#I also made the pointy parts of her fur point down instead of up like the rest of her family just to show she doesn’t look all that much-

[kirisclangen]

Larchpaw

She/her, 8 moons, cis molly

[oceanlipgloss]

POTION

RAFAYEL.

+ about: one summer noon, Rafayel becomes an unwilling part of the cat population. I did him dirty; can he can get an F in the chat?

+ warnings: humour slaughterhouse aka very, very lame jokes (crack is the foundation, fluff is the cement)

What a diabolical creature.

Huge eyeballs, bigger than jellyfish. Staring at him. The eyes of a serial killer or a netherworld monster. Pointy ears, sharper than traffic cones. Eavesdropping on every sound. Gnashing teeth, the ugliest smile he had ever seen.

And now he, too, looked like that.

A creepy cat.

The tiny doodle watched him from its high vantage point on the white wall. Not just a cat, but a smiling cat. Not just a smiling cat, but a demon drawn in black marker. Very hard to ignore.

He could not bear to glance at the mirror. For the first time. Plum fur shot up in spears and spikes, likening him to a downy porcupine.

A glass of soda floated into his thoughts.

Cool droplets flowing down his throat.

Lying down on the floor.

Falling asleep in the summer sun.

Waking up.

A gnarly cat.

Potion.

Somehow, somehow, he had drank a potion, shimmering and clear.

Thirst sure has its perks.

Where had that stuff even come from?

Familiar in flavour—bubbles and lime.

Even as an artist, he thought about how that was all much too surreal. Absolutely wild. Truth be told? A concoction of nightmares combined.

Violet cat. Nice colour palette, but useless paws. Unable to hold a paintbrush. What meaning was there to life now? Would she accept him for he had become?

The insecurities were a terror.

Dramatic as he was—rightfully so, for once—he had screamed at the top of his lungs. The only sound that rang out in the messy studio was the loudest cat noise he had heard to date, however.

A shrill meow.

This had to be some sort of eldritch curse or divine punishment, didn’t it?

The God of all cats was avenging those backstabbing furballs for the endless slander he had subjected them to. It’s all his doing, yeah?

When plagued by anger or fright, cats hiss. Now a wrathful cat himself, he hissed as well.

Familiar hands, scooping him up.

So weird.

Her palms, warm against his sunlit fur, but also much, much bigger. To his newfound bundle of a form, that was too unfamiliar; she had always been shorter, smaller.

No sparkle of surprise.

Was the potion her plan all along? Start location: sinister doodle on the wall.

Nothing made sense.

Actually, naked walking jellyfish, tree-climbing sea turtles, and grass-eating sharks would’ve all been way more credible.

Inspiration!

Facing his reflection wasn’t an option, but he so desperately wanted to make sure this wasn’t a figment of a sick hallucination, so he almost had the urge to say, ‘draw me like one of your French cats’ just to see if he had now really become a member of the world of felines—but his tongue could only muster cat-voice.

Instead, a pop of colour gleamed in his mind.

He wanted her attention, and cats like affection. Why not make use of the situation? Blame it on the catty qualities later.

With shiny eyes he would have liked to ask, ‘would you still love me if I was a cat?’

The perfect answer and just what he was longing for.

Warm fur pressed against her neck. Fingertips tickled a soft stomach. Giggles chimed in pointed ears. Mellow weight on her chest.

So much doting. Her lips kissed the tip of his eraser-pink nose. Compliments poured onto his head like paint in all colours.

He felt really, really hot. Fur, glee, embarrassment.

Cats can’t blush, but in his flustered mind cherry-red mingled with plum-purple on the tips of his ears to gleam like crystal powder.

An unusual picture.

Steady, steady. Her heartbeat was steady. His heart raced into next week. It was worse now, though. Cat hearts double up the speed of human ones. Drowsy with sunlight.

What a long, long day.

One good thing came out of it.

Love. So much love.

Once this nap ends, will he have two legs again?

Summer sunshine would butter his studio pale yellow and bright white by then. He would be sprawled out on the floor, sketches scattered all over. The cat would continue to stare at him from on the wall.

The cat.

Everything was that weird cat’s fault. Those big, evil eyes followed him as he painted, stalking his every movement and creation. He hated it so, yet did not have the heart to erase it. She had climbed up there and drawn that little traitor.

What a silly, hideous thing, haunting his subconscious.

What a diabolical dream.

+notes: dude, I can't believe that my first Rafayel fic is...*flailing hands* this. Something so silly...listen, memes and silly crap occupy an entire apartment complex in my brain, but what did I actually just write? No fucking clue. 0. Null.

All I know is that this is my first ever crack fic. And at the time, I thought it would be funny. Now I don't know if my opinion still stands. I merely wrote this in 3hrs 17mins. Not even a 4hr timeskip between coming up with the idea and writing it. I was that excited for the crack.

Was it worth it? No, maybe. Yes, perhaps. Idek. However, I'm not sorry for making fun of Rafayel, of course. Affectionately bullying him and being sadistic happen to be favourable pastimes of mine. I love him, bro.

+ MASTERLIST

+ AO3 POST

©𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙡𝙞𝙥𝙜𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙨

[ladyofasoiaf]

Jon ‘One Eye’ & Sansa Stark

In this meta I will try to point out the clues of Jon’s death- warging into his direwolf- coming back to life process. 

Our main hint is going to be : ONE EYE motifs... 

And interestingly this hint is always close to Sansa... 

[Most of these clues etc have been already examined by many people but I will try to put them all in order to show the pattern..]

A GAME OF THRONES:

Waymar Royce

Waymar Royce appearence and story are very similar with Jon’s. 

They look similar:

Ser Waymar Royce was the youngest son of an ancient house with too many heirs. He was a handsome youth of eighteen, grey-eyed and graceful and slender as a knife.

[AGOT; Prologue]

Jon’s eyes were a grey so dark they seemed almost black, but there was little they did not see. He was of an age with Robb, but they did not look alike. Jon was slender where Robb was muscular, dark where Robb was fair, graceful and quick where his half brother was strong and fast.  

[AGOT; Bran I]

They are both young men of Night’s Watch but they were not very welcomed by their other black brothers:

His cloak was his crowning glory; sable, thick and black and soft as sin. “Bet he killed them all himself, he did,” Gared told the barracks over wine, “twisted their little heads off, our mighty warrior.” They had all shared the laugh. It is hard to take orders from a man you laughed at in your cups, Will reflected as he sat shivering atop his garron. Gared must have felt the same.

[AGOT; Prologue]

“Yes, life,” Noye said. “A long life or a short one, it’s up to you, Snow. The road you’re walking, one of your brothers will slit your throat for you one night.” “They’re not my brothers,” Jon snapped. “They hate me because I’m better than they are.” “No. They hate you because you act like you’re better than they are. They look at you and see a castle-bred bastard who thinks he’s a lordling.” The armorer leaned close. “You’re no lordling. Remember that. You’re a Snow, not a Stark. You’re a bastard and a bully.”

[AGOT; Jon III]

Others are a very important part of Jon’s arc and story and Waymar meets with them in Prologue:

Ser Waymar met him bravely. “Dance with me then.” He lifted his sword high over his head, defiant. His hands trembled from the weight of it, or perhaps from the cold. Yet in that moment, Will thought, he was a boy no longer, but a man of the Night’s Watch.

[AGOT; Prologue]

This phrase also reminds us Jon:

It is more than impatience, Jon realized. They are afraid. Warriors, spearwives, raiders, they are frightened of those woods, of shadows moving through the trees. They want to put the Wall between them before the night descends. 

A snowflake danced upon the air. Then another. Dance with me, Jon Snow, he thought. You’ll dance with me anon.

[ADWD; Jon XII]

In Prologue, Waymar gets killed by Others:

Royce’s body lay facedown in the snow, one arm out-flung. The thick sable cloak had been slashed in a dozen places. Lying dead like that, you saw how young he was. A boy.

[AGOT; Prologue]

And Jon dies in ADWD:

Jon fell to his knees. He found the dagger’s hilt and wrenched it free. In the cold night air the wound was smoking. “Ghost,” he whispered. Pain washed over him. Stick them with the pointy end. When the third dagger took him between the shoulder blades, he gave a grunt and fell face-first into the snow. He never felt the fourth knife. Only the cold …

[ADWD; Jon XIII]

But Waymar comes back to life as a wight with ‘ONE EYE’:

Will rose. Ser Waymar Royce stood over him. His fine clothes were a tatter, his face a ruin. A shard from his sword transfixed the blind white pupil of his left eye. The right eye was open. The pupil burned blue. It saw.

[AGOT; Prologue]

So: A young man of Night’s Watch who looks like Jon dies and comes back to life with ONE EYE. 

Let’s continue with the second book...

A CLASH OF KINGS:

Orell

Orell is Wildling who is also a skinchanger. His animal is an EAGLE. 

Jon kills Orell in ACOK; Jon VI:

Jon nodded toward the one by the fire. It felt queer, picking a man to kill. 

[...]

Jon’s man leapt to his feet, thrusting at his face with a burning brand. He could feel the heat of the flames as he flinched back. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the sleeper stirring, and knew he must finish his man quick. When the brand swung again, he bulled into it, swinging the bastard sword with both hands. The Valyrian steel sheared through leather, fur, wool, and flesh, but when the wildling fell he twisted, ripping the sword from Jon’s grasp. 

[...]

“You ought to burn them you killed,” said Ygritte.

[ACOK; Jon VI]

But due to the magic of skinchanging, a portion of Orell’s consciousness remained in the eagle, which developed a fierce hatred for Jon.

And in ACOK; Jon VII he dreams of an eagle attacking him and people talk about vargs and skinchangers:

Then a sudden gust of cold made his fur stand up, and the air thrilled to the sound of wings. As he lifted his eyes to the ice-white mountain heights above, a shadow plummeted out of the sky. A shrill scream split the air. He glimpsed blue-grey pinions spread wide, shutting out the sun… “Ghost!” Jon shouted, sitting up. He could still feel the talons, the pain. “Ghost, to me!” Ebben appeared, grabbed him, shook him. “Quiet! You mean to bring the wildlings down on us? What’s wrong with you, boy?” “A dream,” said Jon feebly. “I was Ghost, I was on the edge of the mountain looking down on a frozen river, and something attacked me. A bird… an eagle, I think…”

[...]

“Skinchanger?” said Ebben grimly, looking at the Halfhand. Does he mean the eagle? Jon wondered. Or me? Skinchangers and wargs belonged in Old Nan’s stories, not in the world he had lived in all his life. Yet here, in this strange bleak wilderness of rock and ice, it was not hard to believe.

[ACOK; Jon VII]

So: There is a skinchanger who dies because of Jon but a part of him keeps living in his animal: eagle. 

The interesting thing is that between these two Jon chapters (Orell and eagle dream) comes a very important Sansa chapter which has many parallels with Jon VI chapter...

An example of parallels:

[…] ‘All I ask is a flower,’ Bael answered, ‘the fairest flower that blooms in the gardens o’ Winterfell.”

“Now as it happened the winter roses had only then come into bloom, and no flower is so rare nor precious…  

[ACOK; Jon VI]

Sansa lowered her head. “The blood frightened me.”

“The blood is the seal of your womanhood. Lady Catelyn might have prepared you. You’ve had your first flowering, no more.”

Sansa had never felt less flowery. “My lady mother told me, but I… I thought it would be different.”  

[ACOK; Sansa IV]

For more, please check: Jonsa Book Hints: B5 

In this chapter Sansa says she wants to be loved and Cersei warns her that “love kills too...” Next chapter is Jon with his eagle dreams and warging abilities:

A half smile flickered across the queen’s face. “[…]Robert wanted to be loved. My brother Tyrion has the same disease. Do you want to be loved, Sansa?”

“Everyone wants to be loved.”

“I see flowering hasn’t made you any brighter,” said Cersei. “Sansa, permit me to share a bit of womanly wisdom with you on this very special day. Love is poison. A sweet poison, yes, but it will kill you all the same.”  

[ACOK; Sansa IV]

Let’s move on to third book...

A STORM OF SWORDS:

Orell and Wargs

In ASOS; Jon I, we learn the name of the Wildling that Jon has killed in ACOK; Jon VI:

“He slew Qhorin Halfhand,” said Longspear Ryk. “Him and that wolf o’ his.”

“And did for Orell too,” said Rattleshirt.

“The lad’s a warg, or close enough,” put in Ragwyle, the big spearwife. “His wolf took a piece o’ Halfhand’s leg.”

[...]

“What’s this?” he said. “A crow?”

“The black bastard what gutted Orell,” said Rattleshirt, “and a bloody warg as well.”

“You were to kill them all.”

“This one come over,” explained Ygritte. “He slew Qhorin Halfhand with his own hand.”

[ASOS; Jon I]

This Jon chapter comes after ASOS; Sansa I. 

And these chapters have many parallels such as:

Sansa knelt at the feet of her future queen. “You do me great honor, Your Grace.” “Won’t you call me Margaery? Please, rise. Loras, help the Lady Sansa to her feet. Might I call you Sansa?”  

[ASOS; Sansa I]  

“I would be pleased to eat, Your Grace. And thank you.”

“Your Grace?” The king smiled. “That’s not a style one often hears from the lips of the free folk. I’m Mance to most, The Mance to some. Will you take a horn of mead?”  

[ASOS; Jon I]

For more, please check: Jonsa Book Hints: C1

We also learn about Sansa’s new betrothed: Willas Tyrell.. 

Willas has a bad leg and so does Jon, in ASOS:

“Willas has a bad leg but a good heart,” said Margaery. “He used to read to me when I was a little girl, and draw me pictures of the stars. You will love him as much as we do, Sansa.”

[ASOS; Sansa I]

If the mare had gone down, he would have been doomed. “A lucky thing my leg got in the way,” he muttered.

He rested for a while to let the horse graze. She did not wander far. That was good. Hobbled with a bad leg, he could never have caught her.

[ASOS; Jon V]

Let’s keep reading...

In ASOS; Jon II chapter Jon’s eagle dream from ACOK comes true and Orell’s eagle attacks Jon’s eye:

He could still hear wings, though the eagle was not in sight. Half his world was black. “My eye,” he said in sudden panic, raising a hand to his face.

“It’s only blood, Jon Snow. He missed the eye, just ripped your skin up some.”

[…]

Can a bird hate? Jon had slain the wilding Orell, but some part of the man remained within the eagle. The golden eyes looked out on him with cold malevolence.

[…]

I will need to get this tended, he thought, but not just now. Let the King-beyond-the-Wall see what his eagle did to me.

[…]

The look Mance gave Jon was grim and cold. “What happened to your face?”

Ygritte said, “Orell tried to take his eye out.”

“It was him I asked. Has he lost his tongue? Perhaps he should, to spare us further lies.”

Styr the Magnar drew a long knife. “The boy might see more clear with one eye, instead of two.”

“Would you like to keep your eye, Jon?” asked the King-beyond-the-Wall. “If so, tell me how many they were. And try and speak the truth this time, Bastard of Winterfell.”

Jon’s throat was dry. “My lord… what…”

[ASOS; Jon II]

Jon almosts loses his ‘one eye’ and becomes Jon ‘One Eye’ Snow because of this attack..

After this eagle attack Jon chapter comes ASOS; Sansa II 

And these chapters have many parallels such as:

Jon wheeled and followed Tormund back toward the head of the column, his new cloak hanging heavy from his shoulders. It was made of unwashed sheepskins, worn fleece side in, as the wildlings suggested.

[…]  

“I wear the cloak you gave me, Your Grace.”  

[ASOS; Jon II]

A new gown?” she said, as wary as she was astonished.

“More lovely than any you have worn, my lady,” the old woman promised. She measured Sansa’s hips with a length of knotted string. “All silk and Myrish lace, with satin linings. You will be very beautiful. The queen herself has commanded it.”

“Which queen?” Margaery was not yet Joff’s queen, but she had been Renly’s. Or did she mean the Queen of Thorns? Or…“The Queen Regent, to be sure.”  

[ASOS; Sansa II]

For more, please check: Jonsa Book Hints: C2

And after the chapter of an eagle attacks Jon’s eye we learn in next chapter that Sansa’s betrothed Willas Tyrell flies EAGLES:

“Willas has the best birds in the Seven Kingdoms,” Margaery said when the two of them were briefly alone. “He flies an eagle sometimes. You will see, Sansa.” 

[ASOS; Sansa II]

Why is Almost One Eye Jon and Sansa Stark being near to each other important?

Because the first Sansa Stark in Stark family tree was married with her half-uncle Jonnel ‘One Eye’ Stark:

So another Sansa being close to another Stark family member who almost had lost his one eye sounds interesting. 

Well, Jon didn’t lose his eye but his face got scarred:

He had almost forgotten about his face. “A skinchanger tried to rip out my eye.”

Noye frowned. “Scarred or smooth, it’s a face I thought I’d seen the last of. We heard you’d gone over to Mance Rayder.”

[ASOS; Jon VI]

Who else has a scarred face? Sansa’s husband- Tyrion Lannister:

“I like your scar.” She traced it with her finger. “It makes you look very fierce and strong.”

He laughed. “Very ugly, you mean.”

“M’lord will never be ugly in my eyes.” She kissed the scab that covered the ragged stub of his nose.

[ASOS; Tyrion II]

Varamyr 

What happens to this eagle later?

Skinchanger, Varamyr Sixskins, takes control of Orell’s eagle. Varamyr uses the eagle to scout Castle Black and spots Stannis Baratheon’s arrival at the Wall.

The eagle bursts into flames during the attack on Castle Black with Melisandre claiming she was responsible. 

The skinchanger was grey-faced, round-shouldered, and bald, a mouse of a man with a wolfling’s eyes. “Once a horse is broken to the saddle, any man can mount him,” he said in a soft voice. “Once a beast’s been joined to a man, any skinchanger can slip inside and ride him. Orell was withering inside his feathers, so I took the eagle for my own. But the joining works both ways, warg. Orell lives inside me now, whispering how much he hates you. And I can soar above the Wall, and see with eagle eyes.”

[...]

“Banners,” he heard Varamyr murmur, “I see golden banners, oh . . .” A mammoth lumbered by, trumpeting, a half-dozen bowmen in the wooden tower on its back. “The king . . . no . . .”

Then the skinchanger threw back his head and screamed.The sound was shocking, ear-piercing, thick with agony. Varamyr fell, writhing, and the ’cat was screaming too.... and high, high in the eastern sky, against the wall of cloud, Jon saw the eagle burning. For a heartbeat it flamed brighter than a star, wreathed in red and gold and orange, its wings beating wildly at the air as if it could fly from the pain. Higher it flew, and higher, and higher still.

[ASOS; Jon X]

Melisandre burns the eagle. Who else got burned in the books? 

Jon Snow in AGOT:

He had burned himself more badly than he knew throwing the flaming drapes, and his right hand was swathed in silk halfway to the elbow. At the time he’d felt nothing; the agony had come after.

[AGOT; Jon VIII]

And Jon burns himself in AGOT; Jon VII:

Jon tried to shout, but his voice was gone. Staggering to his feet, he kicked the arm away and snatched the lamp from the Old Bear’s fingers. The flame flickered and almost died. “Burn!” the raven cawed. “Burn, burn, burn!”

Spinning, Jon saw the drapes he’d ripped from the window. He flung the lamp into the puddled cloth with both hands. Metal crunched, glass shattered, oil spewed, and the hangings went up in a great whoosh of flame. The heat of it on his face was sweeter than any kiss Jon had ever known. “Ghost!” he shouted.

The direwolf wrenched free and came to him as the wight struggled to rise, dark snakes spilling from the great wound in its belly. Jon plunged his hand into the flames, grabbed a fistful of the burning drapes, and whipped them at the dead man. Let it burn, he prayed as the cloth smothered the corpse, gods, please, please, let it burn.

[AGOT; Jon VII]

This Jon chapter comes after AGOT; Sansa IV:

And these two chapters have many parallels such as:

So she went to the queen instead, and poured out her heart, and Cersei had listened and thanked her sweetly … only then Ser Arys had escorted her to the high room in Maegor’s Holdfast and posted guards, and a few hours later, the fighting had begun outside.

[AGOT; Sansa IV]

They took his knife and his sword and told him he was not to leave his cell until the high officers met to decide what was to be done with him. And then they placed a guard outside his door to make certain he obeyed. His friends were not allowed to see him, but the Old Bear did relent and permit him Ghost, so he was not utterly alone.

[AGOT; Jon VII]

*

Yet somehow it seemed colder with Jeyne gone, even after she’d built a fire. She pulled a chair close to the hearth, took down one of her favorite books, and lost herself in the stories of Florian and Jonquil, of Lady Shella and the Rainbow Knight, of valiant Prince Aemon and his doomed love for his brother’s queen.

[AGOT; Sansa IV]

Yet he was trembling, violently. When had it gotten so cold?

[…]


Metal crunched, glass shattered, oil spewed, and the hangings went up in a great whoosh of flame. The heat of it on his face was sweeter than any kiss Jon had ever known. “Ghost!” he shouted.

[AGOT; Jon VII]

For more, please check: Jonsa Book Hints: A10

What happens to skinchanger Orell and warg Varamyr after the eagle burst into flames?

The incident greatly affects Varamyr and supposedly kills the remnants of Orell inside the eagle. 

After the defeat of the wildlings at the battle beneath the Wall, Varamyr has lost all his possessions in his madness from experiencing the eagle’s death; he has also lost control of his snow bear and shadowcat, but his wolves remain.

[Orell dying completely and Varamyr gets mad also reminds me another resurrected character Beric Dondarrion who also has ONE EYE and him dying for good to bring Catelyn Stark back to life... And like Varamyr, Lady Stoneheart loses her mind too... ]

Let’s move on to fourth book...

A FEAST FOR CROWS:

Jon is not even in this book? 

But Sansa is and we learn few things about her crushes:

Waymar Royce:

She had fallen wildly in love with Ser Waymar, she remembered dimly, but that was a lifetime ago, when she was a stupid little girl.

[AFFC; Alayne I]

Grrm reminds us Waymar Royce aka the biggest foreshadowing for Jon in AFFC book via Sansa’s chapter... 

Loras Tyrell:

Loras was another crush of Sansa and we learn that he got burned really bad in AFFC. 

Like the eagle and Jon. 

“Tell me,” said Margaery. “I command it.” Command it? Cersei paused a moment, then decided she would let that pass. “The defenders fell back to an inner keep once the curtain wall was taken. Loras led the attack there as well. He was doused with boiling oil.” Lady Alla turned white as chalk, and ran from the room. “The maesters are doing all they can, Lord Waters assures me, but I fear your brother is too badly burned.”

[AFFC; Cersei VIII]

More about Loras // Jon, please check: Jonsa Book Hints: A8

Let’s keep reading the fifth book...

A DANCE WITH DRAGONS:

In ADWD; Prologue Varamyr encounters with Others (just like AGOT; Prologue) and Varamyr’s body dies, but his mind lives on in his wolf One Eye. 

And Varamyr also thinks about Jon and his direwolf.. 

So we have dead warg who kept living in his animal: A WOLF whose name is ONE EYE. 

Varamyr could feel the snowflakes melting on his brow. This is not so bad as burning. Let me sleep and never wake, let me begin my second life. His wolves were close now. He could feel them. He would leave this feeble flesh behind, become one with them, hunting the night and howling at the moon. The warg would become a true wolf. Which, though?

[...]

“They say you forget,” Haggon had told him, a few weeks before his own death. “When the man’s flesh dies, his spirit lives on inside the beast, but every day his memory fades, and the beast becomes a little less a warg, a little more a wolf, until nothing of the man is left and only the beast remains.”

Varamyr knew the truth of that. When he claimed the eagle that had been Orell’s, he could feel the other skinchanger raging at his presence. Orell had been slain by the turncloak crow Jon Snow, and his hate for his killer had been so strong that Varamyr found himself hating the beastling boy as well. He had known what Snow was the moment he saw that great white direwolf stalking silent at his side. One skinchanger can always sense another. Mance should have let me take the direwolf. There would be a second life worthy of a king. He could have done it, he did not doubt. The gift was strong in Snow, but the youth was untaught, still fighting his nature when he should have gloried in it.

[...]

A sleeping direwolf raised his head to snarl at empty air. Before their hearts could beat again he had passed on, searching for his own, for One Eye, Sly, and Stalker, for his pack. His wolves would save him, he told himself. That was his last thought as a man. True death came suddenly; he felt a shock of cold, as if he had been plunged into the icy waters of a frozen lake. Then he found himself rushing over moonlit snows with his packmates close behind him. Half the world was dark. One Eye, he knew. He bayed, and Sly and Stalker gave echo. When they reached the crest the wolves paused. 

[...]

The things below moved, but did not live. One by one, they raised their heads toward the three wolves on the hill. The last to look was the thing that had been Thistle. She wore wool and fur and leather, and over that she wore a coat of hoarfrost that crackled when she moved and glistened in the moonlight. Pale pink icicles hung from her fingertips, ten long knives of frozen blood. And in the pits where her eyes had been, a pale blue light was flickering, lending her coarse features an eerie beauty they had never known in life. She sees me.

[ADWD; Prologue]

Jon dies in his last ADWD chapter and his last word was his direwolf’s name: GHOST... 

Jon fell to his knees. He found the dagger’s hilt and wrenched it free. In the cold night air the wound was smoking. “Ghost,” he whispered. Pain washed over him. Stick them with the pointy end. When the third dagger took him between the shoulder blades, he gave a grunt and fell face-first into the snow. He never felt the fourth knife. Only the cold …

[ADWD; Jon XIII]

So we have a full circle: 

It started with Agot; Prologue 

and ended with ADWD; Jon XIII

Let’s not forget that Jon’s death was foreshadowed in ASOS; Sansa VI chapter. 

Lord Petyr dismissed him with a wave, and returned to the pomegranate again as Oswell shuffled down the steps. “Tell me, Alayne—which is more dangerous, the dagger brandished by an enemy, or the hidden one pressed to your back by someone you never even see?”  

“The hidden dagger.”  

“There’s a clever girl.” He smiled, his thin lips bright red from the pomegranate seeds.  

[ASOS; Sansa VI]

Next chapter was Jon:

Fore more about Jon’s death and Sansa; please check: 

Jonsa Book Hints: C12 & E7 

“Do not be so certain.” The ruby at Melisandre’s throat gleamed red. “It is not the foes who curse you to your face that you must fear, but those who smile when you are looking and sharpen their knives when you turn your back. You would do well to keep your wolf close beside you. Ice, I see, and daggers in the dark. Blood frozen red and hard, and naked steel. It was very cold.”

“It is always cold on the Wall.”

“You think so?”

“I know so, my lady.”

“Then you know nothing, Jon Snow,” she whispered.  

[ADWD; Jon I]

In conclusion:

Jon’s death, him warging into his direwolf during his death and him coming back to life arc has been foreshadowed since AGOT; Prologue and its most obvious hints were given in ADWD; Prologue by echoing AGOT; Prologue. 

The ‘ONE EYE’ motif seems like a key hint for his resurrection. 

And Sansa is always close to this motif or she has some connections with this motif via other characters or her chapters. 

A Sansa Stark being close to another ‘ONE EYE’ Stark is interesting because of the historical couple: Jonnel ‘One Eye’ & Sansa Stark in Stark family tree.. 

Even the hints of Jon’s death can be found in Sansa chapters. 

All of these tell us that Sansa will be important in Jon’s past resurrection story. 

Thanks for reading. 

Some sources:

Waymar // Jon 

Disfigurements 

Jonnel / Sansa

Jon’s fate and losing an eye

[proudfreakmetarusonikku]

anyway I need to go to bed but I have too much energy so I am channeling it into headcanons. here u go species headcanons for Everyone on the Dream smp with explanations because I’ve put a TON of thought into this. They’re probably like half contradicted by canon but fuck it My City Now.

Dream- A (juvenile) stage of being a god. He, DreamXD, and Drista have become known as “dreamons” but that’s technically a separate species, all spawned from them. He's not really focused on being worshipped in his own right, preferring power in the mortal realm, though he’s not averse to pretending to be his brother (the god worshipped by Church Prime) or his sister (a minor goddess of death worshipped by many hidden cults) if it can help him get power. He’s got pure white skin everywhere except his face (which is pale but human-like), black blood, entirely green eyes, pointed ears, fangs, claws, and digitigrade legs ending in hoof-like claws.

George- A human, the only human on the whole server. Humans are pretty rare, vastly outnumbered by hybrids but outnumbering any other species, and “pure” humans (what we'd consider to be a completely normal appearing human) are all but nonexistent. For example, George has eyes with dark sclera and white irises.

Sapnap- A blaze hybrid. He’s got a few rods surrounding him and his eyes blaze with fire. It’s usually just warm but not hot enough to hurt but if he's agitated or upset it can easily burn hot enough to set things ablaze.

Callahan- A reindeer hybrid. He’s got antlers, reindeer ears, fur around his arms, and hooves.

Awesamdude- A creeper hybrid. He's tauric, with four insect like legs. His skin and is green and mottled and has a texture similar to leaves. His eyes are pitch black. He has a tendency to make hissing sounds when stressed, though he can’t explode like a full blooded creeper.

Alyssa- A mouse hybrid, with large mouse ears and a long tail. This definitely isn’t an in joke for the thousands of hours I spent browsing TVTropes as a child and the “what happened to the mouse” tROPE SHUT UP.

Ponk- A demon hybrid, with pointed ears, slit pupils, a small spaded tail, and small horns.

BadBoyHalo- A full blooded demon, with pointed ears, a tall stature, pitch black skin and hair, fangs, claws, hooves, a long spaded tail, long horns, and small bat like wings. He’s rather self conscious about how intimidating he looks. He's also a lich (with Skeppy as his phylactery) which is why he has pure white eyes (a trait the undead share).

TommyInnit- An absolute mess, genetic wise, since I’m taking Tommy's joke about being born in a lab and running with it. He's mostly angel, and was basically cloned from Phil's DNA (from a feather that fell off his wings that somehow someone got a hold of) but had a bunch of other hybrid and human DNA mixed in to make him somewhat stable enough to actually survive gestation. He has very small, dark wings that are useful for balance and little else, fangs, claws, and pointed ears. His bones are very light, making him fragile but a lot more dexterous. His blood is slightly off a human's, being slightly pinkish. His freckles, wings, blood, and eyes glow slightly and are patterned like the night sky. Technically undead as of his resurrection, and maintains the many injuries of his death permanently (bruises stay and don’t heal but don’t worsen, broken limbs can be moved at unnatural angles, ect.), pale, corpse like skin, and one of his eyes turned pure white.

Tubbo- A ram hybrid, with small curved ram horns, horizontal pupils, ram ears, a tail, and hooves. Nice and simple after the absolute mess that was Tommy.

Fundy- A limited shapeshifter, able to change his species, though he prefers to be in a fox-like form. He inherited this from Sally, who had similar abilities, though with more strength. He's always got certain features he inherited from each parent that he can’t change though- wings, pale skin, and ice-like freckles from Wilbur, and salmon scales coating his wings and cheeks, and ginger-and-white hair from Sally.

Punz- A dragon hybrid, with dark horns, dark sclera and slit pupils, wings just large enough for limited flight, a strong tail, fangs, claws, and blue scales coating his cheeks, wings, tail, arms, and legs. Has a natural inclination to sleep in a pile of his wealth he only holds off on when he feels it’s at risk of being stolen (which, since this is the Dream SMP, is almost constantly).

Purpled- An enderman hybrid, with small horns, pointed ears, purple blood, and ender particles surrounding him. Parts of his arms and legs are covered in leathery, pure black skin.

Wilbur- Half angel, half fucking refrigerator because cc!Wilbur hates us (affectionate). His skin is unnaturally, icy pale, and his blood is an icy blue. His freckles are the colour of ice reflecting. He's got wings from his father, large enough to glide, but they’re pale coloured and slightly transparent. He has fangs claws, and pointy ears. His blood, wings, and eyes glow slightly and are patterned like the night sky. As Ghostbur, he’s got the injuries of his death apparent at all times, though they don’t hinder him or cause him pain, corpse like skin, pure white eyes, and is permanently transparent.

JSchlatt- A ram hybrid. He’s got large ram horns, dark sclera and horizontal pupils, a ram tail, fur around his arms, and hooves.

Skeppy- A construct made to be Bad's phylactery. He's fully made of diamond, and appears as a moving human statue (though entirely made out of diamond), though he has limited shape shifting ability to change his “hair” and “clothes”, though he has to remain the same mass. He has some small red detailing on him out of redstone (which was used partially in his contruction). The egg flipped the red and teal in his colour scheme. Also he's smalllllllllllll.

Eret- Part ghost, due to being descended from Herobrine. She has pure white eyes, pointy ears, and under stress he becomes partially transparent. They tend to hide their nonhuman features (ears under hair or hats and eyes under sunglassses) and are often mistaken for human.

Jack Manifold- Started as a wolf hybrid, with large wolf ears and a tail. After dying, he came back from hell as a hellhound with red and blue “flames” coming from his eyes, ears, and replacing his missing tail he lost in one of his deaths with two made of this fire. The fire is chillingly cold to the touch, and not warm. His eyes are also monocolour, though in heterochromatic red and blue instead of the usual pure white found in undead.

Niki- A moth hybrid, with antennae, monocolour amber eyes, fluffy wings, and more fluff around her neck, wrists, and torso. These and her hair are patterned gold and black, though as of now she’s dyed them all pink. Idk I just feel like moths fit her for some reason.

Quackity- A duck hybrid, with golden wings and webbed hands and feet. He’s also a shapeshifter of sorts, however instead of shifting into different forms he shifts into different beings, from alternate realities that never came to be. These can be used to shift into near identical copies of those around him, to impersonate them, or to shift into alternate versions of people (like Mexican Dream to Dream). These aren’t Quackity, though, and as such they have their own pool of canon lives, and while he has lots of influence over them they can still act autonomously.

Karl Jacobs- An inter dimensional being made of time itself. While his current form is mostly human, he has technicolour rainbow blood, freckles, and patches on his skin, along with clock-shaped pupils that change with the time. His “natural” form is a vaguely humanoid mess of ever shifting colour.

HBomb- I didn’t know what to do with him at first- he was a cow hybrid in my pfp set- but I just think the idea of him being a chill cat hybrid who turns full nyaa whenever he’s in a maid dress to be funny so he’s a cat hybrid now. With dyed-white cat ears and a dyed-white cat tail.

Technoblade- A piglin hybrid primarily, but he’s definitely got some weird traces of other species. He’s got tusks, pink hair, pink pig ears, a pig tail, and hooves, but he’s also got paws from some other animal hybridisation in his blood, and has a tallness that suggests demon blood somewhere down the line. His red eyes aren’t natural, and only occurred after he was sacrificed to be the vessel of the Blood God.

Antfrost- A cat hybrid, with blond and brown fur, a cat tail, paws both on his hands and feet, and cat ears. He’s also got split pupils and blue sclerae (though a different shade to his irises).

Philza- An angel- the creation of a god or goddess to help serve them (Dreamon's would be an example of the angels the Dream's can create, though they’re primarily running wild nowadays.) The creation and servant of one of the gods of death, Kristen, to serve her in the mortal realm. He’s got very large feathered dark wings, pupilless unnaturally bright eyes, pointy ears, fangs, claws, and dark blood the colour of the night sky. His wings, eyes, freckles and blood glow brightly and are patterned like the night sky. Injuries reveal that he's fully inhuman under his skin, appearing to be a void of colour that also glows and is patterned like the night sky. His crows, who are messengers from the afterlife, have this same pattern on their feathers.

Conner- I don’t know much about him tbh but. He’s just a hedgehog hybrid. I mean he’s joked enough about canonically being the kid of Sonic and Elise. He’s got blue hedgehog ears and a tail, and blue spines mixed in with his dark hair.

Captain Puffy- A sheep hybrid, with small curled sheep horns, sheep ears, a fluffy sheep tail, hooves, and hair curly and soft like wool. The split in her hair between brown and white is natural, though she keeps a small section dyed rainbow.

Vikkstar- Another angel, though of a god long gone. His entire body, even his “clothes” (which are made of flesh) glow intensely bright and have the pattern of the night sky.

LazarBeam- A gingerbread hybrid, which I’d say is dumb but we’ve already had a refrigerator hybrid so. I don’t know what else to say here.

Ranboo- Half enderman, half god of some sort. Has small horns, pointy ears, an inhumanly wide mouth with fangs, claws, digitigrade feet ending in hoof-like claws, pure black and white skin, pure black and white hair and freckles on the opposite side of the skin, red and green heterochromatic eyes barely distinguishable from their sclera, and red and green blood. Hmm, I wonder what other character shares similar descriptions... :)

FoolishG- A more matured god than Dream. Appears to be made entirely out of gold, with his hair and freckles appearing like copper. His pure green eyes have a similar texture to emeralds. Also he’s like. Massive. He’s like eleven Skeppy's.

Hannah- A nymph of the forests. Has prehensile vines and flowers flowing in her hair all the way to the ground, and half of her face and one of her arms are entirely made of these prehensile vines and flowers. Makes flowers grow in her step, after being corrupted by the egg they wither around her instead.

Charlie- Slime hybrid. Honestly just kind of got the most impractical parts of being a hybrid, having random sections of skin changed into green slime which drips everywhere and kind of gets in the way. It doesn’t seem to bother him though.

[manychocolatefactories]

CatCF Milk Chocolate: Part 2, the Wonders of Wonka

WONKA

For this Wonka, I wanted to go much more into the idea of wonders, fantasy, magic. Excentric, talkative, liking jokes and everything imaginative, very kind to children, he wanted his factory to be a world of pure imagination, a fantasy turned real. He is the kind of person that will literally want to "defy gravity".

I imagine this Wonka to basically be a sort of much more goofy and funny Walt Disney. Willy Wonka also hints throughout the story at his really large family scattered everywhere in the world - a family apparently made of other characters from Roald Dahl's stories (for exemple one of his cousin or uncle is the magician from James and the Giant Peach).

FACTORY

I imagine the Factory, from far away, to actually look like more a magical castle than a real factory. Think of Disneyland's iconic castle ; or the castle of the Mad King Ludwig, the Nuschwanstein Castle - but with a bit more chimneys and metal.  

# The Candied Orchard. I think for this variation of the room, I will turn this area into more of a greenhouse type of room, but where Wonka works and study how to create hybrid of plants that will produce candies and treats instead of fruits and berries - such as candied apple trees, and other trees producing candied fruits. The Chocolate River is here as an irrigation system - in order to encourage the trees to produce candies, Wonka gives them chocolate instead of water.

This is where both Miranda Grope and Augustus Gloop meet their demises. Miranda, against Wonka's interdictions, decides to jump in the river and swim in it (just like in Dahl's original work), while Augustus actually tries to gulp down all of the river on his own ( this strange bet resulted from Marvin's mockery and insults at the "big cow being able to drink it all up" being interpreted by the Gloop family as a compliment - and the Gloop parents encourage their son to prove that he is the "biggest and the best" by drinking down all of the river). Of course, Augustus falls in the river, just like Miranda. Augustus doesn't know how to swim, and Miranda maliciously tries to drown him - but they get both sucked up by the pipes. Well... Miranda gets taken by the pipe to the candy making room, and Wonka reassures its parents that usually there's a net to catch impurities. As for Augustus, he gets stuck midway through the pipe, and the pipe ends up exploding due to how big the boy is. He falls down into the river once more - but his weight and height causes a huge wave to crash on the shores, splashing the guests with chocolate.

EDIT: To save the boy, the Loompas (and Wonka) decide to use their new invasions - the Barshmalloy! A marshmallow-buoy! Basically it looks like a regular marshmallow but when put in a great amount of liquid it turns into an enormous "buoy" like thing that will help you float (and you can eat if you need food). It was originally an invention Wonka prepared to help people strained at sea or lost in rivers.

But of course, greedy Augustus, despite drowning, hasn't lost his gluttony and seeing the marshmallow eats it. Which has the strange effect of... turning him into a giant, puffy, marshmallow-boy (think the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters). He still floats and can be saved, though the Loompas have to take him away because he can't follow the tour in such state.

# Given the disaster of the Candied Orchard, Wonka decides to stop by a much safer room (after everyone cleaned up a bit) - the Halloween Room. Kids notice that we are not Halloween yet, but Wonka brushes it aside - it is always Halloween if we want to, just like it is always Christmas or Easter.

No demise here, only a fun scene - Wonka has the kids trying one of his new product, an Hallowee candy that will temporarily turn the kid into a monster. Like that, no need to buy a fancy costume to scare your neighbours, just pop one of these treats into your mouth! And the "costume" will be perfectly adapted to who you are.

Veruca's flesh rots as she becomes a zombie. Violet skin covers in fur as she grows wolf ears and fangs, becoming a werewolf. Herpes Trout's skin becomes green and he grows tusks and a boar's snout as he becomes an orc. Clarence turn into a skeleton (though as people point out there isn't much difference to his usual self). As for Charlie I actually don't know exactly... I thought of him becoming an elf, growing long pointy ears and gaining a sort of beauty.

It doesn't last long, but it is quite fun.

# The Kitchen. It is where Wonka makes his candies, and it looks like a gigantic, fantastical kitchen. Of couse, this is where Violet Glockenberry meets her demise - when she snatches and chews on the "Three Course Gum Meal". As I said previously, no blueberry inflation in my versions - here the demise is based on the "baked potatoes" of the meal. As she chews, Violet sees brown scabs appearing on her skin. They grow and grow, covering her entire body, trapping her into a thick carapace - at the end, she becomes entirely trapped in a giant potato, with only her face being visible. Unable to move or do anything, she can just shout as she is rolled around and taken to the "Peeling Room" to be peeled.

# The hallways. It may seem strange to see them listed in the places of importance, but it is where Veruca Salt meets her demise. You see, she picked up some trash or junk that was in a bin of the Factory, probably because it looked a lot like a product that is recently advertised a lot on television - and despite Wonka's insistance that it is not said product, but merely something resembling it, she refuses to let go of it. As a result, she is taken away by the squirrels, thinking of her as trash.

Oh yes, because I decided to re-imagine the squirrels as actually the "cleaning squad" of the Factory, roaming the building getting rid of all dirt or trash not thrown into a specific bin. They then take it away to the furnace to be burned...

# The Room of HEALTH. The Room of Homeopathic and Edible Answers to Laments That are (frankly) quite Harsh. A new room Wonka recently created in answer to people complaining about the "unhealtiness" of his candies. As a result, you find in there, stored before selling (because it is a storage room, but presented like a museum and a cave, a mix of the two) products that go from licorice that whitens the teeth or cavity-filling caramels to nougat that cleans your skin of acne. This is where, obviously, Clarence Crump meets his demise.

Hearing about this wonderful chocolate that will make you super-healthy because it contains all the vitamins existing in the world, from A to Z, Clarence stuffs himself with it - not hearing Wonka's warning that it is hyper-concentrated and will make you over-wealthy. Clarence doesn't mind being "over-healthy"... until he becomes obese, chalk-white-skinned and grows bull horns. Well, he isn't really obese - it is actually an excess of vitamins, that happens to look a lot like an excess of fat in the body.

The only way to get rid of an excess of vitamins or an over-healthiness is either to ruin your health, either to do a lot of sports and exercise... and while Clarence absolutely hates doing sports, his parents will never allow him to ruin his health. So... to the gymnasium!

The demise is especially ironic because he ends up looking like a "big fat cow" as Herpes Trout points out - and before, Marvin frequently insulted the other kids for being freakish "cows" (with special mentions for Augustus, the "bloated fat cow" and Violet, "the freaky bodybuilder cow"). Hence why he turns into a fat, black-and-white boy with horns.

# The Television Room. Pretty much identical to the original one. The variation comes on the focus here - the point being rather on the difference between reality and fiction. I'll explain: Herpes Trout wants to get into the television to enter its world of hyper-violence and be "cool" like Rambo and other destructive soldier-like antiheroes. Trouble is, when locked inside, he realizes that war is actually no cool game and no joke, and is left heavily traumatized. (And, just like in the original, he gets pulled out and stretched thin in the Taffy room, making a stark opposite to his bulky and muscular original shape).

OOMPA-LOOMPA

I think in this version they will basically looke like Santa's elves. Little pointy eared lutins. I honestly don't have much more ideas for now Xp

ENDING

Charlie doesn't outright becomes the new Factory owner, but it is a promise Wonka makes to the young kid - since he is the only one able to understand the magic and fantasy of the place, he will take Wonka's place one day, when Wonka decide to "go on a great journey to where man never went" (even though, as Wonka says, he might come back one day, with new ingredients, candies and recipes from these places "man never went"). While waiting for this day, Charlie wins the incredible prize of a lifetime supply of candy as well as material and financial support - plus, he is allowed to visit the Factory any time he likes.

The Gloops returned home, Augustus still a marshmallow-boy. The Loompas and Wonka, despite all their efforts, couldn't find how to return him back to normal since no one had ever swallowed a Barshmalloy before. But the Gloops parent don't mind, because now he is "the biggest and tastiest" of the boys around, so not everything is lost.

However, Augustus hasn't been seen or heard ever since he came back to his natal country... Some say he roasted in the dry hot desert. Others claim he couldn't resist the temptation and ended up devouring himself whole. No one really knows the truth.

Violet Glockenberry, after being "peeled", was left with a very soft and sensitive skin, which prevented her from continuing her rash and violent ways. She was forced to live in a soft, conditioned, safe evironment, with only the sweetest things. Unable to do much, she took her frustration on Wonka's lifetime of candy, and now is an overweight, spoiled woman always shouting and screaming for the best quality and what will not "hurt her skin". She actually ended up growing back a tough, regular skin, but she still plays along the role of the "delicate flower" because she grew used to her being the focus of attention.

Veruca Salt, due to her time in the junk and trash of the Factory, became a new type of guinea pig - one for testing diseases and sicknesses in labs. She accumulated so many molds, parasites and other infections in Wonka's dump that she became immune to all sicknesses, basically a sort of living petri dish where sicknesses grow and diseases spread without her being really affected by it.

Clarence Crump... He left the Factory slim again, but still with his horn bulls - as a result his mother tried to hide it by putting her handbag over his head, but the wind blew it away as they left, leading to a public humiliation. Humiliated, he left the fashion industry, abandonned all fame, and became a farmer on the countryside - raising cows. Because his experience actually left him very close to cows, that he thinks as his "only friends" in this world.

As I mentionned, Herpes Trout was left traumatized by the violence he escaped from in the television, and stretched into a tall and very thin boy. Herpes left his family to join a hippie and peaceful community, now spending in time relaxing, meditating and trying to find his "harmony with nature" in places far away from human activity and human noise. He also refuses to go any new technology ever. Computer, television, radio, don't even speak to him about it.

No one knows what happened to Miranda Grope, since she wasn't seen ever again. Some say she got turned into a batch of Wonka's sweets, and others say that it was good riddance - at least now, she can be sweet to people.

[pengychan]

[Coco - Gravity Falls] Three Part Harmony

I wrote this for @perlogannwyl in exchange for her donation to BLM. Her prompt was Miguel interacting with Dipper and Mabel from Gravity Falls, discussing the weirdness around them. It took me... much longer than planned to write this, so I made it into a longer fic to make up for the delay. Sorry for the wait, hope you like it!

If you’d like to request a flash fic in exchange of a charity donation, here’s how.

It took Miguel roughly half a day to realize that primo Jésus - “Soos, dude, call me Soos. Unless I have the fez on, then I’m Mr. Mystery. Want some pizza? I’ve got this slice that never ends!” - was not the oddest person he could possibly meet in that town. Not by a long shot. 

“The locals are not odd, Miguel,” his father had told him, bouncing Socorro in his arms while his mamá caught up with her tía. Or at least tried to, because she had her attention split in three different directions: a third on her grand-niece, a third on the telenovela playing on the TV screen in the corner, and another third on cleaning every surface within reach as visitors walked through that… Mystery Shack his cousin apparently ran. 

Miguel didn’t answer as much as he gestured wildly at their surroundings. Somewhere on his left, a man wearing a tinfoil hat was taking a selfie next to a fur-covered trout mounted to the wall. His papá opened his mouth, hesitated, closed it again, and cleared his throat. 

“They’re Americans,” was all he could finally say in their defense as Socorro tried to get back his undivided attention by attempting to rip off his mustache.

Miguel had expected Americans to be kind of weird, just not that kind of weird. Still, as he wandered around the Mystery Shack - previously named Murder Hut, a plaque read, which made him… slightly uncomfortable - he had to admit that stuff was actually kind of cool. Also, Soos’ girlfriend was nice and had shown him how to get snacks for free from the distributor. 

“Are you sure it’s not a problem?” Miguel had asked, causing Melody - nice name, that - to shrug while she gave a customer change with one hand and made notes for the table disposition at the upcoming wedding. It was the reason why they were there, but as Miguel’s mamá hadn’t seen her tía since she married herself, she had wanted them to arrive a few days before the ceremony to meet properly.

“Of course not, don’t worry about it. Soos shows how to do it to everyone who walks in.”

“Ah.” Miguel had taken a snack, and wandered out to eat it without being chased with a vacuum cleaner, walking past a group of people holding up cameras and trying to figure out whether what was before their eyes was a rock that looked like a face or a face that looked like a rock. 

And then he’d seen it, just as it disappeared behind the trees. Something tiny, with a white beard and a pointed hat and… and…

Miguel blinked, and looked again; nothing but trees, now. But he was… fairly sure he had seen something. As per what that something was-- ay, he must be hallucinating. Was the snack he was eating past the expiry date?

He’d just turned it around to check when a truck screeched to a half right beside him, tires leaving marks in the grass and giving Miguel a mini heart attack. The driver’s door was thrown open, revealing primo Jes-- Soos at the wheel, grinning widely. 

“Back from the bus stop! Dudes, this is my second-something cousin Miguel!”

The very first impression wasn’t stellar, mostly because most people he met didn’t greet him by smacking a hand on his forehead to put a sticker on it. Or trying to ask him if he was single. Trying to, because her brother very quickly and very loudly began introducing himself before things got awkward, moving the chat to more normal grounds.

Well. Relatively normal. 

“... And I’m going to be a bridesmaid and - they still don’t know it, but I’ll throw glitter everywhere,” Mabel announced, spreading her arms. “It will be a huge surprise! I mean, if you tell no one, it will be a huge surprise. But you won’t tell anyone,” she added, her smile huge. 

Miguel wasn’t entirely sure if she meant to come across as slightly threatening or if he was letting past bad experiences give him the wrong impression,  but either way he responded with a smile that he hoped was convincing. 

“I’ll be silent as--” a grave? “... As, uh, someone really silent.”

“Soos’ abuelita will probably vacuum it all up immediately,” Dipper pointed out, causing his sister to frown.

“Right,” she muttered, rubbing her chin like a general devising an attack plan. “We need to find a way to keep the vacuum away from her.”

“... You don’t really think she’d bring it to the church during the wedding, do you?” Miguel asked, only for both Dipper and Mabel to nod. 

“You have met her, right?” Dipper asked, and Miguel had to concede that they had a point. 

“Fair.”

“We should sabotage it,” Mabel declared, and suddenly snapped her fingers. “Oh! I know! When our Grunkles get here tomorrow--”

“Our great uncles,” Dipper supplied helpfully before Miguel could voice his confusion. 

“-- We’re going to ask them to help us turn the vacuum into a leaf blower! So that if she tries to clean up, she’ll only spread glitter even more! A double surprise!”

To Miguel’s worry, Dipper - who’d struck him as the most sensible of the two - began pacing, giving the matter some serious thought. “We would need to do it right before we head to church, if she tries to use it before we head off she’ll know. Someone will need to distract her.”

“Miguel volunteers!” Mabel exclaimed, grabbing Miguel’s arm and lifting it with a surprising amount of strength, almost lifting him off his feet. “He’ll distract her!”

“... Are you sure this is a good idea?” Miguel asked cautiously. It seemed pretty nonsensical, but then again, his own solution to a problem a couple of years prior had been grave robbing, so maybe he wasn’t precisely on a much higher ground. 

“It’s a great idea! Leaf blowers always worked well for us. We used it to blow away some gnomes once.”

Miguel blinked. With the mind’s eye he saw it again, something really small with a pointy hat running over some bushes. But he’d just hallucinated that… right? “... Qué?”

“Nothing!” Dipper exclaimed suddenly, trying to elbow his sister in a way that couldn’t have been more obvious if he’d tried. Mabel waved a hand. 

“Come on, Dip Dop, it took us… days to realize this place was weird. I’m going to be surprised if he didn’t notice--”

“... Was that a… gnome?”

Mabel gave her brother a classic Told You So grin.  “Did you see a very small guy with a beard and a red pointy hat, or a brooding mysterious stranger?”

“Uh… the first one you said. About over there, running back into the forest.”

“Then it was a gnome! If you'd seen the brooding mysterious stranger, then it would still be gnomes but, like, five of them stacked on top of each other. If you see a giant creature of unimaginable horror, that is still gnomes. Just a lot more than five.”

Miguel’s gaze shifted to Dipper, half-hoping he’d laugh and admit it was a joke. Instead, he shrugged. 

“Don’t worry, they don’t do that anymore,” he informed him.

“Ah,” Miguel said, faintly wondering if they were making fun of him or were just insane. But then again, he had seen a tiny man running off into the woods. Plus something even more incredible, too, a couple of years ago. 

Unaware of his thoughts, Mabel was frowning. “Come to think of it, the giant Gnominator would have been useful during Weirdmageddon.”

Miguel, whose English classes had never included terms like Gnominator and Weirdmageddon, settled to just nod as though what she was saying made sense. “... Right.”

“Or when Dipper raised the dead.”

“Of cou-- wait, what?”

“It was an accident, Mabel,” Dipper protested, crossing his arms. “You know it won’t happen again.”

“I know, I know. Oh, don’t worry, Miguel! We know how to beat them! A perfect three part harmony, and they’re dead again. Soos told us you like music, so you can sing, no?”

“I said I won’t raise them again, we don’t need Soos to turn into a zombie again right before his wed--”

“You met the dead, too?” Miguel blurted out, causing both siblings to trail off and turn to look at him. Suddenly it was Dipper step right in his face, taking a notebook and a pen out of… seemingly nowhere. 

“You met the Undead, too?”

Miguel blinked. Undead? “They were all… pretty definitely dead.”

“Yes, yes, but like-- zombies?”

“Uh, no. Just… skeletons.”

Mabel nodded, extremely serious. “Thin zombies,” she declared.

“What-- no, they were not zombies at all.”

“No eating brains?”

“... They seemed to prefer Pan de Muerto.”

Dipper wrote that down. “No biting?”

“N… no?”

“Trying to drag you in your grave?”

“No, they just all kind of… really wanted me to go back home.”

"So they didn’t try to kill you?"

"N--" Miguel paused. "... Well, one did. But most of them wanted me to go home. They were my family.”

Mabel sighed. “Aww, you raised your family from the dead!”

“No, I was just robbing a grave and--” he paused, and rubbed his temples. “I really think we’re talking about two entirely different things here.”

“Yeah, sounds like-- wait. Grave robbing?”

Miguel shifted. “Not my best decision,” he muttered. Only that it had been, in the end, if anything for how things had worked out. Had he not been in the Land of the Dead that night, then…

Dipper lifted the notebook again, clicking his pen with a slightly manic look in his eyes. “We have a lot to talk about,” he said, and they did. 

That place was weird, the people were weird, but Miguel found that talking about what had happened in the Land of the Dead, with someone who believed him, wasn’t too bad at all.

[dreams-of-the-arcana]

31 Days of Arcana: Day 10 Familiar

⚠️ Warnings: Implied animal abuse, panic attack, fire ⚠️

Ialonus was rescued from a traveling circus but things definitely did not go to plan...

Ialonus

Uh-oh

Simple and to the point.

The blaring sounds of knowing things are definitely not going as planned.

That was all Andi could hear over the loud pounding in her ears as she sat in the back area of the largest tent she’d ever seen.

‘Who decides to use a tent to house shows that include fire?!”

Only a few days before, Andi and Asra heard the news of a traveling circus stopping by outside the city gates while shopping in the market. Life had begun to settle down after Lucio’s brief reign of terror ended and perhaps the citizens could use some fun.

“I hear they have one of the largest displays of captive animals this side of Prakra!”

One sentence was all it took to put an end to any ideas of merriment in Andi’s mind.

Over the days leading up to the events, Andi tried to rationalize the information to herself.

‘They could be tame animals being treated very well? There’s no need to assume the worst! They could be happy...’

Nothing quelled the dark feeling in her gut though. So she began to form a plan.

Asra noticed the looks of concentration and determination in Andi and decided to let her come to him when she felt comfortable. Circuses and carnivals had always been a hard subject for her since her days on her own. Asra heard all the stories of her animal liberations from meat markets, private zoos, or poachers when they were teenagers. Now, Andi didn’t have any of those memories.

Asra tried his best to tell her a little when she asked, careful that she didn’t become overwhelmed. But the scars on her hands and arms from daring rescues were a permanent reminder of the time she’d lost.

No, she would have to do something.

On the day of the festivities the two mages wandered into the field where a whole world seemed to spring up.

Color screamed at them from every direction, the sounds of shouting or laughter reverberated off the flimsy walls, delicious and not so pleasant smells filled the air.

Andi spotted someone in make-up made to look like a fish juggling fire sticks while telling jokes. At the same time, Asra watched someone on tall stilts stepping over the crowds and tossing little candies below them.

Magic thrummed in the air as many of the performers weaved it into their acts.

Andi had to pause often in quiet corners to focus on her emotional shield. If even the smallest crack appeared, she’d be quickly overtaken by all the emotions swirling around.

The magicians wandered, awed, and ate whatever caught their eye until the sun had set.

As soon as the dark crept in, lights appeared to fill a strange looking tent in the middle of the field. Performers began herding the crowds into the tent with promises that the best had yet to come.

Andi and Asra allowed themselves to be swept in but stood near a door in case they needed a quick exit. Unfortunately, the best did not come.

A large sweaty man in obnoxiously bright clothing stood at the center of the tent and began to yell out his introductions. This was the Show Of the Beast. Andi gripped Asra’s hand a little tighter.

Inside the circle spread out in the middle, zebras appeared magically and started to run. Ooo’s and Aww’s poured in at the impressive sight. Dancers took to the middle and began to command the Zebras. It was all so organized. The Zebras moved as they were told, dogs ran in wearing little outfits and performed tricks, even a wolf appeared where they gave a good howl to the sky. The crowd loved every moment.

But by the door, Andi’s aura grew darker. Did they not notice the marks on the Zebras legs? The terrified look of those dogs? The malnourished wolf who walked with a heavy chain? Or did they just not care.

It was all too much for her.

Andi excused herself by telling Asra she was going out for some fresh air. He offered to come with her and even better, offered to go home early but Andi waved it off. Around the corner of the tent she took a deep breath. Slowly, her magic reached out to map out the inside of the tent. Animals were kept in a closed off area where the guests couldn’t see them but only one person sat with them.

Andi leaned against the canvas wall outside the room and seemed to slip through the surface as if it were only the surface of water. She tried not to pause and wonder where she’d learned that or how she even knew to do it.

Cages filled the room and the sounds of miserable cries came from all around. It broke her heart to hear but at the same time made sneaking easier. Ever so carefully, Andi pulled out her little lock picking kit and got to work. Once a cage was unlocked she pressed it closed with a little magic so all the animals stayed inside instead of bursting out in ones and twos. Then she spotted the lone guard whose chair sat right in front of a very large cage holding a very unhappy looking lioness.

Andi his herself behind some cages and closed her eyes. It was easier to use the kit but with someone so close she’d have to use magic. Lock picking was a delicate type of magic, she had to do the exact same process as before only without the physical tools or feelings. Essentially, Andi had to become the tools and the skill at the same time.

Precious seconds seemed to tick by so quickly as she focused on each individual tumbler. Clicks so faint sounded like canons.

Finally, the lock gave.

That’s when the plan fell apart.

Andi took half a second of relief after the lock released and apparently that was all it took for the lioness to form her own plan. Andi didn’t have time to hold the door closed before a strong force slammed into the metal doors. The lioness forced her way out of the cage and launched at the person guarding her. They screamed as they ran from the room and in the panic Andi accidentally lost focus and all the doors released at once.

Chaos erupted.

Screams of humans and animals overtook everything. Andi curled up on herself with her hands pressed firmly over her ears.

Too much.

Fur brushed by her skin.

Too much.

Smells of sweat and excitement.

Too much.

Smoke.

Fire.

Too much.

A small ball of golden light.

Too much.

Softness wormed it’s way into her arms.

Too much...

A heat radiated at her core...

A soft voice...

‘Safe’

Andi awoke in her own bed hours later clutching her core as if to hold onto the imaginary warmth.

Asra was by her side immediately and cautiously wrapped her in his arms. He held her tightly and whispered soothing words. As Andi came to her senses the memories of the night flooded back in.

“A-Asra?” Her voice cracked.

“Shhh, my love, you’re safe. You’re home.”

Andi nodded unconsciously.

“Wha-what happened?”

“There was a fire...,” he started then sighed.

“You kept a secret from me.”

Andi looked down at her lap in shame. Instead she saw an unexpected sight. A small ball of tan fur snoozed away as she clutched it to her. The warmth was real and coming off of this tiny creature.

“Asra...? What’s this?”

Asra peered over her shoulder at the lump.

“Oh, yes. I couldn’t get you two apart when I found you.”

Andi gently lifted the animal up to eye level so she could get a better look. Sleepily they revealed large blue-grey eyes and yawned so long pointy teeth were on display.

“This... this is a Lion, Asra.”

Andi stared in shock but the cub didn’t seem to care and started whining about his interrupted nap.

‘Sleep!’

“Asra! It talked!”

Realization hit Asra first and he reached out to lower her arms so the cub could lay back down.

“It is. They also seem to be your familiar because I didn’t hear it speak.”

Andi stared at the bundle in shock. Of course she’d always wondered when or even if she’d get a familiar but a lion had never crossed her mind. She’d always thought a wolf would be closest to her own temperament. Maybe even a housecat or a dog. Never something so wholly beyond their normal realm of animal life.

Then again, she wondered if that’s why she’d never found them until now.

“I just never saw myself as a lion-like person,” she mused.

“Isn’t that the point though? If our familiars were like us, we’d never learn anything from them. Instead maybe we find those who help us unlock another part of ourselves.”

Andi smiled, she liked that idea. Her face quickly fell though and she groaned.

“Feeding him is going to be a nightmare...”

[hesesols]

Into the WILD

Day 16 of Ichiruki month 2020

Trapped inside fantasy MMORPG. Send help please?

Rating: T

FF/ao3

.

The first thing that strikes him as odd is that the ground underneath him is dewy soft. Not that the carpet in his tiny student accommodation isn't soft. It just isn't as soft by comparison and doesn't smell so strongly of grass and urgh- he hates pollen with a vengeance.

It makes his nose itch like mad and –

Wait!

Last time he checked summer was already over and the northern hemisphere was entering early autumn.

.

Brown eyes open in alarm.

The sun is in his eyes as he sits up and he's lying in a sea of golden tulips and ruby red camellias, blades of grass and crushed flowers under his fingertips.

He isn't alone.

There are others next to him. Each one garbed in unusual medieval clothing- intimidating-looking armours with spikes and brightly-coloured capes, fur-trimmings and equally garish-looking armbands; brandishing weapons that range from claymores to wooden staffs. Everyone seems to be in more or less the same state of disbelief and wide-eyed amazement at their new surroundings.

Where are they?

And holy shit! Is that a real-life armoured bear?

.

"You look like you could use a hand there, Kurosaki."

"Ishida?"

Ishida or at least who he assumes to be Ishida- his annoying cousin of sorts and fellow guild member- stands in front of him, offering an outstretched hand. Ichigo recognizes the voice but those pointy ears, the gleaming ivory bow that stands at a grown man's height and strange cleric-like clothing- those are definitely new. He grabs hold of it and pulls himself up, wiping at the grass stains with a fierce scowl before turning to the strange elf-like creature.

"What are you wearing?

Uryuu snorts, "I could ask you the very same question, Kurosaki."

Ichigo glances at the midnight black armour he has on- light weight, extra resistance to magic and +25% endurance to all physical attacks- wait, where did that come from?- the reassuring weight of Zangetsu in his hands-

He blinks.

.

Name: Zangetsu. Also known as: Sword of the Moon, Cursed Fang. Status: Legendary. Raid item from the Sacking of the Gollum King's Palace at Hueco Mundo. The mythical black blade forged by the Grandmaster Yhwach over the Fires of Sokyouku for a full year and a half in preparation for the Conquest of the Soul King's Throne (see also Conquest of the Soul King's Throne). Grants the wielder—

.

Reeling from the surprise, he falls flat on the grass.

How the hell did that just happen? How did all those words and background information just pop into his head unprompted? Almost like they're in a fantasy RPG gam—

"What's going on?"

Uryuu's smile is grim and sardonic, sliding the half-moon glasses up the bridge of his nose before he tells him, "Don't freak out but I think we're inside the game."

.

.

.

"Anything?"

Uryuu shakes his head.

Ichigo sighs. The lines of communication are down and no one has been able to log back out into the real world since they first entered.

"This doesn't make any sense at all!"

10,000 WILD players across the world and different servers who were online and active at precisely 12 midnight that day somehow found themselves transported into the game world and trapped there as their game character persona.

They're calling it the Lockdown.

No one has a clue as to why they were the only people affected, nor do they know how they came to. One minute they were logged in, playing the game as usual; the next thing they know they're lying flat on their asses in this strange new world strongly reminiscent of the game world of WILD, as their respective game characters.

He's one of the lucky ones he thinks. As a human Swords Master, there isn't much alteration to him besides the clothes and the muscle bulk added to his physique, unlike Chad who woke up as a bear armed to the teeth with a war axe and metal gauntlets. It wouldn't have been a pleasant wake up call for anyone, much less someone who wakes up trapped inside a fantasy MMORPG.

"What about Keigo then? Have you managed to locate him yet?"

Uryuu's eyebrow twitches. The pale blue glow from his hand falters for a fraction of a second when his attention shifts to shoot his guild leader a nasty glare.

Ichigo growls before mumbling out an apology to the raven-haired Cleric. He knows of course that Uryuu is trying his best and really in a strange new world that seems equal parts deadly and fascinating, the best is all they can do.

He's just … frustrated over the lack of answers and to make matters worse, one of their own still remains unaccounted for. Out of all the guild members who decided to switch servers during the Lockdown, it just had to be Keigo- scatterbrain extraordinaire. He wouldn't trust Keigo not to get sold on some crazy-ass get-rich-quick scheme in the real world, let alone in this virtual reality full of bloodthirsty monsters just waiting to make a nice dinner out of unsuspecting players.

The double doors to his studies are suddenly pushed apart, jolting him out of his thoughts. Orihime stumbles in barefooted and narrowly avoids tripping over the trail of her druidic dress robes in her excitement. Her cheeks are flushed and the pretty flowers in her flower crown bloom and blossom in magnificent shades of pinks and violets as she makes her announcement.

"Kurosaki-kun! I have his location!"

Ichigo jumps to his feet.

.

Finally!

.

It's the first piece of good news he's had since he found himself stranded here with the rest of his guild members.

"So where is the idiot then?"

Behind her, trails Tatsuki- their resident cynic and Shield Maiden who purses her lips and informs both him and Uryuu rather miserably, "You're not going to like this. He's in the Forest."

Ichigo resists the urge to face-palm as he sees Uryuu rubbing at his temple.

"Keigo must have been on his way back to HQ and decided to take the shorter route," Uryuu rationalizes things- as the team tactician he excels at it, "he couldn't possibly have known."

That's right. Keigo couldn't possibly have known that he would get sucked into the game and be left standing in place of his game character.

Tatsuki gives a derisive snort, "Doesn't make a difference. A level 25 Bard like him can't possibly survive the Forest of Hueco Mundo alone. He's going to get himself killed. The Forest is no man's land- level 70+ Hollows and player killers aren't warded out."

All eyes turn to their orange-haired team leader.

"What do you want us to do?"

Call it instincts but Ichigo has a nasty suspicion that player death in their new world would also mean certain death in the real world. The thought makes him nauseous and for obvious reasons, he isn't too keen on testing out the theory himself.

Keigo may be a pain-in-the-neck and downright insufferable at times but damn it! He's one of them. He's their pain-in-the-neck and they can't just leave him there.

In the real world, Ichigo Kurosaki may be just an ordinary university student bogged down by studies but here in WILD, he's a guild leader, it's his job to look after his guild members and he pledges to make sure that every single one of them makes it back home to the real world in one piece.

Ichigo heaves a loud weary sigh, grabbing the sleek black katana by his side.

"Let's go get our idiot back!"

.

.

.

"I told you we should have gone left instead of right!"

Tatsuki can feel her skull throbbing. She should have just stayed behind with Chad and Orihime.

"Stop yelling at me! It's not my bloody fault that you're so fucking incompetent that you couldn't get a better map!"

"Oh so I'm the incompetent one?! Never mind I was the one who organized the rations! We would have starved to death days ago if I hadn't triple checked our provisions!"

Tatsuki grimaces as the feel of exhaustion creeps in as does the unbearable chaffing on her thighs. It wasn't just the lines of communications that were shut off with the Lockdown. It turns out the Portals- their main means of transport have also been disrupted and that means that the full distance between Karakura and the Forest had to be covered by good old-fashioned horse-riding.

They've been riding nonstop since they left Karakura, trading horses with NPCs in the farmlands nearby to push ahead at a gruelling pace and rescue Keigo as soon as possible. It is a noble cause but the trade-off for the weeks' long worth of hard-riding leaves the three riders surly and sullen. This virtual reality that they're trapped in certainly feels real enough, right down to hunger pangs and sore muscles.

Chaffed thighs, bland food, little sleep and the heat (the sheer humidity was making her hair frizz) made for horrible traveling condition and it seems that both Ichigo and Uryuu are about to hit their respective boiling points.

She rolls her eyes, tugging at her horse's rein to halt.

"Both of you need to shut up before –"

A sudden rustling in the bushes nearby draws their collective attention and sure enough from the depth of the overgrown bushes, a Hollow emerges. This one seems more reptilian in features, flickering pink tongue and all. Something jumps at the back of her mind but Tatsuki ignores it.

The Guide is nothing more than a useless collection of WILD lore and trivia.

She doesn't need a lecture on Hollow classes and their special attacks to know that the only good Hollow is a dead one.

With a loud battle war cry, she unsheathes her blade and leads the charge, throwing herself against the beast.

.

.

Ichigo leaps through the dense foliage with Zangetsu drawn and bloodied in his hand. Despite Tatsuki's misgivings about his foolhardy plans and recklessness, the woman is just as bad with her own brand of battle lust, leading the charge like a crazy berserker.

All hell literally broke loose the second they stormed through the clearing. The sheer number of the Hollow horde overwhelmed them and forced them to break formation and the three of them took off in different directions in a bid to divide the remaining Hollows' attention.

He ducks behind a tree to catch his breath. Having lost sight of both Uryuu and Tatsuki during their retreat, he is in a sour mood and more than a little embarrassed that a level 98 Swordsmaster like him is being forced back by a horde of weakling Hollows in level 50s.

"Psst. Ichigo."

Ichigo grips Zangetsu tightly, eyes nervously darting at his surroundings. He could have sworn that he heard Keigo's voice. Well it's either that or he's officially losing his mind.

"Over here."

A head pops out from the bushes next to him and Ichigo reacts accordingly- nearly slicing the newcomer's head clean off his shoulder and Keigo almost becomes a casualty of friendly fire before Ichigo sees through the heavy layer of disguise and stops the blade mid-swing.

"Keigo?"

The bard is barely recognizable with his slashed and dirtied tunic, patches of dirt and dried leaves covering his face.

"The fuck you doing- sneaking up on me like that! I could have killed you!"

Keigo couldn't have cared less. With a loud wail and snot running down his face, he throws himself at his saviour and professes his undying gratitude in between hiccups and tears.

"ICHIGO! I knew you would come for me! I never doubted for a second!"

"Get off me! You stink!"

The happy reunion doesn't last as the roar of a Hollow and heavy footsteps of a lumbering giant still their movements. Ichigo pushes Keigo away from him and readies his blade, but even his quick reflexes are no match for the suddenness of the attack.

"ICHIGO!"

The Hollow's swipe knocks the air right out of him and sends him flying. The tree trunk of a young sapling snaps in half as his back connects painfully with it. The pain disorients him and he is enough of a doctor's son to recognize the signs of concussion. Also, he thinks he might have cracked a rib (or two) as fresh blood- metallic in taste gurgles past his throat.

His vision clears in time for him to see the Hollow- a Dragon class one with beady yellow, thick, iridescent scales covering its front and gigantic wings sprouted at his back, rearing up for another charge.

This time at Keigo, who is down on his knees- eyes wide with fear as he scrambles to get away from the advancing Hollow.

There's no time to think. Ichigo pushes everything he has- the very last spurt of HP and MP within him towards Keigo, taking his place before the monster with gapping mouth, awaiting certain death to come.

.

.

"Out of the way!"

His eyes snap open just in time to see a small lithe figure, sunlight reflecting off the bone white armour- so bright that he squints, leaping through air and landing gracefully on the Hollow's back. A glint of light flashes yet again and before his very eyes, one of the Hollow's tattered wings is cut off, an arc of blood spurts high into the air and the Hollow's roar of anguish follows.

"Are you deaf or stupid? Get out of the way!"

Ichigo doesn't hesitate. With Keigo tucked under his arm, he pushes past the pain and sprints for the clearing.

With them gone, the mysterious stranger makes quick work of the beast, easily dismantling its other wing before diving for the kill; sinking the white blade somewhere between the soft scruff, flabs of excess skin free from the scaly armour.

Ichigo watches in silence as the dying monster screeches in pain, a swan's song in roars of fury before it topples over with dead eyes, a fine cloud of dust from where its body fell.

With the urgency of the situation gone, he focuses on the newcomer. Sheathing Zangetsu as it becomes apparent from the markings and sigil on the stranger's shield and helmet that he is a Paladin, one dedicated to the path of the light. They're in safe hands- for now at least.

"Where did you come from?"

The Paladin regards him oddly.

"What do you mean?"

.

"Princess!"

Half a dozen of swords are suddenly drawn and held under their throats by what seems to be a band of armed knights. Their armours gleam with the same bone-white shine and the leader of the men- a tall redhead with inked markings across his forehead approaches them with a fierce scowl and the intent to kill.

Next to him, Keigo yelps.

"The fuck!" Ichigo curses. His chest hurts, he's barely standing on his feet and now this?

Can this day get any worse?

.

"Watch your mouth, you punk!" The redhead growls threateningly, "You're in the presence of the Princess."

Amber eyes narrow. Did they think he's stupid? There's no one vaguely even female in their company unless—

The Paladin removes his helmet and a cascade of black hair- dark as the night pours forth. Apple cheeks, soft petal lips and elfin features curtailed somewhat by the iciness of her stare and her unsmiling face.

Their eyes meet.

.

Oh!

.

The short stature suddenly makes so much sense. Ichigo gulps.

"They're Heroes, Renji."

Renji scowls and gives them a dirty look.

Ichigo's eyebrows knot in confusion. "Hang on- what do you mean by Heroes and how are you a princess? Royalty isn't a job class and Paladins don't call themselves Princesses. I don't care what level you are, that's not allowed by the game admins."

The smile on the woman's face- Ichigo doesn't know what to make of it, but he thinks he's about to be made into a fool of epic proportions, especially when she pushes past her armed guards and tilts his face up by the chin with the tip of her white blade.

Smirking with dark violet eyes gleaming, she tells him, "That's because I'm not a Hero. Look closer."

Sure enough- when Ichigo focuses his gaze at her, her presence is shrouded in golden aura. The Guide pings- very belatedly and most unhelpfully, he might add.

.

Name: HRH Princess Rukia of the noble house of the Kuchiki, heir apparent to the throne of Seireitei. Status: NPC

.

He bites his tongue.

"B-But- but NPCs aren't sentient," Keigo blurts out.

Ichigo turns just in time to see him give out a pained yelp, being pummelled by the angry redhead, "Oh I'll show you how non-sentient my fists are!"

He winces. That looks like it would hurt… a lot. But Keigo's an idiot with thick skin, he'll live.

Rukia- her name rolls off his tongue easily. He refuses to even entertain the idea of addressing her by her royal title. For starters, a princess isn't supposed to be a Paladin, or know how to fight or use a sword, or look this good while having him at her mercy.

He gulps when violet eyes narrow at him.

"And you? Do you think that NPCs are non-sentient beings too?"

Ichigo is a fast learner and gives a quick shake of his head.

"Good-" her lips curve into a smile, hair dipping low to tease at the contours of his face as she whispers into his ear- "Because this NPC just saved your life. I'll show you just how deadly I am with my sword before you dismiss me as just another background token NPC."

The sword tip leaves his neck.

"Now, hold still."

That's all the warning he gets before a green glow is emitted from her hands- smelling faintly of mint and something fresh he can't quite name. He shuts his eyes, letting the healing magic wash over him, knitting most of his superficial cuts and wounds back into place.

When the light fades, his chest still hurts but at the very least he feels a little less light-headed and breathes a little easier despite the pain.

He wants to thank her- both for her healing and her timely rescue from the Hollow but she refuses to meet his eyes.

"Renji," she barks at her captain of guards who immediately stands to attention.

"Take them with us. He needs a proper healer. I can't set his broken ribs."

"It's Ichigo!" he calls out, interrupting their conversation and earning himself a hard glare from Renji but Rukia's gaze is almost thoughtful.

"Can you still ride, Ichigo?"

He nods.

A horse is brought to him under Rukia's instructions and as soon as he is properly mounted with Keigo seated behind him, the woman sounds the horn, black hair unbound and flailing in the wind as she leads the company into a gallop.

"To Seireitei!"

.

.

FF/ao3

Review, like, comment or reblog to send some love my way pretties~~~

I have a thing for fantasy AUs. Can’t you tell? Click on link for rec list of some off-main Isekai/Game animes. I have a special place in my heart for them.

[pernatius]

Lost in Space Part 9: Ch 1

Summary: Syco and the unnamed Space Explorer question their choices.

Lost in Space on Tumblr

Lost in Space on ao3

At the center, behind the looming figure, a single ray of moonlight shines on the spilled dark, nearly blood-red paint that came out of its sideways bowl. It looks as if the paint is glowing, illuminating this poorly lit and now stuffy room with a red tint, giving the room a sinister vibe. 

The figure before Syco has their right eye twitch. Pointy face gulps and bites their lip. One wide-eyed moment later and our captor bursts out laughing. The figures, the accomplices, circling us follow suit. To them, Syco is a comedian. To me, he’s a brick wall. Not a single funny bone in his body, yet they laugh as if he told the funniest joke ever. Saamuki blushes at this. 

From nervousness to amusement to returning to square one, attentive with a tad bit of annoyance, Pointy Face’s transitions are awkward. Maybe it’s because they’re no longer self-assured. No longer does pride escape their lips. Discomfort, instead, drifts from their hand gestures as they speak. “I’ll also admit how downright brilliant you’ve been throughout this war. Though, you can’t run forever. At some point, you need to stop. We must catch our breaths before we dare to think of that next step. You already know this before taking that first step. However, we don't know everything. We can't plan for things we don't know. It's impossible. We trip on that crack we didn’t see, and we scrape our knee. It hurts. Badly.” 

“We’ve known each other for years, Zeq, but merely knowing is different from friendship.” Pointy Face, or as Syco says is Zeq, raises an eyebrow. “Although, I wish I was wrong. I see I’m faced with more enemies rather than given allies.” That’s what’s been in those blue eyes of his. He’s regretful. 

“And that surprises you? I can no longer trade. Supplies are low. My village is dying. Again, my people suffer,” Zeq lowers their voice with the drop of Syco’s ears, “This isn’t personal, Syco. It’s diplomatic. It’s about survival. The sooner this war ends, the sooner I can save my people.” 

“How long until they get here?”

“Less than an hour.”

“Then, I have plenty of time to do this.” Out first comes a grunt, then out second comes Syco. The freed Tauvox has Zeq stumble backward and with their words. Those around us motion their hands in a way I’m familiar with. Transforming their fingers into blades, surprisingly sharp for leaves, they take a step forward. They’re halted from taking another when Syco encases Zeq’s neck with his thick fingers. Zeq’s hat falls. It rolls and goes in a little circular motion before stopping and pointing in my direction. 

It’s here I notice how tall Zeq is, almost as tall as Syco, but somehow looks several feet smaller than the actual height difference between the two. Zeq is lanky and wilting, so Syco’s hand easily wraps around it and can easily snap it. He’s imposing to them, but not to me. 

“You will let us all go, and in return, I’ll let your mayor go.”

“What are you doing? Let me go. Put me down. Don’t you see what I’m doing for you,” Zeq spoke up. 

“All you’re doing is delaying my plans.”

“No, Syco. I’m saving you from what’s to come as well. You’ve gone farther than your predecessor, yes, but you will fail just like him. Your, my people’s, and trillions of other’s suffering can end here.” 

That moment where our eyes met I thought he was going to do it. I thought he was going to end it all. To let Zeq go than to just squeeze Zeq’s throat until it ripped in half, cemented who Syco truly is. Time has truly lost its touch on him. It no longer means anything to him. He’ll take down those who are in his way. It also cemented their decision in attacking. A blade went through Syco’s chest. He elbowed them, causing the blade to slide out and the others now surrounding him to look at one another. Then, proceed. They slice into Syco’s skin, some of his furs break off from the cuts and scatter across their chests, and in turn, Syco stabs them with his horns. His horns go right through each of them, but all of them easily heal. I see veins stitch themselves back together and soon flesh as well. The same can’t be said about the lifeless, decapitated mayor. 

I try breaking free from my troubles, but all it does is tighten the sap around me. I see why the others haven’t succeeded as Syco has. I’m starting to sweat. Saamuki would’ve landed herself to be boiled alive. As for Shiitakee, well, he’s Shiitakee. 

The drooping mushroom says, “What I’d do to be lighting up a cigarette right now.” 

Three simple strokes of his horn between their swings and the three of us are freed. Syco catches one of their blades between his hands and throws them into the others before turning to us and shouting, “What are you waiting for? Get to the ship!”

Walking across the bridge made me anxious. Running and trying to balance while the bridge sways left to right because of the fight happening behind me still gives me anxiety, but now it's nauseating. At least now it's too dark to spot the ground between the wood making up this rickety path, but it’s too dark to make out what’s what. The bushy branches above let some, not enough, moonlight in. My crown’s fire isn’t enough either. I’d thank Saamuki for glowing on this hectic night if I wasn’t busy running and trying not to trip. 

Another obstacle stood in our way as Zeq’s aides don't know when to give up. They’re relentless. They don’t know when to fall. So, now we’re sandwiched between them and the scowled figure from earlier. I get out my blade, and Saamuki prepares to lunge, but it’s Shiittakee that challenges the figure who’s far larger than the three of us. Syco, if he wanted to, could crush Shiitakee just like he did with Zeq. This figure could crush Shiitakee and cause him to explode. I don’t want to see any more guts be sprayed out, so I take a step closer. I could hear Syco still deflecting, and his horns connecting with their blades as Shiitakee proves he’s more than just some whiny quitter. A yellowish gas sprays out of his cap, fuming all around us. The figure, Saamuki, and I cough. Its stench was sucked up by my nostrils and carried to my taste buds. I gag. It tasted like rotten eggs mixed with spoiled milk with a dash of a public toilet. When it finally escapes my senses, another bridge appears between us. The tree beneath us had magically, probably because of that rancid gas, had stretched one of its branches to the ground, puncturing through the ocean of darkness resting beneath our feet. What could’ve been our aggressor just watches as we escape to the makeshift bridge. We enter the darkness, and not a minute after, I hear Syco joining us. This bridge groans with his added weight as he continues to battle on with those several vengeful figures. 

Saamuki sends a blast their way. I hear someone slip. They plummet, but I don’t hear them land. So, definitely not Syco. Another blast, but it takes a moment longer before another one of them falls into the blackness below. There’s no third attempt. She turns back around, and I catch an ominous glimpse of the ones left watching us and the now caught up Syco walk the rest of the way. They watch us emotionlessly with their blades remaining.   

A wind glazed us once we set foot onto the ground. It's gentle, a feeling I haven’t felt in some time. 

Something new happens. Saamuki moves her hands in a circular shape. Little bolts of lightning shot out between her fingers. She breathed out and threw her hands apart. A small, glowing blue orb now floats above us, lighting everything around us within what I guess is a twenty-foot radius. Something scampers away, and Syco moves away from my awe, taking the lead. 

I walk by his side the rest of the way to the spaceship. I should feel equal to him now, but there’s still plenty of distance between us before that ever could happen. I feel like he noticed it too, or maybe I’m just thinking about it too much. It’s just strange that he asked me to join him in his meeting with General Knox, interrupting Saamuki and his second-in-command. Saamuki and I look at each other, as his second-in-command continues what he was saying before being cut off by his commander. The two of us know I can’t decline. General Knox has our friends wrapped around his thumb. The last I heard from Syco is that they were in Quadrant Forty. It’s been too long since then. Who knows which quadrant they’re in? After all, finding and having them regain control are the main reasons we’ve let ourselves be commanded by the sweaty Tauvox arguing with the non-sweaty Tauvox. Any information helps. Whatever is going to be said during the meeting definitely is.

I nod. He replies with, “Great. Follow me. The meeting is going to start soon.”

Again, I walk by his side. I steal a glance from Saamuki until she turns to look at the pondering Shiitakee. The second-in-command stalks off, cutting across the hallway and ending my glance at Saamuki. 

This room is new. Row by row across the walls, lights turn on. The room is large but not grand. Compared to the other rooms in the ship, even to the rented room shared between Saamuki and me, it’s small. On either side of the room sat two paintings. One of a man I know, Syco’s predecessor, and the other of a Tauvox with white fur. A scar stretches from their right eyebrow to the left side of their jawline. They’re just a picture, but I can sense they’re as much of a brute as The Commander, the terrifying presence instead of that corpse down below. 

“Only one other, besides us, has entered this room. You know of him quite well.” I follow the Tauvox to the center of the room. Resting there is a platform with etchings of alien writing. It’s similar to Sakhra’s quilt. Actually, I think it’s the same. It’s just upside down. 

I don’t have to look where he’s looking at it. Looking at that painting as long as I did was enough. So, I instead look at him. His expression is the same one he showed back in Zeq’s village. 

“Why did you ask me to join you?”

“Because I trust you.” Interrupting him is the platform before us blinking. “Stay out of his sight. Commander Knox does not know you’re here.” 

I move away as far as I can as the symbols on the platform float up and spin around Syco. Appearing in front of him is a hologram of that monkey-like commander. Would he and his people be considered cousins to humans? Human’s next evolution? Do they still count as humans? Besides the fur and metal parts, they still look human. I wonder what the Virmuses went through to look like that in the near millennia they split up from humanity. 

“Ah, Commander Knox you were able to make it today.”

“Quadrant Forty has been tedious, Commander Syco.”

“Oh?”

“This is not an admittance to the limitations of my intelligence.”

“I would hope not.”

“As of the last report, half an hour ago, we have taken control of half of the quadrant.”

“And what of the three?”

“Same as the last time. Nothing new. Although, they did help me in a tight squeeze this morning.” I imagine Syco to have raised an eyebrow because the other commander continued with, “Again, not me admitting my limitations.”

“Great. Casualties?”

A laugh. “None from my side, but hundreds from the enemy.”

A flinch. The very hand Syco used to kill Zeq flinched. It’s a subtle movement. Commander Knox doesn’t notice, but I do. From that seemingly small action, I now know why he asked me to be here.

[annoyinglyjovialbird]

Voltron: Next Generation

Unexpected Mission: I

Word Count: 2691

“And here we have the training deck,” Shiro said, leading several school ambassadors around the Garrison. After becoming a glorified headmaster, Shiro worked hard to keep up appearances.

“Colonel Shirogane?” a small woman with a too pointy nose and too high heels said with a nasal voice. 

“Yes?” 

“Why are there so many students gathered around?” The woman was looking, or rather glaring at, a herd of students in matching orange cadet uniforms pressing their faces into the glass above the training floor. Shiro stepped towards a monitor attached to a wall, showing the training schedule. The name beside the 9:30 slot brought a smile to his face. That’s why she said she couldn’t do it, Shiro thought to himself. 

“Would you like to stay and watch? The next cadet is one of our best. A jack of all trades.” Shiro gestured to the window, seeing the glances the ambassadors were giving each other, who collectively decided, even Mrs. Pinched Nose, to watch the training unfold. A door at the far end swished open, a teenage girl emerging from it. She wore a pair of black training boots, black pants, and a purple t-shirt. White tape was wrapped around her tanned knuckles, all the way up to her forearms. Her long black hair was held back by two braids, a small one holding back her baby hairs, the other kept her waist-long hair at bay and out of the way. In her right boot, the hilt of a blade could be seen, although Shiro doubted she’d use it. The girl looked up, at last, hearing the screams and cheers from her peers through the supposedly soundproof glass. All around the training deck, she looked, until her light brown eyes met Shiro’s, where he sent a nod in her direction. She nodded in reply, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. 

“Training level 3!” She yelled in a clear, deep voice. More cheers came from the cadets as the silver robot was dropped onto the training platform. 

“Training level 3 commencing in 3, 2, 1.” A monotone disembodied voice said. The countdown spaced to give the training robot time to charge up. When its eyes glowed blue, it took off for the girl, who dashed to her right. Driving momentum, she kicked the poor robot in the face, pushing it back only a few feet but didn’t topple it. The girl landed in a crouch, glaring daggers at the bot. The robot came for her, arms out ready to catch her when she ran under the robot’s legs, then kicked the bot’s back. Her braid slapped her in the face in her quick turn, but she didn’t mind, flicking it back over her shoulder. 

All she had to do was take off the robot’s head, which was attached by a large magnet. It would be fine. The strength of the magnet depended entirely on what level was chosen. A level three strength would make the head weigh the same as a bowling ball.

It should be simple. 

However, as she went to get the toppled bot’s head, the speakers suddenly sounded with “Training level 5 commencing in 3, 2, 1!”. To the girl’s horror, the robot pushed her off, made a backflip to stand on its own two feet, and came after her. Level 5 was meant for a duo, one to distract and one to retrieve. No one had ever done it solo. At least, not without damaging the bot first.

Guess I’m gonna have to apologize to Matt, she thought as she reached for the blade in her boot. The bot picked up on this, its blue glow turning red and charging for her. A dash for her left, while the bot went right, gave her enough of a window to throw her dagger into a weak spot in the bot’s armor. The blade sunk into the poor bot’s circuit-made heart. Its glow changed from red to blue  to black as it fell to its metal knees, then completely splay out on the training deck. Cheers and screams bounced off the windows, with fists banging on them from the cadets. 

“Training level 3 completed by Kovalia Shirogane.” The voice announced, revealing her name to the crowd. Looking up to the window where Shiro once stood, her mood fell when she couldn’t spot his crop of white hair in the crowd of adults. 

“Training level 5 completed by Kovalia Shirogane.” Somehow, the voices grew louder, the ‘Kova’ chants getting louder with every time they called her name. Average training sessions last anywhere from fifteen minutes to half-hours. Kova did both levels in under ten, but it didn’t mean she wasn’t tired. 

Over the cheers and screams, over the stunned applause of the district ambassadors, the intercom clicked. 

“Kova and Caleb, report to the Colonel’s office. Again, Kova and Caleb Shirogane, report to the Colonel’s office. Thank you.” She walked over to the doors she came from, going straight to the elevator to the colonel’s office. 

The Garrison hadn’t changed much from Shiro’s tenure. The same orange, black, and white striped walls, junior and senior cadets in orange coats were either roaming the hallways or sitting bored in classrooms doing bookwork, and the gray-coated officers were congratulating her. Pressing the up arrow, she waited, receiving more compliments. The elevator doors opened up, a boy about as old as Kova with floppy brown hair and brown eyes looked up from his phone. They said nothing to each other until the doors closed. Kova pressed the second-floor button, underneath the third-floor button that was already lit.

“What’d you do, kill the bot?” Caleb laughed, tucking his phone into a pants pocket. He also wore black training pants and boots, an unbuttoned orange coat over a gray t-shirt. Buttoning up his coat, he noticed Kova’s agitated face. “You didn’t, right?” Kova pulled her braid over her shoulder instead, taking the rubber band off and unbraiding the long strands. When the hair was finally free, she pulled it up into a ponytail, wrapping the hair tie around her thick hair. She kept the little braid. 

“It’s just a quick talk with Matt, then we’ll go see Dad. ‘Kay?” Caleb rolled his eyes and nodded when the elevator doors opened again. Both kids stepped out, heading for a door at the end of the hall. The door was labeled ‘Tech Room’, and with a touch of a button, opened to the teens. The tech room was two floors tall, with a metal and concrete staircase leading down to the floor. 

“Matt?” Kova called, barely walking over the threshold when a rotten smell hit her nostrils. “Oh, gross.” She muttered. “Matthew Holt!” 

Crashes could be heard at the other end. “H-Hey! Kova, Caleb!” Matt’s light brown hair appeared from a pile of nuts and bolts and who knows what else. He had a clothespin over his nose, wearing a white and orange coat. “What’s up?”

“What died?” Caleb asked, getting a punch to the arm by Kova in response.

“That is a good question. Dad and I haven’t found it yet, but we’ll get it.” 

“It smells like death. How are you okay working here?” While Caleb and Matt were talking about the death smell, Kova looked around the glowing tubes and pressure chambers that supplied the...well, Kova wasn’t quite sure. It could’ve been anything. Inside one of the pressure chambers, there was a furry thing that was so over-inflated, it could’ve been a balloon. It wasn’t a balloon and the colors of the creature’s fur were enough for concern. 

“I, uh, found the source of the smell!” Kova shouted as she ran through the tech room again, grabbing Caleb’s hand, and running back up the stairs. “Sorry about your robot, bye!” The door closed behind them, and Kova breathed in deep gulps of air that wasn’t skunk-related. 

“What was it?” Caleb asked, making Kova gag one more time.

“A dead skunk in a pressure chamber.” Caleb gagged too, pointing to a gray phone attached to the wall. Another deep breath later, Kova picked up the phone, giving a short message to the woman who answered. They didn’t argue or ask credentials. She put the phone back into the receiver, picking it up again and dialing the number written in the small box labeled ‘In Case of Emergency’. 

A gruff voice picked up the other end, and Kova only told them to bring the hazmat suits. Caleb and Kova returned to the elevator, pressing the three again. The hall split into three separate halls, the teens choosing to walk straight forward. They came before another door that, with the swipe of their keycards, let them into the office. Behind a dark mahogany desk, Shiro reclined in his chair, his husband Curtis sitting on the desk when the teens came in. 

“Hey Dad.” Caleb said to Shiro.

“Hey Pops.” Kova said to Curtis. 

“I heard you murdered a bot at Level 5,” Curtis said, an eyebrow raised and a smirk on his face. “Another malfunction helping you make Garrison history?”

“Another malfunction, a skunk in a pressure chamber, and a hurt sense of pride. What else is new?” Caleb muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. Kova rolled her eyes at her brother and Pops, then meeting her Dad’s brown eyes.

“Sorry for flaking on the tour.” 

“You didn’t miss much, and anyways, I think they were more impressed with you to mind.” Curtis got off the desk, resting a hand on the top of Shiro’s chair. 

“Two of the schools actually stayed and are arguing in there.” Shiro pointed a robotic finger to a set of closed doors, where shouts could be heard. 

“But I think they can wait,” Curtis said, placing a screen on Shiro’s desk. The holoscreen came to life, at first just a mess of random rectangles and a bright red dot, then becoming floor plans for the Garrison, but the red dot was flashing in a non-existent part of the facility. Underneath the facility. 

“We figured out the source of the malfunctions, originating in an abandoned subfloor of the building. What it is, though, we don’t know. That’s what you’ll need to figure out.” Curtis said, zooming in to emphasize the depth of the source. Shiro stood from his chair, towering over the teens.

“Going on a mission is your last requirement before the ceremony next quarter.” Shiro stood, meeting his kids’ eyes. Caleb was determined, but Kova was thinking. 

“What about Allie? Her requirement is to go on a simulated mission. As in, not real?” Kova pointed out, making Curtis think. 

“Wait, who’s Allie? What happened to Jazz?” Caleb asked.

“Didn’t I tell you? She moved into the city.” 

“She moved?” Caleb had a huge crush on Jazz, Kova’s communications expert. 

“To be honest, it would’ve never worked out. She could speak five languages, and you can barely handle the one.” Kova crossed her arms, watching as her brother’s dreams became crushed. 

“We take a few liberties with simulated.” Curtis interrupted. “Simulated can either mean dropping you off in the middle of the desert and say we dropped you off on a desert planet.”

“I volunteer as tribute,” Caleb replied, clutching his coat over his heart.

“Or it can mean never leaving Garrison grounds, which would apply here. As long as there is a faculty member there to control and monitor the situation.” 

“Which is why I’ll go down with you.” Shiro sat down again, the chair releasing a huge release of air. Kova and Caleb looked at each other, talking with each other without saying an actual word. 

“Dad,” Caleb started.

“Are you sure?” Kova finished. The teens knew about their dad and his history. 

I mean, getting kidnapped by the Galra, reemerging a year later, being taken away in a huge blue lion, spending years fighting the Galra leader Zarkon with a legendary defender, dying and having your conscience transferred into the black lion, then having it transferred back into a robotic clone of yourself only to return to pilot and captain a warship against Zarkon’s crazy wife and brainwashed Alteans before finally getting peace for the whole galaxy and

‘retiring’ can’t be good for your mental state.

“The basement can only be accessed with my key, as long as your teams are ready to go.” The teens decided to leave it at that, saying “Yes, sir” before retreating to their room. 

Normally, the Garrison would forbid co-ed rooms but made an exception for the teens. Oh, sure, at home, they couldn’t stand each other, but at the Garrison, they were never apart. They were a solid team, matched in strength and skill. They held each other up, reminding each other to humble themselves. And anyway, they were siblings, albeit not biologically. They had each other’s backs. 

Their dorm wasn’t special, or grand, or even separated rooms. Their dorm was the same as everyone else’s in the Garrison, and they liked it. Kova sat on her solitaire bed, to the left of the door. Caleb’s side of the room had a desk bunk, but it felt like he spent more time in the chair than his bed. Three neat brown packages tied with colorful ribbons sat on the nightstand they both shared. Kova put a green and white arm piece on her forearm, opening up a little screen and crossing her legs on the bed.

“Can you hand me the pliers?” Caleb complied, leaning back in the chair. Kova’s project had been taxing, both to do and to watch. At last, though, the screen stopped flashing red into its original Altean blue. “I did it!” Kova raised the pliers in a fist above her head, and Caleb sat up in his comfy chair.

“How did you manage to do it?” He asked, watching Kova’s fist fall on the comforter. 

“She added a lot of changes to the gear, and only she knew the password to override it.” Kova’s eyebrows pinched together, a leg uncurling itself and dangling over the side of the bed. 

“Is someone jealous?” a voice asked from the doorway.

“I managed to get rid of it, didn’t I?” Kova raised her head to look at the cadet who was standing in the doorway to their dorm.

“Guess what finally came in.” Cake said in a sing-song voice. Cake Garrett was half-human (Samoan, if anyone is wondering) and half-Balmeran. His real name is Issako, but after an accident at one of his dad’s restaurants, the nickname stuck. In his hands, he held a perfectly folded suit in a wooden box covered with a pane of glass. 

“Are you serious?” Kova jumped off the bed in excitement. “What happened?”

“Mom said something about Dad wanting me to have it. Talia’s doing good, by the way.” Cake gave the box to Kova. Cake took more after his father than his mother with dark skin and hair. Little Balmeran horns were growing from his scalp, and little knobs on his shoulders were pressing through the fabric of his cadet uniform. He’d recently cut his bangs, showing off his yellow sclera and dark irises. He was like a giant teddy bear with a knack for mechanics, which is why he was Kova’s engineer. 

“Glad she’s doing great,” Kova said earnestly. She barely remembered Cake’s older sister, but did remember she was a sweet girl. “Thanks so much for this, Cake.”

“It was no problem.” He turned away from the door, ready to return to his dorm down the hall. 

“Oh, by the way, Cake,” Kova called out, turning Cake around. “Have everyone meet in the commons in a Varga.”

“Oh, that’s, um,” Kova had been using Galran and Altean when speaking to her team to get them used to other species using them. “An hour?” Kova nodded her head, and Cake pumped his fist. “Right away, Cap.” Cake ran away, closing the door behind him before Kova could pick up the closest object and throwing it at him. It was a pillow, which bounced harmlessly on the door. The teens looked up at each other and smiled.

[jadeile-writes]

Fanfic Progress Update 58

 Hi<3 Time to do a Fanfic Progress Update, as is the done thing on Saturdays. Stay tuned to the end of this post for a spoiler-y glimpse into the next chapter of Adventure gone Mini AND a new exciting Hazbin oneshot!

Current WIPs:

Adventure gone Mini

Fandom: Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild / The Minish Cap

Summary: Sidon is given his very own Sheikah Slate, the first replica Purah has managed to make, and sets out to travel with Link with the intention of registering warp points for convenient travel in the future. However, when a malfunction shrinks them down to the size of bugs, and they meet little people called the Minish, they have to change their plans from “fun adventuring” to “getting out of this mess”. Not that those two have to exclude one another. Link/Sidon.

Progress: Chapter 36 is the current latest chapter and was posted on 18th of March. Chapter 37 is finished and will be posted on 8th of April. Chapter 38 hasn’t been started.

I post a new chapter every three weeks on Wednesdays. These updates always include a sneak-peek for the next chapter, slowly getting longer over the three weeks waiting period.

—–

That month of the year

Fandom: Hazbin Hotel

Summary: Every year, for a single month, the Radio Demon gets… emotional. His antlers are in velvet and he’s pumped full of hormones that make him behave quite unlike himself: suddenly, everywhere he looks, instead of seeing fellow demons all he sees are helpless little fawns that nobody is taking a proper care of! Solution? Adopt them.

Husk, Niffty, Camille, Honey, and the rest of the older Fawns put up with their Mom/Dad’s nonsense every year, but this time there’s a new, rotten apple in their midst and they have to protect Alastor from this crook. Without Alastor knowing about it. As Husk likes to put it: “This is fucking bullshit. …I mean fudgy nonsense.”

(Crack taken seriously. Gen)

Progress: The first two chapters are finished (with some heavy editing still required for the second one). The third chapter has been started. I want to have at least three chapters written before posting anything, preferably more than that because I don’t know how long this fic is gonna be. I can tell it’s longer than the originally planned five chapters tho, since we’ve barely gotten the ball rolling with the first two chapters!

This fic is co-authored by Maximillian!

—–

Hah! Our afterlife is the most hilarious bushwa, dearest

Fandom: Hazbin Hotel

Summary: This is not a stand-alone story! This is a oneshot/drabble collection in the universe of “Shit, the Radio Demon is a part of my afterlife”. Read the main story before bothering with this one.

I decided to give my readers a chance to throw Radiohusk prompts at me, and had the Afterlife-verse as an option to set the stories in. Everyone liked that, so this fic is now a thing. Enjoy the extra mischief from these two dorks!

Progress: Chapter 9 is the current latest chapter and was posted on 27th of March. Chapter 10 is about 2/3 done and is scheduled for 10th of April (Friday). This story will have at least seven more chapters, but who even knows at this point. Additional prompts are not accepted at this moment.

This fic receives a new chapter every Tuesday and Friday, unless something comes up. I’ll post a sneak-peek for Tuesday’s chapter on these updates, and one for Friday’s chapter in a separate post on Wednesday.

—–

What boundaries?

Fandom: Hazbin Hotel Summary: It was a fact that Alastor was incapable of existing in the same room – or even the same house – as Husk without initiating some form of physical contact on a constant basis. Husk swore it wasn't what it fucking looked like. Too bad nobody ever believed him. Alastor actively stroking his chest fur as he made the claim probably didn't help his case. Progress: Hey it’s a new thing! This is a very long oneshot (6000 words so far, and still missing a bit) that I’ve been randomly working on all week instead of writing the things I should have been writing! : D But that’s fine, this is almost finished now and I’m going to get this done and posted by 7th of April (Tuesday). ...Is this Radiohusk, you ask? Hehe, you’ll have to read and find out~ And look! There’s a sneak-peek for this at the end of this post! ;)

—–

Other WIPs I’m not currently working on but intend to get back to someday:

PoE Drabbles (Pillars of Eternity)

DC Drabbles (Justice League)

Diaphanous Relations (Forgotten Realms, R.A. Salvatore’s books)

Rolling with it (Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild)

Possibly worth staying for (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power)

Experiment in Romance (Hazbin Hotel)

—–

That’s it for the WIPs! Here is the promised sneak-peek into Adventure gone Mini and What boundaries? (Note: the text may end up slightly different in the fic itself due to more editing happening before publishing). Enjoy!

Mini

Misteri led the two of them through the Toadstool Town, as it was called. The town wasn't very large, especially compared to the capital, which was the last city they had been to, but she used the little time it took for them to walk to the town hall to animatedly talk about her home. She explained how they, indeed, used magic to keep the toadstools preserved, and in some cases even alive if it was known that the building would need more space in the future – the Minish who wanted large families would start with a small house and then let it grow bigger as they had more children. It was very fascinating and practical, and Sidon looked like he wanted to stop and observe the growth with his own two eyes, as silly as that was. Also, turned out that the local Minish were called Mist Minish, while the "regular" ones were Forest Minish. Rumor had it there were Mountain Minish around the mountains, and Field Minish in the Hyrule Fields. Misteri didn't know if there were Desert Minish in the Gerudo lands, Water Minish in the Zora Kingdom, Jungle Minish in the Faron region, and maybe some specific kind of Minish around the Hylian and Sheikah towns, but assumed it to be so. Link suddenly felt like their mini adventure was woefully inadequate now, since there was so much more to the Minish world to be seen all over Hyrule. He wanted to explore all of it one day. Maybe with Sidon, maybe with Zelda, maybe with both. It didn't seem like he was going to be running out of adventures anytime soon. Good. They arrived to the town hall before they could get too deep into their speculations, which may have been for the best. Said hall was very small. In fact, it seemed more like a-

"Welcome to my home!" Misteri said, arms wide and a smile on her face. Yep, that's what Link thought. "We don't actually have a set town hall as there really isn't that much of a need for one. It's just the home of however is in charge, and that's been me for the last few years. Make yourselves comfortable; I'll prepare the dinner!"

—–

What boundaries?

Husk should have known this would fucking happen. Honestly, he couldn't believe he hadn't seen this coming, because this was a fucking inevitability.

What was "this", one might ask? "This" was Alastor hanging onto his person every fucking time they were in the same room for literally any amount of time. This very moment was a prime example of the phenomenon. Alastor and Charlie had entered the lobby together, discussing something or another about the hotel's development. They had walked over to the window that had a view of the hotel's front yard and stopped there to continue their discussion. Husk, at the time, had been at the bar counter, as per usual. But within the first five minutes of the pair's appearance he suddenly found himself no longer leaning against the counter and making cherry blossom strings out of the paper packagings the plastic straws were wrapped in, but instead he was between Alastor and Charlie, with Alastor's arm around his shoulders and his pointy nose nuzzling his cheek while the guy continued the conversation like nothing was amiss.

He had to give Alastor some measure of credit: they had been at the hotel for three entire days now and this hadn't happened in front of company until right then. His summoning here not counting.

—–

That’s it this time. See you next Saturday!

AO3    FFnet    Purple Crayon    Ko-fi

[xfangheartx]

Tender But Passionate

Something I decided to cook up, lately. This one was inspired by @keichanz‘s various kissing prompt fics, so I decided to try one myself instead of waiting for an ask.

The prompt for this one is:

9. one small kiss, pulling away for an instant, then devouring each other.

Also tagging @cstorm86 @inuyashaeienni and @shinidamachu because it has implied lemons. Hope you enjoy!

XXX

 Kagome didn't know why she agreed to go to this party. The colorful lights hurt her eyes, the loud, thumping music gave her a headache, and worst of all, the smell of alcohol was in the air. She hated going to these kinds of things. She just wanted to spend a nice evening at home, watching TV and eating M&Ms, but Sango insisted she come along with her.

 She supposed that was partly her fault. Sango was her best friend, after all. She couldn't really say no to her. Plus, Sango figured maybe she needed to get out and have some fun, for a while. She even brought her boyfriend, Miroku, along, not to mention his best friend.

 As Kagome turned away from the snack table, she noticed him across the room, chatting with Miroku: a tall, imposing man with long, silvery-white locks that was tied up in a ponytail. He had on a red shirt with the words "BIG INU" in white letters, a pair of denim jeans that were torn at the knees, a pair of white Nike's shoes that were scuffed up and smudged, and a black leather jacket. His eyes were a bright golden yellow, and Kagome could see sharp fangs poking out from under his upper lip...not to mention those cute puppy ears at the top of his head.

 Inuyasha Taisho was just so goddamn attractive. It was like staring at something out of a painting. Everything about him was gorgeous. She couldn't imagine what it must have been like, grabbing all that luscious hair...and feeling those hard biceps. God, it looked like if he even flexed them, his jacket would tear open...and that ass. She had never seen anything look so hard and chiseled.

 Kagome swallowed as she looked back at her cup of fruit punch before she tilted her head back and drank, hoping it would cool down the heat that permeated in her belly. It seemed to have the desired effect for about 5 seconds...before she went right back to staring at the half-demon across the room.

 This wasn't really the first time she found herself daydreaming about him. The first time she saw him was at a Starbucks a couple of weeks back. He drove up on a motorcycle that morning and shook his hair after pulling off his helmet. That day, he was wearing a pair of those typical fingerless gloves that bikers wore. He came and picked up an egg, ham, and bagel sandwich as well as a cup of coffee with about a teaspoon of sugar and hardly any cream.

 Ever since then, she just couldn't stop thinking about him...and what's worse, she saw him more and more throughout those two weeks. Everywhere she went, it was like he had to be there, too. It was almost as if he was following her...not in that creepy stalker kind of way, of course. It frustrated her to no end...and she couldn't even begin to count how many times she found herself alone at home, pleasuring herself as she pictured him in her mind's eye. Hell, she'd even dream about him and the next morning, she'd wake up with wet panties.

 But who was she kidding? There was no way Inuyasha would ever notice her. If he hadn't by now, what was the point?

 She glanced over at the clock on the wall. It was 11:42 PM. She sighed before she put her empty cup in the trash and grabbed her purse. She wasn't really having much fun, so she decided it was time to tell Sango she wanted to go home...but first, she had to find her.

 Just as Kagome was turning around to leave, she gasped as she suddenly bumps into the one hosting this party: Koga Ookami. He was wearing a white T-shirt, a brown coat with a faux fur collar and a pair of black jeans, as well as those brown pointy boots. He smirked at Kagome, his fangs glinting in the dark while he stared at her with deep blue eyes...which caused her to gulp as she backed away, slightly.

 Kagome had known Koga for quite some time, now. He had been known to have quite a crush on her and there were times that they were on good terms with each other...but the only problem was Koga tended to be a bit overzealous. She had told him, time and time, again that she didn't really reciprocate his feelings, but alas, it seemed that whatever she told him just went right over his head. For some reason, though...she felt particularly uncomfortable around him, tonight.

 "Where you goin', Kagome?" Koga asked her in a husky voice...and almost instantly, she could smell the alcohol on his breath.

 "Uh...hi, Koga," Kagome replied. "Look...these kind of parties aren't for me. I'm just gonna have Sango take me home." She attempted to walk past him...but she gasped as she felt his hand on her shoulder, and suddenly, she went from uncomfortable to downright "Oh, god, someone get me outta here!".

 "What's your hurry?" asked Koga. "It's not even midnight, yet...the night's still young, Kagome."

 "Koga, please, I-I just wanna go home, okay?" Kagome asked, trying her damnedest not to panic. "Please, let me go."

 "I don't even get a kiss goodbye?" Koga asked as he leaned closer toward her with puckered lips, but Kagome grunted as she tried to push him back. Unfortunately, even though he was intoxicated, he only responded by grabbing her wrists and pushed back with more force than she could muster. Kagome gasped as she struggled against him, trying over and over to get him to stop, but he wouldn't relent.

 The next thing that happened, Kagome could've sworn it was like something out of one of her favorite romance novels. She was suddenly pulled out of Koga's grasp, and all she could see was black leather, and then there was the loud smack of a fist bashing against someone's jawbone, and the next thing she knew, Koga was lying on the destroyed snack table, chips, pretzels, and drinks spilled everywhere...especially on him.

 Kagome's eyes widened before she looked up to see her knight in shining armor: Inuyasha seething through his fangs as he glared at Koga, who groaned as he tried to stand up, but then, Inuyasha grabbed him by the collar of his coat and forced him up to his feet, his amber eyes taking on a deadly glow.

 "You listen here, asshole," he snarled. "Don't you EVER fucking touch her, again! You hear me?! When a girl says no, she means no! Now piss off!!" He then threw Koga back against the table. Onlookers stared with gaping mouths and wide eyes, but upon seeing Inuyasha's bitter glare, they quickly backed away. Soon, he turned to face Kagome, whose chocolate eyes met his amber ones...and though she tried so hard, she could only whimper as her eyes started to well up with tears. Before she knew it, she was suddenly pulled into his arms and she found herself fisting his shirt in her hands, her sobs muffled as she buried her face in his chest. His eyes softened and he squeezed her tightly, rubbing small circles on her back.

 "It's okay, baby..." he whispered. "It's all right..."

 Kagome sniffled, but she didn't dare pull away.

 "You wanna go home, don't you?"

 She furiously nodded her head.

 "Okay...come on, I'll take you home."

 Soon, he had his arm around her shoulder and they walked to the door. As they did, Sango suddenly ran up to them.

 "Kagome!" she cried. "What happened, are you all right?! I can't believe Koga did that!"

 "I'm just gonna go home, Sango, okay?" asked Kagome.

 "Kagome, I'm so sorry," Sango said as she put her hand on her shoulder. "I never should've made you come here!"

 "It's fine, Sango," Kagome assured. "I...I'm not mad at you. I...I just wanna go home and have a bath and...go to bed and forget this night ever happened."

 "...Okay..." Sango nodded before she looked at Inuyasha, who nodded his head at her before he opened the door and walked out with Kagome.

XXX

 The drive home was quiet. Kagome didn't say a single word and Inuyasha didn't speak, either. She looked down at her hands and she saw that she was still shaking.

 Soon, Inuyasha pulled up in front of the apartment building she lived in. He got out, first, then circled around the front and opened the passenger door, allowing her to step out. Her eyes were cast to the ground before she glanced up at Inuyasha, who gave her a small, gentle smile, which caused her to smile back...briefly, before she frowned, again.

 "...Thank you," she said.

 "It's no problem," Inuyasha replied as they walked to the gate, which Kagome opened with a key card before they both walked in, up the stairs, and in front of her apartment door, which she unlocked before she prepared to head inside.

 "What a night, huh?" she asked.

 "Yeah, I'll say," Inuyasha said. "Listen...I'm sorry about what Koga did."

 "What are you apologizing for?" asked Kagome. "You're the one who saved me."

 "Yeah, but still," Inuyasha began, "you shouldn't have had to go through that. I saw him, last night, eyeballing you all night like you were a piece of fresh meat and it took everything I had not to punch him out for ogling at you like that and...when he finally grabbed you, I...I couldn't take it anymore and I knew I had to do something."

 Kagome smiled as she twirled a finger in her raven locks.

 "Well...I'm glad you did," she said, causing him to chuckle a bit.

 "Err...yeah," he muttered as he scratched the back of his head...but then his eyes met hers again. She sighed softly as she stared at those smoldering golden orbs of his...the way they glowed in the dark, gentle yet somewhat fiery...it made her heart skip.

 She blinked up at him, her hand over her chest and her lips parted slightly. He raised his hand, clawed fingertips delicately touching her cheek as he lightly tilted her head up. He lowered his head down...and soon, their lips touched. Kagome closed her eyes and tensed her shoulders, moaning softly in his mouth. She could feel his chest rumble as she pressed her hands up against it while he slowly wrapped his arms around hers.

 All too soon, they pulled away from each other...but then, as their eyes grew wide, they suddenly found themselves kissing again, only this time, it was much forceful...more passionate. Kagome panted as she felt Inuyasha's breath, hot and moist inside her mouth as his tongue curled and rolled about in hers. He pressed his hips up against her, and she grunted as she tried her damnedest not to moan so loudly when she felt his hard cock up against her womanhood. She found her fingers entangled in his hair as she straddled him, causing him to let out a heady growl as he licked the roof of her mouth.

 He soon pulled away and began to nip at the base of her jaw, causing her to moan as she fisted the back of his jacket, which she began to furiously pull off and then threw down on the floor...and he began to do the same to her shirt, which he vigorously unbuttoned and tossed to the floor with his jacket...and then his shirt went next, and as they stumbled to her bedroom, her bra followed, and then his jeans...and then her panties...and the final thing that was discarded was his boxers and their socks and shoes as Kagome shut her bedroom door.

XXX

 It was at 8 in the morning when Kagome's alarm clock went off, causing her to groan as she reached her finger over and pressed the snooze button...but as she shifted, she found herself staring at the sleeping face of Inuyasha. Her eyes shot wide open, at first preparing to scream...until she remembered what had transpired last night before she gave a quiet, relieved sigh and lied back down. Both of them were as bare as the day there were born with nothing to cover them but the bedsheets, which really only covered their lower halves.

 God, she didn't believe how much stamina he had. How long had they had been going at it? Until 3...maybe 4 in the morning?

 Before she could contemplate on it further, he suddenly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, his nose buried in her hair as he took in a deep inhale, drinking in her intoxicatingly sweet scent, and the ticklish feeling made her bite her lap in an attempt to keep herself from giggling.

 "Good morning..." she whispered.

 "Hey, baby," he whispered back as he kissed her forehead.

 "Last night was so much fun..."

 "Yeah, it was...you know...I know you were staring at me at the party."

 Kagome's eyes widened and her face turned all shades of red.

 "Y...you knew?" she asked.

 "Yeah, I knew," Inuyasha replied as he propped his hand up under his chin with a cocky little grin on his face that made him look so adorable. "And you wanna know what else? I was staring at you, too...and even when I saw you at Starbucks, I was staring...and I was thinking about you so much that I ended up having to go to my house and fucked myself off until my arm was about to fall right off my shoulder." He then pressed his head up against hers, causing her to giggle a little. "And I'm willing to bet...that you were doing the same thing while you thought about me...didn't you?"

 "...Maybe," Kagome replied with a cocky grin that mimicked his own, which caused him to chortle before he kissed her on the lips again, just for a moment before she pulled away. "So...I guess this means we're going out, now?"

 "...Only if you want us to," Inuyasha replied.

 "...Yes, please," Kagome smiled, warmly and lovingly.

 "Then we're going out," Inuyasha said, causing her to laugh as he pulled her into his embrace, once more.

[lowlywriter]

Allergic Reaction

Back with another Colby x Reader Fic, because I really don’t want to do my homework. This one’s mostly about filming a video with Sam and Kat (and some cute Colby towards the end), because I feel like I’m leaving Sam out a lot- but it’s like weird writing x reader stuff about him because he has an actual girlfriend.  

**Goodbye for now Sam and Colby 2.0, gonna miss these videos tbh. Paused my writing to watch the video :( Hope our boys are all good and get back to doing some (not horribly dangerous or demon contacting) videos.**

Warnings: Reptiles, Allergies

Word Count: 2,953

“What’s up guys!” Sam greeted his camera, hand flying over his head enthusiastically. “Today I’m here with my girlfriend Kat, and our friend Y/N, who also happens to be Colby’s girlfriend.” Sam explained to his camera. The three of you were sitting in Sam’s apartment, lined up on three dining chairs. Sam was in the middle, and you and Kat on either side.

“Hi,” Kat waved at the camera, grinning widely as she set her head on Sam’s shoulder.

“Heyo!” You exclaimed, throwing up a peace sign.

“So, today I’ve got a little something planned for these ladies,” Sam grinned at his camera, gesturing to the both of you, “something very, very fun- well, for me at least!”

“Sam!” Kat groaned jokingly, ending up laughing halfway through.  

“Kat and Y/N have no idea what we’re filming,” Sam laughed, beaming apologetic looks towards the both of you.  

“Kat just told me we were hanging out,” you pouted, glaring lightly at your friend. 

“Sam didn’t tell me we were filming!” Kat defended herself with a laugh, raising her hands up in surrender.  

“Yes, I didn’t tell either of them,” Sam told the camera with a smug look, “so, I’ll explain now. I’m going to blindfold them, and you both are going to be holding some creatures I have hidden in the bedroom. These are my friend David’s pets, he’s just in the bedroom with them. So, they won’t bite... probably,”  

“...probably?” you whispered, shooting Sam an unsure gaze.

“Sam, I swear-” Kat warned, glaring wholeheartedly at her boyfriend.  

“Okay! I’ll go get the blindfolds.”  

You and Kat shared an unsure look as Sam disappeared into one of the rooms. Seconds later he appeared with two folded up bandanas.  

“Dibs red!” you grinned, leaving Kat with the orange one. Sam tied each of the bandanas around your eyes.

“Okay, Y/N slide onto the middle chair since I won’t be sitting with you guys anymore until the end of the video,” You slid over slowly, almost falling off the chair- but regaining your balance and seating yourself firmly. You felt the movement at your side as Sam moved the empty chair out of the frame.  

“So, I’m going to go see which animals we’re bringing out first. David has two of each animal, so you guys will be holding them at the same time, okay?” Sam explained to the both of you. By the way he sounded, he was crouched down in front of the both of you “you’re going at the same time since it’s kind of a competition, guess the critter first and you get a point!” Sam said loudly, talking to the two of you, as well as the camera set up a few feet ahead.

“Roger,” you nodded, vision darkened by the blindfold. Sam then patted your knee (and probably Kat’s as well) and stood, leaving the two of you in silence. Kat patted your leg and you took her hand.  

You heard was beating fast, anxious to see what Sam had hidden up his sleeve.  

“These better not bite us, Sam,” Kat whined quietly but loud enough that Sam heard from the next room (he laughed).  

You weren’t too scared. This type of video could only mean one thing- and that was creepy critters. Corey did it with a snake and giant frog to Devyn, Aaron did it with lizards, snakes and fake spiders to Sam and Colby- and a bunch of other Youtuber’s videos had had roughly the same concept.  

Now, not a lot of people know- but you were pretty allergic to fluffy animals. The slimy, scaly things were nothing- but a fluffy little puppy would puff up your face and give you itchy hives in minutes.  

That said, it didn’t stop you. You really loved dogs and cats. You were always found petting Circa, Navi and Buddy whenever you were at the trap house. But you’d always prepared yourself beforehand with Benadryl. You enjoyed playing and cuddling little fluffy animals- and puppies were still your weakness.  

“Okay, we’re coming out- this is David by the way,” Sam explained.  

“Hi David,” you chimed into the darkness, being the only one to not have met the man beforehand. Kat had been banging on Colby’s apartment door asking for you to come over about ten minutes before you’d been blindfolded.

“Hey,” a male voice greeted.  

“Okay, you two ready? We have the first animal species. These ones aren’t too bad,”

“Cup your hands together, they’re kind of long.” David told the two of you. You did as told, flinching your head back as something long and slim was set in your hands. Little claws settled against your hands, and the creature's toes were weird. Whatever it was had a tail that was hanging off the side of your hands.  

“What the hell?” You mumbled quietly as Kat let out a surprised cry, you continued your train of thought, “a lizard?”

“Y/N got it! What kind of lizard though?”

“You want us to guess the kind of lizard? Sam, I’ve never even held a lizard,” Kat laughed.  

“No idea,” you giggled as you slowly maneuvered the little lizard into you right hand, lifting the left to stroke over its little head.  

“Alright, alright,” Sam sighed, “lift the blindfolds- I'll let you guys check out the animals you’re holding because I’m not mean.”

“Awh, they’re so cute,” you cooed after you nudged your blindfold up with your shoulder.  

“These little guys are leopard geckos; their names are Dale and Gracie.” David explained to you and Kat.

“Look at their little spots,” Kat grinned, glancing at you.

“Okay, hand the geckos back, and blindfolds down. We’ll be back with the next pet!” Sam took the little leopard gecko from your hands and you reached up to pull your blindfold back into place.  

You listened for the footsteps, and prepared yourself for the next critter.  

“Here we go, we’ll just set these guys down in your laps...” Sam paused, “watch out for the teeth.”

“Sam!” you gasped, instantly raising your hands away from you lap as something was set down. It had claws, not very pointy, but they were there.  

“Y/N, have you touched it yet?” Kat asked hesitantly from your side.

“No, you?” you replied, hands gravitating over your lap carefully.

“No- it’s got claws. Sam, why are they in our laps?” Kat asked quietly. Sam simply laughed, urging you guys to touch the creature. You let your hand fall, and you were greeted by a fluffy texture. Apparently, you made a face, as David and Sam laughed.

“It’s fluffy,” you told Kat, who then made a weird noise before humming quietly.  

“A rabbit?” Kat guessed.

“Yeah, definitely a bunny,” you agreed, running your hand over the silky ears and down it’s fluffy back. You were mainly allergic to dogs and cats. Littler animals just gave you a stuffy nose and made your eyes water occasionally.  

“You guys are right, blindfolds up!” Sam enthused, “Kat gets the point this round!”

“Y/N is holding Honey, my Holland Lop, and Katrina is holding Gizmo, who is a Cashmere Lop.” David explained. You cuddled Honey, rubbing your cheek against her soft fur.

The guys let you cuddle the bunnies for a few minutes before once again the creatures were taken from you and the blindfold replaced.  

“There’s only a few more left,” Sam called from his bedroom. You pointlessly glanced in Kat’s direction; vision still black from the fabric covering your eyes.  

“Okay, here you go,”

You yelped out, hands recoiling as something pointy brushed against your hands.  

“Y/N? What?” Kat called desperately, but seconds later she yelped out as well.

“Sam, what the hell is that?” you whined.

“Hold your hands out,” Sam replied instead, voice even but it was clear he was finding this hilarious. Your hands shook as you held them out, palm up. Something was set in your hands. You drew in a calming breath, feeling some part of whatever this thing was brushing against your thigh.  

“These guys are harmless, it’s the last one you need to worry about,” David said calmly.  

“Don’t say that!” You hissed, lowering your hands against you lap and carefully parting them so the thing was settled against your thighs and you could actually touch it.  

It was long, flat and kind of round, as well as really pointy. The skin was rough and little spikes ran along its body. Kat was making little horrified, yet confused noises as you two tried to figure out what the hell you were holding.

You pulled back quickly as your fingers brushed along bigger spikes around its head. It was...

“Oh, I know what this is,” you grinned. “It’s a bearded dragon!”

“Oh! Two points for Y/N. That’s exactly what they are- blindfolds up,”  

“Oh-” Kat nodded. You both took off your blindfolds to look at the pointy little creatures. Kat was still cupping her lizard while yours was lounging calmly in your lap.  

“These two are Ginny and Missy,” David told you. They were really cool looking, but also kind of creepy.

“They’re so pointy?” Kat’s eyebrows furrowed and her mouth formed an ‘o’ shape as she stroked to fingers from the bearded dragon’s head down to the tip of its tail. Sam laughed, leaching down to stroke the lizard in his girlfriend’s lap.  

You carefully picked up the lizard in your lap, handing it to David who took her back with a small smile. Sam picked up the lizard from Kat’s lap, following David to his bedroom as he called a hurried “blindfolds!” over his shoulder.  

You and Kat exchanged nervous glances as you both pulled the blindfolds down for hopefully the last time. David had said that this animal was the one to be afraid of.  

You rubbed your hands together nervously, heart pumping in your chest.

“Back, without an animal. I’m going to give you each a wet-wipe since this animal is kind of sensitive and David wants to keep everything healthy and happy. Just a safety precaution,” Sam explained and he popped open the wet-wipes container, seconds later a wet cloth was set in your hands and you vigorously rubbed your hands together.  

“A precaution?” Kat asked as she accidentally elbowed you while wiping her hands, “sorry.”

“No problem,” you mumbled staring straight ahead as you toyed with the wipe.

“Yeah, nothing that will harm humans, but like I said, this animal is sensitive.” Sam took the wipe from you hand and you heard him walk into the kitchen, then job back to the bedroom.

“Ready, girls?” He called, and you could hear the smirk in his voice.

“I’m so scared,” Kat whispered, leaning towards you.

“Me too,” you agreed quietly before shouting back to Sam, “ready!”

The footsteps were loud, but muffled out by the beating of your own heart. Soon, Sam was stood in front of you and you could feel his presence.  

“Should we actually do this?” Sam asked, voice low. Your anxiety spiked, because he wasn’t talking to you- no, he was talking to David.

“I mean, the probability they’ll bit is pretty low...” David replied.

“I’m pretty scared just holding it, and I’m wearing the gloves-”

“Sam! You’re wearing gloves?” Kat shouted, and then there was the sound of a chair screeching along the floor.

“No, thank you!” You yelped. Something was set in your lap and you froze. Completely still, hands mid-air.

“Kat,” Sam groaned, “shh, Kat!” and everything fell to silence. “Y/N if you guess this animal, you win as Kat took her blindfold off.”

Your hands shook as they lowered towards whatever was in your lap. It was fuzzy-

“It licked me!” You cried out, cringing lightly and flinching away from whatever it was. You took a wild guess, just wanting the game to be over, “is it, um, is it a dog?”

“Yes! Our winner is Y/N with four points- Kat is our loser with one point, sorry Kat.” Sam exclaimed, telling the camera the final stats.  

You were quick to take off the blindfold. Happiness filling you as you stared down at the fluffy little guy in your lap.  

“He’s so cute!” You gasped, lifting the little puppy up, “goodness, he’s adorable.” You cooed.  

“Oliver and Sydney, two-month-old Corgi puppies,” David grinned. “They’re almost ready to be rehomed.”

“They are so cute!” Cat squealed as she sat herself on the floor. You and David joined her, and the puppies played between the three of you.  

“Colby home, Y/N?” Sam questioned, looking at you before gazing towards his door.

“He was editing when I left,” you explained, rubbing your arms as the itching started. Your eyes were watering, and your skin was starting to blotch- soon to be covered in hives, but there was no way you weren’t about to play with these two little corgi puppies.  

Sam was gone for about ten minutes. In that time span, you and Kat had each picked up a puppy to cuddle and were sitting together on the couch- invested in the puppies. David had gone to sort out the rest of the animals, as he had a bit of a car ride and would be leaving soon.  

You could already tell your face was swelling, not bad, but slightly uncomfortable. Your arms burned with hives- which you simply pulled your sleeves down to hide. Your eyes were damp, and there was a slight scratchiness to your throat- but all in all, this was a pretty mild allergic reaction. You used to react way worse when you were little.  

You hid your face in the Oliver’s soft fur, (not the smartest idea on your part, but whatever) when Sam’s apartment door opened.  

“What did you want to show me?” You heard Colby, refusing to look up- because he knew, you knew he knew.

“Puppies!” Sam exclaimed, plopping beside Kat and allowing Sydney to stumble into his lap. The little corgi licked his fingers as he stroked her back.  

“Puppies?” Colby smiled. He walked further in, eyes trailing from Sam and Kat to you.  

“Aren’t you just the handsomest little puppy in the whole wide world?” You asked the little puppy, nuzzling his fur, ignoring Colby’s presence.  

“Y/N...” Colby started slowly, “aren’t you like really allergic to dogs?”

You continued petting the puppy, but slowed slightly chewing on the inside of your lip. Yep, he knew.  

“Maybe,” you said already knowing what was going to happen, your fingers curled into Oliver’s fur as Colby moved towards you.  

“Y/N’s allergic to dogs?” Sam sounded very confused, “but at the house, you were always playing with the dogs.”

“Yea,” you said slowly, not looking up, “I was drugged up on Benadryl...”

“Your voice sounds weird,” Colby told you, arms cross across his chest, “hey, look at me.”

You huffed out, glancing towards your boyfriend who was stood in front of you. He gave you an unimpressed look, reaching over to trail his fingers across your reddened cheek. His frame was blurry due to your watering eyes.

“Y/N, babe, your eyes are so red,” Colby furrowed his eyebrows. You sneezed suddenly, covering your face.  

“It’s fine,” you told him, hugging the puppy, knowing your time with him was ticking. Colby was kind of a worrier, and there was no way he’d let you keep touching the dog if it was making you sick.  

“Show me your arms.” Another irritated sigh from you as you pushed the sleeves up.

“Jeez, Y/N.” Colby frowned, his fingers now trailing lightly along the hives. “I think we should take him away...” Colby suggested, lifting Oliver under his little arms and picking him up, “and go see if I have any Benadryl in the medicine cabinet.”

Colby set the corgi puppy in Kat’s lap, then moved to help you stand up.

“Thank for being in the video,” Sam smiled, “a heads up about your allergy would’ve been nice though.” You laughed, it sounded nasally, and you ended up coughing after but it was still pretty funny.  

“Feel better, Y/N,” Kat smiled, Sam nodding as he also wished you well.  

“I’ll be good as new by tomorrow,” you promised. At least, if you got some Benadryl in your system soon.  

“You know I love puppies,” you pouted, sniffling as you plopped down on Colby’s couch.  

“I also know that dogs literally close off your airways,” Colby narrowed his eyes at you before continuing to the bathroom. He came back a few seconds later with a box of meds. You’d been together for quite a while now, so it made sense that Colby would accommodate your allergy- especially since things like today could literally happen any time.

You took the required dosage, then leaned back against the couch, closing your sore, itchy eyes for a bit. When you opened your eyes, Colby was seated beside you and he was rolling up your shirt sleeves.  

He applied a lotion to your rash covered skin, and the itch lessened. You moaned quietly as Colby’s hands ran along your arms, and he laughed quietly, kissing your lips.

“You know this doesn’t change anything, if I see a dog- I'm going to love it,” you told him, completely serious.

“Yes,” Colby nodded, “I’m aware- just give me a heads up so I can come with Benadryl so we can get all this under control faster.”  

You grinned, pulling your shirt up, exposing your belly, “will you put lotion here too?” the words accompanied with a suggestive wiggle of your eyebrows.  

Colby huffed a laugh, muttering about how lucky you were that you were cute under his breath before slowly lathering a some of the cooling lotion into your skin.

Colby really was a good boyfriend.  

[softshelltaakos]

what’s up everybody! it’s time for part 2 of my taz graphic novel review.

part one covered (most of) my beef with the writing and storytelling choices. this part is gonna cover character designs!!! you should know going into this that my opinions are not positive. this post is also a lot less analytical in tone than part 1, because art is not my forte.

disclaimer: i love the mcelroys. i truly do. taz has gotten me through some very difficult stuff and i have a tattoo. all this to say i’m not doing this because i hate them or because i like hating things. if you feel the need to message me about how i am overreacting, specifically to green taako, or about how i should just calm down and ignore it, or about how it’s sad that i’m getting so worked up instead of just enjoying the show, i’ve heard it and i don’t care. you will not be taken seriously. save yourself the energy.

there are spoilers for the graphic novel under the cut.

alright. i’m getting the elephant in the room out of the way first because it’s the most important thing to address, and once it’s out of my system i’ll feel better goofing on the rest of the designs. as i mentioned in the disclaimer: Green Taako Is Bad.

[ID: a panel focusing on taako. he’s skinny and minty green with chin-length light blonde hair and a big, pointy nose.]

now, a lot of people have made posts about this before, and i’m not saying anything new about it by any means. i’m also not the most equipped person to talk about why green taako is bad, because i’m a white gentile (i’ve heard conflicting opinions on whether or not green taako is antisemitic, but it feels remiss not to mention that there’s been discussion) and therefore not part of any groups affected by this whole debacle, but in short: when pressed for more diversity, specifically in taako’s case as a pretty large chunk of his arc involves literally inventing a mexican cultural food (fun note: that’s never mentioned in this book,) carey pietsch decided he should be green and the mcelroys were down with it. this is not an issue that cropped up when this design was released; it was something that there was already a ton of discourse surrounding, and it should never have gotten concepts drawn, let alone made it to publish.

this article by natt cuesta has been linked before on the subject, and i think it’s a good, concise explanation of why green taako is bad as well as why aracial characters in general are bad. this is a racist design.

now that we’ve gotten those ethical ramifications out of the way... i’m sorry, but it’s an ugly design, lmao. he looks like a palette-swapped version of pearl from steven universe with less character. the ONLY thing about this design that i like is the prominent lower lashes, if only because they’re the only thing that keeps him from looking entirely generic. because, like, y’all, when has anything about taako been generic?

[ID: a panel focusing on magnus. he’s a muscular fair-skinned man with auburn hair, a bushy beard, and a scar over his left eye.]

generic is a word that’s going to come up a lot over the course of this review, because i genuinely can’t think of a more apt descriptor for pietsch’s designs. it feels like she went with the lowest common denominator of every character’s design, a synthesis of all of the most popular (and most boring) ones, except in instances where that would lend any personality to a character’s design. magnus fits what brief description we’re given in the podcast: auburn hair. beard. big. and i guess that’s all you need?

i understand that by appealing to the most common and basic designs for these characters you’re inviting a lot less ire than you might by going with something more individual, so i get the motivation behind it -- or i would, if her designs hadn’t always been about this dull. but it’s bizarre to me that in a story as unique as the balance campaign, we ended up with the most basic ass Fantasy Hero lookin’ dude in the world as one of our protagonists.

i just really don’t have a lot to say about this. i’m just bored by it.

[ID: a panel of merle. he has medium-dark skin with a smooth white bun and beard.]

merle is simultaneously the design i like most out of the boys and the one that throws me the most, because i feel like he’s the most out on a limb one. which... oof. most merle designs i see give him a floral motif (i guess he has a few petals in his hair, maybe?) and big coke-bottle glasses, and i miss those things with this design, but at least it doesn’t totally feel like pietsch threw every merle she could get her hands on into a blender and poured it out on a page, although honestly, that might have been more satisfying. people do some really fun shit with their merle designs, but again, he’s. generic.

as the cuesta article mentions, with how much of an issue it was to get any of the boys to be poc in the first place and in conjunction with minty up there, this design also feels like tokenism -- an appeasement rather than an honest attempt at diversity or god forbid because the artist actually headcanons merle as a person of color. personally, i wish that she’d gone a step beyond re-coloring his skin and idk given him a natural hairstyle or something. he still feels very much like a recolor to me rather than a character who was designed as a person of color from the beginning.

i feel like he looks more like a cleric than he looks like a merle, which i feel like is pretty contradictory to who merle is.

[ID: a cutaway showing griffin, a white man with brown hair and glasses wearing a collared shirt.]

i’ve said before that it feels a little odd to talk about her design of a real person, so i’ll keep this brief, but... you know how every drawing of a basic white dude looks a little bit like griffin mcelroy? you know how that one arthur character looks a little bit like griffin mcelroy? you know how everyone is constantly messaging mysillycomics about how her avatar looks like griffin mcelroy?

how did carey pietsch manage to actively attempt to draw griffin mcelroy and miss the mark? it boggles the mind. he doesn’t not look like griffin, i guess, but he doesn’t look like griffin, either. i don’t know, man

[ID: a generic gerblin. he has yellowy-green skin, slight tusks or fangs, and weird, nubby little horn-type things.]

i hate these gerblins. they are ugly. next

[ID: two images of klaarg/g’nash. he’s a bugbear with brown fur and yellow eyes as well as a mouth full of pointy teeth. in the first image he looks pissed off; in the second he’s starry-eyed and delighted.]

klaarg is probably my favorite design in the book, and that’s just because he looks like a cute dog for most of the time he’s on the page. he’s fluffy and i love klaarg anyway, so like. did not take a lot to reach this mark. especially considering how i feel about most of the other designs lmfao

i do definitely think he keeps up the trend of looking generic, though.

[ID: an image of barry bluejeans. he looks like tom arnold, kind of; he’s square-jawed and white with thick-rimmed glasses. he also has a light brown mullet.]

i hate this. i hate the mullet. i’m sorry, y’all, i really, truly, cannot stand the mullet. i don’t feel like barry has mullet energy. i feel like it’s too powerful a move for him. it wouldn’t be a good move, mind you, but it would be a big one. i don’t know y’all it’s just bad

[ID: an image of killian. she’s a green-skinned orc woman with prominent eyelashes, eyebrows, and tusks, and straight brown hair.]

i can’t have been the only one who was hoping for a badass, visibly muscular, maybe even butch killian design, right? that wasn’t just me being a big old lesbian, that’s a pretty common theme of killian designs? i guess kudos for going out on a limb again, but then, like, take the kudos back for going out on the most boring limb possible again. i could hang with the face if her hair wasn’t so boring, but it’s... it’s so boring

[ID: an image of magic brian. he’s a drow with long white hair and an oblong face and oddly shaped nose.]

for how many of her designs are syntheses of popular ones, i..... don’t understand how this happened. i don’t understand how whimiscal and flamboyant magic brian who’s often drawn as taako-but-a-goth-dark-elf ended up looking like this. he looks like he used to play football and got his nose busted up and peaked in fantasy high school. he looks like the first quarter of a monster factory video where the thing’s just ugly but doesn’t have a personality or any endearing traits yet. he didn’t have to be the goth twink we all know he is but what.......... is this

[ID: an image of gundren rockseeker/bogard. he’s a light-skinned dwarf with dark long hair and a matching beard.]

..........listen i know they’re cousins and distant cousins at that but all of merle’s cousins are light-skinned and, like, not to say that that can’t happen but having them be anywhere near merle’s skin tone would’ve been such an easy way to help bolster the obviously inaccurate idea that this is a work concerned with diverse character designs, or rather to help ppl claim it was being bolstered, and yet

[ID: avi, a fair-skinned man with long dark hair kept up in a ponytail and slight scruff on his face.]

i feel like maybe avi is intended to be east asian so i think at this point that brings the count up to a whole two characters of color. we’re almost done with the book. cool. he’s cute, i guess, but guess what word i’m about to say again (it’s generic)

[ID: a panel of several unnamed cameo characters. from right to left: carey fangbattle, a light blue dragonborn; brad bradson, a green orc man with a long brown ponytail; and presumably lucas miller, a tan human with glasses and dark hair.]

ok. deep breaths.

first off, there’s another panel w these three as well as boyland, who looks fine, but i didn’t grab that one bc it’s harder to make out detail. carey is cute. brad is fine.

i assume the third guy is lucas miller because i’m not entirely sure who else he would be, and... oof! as you may know i can’t stand lucas miller, which has nothing to do with his necromancy or nerdiness and everything to do with the various human rights violations he commits in the small time he’s got focus as well as the fact that he’s got a theoretical redemption arc that’s not actually an arc so much as us being told he’s better now. lucas is an entitled jackass who repeatedly uses other people’s bodies and minds without their consent, from the obvious offense of using the bugbears as brainwashed chore-doers (read: slaves) to the less-oft discussed dragging of noelle and others out of the astral plane into robot bodies, again to do his chores for him. because of this, it has always sat very uncomfortably with me when people make lucas a poc, because everything about him screams Shitty White Nerd Boy to me. it sits extra uncomfortably coming from carey pietsch, given how white all of her other designs are.

it’s a little hard to tell because i took all these pics with my phone camera in my room’s lighting so they’re not super high fidelity or anything, but pietsch’s lucas is noticeably darker than any other character we’ve seen so far save merle. maybe he’s just a white guy with a tan, but all the same, it strikes me as incredibly skeevy to have one of so few characters of color be this fucking guy.

[ID: johann, a black man with an oblong face and textured dark hair.]

johann’s design is fine, although this is a similar face shape to that brian from earlier and i just. i don’t. understand it. it’s not especially interesting, but hey, at least he’s not another generic white guy.

that being said, as i mentioned in part 1 of this review, johann’s role is severely cut in this -- he’s reduced to three panels, when in the show itself he’s the one who escorts the boys to the voidfish’s chamber and inoculates them. as i mentioned in that post i understand that they shifted it some to give lucretia a more prominent entrance, but as i also mentioned in that post, they should have compensated for that. three panels.

johann is not a character with a great deal of screentime as it is, but he’s a character with a major impact. he is the reason story and song happens. his song serves as a direct foil to john’s nihilistic conversion of his own home plane into the hunger. the fact that he’s been reduced to three panels with little to no characterization at this point, especially in conjunction with the fact that he’s one of very few poc, makes me really, really uncomfortable. avi is in more panels in this book than johann is, and while i love avi and as i said i am parsing him as an asian dude, he’s also still light-skinned enough and the style is nondescript enough that there are definitely people who will parse him as white, and also, avi’s role in the story is not as big as johann’s.

it doesn’t sit right with me.

[ID: an image of davenport, a fair-skinned man with a big red mustache and slicked back red hair.]

ginger davenport with a big mustache. groundbreaking.

[ID: an image of lucretia, a slender black woman with short white hair dressed in blue layers.]

and finally, lucretia. now, i’m biased, and it’s hard for me to see a lucretia design i don’t like. i also think that this is, compared to a lot of the others at least, one of the more interesting designs in the book, at least as far as her clothes go. it’s not a long robe that would be hard to move in, and i appreciate that -- it strikes me as a pretty practical outfit while also being ornamental and wizard-y. and she’s pretty, and she’s not whitewashed, and that’s all great. i like her earrings.

all that being said, i feel like it’s not enough. luc’s hair continues a theme with merle’s and johann’s (as well as the preview we’ve seen of angus,) which is that it strikes me as very low-effort on pietsch’s part. it’s short and it’s definitely not straight, but it doesn’t feel to me like it had as much thought put into it as, say, minty green taako’s hair. we could’ve had a lucretia with a big beautiful afro, or long box braids, or so many other natural hairstyles; we got this. it’s not bad, but i do think it’s disappointing. without going looking for it and without being a person who reads a great deal about character design, i’ve seen a fair amount of discussion from black women (artists, writers, and none of the above) about the portrayal of black women as it pertains to their hair. they’re never designed to be as feminine as their white counterparts. their hair is never treated with the same amount of detail or respect as their white counterparts. it’s short, maybe curly if you’re lucky.

i’m gonna circle back quickly to killian’s hair. it’s long and smooth and kept down, despite the fact that killian is an action-oriented women and might not want it to be in her face all the time -- it could have at least been braided or in a bun. it could’ve been short! and that would’ve made sense. and i don’t mean to say that lucretia couldn’t have short hair, but she’s a very elegant woman whose dress is described as intricate. she wears business regalia. she could have any number of hairstyles, from something elaborate to something simple but more out-of-the-box than this, but she doesn’t. i found this on a quick hunt through my ref tag -- it’s a tutorial for drawing black folks with just a small selection of interesting things you can do with afrotextured hair. these resources aren’t hard to find! and i’m doing this for fun -- carey pietsch is a professional artist who was paid for these designs. if she’d put in more than the bare minimum effort, we could’ve had some really interesting shit going on, but she didn’t.

and that’s the core of the issue here. i truly do not feel like pietsch put the same amount of care into the designs for the few characters of color we see as she did into the white ones, and that’s upsetting and emblematic of a larger problem in the work: neither pietsch nor the mcelroys put in very much care at all for the fans of color who spoke up and asked for representation.i know i said i was getting taako out of the way first so the majority of the post could be goof-heavy, but goddamn, y’all, it’s hard to goof about when it’s so blatantly shitty. pietsch’s designs are boring at best and racist at worst, not to mention conspicuously lacking in anyone who is not skinny, muscular, or a dwarf. people have praised this thing so uncritically, including people whose opinions i generally really respect, as if the fact that the mcelroys signing off on green taako made it above reproach.

it didn’t, by the way. there’s no such thing as an unproblematic fav, because everybody fucks something up now and then, but even then, this is a pretty egregious fuck-up! and it was willful!

i’m not saying y’all need to burn your copies of the gn or stop listening to the mcelroys entirely or anything of the sort -- you may remember the disclaimer at the top of the post where i say i really, really love them, and more specifically, i really love taz: balance. but i am BEGGING YOU to think critically about their work. good, good boys can do bad, bad things. white people can produce work that’s racist even if they’re gay women. it’s not mean to critique the boys and it’s not homophobic (or god forbid reverse racist, which is still not a real thing) to critique carey.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ the real kicker of this whole thing for me is that there’s a small fanart gallery in the back of the book. most of them aren’t labeled with the artist’s handles, just their names, but there are some truly beautiful pieces featuring diverse designs -- galacticjonah and milkychai both have beautiful latino taakos featured! galacticjonah’s is fat, too! but even after the backlash against green taako, even aside from that being the design that people are going to accept as canonical, there are pieces in the gallery of green taako, as if doubling down on it was the right move.

and by the way, yeah, i’ve read griffin’s apology. but i thought we all learned in kindergarten that an apology doesn’t count if you don’t act on it.

[queenofmoons67]

strike the match (let it all burn) omakes

Hi everyone! Since I have no idea what the issue with the text breaks are (they show up on my laptop) I’ve split the omakes from the main fic. If you continue to have issues, please let me know!

The main fic can be found here. I highly recommend reading that first.

Summary: Eijun, Furuya, Haruichi, and Raichi find themselves in the middle of a hostage situation. The omakes are the entirety of the main fic, but from the point of view of those stuck waiting outside. Part of my "we are the challengers (plus ultra!)" verse.

The omakes bounce between various POVs, but once someone’s POV has been done, they aren’t revisited (though, of course, they may appear in later scenes).

Quirk List: Kuramochi (cheetah camo), Ryou and Haruichi (rose), Miyuki (quirkless), Kataoka (doberman), Zono (oak tree), Toujou (rock), Chris (weakness reading), Eijun (lion and house cat), Furuya (bonfire), Asada (quirkless)

Word Count: 3267

Youichi was frantic. Everyone had been warming up for their practice game against Yakushi when Kanemaru ran out on the field screaming for Kataoka-kantoku. Next thing he knew, he, Miyuki, and Zono were being summoned to talk with the coaches.

Their news had sent his heart into overdrive. Sawamura - stupid, stupid Bakamura - had gotten himself into a hostage situation. Because of course he had. And his boyfriend's little brother had also gotten himself into that situation, because of course he had. And of course Furuya had been dragged into the mess as well. Because it was just Seido's luck to have two of their ace competitors and their second baseman in this mess right before the fall season started.

Now, he was stuck pacing around the dugout.

Youichi hissed and bared his teeth at nothing. Someone yelped, and he blinked to find Kanemaru right in front of him.

"Sorry…" he said slowly. "I didn't see you there."

The first year shook his head. "No, it- it's fine." He took a deep breath. "Are you ok, Kuramochi-senpai?" Youichi just looked at him, and Kanemaru nodded. "Have you considered doing something? I - talking to the police helped me calm down. It won't take your mind off of it, but…"

"Thank you, Kanemaru," Youichi said.

He turned on his heel and burst into a run - not his normal run, his cheetah-quirk powered run. He didn't use it often, since he'd been the target of a lot of discrimination as a kid for the camouflage that came with it. But for Sawamura and the Kominatos…

"Where are you, Ryou?" he panted.

Ryou's head was deep in his book, surrounded by his old teammates in the library. "A Study Group for Failing Baseball Idiots", Takako had called it when she emailed all of them. They had been at it for hours and were ready for a break, so when they all heard yelling from outside, they were quick to join their classmates in crowding the windows.

Thankfully, Ryou didn't even have to say anything. Being part of a stampeding team of baseball players meant that most people were quick to get out of their way. Those who didn't found themselves on the ends of his glare and moving anyway. Once at the windows, Tanba was kind enough to shuffle to the side and make room for him.

Opening the window flooded the library with even more noise. Looking over the edge, Ryou stared and, ever so carefully, didn't let his jaw drop.

There were police cars crowding the front entrance. None of them had their lights and sirens going, but their sheer number spoke to the emergency. So did the ambulance crouched among them.

The police themselves rushed all over the place. More than one was making a phone call, while others gathered gear. Anyone running did so between their cars and - Ryou's heart dropped. The direction of the baseball fields.

The library doors behind them crashed open, and everyone spun to face them. Ryou couldn't see him over everyone else, but he'd know Youichi's voice calling out his name anywhere.

Kazuya looked up from his brooding to find Kuramochi and the elder Kominato leading the rest of the third years in a charge straight towards Kataoka-kantoku and the police captain. Yelping, he leapt from the dugout to cut them off.

"Woah, woah!" he said, hands held up in the universal 'stop before you run me over' gesture. "Don't you think interrupting them will have the exact opposite effect than what you want?"

"Move, Miyuki," Kuramochi growled. "What would you know?"

Kazuya frowned and hoped his hurt didn't show.

"You realise I have two pitchers in there, right? And three of them are members of my team. Mine. Tetsu-san, you know what that means, right?"

The previous captain considered him seriously - though, honestly, Tetsu did most things seriously, it was just the kind of person he was - and nodded.

"As captain, your teammates are like your children."

Kazuya choked. Ok, that was too serious.

"No, that's not right…" Tetsu frowned. "It's like… as captain, you have a responsibility to your teammates. Part of that includes keeping them safe, even when off the field."

That was more like it.

"Besides," Kazuya pointed out. "When Kataoka-kantoku, Takashima-sensei, Todoroki-san, and Oota-san yell loud enough, you can tell what's happening even from over here."

Tesshin had had it up to his pointy Doberman ears with the police captain.

"What part," he growled, barely resisting baring his teeth, "of 'I am prepared to do anything to rescue those boys' do you not understand?"

The captain flicked his lion ears and raised his eyebrows.

"What part," he began pointedly, "of 'I can't let civilians onto an active hostage scene' do you not understand?"

Tesshin desperately wanted a brick wall to bash his head against. The two of them had been going back and forth like this ever since the police first arrived about six minutes before. All the coaches had already gotten their emotional reactions out through shouting; all that was left was terse logic.

"Those hostages are our children." Tesshin gestured at Todoroki. "In his case, his only son, and in Seido's case we are their guardians. You can't honestly expect us to just sit back and wait?"

The captain sighed and rubbed a hand over his nose. "Look, I'll make you a deal, ok? It's my one and only offer." Tesshin nodded. "I will allow one of you to go, under police escort, and try to talk to the kids. You will not do more than that. You will not attempt a one man rescue or participate in any actions we may undertake. Are we in agreement?"

Beside Tesshin, Oota heaved a relieved sigh. Tesshin thought it might be the first time the man had breathed since Kanemaru burst onto the field.

On Tesshin's other side, Rei nodded with a stony expression. Beside her, Todoroki looked close to bursting into another round of tears, but had enough composure left to gesture Tesshin forward.

"Go get our boys," he hiccuped.

Tetsu sat as calmly in the dugout as he possibly could, watching his old teammates pace.

He had actually been afraid Kuramochi would wear a hole in the floor, but thankfully Ryou had been able to pull him on to a bench and keep him there.

The others had no one to do so, and as a result, the feared hole might happen because of a group effort. Chris, Jun, Tanba, Kawakami, Kanemaru, and Zono - the latter three, along with Toujou, having already been in the dugout when they arrived - were certainly working hard at making the hole happen.

Even Masuko, sitting quietly in a corner as he tried to lower everyone's emotions with his quirk, didn't have much of an effect. The emotions, he had taken the time to explain, were too strong.

"What do you think is happening in there?" Miyuki asked.

Tetsu turned to look at the new captain, seated on the bench beside him. He didn't have to say anything. Miyuki gave him a side eyed look, then continued.

"They let Kataoka-kantoku in, and we've seen a ton of police officers enter and exit, but we haven't actually gotten any news. Just confirmation from the headcount that there's four players in there."

By this point, Miyuki had actually brought the pacers to a halt. He held their complete attention.

"What are you getting at, Miyuki?" Zono growled.

The catcher met his vice captain's eyes evenly. Tetsu was actually a little impressed he was able to; with all the stress, Zono had lost some of his fall leaves early.

"I mean we don't even know if they're alright. For all we know, they could be dead or -"

Ryou opened his mouth to spit, Tetsu was sure, a cutting response to that bit of catcher insight.

He didn't get the chance.

A gunshot and a yowl, one after the other, split the air, cutting and ugly and freezing everyone in their place better than even Miyuki's words did.

When he could move again, Shinji looked towards Kuramochi. He already knew, in the back of his mind, what that noise was. It had come from the direction of the bathroom, after all. But on some level…

On some level, he needed Kuramochi to tell him no. No, Sawamura's yowl of pain was not so loud that it reached them easily all the way over here. No, that was not even in pain. It was a call and nothing more. No, the pitcher Shinji had come to respect and, dare he say, call a friend, had not made a sound that wrenched his heart.

Shinji looked to Kuramochi and felt his heart completely stop instead. He knew he would get none of that.

Kominato had an arm wrapped around his boyfriend's waist. His fingers dug, white-knuckled, into jersey fabric as he held them both back.

The face of Kuramochi himself was turned away from Shinji, towards the bathroom, but his posture said it all. His tail had tucked itself as far in between his legs as it possibly could, and his ears lay flat against his head. The green fur across the back of his neck, usually invisible under his hair, had puffed out enough that there was no ignoring it or the truth it held.

Shinji's legs buckled. He sat on the bench, buried his head in his hands, and tried to ignore the world around him.

Hideaki sat between Shinji and the rest of the team, a rock hardened barrier.

At the moment he felt more like wood.

There had always been something for Hideaki to do, some solution to his problems. Sometimes it took so long it seemed impossible, like with becoming a pitcher again, but the solution was always there.

Now, though… for the first time in his life, he could do absolutely nothing. Everyone who needed to know had been told. He was looking at all of them, and had been for awhile. The police had let Kataoka-kantoku back, but he knew without asking that no students would be allowed. There was nothing to do but wait. Nothing he could do for his friends trapped within the bathroom, but out here...

Hideaki closed his eyes, breathed in deep, and straightened his back.

Shinji made a noise of wonder, and all around them their teammates exclaimed excitedly. Hopefully.

Hideaki opened his eyes to find Endeavor and a team of sidekicks walking inside the building. Police escorted them while leaning in close to, he assumed, brief them on the situation.

He let his shoulders relax ever so slightly. Reaching out, Hideaki pulled Shinji into his side for a one-armed hug.

Sometimes wood is thousands of years old and turns to stone, impossibly strong, to stand forever.

Chris and his old teammates waited impatiently, but it still took twenty, thirty minutes after Endeavor arrived before Kataoka-kantoku finally exited with Furuya in tow. The poor pitcher was half-dead on his feet. He looked up at them through lidded eyes, keeping up with their coach only thanks to an arm around his shoulders and a stubborn will.

Kataoka-kantoku handed him over to them with orders for half of them to get him into a bed. The other half were to come with him and get meals for the others.

They split up without a thought. Those most eager for news left with Furuya, while others who could get by with just the coach's reassurances for the time being headed for the dining hall.

Chris's choice was less pleasant. He headed in Furuya's direction, only for the coach to stop him with a quiet hand up.

"Your father has been calling Takashima, Oota, and I almost nonstop. Please call him back and reassure him that both you and your 'crazy boy' are perfectly fine."

Chris looked back at his coach. He knew his normal resting poker face had twisted into something strange - something that asked if the request was serious, my kouhais need me and you ask this of me?

Kataoka-kantoku just stared back evenly. He knew exactly what he was asking, but he did it anyway. That was the kind of man he was and why Chris had chosen Seido in the first place.

At least he'd confirmed that Sawamura was fine. Chris's heart had been in his throat since hearing the yowl, but now at least it retreated enough that he could clear his throat and speak.

"Yes, sir," he said. He bowed his head, murmured, "excuse me," and walked away.

In all of the chaos and panic, he had forgotten his phone and bag in the library and hadn't had the heart to go back and get them. He was paying for it now.

When he reached the library, it was to find a pile of book bags and baseball duffels behind the main desk, under the safeguard of the librarian. She smiled sympathetically at him and handed him his bag, but thankfully didn't do more than that. He didn't think he could stomach pleasantries right now.

Chris exited the the library and walked in the direction of the baseball dorms, phone ringing and pressed to his ear. It only rang twice before it was answered.

"Yuu!" his dad exclaimed. "How are -"

"I'm fine, Dad," Chris interrupted. "And so is Sawamura. I'm on my way to see him now, actually."

There was quiet for a few seconds, which really said more about his father's feelings than anything he could have said.

"I'm glad. He - I know you care about him. He brought out a side of you I hadn't seen in awhile, and I hadn't even realized I missed."

"Mm," Chris nodded. "Listen, dad - I can see the dorm from here. I'm going to hang up now."

"Take care, Yuu," his father said. "Give that crazy boy a hug from me."

"I love you," Chris replied, and closing his phone, sprinted to the dorms.

He opened the door to a feast. Beds had been claimed and the floor covered in baseball members.

"Chris-senpai!" Sawamura wailed. The lion cub launched himself from Kuramochi's side and burrowed into Chris's. He had to have been a koala in a previous life, Chris thought, to be this clingy. Still, he wasn't about to complain.

"Chris!" Jun hollered, waving from the top bunk next to Tetsu. "We saved you a spot on the bed!"

He waved in acknowledgment, but ignored his friends for now. He took in Furuya and the younger Kominato, both already asleep and safely bundled up. He noted the new groove in Sawamura's tail and, tightening his arms, maneuvered them onto the bed beside Kuramochi.

Now the pitcher was practically in his lap, head resting against his chest, and Sawamura purred in response. The sound was a rusty thing - probably because of the pained yowl. The thought made his shoulder ache in sympathy even as he watched Kuramochi's tail twine up and around the cub's wrist. Chris said nothing as it settled against Sawamura's pulse; he just tightened his own hold ever so slightly and listened to the murmur of their teammates around them.

He didn't let go until he felt the cub relaxing into sleep. Only then did he share a glance with Kuramochi and fully transfer Sawamura to the bed beside his roommate.

Standing up, Chris linked his hands over his head and stretched, cracking his back with a moan. The day had definitely been one of the longest he'd ever had. And after everything with his shoulder, he didn't say that easily. What made it even more remarkable was that it was barely even three o'clock in the afternoon. And yet, looking around him, all he could see were baseball members bedding down. After all the excitement and fear of the day, he wouldn't be surprised if they all slept through to the next day.

Turning, Chris began climbing the ladder to the top bunk. If all he could do for Sawamura and everyone else was be there, then he would be ready to do that to the best of his ability.

Hirofumi jolted awake and, rolling over, slammed his hand on his alarm's 'sleep' button. A noise suddenly went quiet, but it left a kind of… tense, agitated silence in its wake. The shock of it made him lie still, gazing blearily at the bedroom floor. For some reason he couldn't make out as much as he usually could without his glasses. He blinked furiously, still gazing down. The action accomplished nothing.

That's when it dawned on him. There was no light, unless you counted the moon shining through the blinds. Which meant it couldn't have been his alarm he accidentally silenced. Which meant -

Hirofumi nearly stopped breathing.

In the absence of his rough, still sleep heavy breathing, he could just make out the sound of even rougher breathing above him, accompanied by the murmur of someone's voice.

Hirofumi had only been in Seido's dorms for four weeks, but he already knew what woke him. The first night it had happened sent him scrambling, thinking someone was in their room who wasn't supposed to be. Memories of Kuramochi-senpai's head during the prank had flashed through his mind, only that time the hatchet was real. Hirofumi had screamed. Sawamura-senpai hadn't calmed down for another thirty minutes, and Kuramochi-senpai hadn't forgiven Hirofumi for another two days. It had taken caving to a night of catch and an early morning run for that to happen.

Now, though… now Hirofumi lay still for a moment before he rolled over and, rustling loudly, gathered his sheets to his chest. He dropped his mouth open and started breathing exercises.

This was only the second time it had happened, but Hirofumi already knew what it was. He had had nightmares himself as a kid, of his own quirklessness killing him someday. And… and everyone knew what happened to Seido and Yakushi that one fall practice. It was hard not to, when Endeavor himself had stormed in. The names of those involved hadn't been released. But that didn't matter when your roommate had a scar from a bullet wound on his tail.

Hirofumi counted ten sheep before the noises above him started again. He couldn't make out the words, but after a month of living together he easily recognised Kuramochi-senpai's voice. It was soft and soothing, intermixed with the occasional cheetah churr. Sawamura-senpai was crying, but Hirofumi didn't worry. It was better than the utter silence from the first time.

Gradually, the sounds above him started changing. Hiccups interrupted the crying, as did the occasional snort. The churrs became longer and longer. There was the thump of a pillow being fluffed, and then a half-laugh. An affronted grumble and more fluffing. The air conditioning beeped, whirred, and released cooler air. Their entire bed shook as someone flopped over, and then again with a second flop.

Sawamura-senpai's voice rose as he screeched, "Blanket hog!"

Kuramochi-senpai hissed and the bed shook again. Both of them quieted. Eventually, the lion's distinct snorting snore resounded throughout the room, and it didn't take long for the cheetah's lower, but just as bothersome snore to join it.

Hirofumi rolled back over to stare at the door. The entire situation, from when he woke up to when they fell asleep, had lasted about ten minutes. It took him maybe another five to join them, his own soft, breathy snores merging with theirs.

I swear I wasn’t gonna have ships in this verse, and then Kuramochi said “boyfriend” and I couldn’t bring myself to take it out.

As always, please let me know what you think! If you have any ideas for future additions, I’m open to hearing them!

[fantroll-purgatory]

@silverwolflaguz

Thank you for looking over these fugly children! And here’s the final part, the highbloods! From left to right, Rebane Teumes, Almira Diazii, Hesion Nereid, Matsya Pteroi.

Rebane: Vulpecula. Horns look like fox ears, but with a v-shaped cut in. (V= 5 in Roman numerals, his numerical theme) Dresses businesslike, also because he finds it intimidating. It’s hard to shock this guy, he’ll have that deadpan expression 99% of the time. Hopelessly addicted to sugar, that’s a lollipop in his mouth. Takes advantage of his naturally unflappable demeanor as Matsya’s right-hand troll. Has an on-and-off, red-then-black relation with Hesion.

Horns: I wanted to keep the V, so his right horn is still in a noticeably splintered shape, but I changed his left horn to reflect his symbol.

Hair: The ponytail was cute but I don’t know if it fits an intimidating businessman type image. So I kept his more flowy front hair pieces, but changed the cut of his hair to be more professional.

Face: I changed his glasses to a half-cut glass and made the bridge of his glasses more pronounced. 

Torso: I made his tie into Hesion’s blood color as a reference to their relationship. I kept the blue vest but buttoned up a dark suit jacket over it. In his top pocket, I put a fuschia pen to represent his right-hand/working relationship with Matsya. I also gave him a violet lollipop for fun.

Symbol: I gave him Sagiries to fall in line with his time aspect. The title for this symbol is the Revolutionary- which might fit best in the context of examining his aiding Matsya. Matsya wants to reform things, so it would be expected that Rebane would participate in that.

Legs: I gave him darker pants for a sleeker, darker, more intimidating look, and gave him some nice dark dress shoes to match his coat.

Almira Diazii: Lepus. Horns are supposed to look like rabbit ears, with one being upright and the other being bent. Facepaint is a reference to the taguel from Fire Emblem, who can turn into rabbits. Makes herself look like a creepy doll, through her seemingly frozen face, wide eyes with dramatic makeup, and dress. Blood on skirt is from trolls she’s killed.

Hair: It feels really weird adding an updo where there wasn’t one before on a troll, but it felt like it fit her theme really well. Looks like floppy rabbit ears AND is a reference to Panne’s braids, to match with your taguel makeup, which I kept around.

Face: I gave her some pointy teeth. I didn’t want them to be too explicitly rabbit-y because I didn’t want to cramp the olivebloods’ style, so they’re more pointed than rabbit teeth, but they’re still in the correct position. I made her taguel makeup more pronounced. I also extended it down onto the neck as a reference to the thick taguel fur. 

Shirt: Made a lighter grey for contrast and added purple to the ends of the sleeves. 

Symbol: I gave her Capriborn, mmmostly because of the shape of the symbol being really fitting for a rabbit theme. The Malignant also sounds really fitting for such a murderous rabbit.

Skirt: I changed it into a ruffly tiered skirt with pompoms and a ribbon belt as a reference to easter dresses! 

Shoes: Babydoll shoes with stockings just to match the easter reference.

Hesion: Andromeda. Horns look like the edges of her symbol. Visor acts as a scanner for weak points. Pattern on top is supposed to look like a killer whale’s lower side; her top is actually a one-piece swimsuit. Was extremely short in the past; willingly submitted herself to the mad butcher/scientist known as Calist, having her legs cut off at the knee and replaced with longer artificial ones; went back again to get more proportional arms. Has an on-and-off, red-then-black relation with Rebane.

Horns: I changed them to match the new symbol, they’re a bit like Eridan’s but out to the sides instead. 

Eyes: I made them… a little 90s anime shaped. Something you might see on some old megaman drawings. I also adjusted the tone of her visor to just be a simple luminosity layer of her blood color. 

Mouth: I made her lips a little thicker, but that’s the only really important note there. 

Torso: I adjusted her shirt to just white… mostly as an excuse to point out that orca whales are aquatic mammals and not straight marine life. I guess it’s technically possible for it to work and I’m not doing a full review here just design notes… but I wanted to point that out anyways. Also I made her arms look like Frieza’s because of the scanner visor. 

Symbol: Aquanius, the magician. 

Skirt: I changed it to a flat blue because in her original design she was really visually busy, color-wise. 

Legs: I made them look like Vegeta’s pants and shoes for similar reasons to the Frieza arms. The dragon ball references are over 9000… haha, hahha… 

Matsya: Piscis Austrinus. Horns look like fish tails at the top. Highly ambitious, willing to do anything to get the crown, although he actually wants to end the never-ending conquests. Thinks of himself as a man of the people. Is actually unintentionally insensitive to lower castes. Hair is short and shaggy. Had a circlet, threw it into a fireplace. As a nod to the caste’s canon members being only female, he’s slender and quite pretty, to his annoyance. Spends more time on land than the sea.

Horns: I wanted to keep them in the fish tail shape but also wanted to reference the new symbol, so we ended up with these! 

Face: I made the glasses more noticeably gold. I also gave him noticeably black lips as a continuation of your reference to the primarily girl class. 

Jacket: I changed it to match his blood color because it felt a little too clashy? 

Symbol: I made it Pimino, the Empathetic. I’ll be honest with you, I wanted to do Pimini, the Adjuster more, but I didn’t want to throw off the prospit-derse balance. Maybe there are some symbols you should take a better look at in this group after sorting your trolls into what You think their proper lunar alignments are, since this isn’t a full review and I don’t know enough to make that call. 

Backpack and belt: Because you said he’d do anything to get the crown, I kind of wanted to present him as something of an Always Prepared character. On the belt I also put a collection of jewels in all the blood colors (aside from his). I wanted to reference that he thought of himself as a man of the people while also referencing his disconnect to them (wearing something so extravagant while people are out there suffering.” 

Shoes: I wanted to make them just a little less eye-straining, so I made them a dark color and moved the bright green to accents. I liked the green because of its association with peace! 

Another great batch. Thank you for sharing!

-CD