#I may have forgotten what writing is

[frowerssx2]

Beyond the Boundaries~

Merry Christmas, Everybridie! This is the first time I have done a Secret Santa exchange! My recipient was @moonvarion. I hope you like this short fanfic I did for you ^_^

Summary: Hiyoko brings a Christmas present that allows Nageki to go beyond the boundaries of his prison which is the library. This Contains spoilers!

Word Count: 2,514

Like always, Nageki woke up in the same corner of the library without the knowledge of how long this "sleep" lasted. They were happening more often now, as they always do in winter. Apparently, ghosts need warmth to appear and having it in the Saint Pigeonation's library was an extremely rare thing. Anyway, at least there was a blanket for him to lie on now. It didn't offer him warmth or any sort of comfort physically. But, it did emotionally. It reminded him that he had good friends who truly cared about him and that was the best feeling in the world. However, it did also bring a strange sense of familiarity Nageki couldn't understand. With a sigh, Nageki stood up and shook both his feathers and wings to loosen them up. He then looked around, wondering what he should do today. After all, it was the Christmas holiday, wasn't it? Everybirdie will be at home celebrating with their families. That thought made Nageki wonder what his family was doing. Surely, he had one. Everybirdie has some sort of family, right? Maybe not made out of genetics, but made out of love and affection. 

"Love is not made by blood, it is made by caring for each other so much that you'd do anything, anything at all, for them"

Somebiridie once told Nageki that. Who was it? Why couldn't he remember them? All he knew about the mysterious bird was that he had a soft and caring voice. If Nageki had to compare it to anything then it would be a hug. Soft, warm, always welcoming, and loving. 

With another big sigh, Nageki walked to the window. Oh...It was snowing pretty badly too, if the forming ice on the glass was anything to go by. If any birdie living went out there they would no doubt freeze to death. Meanwhile, as a ghost, he wouldn't. Not like he wanted to go out there anyway. What would be the point? He wouldn't be able to feel the crackling snow underneath his feet, or the snowflakes that would fall gently and gracefully on his feathers. Suddenly, a flash of blue snapped Nageki out of his depressing thoughts. Was it lightening as well as snowing? Was that even possible? A second flash of blue a few seconds later made him realize that it wasn't happening outside, but inside.

Feeling both confused and curious, Nageki turned just to see beautiful snowflake Christmas decorations flashing above him in soft and calming tones of sunset orange. Nageki watched as the light nearest to him flashed then the one after it, then so on, causing him to feel tempted to follow it. But, could he? Was it safe? Curiosity killed the cat after all...

But, not a ghost…

Nothing in this world could kill a ghost. Well, not to his knowledge anyway. 

The lights flashed again, so beautifully that Nageki threw all caution out of the window and began to follow them. They had to lead somewhere and it was probably a little silly but Nageki hoped it would be somewhere different. Somewhere, he could escape his prison for a while. Somewhere that wouldn’t make him regret his decision to come back here instead of going onto the train with the King and the Migrant.  

He wasn't disappointed when he arrived at the end of the Christmas light trail. As there, stood proudly in the middle of the library was the most magnificent and beautiful Christmas tree he had ever seen. Soft glows of green, blue, red, and orange sparkled between the dark green branches of the Christmas tree. Each one, was as beautiful as the next, illuminating the dark library and the gold tinsel on the tree with the beautiful glow of a rainbow. That wasn't all though. There were stunning baubles shaped like Santa Claus, Christmas trees, candy canes, and round baubles that had faces of snowmen or were gold and red with glitter. But then, one decoration in particular captured his interest, so he slowly and gently reached his right wing to touch it. Now looking closely at it he realized that it was shaped like a N with what looked like shelves with books inside. Immediately, he smiled, his beak opening up to curve at the end. This was obviously a present for him and there was only one friend who knew him this well and cared for him this much and knowing Hiyoko, she wouldn’t do anything like this without leaving some way of communication. With that in mind, Nageki flipped his present over and read the engraving he found there: “Look under the tree, love Hiyoko”

At that moment, Nageki felt his heart flutter like his wings would if he took flight because this could only mean that there could be another present for him, right? That thought made his heart flutter again, this time it wasn’t just because of affection but also because of excitement. He slowly lowered himself down to look underneath the tree to find a literal winter wonderland with figures of snowmen, polar bears, reindeer, Iglu’s, and snow hills and balls. The sight of it made Nageki wish that there was some magical way he could live in this little snow village but, there was a large rectangular-shaped present waiting for him so he was going to pull it out and hold it in his wings.

“I hope you like it, Nageki”

For a second, Nageki thought that Hiyoko’s voice was inside his head because he was reading the card on the present but then he quickly realized there wasn’t one.

But that could only mean…No way…Surely, she wouldn’t…

A turn of the head told Nageki that yes, she totally did. However, he was shocked and rather relieved to see that his human friend wasn’t frozen like an icicle.

“How did you?” Nageki stuttered out wondering if that question would have an answer that would be logical. “That’s not important”

No, of course, it wouldn’t, that would be expecting too much…

“Open your present, I hope you like it” Hiyoko excitedly said, her amber eyes flicking down to the present in Nageki’s wings, shifting closer to him on her knees.

“Go on” she said moving to knock him with her shoulder playfully just to end up falling shoulder first onto the floor which had the Mourning Dove snorting in amusement. How on earth could she possibly forget that he isn’t solid? The embarrassment on Hiyoko’s made it painfully obvious that she was wondering the same thing. But then, that famous smile of hers went on her face as her beautiful eyes flicked to Nageki’s present yet again.

Feeling another flutter within his heart, Nageki slowly opened his present with his wings. Feeling thankful that Christmas wrapping paper was so delicate that even a ghost could get into it without much effort. Plus, the fact that Hiyoko didn't go overboard with the Sellotape did help matters a lot. Underneath the dark green paper that was littered with red and white candy canes and ginger beard men was a large book named:

[The Christmas Village within the mountains]

The picture on the cover was of a beautiful wooden cottage covered in a small amount of snow and an unbelievable amount of Christmas decorations. 

Wanting to see what else this book had to offer Nageki slowly opened it to the first page, Hiyoko shifting closer to him as he did so. Together they looked down at the picture of the welcoming sign of the village. It was truly beautiful. Faux Holly vines were wrapped around the poles and travelled across the top of the sign where artificial mistletoe and red and white flowers. On the next page was a footpath covered by thick snow and surrounded by pine trees which also was covered in snow but also gold and red tinsel and baubles. Not only that, but between the trees were hanging snowflakes, stars, and flags. The footpath itself was surprisingly decorated too. It wasn't much. Just a trail of gold, green and red strings travelling upwards beside large deep footprints that were obviously made by heavy snow boots. All of this together made Nageki wonder what was at the end of this winter Christmas trail. Luckily, the answer was on the next page. 

So, he turned it...

Waiting for him were pictures of a wonderful village square that had rows and rows of market stalls. Above them were rows of orange circular lights, all of which were like fireflies in the night sky. Then on the next page were close-ups of the stalls, showing off what each one sold. There was one stall selling the most delicious-looking shortbread, cookies, bread, and gingerbread in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Another one sold stunning handmade Christmas decorations and stockings. Another sold toys and teddies. Then there was one that sold clothes. Another that sold traditional Christmas foods from all over the world. Just when Nageki thought that this page couldn’t get any better, he discovered that there was a little round sticker in the corner of each picture.

“What is this for?” He asked Hiyoko in confusion, wondering what on earth would happen if he rubbed at the sticker like it told him to. “Oh! This is really cool!” Hiyoko answered excitedly, rubbing the sticker so quickly and with so much strength that Nageki worried she would somehow find a way to find a fire. Thankfully, she didn’t. However, she still did something strange which was to sniff her arm with a hungry groan.

Okay…That was…Odd…

“You smell, Nageki!” Hiyoko then said to him holding her battered arm in front of him, her quick movement causing him to flinch backwards. But now, he was just staring at her arm in absolute confusion. That certainly wasn’t a normal request. Yet again, when did Hiyoko and a normal conversation go hand in hand? Almost everything the human did was bizarre, impossible, confusing, or somehow all three.

“Go on, it smells delicious!” Her arm smelt delicious? How did that even make any sense? This was definitely a conversation that was all those three things. “Hurry before it goes!”

Wanting this conversation to make some sense, Nageki slowly smelt Hiyoko’s arm. It was the strangest thing he has ever done but it was almost the greatest. He smelt her arm again and hummed. The smell of sugar-covered shortbread filled his nostrils, the smell was so alluring, and intoxicating that it made his stomach rubble which should have been impossible because of the whole ghost thing. It also made him wish that he could stick out his tongue and taste the incredible food. Not on Hiyoko’s arm of course, because that would be totally weird. But on the page…That thought made him look down at the other pictures and see what their circles contained. The clothing stall had a small circle made out of the softest material Nageki had ever felt. The toy stall circle had a small bird paper toy that flapped its wings if you pulled the paper lever.

Then came the next page, on it was a game where you had to decorate the picture of the Christmas tree that was sat in the middle of the market square stalls. Nageki couldn’t remember the last time he decorated a tree but somehow, he could remember that he always did it with somebiridie else. Somebiridie who he cared for and so, he shifted closer to Hiyoko so they could do it together. When the tree was decorated it wasn’t as dramatic or exquisite as the one in the library, but it was theirs and that is what made it special and perfect. Nageki wasn’t surprised at all, he and Hiyoko has always made a great team. This was proven yet again when they turned to the next page as it ended up being four different Find the Hidden Objects game that were in different locations in the village as they ended up finding all of them easily.

Then came a normal photo album of the rest of the village showcasing the school, hospital, church, shops, huts, shacks, and houses. All of them as beautiful as the next. All of them going overboard with Christmas decorations. Then came the famous mountain of the village, the photos taking you up the trail mile by mile until finally, the photographer reached the top. The view was astonishing. There was nothing but cloud after cloud, the lights of the village below reflecting through them so wonderfully.

“I wish that I was there” Hiyoko said to him, stretching out her arms as she did so “I want to feel the cold wind underneath my arms” “I do too” “So, let’s do it!”

Before he could even figure out a reply to that Hiyoko was gone, returning seconds later with a large desk fan, she turned it on to the highest speed which caused the branches of the large Christmas tree in front of them to rustle angrily. But, it was perfect. Nageki stood up, closed his eyes, stretched out his wings, and leaned forward a little. Like this, he could pretend he was above that mountain and embracing the powerful winds. Winds that made him feel so free. He just wanted to flap his wings and fly above those clouds in the picture. But, no matter how powerful his imagination was, Nageki already knew he couldn’t. That didn’t mean he couldn’t just enjoy the feel though. Flying for birds was a natural thing that they all took for granted, none of them embracing how much fun it could be.

After what seemed like an eternity, Nageki folded his light brown wings back into his side, in response to the rustling sound they made Hiyoko turned off the fan.

“Thanks, Hiyoko, that was amazing…This book is amazing” “It doesn’t stop there!” Hiyoko smiled brilliantly, moving to get the backpack that has apparently been sitting beside her all this time to pull out a large plastic food container.

“I asked Mr Nanaki to make us the food in this book. It took four months, three house fires, and one food-tasting trail with Miru and Kaku for him to get it right”

“Hiyoko…That is very thoughtful but I’m a ghost, I can’t eat”

“Yeah but you can smell, and if you understand a smell well enough then you can taste it” she replied and even though Nageki didn’t know how he felt about that logic, he didn’t have the heart to argue or question it.

“Alright, I will try…What else do you have?” “I’m glad you asked! I’ve got two travel books in my backpack and I thought we’d travel through the world together underneath this tree while we or rather I eat” “Let the adventure begin” Nageki smiled wishing for the first time that night that he was indeed solid because right now, he’d give anything to snuggle beside Hiyoko while she showed him the world beyond the library.

For now, though, he’ll just enjoy this new adventure beyond his boundaries with her…

….Fin….   

[dawnthefluffyduck]

Sunday doodle, will likely clean this up later :3

[necrotic-nephilim]

I’m gonna be honest I didn’t realize the new 52 messed with Kon that much till I read your post and now I can’t get over the potential. I’m a Tim/Kon girly at heart so I would devour anything you write exploring the 52 vs typical Kon. Also Time being in a clone sandwich is 👌.

the new-52 messed Kon up SO bad it's ridiculous. like, to the point i would personally argue he's a completely unrelated character to pre-Flashpoint/Rebirth Kon. his personality, his suit, his origin, all different. the only real similarities are the name and powerset. and even New-52!Kon's powers are slightly different from pre-Flashpoint!Kon. New-52!Kon is a clone of a future version of Jon Lane Kent, cloned by N.O.W.H.E.R.E. to provide genetic material to Jon Lane Kent, whose body was not handling being half human/half Kryptonian well, it was a whole thing. New-52!Kon is also where we get the infamous "Kon-El means 'abomination of the house of El' and Kara basically named him a slur in Kryptonian culture" tidbit, because that is the only time that's canon. (originally Kon-El was a name gifted by Clark to accept Kon as his family way back in the 90s) he also never went by Conner Kent. New-52!Kon just straight up didn't have any real human identity or connections, outside of being very close to Tim and some Titans.

the very TLDR of Kon's history is: during post-Crisis/pre-Flashpoint, a clone called Superboy is created by CADMUS. at first, he's considered to be a clone of a dude named Paul Westfield and is not Kryptonian whatsoever, he was simply made to look like Superman and only has Tactile Telekinesis as a power. then, it was made canon that actually he was a clone of Lex Luthor and Clark Kent, but Lex hid this fact and slowly, Kon developed more Kryptonian powers. he's given the name Kon-El by Clark, and is taken in by the Kents, getting the name Conner Kent. then Flashpoint happens, we get the New-52, and we're given the above version of Kon-El, who is a clone of Jon Lane Kent, created by N.O.W.H.E.R.E. who has mostly very strong telekinesis powers and some Kryptonian powers. he's with the Titans for a bit, then at the end of the New-52, he kills some aliens and feels bad about it so he decides to fuck off and is never seen again, it's presumed he's dead but never confirmed. then Rebirth happens and DC makes Jon Kent the current Superboy, we get Supersons and all that, and it's assumed that no version of Kon-El exists. just at all. he's not around whatsoever, Jon is our only Superboy. *but* in 2019, we get a new Young Justice run and the pre-Flashpoint Kon-El is back, and we're given the explanation of: Kon got accidentally teleported to this alternate realm called Gemworld and then Flashpoint happened, and since that was a Crisis Event that changed the timeline, the poor lad got *erased* from the timeline, causing most people to *not fucking remember him* and for him to remember a timeline that no longer exists. some of the Young Justice team vaguely remember him, Ma and Pa Kent remember him, but notably, Clark *does not remember him*. it's not an issue of "Clark ignored Kon in favor of Jon" it's an issue of "Kon was erased from the timeline and didn't exist for years bc he was stuck in Gemworld and Clark just doesn't remember Kon or Kon's timeline" which to me, is far more tragic but i digress. since then, Kon has been back and is present in most significant Superfamily runs, with his own recent mini-series, Superboy: Man of Tomorrow. (which was very good btw)

so basically: the New-52 fucked Kon up so bad they wrote him out of comics for years and then brought back the pre-Flashpoint version, but never *explicitly* killed the New-52 version off. so hypothetically, it's possible that there are currently two characters existing in the DC universe named Kon-El who have been Superboy. and like i said above, one of New-52!Kon's only real significant relationships was with Tim, it was the only thing the New-52 managed to get right about Superboy, his closeness to Tim. they have a *lot* of moments that read incredibly queer. and ofc, it's just outright confirmed in Dark Crisis: Young Justice that Tim had a crush on pre-Flashpoint!Kon at some point. so while comics are intent on pretending New-52!Kon doesn't exist, i am intent on putting Tim in a clone sandwich.

because i do think it's fun to play with Tim having genuine feelings and potentially a relationship with both of them. and the fucked up nature of him not fully *remembering* his relationship with pre-Flashpoint!Kon (which is a canon thing, in YJ(2019) Tim has vague memories of Kon he's struggling to piece together and understand why he cares about this guy he doesn't recognize so much) and how frustrating that is for Tim. he knows he loves Kon, but it's all foggy besides that. and so it's even *more* fucked up if Tim dated New-52!Kon before he got emo and ran off into the unknown. obviously in canon no one has told current Kon about New-52!Kon bc comics are doing the good ol' tried and true of "sweep that shit under the rug" but for fanfic, i think it's fun to ask the question of: would anyone *tell* Kon? especially Tim? who now remembers dating both versions of them? would he admit to Kon that briefly, he had another Kon? how would Tim cope with that and move on? personality wise, they could not be more different. they dress and act and look different. they're not the same person, but there's certainly a questionable factor of Tim's dating history including two Kon-Els.

the idea i've had for a while is Tim slowly starting to date pre-Flashpoint!Kon again. it feels familiar and like home. and Tim has grieved and accepted that wherever New-52!Kon is, he doesn't want to come home, he didn't love TIm enough to stay and try. so Tim takes the Kon he has, and genuinely has a happy relationship. like for once, life is good and things almost make sense for Tim. but then, of course, New-52!Kon comes back. he decides he wants to try again and he finds Tim. only to find well. he's been replaced. and technically, he's been replaced with the *original* that he didn't even know *existed*. and if being a clone is bad enough, that just makes it a hundred times worse. because imagine knowing you're actually the second Kon-El your boyfriend who you never *technically* broke up with fell in love with. that's gotta give you some kind of complex.

so i think it's fun if both Kons try to step back and let the other Kon date Tim. both of them have reasons to feel like the "replacement" or "fake" Kon, and it makes them incredibly awkward with each other. do they count as the same person? bc they definitely don't *feel* like the same person to each other, but with weird timeline stuff, who can really say. them settling on an awkward throuple that's really meant to be Tim just dating them both but somehow they end up dating each other too is so fun for me. they both feel like imposters to the Superboy name but are so deeply in love with Tim Drake, it's the one thing truly connecting them. and then of course, Tim feels bad in that somehow, he's betraying both of them for having feelings for the other. but they make it work, with a lot of awkward angst and miscommunication. i just think it'd be fun. very difficult to write to get all the weird timeline nuances down in a way that's understandable in a fanfic (bc you can't just. infodump like i did on this post) but doable. also difficult to tag, because even though i argue these are two different characters, i'm pretty sure Ao3 groups them under the same character tag. so it'd be difficult to convey it's not *really* as selfcest-y as it would imply. comics, man. DC will never acknowledge New-52!Kon again, and he's admittedly a terrible adaptation of Kon-El, but. i think he was sort of neat in his own right and i'd *love* for DC to just inexplicably bring him back and make the current Kon deal with the consequences of all that. and them make Tim kiss them both. obviously.

[youssefguedira]

missing fencing worlds so have this (set in a slightly different version of my regular fencing au but everyone's weapons are still the same)

Joe makes it to the final.

He beats the standing world champion 13-15, after a video review called by the Hungarian team – and they'd both been holding their breath as they waited for the result, Joe's heart beating so hard it felt like it was going to burst out of his chest – didn't succeed in getting the referee to award his opponent the point instead, and Joe makes it to the final. He's never made it this far before. Nobody on his team has made it this far in years. His hands are still shaking while he watches the bronze medal match, Hungary just narrowly beating Japan for the bronze.

When he checks his phone, there's a text waiting from Andy. Italy pulled silver in team. We saw the semi-final. You got this, Joe.

And from Nicky, simply: In bocca al lupo.

Joe doesn't get a chance to respond before his coach calls him over, and he turns his phone off and sets it aside.

He's not sure he fully believes what's happening – he's in a World Championships final – until he's walking back onto the piste, new sword in hand, trying to get himself back under control. He's already come incredibly far just to be here, as his coach reminds him before the match starts. All he has to do now is his best.

The first two points go to his opponent: French, currently ranked second in the world to Joe's 16th, a nice enough guy on the few occasions Joe's had to meet him. One of them is simply skill, the other is an oversight on Joe's part, and when the bout resumes Joe grits his teeth and forces himself to concentrate. It's nothing he hasn't done before in training. He can do this.

The next point is his, a neat hit to his opponent's wrist just as the other is starting to attack. Joe dodges away before his opponent's hit can land and the referee calls halt. He gets two more, then loses one, then manages another at the very end, a point that initially goes to his opponent but is turned over when Joe's coach calls for a video review and wins. She's got a sharp eye for that kind of thing. The first round ends 4-5 in Joe's favour.

The break isn't long enough for him to do more than have a quick drink and talk briefly to his coach, but when he looks over at the area where the rest of his team is watching, Nicky is there too. He's out of his kit by now, wearing a plain black hoodie and jeans instead of his team jacket. He catches Joe's eye right before the minute is up and offers him a small, reassuring smile.

(The rest of the team have never really asked about what Nicky is to Joe, and Joe's never volunteered the information, even if he's fairly sure most of them have caught on. None of them have ever showed any overt approval or disapproval – it's just something they don't discuss – but the fact that they're letting Nicky sit with them now is a show of support that makes him feel… he's not quite sure, yet, and he doesn’t have the time now to think about it.)

The start of the second round is better for him, at least, and he gets three points up in the first 30 seconds, all three just slightly too quick for his opponent to catch him in time. It's his main strength, and he knows it. But then his opponent gets one, and it breaks Joe's rhythm enough for him to lose another, and another, and another. He manages to get four in the end, but loses the round 4-6. It could be worse. It could be much worse.

"Don't lose your head, Joe," his coach tells him during the second break. "This is just another bout, understand? You can do this." He nods, once, and his coach claps him on the back. "Get out there and finish this."

Joe changes sword for the last round, so they have to re-test. His heart is racing, enough that he has to take slow, measured breaths in an attempt to settle it down. His coach is right: this is nothing he hasn't done a thousand times before. If he doesn't think about the stakes, this could be any other bout.

They're at 10 to 9 going into the last round, which is much better than Joe had ever dreamed of doing. As long as he stays he's focused, he has a chance, and that's what he thinks about as he pulls his mask on and steadies himself.

He starts by feinting an attack to the head and dropping his blade at the last second to hit his opponent's flank instead, which evens out the score, at least. The second goes to his opponent, Joe's parry coming just too late to block the attack. But then he gets the next two, and he's in the lead.

On the fourth point, they both hit: Joe's certain it's his, but the referee awards it to his opponent instead. His coach calls for a video review that doesn't change anything.

The fight goes on until they're both at 14 points in total. Whoever gets the next one will win, and Joe – Joe can do this.

He starts out fast, careful to make sure he is the one with the right of way going into the attack, and his opponent lunges but Joe steps back just enough that the sword misses and then he ripostes before his opponent can recover, and the light goes off, and the referee calls it, and the bout is over, and Joe wins.

Behind him, the rest of his team is cheering; the stands are, too, more people than he's ever fenced in front of before. He's certain he's shaking all over as he takes his mask off, as he fumbles with his bodywire and has to try three times to get the damn thing unplugged – his opponent is still standing there as if in shock – eventually his coach comes over to the piste to help him with the wire and set his sword to one side before she embraces him, saying something he can't quite make out over the roar of the stands, and then the rest of his team are surrounding him, all speaking at once, all clapping him on the back and hugging him and laughing, and he's certain there are tears in his eyes.

Then Nicky's there, too, hugging him tight and laughing. "World champion, Joe!" he half-shouts just to be heard, and Joe's half laughing, half crying as Nicky sways them both back and forth. When Nicky pulls back, he cups the back of Joe's neck, and Joe wants to kiss him so badly he aches but he can't, not here with all these people watching, with the cameras that are almost certainly still focused on him, because he won – so Nicky pulls him back in again, kisses his cheek before stepping away completely but staying close.

Then Joe has to go so they can set up the stadium for the medal ceremony, goes from the chaos of the main stadium to the quiet of the changing room, where the rest of the team congratulate him again before leaving him to take a moment to himself before the medal ceremony.

Alone, in the changing room, Joe calls his mother.

She picks up on the second ring. "Yusuf!" she cries excitedly, and Joe smiles even though she can't see it.

"Mama," he says, voice shaking just a bit. "Did you see?"

"I saw, I saw," his mother says. "I'm so proud of you, habibi."

Joe almost starts crying in earnest at that, manages to hold it back just enough to be able to speak. They don't talk for long – Joe is called back out for the medal ceremony a few minutes later – but his mother makes him promise to call again soon, when they can talk properly.

Joe does cry at the medal ceremony, unable to properly hold it in anymore, must look like a mess when the national anthem starts, manages to just about compose himself enough for the picture they take of him with his medal and his Champion du Monde certificate which he barely manages to hold still, his hands are shaking so badly. The team surrounds him again after the picture, all talking over him too quickly for him to process what they're saying, but they let him go after a little while with a promise to celebrate properly tomorrow, when the tournament ends.

He stops off at his hotel room just long enough to shower and change and check his phone (just a text from Nicky, reading We're at Andy's – see you soon.) He leaves the certificate but takes the medal with him, knows they'll all want to see it. Andy's team is on the floor above his, so it doesn't take long before he's outside the door.

Nicky is the one who lets him in before Joe's even had a chance to finish knocking, grins at him widely and tugs him inside by the hand, kicks the door shut behind him. Before Joe even has a chance to speak, Nicky presses him back against the door and kisses him the way he hadn't been able to earlier, long and slow like they've got all the time in the world, one hand cupping Joe's jaw to keep him steady, the other slipping under Joe's shirt to rest on the small of his back. Joe melts into it, looping his arms around Nicky's neck, and it feels like forever they stand there and at the same time it's barely a heartbeat before Nicky pulls back but doesn't, letting Joe rest his head on Nicky's shoulder instead. He doesn't say a word when Joe starts crying again, just strokes his hand over Joe's curls, kisses his temple and holds him tight.

"I told you you could do it, didn't I?" Nicky murmurs. "You owe me, now."

It's true – he'd bet Joe when they both arrived in Cairo that this would be his year, finally. Joe laughs, and it comes out sounding a little like a sob.

Evidently, the grace period afforded to them by the others ends then, because Nile appears in the doorway to the rest of the suite and nudges Nicky out of the way before hugging him so tight he almost can't breathe. "That was incredible, Joe!"

"Thank you, thank you," Joe says, laughing. Nicky watches them both with a soft, fond smile as Nile pulls back and leads him by the hand into the suite's sitting room where the others are waiting: Quynh and Andy in one of the armchairs, Quynh perched on the armrest with Andy's arm around her waist keeping her steady; Booker on the other with Lykon sitting in the middle of the floor. Joe takes the couch amid the excited chattering of the others, and Nicky sits down beside him, lifting his arm to let Joe curl into his side without being asked. Nile sits on Joe's other side, resting her legs against his.

"We saw the whole thing," Quynh says. "That last point was beautiful, Joe." Andy nods her agreement, and Nicky squeezes Joe's hand. Joe's grinning so wide it hurts.

"Show us the medal, then," Nile says. Joe obliges.

It's Nile's second Worlds, this year: she's the newest addition to their group, having narrowly beaten Andy for the silver medal after making it onto the US team for winning the college league. She's one of the favourites to win in women's individual foil, even above Andy, and they'll all be rooting for her tomorrow. The US team's already taken bronze in the team competition, losing against Andy's team to make it to the final. She's doing well this year.

"We knew you could do it," Lykon said. "France didn't have a chance. No offence, Book."

"None taken," Booker says good-naturedly, but immediately negates it by adding, "We'll beat you tomorrow anyway."

"Like hell you will," Lykon says. "I already beat you once, old man, I'll do it again."

"And that's tomorrow's problem," Andy announces loudly to cut off any arguments before they get going. "Tonight is for Joe, you two."

Joe loves them all so, so much. Andy produces a bottle of sparkling grape juice from the suite's minifridge, because they don't drink alcohol in the group anymore, both for Joe's sake and especially since Booker's return. She pours it out into the shitty plastic champagne flutes from the pack she'd brought with her when they arrived, anticipating this very scenario, and hands each one of them a glass.

"To the new world champion, then," she says then, smiling as she lifts her glass. "We're proud of you, Joe."

Joe doesn't trust himself to speak, so he just smiles as the rest of them echo her before they drink. After, Nicky kisses the top of his head, whispers, "I love you," quiet enough that the others can't quite hear, already bickering about one thing or another, and in that moment Joe is the happiest he's ever been.

[kenobihater]

you ever write up a combination of words you're really proud of at the time bc you think it's vivid but it's actually so atrocious that you remember it eight years later bc it's burned itself into your long-term memory? just me?

[bluberimufim]

I printed out DoS's 1st draft for editing and my plan was to read it like a novel first for the Experience(TM) and I just.

I lowkey hate it rn.

I know I don't actually hate it and it's just that I'm too "in" this WIP at the moment since I recognize my strengths in the writing, but I need to be physically restrained to stop myself from working on it. Reading this WIP is not a want, it is a NEED!!! But I also NEED to take a break from it!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[castleinthemist]

finally read through understanding comic and goddam it's good. I love learning about critical ways to look at mediums. Been mulling it over in a sense about video games since there was a post about games being art so majority of them are bad, and while i don't disagree with that statement, I think such a medium is fairly young-ish(being only 40-50 years old) and i'm sure other mediums didn't have all their shit sorted out by that point - regardless, there is already plently of critical writing about games as a medium and industry but also it's important to understand that a great swathe of the art produced in the medium is commerical and that's the predominate way people interface with, and understand it, and that that colours most of the citical discussions on it.

[quibbs126]

I feel like the more we see the Ancients and Dark Enchantress Cookie, the more the prologue doesn’t make sense

Like, from what the prologue tells us, the Five Heroes fought against Dark Enchantress Cookie, then Dark Enchantress takes the five Soul Jams and they’re shattered, and in the wake of her and Pure Vanilla’s spell clashing, the five heroes, Dark Enchantress Cookie, and the Vanilla Kingdom all disappear (also the rest of their kingdoms are supposed to essentially crumble over time, but that’s less important)

And the game seems to go for the most part with this up until the reveal of Dark Enchantress Cookie’s true identity as White Lily Cookie. But honestly, I think that’s fine. Honestly I think it does work with what the prologue shows of her. Yes there’s now the confusion of why there’s essentially two White Lilies, but there’s also been evidence to show that there’s more to this story that we don’t know, and that there will be an explanation. Everything else however seems to be as we were told

In Pure Vanilla’s storyline, things seem to still line up. Now that Dark Enchantress Cookie has been freed, so have Pure Vanilla Cookie and the Vanilla Kingdom, and while we don’t see it, you could assume so have the others, but perhaps they were just scattered to other corders of Earthbread, hence why we don’t see them. Nothing contradicts that they disappeared too. Pomegranate also mentions how the Soul Jams are in shattered pieces across Earthbread, which we also know from the prologue. She also says that the spell going wrong between him and DE cursed the other Ancients, and yes, he calls it lies initially, the following dialogue implies that it’s true and that he was just telling himself that he didn’t

There is the question of how he suddenly has his whole Soul Jam back, but that’s like the only major contradiction, and it’s not one that’s really touched on. But overall things generally hold up

It’s at Hollyberry’s story that things start to get confusing. Now it does still use the “Soul Jam is shattered” thing (and is frankly the only one to keep that fact, aside from at the end where the Soul Jam suddenly becomes whole again but shush), with her shield’s pieces having been reconstructed over the years, but it’s the other things that start to contradict. For starters, Hollyberry didn’t seem to disappear as a result of the Dark Flour War, rather her disappearance seems to be that she left of her own accord, presumably sometime after the Dark Flour War, implying that she did not disappear. Also her memory problems aren’t like Pure Vanilla’s, since she seems to remember who she is, at least to some degree (I feel like it was very selective what she did and didn’t know, and the whole thing confuses me), but I suppose that doesn’t really matter as Pure Vanilla’s amnesia may just have been some sort of trauma defense thing, and thus just personal to him. I mean, Dark Enchantress remembers who she is

…I felt like I had more contradictions for her, but now I feel like the only major one here is that it’s implied that she didn’t disappear, but she stayed and went back to her kingdom

Oh wait, there’s also the fact that the Hollyberry Kingdom is fine and prospering, other than the whole dragon thing but no one seems too bothered by that. The whole idea that the world is suffering without the Ancients, specifically their own kingdoms, or that they were ever absent, just doesn’t feel like it’s there

But now let’s move on to Dark Cacao’s storyline, which I feel has the most contradictions

Hollyberry’s story feels a bit ambiguous whether the Ancients disappeared, but in Dark Cacao’s it outright says no they did not. Dark Cacao has been here and nothing implies he ever left, at least not for a significant period of time. Also, he has his whole Soul Jam, and again, nothing implies that he lost that or had to reconstruct it. He’s just had it the whole time. Both of these directly contradict the prologue

And while yes, his kingdom is suffering, and it’s partially because he lost his way, it wasn’t because of the Dark Flour War, rather this seems to have been a much more recent development with Affogato Cookie and particularly Dark Choco’s betrayal and exile. While some evidence may suggest things got worse for them after the Dark Flour War (in Dark Choco’s memories, his younger self seems to imply that the kingdom is isolating itself and is worse off for it), but things didn’t reach that breaking point until after Dark Choco’s banishment

Maybe that’s why the Dark Cacao storyline feels weird to me, because the conflict didn’t start because of things that happened in the Dark Flour War, nor does that seem to have had much effect on Dark Cacao or the kingdom, but rather it was because of something entirely separate

But yeah, going back to how things are presented to us now, the Ancients, other than Pure Vanilla alongside Dark Enchantress Cookie, never disappeared, their Soul Jams might have remained whole and with the heroes, and all the kingdoms seem to be doing fine (Dark Cacao’s not so much, but that’s due to external forces). So basically, pretty much all the points we see in the prologue don’t add up

Honestly at some point I start to feel like what happened in the prologue didn’t actually happen and rather that was just a fabricated story, and that we end up seeing what really happened

[sleepless-in-starbucks]

actually it's really funny to me that now every time i think of throwing luke carder into a story my default luke for it is Some variation of a lucky jumbo luke

ofc part of this is jus bc . my beloved au . but also part of it (that i think ive talked about before) is that like,, luke lives in my head rent free in the Doomed Blorbo complex. i love that he is doomed! i love that his is a story over from the very beginning!

and because of that,, i dont really Want to alter anything that happened to him 'in game'. do i like thinking about his thought process during it? sure, i dig into his brain like a worm into a rotten apple. but at the end of the day everything still occurs. inscryption still gets deleted and he still gets shot. i dont want to change that, because it removes some of the inherent Doom of his character. but i do want to put Doomed Luke into Situations. so i need a luke who exists After inscryption despite being Killed by inscryption. enter the block people,

[dimdiamond]

I wanted to make a post about Chester but all his info is just on this page (keep only the information that his first name is George- I still can't believe it) and in canon, he literally appears in only a few pages in Shooting Star and he's mentioned three times later on, one in The Secret of the Unicorn, another in Seven Crystal Balls and another in Castafiore's Emerald. Unfortunately in no media he ever appears (yeah, not even in the 90s cartoon series- THE AUDACITY TO CUT HIS SCENES- and let's leave the Belvision show, just keep in mind neither there he appears), as far as I know at least (if you find him elsewhere send me the link immediately, it's an order).

So you must be wondering (no you don't but let's pretend you do) why all this fuss about a less-than-secondary character? Well, that's because, first, I'm not well, and second, HE'S NOT LESS THAN A SECONDARY CHARACTER! Just because you can kick him away from the plot doesn't make his importance less, and at least for Haddock he's NOT! They're shipmates for 20 years (20 YEARS! DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW LONG ARE 20 YEARS OF FRIENDSHIP?!), Chester risks his career for him, Haddock asks for his help, they try to meet up but fail and they keep in contact, regularly enough for Chester to send his congratulations for his "engagement" with Bianca. Chester is the only connection to Haddock's past and the only true and loyal stability of Haddock's almost whole life! So how can someone deem him less worthy of attention and importance when the mains (yes, even Tintin) count on him despite the distance between them?!

And now that we made clear how Chester is a very undermined character with unfair treatment from even official releases, I'll proceed with my personal takes and headcanons of him under the cut so you can ignore them if you don't care or whatever :)

Ohhh boy where do I begin??!!!

Ok so from the little canon material we can see that Chester is calmer than Haddock but ready to fight anytime and also uses the same style of sea shanties as him so we can conclude that they developed it together and, considering how sillies and childish they can get with their greeting, it doesn't surprise me that they have lots of imagination. This shared childish joy makes me wonder if they could know each other as kids so I usually end up headcanoning them as childhood friends, growing up in the same village and sharing many interests and dreams and secrets. They're for each other the most trustworthy person and the truest friend, and their friendship has such a strong foundation that it is sustained after so many years and despite following different paths in their lives. They won't need more than a moment to go back to their old ways and be kids again together, only more aged as the years pass by.

Chester also shows to be more moderate and quieter than Haddock and in general, a guy that reads the room much better than his friend. The way he treats Tintin, immediately trusting him and taking him seriously, is because he sees how he and Haddock are close and understands that there is a big level of trust and respect between them. That could be maybe because Chester reads characters well or because Tintin wins you over immediately but probably it's because of both of these and the fact that Haddock only speaks well of his young friend, who seems genuinely interested in the friendship of the two captains. Also, Chester's attitude towards Tintin is very interesting, he immediately shows trust and goes along with the plan (these two are seriously the real masterminds and Haddock is super lucky to have them work for his benefit), meaning that for him what matters is the person and not the appearances.

I find it so funny and cool how Chester just goes along with every plan and idea that most people would be more cautious to agree with?! Like fooling the fuel company to give in secret to someone the company refused to?! And doing it with such ease?! Like "Of course I will mess with the millionaire corporation" despite the huge risk of ruining his career?! You can't tell me that he wouldn't be the first to go to protests and support strikes and help anyone being mistreated by rich and powerful people! This man hates capitalism and authorities and would straight-face mock cops and royals (he and Haddock are proud anti-monarchy Scottish men) and the only rich he respects is Haddock because he doesn't have the attitude of a rich person!

I can't but mention how easily he gave Haddock Sirius for finding Red Rackham's Treasure and there was no mention of giving him a merit of the treasure (actually none on the ship asked for a merit and that's amazing). Most people would ask for something in return, especially giving something as essential as a transportation mean, but he just offers it?! How generous is that?! Maybe Chester isn't the kind of person to care for riches or he considers himself financially well enough to not worry about it? And probably he is since he never seems to ask that kind of help from Haddock later on and he always works so it's not like he has difficulty in securing a good contract.

Speaking of Chester always depicting traveling and never stopping being a Captain, it makes me think that he doesn't want to stop. Not only because he loves the sea and ships and his profession in general and not only because he has no life elsewhere and the sea is his whole life, but also because he wants to run away. Think of it! Chester, after his first and only appearance, is only mentioned in the comics and never shown, even when the main duo tried to meet him it was too late, he was already gone. He depicts freedom as a concept and the ideal of a well-traveled captain but also someone you can't catch because he doesn't want to. He gives the impression of someone running away from whatever life on land can be and while Haddock found his peace away from the sea Chester can't and doesn't seem eager to do so.

The reluctance of Chester to retire or just live on land might be because of his lack of family back on land and when all your friends and acquaintances are at sea why leave? He undeniably loves his job but I think he also hesitates to do something different from what he knows and lacks the confidence in fields he has no idea of.

As a captain he is excellent, his social skills are very good and he's very friendly but he knows how to keep his crew in check and they all respect him. I find it funny not being good with languages but insisting on learning them. He might look like not the academic type and not intelligent but that's because he believes himself to not be so, especially since he hasn't finished school- a learning disorder that was never diagnosed- and he can't concentrate long on reading books. However, he is really smart and intelligent of different kinds, like how he can adapt to new situations and people easily and even emotional intelligence.

Chester needs socialising but he's not as open as he looks. An extrovert that looks for interactions and outgoings, relaxed and comfortable in the middle of a big group of people but not the loudest, and in the end you realize he barely talked about himself, or if he did he only said what he wanted you to know. In reality, he has many insecurities and he reveals them and a more unpleasant side of himself only to his closest people. He prefers straightforward discussions and clear words but his hesitation to open up more or react strongly to anything can lead to the misunderstanding of being apathetic and uncaring.

About his family, I usually picture him being an only son with a very doting mother and a very strict and closed-minded father who raised him with traditional values and ethos. I don't know what job his father might have had but they wouldn't be wealthy for sure, learning to save money and not do unnecessary expenses. Chester was trying his best to not disappoint his father but he realized soon that this was inevitable as he couldn't change who he was (he could never be like his father as he was what his father hated) and leaving far away was the only way to safely be himself, satisfy his thirst for adventures and get away from a "proper" life, restricted in the same place with a wife and kids. His mother didn't stop him but his father abandoning his family for the sea was the last drop and they were separated on bad terms. (Depending on the concept I guess the details change in my mind but I stick to the gay with daddy issues).

Chester has a sufficient amount of money on his name but he lives a modest life and can't stand sitting down and not doing anything, even in his relaxing time he cleans like a maniac or knits (a habit he has adopted by his mother). He is a listening person so he listens to radio or vinyl if he hasn't got a company to listen to. He would like to have a cute pet but he doesn't have much free time nor can't take it with him on his long trips. He takes care of his appearance but that doesn't mean he follows all the new trends and prefers a more classic style.

He is a merciless teaser and with the right victim, he can go hours messing up with them. Haddock is a usual and fun victim but Chester would never go that far to actually hurt him. He is cheerful and usually positive, without letting it get over his head, and if he's not in a good mood he prefers to hide than be seen like that or be pitied.

In conclusion, despite being raised with very closed-minded values, Chester managed to be a very open-minded person, without letting prejudices affect him, be fair with his treatment to anyone, choose positivity and goodness and kindness, and be determined to live his life the way he wants to, free from restrictions, free for any possibility.

I think I have written more or less most of the things in my head about Chester but I do believe there are many things someone can do with his character (I didn't even touch the topic of early adventures with Haddock as I'm sure fans have many great stories for them in their minds and I doubt I can reach this level of creativity).

If you want to ask something more about my headcanons of him or/and his relationships with other characters and such feel free to do so :)

[illithilit]

Whose superiority complex will win: red dragon vs illithid

[the-voice-of-night-vale]

saw ppl in a reddit thread talking about the emperor baldursgate being inherently evil and manipulative and i'm like....... manipulative ok i'll give you that it is generally self-serving and logical to a fault and does manipulate everyone around it in order to get what it wants and thinks is right.

but, evil? no, buddy, that is entirely informed by how you respond to it over the course of the game. (whether you think its manipulation (and the everything surrounding orpheus) makes it evil is up to you, but there is, in fact, a Bad Ending for it where it is Much Much Worse)

if you continually disparage it, throw aside its trust and attempts to help you, and in the paramount Scene with it, if you're mean, that changes the direction of the character and the way it interracted/interacts with the world. it literally retcons things. if you're normal or nice, it is, as i said, manipulative and selfish and just kind of a dick, but seeing how everyone in the game is kind of like that in varying degrees, i would not label the emperor as "inherently evil" and i don't know if it's just people misunderstanding the breadth of control players have over the ""canon"" of the individual playthrough world (which would explain some other Generally Bad Takes people seem to have) or if people are truly drinking the koolaid of the game insisting that illithids are inherently all evil soulless monsters, which is funny given one of the endings of the game, and the existence of umaleoum

[effervescentdragon]

Hi Akira!❤ HAPPY BIRTHDAY!🎂 I've been too shy to say hi🤧👋 I absolutely love your minds and your writings😭❤ *throwing hearts to you

❤❤For the three sentences au👀Simi+Star Wars AU👀

Hello! Thank you so so much, I'm so glad you've decided to say hiiii <333 and thank you so much for your kind words and well wishes! all the hugs and kisses! here's some SW AU Simi for you, mwah! I hope you like it!!! <3333

"Master," Sebastian said to him, and Kimi reached within himself.

There is no emotion, there is peace.

"Master, please don't do this. You know he is stronger than you," Sebastian pleaded, and Kimi could feel his anguish through the Force, so strong was it.

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.

"Master, I beg you, listen to me, don't go, I cannot lose you," Sebastian said, and grabbed Kimi's hand, and Kimi faltered, and let him.

There is no passion, there is serenity.

"Master," Sebastian said, and his eyes were glowing, and Kimi remembered how Sebastian looked when he fought, how he reached for the Force like it was easy, like it was second nature to him, how the blue of his lightsaber sometimes glowed purple; not the Hurrikaine purple of a native crystal, but the shade that looked like bloodshine. "Master, you cannot go. Or if you go, you must take me with you!"

There is no chaos, there is harmony.

"Padawan," Kimi said, and Seb's eyes flashed. "Sebastian," he amended, and Sebastian's hand on his tightened. "You know that is not how it will be."

He stepped away, pulling out his lightsaber. The yellow of its shine was too bright in the dark. Sebastian's face looked even more distressed in its glow.

"Get the prisoners out. I will join you after," Kimi said, and swallowed the I promise that wanted to fall from his lips. Only Sith deal in absolutes, he thought, and moved.

[solvicrafts]

*gently grabs and shakes Legend of Drizzt fandom*

listen guys as a former MCU stan I can safely say that even if I don't always like everything going on with drow and the LOD series I can safely say that Bob fucking cares about his characters and genuinely respects his fans

You guys seriously have no idea how fucking lucky we are

And if you don't believe me? Just look at what the fucking Loki and Gamora fans went through with Infinity War and Endgame

[monster-noises]

I started writing another post that did More Details but I lost steam on it but I also don't Don't wanna post about it so I'm gunna talk about some silly Vile things in the Tags that I just spent like 40 mins in front of the mirror coming up with

[that-tall-queer-bassist]

Yeah all of fWhip’s original villagers came from cured zombie villagers he canonically captured in boats from the cave, but eventually he did set up a breeder for efficiency. The same thing happened with flying for him, where at first he didn’t want to use an elytra for lore purposes but he eventually gave in and did the elytra ears so he could travel quicker

been turning this around in my head so much.

current headcanon is that the zombie villagers were corrupted by the skulk and he worked with shubble to cure them and is making efforts to contain the skulk in its own area whilst creating a new empire for all of the recently cured goblins who suddenly come back to themselves and find that their home has been taken by the cave except its okay because theres a tall goblin who’s helping them get rehabilitated.