#HOO BOY this one was a beast to try and finish but i DID IT

[altschmerzes]

chapter seven of wriggle up on dry land (the ted lasso au where everything is the same except for jamie, nelson road’s fifteen year old groundsman’s assistant) is up! (in the middle of the night. again. whoops.)

“Great, another adult - Lasso, get this kid to tell you what the fuck happened to his face.” Jamie’s cheeks redden with an angry, embarrassed blush and he whirls back around to face Roy, snapping, “Nothing happened to my fucking face, Kent.” “Jamie, it kind of seems like something happened to your face,” Ted says, though he keeps his voice mild as he does. The last thing he wants is to give Jamie - or Roy - a reason to start yelling. “And while I do think he should be approaching it a little differently, it’s a reasonable question for Roy to ask. He’s concerned about you.”

read Chapter Seven: Two Steps Back on ao3!

[foxingpeculiar]

Elden Ring/SotE:

So, it's well recognized that there's a late-game difficulty spike in Elden Ring. I can tell you the exact moment that it happens. It's the fucking Draconic Tree Sentinel guy outside Maliketh's boss room.

Castle Sol wasn't that bad. When Niall summoned in his little friends, I was like "oh yeah, THAT's why you suck so hard," but I was able to take the two of them out pretty quickly, and I remember enough about fighting him that I knew to bait the jump and dodge around the follow-up and I got him in three, so okay.

Did Volcano Manor next. Because I did the Red Letter, I could've gone right to Rykard, but I wanted to do the manor properly, so I did--beat the Godskin, finished Rya's quest (did not kill her--she left to go do her own thing in the east). Rykard was pretty easy--a little bit of careful dodging and I got him in one. And then, just for good measure, went and met Patches at the Shaded Castle (I forgot he dies in this one--the only Soulsborne where he does, unless you actively kill him, I think), then went in and fought Elemer of the Briar again and absolutely greased him this time.

So then, I finished Mountaintops of the Giants without too much trouble. The Godskin double fight in the Spiritcaller Cave was a little much, but I told myself "it's fine, I'll come back in a few levels." And nothing else was giving me that much of a headache. The Giant-Conquering Hero's Grave wasn't bad, I got the Rivers of Blood from the NPC invader outside the First Church of Marika, found the invisible bridge to the Heretic's Rise--things were going well.

Then I got to Faram Azula. Which is definitely a little tougher of an area, but still, nothing too egregious. The worst part was that bit where the wounded dragon is spreading lightning everywhere and you have to cross the bridge to get to him without getting pecked to death by the six birds between you on the way. And all that took was some careful sorcery and a little planning. The Crucible Knight in FA is a bitch and a half, but I cheesed him by jumping down to a platform near the site of grace that he couldn't follow to and just zapping him with ranged magic. Finished Alexander's questline (fighting him was embarrassingly easy, the poor fellow) and beat the invader Bernahl. Did basically everything except Placidusax--found stuff I definitely did not find on previous playthroughs. Even the Godskin Duo fight wasn't that bad--summoned Bernahl before i killed him, used a couple of sleep pots, and it only took two tries.

Then I come to that fucking mounted asshole. And he killed me. A lot. After a handful of tries, I finally got him by basically gitting gud and learning to dodge his attacks and pepper him with Night Comet in the spaces in between, maybe hit him with a Transient Moonlight if I was close enough. Stay on the weapon side, keep careful distance, pick your moments. Okay, hard, but doable.

Then I get to Maliketh himself. And hoo boy. He took probably a dozen or so tries? Half the time, I'd get in there and before I could properly even do anything, I'd get stun-locked into a combo and die. Eventually I cottoned on to getting a pillar between me and him before trying to summon the Mimic Tear, which helped. Once that was doable, had no problem getting through the Beast Clergyman phase. But that second phase--he's kind of glass cannon, but DAMN. he's fast, and hits like a fucking truck. The only way I eventually made it through was basically good RNG--the Mimic Tear survived long enough into the second phase that I could pepper him with enough spells to whittle him down to almost nothing before she died. And then I managed to keep enough distance that I could take him the rest of the way, even with his full attention on me. Made it happen, but goddamn.

I can use Rennala's Full Moon now, which is fun. It takes a minute to cast, which is a downside, but regularly is doing over 1K damage when it hits. Part of that is because I finally traded in the Demi-Human Queen Staff for the Carian Royal Scepter (currently at +9), which boosts Moon sorceries, as I understand it. And I just got my first Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone, which means I can take either that or Moonveil to +10 now.

But, jeez-louise. I mean, I'm still doing better than I did last time, but the game has officially stopped fucking around now. So I guess next, a quick stop in Jarburg to finish Jar Bairn and Diallos's quests. I think everybody else is as far as I can take them--finished Varre and Nepheli/Kenneth, and beat the Great Jar's knights. I think that'll take care of all the questlines except Millicent. And Edgar/Irina--I forgot to go back and talk to Edgar after killing the Misbegotten Warrior and now he's not at Castle Morne or on the Bridge by Irinia's corpse, so I think I locked myself out of that one, but whatever. The only downside is, because you get a Shabriri Grape out of that, I don't know if I can finish Hyetta either. (And I'm still one curse shy of getting Dung Eater's Mending Rune, but I'll find it at some point. Also, still have to go meet Goldmask in the Ashen Capital, I suppose, but that shouldn't be too bad.)

And then it's on to the Consecrated Snowfield and the Haligtree. And then Moghwyn Palace and the DLC. And... for the first time in this playthrough, I'm a little nervous, but we'll make it happen.

[dravania]

A few notes about Ahru’s adventure + reactions to some MSQ stuff, spoilers throughout the end of Endwalker. LIKE BIG SPOILERS. BIG BIG ONES. Huge, they will ruin everything. Don’t read if you haven’t finished! (or don’t care).

First, I’m not going to stop being an emotional wreck about Grani legit being Emet’s mount, not after I headcanoned and wrote this. Softly debating: did Emet create it himself, did he ‘gain’ it during his travels with Azem, or did Azem make it for him. Regardless, I’m even more emotional about it and it wasn’t like I rode any other mount ANYWAY but I sure won’t be NOW.

Second... gosh... (this is a big’un) I keep thinking about that final fight with Zenos. It was everything. I wrote this blurb that’s forever been in my drafts shortly after the end of Stormblood:

A kindred beast wrapped in war and bitter despair. A cutting pain that leaves her gasping, bleeding - alive. Human. She remembers in the struggle what it feels like to drown, to barely stay afloat, and then, against all odds, to survive. It is the bricks and mortar of who she is, reconstructed in a terrible dance for the heavens to gaze upon. As her teeth bite down on supple flesh, and blood spills down her throat, she is once more the victor. Once more, alone.

Yanno, before he came back from the dead. He was right: she was seeking something in him back then. Gosh, man, he rode the light of the stars to her - listen, Zenoswol isn’t my BIGGEST ship but I have definitely shipped it and for me, their relationship is just... very singular, no matter what angle I approach it from. They’re enemies, they crave each other, in ways neither of them quite understands and... in ways they do, certainly. She wanted to accept him, maybe in part because she wanted to accept the parts of herself she saw in him.

Throughout EW, however, there was no forgiving him. He exhausted and frustrated her to no end, and when Alisaie said her bit to him? Nailed it, exactly. I really... just adore how it all came together tbh. Him coming across the stars to help us in our hunt. One has to wonder if we’d have been able to overcome the Endsinger without him.

With it all taken care of, Ahru could, genuinely, finally look at and accept his challenge. No, she wouldn’t deny his claims, no way. She has considerable bloodlust in her and my god if I was not screaming and howling in excitement. The whole fight was phenomenal, down to the point of throwing fists, which, was just icing on the whole cake for me. Ahru started as a monk; whenever a fight gets desperate, or sometimes just on the fly or instinctively, she will go straight back into throwing her fists, it’s most natural for her.

And just... the two of them laid out. Each on the edge of death. (I’m having a field day imagining the scars she’s going to be left with, tbh. Zenos has given her more than any other, that’s for sure.) In my head, Ahru absolutely drags herself over to him, collapses her head against his transformed arm, feebly folds her fingers over his, accepting him, refusing to let him be alone in those final moments.

I won’t go into too much detail, it’s my hope I can muster up enough sense to actually write the scene out properly.

There’s just... so much Ahru is processing post-EW, as I’m sure all WoL’s will be. X’D

Also after Zenos fight, her eyes have gone back to blue. Or, rather. I can’t make them the way I WANT to. I’ve headcanoned for a while once she got a handle on Azem’s powers and had some sort of resolution with Emet, they’d return to blue from gold, but with a line of gold around the pupil which... if you’ve made it this far you fucking know is how most Ancient’s eyes look. So been freaking out gently about THAT too.

Last, for now, hoo boy. Hoo boy oh boy. I am on the RahaWoL train, I’m a mess. Like I was a absolutely a ‘casual passenger’ before but hahahahahahahahahaahahahah wow. When it’s all said in done and void tools are back I’m eventually going to try and make that meme with G’raha: “This is my girlfriend Ahru, her boyfriend Thancred, and his boyfriend Urianger.”

Ahru is going to take him to Ishgard to meet her dad Edmont, and then go on that tour of Eorzea with him absolutely. Piece by piece, building a new adventure. 😤 Anyway, I have a whole nother post about all of that for later, and this is all quite rambly and hardly even touches on everything (how could I?) but I needed to get some things OUT.

[keep-it-i-resign]

Fic Writer Asks

tagged by the lovely @vampcoffeegyrl23 I am soooo sorry this has taken over a week! I promise I was just busy away from my computer and using mobile is not the way to go about answering these! 😅

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

6 on AO3 and 6 on ffn.net. I haven't used the ffn.net account in years, i.e 2013 (and therefore my user name isn't even the same) so those 6 stories are different from my AO3 ones. I don't post most of what I write and now that I'm in my mid-20s with a few published papers behind me - I'm much more confident in my ability to write a cohesive and interesting story so expect more posted!

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

17,425 words which isn't bad for only 6 fics with two of those stories having additional chapters coming soon.

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

On AO3? Just 1, which is The Flash and by extension Stargate SG-1 for the crossover I did for Snowells Week this year. Counting ffn.net that's 3 more with Castle, Doctor Who, and Firefly. Over my lifetime of writing fic for myself? I think only 7 more. Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Sanctuary, Harry Potter, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: TNG, and Left 4 Dead. Left 4 Dead isn't much of a fanfic but I did use the zombie types as place holders in an original story until I developed my own.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

I'll Be Waiting (The Flash - Caitlin/Harry)

Well... This is Awkward (The Flash - Caitlin/Harry, Frost/Nash, Caitlin/Nash, and Frost/Harry)

Rewind Time (The Flash - Caitlin/Harry)

Through the Gate (The Flash/Stargate SG-1 - Caitlin/Eowells)

Harvest Season (The Flash - Caitlin/Harry)

5. What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

I don't write angst much and I haven't posted many stories yet but of the ones posted I guess "I'll Be Waiting" is the angstiest.

6. What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

"Well...This is Awkward" has a pretty happy ending with everyone alive and together. Or maybe "Twilight of the Gods" because ReverseSnow/ReverseFrost happens and there is hope of bringing everything lost back and balance the universe again. I guess it depends on your definition of what constitutes as a happy ending. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

7. Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you've written?

I've only written one - The Flash/Stargate SG-1 crossover. I don't normally think about crossovers just because the shows I watch are so vastly different they can't really work or they are already in the same universe with the canon crossovers. I'm also not always a fan of reading them because they can get chaotic quick and characterization takes a dive in order to fit characters into other universes/situations. I admire anyone who can write it well though!

As a side note: I did have a thought about a Snowells into the Arkham universe fic just because I have been replaying the Batman Arkham video games which I might give a shot at.

8. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

👀I wrote one smutty story years ago and it's terrible because I was young and naïve. I haven't tried recently but I'm not opposed to giving it a shot now. I have a few ideas on a prompt list I have for Snowells already so it's really a matter of when will I get to it!

9. Do you respond to comments. why or why not?

I do when I can! I like to get feedback from my readers and having an open dialogue of what they liked or disliked is important for me! I want to know what my audience enjoyed and what to improve on! Responding to them also shows them I saw that they said and appreciate what they had to say! 🥰

10. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Surprisingly - no, even on my old and terribly written stuff. I'm perfectly open to criticism but hate? If you don't like it, you don't like it but others might. Why spend the time spreading negativity when the world has enough of it?

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

As far as I know - no.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No but given enough time I could probably translate mine. It would be grammatically atrocious because I rarely translate from English into any of the languages I know. It's normally the other way around! I'd definitely need a Beta who is fluent to correct my mistakes.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No but it's definitely something I'd try! I co-wrote an original story with a few friends of mine years ago in high school and enjoyed it. I like the idea of getting to talk and bounce ideas off of someone who enjoys the same fandoms and character as me! I haven't really done that since I grew apart from one of my friends from high school who I did that with.

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

What kind of question is this? Do people actually have an ultimate ship? Is that even possible? I have ships from several fandoms and sometimes multiple ships within a fandom. Most of the time I have a main ship from a fandom but that doesn't mean I discount any of the other ones that I or others enjoy as well. I'll throw out a few that I still got out and read for in order of what I read most often (either new stuff or re-reads) to what I read occasionally, at least according to my AO3 favorite tags.

Snowells (all variations) - The Flash

Jack O'Neill/Sam Carter - Stargate SG-1

Helen Magnus/Nikola Tesla - Sanctuary

Harry/Hermione - Harry Potter

William Murdoch/Julia Ogden - Murdoch Mysteries

Phil/ Melinda - Agents of SHIELD

Kathryn Janeway/Tom Paris - Star Trek: Voyager

Kate Fleming/Steve Arnott - Line of Duty

I will occasionally go check what kind of fics the fandom writes when I start a show just out of curiosity. Sometimes you can tell if there is fandom hate between ships by doing so and I know to steer clear, especially if I ship a lesser ship/non-canon ship. Also - the number of canon-divergence or rewrites will tell you if the shows writers start being ridiculous *cough* The Flash *cough* and whether it's worth getting attached at all.

15. What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

Hoo boy. I have a drive full of them. Most of which aren't even close to being posted. My biggest one right now is a complete re-write of The Flash dealing with a what if scenario of Earth-1 Tess Morgan being pregnant the night that Thawne kills them both and he chooses to birth the kid rather than let it die with her. It's set a few years earlier (so 18/19 years stuck in the past rather than the original 15 that the show has it) so the kid isn't Jesse but it changes how season 1 plays out and definitely how season 2 plays out when Harry finds out about the kid while dealing with the Jesse/Zoom issue. Plus it's Snowells too and I want to deal with Barry's mistakes and the consequences of them better than the show did since the show just kind of brushes them off? For some reason? I wanted things to have a little more consequence because some of the mistakes made are egregious and then they acted like it never happened which bothers me. It's a beast of a project and I'm - unfortunately- a perfectionist and a completionist. I'm thinking an episode per chapter rewrite but right now it's in bits and pieces and a lot of notes on how episodes would play out differently with an added character and dynamic.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue and scene positioning. I can write out the dialogue for a story quickly with the bare bones of the scene and movements playing out. After that, it takes me ages to expand the scene and fill in the bits between speaking lines because I can see the piece play out in my head and putting that to paper accurately and engagingly without being overwhelming is a multi-layered process.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Some of this is normal, you know, like grammar and spelling. My brain moves faster than I type so words or bit of phrases end up missing and I later have to fix it. I'm also a Southerner who grew up watching a ton of British shows so a lot of the way I phrase things isn't commonly used anywhere. I have to spend a lot of time double checking things like that. I think my biggest one is not knowing how to end stories satisfactorily. I haven't posted many fics because it's hard to post them when you don't know how to wrap everything up.

18. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

It depends on whether it's an established part of a character or story and whether or not I'm comfortable with the language. Like with Sherloque - it's established he'll say something in French and then repeat it in English. I took 3 years of French so I'm comfortable writing it and it fits the character and situation. But take Cisco, we know he speaks Spanish, but it's never really shown in the show. So fics that I've read where he breaks into Spanish can be distracting as we've never seen him do it - even in dire circumstances. I also never took Spanish in school and I only know rudimentary pieces (I took Mandarin and Latin instead), so I'm unlikely to use it in any fic I write unless the circumstances warrant it (say - Cisco is talking to a grandparent or a meta struggling with English).

But again, it depends on the situation, what we know of the character, and how comfortable I am with the language enough to get it correct and in character. Any fic writer who can get the situation and character down while using a secondary language, and not make it distracting deserves applause!

19. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Hit me with a hard one why don't you? 🤣 I think it was Stargate SG-1 or maybe it was Stargate Atlantis. You're asking me to think back over a decade and a half ago to when I started reading and writing fic at the tender age of 7 or 8. I'm fairly certain it was one of those two fandoms and it might've been a crossover. I do remember writing part of it on an old Gateway computer running Windows '98 with a glass monitor that was mine and my sisters. The other half was written on an electric type-writer that I owned because this was before laptops were widely available and affordable.

20. What's your favorite fic you've written?

It's a tie between "Twilight of the Gods" and "I'll Be Waiting". "Twilight of the Gods" because I got to show off a few of my degrees (History and Classics, I couldn't shoehorn in my others but they are science related and that doesn't quite fit that story). "I'll Be Waiting" is a favorite because it's a big middle finger to whoever / collective group wrote The Flash season 7. I'm still pissed off at how the Wells plotline was dealt with and let's not get started on the whole Chillblaine/Kramer/Forces as kids of WA plots (ewwwwwww 🤢). I'd need a whole new post to talk about how tired I am of the WA kids showing up (because screw how that'll effect the timeline, right?) and the reliance on the future to drive what decisions are made (because, again, screw how bad that would be for the timeline - it's not like we have seen how much that effects things before right?) 😒

Phew.....That was longer than I expected, honestly, but a lot of fun!

Tagging whoever wants to talk about their works because you are all wonderful people who should get a chance to share!

[kirishwima]

Hello hello! I love your headcanons! Can I request the RFA+V(and Vanderwood?) with an MC who is the one to make the first move to give the first kiss? I need more proactive MCs ready to go for it. (I think with Saeran we already do...?)

oh i like this headcanon hehe~ and yeah, i think we pretty much do see MC making the first move with Saeran-although I do think he’d get just as flustered any time MC gets affectionate with him lol

YOOSUNG:

* Honestly...after that kiss at the party, which he was only able to initiate because of adrenaline and excitement, he’d be a flustered m e s s anytime MC would be affectionate with him-even a mere hug would be enough to give this boy a nosebleed lol

* For the sake of this headcanon though, let’s pretend he didn’t smooch his MC at the party-so instead, whilst they officially start dating, they haven’t kissed yet; just holding hands is a huge feat for Yoosung, his poor heart needs time to adjust at the thought of having a boyfriend/girlfriend/SO to hold hands with!!

* Honestly, Zen would nag at him about it constantly. “What do you mean you’ve been dating MC for a month and you haven’t even kissed them yet?!” he’d ask, incredulous. “Just go for it!”

* Well, for Yoosung, it’s not that simple. Does he...want to kiss MC?  Absoloutely all the time always yes. Is he...brave enough to just ask them for it? Nope. Nuh uh. Nein.

* So it’s up to the hero MC to save the day, and steal Yoosung’s first kiss! 

* Honestly, a sneak attack would be the best-he’d be talking about one thing or another with MC, his face bright and beautiful as he spoke, and MC would absentmindedly bring a hand to cusp his jaw, their fingertips tracing his skin as they ask a soft “Can I kiss you?”

* Yoosung gulps, his eyes wide, but nods, and that’s all the invitation MC needs-they lean close and kiss him, takin in his shuddering breath and how he’s awkwardly trying to follow MC’s lead-and failing.

* They lean back and look at his flushed cheeks and half-lidded eyes; and when Yoosung looks to them with puppy-dog eyes and asks ‘can we do that again?’ well, who’s MC to say no?

ZEN:

* You’d think he’d be bold and be the one to kiss MC first-but same as Yoosung, his first kiss with MC was adrenaline-ridden and chaste.

* Zen’s a gentleman-he’d never want to push his beloved MC out of their comfort zone, nor would he want his ‘beast side’ to get the better of him before MC’s ready to greet that side, if ever.

* So he waits...and waits....and waits. MC has been trying to get him to make the first move but he’s a stoic rock, chanting prayers each time he looks at MC’s lips to keep his sanity lol.

* After a succesful opening night for his latest play, he comes to greet MC backstage at his dressing room; he politely ignored his co-worker’s greetings in favor of rushing to his dressing room where he knew MC would be waiting, and there they were-a bouquet of roses in their hands, yet a barely-hidden pout on their lips.

* “My love?” Zen asked, coming to stand across MC, cusping their cheeks in his hands. “What’s with that frown? Is something wrong?”

* MC’s pout intensified, their lips pursed. “In the play-you had a kiss scene.” Zen nodded, brows furrowed. He’d told MC about that scene from when he first read the play, and they were fine with it-did something change?

* MC leaned up to him, bridging the distance as they kissed Zen-something chaste and innocent, but lingering long enough for him to know the implications behind it.

* They licked at their lips as they looked back to Zen with a small victorious smirk. “I don’t like someone else kissing you before I did. I hat to purify what’s mine” they added with a shrug and-oh no MC what have you DONE.

* The BEAST(TM) has been unleashed. Good luck, MC.

JAHEE:

* She’s bold and brave, yes, but when it comes to affection Bahee’s a Hot Mess. She hasn’t even had her first kiss yet...and she loves MC but doesn’t have the slightest clue of how to initiate any contact between them.

* So it’s up to MC to slowly build up Jaehee’s confidence so that she’ll be okay with a kiss-from holding her hand when walking down the street, hugging her close and leaning their head into the crook of Jahee’s neck, little affectionate gestures that have Jaehee melting into the touch yet also clearly show MC’s intentions; that they were never at the level of simple friendship.

* When one night MC leans close to Jaehee as they sit on the couch watching some silly movie; when they trace Jaehee’s cheek with their fingertips, curling their fingers through her hair as they whisper ‘Can I kiss you?’ into her ear;it’s not a surprise. Jaehee’s come to expect this.

* Yet expecting it and actually preparing for it are two entirely different things-while she nods yes to MC, she shuts her eyes tight as she can, her lips slack and her hands trembling as they come to wrap around MC’s back.

* MC stifles a laugh at Jaehee’s tomato-red face, and says they don’t have to kiss if Jaehee doesn’t want to-while yeah, MC would love nothing more than to kiss the heck out of this woman, they’d never want to force her into anything.

* But Jaehee shakes her head furiously, her grip on MC tightening. “I want this!” she insists, her eyes clear, “I want this.” she repeats.

* So MC smiles and kisses her, slow and gentle, letting Jaehee set the pace.

* Slowly, Jaehee would learn to open up more, and would even be the one to initiate physical affection-but that’d take much, much longer lol.

JUMIN:

* Honestly...this thing he has with MC is his first relationship, and he doesn’t know what boundaries should be set-so he lets MC pick the pace their relationship should develop with. If they’re ready to kiss him, then so is he.

* And boy, MC does want to kiss him. They absoloutely do.

* Not even a day into their new and fragile relationship, they catch Jumin being the cutest he can be-he’s sitting on the couch, Elizabeth the 3d in his lap, and he’s cooing at her, talking in that high-pitched silly voice we all use when there’s a cute kitten or puppy in front of us, and Elizabeth seems to love it, turning her head this way and that whenever Jumin speaks.

* “Who’s my princess?” Jumin coos, scratching Elizabeth’s chin gently, “Are you my princess? Yes you are!”

* ((Yes he absoloutely talks this way with Elly when he’s alone, no you can’t change my mind))

* This cutesy behavior sends MC over the edge. They stand there, eyes trained on Jumin as they ask “Can I kiss you like, right the heck now?”

* Jumin blinks owlishly at them before smiling. “You never have to ask my permission for that-never.”

* So they don’t. Instead they replace Elizabeth on the couch, who’s now left the silly couple to their own devices to go stroll around the penthouse, and so MC leans close to Jumin, their lips inches away from him...and they kiss him.

* He’s soft and pliant, letting MC set the pace yet following suit, matching each of MC’s movements like he’d been thinking the same thing. When MC’s hands run through his hair he hums into the kiss, his fingers tightening on their waist. 

* Now that MC has given this man permission to do something like this...hoo boy you can bet he’ll never take his hands off of MC ever again, ever.

SEVEN/LUCIEL/SAEYOUNG:

* Like most of the RFA, he too has never had a relationship-sure, he’s kissed people, sure he’s had sex, but he’s never actually held hands with someone nor had someone he loves to cuddle with. So everything that happens with MC, every little thing’s a first for him.

* Even kissing feels sacrilegous, the mere thought of someone like him laying his hands on someone as bright and pure as MC making him feel the need to go to church and drown himself in holy water-he knows how much MC would tease him for the thoughts he has, but he can’t help it. 

* He’s a flustered mess at the littlest of things-MC merely leaning their head on his shoulder is enough to turn his cheeks redder than his hair, and MC wants to do so much more than that, wants to take this ridiculous man’s ridiculou’s face and smooch his lips until they’re puffier than a jellyfish, yet they fear what that might do to Seven-what if he short-circuits and his brain fries from the affection?!

* Well, all these worries are put to rest one night when MC fell asleep on the couch-they’d been waiting up for Seven to finish with his work so they’d go to sleep together, but ended up falling asleep as he worked.

* Seven kneeled besides MC, bold now that he’s the only one aware of his actions-he trailed his fingers through MC’s hair, to their temples, down the slope of their nose, his fingertips dancing on the corner of MC’s lips. He sighed, ready to pull his hand away when MC shifted and gripped his hand by the wrist.

* They sat up, ignoring the flusterdness visible on Seven’s face-there, in the dark room only illuminated by Seven’s laptop screens, his pupils blown and lips slack-he’s never looked more kissable.

* “I’m going to kiss you now” they said, and that was all the time Seven had to prepare; they leaned in and kissed him, trapping his lips as his surprised gasp was muffled into the kiss. 

* He didn’t take long before his hands were finding their way around MC’s waist, pulling them off the couch and onto his lap as he sat back on the floor, leaning up to angle the kiss better; even if it wasn’t his first kiss, everything felt new, every touch left a spark of electricity, a tingling in his skin he wasn’t aware he was cabaple of feeling.

* Now that this Pandora’s box had been opened, there was no closing it-if he could, Seven would never stop kissing MC.

* And well, MC didn’t mind that one bit.

Mood MC, mood

it’s like 5am and i didnt proof read this woop hope it’s okay!!!!

-send me mysme headcanons for character reactions-

[kingquentin]

What did you think of Alice destroying the keys and her reasoning for doing so? Especially since getting the keys weren't easy for any of them. Eliot basically died for the quest, Queliot can't see their son ever. So her destroying them was like a gut punch to me.

hoo boy okay this is one of the main reasons that i have Complicated feelings about alice, and i really hope no one thinks poorly of me for it lol

the fact that she did all of that, thinking that she wouldn’t remember any of it or even know that magic existed anyway because of the potion? really pissed me off. like why not just let them do what they needed, if she wasn’t going to remember any of it anyway? it literally wasn’t going to matter to her at ALL within a few hours. so why. why did she feel like she got to decide the fate of magic, just because she thought people couldn’t handle it? she spent so much of season 3 willing to do anything to get magic back, she even used the same throwing spell on julia that she used on the fucking beast when julia was just trying to help her and save her from her own recklessness. with julia’s own magic. 

i am just,,,, angery. like you said, eliot died for one of the keys, penny got trapped in the underworld when they could’ve maybe figured out a way to resurrect him and save him from his contract with more time, benedict died, and they all went through so much shit, and on top of all that alice attacked margo and penny23 when they tried to stop her in blackspire. i still can’t think about all of this without getting really angry about it lmfao. knowing that they all could have gone through that for nothing really hurts, especially with q and eliot’s family like you said! but the worst part of all of it will always be that julia had to give up being a goddess. i know she said it was her choice and that she didn’t regret it and she’d do it again, but she never should’ve had to be in a position where she had to make that choice. she gave up her magic twice because of alice - once giving it directly to alice, and again giving up magic almost for good because of alice destroying the keys. 

but also, if alice hadn’t done that, magic wouldn’t have been controlled by the library in season 4, because they would’ve already finished everything by the time irene and fogg and gavin showed up. so like. if she hadn’t done that, magic would’ve been fine and dandy, julia would still be a goddess, and none of them would’ve ever been under the identity spell. i mean. alice would be, but like, that’s what she wanted.

sorry this got super long lmfao 

[veliseraptor]

fic rec meme: 2019 edition

Rules: Post links (Ao3, ff.net, etc.); specify fandom/pairing/etc; don’t answer the same fic twice - spread the appreciation; tag other people; you don’t have to answer all the questions, but leave them in the list so the next person can answer if they want.

I was tagged by I think a couple people - @aphrodaisyacs and @aninfinitenumberofmonkeys. I’m going to try to keep this pretty short because I have a tendency to go on and then not finish these kinds of things because I overwhelm myself. 

I also cheated a bit on a few (a lot) of these because I read a lot of really good fic this year. And tried to include some recs I haven’t seen from others in my circle/fics I don’t see recced that often (though that’s not true of all of them).

I also shuffled things around so I didn’t repeat them, though a lot of these could be included in more than one category.

1. Favourite complete fic you’ve read this month (multiple chapters/parts): I did not read a single complete multichapter fic this month. Meant to, but didn’t do it.

2. Favourite complete fic you’ve read this month (one-shot): The mirror has a mirror in its teeth by deadendtracks. Peaky Blinders, Tommy/Lizzie, messy as hell in the way that I love.

3. Favourite WIP you’ve read this month: But I’ve read so many good WIPs this month. I’ll go with Contraction by NamelessDragon, MCU, Loki/Bucky, sequel to Compression (also amazing), which I’m finally catching up on after being stuck on reading almost everything for months.

4. One fic/series you’ve read which you keep coming back to again and again: (those yesterdays bleeding through by wnnbdarklord (MCU, time loop set during The Dark World) comes to mind, as, of course, does Bargaining by proantagonist (alas! for its vanishing), but to pick one that kept coming up this year I’m going to have to go with the nine in the tree by bereft_of_frogs, MCU, Thor & Loki-centric, post-Ragnarok AU.

5. Most underrated fic you’ve read this year: It feels like cheating to do this for a small book fandom, but you know what? My small book fandoms deserve more love. Based on lowest kudos I’m going to go with that he on dry land loveliest liveth by skyvehicle, Lymond Chronicles, post-Pawn in Frankincense. 

6. Most underrated fic you’ve read EVER: God, I don’t know. Again, it would be a small book fandom. You know? Because it deserves it and I love it and it probably is the most underrated fic, if only because it’s in a tiny fandom - In Memoriam by Tedronai, Malazan: Book of the Fallen, I love grief/mourning fic.

7. Favourite whump/angst fic of the year: This was tough since this is the genre I read most of in general, but because I managed to get a lot of fics on here via other categories, I’m choosing Into the earth I trampled it down by deadendtracks, Peaky Blinders, grief/mourning featuring Polly and Tommy. This fic was ouch all around, and beautifully written, and excellently characterized, and just...well, I’m clearly going to be reading everything that deadendtracks writes from here on out.

But I’m also going to slide In Cold Blood by NamelessDragon (MCU, Loki & Bucky, canon divergence AU) on here too, because it just updated and it really is fantastic, and I am so excited for more. It has all my favorite tropes written all over it, and promises some truly excellent whump based on the writer’s history.

8. Favourite hurt/comfort fic of the year: Again, a category with a lot of faves, but I settled on Walked In These Quiet Hazes by ratsats, MCU, AU where Loki comes back from the dead and is majorly fucked up, as is most everyone else. It’s rough, and it’s beautiful. And calling it “hurt/comfort” is probably...well, it takes a while to get to the comfort, I can say that, but it’s worth it. 

9. Favourite fluff fic of the year: Did I. Did I read any fluff this year? I suppose some of the Good Omens fic I read probably qualifies, though it doesn’t feel like fluff to me so much as...comedy? Wait, I’ve got one: Love Wounds Me With Soft Pillows by verbaepuchellae, Lymond Chronicles, Francis/Philippa, post-Checkmate.

Oh yes, after I wrote this I found another one: such surpassing brightness by Handful_of_Silence, Good Omens, Crowley/Aziraphale. Beautifully inventive, and fits into a very specific genre I can’t get enough of.

11. Favourite smut fic of the year: Shockingly, I didn’t read a lot of smut this year. I’m going to go with The Beast That Chose It’s Own Bridle by thespectaclesofthor, Doctrine of Labyrinths, Felix/Murtagh, post-series, (less than) kink negotiation, WIP. 

Oh, and also Chains of Gold by Anonymous, Lymond Chronicles, Lymond/Gabriel, hoo boy. My glorious Lymond/Gabriel fic I received for Yuletide. I can’t wait to find out who wrote it so I can lie down on their doorstep and beg for them to write more like this.

10. Favourite gen fic of the year: The Thanos Problem by Ranowa, MCU, post-Ragnarok AU. Okay, this is technically a series, so sue me. I especially liked When the Hammer Falls.

12. Favourite fix-it fic of the year/ever: This might be the hardest one. I read a lot of fix-it fic this year. I wonder why. I’m going with “the year” because otherwise it is just far too overwhelming and I couldn’t choose.

After a lot of debate with myself, and by eliminating other fic by virtue of sliding it into other categories, I settled on two: the only soul I’ve ever saved by valkyrisms, MCU, Loki survives Infinity War fix-it. I overall got pretty quickly annoyed with the genre of Loki-and-Peter Parker fics, but this one was just...so good. The Peter voice was amazing, the working with Loki’s Jotun biology as part of the whump was inspired, it was well written as all of valkyrisms work is, and just...so good. 

The other (I told you I was cheating!) is Keep It In Your Sights Now by LuckyDiceKirby, Shades of Magic, Lila/Kell/Holland, fix-it fic. I needed this fic in two ways - the threesome it involves, and the fix-it it involves. Delivered on both.

13. Favourite crack-fic fic of the year: I really don’t read crack-fic anymore.

14. Favourite sick-fic this year: Castaway by ariaadagio, Lucifer, Chloe/Lucifer, is me cheating again because “sick-fic” it is only loosely, but I want to include it because it was very good. Though I think technically I reread it this year. Apparently I didn’t read much sick-fic? Weird.

15. Favourite kid-fic this year: Another thing I don’t read very often, and apparently this year (at least based on my bookmarks) don’t have a rec for. 

15. Fic this year which you didn’t expect to love as much as you do:  Demonology and the Tri-Phasic Model of Trauma: An Integrative Approach by Nnm, Good Omens, therapy fic. Okay, so, in premise and everything this did have “me” written all over it. But I certainly didn’t expect to find it, and I definitely didn’t expect it to be as good as it was, right down to making me love an OC (which is rare).

16. Fic which convinced you to ship a pairing: This is cheating because technically it was another fic on this list, but since I wouldn’t ship it without it I’m going to rec As much what it is as what it’s not by deadendtracks, Peaky Blinders, Tommy/Lizzie.

17. Favourite AU you’ve read this year: I slid some of my fix-it fics over here, because canon divergence AUs are my jam and maybe that wasn’t the intent of this question but I don’t care. 

After some debate with myself, and rereading several favorites, I’m settling on my fearful trip is done by valkyrisms, MCU, the one where Steve runs into an unexpected child of Thanos in Wakanda. It’s real good, you guys. And yes, this does mean that I’ve put two valkyrisms fics on this list and I’m not sorry.

18. Longest fic/series you’ve read this year: This one’s easy! Eden!verse by ImprobableDreams900, Good Omens, Crowley/Aziraphale, the first fic in the series made me cry more than anything I’ve read in years.

19. The last fic you’ve read: The last new fic I read, since I reread a bunch of new things on this list while I was sorting through what I was going to choose, was to prove they are not dead by alreadybroken.

20. Wildcard fic you haven’t mentioned but deserves a shout-out + why: I waffled back and forth between two fics and what the hell, you know what, I’m going with both. The first is Miles to Go by josiepug, Peaky Blinders, which satisfied my desperate Tommy whump itch (for a time, it’s back now); the second is Where Is the Power That Made Your Pride? by Drag0nst0rm, The Silmarillion, aka the one where Celegorm lives and things are still bad. Not an AU I knew I wanted, but I guess I’m not surprised. 

Bonus Category: 

Best horror fic: dark underground//violent sky by bereft_of_frogs, MCU, I can’t tell you more than that because it would spoil it. I love horror fic and I have missed it since leaving Supernatural fandom. This one scratched that itch and I’m still thinking about it. Maybe it’s time for a reread.

As usual, I’m sure I’ve missed/forgotten some faves. I always do. 

I...lord, I feel like most of the people I’d usually tag have already been tagged for this? If you’re a mutual of mine and you haven’t been, go for it! I’m always excited to see more recs.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

HypMic 7 - 9 | Maou-jou 5 - 6 | Akudama Drive 6 - 8 | I7 s2 6 - 9 | Taiso Samurai 5 - 6

HypMic 7

I will never not laugh at the content advisory, haha.

I like Kazuha already. Too bad he’s probably evil…

Oh, is it the day of the DRB in the series already…? Or maybe, because it’s the qualifiers, BB and MTC’s match is on a different day to FP and MTR’s.

Oh? Does Tom know Jakurai well enough to call him “Jakurai-sensei”? (<- middle ground between “Jinguji-sensei/Sensei” and “Jakurai”) Also, Tom uses “ore”.

Ooh, Iris is a motorbike rider, eh? Interesting. I thought they (<- not sure if Iris is a “she” or “he” with a really weird name) were more of a Saburo-type and didn’t bother with things like that, based on their appearance. Update: Someone on Yahoo Answers said based on Iris’s watashi, she is a woman.

Typo fixed! Good job, anime staff! Update: I’m referring to “…darkest hour is just before the down” (sic).

…bukkorosu = “f***in’ slaughter ‘em”. It’s not wrong…it’s just the subbers really like to abuse the F word for MTC. But you knew that already if you got this far…right?

LOL, Ramuda wants to “scratch [Rex’s] back” (figuratively) to…get SNS views? Hahaha.

This Studio Alita is probably a reference to Shinjuku Alta.

Yotsutsuji!!! That was the one big spoiler I got before watching the episode today and I’m so happy I got to see him animated!

(One of) Irihatoma and Degarashi refer to Jakurai as “Jakurai-sensei” as well. Hmm, I never noticed. Update: That’s Degarashi, because Irihatoma speaks to Jakurai alone later this ep.

There’s 50% chance I’m getting this wrong, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say Kazuha is voiced by a veteran VA…one I already know about.

Doppo calls Kazuha by his first name…That upgrade means their relationship escalated quickly (or this is a quirk of HypMic in general, since I noticed most characters are on first name basis with each other). Also, it’s cute Doppo finally has someone in his corner. No other part of the franchise has one, to my memory. Update: It might actually be “Kazuha-kun”…but I’m still surprised though. Update 2: It’s both, actually.

I’ve listened to the phrase “some random guy” several times from Hifumi’s mouth and all I can figure out is the “yatsu” at the end. (Doesn’t help my ears blocked themselves up again, although it’s less than it used to be.)

Harumi Wharf.

R? On a helicopter landing pad?

…uh oh. I was right when I thought Kazuha was going to be evil. Also, Doppler shift/effect. Update: “Doppler” is clearly a pun on “Doppo”.

Hmm? “Hey, Doppo” from “yaa”…it doesn’t have a name referred in there. It’s a small but odd thing to do. (I remember a professional translator was complaining that people with intermediate Japanese were giving them flak for translating things “wrong”, but what I do here is analysis for my future and edificiation. I’m not here to knock down pro translators’ doors and demand a refund, because I’m trying to go pro to atone for my sins as a scanlator.)

The soundtrack’s slightly sinister tone, plus the fact I figured the culprit well before Doppo did, makes me slightly scared…for MTR.

I realised they skimped on the budget…this “hot off the car chase” line seems more like an MTC line, doesn’t it…?...Yeah, it’s almost word for word for MTC in DRB+. Maybe the subbers rushed and used this translation (this link I put here) rather than their actual lyrics…? I will have to get to the bottom of this. Update: Turns out the translation is slightly different, but…yes, there is reference to a car chase in the start of Shinjuku Style. (Sorry, I don’t know every lyrics of every song off the top of my head.)

…wow, this got really Doppo-centric. I’ve never seen the leader relinquish their position when it comes to “leading into battle” before. It just goes to show the staff really do pay attention to how popular Doppo is.

Note “Doppo” means “walk alone”, roughly speaking, hence the “solitary” line.

This song is very, very faithful to its original lyrics, because I was trying to look at Hifumi’s “mixing paint” line and it pretty much matches.

Hifumi’s “my men”, LOL.

Kazuha = “one leaf”, hence the “leaves” in one of Jakurai’s lines.

I cringe every time I hear screaming coming from this episode, y’know…?

…oh dear. MTC’s plot actually bled into MTR’s.

I already knew from browsing Twitter earlier today that Kizuna was going to become FP’s today, but hearing it is another matter entirely.

Kosuke Miyoshi is Kazuha. Apparently, this guy also voiced Mashirao Ojiro (the tail guy) from BnHA, but that’s his only major role…so I was right in that I knew him, but wrong in that he was, again, a relative rookie in comparison to most.

Apparently FP’s sign is a peace sign sideways to represent an F, but…it’s just a sideways peace sign to me…

…how is Dice’s bead ornament attached to him? Is it on his hair, on his ear, on the skin behind his ear…? I was trying to replicate his outfit and got stuck on how to represent it, so I ended up opting for trying (and failing) to do a small braid on the right side.

IWGP shows up this season…it’s the song with the “hoo!” noise BB perform in this episode.

LOL, “Dead men tell no tales” is a perfect saying for MTC.

Akudama 6

Is there a movie called “Brother”…? There’s apparently one that’s the plural of that, but not that itself.

If HypMic likes the F bomb, then Akudama like the S word.

I-Is it just me or is the choreography sped up at some points in this episode…? It’s a bit disorienting to come back to.

I thought the kid was a robot…but close enough.

Oh no! Why does the teacher always have to die for the student to become stronger???

Kairaku/shugi -> pleasure/doctrine (if I didn’t somehow misunderstand the shark’s kanji combo),

The part after the ED looks a little too long…keep watching.

The Japanese says “Lost Children”, but the English says “The City of Lost Children”, probably referring to this French sci-fi film.

I7 s2 6

I like how Gaku is taking special offence to Yamato’s comments about him being a playboy.

Re:vale-san. I never noticed until now.

“I’m already looking forward to it.” That’s how I would translate Tsumugi’s “I’m already excited”.

“…who could possibly complain?” – I think Mitsuki might.

The pun in the MEZZO show is that tai (group/squad) sounds the same as tai (want to ~). Rabbinsta is obviously Instagram + Rabbit (Chat?).

Oh my gosh! It’s the Yotsuba sister!

Mitsuki’s shopping trip OST is nice, man. This piano.

This episode has a really great sense of danger and foreboding for the future.

I7 s2 7

Perfection Gimmick. Never heard it in the anime before.

Even the ramen house’s name is a play on “Idolish7”.

LOL, Yamato sure turned that comment around.

The sign talking about beer says something about coupons below it. (It went by too fast and my CR app’s kinda fiddly, so I can’t really go back…)

Kimi to Ai na Night (pun on Idolish7, aka “AiNana”, again).

Mitsuki, no one hates you! You’re just imagining it all!

I7 s2 8

Momo hugely resembles Sasara, right down to the highlights on the hair…

“…you’re so handsome…” – I’m dying on the inside here, people! *laps up the BL pandering with a derpy smile on my face*

Banri and Tsumugi haven’t been focussed on lately…they’re clearly doing something regarding Banri’s ties with Re:vale, but I can’t quite figure out what that “something” is.

Why is there a basketball and a football in the back of the Takanashi office…?

Please don’t run in heels, Tsumugi…

“I love Idolish7!” - Ah, despite my quibbles, Tsumugi is good after all.

“making one’s best exertions” – Why do those words on the cup worry me a bit…?

Isn’t “I’m watching you” a creepy statement…?

Apparently Tamaki’s symbol is mp (mezzo pianissimo), hence Sougo’s words.

…my gosh! Aya’s foster father is Kujou?!

I7 s2 9

If I heard it right, Tenn’s line was “I can be your idol”, not “your prince”.

“Older Izumi” - …ah, poor Mitsuki.

“Damn you, sexy beast…” – LOL!

…aw, I think this is the first time my heart has been lightened by Tsunashi’s laugh. He’s a good boy.

The chibis…I’m still trying to get used to them…

As a song once said, “You can’t please everyone so you just gotta please yourself.” (Blah blah blah, something about garden parties…)

Takao what now???...okay, Takao Dayuu.

…You’re lucky that wasn’t Tenn doing Takao Dayuu. It would’ve been very “Gentaro does his courtesan voice” if it was.

Nagi doesn’t overpronounce things as much in this season. It’s…pleasant, actually. Give me more of that.

Nagi’s “Oh my god!” was hilarious.

Taiso 5

Ra (ら) and ro (ろ) look kinda similar in hiragana.

Even without the audio, I can guess the words were “yarubeki koto” (things you should do) -> shachihoko.

The texts are written in gyaru-moji. Gyaru-moji is basically indecipherable to anyone who doesn’t know how it works – kind of like the common teen vernacular, to be honest (LOL…?) – and so the subs actually kind of ruin the confusingness of it all, but they did slightly better when they went “UR”.

Movie shiritori! But…has it really been half a year since Leo started? I feel slightly robbed about that plotline with the Men in Black right now…(then again, HypMic is just as bad about important plotlines, if not worse, so…I’m going to be patient and not complain.)

July 5th…Rei is a Cancer…?

They’re…finally moving on this Men in Black plotline! I only complained two points ago! Thank you, staff, for listening to my complaints (…?).

Moon Land finished recently, so I wonder if I’ll lose interest in this anime from here on out…? There was a Pommel Horse Prince in that.

Moon Land taught me that gymnastics has a lot of skills named after their creators, much like the Aragaki previously. The score is out of 10 for both D (difficulty) and E (execution), meaning a 20 is the best you can do, but the judges can get really picky...

The word for “vault” literally means “leaping/jumping horse”…makes sense.

Some of these names are names I’m familiar with from Moon Land already…but I never remember what the skills look like.

…welp, Leo just proved he really is a ninja after all.

Dr Stone’s s2 had its ED announced to be “Koe?” by Hatena and “Yume?” here really makes a theme…does Hatena give all their song titles question marks on the end?

Taiso 6

Colour gangs? Like in IWGP?

It’s nice to see they’re (Jotaro and Rei) communicating properly for the first time in possibly this entire anime.

On the wall, that thing is an evacuation map…of some sort.

…I’ve always wondered: if a bird eats chicken, does that count as cannibalism?

This is like thw Makkachin incident all over again (in YoI).

“…there’s no reason for you to grin and bear it.”

…Leo and Jotaro, both are so dense! Boys *shakes head*.

BB? More like ET (LOL)!

Maou-jou 5

…I didn’t even notice the cast was all dudes bar the princess at this point.

Tatakau Onnatachi. It could mean “fighting women” or “female warriors”.

I’m still vaguely pissed that Kirito is here under my nose…darn Demon King!!!

One of the harpy’s recent worries was that she wanted to become friends with the princess…That’s kinda cute…

Didn’t Syalis already get the coffin that one time? Or did it get confiscated?

*eyes sparkle* Cloud…I’d like to sleep on a cloud…*dreamy look on face* Cloud.

This is basically Princess, ‘Tis Time for Torture in reverse.

Is it “make do” or “make due”…?

I don’t think I need to explain the joke where the harpy is happy.

Gendo pose!

I wonder if the bed or the sheets will talk to her (Syalis) someday?

Maou-jou 6

The New Gearbolt’s quote is “guruguru dokkan”, which is just a bunch of sound effects. It would translate to something like “whir-whir-thud”.

Underwear episodes are some of the worst episodes ever…they’re so juvenile…I dropped at least one series based on the underwear episode alone.

Ah! The seal on the ice monster’s shoulder! Too cute!

How can a mechanical princess mecha (…thing?) have worries?

LOL, never underestimate the hilarity of the teddy demons ganging up on the Demon King.

I like how the Japanese pointed out the demons only moved the princess.

HypMic 8

I thought the robberies were Kazuha’s doing…? Or is this a separate case?

Samatoki answering his phone with his feet up…LOL, there’s just something funny about it. It shows he’s just so badass, he can get away with it.

Riou’s hacking (?) skills come to the fore again. (Or is that listening to enemy intel?)

Ooh, Iris is sassy. I love her already.

…er, Samatoki? Blowing cigarette smoke into Jyuto’s face is just rude…

“…don’t hang up your gloves.” – Considering Jyuto has his red gloves…LOL.

What the heck is that backing track when the 2nd car moved out? That’s a cool track.

Ah! Iris is a Saburo-type…LOL, Saburo’s fake identity.

“a cop who’s in with the yakuza” - Wow, way to diss your own teammate, Samatoki.

For a guy who was only just in the water, Riou doesn’t even look wet.

“2 DIE 4” – Hmm? So did the anime staff know what Riou’s 2nd round song title was at the time…? Update: Judging by the name “Requiem” dropped in the next episode, I would say yes.

“…f*** the police…” - Wow, way to diss your own teammate, Samatoki. X2

Hmm? In Riou’s rap bit near the end, he goes “mad warrior” and that rhymes (in a very loose way of speaking) with “Mad Trigger”. The English didn’t keep that.

I remember seeing a spoiler which said that line (the one about slaves)…but seriously, Jyuto is such a “sexy revenge cop” (as someone once said – I think it might be Slug, or an anon to Slug) that literally nothing else seems to matter about him.

Why do they subtitle the laughing??? I still have no idea.

“Sgt. Iruma”? The guy just says “Iruma-san”. Is he a sergant or some other rank? Update: Yes. (As in, he is a sergant.)

I’ve never actually seen Ramuda sleep in a bed before, come to think of it. Does he not have a bed?

I would assume Gentaro is going…but he said he won’t be going, then negated that and then negated it again. Unless the 2nd time was him admitting it was a lie the first time…is he going or not???

“shinsetsu no human” – (Spoilers for later on/manga)…Yes, that’s actually what Ramuda says. It’s as if Ramuda subtly admits, right there, he isn’t human.

Nodo = throat…If this were translated more literally, it would sound pretty clunky.

“…rappa no inochi…paa!” – Yep, the subbers got the gist of the joke there.

Dice is basically a worm at this point…He’s squirming like one, anyway.

That “number of pips facing up” thing has got to be foreshadowing for something, y’know? Nothing in a story ever goes to waste. Also, it’s likely the dice are weighted or something…

…yep, there you go.

That voice Gentaro used for “I despise lies” was amusing…because it’s so different to his normal voice, and because Gentaro is a serial liar.

The 2nd song…which I already know is called “JACKPOT” from browsing Twitter earlier today…was a bunch of fun.

Udagawacho.

Hmm…emphasis on the candy. I wonder what that means? (<- already knows, I just want to keep it a secret from you, dear reader, if you don’t know it too)

ANIME SHOP is so clearly a pun on Animate, including the colours, that I can’t even…LOL.

FP’s Kizuna sounds distinctly different to the others…probably because of Ramuda. It’s mostly Ramuda carrying the tune there.

“Life is what you make it.” – Hmm, an interesting quote for sure.

HypMic 9

…welp, they don’t call it Fling Posse for nothin’.

I didn’t believe my ears, so I went and listened to it again. Sure enough, Ichiro calls Jakurai -san, not -sensei.

Ramuda’s normal voice! Things are getting serious~!

“Hifuming”? Is that a deliberate choice on the translators’ part? Or is it a mishearing?

…I’m laughing at how Samatoki called Ichiro a “hypocritical piece of s***”. I know the “s***” part is correct at minimum from the audio.

I believe Samatoki said -san, not -sama when he asked for an honorific. Hmm, interesting.

I knew this would get animated, but…I still can’t believe I’m watching it! Amazing…absolutely amazing.

If you’re wondering…yes, that long thing is her entire title and name. It’s said the name “Kadenokouji” is the longest Japanese surname in existence.

I remember reading a tweet earlier today that said somebody wanted “Altercation! Altercation! Altercation!” as a song title…and now I LOL, because the subbers made Gentaro say the exact same word.

Hmm…I only just noticed BB are the only ones with bags. They probably came last, but who took the others’ bags into Chuoku…? Update: Some of the others did have bags, I just never spotted them. For instance, Riou is carrying a large black rectangular bag, but Samatoki and Jyuto don’t have any. Jakurai has the bag from his TDD days.

The 2nd DRB brackets got announced today. BB vs DH, MTR vs BAT, FP vs MTC, rolling out across Japan (and Japan only due to COVID) in 2021.

“What happened between you and him?” - I was going “who?” in Cantonese (as I sometimes do), but turns out they’re just referring to Samatoki.

This is exactly as it played out in the drama tracks and manga…exactly what I was waiting for all this time! So good, dangit!

LOL, in the future, we will have camera drones working our concerts like they do in the DRBs…I think (?)

I wonder what Dice is thinking right now, seeing Otome on the screen…hmm…

…gah! Airhorn! Airhorn to the ears! *tilts to side due to sound*

I still kind of remember Slug’s take on the final battle…”The popo? More like the poopoo!” (or something like that). *sniggers*

The little barking bit after Jiro’s verse was…kinda cute, actually.

…ow, these are some burn-ass words. See? This is the power of the DRB!

…eh? Riou’s mic has his MC name on it. Don’t think I’ve seen that in any other part of the series.

Hoh, Riou even made references to Saburo’s character songs.

You can see “Hc” on Samatoki’s mic too…probably another case of his MC name, but partially obscured by his hand.

Aw, “Samatoki no sabaku toki” is a good lyric. Why couldn’t you try to keep that, instead of translating it literally to “judgement day for Samatoki”?

You can hear a thumping beat in the background when Samatoki prepares himself. That seems to be a similar way to how ARB treats this stuff.

“I’m THE Samatoki” – “Samatoki-sama da”.

I think it was really cool to show Samatoki handing the song over to Riou, but it also indicates there’s a disjunct in the lyrics that would cause such a thing. From this, maybe Riou is MTC’s weak link…?

Skeletons with katanas! Is that not cool?!?

…hey, that joined words thing Ichiro does…I would assume that’s what Rhyme Strike looks like in the HypMic universe?

Notice Samatoki took the word “signal” from Ichiro’s part and put it into his own one.

“Today is a good day to die.” – *eyes bulge* Oh…gosh. What a quote. Update: Someone theorised Ichijiku wrote these titles (the last 2), but someone else – like me – theorised this quote was what FP and M fans thought for this battle.

Akudama 7

…that’s one twisted kid.

Never threaten to kill a kid who can regenerate far better than you, Hoodlum.

Brawler is still in the OP…it’s kind of saddening to see him now.

I noticed a certain character appears on the Executioners’ hands if you pause at the right moment in the OP. It’s the first character in shori (management).

Bunny: set meal/Shark: roasted meat (yakiniku)

…This sounds a heck of a lot like the genbaku dome (Hiroshima Peace Park).

Bunny and Shark’s shirts together: Idiot -> Shark: Bone

Actually, this also reminds me of the Osaka Expo held in 1970. I loved writing about that event – it was just so fun to write about.

This anime is like Appare-Ranman’s sequel, except without the racing and crazy racial stereotypes (although there are still crazy stereotypes).

…whoa! This scene is going on the end of year list for sure. Just…have to remember this scene, where all the children disappeared, exists.

…”The City of Lost Children” is an apt title for this episode.

(HypMic spoilers!) I wonder if they’ll reveal that Ramuda is a clone in what’s left of the HypMic anime?

…oof, Doctor’s a filthy traitor!

Rule number 1 of fighting: never yell out “Smokescreen!” when the smokescreen is meant to cover you.

…LOL, dark censorship bar. Please wait for the Blu-Rays to see this scene uncensored.

What the heck?! The countdown went from 7 to 0 so fast!

Akudama 8

Black Rain, huh? *checks* It’s a movie about a pair of New York policemen who have to save a Japanese gangster from his death.

…don’t jinx it, Swindler!

Your brother isn’t on the moon, Sister. It’s just your dreams on there.

Notice “Neo Lake Biwa” actually has “Reiku” in its name, as opposed to, say, “mizuumi” or “ike” (the Japanese equivalent).

You can still see where Doctor stitched herself up.

What did Doctor “hold on to”?

Way to monologue through the whole morality thing… (<- not as satisfied as they would like from this scene)

I wonder if the seal is electronically tracked…

Tsubo = pot, vase…*thinks about drugs* (Not that pot.)

“…I’ll make you into a real man.” – More like a eunuch, LOL. (partially sarcastic)

I recall from Sarazanmai that “pair look” is the term for “twinsies” in Japanese.

Oh! Swindler kind of looks like the Executioner Boss now.

…I find it ironic that Swindler had long hair up until not too long ago.

Can to the eye! Ouch! That’s gotta be worse than a lightsaber…er, jitte to the eye!

This makes me wonder…was Courier a rich kid once…?

[froldgapp]

Lead From Behind

Wrote something finally. For a fandom I know a very limited amount, but hey ho! Consider this vaguely Geoff Johns era Teen Titans.

“Gah!” Tim jumped in his seat. Years later and Batman still had him almost losing his bowels every time he emerged silently from the shadows. Breathing deeply through his nose, Tim recovered himself then turned to look up at Batman, something in his neck pulling painfully with a loud pop. Batman, cowl down and hair glued to his forehead with sweat, stood with his arms folded, eyes still fixed on Tim’s screen. A thick finger prodded at the second paragraph down.

“A jump in logic there.” The finger drifted south. “And there.”

Tim followed the finger, saw the slack in his reporting Batman had spotted, and grumbled, “I was going to circle back to it…”

A warm huff, voice like velvet. “Sure.”

Tim turned again, felt the strain in his tired neck and shoulders as he stared up into amused blue eyes. “I was.”

Batman huffed again and strode off, beginning to unfasten the rest of his uniform. Tim hastily locked his screen and slipped from his chair to follow the man. He’d been out of his own uniform for hours, having finished up his sweep of the city earlier that night; already half-exhausted by his trip back from San Francisco. Despite the quiet ‘night on the town’, the shorter stint dragged as much as his damp cape did in the miserable Gotham air. He had nothing to show for his hours back in the city other than the tedious report currently driving him demented on his computer. Namely, his attempt to somehow clear the name of his out-of-town cohorts. Generally speaking, the Teen Titans. Specifically speaking, Beast Boy and Wonder Girl. A pair who may or may not have destroyed an entire art installation near Pier 39, under the watchful eye of several television cameras, all while screaming bloody murder at each other (Beast Boy with the underwear of the interim, possibly extra-terrestrially compromised mayor clenched between his baboon jaws).

Batman lay his gauntlets down on a table and dragged a towel across his face. “Fun trip?” he asked, still with that amused pur.

“Was quiet. Quiet route. Real quiet.”

Batman canted an eye over his shoulder at Tim, who found himself lingering around the man like a dirty wet crumb that wouldn’t quite make its way down the plughole.

“San Francisco was quiet?” asked Bruce, turning fulling to face Tim now, eyes like darts.

“Gotham was.”

“I know. It is. I’m here. I saw.”

“Good. Quiet. For both of us. That's good. You had a quiet day and I had a quiet day.” Tim kicked at the floor. "Quiet." He drew the word out into two distinct syllables.

“San Francisco,” Bruce prompted.

Tim hiked his shoulders up and said, “Good” at least an octave too high. “Sunny. No fog.”

“The report you’re working on, Tim...”

“What report?” 

“The one on your screen.”

“What screen?”

“Tim…” Now it was Bruce's turn to suck a steadying breath through his nose.

“Yes, Bruce.”

“I’m very tired.”

“Maybe you should go to bed then, Bruce. Forget today. Get some rest.”

“I’d like us both to pretend for a moment that we both know which report I’m talking about and which screen I’m talking about and which city I’m talking about.”

“Ah…”

“You wouldn’t be trying to write a couple of metas out of trouble would you?”

“Why, what’d Superman and Wonder Woman do this time?”

“Tim…”

Tim flung himself up on the table and cringed under the weight of Bruce's weary stare. He wished he was still in uniform. He hated when Bruce caught him with his tights down. “Yes, we messed up. Just… everything got so crazy with the mind-control and the St Elmo’s Fires and that mayor, and by I managed to get myself out of the water, which is way colder than you’d think, by the way, Beast Boy and Wonder Girl were already at each other’s throats. Like, literally:” Tim mimed choking a ghost.

“They destroyed thousands of dollars worth of property.”

“I know.”

“Put a wrinkle in all that outreach work you’ve been doing on behalf of metas.”

"I know."

"Knocked over several Porta-Potties."

“I know,” Tim groused, dragging his hands down his face. He chanced a look at his boss through split fingers. “Look, Bruce, they know what they did.” He dropped his hands to his lap with a defeated slap.

“I have no doubt.” Bruce’s eyes shuttered for a second, a sign of something deeper he didn’t want Tim to see. Something uncomfortable. “Tim…”

“Hoo boy.”

“They know what they did. It’s all over the press. All over everyone’s mouths at the League.” Bruce lowered himself to sit next to Tim. “But I wonder…" He was being careful. "Do you know what you did? What you’re doing?”

Tim steeled himself, but it didn’t translate into his weak shrug all full of petulance and doubt .

“Whenever you come back here and try to save them, make excuses for them...You’re not thinking like a Robin or a team leader.”

There it was: a Robin. Not ‘Robin’. No. 'A'. One of many. Bruce only spoke that way when he was disappointed. When he, Tim, a Robin, had messed up. Tim thrust his tongue into the side of his cheek and tried to will his face to stop burning.

“You’re thinking like a kid who’s been caught flunking school with his buddies. You have to be bigger than this. Harder. They’re your team, Tim. When they mess up…” Bruce sighed heavily, regretfully. “That’s on you. Sometimes you have to play a heavier hand. Not make excuses, but make them better. You see?”

“Sure. Yeah, I see.”

A heavy hand found Tim’s shoulder and squeezed. “You good?”

Tim made a dry sound that might have been a laugh. “Yeah.”

“You get it?”

Tim dropped from the table, his still-untied shoes squeaking on the smooth floor. “Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, I get it.”

Bruce’s eyes narrowed, then he too pushed off the table and tugged down the zip on his suit. “Good. No need to finish your report. Just sign off on the Justice League’s statement. It should be on the system by now. They were very keen to send it to me.”

“Sure, Bruce.” Tim drifted back to his computer. “Thanks.” He dropped back into his chair and erased his report, which even at a glance now seemed paper-thin and childish. What was he thinking? Of course he knew they'd know. He just thought, maybe some words, some... reason could distract them. That the chaos of the day could be underwritten somehow. Stupid. Foolish. Selfish. Because of his team reflected badly on him, then he, a Robin...

He clicked the blinking red icon that indicated a new message from the League. Teen Titans Foil Out-of-Worlder Mayor, Destroy Priceless Geddison Exhibition , the statement header read. Tim’s cheeks were flaring.  “I’ll talk to them.”

[norbah]

The Plover and the Crocodile

A continuation of this other story: 

http:// norbah. tumblr. com/ post / 182333442252/ another-grima-piece-fgrima-msummoner

Just something that came to mind while thinking about Grima. Didn’t mean for it to get this broody and philosophical. Hope you like it anyway. Any thoughts would be INCREDIBLY appreciated. Thank you!

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

Lucina's eyes were trained on the sprawled form of the Fell Dragon as she approached it, but her eyes flickered upwards to its horns, one of which was currently serving as a perch for a lone human. He was kneeling dangerously close to its edge, hands busy wringing a mop's head over a bucket. He was either extremely confident in his own balance, or trusted the horrid beast beneath him not to move too brusquely. A distressing idea, in Lucina's head. That anyone could trust that treacherous snake... how ridiculous. Her grip tightened over her blade's hilt, bolstering her confidence by its presence alone.

"Move aside, Summoner," Lucina said as she stepped forward, Falchion in hand. "I would not want you caught in battle."

The Summoner blinked in surprise and looked up from where he had been working, already mopping the horn's surface in the time Lucina had been musing. He looked down at her, confusion in his eyes, before panic bloomed in his expression and he twisted around, as if looking for someone.

"What are you doing?" Lucina asked, not expecting this particular reaction. It was with no small amount of dread that she noticed Grima's eyes had opened, and now regarded her, unreadable and cold.

"You said a fight was coming," the Summoner called back down, unaware of the staredown that had been initiated. "I assumed the Emblian army had broken through!"

"Wh-What?" Lucina broke eye contact with the Fell Dragon, stunned. "No! I meant Grima! Move aside so I may slay Grima!"

"Oh. I guess that makes sense." The Summoner seemed calm now. He turned to face Lucina, but instead of hopping down from the horn, he sat down on its edge, legs dangling off, and looking down at her with a calm expression on his face. 

"No. No, I don't think I will."

"What?" Lucina was genuinely bewildered. "But can't you see?! This must be done, Summ-!"

"Plover, please!" He called down before she could finish. "Call me Plover!"

Lucina couldn't help but flush. The Plegians (Tharja, Henry, and Aversa) had taken to affectionately calling him "the plover" once they'd noticed his devotion to the Fell Dragon's hygiene. Henry had explained to the more curious Heroes that they were referencing a small bird from Plegia, which seemed to enjoy a unique relationship with the vicious crocodiles in their rivers. It would clean the reptiles' teeth, pecking away at anything caught in them, and the normally voracious crocodile refrained from closing its jaws around them. Over time, "the plover" had simply become a nickname, "Plover". It didn't help that very few Heroes had actually bothered to ask his name. Or that the nickname seemed to fit him better than any name could. It was a bit embarrassing that he had found out.

"So where's this coming from?" The Summ- no, Plover, asked Lucina from all the way atop Grima's horn. It spoke to how much time he spent on the dragon that he seemed to know which volume would carry best to the ground. He didn't sound like he was shouting.

"It has killed hundreds! Thousands! It needs to be stopped! To be killed before it can unleash destruction here in Askr! Please, P-Plover," she cursed internally as she stumbled over the informal form of address for the tactician of the Order of Heroes, "let me fulfill my purpose!"

He seemed to think for a moment. Lucina caught Grima's eyes again, and started shaking as they fixed on her again. The beast hadn't moved once, and its eyes held no aggression, but... was Lucina imagining it, or was there mockery in those three hellish red spheres?

"She," Plover suddenly called out, breaking the spell over Lucina.

"Wh-What?" the future Exalt could only ask. And it was frustrating to realize that this whole time, that had been her biggest reaction. Surprise. Not decisive action.

"She," Plover repeated. "You keep calling Grima 'it', but she's, well, a she."

"I... How is that relevant?!" Lucina felt so, so frustrated. Even dealing with the other versions of herself didn't vex her like this.

"It's not," the Summoner admitted. "But I felt it was important."  For the first time, Grima's eyes looked away from Lucina and fixed on the Summoner, and Lucina could never have imagined they could look so soft, so gentle. The great dragon rumbled loudly, shaking the earth around them moderately. The Summoner held to Grima's horn with almost casual ease, not minding the razor-sharp edge of the bony appendage. Lucina stumbled a little, but kept her balance, ready to dodge an attack, until she realized...

"Wait," she thought. "Is Grima purring?!"

"In any case, I'm sorry, but I have to deny your request, Lucina," Plover went on, and to his credit, he did look apologetic. "Unless you can answer one simple question."

"Ask your question, then," Lucina declared, confident once again. If this was all that stood between her and Grima's defeat, then she would answer any question unfalteringly. Whatever was required of her. 

"Here goes, then," he said, and leaned forward, as if to look at Lucina even more closely. Grima was quiet once more, and its- her eyes, Lucina grudgingly granted, once more only on her. 

"How many Plegians?"

"I-I'm sorry?" Lucina asked, her confidence wavering only a little. What kind of question was this? The Summoner's idea of a joke?

"I should have elaborated," Plover murmured, but the silence was such after Grima's minor earthquake that Lucina heard him, even if vaguely. "Here it goes again: 

"How many Plegians have died to that sword?" he asked, pointing at Falchion. 

"I haven't-" Lucina began, not quite liking where this was going.

"And just to be clear," he went on, "I don't just mean at your hands. At your father's too. And his father's. And that one's important," he said with a rather pointed look. "I have heard he waged a rather bloody war on Plegia in his time. How many dead, do you think?"

"That was different!" Lucina called up, but a pit in her stomach had opened up at the mention of her grandfather. There was no denying that his actions had led in the long term to Validar's possession of the Plegian throne. Emmeryn had spent her life trying to undo the hatred and resentment born from his brutal actions. 

"It was?" Plover seemed surprised. "I don't see a lot of ways how that could be."

"Of course you don't!" Lucina yelled, getting angry now at his flippancy. "You tend to Grima! You serve it-"

"Her."

"-almost like you worship it!" She went on, not hearing his firm correction. "Almost like you're-" and a thought occurred to her now. A sobering thought that horrified her, but one she chastised herself for not thinking before.

"Like you're Grimleal..." Lucina whispered, horror-struck. It made sense, she realized. His slavish devotion to Grima's comfort and appearance. His claims of Grima's innocence, his insinuations that the Ylissean royal family were as bad... It all pointed to-

"Okay, now I know you've been hitting Gray's Duma Moss a little too hard," Plover called down, snapping her out of her spiral. 

"... What?!" She spluttered out after a few seconds of shocked silence, mortified. Was he implying that she used substances?! 

"Word to the wise," he kept going, oblivious to her distress, "don't keep going after the third toke! It builds up!"

"Stop shouting that!" She hissed, red in the face and glancing behind her to make sure nobody was hearing this. If this rumor ever got back to her father...!

Grima's throat rumbled again, this time in quick succession and with higher intensity, and Lucina went scarlet in the face, in both rage and mortification, when she realized the Fell Dragon was laughing at her embarrasment. 

That brought her back to the present situation, and seemed to do the same for the Summoner, even if he still had a smile on his face.

"No, I'm not Grimleal," he said gently. "I don't worship her, any more than you worship..." his brow furrowed.

"Gerome?" He asked. She blinked, confused. "Inigo?" He tried again. "Severa? Brady? Laurent? Robin? Kje-" he stopped when he saw her go red one earlier, and blinked in honest surprise. "Robin, huh? Way to break the bro code on that one..." he murmured. Grima snorted as well, amused in some way by this knowledge. Lucina could only growl at the two of them.

"Well, I don't worship her. Same way you don't worship Robin, and he doesn't worship you. Not literally, anyway," he finished. Now it was Lucina's turn to snort in derision. How ridiculous.

"How can what Robin and I share be anything like what you and Grima have? They are different bonds in every way, are they not?" She asked, mentally comparing the two in front of her to a twisted version of what Robin and her father shared. Trust and camaraderie beyond what regular people shared. That, at least, she could respect. Perhaps she could understand now why he seemed so hellbent on-

Aaaaaaand he was blushing bright scarlet now. And avoiding eye contact with her. Things certainly couldn't get more awkward, Lucina thought. 

Until she noticed Grima staring directly at her. And as soon as Lucina made eye contact, its massive, bony, scaly eyebrows rose, then fell. Once. And again. And again. 

Desperately trying to ignore the fact that Grima had just waggled its eyebrows at her (and hoo boy, would that one require some therapy to get past), Lucina latched on to the last piece of rational discussion she could remember hearing, and tried to bring this whole thing back to Ylisse. Zenith. Wherever!

"But why compare Falchion to i- to her?" She amended, seeing the testy look on Plover's face. Once that faded, however, he looked relieved to be back on track. He shrugged again.

"Just wanted to point out that if we were to measure something's malice by how many it has slain, then your blade is pretty evil in its own right."

"That was a war. It was different," Lucina argued. 

"Does that make their deaths any more just? I'm fairly sure many of those soldiers also thought they were doing the right thing. I doubt that even half of them were zealots at all, either."

"And what of her?" Lucina asked, anger creeping back into her voice as she pointed at Grima. "What of the many slain by her? The deaths to come if she were to be left unchecked?!" 

"Just as terrible and unjust," Plover said agreeably. Lucina paused. She'd expected him to argue against this. To claim Grima was innocent of any wrongdoing. The dragon herself held Lucina's gaze, almost defiantly. 

"Everybody she killed," he kept going slowly, picking his words with care, "was a life taken. And it was as unfair as the ones taken by Ylisse. The ones taken by Falchion. But it is as you said. It was war. You can't win a war without enemy casualties. The world isn't so nice. Hell, we're at war right now." 

"But just as Ylisse fought their war against Plegia and against Valm, and as you fought yours against fate," he went on, "she was fighting her own war." 

"Against who?" Lucina demanded. Plover grimaced and scratched the back of his head. He seemed almost unsure of his next words.

"Against humanity," he said, glancing away. "Against people who might seek to use her, to hurt her."

"I chose," Grima's voice hissed out from between her jaws, vast and grotesque, sibilant as the wind in a seaside cave. Lucina could feel every bone in her body vibrate as the gravelly sound washed over her, and only through great force of will did she resist the urge to lift Falchion before her, "to wage my war on all of mankind. Let none who might have sought my pain or my service survive. If leaving naught but the bones and ash of the human race was what it took for my survival... then so be it."

"But... But that's insane!" Lucina argued, her voice shaking after Grima's first words in the discussion. "To eliminate all humans over the potential of one seeking to use or destroy you..." 

Plover drew in a deep breath, and Lucina knew from the pain in his eyes that he did not like saying what came next.

"As insane as trying to kill your husband over the chance he might be an unwitting enemy agent."

Lucina's breath caught in her throat, and for an instant she saw red. This man, this non-combatant, this traitorous filth who knew nothing of war was daring to compare her to Grima?!

But... he wasn't entirely wrong, was he? She had turned on Robin. She wasn't able to go through with it, even after he spread his arms wide with a smile and said to go ahead, that his life was hers. But she had turned on him nonetheless.

And she thought of her original timeline. Of Grima's future. When everything in Ylisse, Plegia, and Regna Ferox seemed to be out for her blood. When only her friends and family remained at her side. When the whole world was hellbent on her destruction. How close had she come to despairing then? 

She'd been willing to do anything to fix that, hadn't she? To destroy her enemy And save those she loved, she'd been willing to bypass time in its entirety. But if she'd had world-ending power at her disposal and no loved ones to save... could she really say with any certainty she'd have been that much different?

With a heavy, heavy sigh, Lucina sheathed Falchion. She turned to leave, but Plover's voice stopped her.

"You never did answer the question, you know," he said. But it was quiet, almost gentle. Lucina's fingers found Falchion's hilt again. But instead of the usual comfort and strength its presence brought her, the sword felt heavy with questions she'd never have posed before. To herself or to others. 

How many Plegians? No. That wasn’t the true question. How many people? Plegians, Valmese, Alteans and people of Gra. Humans, Manaketes, and Beastfolk. How many had met their end on its blade?

"Far too many," she finally said, her voice and heart as heavy as the sword at her side. "And yet... as many as were needed," she finished her thought, and felt both revulsion and disgust with herself for even saying it. Because even among the heroes who had killed because they had to, because it was the only way to stop disaster from ending even more lives, death stained the blade. Of innocents in their own way. Her father had told her of the Plegian general Mustafa, for one. And more than that, the shadow of her grandfather darkened the grim duty and noble resolve that the Sword of Seals should embody into something much worse. There? There lay no justification. Only cruelty.

"We do what we must, don't we?" Plover asked her softly. She turned her head to look at him, and found him looking at her with a sad smile. 

But it was Grima she was looking at when Lucina answered.

"Yes," Lucina said. "We do." 

And for the briefest of moments, Lucina thought some understanding passed between the two of them. But it was only an instant. Lucina turned back again, looking at the castle.

"It's not over yet," she called out loudly, knowing they could hear her. "I'm still not entirely convinced. And I have earned a fight with her."

It was a few seconds before she got her answer.

"You have."

Lucina nodded in acknowledgement, and walked away. Maybe it was her imagination, but Falchion felt lighter now than a minute ago. She would have to talk with her father... and with King Marth, if she could find him. Maybe they could help her make sense of this.

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

They watched her go, curious and apprehensive at the same time. Then Grima's eyes turned to Plover. The question was not voiced, but he knew it anyway. 

"I think we gave her a lot to mull over," he said softly. Grima rumbled in response, her eyes sliding towards Lucina and following her as she left. 

"Gave you something to think about too, huh?" He asked with a smile. Grima didn't answer. But with the two of them, that was an answer in itself. He simply laughed and decided to put the words away for today. He still had a job to do, after all. He hoisted himself back onto her horn, careful not to shear his calves off as he did, and picked up the mop. Grima's eyes soon drifted shut, as she fell gently asleep.

As the afternoon wore on, the plover continued to clean its beloved crocodile. Not out of hunger, as other birds had done in the past. It cleaned because it wanted the crocodile to be happy. And the crocodile knew this.

[ladymacbethsspot]

3, 4 and 13 for Spellbound? 😇

Thank you, Danny! These are interesting ones. Thank you for asking me about Spellbound!

3.  What’s your favorite line of narration?

I’m a really big fan of the fight scene with the incubus. I wrote this scene far ahead of time and had a lot of fun with it as I don’t usually get to write fast-paced action. I think my favorite line is the killing blow sequence:

He swung his arm forward, across his body. Once, to cut the beast- stun it with pain. The knife flashed, drawing a trail of red across the incubus’ chest. Its mouth open- a blood-curdling scream ripped from it. Twice- he slashed in the opposite direction across its neck, back the way his arm had come. Backhanded, all the power of his shoulder behind the blow.

The knife was sharp. Levi was strong.

4. What’s your favorite line of dialogue?

Hoo-boy, do I hate writing dialogue. I think the dialogue lines I’m most happy with so far are all the jokes Erwin tells at the museum and, most of all, Levi’s pathetic inability to make his own joke. I re-wrote their exchange a good 3-4 times, especially Levi’s joke-fail and I like how it turned out:

Before they parted ways Levi shot Erwin a sly look. “Hey Erwin,” he said, “You know, you’ve got a lot in common with those crystals we saw.”

“Oh, how so?”

“Well, because you, uh…” Levi paused, suddenly at a loss as he cast about, the confidence having faded from his face as he frowned in concentration, “…because you shine like…or something about flawless?…” Erwin pursed his lips, fighting the urge to laugh. It was clear that Levi was trying to make a pun and that it was going nowhere. Seeing him struggle through, it was obvious he hadn’t given any thought to it before opening his mouth. It was all very unlike Levi. “…a gem?…hard? Rocks are hard?…Shit,” Levi finished, exhaling angrily from his nose. “This is much harder than it looks.”

13. What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn’t listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading?

Sigur Rós. I always listen to Sigur Rós when I’m writing. I like to have atmospheric background music, and I get distracted by lyrics so anything by that band is perfect. So, if you want to listen to some Sigur Rós (especially for scenes where weird shit is going down), I highly recommend it!

However, I also have a playlist for Spellbound that I listen to to get *in the mood* to write. It’s a bit embarrassing, but I think of Spellbound in terms of its full overarching story and the playlist jumps around with how I see it relating to different parts and characters. I’ll link a few of the songs below. Keep in mind that this is a bit abstract, I’m going for mood and vague feeling usually when I pick songs. These are, alas, mostly on the downer side. Because we can’t have nice things.

Regina Spektor- No Surprises (cover of Radiohead)

lovelytheband- Broken

Lorde- Supercut 

[sansfangirl4life-blog]

The Worldless Chapter 1

Hoo boi. This story is going to be hard work. This is a big crossover story I’ve been wanting to do for awhile, and I finally finished chapter 1! I do hope you all enjoy it! Coming up with human forms for these boys is going to be a fun challenge! (Please note that I didn’t know until recently that Ganz HAD a human form. Luckily, I came up with something similar to what Golzy did, so I guess it’s ok? Otherwise, Chaser and Lost already have human forms!) 

I also apologize in advance if characters seem OOC. That’s just how it is right n

Lost is mine

Chaser belongs to @cyaneworks

Ganz/Mel belong to @golzy

????? belongs to @the-noise-maker

Chapter 1

"....p....e....y...." A voice echoed into the darkness of his subconsciousness, urging him to stir. "H...a..."

"Ngh....." His head throbbed in pain as fingers twitched, gripping at the snow beneath him. "Ungh...my....my head...." He placed his hand against his face, trying to will the massive headache away. "Wh...where..." He slowly sat up and looked around. Soft, gray and cyan rimmed eyes glanced around at his surroundings. "Where am I?" A large, dense woods surrounded him, the ground covered in snow. Snowflakes fell serenely around him as the silence of the woods giving him an uneasy feeling deep within his Soul. "I don't recognize this place..."

"About damned time you woke up." He turned around to see whom the voice belonged to, but he didn't see anyone around. "This place isn't exactly the best spot for taking a nap."

"T...Taking a.....a what?" He rubbed his head, flinching at the pounding in his skull. "Gh....my head hurts..."

"Tell me about it. My skull's been ringing this whole time too." The other admitted. "Not to mention, things feel off."

"Off?" As he drew his hand away, he looked down at it and frowned. Slender, almost soft pale fingers met his gaze, covered by fingerless gloves and his Soul seemed to twinge in his chest. Wrong....this...this isn't right.... "I think....yeah....it's the same feeling."

"Alright...now, this seems like a really stupid question but...how much can you recall?" The voice sounded irritated but also confused. The young man scowled as he slowly stood up, legs wobbling slightly. "Not to sound like a downer and all that shit, but I can't recall much myself."

"I..." He leaned heavily against a tree, his large coat catching slightly on the bark. "I don't....I can't remember..."

"Yeah...same here. Something isn't right." His shoes crunched the snow beneath his feet, the sound filling the silence of the woods. 

"I don't remember....I think...." He rubbed his forehead again. "No. I can't remember anything."

"Well that makes two of us." The voice scoffed. The young man stopped briefly at the edge of a small pond, the water still clear and bright. He walked over and cupped his hands, taking a long sip and sighing with relief.

"That's good...." He whispered, wiping his chin off with his sleeve. He looked down at his reflection and tilted his head slightly. "I.....is that..." A youthful face stared back at him, gray eyes rimmed with cyan seeming confused. His skin was pale, but not quite white. His long, wavy silver hair had a single cyan streak down the center, some of it covering his right eye. His large coat had a furry black trim, and black marks were plain as day on his cheeks and jaw. "Me?"

"Well no shit sherlock." He turned to the side and in the reflection of the water was another version of himself, but with bright, magenta hair covering his entire right eye and black tears leaking from his eyes. His left was gray, but rimmed with bright magenta. "Well it seems you can see me here in the reflection."

"....." He gripped his head as a word seemed to rise from his muddled memories. "....Mel. You're.....Mel."

"...." The young man crossed his arms and frowned. "That...sorta sounds right." He shrugged. "Sure. We'll go with that." The young man stood up stretching slightly. "And you? Do you recall your name at all?"

"Umm...." He crossed his arms and sighed. "I-" He stopped as a loud snapping noise sounded from close by. "What was that?"

"Not sure." Mel hummed a bit. "But I think now would be a good time to run." He turned towards the snapping noise, and a pair of golden, gleaming eyes leered at him from the shadows of the trees. "Like....now!"

"Yeah....good idea." He turned around and began to run further into the woods. Loud footsteps followed, a guttural growl sending chills down his spine. As he ran, his foot caught on a root and he fell face first in the snow. "Shit!" He turned around to see his pursuer. A large, black, tar like creature loomed over him, six golden eyes looking down at him. "Wh...what....what the hell?"

"S......oU......l...." It seemed to sputter, its eyes narrowing. "W...aNt...." He felt his soul hammering in his chest, and a soft, blue glow emanated from his ribs.

What...what the hell is going on here?!

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

Snow shifted off a branch as pink slippered feet landed with ease on a long, sturdy branch. "Still no signs of anyone else..." Lost whispered. As red and blue eyes scanned the tree line, he saw the trees shift suddenly and he narrowed his eyes. "One of those things again? What is it doing this time?" He leapt down, landing on the ground and barely stirring the snow beneath. He heard groaning from nearby and tilted his head. "Having issues there?"

"H-Hey! I'm just outta shape!" A head full of spiky, bright blonde hair popped up as fingerless gloved hands scrambled for the branch just underneath. A young man hauled himself up, bells jingling from the rope around his head. "I'm a wonderful athlete!"

"Tsk, oh really? And you just now remembered that I'll bet."

"How did you know?!"

"Because for the past two hours that's all you've said."

"Aww! Welp, can't blame me for trying right?" Bright green eyes seemed to glow with mischief. Lost sighed and brushed a snowy hand through messy black and white tipped strands, his eyes watching as the movement stopped. "So~?"

"It stopped..." He scowled and looked back at his companion. "Do try to keep up, oh great athlete."

"H-Hey!" He turned and began running towards the movement, stopping just before a small clearing. On the ground he saw a young man staring up at the maw of a large, black, sludge like creature.

I thought so.... Just as it came down, he rushed out at an almost blinding speed, holding his hand out. A wall of red bones formed in front of him and the other. 

"Are you alright? Can you stand?!" He grabbed the young man's sleeve and lifted him to his feet. "Can you fight?"

"I-I-I have no idea!" The young man dragged him backwards as the beast slammed a clawed hand into the ground.

"Alright, then stay there for now." He held his left hand out, taking a deep breath. 

A large, red scythe seemed to emerge from the air and he spun it slightly before gripping it tightly. "And don't get in the way." He rushed at the large, molten creature, the blade of his scythe glowing slightly as he sliced at the monster. It backed away slightly, screeching as he continued to swing at it. C'mon, where are you?!

"Oh Losty~!!!!!"

There he is. Figures. "Took you long enough!"

"The hero always arrives late!" The light voice cheered as he threw large bells down at the monster. They erupted into smoke and he landed with grace on the ground. He winked and snapped his fingers. "See?"

"Alright, you made your point." Red and blue eyes rolled as he turned to the other behind him. "We gotta get running. Follow us." The young man nodded and the three ran off into the woods. He leapt up into the trees, the young blonde haired man following. "Can you get up here?"

"I-I-" He rolled his eyes and grabbed him by his coat, nearly tossing him up onto the branch. "Hey!"

"Shh." They looked down as the creature sniffed around for them, only to walk away after a few moments. "Coast is clear Chaser?" The blonde haired young man nodded and slid down.

"Whew! Talk about a workout!" Chaser laughed. "I haven't had this much fun for as long as I can remember!"

"Which isn't far." The other mumbled. He leaned against the tree, sighing. 

"So.....you got a name?" The young man frowned. "Try to think about it. It'll pop up."

"....G....Ganz." He whispered. "I think people called me Ganz."

"Ganz? Heh, better name than Lost!" Lost scowled and threw a small branch at Chaser. "Owie!"

"It's what I got, alright? And you dodged that, so don't even act like it hit you." Chaser winked, the branch actually in his teeth. "Yeah, show off."

"So...where are you two from?" Ganz asked, swinging his legs down and hopping off the branch as the others followed.

"Great question! Neither one of us has a clue."

"He's right." Lost nodded. "We both just woke up here a couple hours ago. We were close by to one another and were attacked by one of those...things." Chaser kicked at the snow, rubbing his hands together slightly to keep warm.

"Yeah, and that's when we remembered we could use magic!" He smiled. "Like this, watch!" Chaser held his hand out and a bright, yellow ball formed in his hand. It glowed faintly before forming into a large bell. "I can make all kinds of bells! And my bell-t is super useful too!"

"He isn't lying." Lost shrugged. "So....do you have any idea how you got here Ganz?"

"No. I just woke up here and I can't recall much more than the past hour or so." He sighed and Lost nodded. He felt a dull throbbing in his right eye and groaned slightly. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing....it's just this odd ache that pops up every once and awhile." He waved it off.

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

Chaser tilted his head as he watched Lost groan in pain. That's been a near constant. Pain in your eye is not normal. He thought as he hopped to a closer branch. "Is it worse Lost?"

"No luckily." He sighed. "But I have no clue why this is going on."

"Headache?" Ganz asked.

"I guess....I mean when I woke up I felt like a train hit me."

"Well....we can't stay here! We need to keep moving, right Losty~?" Lost scowled and Chaser smiled brightly. Heh, I know he hates it, but he really needs to lighten up a bit! No fun being all down all the time. He sat on the branch, leaning back and resting his back against the trunk, eyes closed and legs swinging off the sides. "So...what now, hmm? What's our game plan?"

"For now....wait." Lost shrugged. "To be honest, all three of us have next to no information."

"Then why not go and get some?" Chaser asked, fiddling with the stick. "Sitting around like this isn't going to get us moving anywhere!"

"He's right...but then again so are you Lost." Ganz said, shrugging. "We just don't have enough information, and with that.....thing roaming around, it's best we travel in a group." Chaser shrugged and laid further back, his arms ans legs swinging below him.

"Yeah...but still! I mean who knows what's out there? We've only been looking around for a couple hours at best!" Chaser grumbled. "I dunno, I just don't like-" He stopped when he thought he heard shouting. "Did...did you two hear that?" The shouting grew louder and the other two stopped chatting.

"...Yeah...." Ganz stood and easily hopped over to another tree. "So...there are more people here after all." Lost stood and gripped his head slightly, his red eye seeming to pulse with pain.

"Go....find them...." A voice rang in his head, deep and soft.

"....Go...find them?" He mumbled and shook his head. "What the hell?"

"You ok Lost?" Chaser tilted his head. "You sounded like ya were talking to yourself!"

"No...just....never mind." He sighed as the pain slowly subsided. "We need to keep going. Let's go find out who those voices belong to...and stay on guard."

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

Red eyes watched as a dim orb floated in front of him. "Good....soon they'll all meet up..." He whispered, his voice deep and tired. "I really hope I made the right choices here." The orb flickered before vanishing and he was surrounded by countless stars. His soft scarf flowed gentle around him and shimmered with a multitude of colors. He held his hands out and another orb formed, showing the blurry shapes of two others. "Good...he's awake now also."

He allowed the orb to vanish and he curled up slightly, closing his red eyes. "I need this to work...please....please let this work." He looked around himself as the edges of his starry home seemed to crumble slightly. "We're all running out of time...."

[maychorian]

Weekly Voltron Fic Recs #42

Please be aware that I am no longer noting Season Three spoilers.

Rules: You can find past weekly rec lists here, and non-list recs in my general fic rec tag. Also follow @maychorianrecs for individually tagged posts, the easier to search and reblog. This is stuff I like, and I have a huge bias toward Lance, hurt/comfort, and general fluff, in that order. Gen unless otherwise noted. Please comment on the fics if you read and enjoy them!

Unknown by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions) Words: 17,643 Author’s Summary: As Shiro enters his fourth year at Hogwarts, there’s a lot he doesn’t know about his future. As he tries to figure out what he wants and what he needs, Professor Coran comes to him to ask for a favor: to help tutor one of the first years in Transfiguration. Shiro agrees, and sets himself down a path he’d never expected for himself. A remix of Unafraid by Buttered_onions My Comments: Absolutely delightful Harry Potter AU in which young Shiro gradually gathers a small flock first years who adore him to tiny bits. I love how protective Shiro becomes almost the instant he meets each of these adorable kids. Matt and Allura are fantastic as his supportive and mischievous best friends, too.

The Blue Paladin by CalicoPudding Words: 2,680 Author’s Summary: He didn’t ask to go to space, not like this anyway. And sure, it was fun and exciting and new when they first arrived, but it’s clear now that they can’t just go back home. They’re Voltron, the defender of the universe. And they’re fighting a very real threat. A threat that could kill them if they aren’t careful. My Comments: Lance is not dealing with his homesickness, and then Blue’s rejection makes it a whole lot worse.Thank goodness for Pidge and Hunk chasing him down and refusing to leave him alone.

Day 5: Insomnia by GemmaRose Words: 1,806 Author’s Summary: Without a regulating light cycle, the average human circadian rhythm settles to a 22 hour cycle. Going under that is… difficult. My Comments: Poor Hunk has a rough time adjusting to space. Good thing his team notices and won’t let it continue.

Thrall Song by ElementKitsune Words: 1,709 Author’s Summary: The name is Takashi Shirogane. (that’s the first thing you’ll forget) OR Shiro gets captured by the fae. (It’s an experience) My Comments: Surreal, dreamlike fantasy AU where it’s the fae who capture and use Shiro instead of the Galra. Good thing the team is there to save him.

You do not Need to see our Identification by The Curator of The Sands (GrimRevolution) Words: 6,886 Author’s Summary: She was looking for information so she went alone. She didn’t come back that way. She almost didn’t come back at all. My Comments: Really fun way for Pidge to meet up with Matt, both in the middle of their own mission on a base. In the melee, Pidge gets injured and Matt gets her back to the team. Lots of actions, lots of feels.

A Long Rain by Bandity Words: 3,467 Author’s Summary: It’s a search and rescue mission and Lance is happy to be out in the rain, but he really doesn’t understand why Keith hates it so much. My Comments: Oof, this is quite the double whammy, with Lance getting physically sick and Keith struggling with PTSD in a major way. They both need to get out of the rain.

If I Can Live Through This by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions) Words: 6,804 Author’s Summary: There are some problems Shiro can’t go to the team for, for a variety of reasons. But for those times, there’s Sam and Matt. A direct sequel to Beast You’ve Made of Me My Comments: Great installment for a fantastic series. Love Sam and Matt being supportive of Shiro when it’s difficult, and especially when it’s difficult for him to ask.

The Opposite of a Furry Little Problem by Omnicat Words: 1,412 Author’s Summary: Shiro isn’t Shiro, he says. Shiro isn’t safe, he says. The space mice will decide that for themselves, thankyouverymuch. My Comments: Ahhhh, so adorable! The space mice decide that even if this isn’t quite Shiro, he still needs company and comfort. I want more fics like this.

Waiting for the Dam to Break by saababa Words: 14,702 (3/?) Author’s Summary: It took a whole month to track down the Galra ship that had captured Lance. A whole month of frustration, guilt and dead-end leads before the remaining paladins could launch their rescue. It only took a month for Lance to lose his mind. My Comments: Ooh, great aftermath fic. Intense so far, with wonderful characterization and a lot of emotion. I’m really looking forward to seeing where this one goes.

The Helpless Dark by Bandity Words: 2,149 Author’s Summary: Lance is trapped and awaiting rescue, but he’s not as alone as he thought he was. My Comments: Oh, golly. Lance with children is always a treat, and we get hurt Lance on top of it, trying to keep a tiny alien calm while they wait for help. Lovely comforting with Hunk later, too.

Can’t Touch This by SerenePhenix Words: 1,777 Author’s Summary: No one touches the mice. No one. Author’s Summary: That monster hurt the space mice, holy crap. D: I get kind of desensitized to human characters getting hurt in fiction, so somehow this is worse. No worries, though, there is vengeance, and lots of concern and love at the end.

Stick Like Glue by Arisprite Words: 6,895 Author’s Summary: An uninhabited alien forest calls to Lance for exploration, and who better to ask to come along than Keith? So, maybe everyone else said no first, but Keith and Lance are actually not having too bad a time. Add in some jewels, glue, and a giant monkey, and we’ll see how it goes. My Comments: Really fun adventure fic with Lance and Keith getting into and out of trouble and actually enjoying each other’s company. I love seeing their friendship develop, despite all the bumps along the way.

Don’t Worry About It by genericfanatic Words: 3,949 Author’s Summary: 5 times Hunk told Lance not to worry about it and one time he should have worried. My Comments: Warning for attempted suicide. Oh gosh, this was a rough read. If it hadn’t been for the second chapter I don’t think I could have taken it. But I loved protective Hunk doing his best to heal and support his emotionally wounded friend.

01001000 01100101 01101100 01110000 by The Curator of The Sands (GrimRevolution) Words: 1,226 Author’s Summary: It wasn’t even her voice, wasn’t hers and was wrong, it was wrong, it was wrong, wrong, wrong. One foot moved forward. No, no, she didn’t want to, she didn’t want to she didn't— Walk. She walked. My Comments: Really intense fic with Pidge being mind-controlled, then feeling a complete loss of control and autonomy afterward. Lance tries to help and does his best, but it’s a rough time for Pidge and nothing is really fixed by the end.

Ship to Wreck by Engineer104 Words: 3,544 Author’s Summary: It’s always the same. Katie Holt loses her family. Pidge Gunderson emerges to get them back. This time, she sets sail for the New World. My Comments: Really fun AU with Team Voltron in the Age of Sail. I loved all of the character choices and the richness of the descriptions. Just need more, that’s all.

The Cost of War by heroami Words: 1,257 Author’s Summary: And then it hit Lance just how young Pidge really was. Kids her age – our age, a voice which sounded a lot like Hunk, reminded him – should be worrying about school and their first kiss. Not whether or not their friends would survive the day. My Comments: Sweet, heartachey missing scene set after Return to the Balmera. Pidge is having trouble processing and she goes to Lance, even though they’re not quite friends yet. Fortunately, Lance welcomes her in with open arms. Love that platonic cuddling.

All the Stars Go Dark by nightwalker Words: 33,330 Author’s Summary: The Garrison was abandoned. Shiro didn’t know what he’d expected. He’d known when he started out that nowhere was safe anymore, and he’d had no reason to believe the Garrison would be any different. But he’d held onto that hope in the face of all evidence. My Comments: Hoo boy, this fic is a non-stop thrill ride. I knew I was going to enjoy it, and I REALLY did. Shiro coming back alone to the Garrison to search for survivors (and his brother) after a year of zombie apocalypse is already a tense scenario, but then once he actually MEETS those survivors, and then all the twists and turns, the things that are eventually revelead, and even the ending, oohhhh man, non-stop rollercoaster from start to finish. Definitely some horror, mostly because of what people do instead of zombies, but Shiro is going to take care of these kids he found surviving in the desert NO MATTER WHAT. I really, really enjoyed this fic.

the weight grew golden by uraa Words: 7,698 Author’s Summary: Through the window, Takashi saw a head of unruly black hair, golden skin and soft dark eyes. Oh, he thought. Even from a distance, he could tell. My Comments: What a gorgeous fic. This isn’t quite my childhood, but close enough for the nostalgia to be pretty overwhelming. I could really feel the weight of that summer heat, and the joy of a summer storm. Shiro’s instant adoption of new neighbor Keith was adorable, and it was also fun to see them both hanging out with the Holt siblings. What a lovely group of kids.

Fever Days by Bandity Words: 2,280 Author’s Summary: Keith was always good at being alone. A fever didn’t change that. My Comments: Poor Keith. Good to see the others taking care of him, especially after he starts hallucinating about Shiro. I especially loved Lance in this, supportive but willing to call Keith out when he’s doing something harmful to himself.

Snow Drop by Bandity Words: 3,420 Author’s Summary: A storm is raging and Pidge fights to get an injured Lance to safety. My Comments: Fantastic Pidge and Lance friendship. They both have to work together to get each other out of a very dangerous situation. The cuddling at the end was lovely.

Alsanum by Lobo_Loca Words: 11,841 Author’s Summary: [“Alsanum?” Lance asked. “What’s that?” “Our biggest festival, which celebrates the lights the goddess Alma bestowed upon the first Alteans. Five nights of lights, food, and games to remind us of the gifts we’ve been given,” explained Coran.] In need of a break from the war against the Galra, Coran suggests reviving a traditional Altean light festival. The Paladins team up with Coran to put on the festival, and decide to surprised Allura while they’re at it. My Comments: I adore all of the thought and creativity that went into the building of this fic. It’s lovely to see the team enjoying a holiday together and sharing their cultural heritage, and there’s the bonus focus on Coran’s grief for his lost family. Bittersweet and lovely.

And live inside each scene by Resamille Words: 1,292 Author’s Summary: “Well no,” says Lance over the comms. “Most people don’t intend to get shot.” My Comments: Ouch, poor Pidge. Good thing Lance and Keith are there.

Day 3: Blood Loss by GemmaRose Words: 1,496 Author’s Summary: In Which Zarkon Is Injured And Alfor Refuses To Give Up On His Friend. My Comments: Strong warrior friendship, holy crow, look at it. It feels so true to them now, and that’s the weirdest thing.

Previously Recced Fics That Updated:

As Color Fades Away (110431 words) The Ones Who Were Left Behind (38405 words) The Machinations of Perception (42846 words) The Wounds We Heal, and Those We Don't(13386 words) Scattered (64148 words) Truce (171597 words) Water and Blood (23759 words)

[cursewoodrecap]

Session 3: Darkness in Your Past

Hello everyone I’m still like. WAY sick. And I will be performing our next session entirely through texting and enthusiastic mime. But I can probably type, even if I’m hacking and wheezing?

In this session: oh no, backstory!

The party finishes their long rest at the bandit camp, universally antsy to get going and prickly with each other after certain ethical disagreements.

As the bandits warned us, the road turns out to be full of traps, and 3/4 of us roll terrible, awful perception checks. Clem, comically, immediately falls into a hole. It’s less comic when we realize there’s sharp spikes at the bottom of that there pit trap, but Valeria Channels Divinity and summons the Chains of Rack, catching Clem before she can tumble into the stabbity stabs. WHOOPSIE.

Traveling onward, we find a huge tree has crashed down across the path. We are all experienced players and thus suspicious bastards, and Shoshana rolls a good enough Nature check to suddenly have a childhood memory. There was once a local woodsman that she and her best friend used to hang around, a lumberjacky fellow and hunter named Mordecai. A good-natured fellow, he would let the local children tag along and show them lots of tips and tricks about the woods. Using the remnants of that remembered knowledge, Shoshana picks up on a few wood shavings and out-of-place bits. This thing has been tampered with.

“Everybody stand back,” she says, “I’m gonna poke it.”

“Wait, I have a crossb-” Gral begins, but Shoshana slaps it with a Mage Hand, which is only a 30 foot range. Two crossbow bolts shoot out of where the log has been hollowed out and the bark has been thinned to a sheet, and one sticks right into somebody’s boob. Good job, folks.

Going forward seems to be all well and good until, suddenly, someone notices we can’t hear Valeria, who’s guarding the back. We turn around and surpriiiise, a wild beast-man is hanging out of a tree and has her by a garrotte! There is a brief debate about whether attempting to free her by swinging an enormous greatsword is really the best?? idea??????? but Valeria puts an end to the discussion by stabbing the guy herself.

We complain at the DM about all the traps, and then get distracted, because OOH, A RAVINE.

Shoshana goes quiet at the familiar sight, but there’s something worrying here. There’s a beast-man of the Hunt and his wolf on watch, but there are dead people and wolves scattered over the blood-stained ground. A clutch Silence spell from Gral allows us to overcome the sentries with no alarm raised; Clem bisects the wolf with Extreme (and mildly panicked) Prejudice. 

Inspecting the scattered corpses, they seem to have been pierced by something long and thin - like arrow wounds, except there are no arrows to be seen.

We cautiously move forward, Gral sneakily scouting ahead and messaging back to the clanky folks what’s up. Shoshana tries to sneak, but is too distracted looking at the Hunt-people corpses for - someone recognizable, maybe? - and trips over a dead wolf. CLANG CRASH WHAM, roll for initiative, folks!

We slash our way through a couple of toughs and their wolves, Lookin’ Cool and Kickin’ Butt, but...this is like, two guys. What happened to the terrifying force that had the bandit crew cowering in fear? Why are most of them gone, or dead on the ground with the same arrowless arrow wounds?

Maybe the answer is through that door.

What Shoshana remembers as a bit of a hollow in the wall of the ravine - enough shelter to get a quick snatch of rest, maybe - has been covered over with a crude ceiling and a curtained hide door. No sounds are coming from inside, so we cautiously make our way in. 

It’s not much. Some rough skins and blankets to sleep on, a bag hanging on the wall, and a metal chest that we determine is booby-trapped. And loose scraps of paper, scattered across the floor. Shoshana bends down to pick one up, and reads it.

The gasp is audible. She stares at it, struck, as her player reads the text sent to her by the DM. The others begin to investigate the room as she stands there, absolutely floored - and then snatches for the next piece of paper, like lightning. And then the next, and the next, on her knees scrabbling for them, reading each one with mounting frenzy. She’s muttering to herself - “Why would she-? No, how-? The whole time?! And she NEVER??? How could she-”

Valeria cautiously picks up one of the cast-aside notes, reads it, and then caaarefully places it back on the floor, because Hoo Boy This Is Some Personal Stuff, Let’s Give Her Some Space. They seem to be unsent, half-finished letters, addressed to Shoshana. 

While spooky lady has a breakdown, Clem ably does a bit of medicine for Gral and Valeria to get everyone in fighting shape for whatever comes next. 

Shoshana collects all the letters, and somberly takes the pressed flowers Valeria found on the rudimentary table. Elsewhere in the room we find a key to the big chest, but still stand to the side when we release it - good, because an unsteady Mage Hand isn’t enough to hold the trap wire properly taut. Clem insisted we open the chest last thing before we leave, for fear that the roof would cave in, but a big scythe just swings out of the wall and slices the air where we all Decided Not To Be Standing. We find a bit of money, a Ring of Jumping, Ser Balderich’s sword, and a magic horn that is only heard by the person you choose to hear it.

The horn is apportioned to Shoshana, being the squishiest and the most likely to get targeted by these creeps. Shoshana, emotionally a bit frazzled, accepts it bemusedly. “Why?” she inquires dully. “I mean, it’s not like you’re exactly invested in my survival, past the next hour or two.”

Gral immediately protests. “I gave my word I would protect you, as part of my promise to bring you to Duke Shieldeater’s service. I would not betray that.” 

Valeria nods enthusiastically. Shoshana blinks and then gives the universal “get a load of this guy” gesture to Clem. 

Gral continues. “If truth must be known, I...am not entirely here on the Duke’s orders. I serve him, but it was my own decision to come find you. I strongly believe we Orcs need better relations with the local civilians. And I have my own aims, as well.” Cryptic behind his mask, he does not elaborate and continues back out into the ravine. 

Up ahead is the part that Shoshana knows is waiting for her. A thick blanket of branches and hanging foliage cast a section of the ravine into deep darkness - a canopy impenetrable to light but not, as she remembers, to the falling, flailing body of a young woman.

It’s distantly terrifying that seeing it again feels so much like coming home. A voice curls out of the ravine, welcoming her back at last. It’s impossible for her to tell whether the others can hear it.

“Ser Balderich is in there. The bandits said they were keeping him in the dark place, and...that’s where...”

Valeria firmly places her hand on Shoshana’s shoulder, reaching out in empathy to steady a comrade in a time of clear emotional distress. Shoshana feels a gauntleted hand land on her shoulder, the executioner’s cue to go face her death with dignity. They go forth, into the darkness.

...

So, it’s DARK in there. Valeria lights up the Rune Beetle. It’s still dark, supernaturally so, heavy and sick-tasting in the air. Even those in the party with Darkvision are limited, and they move ahead slowly and carefully. Luckily, Ser Balderich hears them coming, and starts shouting at the FIENDS! who are BACK FOR MORE, ARE YOU? and the party is able to find the pit he has been thrown into, heavy wooden bars embedded over the top.

Seeing the glint of Valeria’s silver scales in the dim light of the beetle, Ser Balderich’s shouting stops short. “...Marius?” he asks, disbelieving. “You survived? D-did any of the others-?”

Valeria recognizes the name of Kyr Marius, a mentor of hers at the monastery where she trained. Another silver dragonborn of the order, with years of combat experience. “I’m not Marius,” she lets him down, “But we’re here to get you out!” 

Ser Balderich, beaten and bruised and with at least one broken arm, is still with-it enough to notice that a young female voice does not sound like his presumably middle aged male friend. But he makes a quick recovery: “Oh! Uh, well, Kyr, it is an honor! But beware, the fiends are not far-”

Yeah, they’ve definitely noticed we’re here. A couple of worgs prowl out of the darkness as Valeria and Clem try to pry the bars off the top of the pit and haul Ser Balderich out. With Faerie Fire, Gral manages to illuminate one of the worgs and a mysterious cloaked figure, who simply gestures and we all take 3 Taint. What the what? It’s on.

We have a narrow battle - fleeing seems like the only option at one point, as several of us are boxed into a Hunger of Hadar spell by flanking wargs, but we persevere. In a moment of crisis, Shoshana pulls strength from the darkness and takes Taint in exchange for temporary HP. Finally, Clem and the wounded Ser Balderich break through to the cloaked figure.  As Clem’s greatsword pierces the flowing cloak, it collapses to the floor, empty. The figure’s taunting voice drifts out to us one last time, looking forward to the next time we meet. You can try to escape the Hunt, just like your little friend, but this is where you belong in the end...

Limping forward, we investigate the cavern behind where his empty cloak fell. Well, not the part that spirals off forever into the darkness. We’re not that stupid. But there’s a little room, off to the side, and we stop short seeing it. There’s a bloody altar, decorated with animal skulls, facing a hanging painting on an animal skin.

The crude tapestry depicts a figure wearing an antlered helm, tearing his way out of where he is bound by tree roots jutting from the ground. Three less-detailed figures behind him seem to be similarly bound. The edges of the canvas are decorated with grotesque, gory scenes of animals and hunters slaying their prey.

Oh, right. The DM notes he forgot to add the horror part of the scene. We look to the other side of the room and see a human corpse, nailed up on the wall. The word “PREY” has been carved deeply into his chest.

It’s Mordecai.

Shoshana is already so emotionally drained, barely able to register her dull rage at these grotesque atrocities here in HER darkness. She raises her hands, but Ser Balderich speaks up, saying Ser Quentin Morozov, his friend the Cursebreaker Knight, may have use of the tapestry. It might help him in his studies. Meanwhile, Valeria is gently pulling the body off the wall, looking for any sign of the man’s religion and finding not a symbol of the Obereon pantheon but a small pendant with two faces - Baba and Gramps, kindly spirits still respected by some of the more rural woodsfolk. Valeria’s big enough to carry the body, covering the carved words with her cloak and promising him a proper burial.

Shoshana lets them, dully watching. She can feel something magic within the altar, but the only thought she has left about today is the general concept of NO. She raises her hands and a wave of fire overtakes the altar. As it burns, the oppressive feeling of the darkness lessens. It doesn’t disappear, but something vital to this place has been destroyed.

A bit dazed, the party staggers out into the light, Valeria carrying the hunter’s body and Clem supporting a weakened but determined Ser Balderich. Wanting to avoid whatever hunting party was sent out after the escaping huntress, they make it back to the abandoned bandit camp before collapsing to regroup.

Valeria and Ser Balderich get to talking, Valeria asking how Ser Balderich knows her old mentor Kyr Marius. Did Ser Balderich ever speak to anyone who knows what happened at the Crusade?

Knows what happened? Pssh, Ser Balderich was THERE. Though it’s clearly a painful memory, Ser Balderich explains what happened to the members of Valeria’s order:

The Crusade was closing in, about a day’s hard travel from Valdsheart, the Duke’s capital city - the center of the Curse. The Order of the Rose has made it to the old summer palace - the roses were in bloom, the gardens were beautiful, still immaculately maintained by automated Unseen Servants that had continued working even as the city had been abandoned.

The commanders of the various knightly orders gathered together at the Rebel’s Temple. (A History check lets us know that this was the temple that Karena, the leader of the rebellion against Keva and the first Duchess of Valdia, had established to ask the blessing of the gods over the new nation.

If anyone ever had doubts the Curse was intelligent, they were ended by the way it waited until the knights were separated from their commanders. When the attack started, the gardens sprang to life. We were attacked by thorns and deadly spores. Ser Balderich took his horse and rode for the temple, while the knights held the line against the tide. The temple was holy ground - it should have been well-warded. Arriving there, he saw the windows stained with blood - the place was overrun. There were two groups of survivors still fighting: Archcleric Rudolf Klemsk and his knights of Rack fled one way, while the Peacock Knight (founder of the Knights Radiant) held the line alone. There were waves and waves of creatures, all sorts.

(Gral: Ser Balderich, please describe these creatures. DM: Absolutely not, it’s like midnight.)

Ser Balderich, unable to help, fled back to the palace to help the forces there. It was totally overrun. He hopes some got out, but was unable to get close enough to see. The aftermath? Well. Archcleric Klemsk got out, but Something happened there - afterward, he and his followers became the frightening Knights Penitent who violently hunt down all corruption and impiety. He assumes the Peacock Knight was overwhelmed, but he has been sighted since.

...I’m sorry.

Ser Balderich tells us: If anyone is going to solve this, it won’t be a marching army. It will be someone like my friend Quentin, and his Cursebreakers, or the madmen at Sturmhearst. We Beggar Knights will stand watch, and ensure as many people possible live to see the day the Curse ends, if that day ever comes.

We all mull that story, and then begin to get up to go. A quick discussion of options comes to this: we’ll go back to Ovruch and drop Ser Balderich off there, so he can recover and protect the town. In the morning, we’ll travel to the town of Holzog to bring the tapestry to Ser Quentin - perhaps he will be interested in our stories, as well. Gral certainly wants to discuss something with the Cursebreaker.

As everybody’s putting on their backpacks and stuff, Shoshana interjects, confused. Um...aren’t you guys...forgetting something?

Ser Balderich considers. “...yes.” He comes over to her, and she closes her eyes, readying for it.

“...I did not thank you, for rescuing me. You have my gratitude.”

N-no, you guys, don’t you need to...? Y’know? Take care of me, now that the Hunt and the bandits are dealt with?

...Oh.

Ser Balderich scoffs, compassionately. “Shoshana, I saw you reject the power that altar could have given you.” (Player: wait what? DM: yeah, there was a magic item in there”) “You were given your abilities, and what did you do with them? You took care of cats. You are not the monster you believe yourself to be.”

Valeria is nodding. Gral is nodding. Even Clem is nodding. Shoshana’s brain just about fails to compute; you can see the blue screen behind her eyes. We pack up, find a quiet spot in the woods to bury poor Mordecai the woodsman, and make our way back to Shoshana’s place to crash.

---

We roll against the Taint we acquired in the Hunt’s territory. Gral and Clem fully save. Valeria takes a minor corruption. Shoshana is offered a deal by the DM and takes it, gaining a minor corruption as well.

We each draw a card for the next session: The Hunter, The Knight, The Madness, and The Heretic.

[bookxofxfables]

❝ A terrible thing happened!❞ ❝ This would be easier if I could understand you better. ❞ ❝ I’m about to make it worse.❞ ❝ Oh joy. Now my mother can get that kidney operation she so desperately needs.❞ ❝ This stays strictly among the Fable community.❞ ❝ Lay one hand on me, asshole, and you’ll regret it.❞ ❝ I’m taking you in.❞ ❝ Never discuss personal hygiene with a bridge troll.❞ ❝ You’ve occasionally been clever, _____ … but never smart.❞ ❝ You’re getting a bit nosy, mister/miss/misses ______❞ ❝ If you can’t maintain a normal human appearance or purchase a concealing Glamour from one of our witches our rules mandate that you be relocated upstate to the Farm, where all the other nonhuman Fables live.❞ ❝ Both of you shut up and let me work. ❞ ❝ This is abuse of authority! And I got a witness! ❞ ❝ Does it matter?❞ ❝ We have to make as best we can.❞ ❝ Is he/she the one?❞ ❝ If she/he opens her/his mouth again, pick her/him up and carry her/him home.❞ ❝ I can’t help but notice things. I believe that’s why you hired me,❞ ❝ I’m not much interested in what you think is and isn’t a good idea. ❞ ❝ You look out of breath, ____. Been climbing beanstalks again? ❞ ❝ I’m afraid this time it’s different, I understand there’s blood. Lots if it.❞ ❝ Did you run all the way over here just to trade verbal barbs,or is there something else you need? ❞ ❝ Don’t be so dramatic. I already know. My ex is back in town.❞ ❝ We’ll see.❞ ❝ Can’t you go faster? ❞ ❝ Damned right I want to know. I’m going with you❞ ❝ You power-mad fuckshit!❞ ❝ Fine. I get the message. I’ll keep quiet – for now.❞  ❝ I take it back. You’re still a monster through and through.❞ ❝ It looks that way.❞ ❝ Hide your wallet first.❞ ❝ I won’t take up too much of your time, but I have a few questions.❞ ❝ I’m bleeding you shit! Why’d you do that?❞ ❝ Is that why your handsome prince/pretty princess divorced you?❞ ❝ Get up. It’s morning. I need to go to work and you need to get out.❞ ❝ Whoever did this is one of us.❞ ❝ You make it sound like a fucking synonym for — I don’t know — a turd sandwich.❞ ❝ Is that supposed to be some kind of joke?❞ ❝ You can’t fool this nose.❞ ❝ Watch your smart mouth, sonny boy/ girlie❞ ❝ If you’re going to advance, advance like you mean it. ❞ ❝ Unlike you, I have responsibilities.❞ ❝ I thought I’d find you out here.❞ ❝ How can you be sure? ❞ ❝ Don’t you have a government to run?❞ ❝ I can’t just now.❞ ❝ Did you kill her?❞ ❝ Nothing to apologize for. I expected it to happen sooner.❞ ❝ You’ve gone dotty, sweetheart.❞ ❝ Mister/Miss/Misses _____, if you’re going to insist on calling me princess/prince, please don’t do it in that tone of voice.❞ ❝ Why don’t you tell me what you want, so I can get back to work.❞ ❝ Don’t beat up on yourself so much.❞ ❝ No, ma’am/mister. I’ve never had much of a sense of humor.❞ ❝ We’ll get around to him/her. But let’s finish up with you for now.❞ ❝ If you think that, maybe you should add me to your suspect list.❞ ❝ I apologize for the waterworks in there. That wasn’t very professional of me.❞ ❝ Thank you for coming on such short notice.❞ ❝ Why don’t you let me handle things from now on?❞ ❝ Then my money says ____ did it.❞ ❝ So what actual conclusions did you come to?❞ ❝ It’s comforting to discover your voice haven’t lost any of its venom over the years, lovey.❞ ❝ And what about the time you tried to raffle off the map to your remaining magic beans?❞ ❝ I will, if it becomes necessary. I promise. But so far that isn’t the case.❞ ❝ How dare I what? Speak rudely to a mass murderer?❞ ❝ Then you’re wasting my time and yours.❞ ❝ I don’t eat sweets.❞ ❝ I’ve had my one loss of composure. You won’t have to worry about further emotional fits from me.❞ ❝ Then quit your fucking dissembling and answer!❞ ❝ You’re always trying to beat the system, ___❞ ❝ Think about that before your next lesson.❞ ❝ The minx seduced me.❞ ❝ This shouldn’t take long.❞ ❝ Well, ain’t that a big kick in the pantalones. ❞ ❝ Feel better now?❞ ❝ I’m not a delicate flower. I can take bad news.❞ ❝ You can’t keep sneaking into the city to crash on my couch.❞ ❝ When did you get to be such a potty-mouth?❞ ❝ She/he ‘s dead – carved up like a Christmas turkey. And rumor has it that creepy boyfriend/girlfriend of hers/his did the dirty deed.❞ ❝ You are an impertinent man/woman. I demand satisfaction!❞ ❝ But she/he only dated him/her to make me jealous.❞ ❝ Not to worry. Sit down. Make yourselves at home.❞ ❝ We can have it lab tested if you like but there’s zero chance that it isn’t her/his blood.❞ ❝ What? How dare you!❞ ❝ I’m charging this pompous asswipe with ____’s murder.❞ ❝ We called ahead. Your boss is expecting us.❞ ❝ I’m leaving now, before I scream.❞ ❝ I like to come here to think – which I do best when left alone.❞ ❝ On-guard position, ____. My turn to attack now.❞ ❝ You may not have done anything this time, ___. But you are never innocent.❞ ❝ Then comes the fun part I promised. You get to make a big mess.❞ ❝ But I can’t help but wonder if you haven’t turned back to your old eating habits.❞ ❝ I’ll keep that in mind if I ever do decide to kill anyone.❞ ❝ Where did you get all that?❞ ❝ And when exactly are you planning to clue me in?❞ ❝ Oh look. After all these years, the wolf has finally shed his sheep’s clothing to once more show us the true beast underneath.❞ ❝ Oh, we don’t need to stand on formalities. Not when it’s just you and me.❞ ❝ You are a tedious, small man, and in need of more frequent bathing.❞ ❝ How dare you treat me in such fashion! ❞ ❝ Talk now and you can save yourself some pain.❞ ❝ That’s not the way we do things anymore.❞ ❝ Oh joy. Then don’t carry it that way, or you’re likely to cut your own head off.❞ ❝ Wait! Both of you! We don’t want to talk ourselves into rash actions here.❞ ❝ Machines hate me. I’m a genetic luddite, incapable of operating anything more complex than my toaster.❞ ❝ Do what you need to, but have this wrapped up by the gala.❞ ❝ Boo-fucking-hoo.❞ ❝ Has it escaped your notice I’m bleeding? I need a doctor.❞ ❝ Excuse me?❞ ❝ And don’t let the mundys catch you.❞ ❝ Get him/her, ____! He/she ‘s trying to kill me!❞ ❝ I have no idea. It came out out of the blue.❞ ❝ Good hunting, sir.❞ ❝ And what are you going to be doing while I’m doing your work for you?❞ ❝ This is the vorpal blade of Jabberwocky fame. Kills in one cut, snicker-snack and all that? Does all the fighting for you?❞ ❝It’s all very complicated and I can’t explain it yet. So just go along.❞ ❝ I was half-way hoping you’d have gone home for the night, so that I could put this off until tomorrow morning.❞ ❝ Mop, wax, scrub and paint until you return it to pristine condition.❞ ❝ Let’s all step back, take a deep breath, declare a minute’s moratorium on the chest-thumping and see if we can’t think things through a bit more rationally, okay?❞ ❝I’m content to cut at you all day and all night, until you confess❞ ❝ You can be one frustrating son of a bitch!❞ ❝ Your record’s been clean since you came to town.❞ ❝ Be my guest. I’d love to have that menace out of my life.❞ ❝ Poor baby.❞ ❝ Keep your pants on! I’m coming!❞ ❝ You need to prepare yourself for some bad news.❞ ❝ I’m sorry.❞ ❝ The only easy day was yesterday.❞ ❝ We’re coming to your rescue.❞ ❝ Don’t put ideas in his head!❞ ❝ What are you talking about?❞ ❝ We both know you’re too much of a narcissistic asshole to ever blame yourself for any of your many failings, so did you blame her/him/_____?❞ ❝ Not a chance, boys. Hauling all this crap was just the first act. Your workday has barely begun.❞ ❝ The best mother/father any boy/girl could want.❞ ❝ Drop the knife and back away from the boy or I’ll rip your fucking throat out.❞ ❝ I need you to be in one piece for the big party next week.❞ ❝ I’ve got more bad news for the two of you.❞ ❝ Nonsense. If I were trying to kill him/her, he/she ‘d be dead now.❞ ❝ Can we go now? ❞ ❝ What do you say? Growing tired of the taste of gingerbread?❞ ❝ If I have to lay my hands on you, it won’t end until one of us is dead on the floor.❞ ❝ My hero. *sarcasm*❞ ❝ That means there’s no hope that she/he/___ is still alive.❞ ❝ Yeah, well my heart bleeds for you, you know what they say.❞ ❝ Most of us knew it was only a matter of time before you reverted to your old ways, ____. Nature cannot be denied.❞ ❝ I want something of my own. ❞ ❝ I suppose it would have been too much to expect to be born smart as well as privileged. ❞ ❝ Where do we buy the lottery tickets? ❞ ❝ Why dwell on one unfortunate incident so long ago? ❞ ❝ I imagine that will only grow worse after tonight. ❞ ❝ Both of you, quit your damned bitching and crying.  ❞ ❝ My god, are you completely devoid of social skills? ❞ ❝ I didn’t anticipate being the center of so much attention ❞ ❝ You’re about to find out exactly how much I can prove. ❞ ❝ Enjoying the party? ❞ ❝ You ought to know. You helped put it there. ❞ ❝ Don’t start. ❞ ❝ Pardon me, but you’ve suddenly grown wearisome and pedestrian. ❞ ❝ Many of us didn’t have the chance to run. ❞ ❝ Ladies and gentlemen, lift your glasses and join me, please, in drinking this toast. ❞ ❝ I want to grow up, I want my balls to drop, and I want to get laid. ❞ ❝ But maybe there’s a way for all of us to avoid that harsh necessity. ❞ ❝ But still working for a minimum wage in a ________ ❞ ❝ All sorts of things never occur to you, dear. ❞ ❝ Why go into hock to win more lost lands and another useless title? ❞ ❝ How much have we made so far? ❞ ❝ But you’ve got nothing on me– nothing you can prove, anyway. ❞ ❝ You’ve never danced before? ❞ ❝ Are you on the menu? ❞ ❝ I’m an old veteran of these affairs. ❞ ❝ There you are. Don’t you look nice. ❞ ❝ But we’re missing the party! ❞ ❝ I am most certainly not having a good time. ❞ ❝ As promised, my love. ❞ ❝ If I win, I’ll be a princess/prince in my own right. ❞ ❝ Are you going to act like this all night? ❞ ❝ It wasn’t our/my business. ❞ ❝ I finally made it. ❞ ❝ Oh my, is he your date, princess? ❞ ❝ Don’t literally watch your feet, just kindly stop stomping all over mine. ❞ ❝ Shut up, you pathetic, bleating child. ❞ ❝ Shallots? But you clearly said red onions! ❞ ❝ Perhaps women wear low necklines to filter out the gentlemen from the dogs. Those few who can still manage eye contact, even in the presence of breasts like these, might actually have some potential. ❞ ❝ You poor girl/boy ❞ ❝ And this time leave the guns, daggers and battle axes at home, please. ❞ ❝ Do you see why I needed your help? ❞ ❝ Don’t spoil the evening, darling. ❞ ❝ Oh gosh. I sure hope not. ❞ ❝ So how long do we have to do this before we eat? ❞ ❝ Gently, please. I’m not some suspect you’re about to wrestle to the ground. ❞ ❝ You look like you’re trying to peek down my dress. ❞ ❝ I was beginning to think I’d been stood up. ❞ ❝ I swear you’ve had that same scowl on your face for the past three or four hundred years. ❞ ❝ No wonder they call lotteries taxes on stupid people. ❞ ❝ Why don’t you run your own damned errands? ❞ ❝ So it’s not as if you’d suffer any embarrassment if I never showed. ❞ ❝ Everything must be coordinated to arrive at the proper time! ❞ ❝ I demand an explanation! ❞ ❝ Now, follow my lead and try to stay off my feet. ❞ ❝ We need to be out on the dance floor. ❞ ❝ No matter. You always go this thing stag, right? ❞ ❝ When did you forget how to enjoy yourself? ❞

[fernlomwrites]

Time Shattered Scientist: Chapter 7, Religious Studies 2 and Basic Molecular Biology

(Woo hoo, world building!) “Why should we believe you Legion?” Apostle asked, standing with his brother's the Fivefold before Legion in the abandoned warehouse that he frequently stayed in. “Cause what purpose would me telling you about a new threat that even I couldn’t do anything to do for me? I’m telling you, the Veterinarian has turned.” “Listen Legion” Prophet shook his head “you know us, if Vet has turned, that's for the heroes like Hood and Aaron to take care of, we don’t normally get involved in matters like that” “But if you idiots do nothing, it will become your problem anyway cause guess what, Hood and Aaron did try, he made them into a monster.” Legion’s expression was one of true fear, his normal cocky arrogance completely wiped away. “Each and everyone of the demons in me fear him, more than they fear you.” The Evangelist looked confused “How is that possible, demons fear nothing greater than the presence of the Lord.” “You haven’t met me then” Vetster called out from down the Warehouse corridor. “Hello, I am Vetster, you must be the Fivefold correct?” Pastor gripped his cane tightly, standing between Legion and Vetster. “Did you harm this man here?” “Physically no. But mentally and emotionally oh yes. “ Vetster replied with a chuckle. Pastor’s grip on his staff tightens, his scowl grows. With an angry roar he rushed forward towards Vetster, staff in hand. Vetster smirks, his scythe ready. Pastor swung his cane, Vetster side stepping just in time, swinging his scythe, cleanly slicing off Pastor’s head. “Pastor!” Apostle cried out. Vetster grinned. “You are not Ultra's are you? You are normal human beings given power by an ethereal force.” “If by ethereal force you mean God then yes, and we are going to sue that force to take you down.” Evangelist remarks through gritted teeth, his fists engulfed in flames. Vetster’s void grin widens. “Come at me then.” Suddenly, Vetster was sent flying back from impact with a large shield. Standing in the warehouse were Four Angels, a Roman centurion, completely clothed in armor, with sword and full body shield, a holy knight, with shield and sword, a western Sheriff with flowing blonde hair and two golden pistols, and a WWII era US soldier, armed with an automatic rifle and bayonet. Each of their eyes were a piercing white, and their wings large with golden feathers. The Sheriff spun his pistols in his hands, “Fivefold, and Legion, y’all should run. Oh and Legion” The centurion picked up Pastor’s staff and threw it to Legion. “You’re the new pastor now” The sheriff grinned and Legion caught the staff, flabbergasted. Apostle pulled him into the group as they disappeared in a pillar of light. Vetster groaned as he stood to his feet “ethereal beings! Wait wait, I know what you are actually called “ he chuckled, scratching his scalp “Right! Arch Angels right!” “That's right sir.” The soldier replied, his rifle pointed directly at Vetster’s head. “Oh ho ho, polite too, this is good, you know I love religious studies. Christianity has always caught my attention. Funny how a religion with supposedly has only one God, has many beings to worship.” “We are just Angels beast, you do not worship us” The knight replies charging forward with his sword drawn, side by side with the Roman. Vetster stepped back, dodging the Knights blade, with a flick of his wrist, shadow tendrils shot out of his hands, piercing both their chests. As the two leaned back in surprise, two more tendrils erupt from the ground, piercing their backs. With a grin, Vetster shot out the last two tendrils, piercing their necks. With a twirl he sent them flying, each landing on opposite ends of he corridor. A shot rang out, the bullet piercing Vetster’s skull. He fell to the floor with a thud, black ooze draining from his mouth and wound. “Sometimes I hate living in a world with super beings.” The solider sighed, smoke rising from the barrel of his gun. “Digger can take care of that” “I knew we’d be protecting the Fivefold, but not from stuff like that.” The sheriff replied. The solider sighed, and shrugged his shoulders, “let's just go pick up our brothers and head home.” … “Ok so, this….thing...is Hood and Aaron?” Stephan stood outside the power voiding containment pod that housed Aroodamate. Curly stood beside him. “Yup. Not sure how, are what you can do about it, but here. It's better in your care than out running wild. I fear it’s already killed some people. “ “Oh boy” Justin stood behind his computer desk. “These readings are, worrying to say it lightly.” “What do you mean?” Curly asked, his fists still red with fresh blood. “Well you see, it's a widely accepted fact that people are made of atoms. But it's not true. People are made of, well code essentially, intricate details and information pieced together in a mathematical sense and implemented into this world as living beings. Aroodamate here, has a unique code, it's not Hood’s, or Aaron’s, or a combination. It’s its own code. Which means we can’t split them” Justin explains, staring into the pod the entire time. “BUT!” Stephan exclaimed from his desk, “it looks like their code isn’t properly aligning together. Which explains why it looks so, distorted and why it’s so violent. It’s unfinished. So where we can’t separate them, we might be able to finish fusing them.” Curly raised his eyebrows, “ok, science stuff, but I got it. This is no longer Hood and Aaron, it's something new and unique. Ok. Their wives are going to be pissed. “ “Both have in their vows stuff about this kind of thing.” “You’re joking aren’t you?” “You were at their weddings.” “I was crying during the vows, I didn’t listen all the way” “Curly, you big softie” “My fists aren’t soft” “Wow, angry dude. But anyway, yah, both had in their vows stuff about this.” “Huh, prepare for anything I guess.” Curly sighed to himself, “I guess i’ll go be the message man. Wish me luck boys.” “We’ll call you and let you know of our progress.” “Thanks guys” Curly turned and looked into the pod, Aroodamate aimlessly wandering around in circles, seemingly calm. Curly slowly shook his head, “why can’t this world be normal?”