besides Ewan out there on the field.

Also fed Dozla the Goddess Icon Tethys came with to up his Luck from 4 to 6. Better safe than sorry, right?

And with that, we'll now return you to your regularly scheduled draft summary.

===========

So, marching up to Grado Keep, Ephraim recalls how it doesn't even look different from the two years ago when he'd visited with Eirika and their father and all that. And then cue a flashback to him and Lyon having a conversation. I am too lazy to type the interaction this time, peeps, sorry.

And then an earthquake happens. And Myrrh is startled. And then proceeds to inform us that the darkness is stemming from the middle of the keep. So we rush in.

Cue a scene with Lyon standing beside his father, questioning if he's been foolish, saying when Vigarde had died, he couldn't deal with it... Before he can go on, he's wracked with pain and a soldier runs in, saying they're under attack by Ephraim. Just then, the solider is staring at Lyon.

Lyon's new sprite appears different, darker and more sinister. They comment that they do not appreciate being stared at as if they were some vile creature. Then orders them to wipe out Ephraim. Vigarde slowly tells the soldier to do as he says. The soldier rushes out in compliance and Lyon turns towards Vigarde, addressing them completely differently. "Vigarde, defeat Ephraim. I must go." and teleports out. DUN DUN DUN. Oh my whatever could this be?

We'll find out soon enough~

Til then, we've got a battle to win.

[Chapter 14 battle, start!]

So, considering I have more than 12 units now, I'm forced to bench one. Sorry, Dozla. I need Tethys more than you right now so she can boost her bro so he can get mass expies. 8D

... ... ...

Well. Damn. Seven turns in, I take a penalty. I apparently didn't move Rennac far enough out of the way and he got attacked. Dodged it, but still. Eff. D:

BUT. All in all, I got all the chests, gained levels, stole everything that needed stealing, and it's alll gewd.

Kyle promoted to Paladin and Natasha made it to level 10 and thus was promoted to Valkyrie (despite the inner screaming from my perfectionist side)

AND HOLY SHIT I AM SO PROUD OF KYLE. He critted so many times in defense of his Lord husband -shot-

Reached A rank support with Ephraim and Kyle, C rank with Cormag and Tana. Need to pick up the pace with the others.

Turns taken: 18

Pentalty turn: 5

Overall turncount: 23

Tbh, I could have ended it at turn 11, but I wouldn't have gotten the last chest or the body ring...and My perfectionist side demanded me to get them. xD

ANYWAY. Stats!

Ephraim: Level: 20 Exp: -

HP: 33 Str: 14 Skill: 17 Spd: 19 Luck: 15 Def: 15 Res: 5

Kyle: Level: 20/1 Exp: 0

HP: 40 Str: 18 Skill: 15 Spd: 14 Luck: 10 Def: 14 Res: 6

Franz: Level: 5 Exp: 5

HP: 44 Str: 17 Skill:18 Spd: 20 Luck: 12 Def: 16 Res: 8

Natasha: Level: 10/1 Exp: 0

HP: 31 Mag: 13 (including the +2 from the energy ring) Skill: 7 Spd: 13 Luck: 9 Def: 7 Res: 17

Cormag: Level: 15 Exp: 84

HP: 35 Str: 18 Skill: 15 Spd: 14 Luck: 5 Def: 14 Res: 3

Tana: Level: 16 Exp: 99

HP: 31 Str: 10 Skill: 16 Spd: 20 Luck: 16 Def: 7 Res: 10

Colm: [Only gained exp]

Marisa: Level: 10 Exp: 82

HP: 28 Str: 7 Skill: 16 Spd: 16 Luck: 12 Def: 6 Res: 4

Ewan: Level: 12 Exp: 27

HP: 27 Mag: 15 Skill: 8 Spd: 17 Luck: 15 Def: 2 Res: 19

Tethys: Level: 4 Exp: 44

HP: 20 Str: 1 Skill: 3 Spd: 14 Luck: 13 Def: 6 Res: 7

Joshua: Level: 18 Exp: 56

HP: 34 Str: 12 Skill: 20 Spd: 20 Luck: 11 Def: 6 Res: 4 (with the Talisman used)

L'Arachel: Level: 8 Exp: 13

HP: 20 Mag: 9 Skill: 10 Spd: 13 Luck: 15 Def: 5 Res: 10

Dozla: [Did not see combat this round]

WELP. Fair trade off, I suppose. The added turncount for the treasures. All in all though I'm rather pleased.

==========

AND SO, upon defeating Vigarde, the man just suddenly poofs out of existence, startling our Lord. Seth says they should look for any stragglers within the castle just in case, and Ephraim says he'll go with him because he may find Lyon.

...And he does.

And the darker Lyon greets him and tells him it was all his plan to destroy Renais and everything else. I'm too damned lazy to type the dialogue out so let's just say Ephraim's both confused and pissed, and Lyon poofs.

Then a soldier arrives to inform him that they've found a cell in the back with captives.

They go to see, and upon finding a new figure, said person asks if their execution has been moved up. Then realizes Ephraim's not a Grado soldier and asks who he is.

He's motherfucking Ephraim of Renais, bitch. GET LIKE HIM. EXCUSE _YOU_ whoever the hell you are.

So the dude says his name is Knoll. And until recently, was one of Grado's top researchers in arcane matters.

Seth then has to freaking butt in and ask why he was locked up. Jesus christ, man, this is EPHRAIM'S GAME, NOT YOURS. GTFO, SETH. -boots-

"......" OH GOD THE NOMAD SPEAK HAS BEGUN AGAIN. HALP.

Ephraim to the rescue to fix Seth's GD mistake by assuring Knoll it's okay if he doesn't want to answer that, but if he can at least tell him what Lyon was trying to do.

So basically Knoll tells us all that happened. Vigarde fell ill a year ago and died. And how strange Lyon was acting after revealing his father had returned to life after his usage of the Dark Stone.

Knoll informs them sadly that Lyon has transformed. Ephraim falls silent for a moment, looking contemplative. With my attention to detail more these days, I finally understand why. I think he was recalling what Myrrh said about the corruption. And yet, his own mind can't bring himself to believe it all just yet, despite what he saw and heard from Lyon.

Knoll leads them to the temple where the Sacred Stone was once held, and says if they're lucky, the Sacred Twins are still there. The Tome Gleipnir and the black Axe, Garm.

Knoll comments on Ephraim's knowledge of history when the Lord recalls the stories. Ephraim said he only remembered because Lyon had taught him. Falling silent in contemplation after Seth arrives with the weapons, the shaman bids Ephraim to take them.

I mildly want to cry when he says "I'm sure there's someone else who would've wanted you to." AHHHHH T_T;;;

Annnnnd suddenly a Frelian Pegasus Knight rides up.

Ephraim tries to tell her he has a message for Frelia, but she interrupts him by saying there's terrible news, Princess Eirika and Prince Innes are in trouble, under attack in Jehanna by Tiger Eye and Moonstone, aka Caellach and Valter.

"We'll make it. Eirika is my sister, she will not lay down her blade. And I am her brother, I will not let my sister die!" AHHHHHHHH JUST WRECK MY FEELS WHY DON'T YOU, EPHRAIM. -flails-

WELP. Things are about to get hot and heavy again, folks! |D OFF TO JEHANNA!

=========

So, Caellach attacked Jehanna Hall where Eirika was headed with Innes to forge an alliance with its Queen, Isamaire. The Queen unfortunately does not survive, and Eirika is forced to flee into the desert. However she gets trapped from all sides. Ephraim wastes no damned time waiting for frelian support and goes to save his sis single handedly -shot-

Annnd as we see the Hall in flames, Seth informs us he figured out which generals were leading the attack. Valter and Caellach. WELL NO SHIT THERE SHERSETH. THE GAME JUST TOLD US THIS ALREADY WE DON'T NEED YOU TO CLARIFY FOR US.

"We must rescue Princess Eirika and quickly, and yet... If you fall, Prince Ephraim, we're all finished. And this accursed sand... Most of the units can't get proper footing and are being slowed down. Mounted units are having the worse time, as their movement is severely limited." THANK YOU FOR REMINDING US OF THIS SETH, NO REALLY, WHAT WOULD WE EVER DO WITHOUT YOU HOLDING OUR HAND THE WHOLE WAY?

"Some of us can move better than others, though..." YOU DON'T SAY. He sounds like he hates to admit that he's sucky here in the desert. Ahaha.

"A combination of magic wielders and sky riders should give us some advantage." YEAH WE ALREADY KNEW THIS SETH. ANY SELF-RESPECTING FE PLAYER THAT KNOWS THEIR SHIT COULD TELL YOU THIS.

"Whatever we do, we must move cautiously." FFFFFFFFFFFF JFC. I'm so done with you, Seth. |D

"I understand. This is just like the battle for Renvall. We eithwe rescue Eirika or defeat all the enemy troops. If we accomplish either goal, victory is ours. Let's move!" YAY THANK YOU EPHRAIM I WAS ABOUT TO GO BATSHIT IF SETH SAID ANYTHING MORE REDUNDANT.

Annnd then the scene pans over to Lyon asking Caellach "how it goes", jfc Lyon, you're sure pretty chummy with him.

"Ah, Prince Lyon. Thank you, your highness, for gracing me with...your royal...er..."

"You can stop. There's no need for you to put on airs. You were made general for your military prowess, not your flowery speech." Ho'snap. At least someone's saying something mildly intelligent.

"And an honor it is. You know, Prince Lyon, you've got a lot of nerve. You've really worked over your dear friend the princess of Renais. Are you satisfied?"

"Is there some reason you ask?"

"No, not really. I just wanted to see how you'd react. That's all."

"She... Eirika has always been a very important person in my life. Both she and her brother have been friends of mine for a long time. Tell me, Caellach, do you have any friends to speak of?"

"Huh? Yeah, I got one. An old mercenary I fought with, went by the name of Joshua. He was a fool and a scoundrel, but now that he's gone, I miss the lad. I don't know where he's at or what he's doing, but..."

"Do you miss that life? Do you ever want to be a mercenary again, to see him?"

"Nope. The time we worked together was fun and all, but... No. I don't want to end up another no-name mercenary lying dead in a ditch. I'd rather serve the Grado Empire and make a name for myself. I'm going to see how far my axe will take me. And then, one day..."

"One day, you'll kill me and be emperor in my stead. Is that it?"

"Uh... That's..."

"It's alright. Think whatever you like if it helps you do your duty. As long as you do what I assign you to do, I'm happy. But for now, I'm going. You know what you need to do."

"Yep, leave it to me. I am General Caellac, the Tiger Eye of the Grado Imperial Army, after all! Once my prey is within my reach, I never let it escape. Too bad for the princess, but they've no chance at winning. None at all." BOLD WORDS, ASSHOLE. I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO RAMMING THEM DOWN YOUR THROAT.

And with all that scene done, to battle!

[Chapter 15 Battle, start!]

Before I started the fight I shifted some items around and let's hope I can manage this without too much difficulty. EIRIKA, INNES, YOU'D BETTER BE ABLE TO HOLD YOUR OWN TIL I FUCKIN' GET YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHERS OVER THERE TO YOU. -shot-

Because Joshua has to show off and L'Arachel has to use her divine cosmic powah to keep Eirika and the others safe. -shot again-

I managed to get most of the treasures in the desert. Metis' Tome, Swiftsoles, Warp stave (COULDN'T FIND THE GD RESCUE ONE), and the Silver Card.

Promoted Cormag, Tana, Joshua, and L'Arachel in the middle of the battle.

EWAN IS A GODDAMNED REAPER OF DEATH.

Got C support with Tethya and Ewan,

Got C suuport with Colm and Marisa.

Got B Support with Franz and Natasha.

I need to step up my game next map and work more on Joshua and Innes, L'Arachel and Eirika's. And Tana and Cormag's. Efff.

Smashed Caellach AND Valter's faces in with Cormag for the win.

Turns taken: like, 36? It was an assload of turns.

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE:

Stats!

Ephraim: [Level 20, no change]

Franz: [Only gained exp]

Kyle: [Only gained exp]

Cormag: 19/2

HP: 42 Str: 21 Skill: 19 Spd: 18 Luck: 5 Def: 16 Res: 4

Ewan: 17

HP: 31 Mag: 18 Skill: 9 Spd: 17 Luck: 19 Def: 4 Res: 20 (capped!)

Natasha: 3

HP: 33 Mag: 14 Skill: 8 Spd: 14 Luck: 11 Def: 7 Res: 18

Colm:  5

HP: 38 Str: 17 Skill: 19 Spd: 22 Luck: 16 Def: 8 Res: 8

Joshua: 19/1

HP: 40 Str: 14 Skill: 20 Sped:  20 Luck: 11 Def: 8 Res: 5

Tana: 17/1

HP: 37 Str: 13 Skill: 16 Spd: 22 Luck: 16 Def: 9 Res: 12

L'Arachel: 10/1

HP: 25 Mag: 12 Skill: 12 Spd: 13 Luck: 17 Def: 7 Res: 13

Marisa: 13

HP: 31 Str: 8 Skill: 18 Spd: 19 Luck: 14 Def: 7 Res: 4

Tethys: 7

HP: 22 Str: 1 Skill: 3 Spd: 16 Luck: 15 Def: 6 Res: 9

Innes: 3 [merely gained exp]

Eirika: 16 [leveled up to 16 that map, but I forget her stats.]

Dozla:

[Didn't see combat this map]

=======

And so the Renais twins are reunited, Ephraim praising Eirika's strength in holding out and Eirika returns the gesture by bestowing the Sacred Twin relics from Jehanna to him.

FFFF L'Arachel.

"Now that we have, at last, been reunited once again, perhaps this would be a good time to share information. I'm sure we all are most anxious to learn of what has happened." You know, L'Arachel can be strangely levelheaded and on-point when she wishes to be. She's very keen minded despite all her oddities. I love her for it.

So the meeting to update everyone goes with Ephraim introducing himself to those newer to the cause, as does L'Arachel. Ephraim then tells of how they took Grado Keep and defeated Vigarde and the guard have surrendered and laid down their arms. He also informs them of the Dark Stone that Knoll told him about. Eirika protests, and Ephraim sadly tells her about the wicked, dark transformation the Stone has done to him.

L'Arachel then suggests to use the Sacred Stones to combat the Dark Stone.

So everyone plots a course back to Renais. Huzzah.

On the side, Saleh reunites with Myrrh and promises to protect her still. Sorry to burst your bubble dude but you're not one of my units. GTFO and into the time-out corner you go!

AND NOW WE'RE OFF BACK TO RENAIS.

==========

And so before moving onto the next chapter I take time to stock up on items, sell unwanted things, and distribute any stat booster stuff I feel I should.

Fed Innes the Metis' Tome because pretty much everyone else is more or less well off and as a pre-promote his stat gains are a bit lacking and since he comes in so much later in Ephraim's side, he's gonna need all the help he can get.

And without further ado, we're off to Renais Castle!

-----

Returning home to see their beloved country in ruins from the war delivers a terrible blow to Ephraim and Eirika's morale. Also, y'guys remember that former dude Orson? Yeah, he's back. Supposed to have watched over the castle but we all know he's obsessed with that dead corpse of his wife to care. FFF. Ephraim's not gonna have any of this shit and vows to kick that dude's ass and do his best to heal his country.

Our opening scene begins with Eirika, Ephraim, and Seth in the window. OH GOD WHY MUST WE SUFFER HEARING SETH SOME MORE??

"Brother..."

"What has happened to our home? What has happened to Castle Renais? How did it come to be so ruined? So desolate?" Ephraim don't start asking the retarded questions we just got answered in the oversight of the next chapter thinggy, I had such high faith in you.

"Spies report that the castle is being held by the traitor Orson." Oh my god Seth did you finally say something useful?

"Orson... In retrospect, I realize he's been acting odd for a while now. He seemed so...dispirited."

"His wide passed away some six months back. The loss may have been too much for his mind to bear. His love and devotion for his wife were ell known among the knights." YOU DON'T SAY SETH. NOW YOU'RE BACK TO STATING THE OBVIOUS. Jfc.

"...." OH JESUS EIRIKA NO STAHP DON'T START THE NOMAD SPEAK.

"Now, he sits alone in the king's former bedchambers. He makes no effort to govern. No one is allowed to enter the chamers, and he takes no meals." Hardcore, dude. Srsly.

"What could he possibly be doing?" I don't think we want to know that answer, Eirika...

"I do not know. The spies had no insight into his behavior. He does nothing to deal with the dark creatures and bandits roaming the land. Reports say all of Renais is engulfed in chaos. Region after region is revolting, and Orson's reign is already crumbling. Left alone, it may very wel collapse under the weight of its own neglect." CHAOS, YOU SAY? I CAN DEAL WITH THAT. 8D Chaos and I are very good friends, don't you know. -shot- |D And fff, we can't have Renais collapsing in on itself, that's not good for its health. xD

"We cannot allow the situation to reach that point." NO SHIT EPHRAIM BUT THANK YOU FOR SAYING WHAT I WAS SAYING. -snort-

"We're going home, Eirika. We're going to the castle."

"I hear you, Ephraim." Of course you do, he's standing right infront of you talking. You're not deaf, girl.

And then suddenly Myrrh pipes up.

"Um, Ephraim?"

"What is it, Myrrh?"

"I-I will fight with you. Now that Selena has returned my dragonstone to me... I'll do what I can until its power runs out. Let's take back your home." More like Ephraim ganked it out of her dying hands but okay we'll go with that nicer version. And aww, thank you Myrrh, sweetie, you're adorbs.

"Are you sure about this?" JFC Eirika, don't ruin the moment.

"For the two of you... I simply want to help." AWWWW. -foams and flails at the feels-

"All right, I understand. But you must make me a promise. You are never to stray from our sides. Got that?" Protective Ephraim is protective, baww.

"Of course..."

Annnd so we're off to Castle Renais fo' realz now.

-----

Next scene opens with Lyon appearing out of nowhere in Renais Castle. A dumb person tries to stop him. Not a very bright idea, thar, dude.

"Huh? Who do you think you are? These are the chambers of Orson, steward of Renais.  There's no place for a street urchin like you, boy." OH SNAP. You just signed your death warrant.

"You... You fool! This is Prince Lyon!"

"What? This whelp is... I-I beg your forgiveness!" FFFFFFFFFFF. I'm sure you do.

"...... It's all right. I'm not the sort of person others hold in esteem..."

And he passes along with Reiv.

And the dude talks to the other dude about it.

"Who in the world was that? What a creepy-looking man." NO SHIT.

"Shh... He can hear you."

"You want to talk about ceeepy, that Orson's the one who chills my hide. What do you think he's doing back there? I've heard lots of bizzare rumors from the master of the mess hall. ...Do you think he needs help? Could he be dangerous?"

"I don't care. I'm here for the money. As long as I get paid, I'm happy. But on the subject of rumors, have you heard the stories of the secret treasure? There's supposed to be some fabulous wealth hidden in Castle Renais. I tell you, if I find it, I'm gone."

And scene fades out and when a new screen comes in, it's of Orson.

"What is it, Monica? You seem so happy today. Of COURSE I know what today is. I'd never forget your birthday! I have a present for you, dear. I think you'll like it..." I'm going to get roasted for this comment but: IS IT A DICK IN A BOX? -shotshotshotshot- SORRY NOT SORRY I HAD TO |D

"Orson," Before we can find out if it is, someone interrupts. Damn. |D

"...."

"Do you recognize me, Orson, or are you entirely lost to this world? Yes, it's me, Prince Lyon. I'm the one to whom you are indebted for ressurecting your beloved wife." Oh snap Lyon.

"...Get out. This is Monica and my place. I will not have our home disturbed by anyone. I did as you asked, I betrayed Renais. My promise has been kept."

"Yes, and I am very grateful to you. I came by today to offer you a piece of advice, nothing more. Ephraim is coming, Orson. He's on his way here to steal the happiness you two share." Can I punch his face in right now please? I really really want to for how greasy he sounds.

"Prince Ephraim?"

"That's right, Orson. And he's angry. I don't think he'll forgive you for betraying Renais. You've done so much to free your wife from the grave. It's a shame she'll die with you." JESUS LET ME STRANGLE HIM AND BEAT HIS FACE INTO THE FLOOR.

"No! That can't happen--"

"That's all I have to say to you. What you do now is up to you."

"...Monica, I'm sorry. I have something I must do. Please wait for me here. Oh, darling, don't look so sad. I'll be back soon, and then I'll never leave. I must do this to protect our happiness. You understand that, don't you? All right, then. I'll be back."

Annnnd with that, the scene fades and battle prep screen tiemz!

[Chapter 16, Battle start!]

Woooop. Looted everything that needed looting, got Eirika from level 16 to 20 and yay!

Got B Rank support with Tana and Cormag For C Rank support with Joshua and Innes Got C Rank support with Eirika and L'Arachel

Turns taken: 25

Stats:

Ephraim: [Level 20, no change, hell he didn't even see combat]

Franz: 6

HP: 45 Str: 17 Skill: 18 Spd: 21 Luck: 12 Def: 16 Res: 8

Kyle: 1 [Merely gained exp]

Cormag: 2 [Merely gained exp]

Ewan: 18

HP: 31 Mag: 19 Skill: 9 Spd: 18 Luck: 19 Def: 4 Res: 20 (capped)

Natasha: 6

HP: 33 Mag: 16 Skill: 9 Spd: 16 Luck: 12 Def: 8 Res: 19

Colm: 5 [Only gained exp]

Joshua: 2

HP: 41 Str: 14 Skill: 21 Spd: 21 Luck: 12 Def: 8 Res: 5

Tana: 2

HP: 38 Str: 14 Skill: 17 Spd: 22 Luck: 17 Def: 9 Res: 13

L'Arachel: 2

HP: 26 Mag: 13 Skill: 13 Spd: 14 Luck: 18 Def: 7 Res: 14

Innes: [only gained exp]

Eirika: 20

HP: 30 Str: 13 Skill: 18 Spd: 20 (capped) Luck: 17 Def: 10 Res: 7

All in all, I wasn't thrilled with the turn count, but I honestly wanted the treasure and all the goodies and to get Eirika to level 20 so I could promote Ephraim and Eirika together. It was also worth getting the support ranks so... I'll take what I can get, I guess? Yeah.

-------

AND SO WITH THAT CONCLUDED....

Seth informs the twins that the castle has been secured. NO SHIT, WE JUST WIPED THE FLOOR WITH EVERYONE OF COURSE IT'S SECURED. No thanks to your stating-the-obvious ass, dude.

He also informs them of what they found. Aka the animated corpse of Orson's wife. Eughhhh NO DO NOT WANT. I DO NOT WANT ANY OF THAT. -insert Kikyo Clay Pot joke here about the animated corpse-

Needless to say it shocks the eff out of Ephraim and Eirika. Can't say I blame them. Anyway, after disposing of the corpse, Eirika and Ephraim talk.

About the damage done and all.

"We can repair the castle, and what was stolen, we can do without. But the wounds and suffering inflicted upon the people of Renais..."

"It's too late to undo their pain. Once I become king, I must set our country right. I doubt the people will give me a warm reception, though. I did abandon them. All I can do is try to win back their trust, no matter how long it takes..." AHHHHH EPHRAIM WHY MUST YOU WRECK ME SO MUCH WITH YOUR LINES? For as reckless and all as you can be, you're so very aware of the things that need to be done, even if you doubt your own capability of being able to do such a thing. Hnnng.

And then Seth interrupts telling them to look outside. The crowd is cheering and Seth informs them that it's not the deeds they've done that they're praising, but that Orson's madness is at an end. And Seth then goes onto say that tomorrow, and the days after, their hearts could change...

"I will not let their hopes and dreams be shattered again. I will be king. Like my father before me, I will dedicate myself to their happiness."

"And I will do all I can." HNNNNG JUST TAKE MY HEART, GAME. TAKE IT.

And so with that, Seth takes them back to the throne room to locate the sacred stone and twin relics of renais. AND PROMOTE THESE TWO MOFOS TO THEIR SUPER SAIYAN FORMS -shot-

Their new stats:

Ephraim: 20/1

HP: 37 Str: 16 Skill: 20 Spd: 21 Luck: 15 Def: 17 Res: 10

Eirika: 20/1

HP: 34 Str: 15 Skill: 20 Spd: 21 Luck: 17 Def: 13 Res: 12

ANYWAY After getting promoted and the stone and getting the sacred twin relics and exiting the reliquary, L'Arachel goes on her eccentric spiel about the radiance of the stone for some much comedic relief on my end. Because I truly love this woman's quirks. xDDD

And after Innes remarks that all of the stones besides Renais' are destroyed, L'Arachel quickly corrects him, reminding him that Rausten's still exists as well, only Frelia, Jehanna, and Grado's stones were destroyed. Five stones, five nations. Renais and Rausten's are their only hope. So with that, she says she will guide them all to Rausten.

Yay, road trip!

=========

Well, that's all I'm gonna be doing for the moment because it's been a hella long time since I picked this draft up and I need to kinda replay a different file for fe8 to get myself reaquainted with the game before I try setting ouit from here but I wanted to post the progress I'd made since the last draft summary, so here it is!

Total turncount this Summary: 117

Overall Turncount for this Draft: 313 (without the two unaccounted for turn summaries)

[prehistoricowl-blog]

whhhew school drama. unh. skip past this if you don’t want school drama. also there’s a lot and I’m mostly rambling but.. heck do I hate this poor fool.

so I’m one out of three people in the 2DART class and I’m the only one who doesn’t have to do strict realism-only, 100% of the time, if there’s even a single hair off in comparison to your original HD reference then you get a 0. this is ‘cause I complained quite a lot about it(literally the entire class switched classes within the first week because of insane standards) before they tried to sell a few art pieces, the ORIGINALS, that I had worked on for 3+ weeks without my permission and under the author of ‘by a [school’s name] student’ in order to ‘raise funds for the school.’ fuck no. those were my materials, my microns, my hard work; so obviously we threatened to sue and got my fucking art back within a day(then a bunch of parents crying ‘oh we bought the art in an auction it should be ours!! refund ain’t enough’ drama so if you wanna hear about that just send an ask ‘cause I love roasting those poor, poor entitled individuals)

anyhow, back on topic. the second person is here is someone who uses charcoal and gets away with non-realism because he gets away with saying ‘oh if I blurr the lines to form realism I’ll lose the sharpness and it won’t seem real’(which he’s really smart, I appreciate him). then.. then we have the third person. who doesn’t even fucking art.

whenever we get a project she exclaims really stupid ideas aloud and then said she’s going to do it. once we’re about halfway through(so that you can tell what the other two are arting) she starts to claim that one of us ‘STOLE HER IDEA’ and that we’re copying her despite the fact she HAS NO ART done and she had already claimed something. sometimes we have to change what we’re doing and only have half the time or less to do the piece(try doing an 11 by 16 realism pen & ink in only a week. KILL ME) since our teacher outright agrees with her despite the lack of work or evidence, but sometimes she shrugs it off. 

then, THEN, when the fucking day to turn it in comes, she walks in, sets her stuff down, and starts BEGGING the teacher to give her ‘oh, one more day!! I promise it’ll be done tomorrow! I just don’t understand [literally everything and anything, excuse varies on day/project]!!’ next day? same act, gets another day. she does this for a week or more until finally, one day..  ‘oh! teacher! I don’t get it... I shouldn’t HAVE to do this because I don’t understand! that’s just so unfair to me!! I should have [me or the other guy’s] piece, they can do another in a day or two, right??’

the worst part is? the teacher fucking buys it. she gets excused for EVERY project, never does her own shit(and when it does, if I had done it in class? I’d get a 0. a goose egg. an F-.), and worst of all always complains about EVERYTHING. ‘ooooh, I don’t like this project! I don’t WANT to draw [literally something like a fucking worm or an insect! A LITERAL FUCKING WORM! A WORM IS AN ELONGATED OVAL THAT /WIGGLES!/ HOW DO YOU NOT FUCKING UNDERSTAND A /WORM?/]! ‘ or, wait for it, ‘I don’t think this fits with my talents! I don’t want to do this.’ ‘this is boring. I don’t want to do it!’ ‘this is too complicated, I don’t want to do it!’

EVEN FUCKING WORSE IS THAT TODAY THEY ANNOUNCE SHE’S THE ON THE STUDENT COUNCIL AS THE FUCKING /ART DEPARTMENT REPRESENTATIVE/. none of the other teachers fall for her bullshit. the math teacher lets her whine and complain but once she starts begging to take her test home so that her dad does it for her(which he does, I’ve asked him) after the fifth day of EVERYONE ELSE HAS TAKEN THE FUCKING TEST JUST DO IT ALREADY he just straight up gives her a 20.(then she complains about fucking that, too. ‘it’s unfair that I get lower grades than everyone else!!’ no, it’s unfair to everyone else that you even got a 20 for answering NO FUCKING questions when everyone else had to do an ACTUAL FUCKING TEST.)

then the digital media teacher just gives her a 0 if she keeps interrupting class(which she does. when she doesn’t understand the simpliest thing, she always shouts and takes up the whole class ‘oh but I don’t understand!! it’s really unfair that I have to do this...’ even though it’s being SPOONFED to her MULTIPLE FUCKING TIMES.), then the history teacher demands she leaves the room, then the science teacher straight up threatens to fail her for the year(and often fails her for the six weeks anyways.), and so on.

BUT FUCK. WHY THE FUCK IS SHE THE STUDENT COUNCIL ART DEPARTMENT REPRESENTIVE? YOU COULDN’T FIND LITERALLY /ANYONE/ THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE IN MIND? SOMEONE WHO DOESN’T WEAR SO MUCH MAKEUP SHE LOOKS LIKE SHE’S FUCKIN’ FOURTY? SOMEONE WHO /ACTUALLY DOES WORK?/ SOMEONE WHO DOESN’T THINK THE WORLD REVOLVES AROUND HER? SOMEONE WHO GIVES NO SHITS ABOUT ANY OF THE ARTS EXPECT THE ART OF WHINING AND MANIPULATION? oh, right, because the art teacher I’m in a class with /fucking likes her/ and considers her her star student despite the fact she does literally no fucking art.

like, I understand mental illness but.. THREE FUCKING YEARS. despite her failing classes, her parents flash some cash and she ‘mysteriously!’ passes without doing any work. how the fuck is she a senior. I’ve once or twice approached her in a passive way and tried to explain her to really fucking sugarcoated and nicely that ‘hey, what you’re doing interrupts the class. can you save it for after school? write it down, maybe?’ and her fucking response was ‘oh that’d be unfair to me to waste my time like that. the teachers are there to answer my questions, otherwise they wouldn’t be doing their jobs!’ this fucking bitch thinks the world revolves around hER. AND SHE WANTS TO BE A FUCKING DOCTOR. 

the only thing I have to say to that is: good luck sleeping your way through your first year of college, if you even make it past the application stage. you’re HIGHER THAN FUCKING HIGH MAINTENANCE.  I KNOW HIGH MAINTENANCE PEOPLE AND THEY AREN’T EVEN HALF OF YOU.

qUICK addition: just overheard her talking to the sports/gym/PE teacher. she was demanding the disbandment of the bowling team(insanely high interest) to form a tennis team(no interest expect her.). I think.. I think the converstation speaks for itself.

teacher; ‘well, why do you want a tennis team?’ her; ‘I can work at my church if there was one!’ teacher; ‘oh, you’re interested in playing?’ her; ‘no! but I’ll be able to work at my local church if there was one!’ teacher; ‘okay, so what sports would you be willing to play?’ her; ‘yoga. it’s the only fair one there is.’ (me); ‘..that’s not a sport, [her fuckin’ name.]’ her; ‘says the horseback rider! that’s not a sport, that’s a hobby.’ teacher; ‘...I’m so glad I didn’t have to tell her that yoga isn’t a sport’ teacher begins dipping the heck outta there. her; ‘it IS a sport! you’re both wrong, I’ve actually done yoga! [me], why are you so rude? I was trying to have a converstation!’ (me); ‘class is starting.’ teacher has dipped by now, goes to freedom aka anywhere away from her.

then I proceed not to respond. she’s whining about how unfair it is that the school won’t force people to play tennis just so she, and only she, can benefit from it.

in class now. gonna end this here, but if y’all want updates on this fuckin’ scene, feel free to send in an ask. I’ve got a lot of stories of her and her fuckin’ ‘best friend’(the school drug dealer who’s SUPPOSED to be kicked out but her parents waved around some cash.. like usual.) doing stupid shit. they won’t make through college. I usually am nice to everyone around my school since I’m the neutral individual who knows everyone but honestly? fuck this one person in particular. all she do is make EVERYONE ELSE fall behind because of her interruptions in class and constant ‘oh it’s so unfair!! life is so cruel and mean to me!! I just don’t understand so I shouldn’t have to do it!!!!’

just. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[f4liveblogarchives]

Fantastic Four Vol 1 #205

Sat Sep 7 2019 [02:15 PM] Wack'd: Previously on Fantastic Four: Reed, Sue and Ben went into space with an alien lady named Adora to save her world from Skrulls. Meanwhile Johnny checked out a college for the rich and famous, where he is unknowingly targeted by an assassin who shoots lasers out of his camera and has atrocious facial hair [02:16 PM] Bocaj: Did they meet catra [02:16 PM] Wack'd: No [02:16 PM] Wack'd: It'd be better if they did [02:16 PM] Bocaj: They did meet Tigra though [02:16 PM] Bocaj: It’s a similar concept without all of the same trauma [02:17 PM] maxwellelvis: And to also recap, this is like the first time the Four have gone up against the Skrulls since the Lee/Kirby run, and their old enemies have gone up in the galactic food chain since then. [02:17 PM] maxwellelvis: They also no longer look like goblins. [02:17 PM] Wack'd: They're just in time for the end of the world!

[02:17 PM] Bocaj: If they don’t look like goblins the. What’s the point? [02:17 PM] Wack'd: Agreed [02:17 PM] maxwellelvis: See what I mean? [02:18 PM] maxwellelvis: This is the Skrulls at their peak. [02:18 PM] Wack'd: Skrulls are a superstitious and cowardly lot

[02:19 PM] maxwellelvis: This must be before the Skrull Emperor and/or Empress [02:19 PM] Bocaj: A lot of things have a Supreme in marvel [02:19 PM] Umbramatic: SUPREME [02:19 PM] Bocaj: The Kree, the skrulls, the sorcerers, the AIM [02:19 PM] Wack'd: The SuprAIM [02:19 PM] Bocaj: Nice [02:20 PM] maxwellelvis: No wait, that cannot be. [02:20 PM] Wack'd: Anyway the Skrulls are using hit and run tactics. Show up, fuck shit up, retreat from weapons range before the enemy has a chance to retaliate, launch another attack, repeat [02:20 PM] Wack'd: The upshot is that this buys Reed, Sue, and Ben a little bit of time before things get too bad [02:20 PM] Bocaj: I mean, good tactics if you can get it [02:21 PM] Wack'd: Yeah this is actually a clever way to establish stakes while still giving the team a chance to get their bearings [02:22 PM] Wack'd: SCANMAN! WITH THE POWER TO...SCAN!

[02:23 PM] Wack'd: I give Keith Pollard a 6/10 for wacky hat effort

[02:23 PM] maxwellelvis: In that big spread, I just noticed, you can see that the artist took pains to show that Adora's people aren't getting entirely curbstomped; you can see that they've managed to down about three Skrull ships, if you can figure out the color coding on the lasers. It's just, that's three ships out of... a lot more than that. So it shows that they're fighting courageously, but are still outgunned, outmanned, and almost out of time. [02:23 PM] maxwellelvis: S'a Kirby original, Dorrek's hat. [02:23 PM] Wack'd: Pollard's kinda toned it down but I guess it's the same general idea as this 60s one [02:24 PM] Bocaj: Skrulls have dogs [02:24 PM] maxwellelvis: I can't find a picture of him from then, but have this screenshot of Dorrek from the 1967 cartoon [02:24 PM] Bocaj: I want to believe in green shapeshifting doggos [02:24 PM] Bocaj: That’s not green [02:25 PM] maxwellelvis: Nobody was the right colors in that cartoon. [02:25 PM] maxwellelvis: It's got coloring errors worse than Star Trek: The Animated Series up the wazoo, and I'm pretty sure this show doesn't have the excuse of a colorblind guy doing the colors. [02:26 PM] maxwellelvis: Also love that Dorrek says it's not fair that the Fantastic Four are here when the way he's been waging war here hasn't given the illusion of any sort of fair fight. [02:26 PM] Bocaj: Love those giant ears [02:27 PM] Umbramatic: ye [02:28 PM] Bocaj: Apparently one of the skrulls reed turned into a cow (which was later turned into hamburger and eaten) was a relative of Dorrek’s [02:28 PM] Bocaj: To put it lightly he hates the fantastic four with all his hate [02:28 PM] Wack'd: So the Watcher creates the illusion of an incoming Earth starship, freaking the Skrulls out and causing Dorrek to point all his troops at it. And then the Watcher mopes a little about breaking his oath again [02:28 PM] Bocaj: All he does is break his oath [02:29 PM] maxwellelvis: I'll reiterate, Uatu is like the Doctor but lacking the backbone to actually chew his people out for their total non-interference policy. [02:29 PM] Wack'd: Meanwhile back on Earth...Johnny's already moving into a dorm! Things move fast at Security College [02:29 PM] Bocaj: Like the doctor I think he got put on trial once [02:30 PM] Wack'd: well that's not creepy

[02:30 PM] Bocaj: Wow that’s very illegal [02:30 PM] Wack'd: So it turns out this was all a Batman Gambit [02:30 PM] maxwellelvis: Wait, that’s illegal [02:30 PM] Bocaj: I can’t believe Johnny rebellious youth supports the police state [02:31 PM] Umbramatic: oh no [02:31 PM] Wack'd: That random lady who insulted Johnny for being intellectually uncurious and immature a few issues ago was hypnotized into doing so by The Monocle because by weakening his ego and making him doubt himself he'd be easier to convince to go to this school [02:31 PM] Bocaj: .... [02:32 PM] Umbramatic: oh [02:32 PM] Bocaj: Villains sure have incredibly specific plans sometimes [02:32 PM] Wack'd: He didn't have hypnosis last time we saw him but "murders people with camera lasers" is kind of a weak gimmick so I don't mind [02:32 PM] Wack'd: Also: Lanie had a point! Johnny should be more interested in the fact that he got go literally go to space numerous times [02:33 PM] Bocaj: Hypnotism is one of those powers villains tend to get for free [02:33 PM] Bocaj: I think super Skrull has it [02:33 PM] Wack'd: Oh hey another shadowy mastermind. Not sitting in a chair facing away from the camera though

[02:34 PM] Wack'd: What's the point of video calling if you're not going to show your face? Just call him on the fucking phone [02:34 PM] maxwellelvis: This doesn't surprise me. The Monocle just doesn't have the presence to command an entire story by himself. [02:34 PM] maxwellelvis: @Wack'd Ask the Sovereign [02:34 PM] Wack'd: Eh he was a hired goon in his original story too [02:34 PM] Wack'd: He's an assassin for hire [02:35 PM] Wack'd: So Johnny goes to bed. And then he and every other student on campus hear a compelling voice that leads them to the administration building. HYPNOSIS [02:36 PM] Wack'd: Also the compelling voice is calling Johnny "John" and. Nope. Wrong. never gonna get over that [02:36 PM] Wack'd: MEANWHILE BACK IN SPACE [02:37 PM] Wack'd: Oh hey this weird bubble city of survivors are from Xandar! [02:37 PM] Wack'd: Their planet it looks a lot less destroyed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe [02:37 PM] Bocaj: Yeah I don't think Xandar gets destroyed until 200something with the Annihilation story [02:38 PM] Wack'd: ...but it's [02:38 PM] Wack'd: it's already destroyed [02:38 PM] maxwellelvis: COMPLETELY destroyed [02:38 PM] Wack'd: this bubble city is all that's left [02:38 PM] Bocaj: I just realized that Xandar might be a riff on Kandar [02:39 PM] Wack'd: Aliens love brain uploading

[02:40 PM] Bocaj: What a perspective [02:40 PM] Wack'd: hahahaha ben points out they stole this shot from *forbidden planet* [02:40 PM] maxwellelvis: That's a heck of a way to preserve your culture, but I sure hope the brains are happy in there. [02:40 PM] maxwellelvis: Metahumor, or Marv Wolfman ribbing the artist? You decide. [02:41 PM] Wack'd: Anyway the Skrulls want this computer, or more specifically the fucking metric ton of power it takes to operate it, to give themselves an upper hand against the Kree [02:41 PM] maxwellelvis: Or, with the changeover in how comics are made, would that be more like directing the artist? [02:41 PM] maxwellelvis: And there we are. [02:41 PM] Wack'd: Probably conscious homage [02:41 PM] maxwellelvis: Gotcha [02:43 PM] Wack'd: Anyway the Skrulls come back! Fight scene! [02:44 PM] maxwellelvis: Anyways, I should have figured that this was motivated by either expansion or asset acquisition. [02:44 PM] Wack'd: Kinda weird that the Skrulls have ground troops (or, uh, anti-grav troops) rather than just using spaceships for everything [02:44 PM] Wack'd: But it gets us a fight scene, so [02:45 PM] maxwellelvis: It's a fool who commits all his resources to one branch of his military. Don't know if that's an actual saying about war and warfare, but I feel it's true, at least from my limited strategy gaming experience. [02:46 PM] Wack'd: I mean this is a little like if Germany sent troops into Britain during the Blitz. Really you're just risking blowing up your own dudes

[02:46 PM] Umbramatic: SPLAM [02:46 PM] Bocaj: Spinel [02:47 PM] Wack'd: Yes [02:47 PM] Wack'd: So! Reed, Sue, and Ben are knocked out and taken to the Skrull ship [02:47 PM] Wack'd: And so we cliffhanger into...*sigh* [02:47 PM] Wack'd: Nova #25 [02:47 PM] Wack'd: Dammit

[sweetest--melody]

ALL 20 LET'S GO

Oh shit I may have made a mistake.

🕸 1. Who’s the oldest character of yours that youstill use?

From time to time I think about my old Phantasy Star Universe character - that was named after myself, very original - and work out some stuff that either I don’t remember, I didn’t complete, or that just didn’t make sense. That counts right?

⭐️ 2. Who’s the oldest character of yours, defunct ornot?

Back in the day, a solid fucking decade ago, I used Gaia Online a lot and RP’d on there. I had a Mary Sue-ass OC named Zane, the demigod son of Hades who used a staff, guns, and a magical electric guitar. I was a fucking tool at 12-14.

💡 3. Has creating a character ever made you realizesomething about yourself?

Well, it wasn’t the character themselves that made me realize, but just the act of creating them. A bit over a year ago, year and a half, I had a girlfriend and we did a lot of roleplaying, mostly using our player-characters from games we played together a lot. Well, we made a bunch of different characters in a short span of time for a bunch of different scenarios, just trying to find one that stuck but nothing that we had was working. Around the third one, I realized that I was just having some serious creative fatigue, with being in art and video classes and english classes that required creative writing and all the RPing, it just really took its toll on me, but I still kept trying and going.

What I learned from that, is that I really have difficulty telling people when something is wrong. Either I can’t put it into words, I just don’t notice, or because I don’t want to worry someone. So I just press on, trying to hide it, even when it was effecting me mentally / physically.

🦋 4. Any minor characters that have either taken overor branched off into their own stories?

I guess you could say that about Eno Corella / The Masked Man. He’s basically the big bad of Elequa’s story, taking center stage whenever he appears.

🐲 5. Do you prefer to make human, animal, monster, or_____ characters? Why?

Generally, I like semi-human characters. Like characters that are humanoid or were completely human, but they are of another species / fantasy race, or something happened to change them. Like the two Sylvari girls, the demigod I mentioned, Orpheus - my Phantasy Star Online 2 character - was a Duman (like a human but with draconic DNA) but became a cyborg.

I feel like the difference in their culture, or how they came to be what they are / how it affects them really helps build a character, give them more depth and make them seem more real, along with helping to flesh out the world they’re in.

🎨 6. When creating a character, do you come up withthe visual concept or the written concept first?

Visual concept nearly every time. Once I get their model or costume together, or as I’m piecing it together, I get inspiration and ideas for where I want to take them. Then, once I get their archetype from their looks, then I find a way to fit them into everything else.

📌 7. Do you have characters that you know you’llnever use, but can’t bear to get rid of/recycle?

All of them. I don’t write, I don’t do art, I can’t animate, I got nobody to use them with so they just kinda sit there as concepts in my mind.

💖 8. Is there a character that embodies your goodtraits, or traits you wish you had?

Caryopterys and Elequa. Cary is sweet, kind, and caring, and Elequa is always looking for new things and a way to grow.

💔9. Is there a character that embodies your badtraits? Several characters? Which ones and what traits?

Sirius. Depressed, stubborn, oblivious, always blaming failure on himself and pushing others away because of it. Melody to a small extent too. I have lied in the past to cover who I am, not because I wanted something or because I liked tricking people, but because I was - and really still am - ashamed of myself and afraid that others would be too.

♨️ 10. Is there a character that explores yourinterests or fetishes (orrrr is that just all of you characters)?

Like... “interests” as in sexual interests? Cause uh... Not really except for one I’ve been thinking of, but that is very VERY classified information.

✒️ 11. If you have characters that embody certaintraits of yours—good or bad—has writing them changed how you view those traits?Has it affected you in any way?

Nope.

💭 12.  Do you fantasize about being any of yourcharacters, or are you more detached?

Only when I’m playing as them, just to sort of get more into their mindset to further work out their stories.

🎵 13. Do you create playlists for your characters?

People do that? That’s a thing? I don’t, but idk it could be fun? Do you want me to?

🎇 14. When writing for specific characters, is thereanything you have to do to get into the right mindset?

When I have ideas for story beats or character behaviors, I take control and play as them ingame, go to certain areas or listen to certain songs.

🌻 15. Which character is your guilty pleasure?

Melody. She is like the polar opposite of me but she is still a sort of protagonist in a completely neutral story.

🌩 16. Is there a character of yours who’s a realstruggle to write/draw? Why do you think that is?

Way back with that old girlfriend again, we RPd as Borderlands characters. I was Zero, and I held myself to the rule that I would always speak in haiku. God damn that was fun but hard.

🔑 17. Which character is the easiest to draw/write?

Orpheus, because his personality was quite literally a self-insert, but with some of his own personality and story thrown in there.

💎 18. Is there anything you really wish you could do,character-design-wise, that you feel is outside your current skillset? Aconcept that you wish you could pull off but are uncertain about?

Well like, actually writing them out would be fun. Or actually drawing them. Or giving them voices. But I am not good at all at any of those.

🏆 19. What’s more important to you: visual design,unique personality, a trendy character aesthetic, etc? If you’re not sure, thenwhat’s the first thing you usually nail down in a character?

The most important thing in a character for me is personality and humanity. Make them deep, make them entertaining, make them complex, because nothing is more boring than a one-note character.

🎬 20. Do you ever plan to do anything (comic,animation, etc) with your characters? Or are you just happy to have them?

Really, I’m just happy to have them. They give me something to think about when I’m alone (which is to say, all the time)

[ellanainthetardis]

So this is it! Final chapter! I hope you enjoyed the ride and I encourage you once more to go check out @archervale ‘s work since this story wouldn’t have existed without her art. I hope you like this ending!

[FF] or [AO3]

16.

“You don’t have to come.” she offered as she hastily slipped on a woolen sweater over her tank top.

“Don’t be stupid.” he scoffed while he did the very same.

A testament to the seriousness of the situation, she didn’t even try to change out of her pajamas pants, she simply put boots on. Haymitch hurried to Katniss’ room and picked her up, still sleeping. The girl was only half awake when he bundled her in her coat and she fell back asleep in the car.

Effie was already behind the wheel. He made a face but didn’t comment. He was still forced to remind her three times that speed limitations were there for a reason and that they had his kid in the car.

She slowed down every time but kept speeding up five minutes later. Her body was there with them but her mind wasn’t.

She didn’t park the car she simply stopped it and rushed inside the hospital before he could say anything. He moved it to the proper parking lot and carefully got Katniss out. The girl stretched and grabbed his coat, starting to wake up but still sleepy enough that he didn’t bother with explanations just yet.

Effie hadn’t gone far.

She was at the main desk, arguing with the nurse on duty.

It was odd to be the peacemaker, odd to be the one to tell her to calm down and breathe and to explain the situation calmly and clearly so the woman could direct them in the right direction, odd to be the responsible adult for once.

“Uncle Haymitch?” Katniss whispered, tightening her hold on his neck as Effie hurriedly walked a few steps ahead to the ward the nurse had sent them to.

“It’s okay, sweetheart.” he hushed her. “Go back to sleep.”

“Why are we in the bad place?” the girl insisted, wriggling in his arms.

“Bad place?” he repeated, confused and very much focused on Effie’s back in front of him. She looked a bit ridiculous in her pajamas pants – his pajamas pants really – her pink coat and her boots. He figured he didn’t look better in his own sweatpants and jacket.

“Are you going to leave me?” Katniss asked, her lips wobbling a little. “Like Mommy, Daddy and my Prim? They left last time I was here.”

And it hit him right then that bringing his niece to the hospital hadn’t been his smartest move. She had been brought there after the accident. It was probably there that she had been told her family was dead. It was where her entire world had collapsed.

“No, Katniss.” he said firmly. “I’m not leaving. Nobody’s leaving. We’re here ‘cause Peeta’s sick.”

“Peeta?” she frowned.

Shouts echoed before he could start explaining.

Effie was in such a state he should really have seen it coming.

He recognized the boy from that very afternoon first – Peeta’s brother – and it was a good thing the kid had reflexes because he swiftly placed himself between Effie and who Haymitch assumed to be his parents before Effie could commit a murder.

“I swear on everything I have that if anything happens to this child I will sue you for everything you own.” she screeched, pointing an accusative finger at the woman sitting on a blue plastic chair. “I will make your life a living hell, do you hear me?”

Haymitch had spent so much time listening to awful stories about Liddy Mellark that he had started to picture her like one of the evil witches in Katniss’ cartoons. The woman sitting on that chair looked old, tired and defeated. Not quite a witch. Not quite what a mother should be either.

The father stood up. Dylan Mellark looked just as old as his wife and even more tired.

“He was just a little feverish this morning, Effie.” the man said defensively. “We thought it was a cold…”

“Peeta is fragile!” Effie hissed, still pointing her finger at Liddy. “Which is why he needs to go to his medical appointments every week. He needs special care. He needs attention. Nothing she can be bothered to give him.”

“Effie.” Haymitch cut in, quiet but firm.

They were making a scene worthy of a soap opera. It was late enough that the waiting room wasn’t full to the brim but the few people scattered in there were certainly enjoying the show.

Not that Effie cared.  

“If anything happens to Peeta, Liddy… Anything at all… I swear…” she growled.

“Is Peeta going to die?” Katniss asked, her frightened voice succeeding where he had failed.

Effie immediately shut up and turned to them, her eyes darting from him to the girl.

“No, no, no…” she whispered, outstretching her arms for Katniss. Haymitch handed his niece over willingly enough, thinking it might be best because Effie would never willingly hurt or frighten a kid. “No, sweetie, no. Peeta is going to be just fine, you will see.”

“Do they know what’s wrong with him yet?” he asked since nobody had volunteered the information.

Dylan Mellark shook his head. “They’re doing tests. He was burning up, we couldn’t bring the fever down…”

“Does he have Toothless? Did you remember to take it with you?” Effie asked weakly. “He will be scared without his dragon…”

“It’s back at the house.” Liddy said in a snappish worried tone. “He’s six. He shouldn’t need stuffed toys anymore.”

Haymitch thought Effie was going to bite her head off, so he – wisely, in his opinion – guided her to a plastic chair apart from the Mellark family. He forced her to sit her down, making sure Katniss settled on her lap so he was certain they would both stay put.

The poor girl looked scared and lost. Haymitch hated seeing her distressed.

“I’m going to call Uncle Chaff, sweetheart.” he told her, brushing her hair away from her face. “He’ll pick you up and get you back home. Shouldn’t have brought you along.”

Katniss leaned against Effie’s chest, her best stubborn scowl on her face. “I don’t want Uncle Chaff.”

“Katniss.” he sighed, irritated by her usual obstinacy.

“Leave her be.” Effie objected quietly, wrapping her arms around the child’s waist. “We should all stay together.”

“Like a team.” Katniss mumbled.

“Like a team, exactly.” she repeated in a tired whisper.

Haymitch didn’t hide his annoyance but granted the request with a shrug.

“You two teaming up against me, more like.” he grumbled.

The wait was a long one and it wasn’t made any easier by the heavy looks everyone was exchanging. Katniss fell back asleep quickly. Effie petted the girl’s hair absentmindedly, a vacant look in her eyes, barely mustering a smile when Haymitch offered to get her some coffee. It wasn’t some nice gesture on his part, he just couldn’t bear the silence any longer.

He got coffee for her and he got some for Rye too because the kid looked rattled and, as far as Haymitch was concerned, he had done nothing to deserve their contempt.

When the doctor finally showed up, Effie was the first to bolt to her feet – after having carefully laid Katniss down on the chairs next to her.

“Is Peeta alright?” she asked.

For a moment, the doctor looked taken aback, unsure who to address. Given that the Mellarks – saved for Rye – hung back, the man turned to Effie and summed up what was happening, what had been done and what would need to happen.

Peeta had an infection. They had started treating it but he would need to remain in the hospital for a few days. They wanted to be particularly careful because of his leg and his medical history.

“He’s allowed visitors but he’s very tired and I would like him to get some proper rest.” the doctor concluded. “For tonight… Maybe just his parents? I guess you will want to spend the night with him, that’s absolutely possible…”

Haymitch could almost feel Effie’s distress from where he was still sitting. He glanced at Katniss to make sure she was still asleep before walking to her, placing a hand at the small of her back in support.

“I would like to see him, yes.” Liddy declared, sounding almost harsh but Haymitch thought he could detect relief underneath. Or maybe it was sheer whishing on his part. “But we’re not staying, his godmother is. If decisions need to be made, she’s the one you want to talk to.” The woman stood up and didn’t look at any of them, she simply paused next to Effie on her way. “He was asking for you. He’s always asking for you.”

“He would love you if you just let him.” Effie breathed out. “He is just a boy, he…”

“He’s my son.” Liddy snorted. “But I’m not his mother.”

The doctor looked absolutely puzzled but he lost no time in handing over the whole crazy family to a nurse.

It took a while for the Mellarks to leave Peeta’s room. Effie rushed to his bedside as soon as they were gone, running her fingers through his hair, talking in soft murmurs and smiling through her tears. The boy remained asleep.

Haymitch stayed outside the room and watched them through the plastic window that gave on the corridor, Katniss dead to the world in his arms. He could feel her soft regular breaths rolling against his neck and, for a second, he closed his eyes and let himself be washed by relief. If they had lost the boy…  

“You can go in with your wife, sir.” the nurse said, not unkindly.

He didn’t bother correcting her assumption.“Is it safe for my kid?”

He didn’t want Katniss to come down with whatever Peeta had caught. Granted, it was his fragile state of health that had made it so bad but… He didn’t want to risk it.

“I don’t see why not.” the nurse offered before smiling at the sleeping girl. “I’ll get you a blanket for her.”

There was an armchair and a plastic chair in the room, he laid Katniss down on the former and took the latter. Effie was sitting on the edge of the bed, as close to Peeta as she could be. She didn’t even glance at him, she was entirely focused on the boy.

The pure look of love on her face was like a punch in the guts.

“I won’t let that witch push me aside again.” she said quietly after a long moment. “I’ll fight her.”

“I don’t think you’ll have to.” he commented.

It seemed to him the war had been won that night.

Peeta was still feverish the following day and he didn’t look very aware of what was going on around him, to Katniss’ great dismay. Rye was the first Mellark to show up, with a bag full of clothes for his brother and the Toothless stuffed toy.

Haymitch suggested they took advantage of his presence to drive home and back – if only to get dressed and get something to eat that wasn’t a tasteless sandwich from the cafeteria – but he was ignored both by his niece and Effie. Katniss remained sitting cross-legged at the foot of the bed, watching Peeta like a hawk, often replacing Toothless in his arms when the boy knocked it off in his fever induced delirium. Effie paced, sometimes sending out a distracted text when her phone beeped. Haymitch slumped in the armchair and dozed off for a while.

Portia and Cinna arrived mid-morning with clothes for the three of them. Since Liddy and Dylan finally showed up around the same time, they took the opportunity to go change and take a breath of fresh air outside. Effie was anxious all the time it lasted, uncharacteristically snappish and waving away Portia’s several offers to help her with her make-up. It was the first time Haymitch had seen her willingly appear in public with her hair tousled and her face bare. She was still beautiful, of course, but she was usually so self-conscious about it that it told him all he needed to know about her state of mind.

When they went back to the room, Liddy left without a word. Dylan lingered a little longer but Effie wasn’t in the mood for his apologies and explanations. As for Haymitch, he had no interest in any of that. He barely listened when the baker told him he had signed hospital papers that legally gave Effie power over Peeta’s medical decisions.

Peeta remained incoherent the whole day when he wasn’t sleeping. The doctor insisted it only was to be expected because of the heavy medications. According to him, he should wake up properly soon.

Haymitch tried to convince Effie to get some sleep but without success. He suggested she took Katniss back home for the night, promising to stay and call if there was any change but she wouldn’t relent on that either.

She looked terrible and he didn’t want to leave her… He tried not to feel guilty or like he was the worst guardian when he called Chaff for help but he also didn’t want the girl to spend another night at the hospital. His best friend accepted at once, naturally, but he also had to drag Katniss away kicking and screaming.

“You should go with them.” Effie winced. “You could get some real sleep and…”

“She’ll be fine with Chaff.” he cut her off coldly, annoyed with the whole situation. He didn’t like listening to Katniss crying on a good day and it wasn’t a good day.

Spending the night in the hospital hadn’t been fun the previous day, it wasn’t any funnier that time. Effie dropped asleep in the armchair despite her best attempts at fighting it. He spent most of the night playing candy crush on her phone until his sight blurred to distract himself from the uncomfortable plastic chair that was making his butt numb.

He was still trying to align colorful candies when Toothless’ head nudged the phone, almost tentatively, and he looked up into clear blue eyes that didn’t seem to know if what they were seeing was real.

His first instinct was to put his hand on the boy’s forehead to check his temperature. For the first time in days, Peeta’s skin was cool to the touch. He smiled to the kid, brushing his sandy blond hair back.

“Welcome back, buddy.” he smirked.

The boy’s lips stretched impossibly wide and he lifted his arms for a hug Haymitch was only too happy to give.

“Auntie Effie?” the boy requested, almost pleading. Haymitch gently let go of him to nod at the armchair in the corner. Tears of relief and happiness shined in the kid’s eyes and he took pity on him.

He crouched next to the armchair and gently poked Effie’s shoulder. “Wake up, sweetheart.” She whined her disapproval and tried to curl up on herself. He shook her a little more firmly. “Effie.” She opened her eyes and rubbed her face, glaring at him. “Someone wants to talk to you.”

She briefly frowned and then she grinned. She was out of that armchair and on the bed before he even had time to stand up, Peeta safely embraced in her arms. The boy was half crying and half giggling while she peppered his hair and cheeks with kisses, promising again and again to never let anyone keep him from her ever again.

There was no separating them after that and Haymitch didn’t even try. He flopped down on the armchair when she settled down on the bed with Peeta, watching the two of them exchanging secret whispers until they both fell back asleep.

He didn’t realize he had dozed off until a cannon ball plummeted against his legs and hugged them for dear life. He barely had time to open his eyes and recognize Katniss that she was gone with a scream of joy when Peeta called her name.

Effie tried to tell the kids to be calm and to keep it down but, soon, their joyful chatter filled the room and she was grinning too hard for them to take her seriously. The two of them were hugging, oblivious to the rest of the world.

Haymitch hauled himself out of the armchair and joined Chaff who was leaning against the doorframe.

“You look good.” he mocked.

“You look even better.” Chaff chuckled. “And your girl… She’s a sight.”

Effie brought her hand to her face self-consciously, probably realizing she hadn’t bothered with make-up for two days straight and wasn’t at her best, before shrugging it off – proof if any was needed that she was exhausted.

“Did Katniss behave?” she asked, leaving the kids to their heartfelt reunion to join them.

“Sure. We had a great time.” Chaff offered. “She was a bit upset at first but… I won her over.”

“How many times did she make you watch Brave?” Haymitch snorted.

“Three times.” his best friend admitted with a wince. “Then I begged for Pocahontas. Man, when did we get so knowledgeable on fucking Disney princesses?”

“Fuck if I know.” he mumbled, tossing a look at the kids. They seemed happy enough. “Can you drive Effie home?”

“What? No.” Effie protested. “I am staying.”

“You are going home to get some real rest.” Haymitch replied firmly. “Get a shower, some proper food and a nap. I don’t want to see you back here until at least four pm. When you come back, I’ll go home with Katniss and come back in the morning. We can trade shifts.”

She didn’t look entirely happy with that. She looked at Peeta, biting down on her bottom lip. “Chaff doesn’t need to drive me.” she wavered after a few minutes. “My car is still here and I will need it to come back…”

“Take mine for the ride back.” he shrugged.

He would rather drive his truck than her sport car anyway. She hesitated some more, chewing on her bottom lip, and then surrendered with a nod.

The goodbyes with Peeta were tearful. Even after explaining she would come back in a couple of hours, the boy was still distressed and barely appeased by the fact Haymitch and Katniss were staying with him. He started crying well before Effie left the room and if Chaff hadn’t firmly ushered her out, Haymitch was certain she would never have left. Her blue eyes were suspiciously bright as it was.

“Don’t be sad!” Katniss demanded more than she requested. “Look! I’m wearing the ring. I’ll marry you so you’re happy again. Look.”

The plastic ring was back on his niece’s finger.

It worked like magic.

Peeta stopped crying and they soon were back to chatting and laughing. When the boy eventually surrendered to sleep, Katniss placed Toothless on the other side of the bed, curled up against Peeta as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and she napped too.

Haymitch could barely deal with all the nurses gushing over how cute they were.

Still, he fumbled with his phone for a while until he managed to snap a picture. He sent it to Effie so she would find it when she woke up from her own nap.

Dealing with kids stuck in a room was exhausting. Dealing with kids when one of them was trapped in bed was hell. They grew bored of the board games the nurse brought them in a matter of minutes, they requested stories and, since that was Effie’s department more than his, grew bored of that too…

He was almost relieved when the Mellarks showed up. Almost.

He didn’t get out of the room to give them privacy this time, not with Peeta awake and glancing at him every so often. He remained where he was sitting on the armchair and watch with unabashed amusement as Katniss stared her friend’s family down. The only one who was treated to an enthusiastic welcome was Rye and it was probably only because he was bearing gifts – Avengers trade cards, books, toys, anything he had thought his brother would enjoy…

As for the Mellarks…

They were cold.

Haymitch could see they were making an effort, even the mother, but Peeta remained sullen throughout the whole visit and it only grew worse when Liddy declared it was time to go.

“I’m going home with Auntie.” Peeta declared petulantly, a determined sulk on his face.

Haymitch was happy to see nobody contested that.

Effie came back looking fresh and rested, her blond hair neatly pinned in a functional but classy ponytail, hips swaying in a tight red skirt paired with a green cashmere sweater.

“It is Christmas-y.” she winked when he accused her of being colorblind.

“It’s hot enough to give anyone a fever.” he retorted smoothly, stealing a brief kiss. “Can’t be good in a hospital.”

She rolled her eyes but she looked pleased nonetheless.

Detaching Katniss from Peeta caused another scene. The girl wanted to stay, have a sleepover even, Haymitch could go without her, she said – if Effie was there, apparently it wouldn’t be so bad not to have him, and, yeah, he felt jealous and irritated about that, too used to being the only one his niece wanted.

After all the kids had put him through that day, he almost granted that request but, in the end, he took pity on Effie and dragged Katniss back home with him.

The girl sulked in the car, she sulked when he opened the door and she was still sulking when he collapsed on the couch, his eyelids immediately drooping.

He was attacked by a furry thing with claws and teeth who jumped on his lap and stared at him with a judgmental nasty look.

“Buttercup is hungry.” Katniss declared with a disdainful sniff. “I want pasta too.”

Haymitch took a deep breath and blew it out very slowly.

Half an hour later, Katniss was having an early dinner, Buttercup was eating – cat food and not pasta – and he had checked on the geese. Haymitch wasn’t hungry but he was ready to collapse right where he was standing. His niece wasn’t sleepy though and it wasn’t late enough that he could just tuck her in and hope she would fall asleep soon.

He let her put a dvd in the player, his eyelids barely twitching when he recognized the Brave menu. How many times could she watch this thing and not be bored? How many times? He pressed play and settled down for a long movie. Katniss was sitting on the rug, her Mockingjay and Lady on either side of her, mouthing the lines along with the characters.

Haymitch took the opportunity to stretch and lie down on the couch.

He fell asleep before the story truly started and only startled awake when the end credits rolled on the screen, mainly because of the dead weight on his chest. He had grown used to being used as a cushion by a five years old and her various stuffed toys in the last months but it didn’t make it any more comfortable.

“Come on, sweetheart.” he whispered, his voice raspy from sleep. “Time for bed.”

This time, Katniss didn’t fight him. She brushed her teeth, half dead on her feet, and crawled into bed without even requesting a story. He still waited until she was truly asleep to wander to the bathroom. A quick shower later, he finally lied down on his bed.

And obviously he tossed and turned until he rolled his eyes at his own stupidity and reached for Effie’s pillow. It was too soft for his taste but it smelt like her. He slept like a baby.

It more or less established a pattern for the following days.

Haymitch relieved Effie in early morning, she went home to sleep for a few hours before swinging by the store and eventually coming back in late afternoon. Katniss tended to stay with him but she sometimes wanted to sleep in in the mornings, in which case he waited for Effie to drive home before heading to the hospital.

For almost a week, their path only crossed for a few minutes a day. They texted and called and kissed each other good morning and goodnight – despite the kids’ giggling – but it was starting to become taxing.

Christmas morning rolled on them before they knew it.

Katniss was looking at the gifts wrapped in glossy gold papers under the tree with wary eyes. He had told Effie she was going overboard with the golden glitter.

“You can start if you want.” he encouraged her, nudging her toward the tree. “There’s another gift coming later.”

Buttercup, at least, looked interested in the wrapped boxes. He sniffed everything and hissed when Haymitch pushed him away.  

Katniss carefully opened one gift, as if she was scared something would jump out and attack her, but relaxed when she found a Merida framed poster for her room – that had been a safe bet. She looked pleased enough with the rest of the toys he had gotten her.

There were still a few boxes under the tree when she was done unwrapping her gifts.

“Who are they for?” she frowned. “Maybe Santa got it wrong.”

“Maybe.” he shrugged. “What do you want for breakfast?”

It was almost noon and they were in the middle of Frozen – Effie’s gift and he wasn’t going to thank her for it because he could already tell that he would be hating let it go before long since Katniss had insisted on watching the scene four times before going on – when the front door opened.

“Surprise!” Effie sing-sang.

“Peeta!” Katniss squealed in delight, hugging the boy in an uncharacteristic demonstration of happiness.

“I see Santa came by last night…” Effie hummed. She went mostly ignored. Katniss was already tugging Peeta toward the rest of the presents.

“Save your breath, sweetheart.” he snorted, wrapping his arms around her and pressing a kiss against her neck. “They don’t care about us anymore. We’re old news. There are new toys.”

She laughed but leaned against his chest, looking exhausted but happy. “Should we tell them about us moving together or should we wait?”

He looked at the two five years old busy tearing up golden wrapping papers and shrugged. “We’ll tell them tonight. Let them enjoy Santa’s presents.”

“Santa should think about giving his elf a raise.” she teased. “She did an awful lot of wrapping.”  

“Like Portia and Cinna didn’t do most of that.” he mocked.

She pursed her lips and tilted her head but it was plain to see she was fighting a smile.

Soon they were horded to the couch by excited kids who wouldn’t calm down until Effie had them sitting down with mugs full of hot chocolate. They had settled down for ten blessed minutes when Chaff invited himself in with a jovial ho, ho, ho.

Frozen was discarded for Ratatouille, because neither of the kids had seen it yet and because Santa had brought it at Chaff’s by mistake, so it must have been good. Uncle Chaff was forced to sit down and was treated to some hot chocolate too.

Haymitch sipped from his mug, stretched his free arm on the back of the couch and watched his family just as much as he watched the movie.

Peeta declared it the best Disney ever and Haymitch could guess a stuffed rat would join the stuffed Toothless before long.

Katniss was a little less sold but she was content enough to see her friend in good spirits.

As for Haymitch…

He was simply happy.

It seemed impossible that he had first met Katniss only a few months earlier. To him it was as if she had always been there. He couldn’t imagine his life without her in it. Or the people she had brought with her.

They had a whole new life ahead of them now.

And he intended to make the most of it.

THE END

AN: Did you like it? Let me know! And check out my new hayffie story, “April Showers”, starting next week!