#She’s kind of a play on those people who like. Look forward to dying because they get to go to heaven!!!

[lowkeyerror]

Death and Dinner

Rio Vidal x Reader

Word Count: 1.8k

Notes: Fluff, banter, minor angst, technically character death (you're dead), mentions of minor character death, more comfort than hurt, comedy aspects

Summary: You are Death's secretary. When she can't remember how you died, she convinces you to tell her over dinner.

An: This idea comes from that one person on tiktok that does the Death and Secretary skits I think you can find them @ FlickerSpark on tiktok.

Masterlist | Masterlist 2

The natural order of things can be very meticulous at times. While it may seem as though things just happen and the process is self-sufficient that is not always the case.

When it came to the process of dying, there were many steps to make it to eternal bliss or damnation or something in-between.

Death used to handle all of those pesky decisions on her lonesome, but eventually to make her job easier, she got a secretary.

Someone who could handle all the mundane aspects of the life cycle, so that all she had to do was collect the souls. It left the grim reaper with an abundance of free time to run amuck.

Rio loved to run amuck.

You hardly think she was Lady Death with all of the fun she had. There was nearly always a smile on her face, she always had something smug to say, she was something like a light. So bright that you could go blind just by looking at her.

“Y/n, how’s my 4 o’clock looking?”

Her presence startles you as it always does. Rio just likes to pop up unannounced rather than use the door.

You click a few things on your desktop, “Not that busy, but it seems like a lot of accidents. Slipped and fell with knife, choked on dinner, ingesting paint.”

“Ingesting paint does not sound like and accident,” Rio places her hand on her forehead.

You shrug, “All that to say you’re not dealing with the brightest bunch here.”

She groans, “I wish you could come with me on the pick-ups, you have way more patience than I do.”

“True.”

Rio scoffs playfully, “You were supposed to disagree.”

You roll your eyes at her, “Oh no Lady Death you are so patient and kind.”

She laughs at your sarcasm, “I’ll have you know I am very patient. Why do you think people get live past the age 30 now? When I was alive 30 was old, now we got people living past 100.”

You nod in faux-agreement, “Sure, if you say so.”

Rio narrows her eyes, “You’re not… you weren’t 30, right? When you died?”

It’s your turn to laugh, “No, I was not.”

She sighs in relief, “Whew, for a second there I thought-”

“I was 27,” you cut her off.

There aren’t many times that Death is left speechless, but this is one of them.

“And you died how?” She says after a long silence.

A small smirk plays on your lips, “You’re going to have to remember that one.”

“Y/n,” she whines. “People die all day, everyday.”

“But only one of those people is your secretary. Now go reap those empty headed souls, it’s 4,” you shoo her away

She points a finger at you, “This isn’t over.”

“Looking forward to it, you retort.”

When Rio leaves you’re somewhere in the back of her mind. She remembers picking you as her secretary in the 90’s? Maybe it was the 2000’s? There was definitely internet.

She remembers picking you because of how smart you were. Being cute definitely didn’t harm the decision making process. She remembers the confusion when she saw someone like you was supposed to float off in purgatory for eternity.

She comes back into the office when she’s done, opting to use the door for once. She put her elbow on the desk, so that head could rest in her palm.

“Did you kill yourself?”

You don’t look up from your keyboard, “Not exactly.”

“What kind of answer is that?”

You shrug, “The true kind.”

“You’re killing me baby,” Rio puts a dramatic pout on her face.

“Statistically improbable,” you finally look up at her.

Her eyes are scanning over your face, “Ok, clearly I don’t recall, but I want to know. How about, as a sorry for not remembering how you died, I take you out of this stuffy old office? We can get dinner and then you can fill me in on your passing.”

“That kind of sounds like date,” you point out.

Rio just counters, “It sounds like dinner.”

“I can agree to those terms.”

She smirks, “Let’s go then.”

“Right now?”

She extends her hand to you, “No better time than the present.”

You put your hand in hers, “I don't get to get ready?”

Rio’s eyes drag over your figure, “You look perfect, but if wardrobe is a big thing for you, I can take care of that.”

With your hand in her’s it’s hard to hide your blush. You can see the cocky smile on her face already forming.

“Let’s just go,” you avert your gaze from her.

With a snap of her fingers you’re at a restaurant table. It’s nothing too fancy, but it’s nice enough to make you wish you’d changed.

“Worrying about your clothes and not having any questions about how you are on Earth again is pretty strange,” Rio whispers from across the table.

“Well in case you missed it I'm having dinner with Death. I feel like the rest is pretty self explanatory,” you toss back at her.

She sends you a lopsided smile, “Then you should trust me not to let you come to a place like this in a hoodie and jeans.”

You glare at her, “You said I looked perfect.”

You look down to find yourself in a more upscale outfit. Something that still felt soft and comfortable against your skin.

“You always look perfect to me,” she says it offhandedly, but there’s something there.

You don’t get a chance to answer before the waiter approaches the table. He’s speaking to you in French. Before you can work out what to say, Rio has ordered for the both of you and sent the waiter along with a joke that makes him chuckle.

“You speak French?”

“Honey I’m Death, I speak every language. Even the one’s that don’t exist anymore,” she teases you.

“So you remember forgotten languages, but not how your secretary died? Interesting.”

Rio pouts, “Did you ever tell me?”

You look at her slyly, “Maybe, maybe not? Shouldn’t you know regardless, I mean you were there.”

She rubs her temple, “I’m always there. For everyone.”

You take pity on her and sit back in your seat, getting a little more comfortable, “Tell me what you remember from when we first met.”

Rio recounts some details, “I remember that your soul was going to purgatory.”

You hum.

She continues, “You had to be wearing that hoodie. You literally wear it almost every day so I'm assuming it sentimental.”

You nod, “I was wearing the hoodie.”

Rio looks in your eyes, “Did you save someone?”

Your eyes turn a little glossy, “I’d like to think I did, but I died before I really knew for sure.”

The conversation doesn’t progress any further before the food comes. You’re grateful for the break. The two of you eat with lighter small talk sprinkled throughout the dinner.

When you’re done Rio pays and you leave the restaurant. You walk the streets together enjoying the fresh air on your skin. You don't remember the last time you felt it.

Rio’s hand slips into yours at some point. She’s cold, but that's nothing new. You always found her cool skin comforting.

She’s lead you to a small park. The wo of you sit on a bench. Her hand doesn't let go of yours.

“I remember now,” she breaks the silence.

You let out a heavy sigh, “A little brutal, but I did it to myself, I guess.”

Her eyes bore into yours, “No, you didn’t. You did it to save his life.”

You close your eyes to stop the tears from falling. You turn away from her. It might not help, but you can’t help it as you whisper, “Did I save him?”

It was a question you never knew the answer to. Something that haunted you relentlessly. Did you act fast enough to save your son?

“You did.”

Squeezing your eyes closed didn’t stop the tears from falling. He was okay. You had always hoped that when you pushed him out of the way, he survived. Part of you was skeptical, maybe you pushed him to hard or maybe it wasn’t fast enough. Hell maybe there was another car driving the wrong way on the one-way street.

“I always wondered if I had been quick enough,” there’s a small patch of relief in your voice.

“Life can be such a mysterious thing sometimes,” Rio murmurs.

You wipe at some of your tears, “Why do you say that?”

Rio gently lifts your face, just enough to swipe away your tears with the pad of her thumb, “I lost my son too.”

Your eyes soften for her, “You had a son?”

Rio smiles sadly, “Nicky was only 6 when I lost him.”

“Did you have to-”

She chuckles bitterly, “Of course, I did. I tried to make it as pleasant as possible for him. On the inside it felt like I was dying all over again. His mother never forgave me. I lost everything in one foul swoop.”

Everything is silent for a moment. There’s a heaviness blanketed over the both of you. Yet there is also some comfort knowing that neither of you is alone in this experience. She knows how you feel, and you know how she feels. Two sides of the same coin, with loss as the common denominator.

“I’m sorry, didn’t know that dinner would end in so many negative emotions,” you attempt to joke.

Rio leans into you, “Usually all the trauma comes long after the first date, but we’ve known each other awhile now.”

“Date, I thought you said it was dinner?”

She gets even closer, smiling when you don't back away, “Well it’s just dinner unless we kiss. If we kiss, then it’s date.”

“Is that so?”

Her eyes dart to your lips, “Last time I checked.”

This time you lean in, “Then what are you waiting for."

She doesn’t waste any time planting her lips against yours. It surprises you to find out her lips are warm. They’re plush like as the carefully mix with yours. You could lose yourself to the sensation.

“You know we could kiss forever. Neither of us need oxygen,” Rio breaks the kiss.

“Then why'd you stop?” You whine.

Rio kisses your cheek, “Because I'm a gentle woman, and this is the first date.”

“Well you have a gap around 2pm tomorrow. Let’s do lunch,” you suggest.

Rio smirks, “Trying to speed up the process, so you can get into my pants?”

You send her coy smile, “And if I was?”

Rio stands from the bench extending her hand to you, “Then I’d say I’m excited for our lunch date.”

You take her hand and she pulls you into her side. Her arm drapes over your shoulder. You nuzzle into her warmth.

“Me too.”

[peepee-ketchupman]

Title: The Things We Refuse to Name

|Noelle|

Noelle stabs her fork into the sad excuse for a school salad, scowling as a shredded carrot piece *dares* to slip off the plastic tines. She can already feel the headache forming behind her temples, an all-too-familiar pressure like an overfilled balloon pressing against her skull.

Across from her, Akarsha is talking.

Of course, Akarsha is talking.

Noelle doesn’t need to listen to know exactly what she’s saying—some asinine joke, some ridiculous theory, some obnoxious attempt at getting under her skin. It’s always the same. Always.

"What if every time you sneeze, it’s actually an alternate universe version of you dying and your body is just rejecting their soul trying to enter?"

Diya tilts her head in consideration. Min mutters something like, "That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard," but Noelle barely hears them. Her focus is already honed in on the source of the problem.

Akarsha’s elbow rests on the lunch table, her fingers tapping idly against her cheek. The corners of her lips are curved into that infuriating smirk, like she *knows* she’s annoying Noelle and thrives off it.

Noelle exhales sharply through her nose. "Are you even capable of saying something that isn’t nonsense?"

Akarsha gasps, dramatically clutching her chest. "Noelle. That’s so mean. What if I have Feelings™?"

"You don’t."

Akarsha shrugs, taking a lazy bite of her sandwich. "Fair point."

Noelle narrows her eyes, the inside of her chest twisting into something tight and unfamiliar. This—this feeling, whatever it is—it’s been *happening*. More and more. And it is *unacceptable*.

It’s not *fondness*. It’s not *attachment*. Noelle refuses to be one of those people who lets irrational emotions override logic.

She simply understands Akarsha too well. That’s all.

She knows, for example, that when Akarsha makes a joke, there’s a 45% chance it’s to distract from something real. That when she laughs *too* loud, it’s often to drown out her own thoughts. That sometimes, when she thinks no one is paying attention, her expression goes terrifyingly blank—like she’s momentarily stepped out of her own body.

Noelle knows these things with the same certainty she knows that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.

And *knowing* something doesn’t mean she *cares*.

Does it?

Noelle shoves another bite of salad into her mouth, chewing with unnecessary force. *She does not care. If anything, she loathes Akarsha. That’s the real emotion here. Loathing.*

Even as she thinks it, something about the words feels... off.

|Akarsha|

Akarsha knows Noelle is watching her.

She pretends she doesn’t. Plays it cool. Keeps up the act.

She smirks, cracks another dumb joke, throws in a little extra flair just to see if she can make Noelle roll her eyes. It’s a game, right? This is what they do.

This is what they’ve *always* done.

Except lately, it feels... different.

It’s the way Noelle’s gaze lingers just a second too long before snapping away. The way she *knows* things about Akarsha that even Akarsha barely admits to herself. The way her insults are still sharp but not *cruel*—like they’re designed to push, not cut.

It scares the shit out of her.

Because if Noelle notices *too much*, if she *really* figures it out, then what? What happens when Akarsha runs out of jokes, and all that’s left is the mess underneath?

And worse—what happens when Noelle rejects it again?

Because she *will*. Of course, she will.

Noelle is practical. Logical. The kind of person who calculates everything down to the decimal point. There’s no world where she looks at someone like Akarsha—a human disaster with more issues than a stack of overdue library books—and *chooses* her.

Akarsha knows this. But she still does it anyway.

She leans forward, propping her chin on her palm. "Hey, Frenchman."

Noelle tenses immediately. "What."

"You ever think about how romantic our relationship is?"

Diya makes a small noise of surprise. Min just crosses her arms, watching.

Noelle gives Akarsha the *nastiest* look. "In what world—"

"You know me better than I know myself. Isn’t that *intimate*?" Akarsha bats her eyelashes dramatically. "We’re basically soulmates."

Noelle’s face twitches. "That is *not* what that means."

Akarsha grins, but it feels flimsy, even to her. "Soooo you’re saying you *don’t* know me?"

For just a second—so fast she almost misses it—Noelle falters.

The thing about Noelle is that she doesn’t lie. She’ll evade, she’ll deflect, she’ll scoff and dismiss—but she won’t lie.

And the fact that she *doesn’t* immediately say no?

Akarsha’s stomach flips.

But then Noelle’s expression hardens, and she folds her arms like she’s sealing herself shut. "*Obviously* I know you. You’re impossible to ignore."

It’s meant as an insult. Probably. But Akarsha latches onto it anyway.

"Wow, Noelle. I had no idea you thought about me so much." She presses a hand over her chest, fake swooning. "I’m honored, really."

Noelle groans. "I hate you."

Akarsha winks. "That’s not what your heart says."

But the joke comes out wrong. Too strained. Too *thin*.

She waits for Noelle to roll her eyes, to call her stupid, to dismiss her like always. But instead, Noelle just looks at her.

Looks at her too long.

And something in Akarsha wants to *run*.

Because this isn’t like last time. Last time was easy—easy to laugh off, easy to pretend it didn’t mean anything. She was just messing around. Just joking.

But if Noelle takes the hint this time—if she *really* figures it out—what then?

What happens when she looks at Akarsha, understands her completely, and still decides she’s not worth it?

The thought burns like acid.

So she grins wider, masks harder, makes the joke bigger.

"Wow, you’re *really* staring. Are you, like, discovering your feelings for me in real-time?"

Noelle *slams* her fork down.

"Eat your food and *shut up*," she snaps, her face slightly pink.

Akarsha lets herself bask in the victory. But the bitter part of her—the one she can never fully drown out—already knows this isn’t a win.

This is just another day of pretending she doesn’t care.

[chickensarentcheap]

Especially for you, @tragiclyhip because I know you love them together

@watermeezer @youflickedtooharddamnit @secretaryunpaid @bardic-tales

And anyone and everyone else of course :)

“Some of them are pretty deep. And I know you tried when you were in the shower, but there’s stuff stuck in some of them. Dirt or wood or something. Aren’t they sore?”

“They’re SCRATCHES. I’ve had a hell of a lot worse.”

“They’re a mess is what they are.” She picks up the tweezers; eyes narrowing as she leans over him and plucks pieces of debris out of one of the wounds. “Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but weren’t things supposed to go down in the city?”

“They did. In Laos.”

“I thought it was going to be the same in Cambodia. You let me read what Anil sent you. I’m pretty sure things were supposed to happen in Phnom Penh? How’d you end up going from there into the jungle?”

“There was a change of plans.”

She smirks. “Obviously.”

“You know how it is, things don’t always go the way we want.”

“I’d say nine times out of ten, they don’t. Seriously though, your face is a wreck. You should have gotten this all cleaned up hours ago. BEFORE you got on a plane home. What if they get infected? You don’t know what’s in that jungle. They could have some crazy poisonous plant life or something. What if you got into something like THAT?”

“I think it’s safe to say we’d know something like that by now. What are you so squeamish about? You’ve seen me in worse shape.”

“Now THAT’S an understatement. Have you ever thought I just don’t like seeing you banged up and scratched up? Have you ever thought maybe I’ve had just about enough of all of that? Can’t I nurse you back to health from something else for a change? Like...I don’t know...the man flu?”

“You always complain when I get sick. That I’m too needy.”

“I have never once said you’re too needy. I have, however, complained about how whiny you get. How you come down with a head cold and act like you’re dying. How do you go through the things you have and survive what you’ve survived, and think a cold will be the cause of your demise?”

“Hey, those colds get pretty bad.”

“Worse than…” Pausing, she sits straight up and drops the tweezers onto the bed, then soaks a cotton ball with peroxide. “...you know what? I’m not even going to finish that sentence because that will only bring bad juju. Talking about all of that? Revisiting it? Nothing good will come of that. And we need good juju, don’t you think?”

“Are you drunk?”

“Who? Me? No. Maybe. Just a little. Is a whole bottle of wine for oneself considered drunk?”

“For normal people, yeah. For you…”

“Look, I had a rough day. In fact, it’s been a brutal FOUR days. And right now? Well right now, I should be getting laid. Or at the very least, have my husband going down on me. And what I’m doing? Playing nursemaid. And not in a fun, sexy way either. Not the kind of playing nursemaid that comes with little outfits and orgasms.”

He grins. “You ARE drunk.”

“I’m just saying, I had other plans for this evening and picking pieces of the Cambodian jungle out of your face wasn’t part of it.”

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

“Mmm...hmmm…”

“And I’d rather be doing other stuff too, but…”

“But the shit hit the fan and everything got fucked up and you ended up doing God knows what, doing God knows where. I’m not even going to ask how it went. I think I’m scared to hear the answer. It was obviously a dumpster fire if you went from the capital city of Cambodia to the bowels of hell.”

“There were a couple...snags.”

She returns to the task of investigating and cleaning the various scratches that mar his face and neck. “Anil let on everything went great.”

“Probably just didn’t want to worry you.”

“Was there something for me to worry about?”

“Not as far as I’m concerned. I’ve been involved in way worse things. It was pretty straight forward. Two easy hits.”

“First one went okay?”

“Exactly the way it should have.”

“Second one?”

“I thought you weren’t going to ask?”

“You don’t want me asking?”

“I don’t care if you ask. You just said you weren’t going to because you were afraid of what you might hear.”

“Do I have anything to be afraid of?”

“Esme, seriously? Do you want to know or not? It wasn’t THAT bad. I’m here, aren’t I? In one piece?”

She nods.

“It honestly wasn't that big of a disaster. Things got a little fucked up. The second one didn’t go the way it should have. I had to make some decisions; change some shit around. The Mark wasn’t where he was supposed to be. I had to find out where he was and I had to figure out how to make things work.”

“Well good thing it WAS you that Anil asked. Because it probably would have been a lot worse. At least you know what you’re doing; you can think on your feet and stay calm and focused. A change like that? That would have thrown other people off. They probably wouldn’t have been able to get the second guy. They would have been too frazzled. That kind of change would have totally thrown them off.”

“Are you speaking highly of me, wife?”

“I am. I tend to speak very highly of you. All the time. To everyone. Even when I’m picking pieces of Cambodia out of your face.” She grabs the tweezers and unceremoniously inserts the tips into a large scratch at the side of his left eye; yanking out a piece of wood. “And it’s a nice face, by the way. So I don’t particularly like you coming home all messed up.”

“Like I said, I’ve had worse.”

“I will give you that.”

They lapse into a comfortable, companionable silence; his hands resting on her thighs as she continues to work at disinfecting and cleaning the scratches and her fingertips rub wound aftercare ointment into his skin. And he admires her as she does so. That steely look of determination on her face; lips set in a thin line and her eyes slightly narrowed and her hands steady yet gentle. And she looks so beautiful in that moment; in the mixture of moonlight and the glow given off by the bedside lamps. Hair pushed into a messy ‘up sweep’; held together by various clips -colourful and unicorn themed, ‘borrowed’ from Addie’s room- and bobby pins. Her face freshly cleaned and scrubbed; bearing the lingering scent of the grapefruit and pomegranate body wash she’d fallen in love with months ago. Clad in what she considers pyjamas; a faded and slightly tattered plaid button down shirt he’d worn during their Colorado days that is enormous on her tiny frame.

It’s been just over twelve years. Since he’d first laid eyes on her; standing on his front porch in The Kimberley in her little denim shorts and that yellow tank top that clung to her like a second skin. He’d known right away that he was in trouble; feeling things he hadn’t felt in a hell of a long time when she so much glanced in his direction and offered a small, almost nervous smile. And it would take him nearly ten years to admit what she’d probably known not long after their initial meeting: that his heart was hers from the very first day.

“You’re beautiful.” He says now, and a smile tugs at the corners of her mouth.

“Are YOU drunk?”

“I haven’t drank in five years. I’m truthful.”

“Maybe your eyesight is worse than you think,” she teases, and dabs a peroxide dampened cotton ball against the scratches on his forehead.

“Or maybe you just hate compliments. Even twelve years into things.”

“You know I don’t handle compliments well. Even now. I know that doesn’t make sense, considering we HAVE been together that long and you’re the master of compliments and sweet talk, but that’s just who I am. It’s just me.”

“I will break you yet.”

“You’ve been trying for over a decade. Same way you’ve been trying to make an honest woman out of me.”

[hel-phoenyx]

Toshiki and Ian belong to @corneille-but-not-the-author, Ajeng to @soupedepates

___

There's a man a the Office for Special Investigations.

I didn't join it from the goodness of my heart, nor am I seeking justice. Justice is a concept only the naïve can uphold in this fucked-up country. Justice is an excuse the powerful use to crush the powerless. Justice is the reason invoked for massacres and death.

If there was any justice, she would not have died this way. Like a dog sent to slaughter.

So no, I am not here because of justice. That's why it's annoying to witness that man talking about giving it back its real meaning and saving lives under its name. Is that justice to you ? I think is ingenuity.

That word fits so bad to his face.

He's always frowning. Or emotionless. Always in uniform, even at times we don't need ti, like when Ian invites us to drink after work or he comes at my flat to inquire about the cases i'm working on.

You're married to your work, are you ?

You make it sound like it's a bad thing.

Well, work sometimes end up dying.

People die. Not work.

He doesn't know what I've seen. He doesn't know what i've witnessed. He will never know. He will live, and die, with this ideal of justice. Like Ian, biting off more than he can chew. I see the shadow of death looming over both of them. I saw what happens when people of power bit more than they can chew.

Everything in him is dark. Hair, jet black, skin, a deep brown, even his clothes are always grey or black. The uniform, not even accompanied with some kind of accessories like Ajeng's. The only color is his eyes. A bright orange, always focused forward.

He's my superior. A king in a king-less word. But he's not a king worth serving. Too naïve. Too focused. Too much of a loner.

I've tried so many things to break that shell. Jokes. Jesting. Seduction, sometimes. Everything. Anything.

Just prove me you're not a robot programmed with a false idea of what runs this world.

So many people stronger than him fell in my crutches. i've run a country for so long with a jingle of my bells. Yet in front of me I'm hitting a wall, and the one's cracking is not his face.

Instead it's the mask.

It's so annoying to be in front of someone who's resisting me completely. Always with those cold eyes and cold facts and the hands full of paperwork he handing me, go to work instead of acting like a fool, Mérénias. I am a fool. I was a fool. You are just too young to remember a time it was a compliment.

Why don't I ever see you crack ?

Just crack.

It's infuriating how inhuman you are. I should be the only one here. The only one not living.

I joke about your machine heart and you don't move a lid. I try the seduction methods that made kings unfaithful to their partners and you don't even look my way. Abyss, you have seen me bare, you have seen the cracks on my body, something I never showed to anyone in so many years, and instead of the fissures I wanted to see complimenting mine on your face you just pushed papers in my hands and turned away so I could have the time to dress up.

Stop playing around and work, you horny fuck.

I am not.

I hate how you break the mask through your own wall and yet it's the only thing you can see.

You're a naïve, emotionless, insentitive machine with a pretty face sticked upon it

You shouldn't be

I shouldn't be hoping you'd be

Anything else.

[coris-horror-corner]

Break the Cycle: Chapter Four

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

Michael was at that age where he could get really angry at a lot of things, but he could also remember very clearly that time not so long ago when he wasn't angry at all.

It was all Evan's fault- he took away their mom and now Miss Rose was here instead and father was insisting they all call her mom instead. But Michael wasn't stupid, he knew she wasn't his mother, she wasn't any of his siblings’ mother either. She was just a woman who was nice most of the time and who worked with their father- even she didn't look comfortable with this whole thing, he could tell. He really wasn't looking forward to school starting up again in a few weeks either- the teachers were bad enough about mom dying, he couldn't imagine how much worse they'd get now.

“I just don't get it- he didn't even wait a year!” Michael spat.

Rose had taken the kids to the park today, said it was good for exercise, and building up Evan's allergy immunities.

“Maybe he was just lonely- people get like that sometimes and don't always want to wallow around in it,” Tori said from the swing set next to him.

“I guess- it just seems like he doesn't even care! It's like my stupid brother showed up and now everything sucks!” Michael groaned.

“Evan's just a baby Mike, you can't place all the blame on him- he can't even speak yet!” Tori said, hopping off of her swing to give him a hug. Michael just sort of sat there for a moment, resting his head on her shoulder.

He liked hanging out with Tori, she smelled like lavender, and she actually liked to play games with him, unlike the kids at school.

But she was also way too serious sometimes- talking to her felt like a toss up between a fun conversation and a lecture.

“Do you wanna talk about something else to get your mind off things?” Tori asked quietly.

“We could go talk in the old treehouse nearby?” Mixhael suggested. Tori nodded and followed him off into the wooded area nearby.

“So- what'd you wanna talk about?” She said when they finally managed to figure out somewhere comfortable to sit in the old wooden thing.

“Hmm. . . How come you're always wearing those necklaces? I don't think I've ever seen you without them- even at mom's ballet classes,” Michael asked, pointing at the bird and snake charm necklaces Tori had on.

“Oh- they're part of my family heritage- we have a long family history with the goddess Aphrodite- and I've started worshipping Apollo because of a gift he gave me,” Tori replied. “This one-” she pointed to the bird “is a dove, which is part of Aphrodite's symbolism- and this one-” she pointed to the snake “- is a python, which is part of Apollo's connection to the gift of prophecy,” she said. Michael kind of just stared at her for a while and blinked a few times.

“Well- that's cool- but what'd you mean ‘gifts’ does he send you like presents or something? Like Santa?” Tori laughed.

“No- no I mean magic, silly, it's been in our family for centuries, take son different forms, although occasionally we do get repeated gifts- it's from my father's side- usually we attribute it to Aphrodite, like my father has this sort of uncanny ability to convince others of anything he wants- he's got a very high position at his job back in Greece because of it- but I got something else, prophecy- which is why I started working with Apollo,” Tori said.

“Woooaaahhh- so you're like- a witch or something?” Michael said.

“I mean- I guess so- just- don't tell anyone else ok? It's technically supposed to be a secret- but I trust you,” she smiled at him when she said it, and Michael felt this odd fluttering sensation in his stomach.

“I promise- I won't tell anybody- never ever.” he said.

“Michael! Tori! Come on! It's time to go home!” Tori's face dropped when she heard Miss Rose's voice.

“It'll be ok, I'll see if you can come over tomorrow too- I know how much you hate it at your aunt and uncle's place,” Michael said, taking her hand and helping her down from the treehouse.

“You two should be more careful- I don't know that that tree is very safe,” said Miss Rose when they approached her.

“We were fine R- mom-” there was a flicker of sadness in Miss Rose's eyes, but her smile barely faltered.

“I know sweetheart, I just want to make sure you stay safe,” she chuckled, walking toward the car.

“Your father has something special for you at home Michael, so I'd check your room before dinner ok?” said Miss Rose as she loaded his siblings into the car.

“Well that's a first,” Michael said bitterly, Miss Rose just gave him a pitying look.

Sure enough, when he got home there was a box waiting on Michael's bed with a note from his father.

“Dear Michael, I'm sorry I've been busy lately- here is something to keep you company while I'm working, From William,” Michael read the note aloud before crumpling it up and tossing it into a nearby trash can. Turning his attention to the box, white and wrapped in red ribbon like the present boxes at Fredbear's, he tore it open- only to find a stuffed plush that looked like a mini version of the Fredbear animatronic.

“Great- another stupid stuffed toy.” Michael groaned, tossing the bear to the side and throwing away the box.

“Hello Mike!” Michael stopped in his tracks and whipped around to see where the sound had come from.

“What the hell. . .” he muttered, picking up the stuffed bear and turning it over a few times to see if there was something in it.

“That's not a nice word Mike!” said the bear.

“What'd you know? You're just a toy.” Michael hissed.

“I'm not a toy! I'm your new best friend!” The bear continued on in its chipper voice.

“Ugh- whatever,” Michael tossed the bear back on his bed and stormed out of his room.

“Did you get your present?” asked Miss Rose, who was buying herself in the kitchen, probably already working on dinner.

“Yeah- it was just some stupid talking bear,” Michael said.

“I want a talking bear!” Elizabeth said from where she lay on the couch with one of her picture books.

“You can have mine,” Michael said.

“I don't want yours- I want one that's pink! Pink and white with a bow tie and a top hat like Fredbear!” Elizabeth said, Michael just rolled his eyes.

“Mike sweetheart- can you go check on your brother? I need to keep this sauce under control for dinner,” Miss Rose called from the kitchen. Michael didn't say anything in response, just stormed off into the nursery.

Evan lay there in a crib, seeming content staring up at the baby mobile attached to it- until he caught sight of Michael and started crying.

“Son of a- shhh- hey- I'm just checking on you because- mom- said to- you can go back to bed!” Michael whispered, trying to figure out what exactly he was supposed to do to keep the kid's mouth shut.

Then he got an idea.

He ran to his room and grabbed the new bear off his dresser before running back to the nursery and dropping it in the crib with his brother.

“See! Look- you've even got a new friend! Everything's fine!” Michael said, waiting patiently to see if that was enough to get his brother to stop crying.

And sure enough Evan was asleep again not too long after.

For about five seconds, before he woke up and started wailing louder.

Then Michael heard the unmistakable thundering footsteps of his father.

“How hard is it to keep a baby quiet, Michael! And get that bear out of his crib! That was a present for you! Be grateful.” his father spat, shoving him out of the way and tossing the stuffed bear into his arms. Michael glared back up at him from the floor before silently slinking back to his room.

That night didn't exactly improve anything, Michael had one of the weirdest dreams he could remember in ages.

He ‘woke up’ in a weird room with two doors on each side, a bed, a closet, and some toys he recognized from Evan's nursery- and his, he was pretty sure.

And if that wasn't weird enough- what really freaked him out was when he turned around toward the bed to find a bunch of mini versions of the Freddy character from the new cartoon his dad and Henry were working on- mini versions with beady eyes and sharp teeth.

And it only got worse after that- more of the freaky things showed up- all based on the characters from the show. Michael tried his best to keep them out of the room- but eventually he'd made a mistake- and the nightmare Bonnie managed to get him. Michael half expected to wake up in whatever afterlife he was supposed to end up in- but instead he just woke up in bed. He checked his alarm, and it read 6:00am in big red lettering.

“Ugh. . .” he went back to bed, and the process repeated itself over and over again until he finally managed not to make any mistakes until his alarm went off for real.

“Are you ok sweetheart? You look exhausted!” Miss Rose said when Michael walked into the dining room for breakfast, hair sticking out at odd angles and eyes darkened way past the point they should have been for a kid his age.

“Didn't sleep well,” he muttered, taking his seat at the table.

“Oh poor thing, I'll be sure to add some extra sugar to your breakfast- we're going to the park again, I've already made plans with Tori's aunt and uncle so she'll be coming with us again,” Miss Rose said, planting a kiss on his forehead and placing a stack of pancakes in front of him, covered in whipped cream and sprinkles- sort of like a birthday cake.

When he got to the park he and Tori ran off for the treehouse immediately, he wanted to show her the weird bear and tell her what happened last night.

“So you felt like you were dying and everything?” Tori said as Michael finished recounting the nightmares he'd had.

“Yeah- like it bit me or something-” Michael nodded.

“That must've been really scary. . .” Tori said, he noticed her wince slightly and reach for her forehead.

“Are you ok?” Michael reached out to grab at her face- a knot in his chest forming at the idea of finding a bruise or something.

“I uh- yeah- just- remember that stuff I told you yesterday?” Michael thought back, looked at the python necklace around her neck, and then he nodded. “One of those prophecy things?” he asked.

“Yeah- just- give me a minute-” Tori said, leaning up against the back wall of the treehouse. Michael watched her in fascination as the icy blue of her eyes seemed to take over the sockets entirely, her mouth hung open and a strange fog-like substance fell out of it, he couldn't really make out any of the shapes it was making- he thought he saw a yellow rabbit and a white fox- and then another fox, but red this time- but he wasn't really sure. Tori stayed that way for an unsettlingly long time before she finally blinked a few times, the fog cleared up and her eyes turned back to normal.

“Does that happen a lot?” Michael asked, subconsciously grabbing for her face and checking her eyes.

“Yes, Mike- it happens at least once or twice a day- you- let go of my face, please, I promise it doesn't hurt me- it's just kind of like getting a headache,” Tori laughed as she brushed him off.

“Well headaches still suck,” Michael said matter-of-factly. “What was that one about? All I saw was a bunch of animals,” he continued.

“Most of my visions are very symbolic- I think this one had something to do with some kind of warning- like something bad was coming and I need to be prepared,” Tori responded. There was a long bit of silence after that before he and Tori got back to playing, spinning on the carousel until they both felt sick mostly, and then it was time to go home again.

“So how was the park today Michael? Did you and your little girlfriend have fun?” his father asked over dinner.

“Tori's not my girlfriend dad, she's just my friend who's a girl that I like hanging out with,” Michael said.

“Well- I've been thinking- you should invite her over this weekend, it's been a while since she's been at the house,” William said, Michael had a weird feeling that told him that might not be a good idea- but he also didn't really like telling his father no.

“Oh uh- sure- I guess I can ask-” Michael said. He finished up dinner and made his way back to his room, where the stuffed plushie he refused to give a name to sat on his bed, staring directly toward his pillows.

“Is it really safe for her to come here? I think dad was acting kind of weird about her coming over- and if she does that thing again. . .” Michael said to no one in particular.

“Why wouldn't it be safe? You're here aren't you? If anything it would be safer for her to go through this in a closed area, what would've happened if someone else had tried to use that treehouse?” came a reply from the bear. Michael gave it a weird look- what the heck was this thing even programmed with?

“Yeah- I guess she would be safer inside. . . I hope. . .” Michael muttered, throwing himself back onto the bed.

He just hoped that golden rabbit didn't mean what he thought it might. . .

[krikeymate]

Fictober 2023: Day 30: “Are you with me?” - Run Rabbit Run Fandom: Scream Rating: T Warnings: Violence.

➖

Sam takes a deep breath, her fingers clutching a white-knuckled grip around the hilt of her knife.

Her father’s knife.

The one he used to Kill. Destroy. Ruin.

She smiles –

To Stalk. Hunt. Haunt.

– And pulls down the mask.

Sam’s not her father.

She’s something better.

With an indisputable elation in her chest, she creeps forward, following her unsuspecting prey through the dark corridors of the university.

It’s so easy, so simple.

See, Billy’s flaw is he went after the innocent. That he was selfish.

Sam doesn’t have that problem.

People turn the other way when it’s the guilty who die, no one ever wants to look too close, to find the truth. It’s the perfect crime, ridding the world of those it’s better off without. Everyone agrees with it, but few have the guts to make it a reality.

But Sam’s always know she was stronger than most.

Her rabbit pauses as a shadowed figure steps into their path.

The corridor holds its breath; one, two, three…

The seconds drag on.

Sam waits with excitement, a dog pulling at its leash, preparing for the moment the clip is released; her toy with anxiety, taking a step back at the unexpected intrusion to their midnight wander.

The guest stays frozen with a calm restraint, the way one might if they know what comes next.

“Wh- who’s there?” their bunny calls out through shaking hands. “What are you doing? What do you want?”

Every unanswered question makes the boy fidget ever more, and Sam’s blood sings in anticipation.

“You haven’t been answering my calls, Bobby.”

Now Billy’s other big problem was his subpar choice of partner.

“That really hurt my feelings.”

Stu was pathetic, a stupid little lapdog, begging for attention from his… brother.

“See… I want to play a game. Would you like to play a game Bobby?”

But maybe that wasn’t Billy’s fault. Maybe Sam just lucked out on the sibling department.

“Wh-what kind of game?”

“How about… Tag?”

The leash snaps, Sam lunges forward, teeth of the blade sinking into flesh. Clothing rips apart like paper beneath the sharpened steel.

He screams like a dying animal. It’s pitiful.

She only gave him a kiss.

A part of her thinks that he deserves to die for that alone. He cries as a match singes his fingers, but Sam, she and Tara? They were thrown into the volcano and had to climb their way out themselves, bloody hand by bloody hand, flesh stripped from their skin. They emerged hardened. No one would hurt them again.

“I thought you liked to play games, Robert,” she coos as he begins to crawl away, sobbing.

“Please!” he begs, “please don’t, please stop.”

“Oh Robert.”

It takes everything she has to stay calm at the feeble display.

“Did you ever stop?”

He freezes, shaking.

“Did those girls beg on their hands and knees, crawling away, crying?”

He turns his head to face her, falling to his side.

He finds no Ghost.

Sam is alive.

Her mask is as human as she is. She’s not her father, she’s a person. That’s what she does it for. For people, for her person.

“How do you- You- You don’t know anything!”

Sam steps forward. The snivelling man crawls back.

“So you don’t want to play tag then?” she teases.

The horrified expression on his face as he bumps into her forgotten partner is worth the delay in justice.

He should be scared. He deserves every agonising moment, every slither of hope he can muster so they can only rip it away again. They want him to suffer, as others have suffered because of him. As they have suffered.

“You’re being rude again Bobby,” Tara chastises.

Sam smiles beneath her mask. She couldn’t ask for a better partner.

She reaches down to grab their prey by his jacket, pulling him up only to slam him down again. The cry he lets out as his injured back slams into the concrete floor is music to her ears.

She slips the knife under his chin and lets him sweat as she considers where to begin to his blubbering symphony.

Glancing up, she finds Tara watching, enraptured, a look of wonder in her eyes.

Sam wants nothing more than to remove the bandanna from her sister’s face, to pull back the hood, to reveal it all and revel in her love.

But they have to work before they can play.

“Are you with me?” Sam asks, breathless. She sits on one knee and offers her knife.

She doesn’t think her heart has ever beat so fast as she waits for Tara’s answer. They haven’t done this before.

It’s always Sam who does the killing, who makes the mess, who takes her pound of flesh. And that’s how Sam likes it.

There’s a part of her that doesn’t want Tara involved. The rational part of her still alive inside of her that begs her not to do this, to keep her hands clean, to keep her sister clean.

It’s cut to ribbons beneath Tara’s hidden smile as she takes the blade.

“I’m with you.”

[atopearth]

Piofiore: Episodio 1926 Part 7 - Henri Lambert Route & Overall Review

Henri wearing glasses showing a gentle smile is so beautiful. I honestly wish for him to be happy so I'm looking forward to this route! Henri working as a translator is so nice! It's something I would love to do as well, so it makes me like him even more haha. Seeing them get to live peacefully is nice, and they're so silly but I can understand why they would think they shouldn't try to "change" their relationship but c'mon Henri!! No girl leaves her home and everyone she cares for, for a guy she doesn't love! The two of them holding hands and eating lunch together is cute~ I hope they get to live more openly without fear of being chased soon. The more excited Lili was to return home, the more obvious that the Phantom probably killed the children, but I still hoped that it wouldn't happen. They were such a happy little family. I know they need a reason to leave and face their problems, the Phantom and everything, but this is just so so cruel. I feel terrible for Liliana. I can't imagine how it must feel for her, she's the one who cared for the children the most and saw them the most, and she had to be the first to witness the bloodied house and see their bodies, I can't imagine the devastation. But I also feel bad for Henri knowing that their deaths were because of him.

Honestly, it's crazy to think that in the first game, I really felt nothing for Henri. But after seeing more of his story in 1926, his feelings and now seeing many more thoughts and emotions from him, I can't help but wish that Henri can be happy despite the things he has done. Otherwise, it's really sweet to see how happy the guys are to see her well. I always appreciate how kind Gil is in expressing how much he cares for Lili and how he's always willing to help her if she needs help. Even Yang's roundabout way of telling her he's happy to see her well was cute. I understand Henri's reasons for leaving Lili with the Falzone but I'm still hurt😭 He's too considerate for his own good, he doesn't care about himself enough. And I agree with Nicola, if I lived Henri's life where his family all died because of this Key Maiden thing and the Falzone, and then I was forced to live with distant relatives of the Falzone that hated me, yeah I don't think many people would not want revenge. Lmao at Lee being surprised at Yang saying he cares about needing to protect all the innocents dying in Burlone. You could feel Yang's sarcasm😂 Wow, Sebastiano actually killed every single former employee of the casino, all those poor people.. I actually really like how Lili isn't recklessly wanting to go look for Henri and instead just asked Orlok to give him a letter for her, I think that's very sweet since she understands everyone wants her to stay safe. I never knew I needed this, but a little Nicola and a little Henri playing together all the time back in the day is the cutest thing ever, I want to cry at the potential of how happy and sweet Henri's life could have been if he stayed at the Falzone manor with him. It just breaks my heart seeing them smile so happily.

I'm so glad Sister Sofia showed Lili the letters Henri sent to her. Lili always put Henri first and never sent any further letters back to Sister Sofia after the first one because she wanted to protect Henri and prevent any chances of people tracing his whereabouts, but Henri always put Lili first by constantly updating Sister Sofia of their lives and apologising for taking Lili away from her. He's such a thoughtful and silly guy😭 Dante, Nicola, Orlok and Sister Sofia planning a way to help Lili meet Henri without him running away was the sweetest thing ever. Everyone knows how hard she's been trying to fake being cheerful, so seeing them care so much for Lili is really heartwarming. I love how they all helped her meet Henri, and I'm so happy that he's realised how important it is for Lili to stay with him. Lmao when Nicola was making fun of how Sebastiano said Yang wasn't beautiful😂😂 It must have been difficult for Henri to go back to the Falzone manor, but I'm glad Giulia welcomed him so warmly and he can have some happy memories here. I'm glad Nicola helped Lili understand that she loves Henri, like lady, no one abandons their whole life for sympathy! It's so sad that Sebastiano dug up and stole Chloe's (Henri's sister) remains but Henri only thought about how it's good that Sebastiano is focused on him and not Lili. Honestly, I do enjoy how crazy Phantom is in this route. The fact that he killed beautiful women who looked like Chloe to gather parts of them to make the perfect Chloe is just so insane but very fascinatingly him.

I love how the guys encouraged Lili to give Henri a kiss to cheer him up lmao, but dang was she brave to actually do it! I felt so bad for Lili, Henri is really an idiot😭😭 I know he thinks nothing of himself and that's why he doesn't believe Lili could ever love someone like him, but that was sad. Nicola laughing at Henri for restraining himself was funny though, made me feel a bit better. I love seeing Henri interacting with all the guys, they're all so different and fun. Lmao at all the guys picking on Henri for having not done anything with Lili this whole time even though they eloped and lived together for so long. I died when Yang said he was a eunuch😂 I love how even Dante shyly joined in taunting Henri into doing the job of disqualifying Lili from being the Key Maiden haha. Henri is the best kind of partner for food outings! He'll notice when you can't decide between your options and just chooses both for you and he'll let you eat the best one while he eats the leftovers of the one you prefer least. Lili is so lucky🥹 I loved their date and I loved the confession. Henri expressing how much he loves her and how he thought he didn't deserve her but couldn't help but continue to want her was very sweet. Henri kissing Lili over and over again, and teasing her so gently was so nice to see, so happy for them🥹 Henri feeding her breakfast was the cutest thing ever! I didn't want to remember the pain of those poor children getting killed by someone as insane as Sebastiano, but it was also heartwarming to see Henri finally give Lili the handkerchief they sewed for both her and Henri.

Even though Sebastiano is a nut, I do recognise that his actions were probably the best way for him to force Henri to become the version of him that lived on hatred and vengeance again. And by doing all that, Sebastiano would be the focus of that hatred, so it would make him happy that Henri is so focused on him and constantly think about him. In his own twisted way, it must have made him so happy to see Henri think about him so much this whole route. It was obvious that by this point, there's no way Henri would still be super hung up over Chloe and her remains, but it was nice to see him actually say it to Sebastiano and make him die knowing that Henri will never be who he wanted him to be. It's sad that Chloe's remains will never be truly found since Sebastiano either hid it somewhere they can't find, destroyed it or locked it in that box that will explode if touched in the wrong way, but I think it's fine. The dead will remain dead and there is never any guarantee they are resting in peace as bones anyway. I loved the ending, it was so sweet seeing them smile so happily together freely in France continuing the peaceful life they had, the flower ring was beautiful! Honestly, definitely the best route and highlight of this game haha. The tragic ending was pretty cruel to have Henri go with her on such a happy date (that I enjoyed too!) and then have him end the night telling her she needs to sleep with someone and that he wouldn't recommend Yang and refuses to be the one even though she clearly expressed that she wants him. That ending was definitely much more devastating than I expected. I felt so terrible having to think of Dante's torture and Henri's mental breakdown. The only solace that could be found was that Gil died in a way that he would have liked and Orlok got to die with Rosberg, whereas everyone else was forced to die at the hands of things or people they hated the most and were forced to die with extreme regrets. But I guess I feel the worst for Lili because she will continue to live being imprisoned, shackled, raped and broken by the hollow shell of the man she loves and the crazy guy who will never let them go. Probably the most tragic ending in this game tbh and now I feel too down about this whole thing to go sleep lol! Lmao at the bad ending where Sebastiano uses a saw to cut Lili's head off, what a guy.

Overall, I kinda wish I did the tragic ending before the good ending because that shit was brutal LOL. Now my impression is that I finished this game with everyone dying haha! Anyway, it's all good, I'll live because even though it was a tough ending to swallow, I liked it because it truly was a tragic ending compared to some of the other ones. Basically, Henri's route was wonderful and exceeded expectations. I really didn't know what to think about him when I first started this route because I didn't like his route in the original game and felt it was too shallow in terms of story and just the whole running away with Henri thing. But dang did Henri's existence and personality change my mind not long after hahaha. Not only was the plot engaging with how Henri fended against Sebastiano along with getting to know a bit more of their history together and Sebastiano's obsession but the romance was so beautiful too. Innocent and filled with the desire to be together but feeling like it's better to not be together, but then in the end still choosing to be together, I love that shit hahahah. It was also really fun to see all the guys appear alot throughout the whole route because their interactions were just so fun and supportive! Sebastiano was also a much more compelling villain this time around and his insanity just went off the charts which I loved. I feel like the reason why I didn't like him in Alternativa is because Sebastiano's character was basically made for Henri, so without Henri, his character feels like "nothing" which is probably what he himself feels like too lol. Very satisfying in all aspects imo. I would totally read this route again.

Overall Review

All in all, I would give this game an 8/10 just for Henri's route itself haha, it was so good. Otherwise, I really enjoyed the romance in Nicola and Gil's routes. I will always be weak to Gil the gentleman haha. I would rate Nicola's route above Gil's just because Teo's struggles were nice to see and much more understandable compared to what he does in other routes, whereas I just wanted Gil's dad to disappear every time he appeared lol. Yang's route was nice and sweet but that wasn't what I signed up for with Yang, so even though it was nice, it felt kinda lacking. However, in terms of side character interactions, I probably loved the route the most just below Henri's because I actually really liked Rui and his story when it came to Yuan. I thought I would love Yuan more but I honestly fell for Rui instead haha. It's actually adorable how cute he was with the twins and how much of a good guy he was to admit his mistakes towards judging Lili and respecting her afterwards. I have to say though, I also like Lee much more in this game because his interactions with the twins in Alternativa was so fun haha. As usual, when it comes to Dante, even though I did enjoy the route much more this time around, I do think the story with Raul and the Falzone was pretty weak and bland, it doesn't help that other than being pretty, Raul is pretty much useless as a person with no personality lol. I also warmed up a bit more to the romance between Lili and Orlok but it's pretty outrageous that Orlok doesn't get any steamy scenes or just more romance focused CGs, but yeah as usual, Orlok isn't my type so I wasn't really into it anyway. So my favourite to least favourite route would be Henri, Nicola, Gilbert - Yang, Dante and then Orlok. Definitely recommend playing this game even if just for Henri's route tbh, it was so worth it haha. It's got pretty similar vibes to the original game and I'd say even though there are quite a few boring moments too, I still very much enjoyed it, 8/10.

[sunset-peril]

Villain here. Yeah fr. I was kind of a jerk in my post/tags but only because (especially on that day) I was quite frustrated and fed up of the "m*phlink happens in aoc" "um aksually m*phlink is canon in aoc ☝""zelink can never happen in aoc" arguments I kept seeing online in various places.

I do understand wishful thinking and all but it has felt like nobody saying these things actually played the game (or watched the cutscenes all the way through), just purely repeating what others said and running with the fact the champions are alive while ignoring the actual content presented in hwaoc.

Like, if I was a writer setting out to make m*phlink canon, I would not give her a single scene of focus (her introduction) and then have her in the background for the rest of the game, while writing zelink scenes like that castle hallway moment that feel pulled straight from a fan's pre-calamity zelink fanfic lol. Koei Techmo/Nintendo's intent seems pretty obvious (especially since they went and added an entire extra zelink montage in DLC content), so I really don't know how "m*phlink canon in aoc" became such a popular idea?

There's also the robot in the room: Terrako. The name means "earth child" and becomes glued to both Zelda and Link as if they're his parents. I mean one of the DLC scenes even makes them both look like out-of-breath parents who have been searching high and low for their missing toddler (the comedy of the moment being that Terrako is actually more than fully capable of handling himself and they just missed the intense battle that happened)

NOTE: If anyone decided to reblog this, please do not add any ship tags for anyone. That's gonna be my policy moving forward for content like this.

~~~

Completely and entirely understandable. No judgement here. Can't judge actually, I'm a problem sometimes. I've been guilting of misinterpretations too. I had my crap called on my characterizations of Rhoam called out this year, and I've had to revisit both BotW and AoC to fix it. If I blocked everyone who had One of Those Days where they decided to pick a fight against the Fandom, especially for a mischaracterization, I'd be blocking all my mutuals, a lot of people I respect in the Fandom, and also I'd be blocking myself. We're human it happens. So long as you don't endorse being a butt.

I lose my lid on misinterpretations a lot more than I really want to admit. Especially when they have that real coercive wording of "accept the thing as canon or else," or just refuse to acknowledge itself as a headcanon, then get butthurt when they are (very politely or gently) fact checked by someone else. Both of which could have been entirely avoided if people were upfront with whether the Canon had been regarded or not (which is usually what sinks my battleship).

I've sniffed both ends of the skunk (does that saying work?) concerning this whole mess with AoC and BotW and all that jazz just from fic writing alone. Having ZeLink be canon and have there be a true reason for the Zora Armor's existence? Yikes. Piss keyboard warriors on both sides off. (the gist of it being that Link was part of a dying sub-tribe to the Hylians and agreed to an arranged marriage to Mipha to prevent himself from having to commit inc*st, however, Mipha was clear that she knew Link didn't love her and that he only agreed in order to save his sister, and also willingly dissolved their contract when he fell in love with Zelda instead. But that's another post)

But I'd never try to coerce someone into accepting that as the reason for BotW's semi-confusing set up. For all canon purposes, I blame the Zora themselves for not critically thinking about Link's current situation, and believe that they may have been unintentionally manipulative to him simple because they weren't really thinking about Link's complete absence of memory/sense of self. Yet again, not something I'd force somebody to believe as canon. And emphasis on "unintentionally," because I really don't see malice in any of them. Especially Sidon (and whoo, he's a whole other dumpster fire)

As someone who would easily place Age of Calamity into the My Top 3 Zelda Games (shoot me, I know), I've spent a stupid amount of time analyzing that game. The idea for ZeLink being pregnant at the time of Calamity innocently enough came from me and my cousins analyzing the game together and actually making fun of the sheer waistline difference between the white Prayer/Priestess Dress and her pre-Calamity armor. And don't you know that would make people boil if I tried to present that as canon 😂

I fully believe Terrako is 10/10 intended and written to be Zelda and Link's "son." But I wouldn't use any fanon discourse to try and prove that. I don't think I need to with the game in hand. There can be a bit of "stretch" I think that ZeLink fans pull in determining how early in the game Terrako "decides" Link's his dad (I don't believe this happened in the cutscene where Link defends Zelda from the Yiga and Terrako beeps a ton and kind of bites at his ankles, which is where I've seen a lot of ZeLink-ers say it happens). But to me there's absolutely no doubt that Nintendo and Koei intended for Terrako to be their child. And some fans' decisions to try and define One Instance™️ that Zelda/Link/Terrako became one family doesn't detract from the fact that the game heavily appears to be going in that direction. I mean, Zelda is clearly his mom, don't need a degree in Nintendo to figure that one out, which raises the question of why Terrako is almost always following Link around instead of his "mom." I also won't force people to accept that if they don't want to, as long as they at least acknowledge what the canon is actually saying and not what their fanon desires. Points for the newbie fans/offline fans for that one because they're not in this discourse mud all the live long day! (I also watched the Restoring Terrako cutscene again to make sure I'm not accidentally lying, and when Terrako wakes back up and recognizes Zelda, Link does that nod + very slight smile thing that he does to Zelda when Calamity is defeated. He nods a lot in the game of course, but I think those are the only two times he's nodded and smiled. Don't quote me I didn't rewatch the entire game)

The DLC at times definitely feels like Link and Zelda dealing with their little toddler, haha. That picture he takes of them both at the end OOF.

Honestly, it really feels like Mipha is ignored once the Zora Princess plotline is over. Unless I'm severely miscounting, she has about as many "alone" moments with Daruk as she does with Link. And ain't nobody shipping them in AoC! (as far as I'm aware, I'm sure there's someone)

I feel like if Link was supposed to have any chance of falling in love with Mipha in the BotW storyline/universe at ALL, they would have made that astoundingly clear in Age of Calamity. But they don't. It feels even more like a joke in AoC than it did in BotW/TotK. The DLC slams the lid on those fingers even harder.

In fact, we could sit here for the whole night debating about whether or not any ZeLinkness in TotK was already written/known to Nintendo when this game was made AND whether or not they specifically made this game Heavy on the ZeLink or Not Heavy on the ZeLink simply because of whether or not there would be ZeLink in TotK. Because there was at least some time where there was production overlap between the two games. No clue how much, but there was some.

Actually, despite whether or not I wanted to make Link end up with Zelda/Mipha, I still wouldn't have cast her aside like it did. After the Zora Princess plot when Mipha bonds with Ruta, it starts feeling like her only driving motive is her affections for Link. Which we know from Champion's Ballad, the Zora Princess plotline, AND when Sidon/Riju/Yunobo/Teba fall out of the sky that her love for her brother, father and people equates (I would actually say "exceeds") any Link-related motives or personality points that Mipha had. So I would force the story/game to put Mipha in places where Link is completely out of sight out of mind. Because there are some parts of BotW/AoC where it acts like Link's her only purpose in life. Which is a problem.

If I wanted to make sure the public knew that Link was supposed to love her and not Zelda, I would have made it dang sure it was obvious. And the only thing I really find obvious in AoC is that her affections are played almost like a joke (or at best a subplot where everything but the beginning and end were cut from the game last minute). I can't remember how to unlock the Zora Armor in AoC, what quests you have to do, but I do remember it was a LOT. Like, the fact that you have to do a LOT of mediocre side quests (I think you have to be post-game to unlock it? I cant remember, but it raises more points if you do) to unlock it instead of it being accessed through the main story says something about Nintendo's intentions, and to me that "something" smells like "included for reference/fanservice only". It was actually one of the last clothing items I got simply because there were a lot of hoops to go through to get it. (I mainly wanted to unlock it to read the description, and the description almost sounds like Link is making a joke of it, or if he's actually concerned that he could GET IN TROUBLE for having it which... raises a lot of flags).

I would have made sure Link got that armor during the main story if he was supposed to love Mipha. I would've made sure to include a part with Zelda and Terrako that more or less says "I know you like him, but he's not your dad" if he wasn't supposed to end up with Zelda. However, neither of those things exist. And they would HAVE to exist (or something very similar) to outweigh everything else occurring in that game.

The whole rest of the game smells so heavily of a ZeLink fanfiction, I actually want to laugh. I couldn't have based ZeLink fanfiction so heavily off this game if there was no ZeLink.

What also makes me want to laugh? Every interaction Urbosa and Revali have in that game. HYLIA she seems so done with him.

[thegeminisage]

rushed tng update bc i am in a HUGE HURRY. monday we watched "q who" and yesterday i caught "samaritan snare" and "up the long ladder."

q who: had been looking forward to this one for WEEKS. and we were SO SO SO CLOSE. i loved every single thing about the borg. i loved their look. i loved the buildup. i loved their creepy little borg babies. i love their creepy cube ship because getting menaced by cubes is the natural state of the enterprise.

BUT NO ONE. GOT. BORGED

they had the perfect opportunity, too...that ensign, gomez? she could have been beamed out of the ship instead of those 18 people dying and they could have seen her when they beamed onto the borg ship. it would have been a wonderful way to impress how different people are once they get borged. that said i did love gomez and i was glad to see her pop back up in another episode. ms motormouth she's so funny she literally just has adhd thank you star trek for the Woman

like, the climax of that was so...anticlimactic. q just warps them back? that's so boring. i was getting ready to give q another chance despite him being SO FUCKING ANNOYING in all his other appearances because he was kind of funny here. like, i see why you guys kept telling me he had something going on with picard. i find it completely horrible just to be clear but i cannot deny that it is going on

AND i loved whatever he had going on with guinan...she was literally ready to get his ass. i loooved her expanded role in this episode and getting to find out more about her

but to have the episode end by q just being like ok i win i;ll take you back now :) come on. we were doing SO well. i was THRILLED. what a case of blueballs. and i checked and apparently only SIX tng episodes deal with the borg? that is so much less than i thought. huge letdown. oh well.

samaritan snare: i really dont understand what they are trying to do with pulaski and picard...is this supposed to be a romantic thing...idgi and i do not like it. like, what's the point of having him almost not survive this operation and then needing HER HELP SPECIFICALLY when he already stated he was uncomfortable with her doing it? the entire thing just rubs me the wrong way.

largely this episode was annoying and i nearly had to stop and close the tab when wesley tried to daddy issues his way into getting picard to parent him

however 2 good things did happen. firstly was the story picard told about getting his ass stabbed when he was an ensign. "a certain giddy warmth actually i laughed out loud" that was something actually.

and the other good thing as when worf was like "you will die without honor. you will never attain the 24th level of awareness" to geordi like i fucking cracked up for real. i wish tng had less unfunny bad humor and more of that because it was hilarious

up the long ladder: this episode was so bad it's UNREAL.

first of all, did worf and pulaski fuck? did that actually happen? they keep trying to make her romantic will picard and then will's dad and now WORF? what is GOING ON on this fucking ship??

i was actually kind of into whatever she and worf had going on when it was just a "let's be reckless idiots and drink the tea" thing because it was just that fucking stupid that it worked its way around to being endearing but every time i make emotional progress with her i am set back. i'm sorry women.

the rest of this episode was also unspeakable bad way to do clones in the most boring way possible and LMAO at them all hating sex or whatever. because it's a way to make them appear more unnatural <3 ok.

even riker slutting it up with that one irish chick couldn't save it because. and i feel insane saying this. every time those guys were onscreen they played like the funny music. you know. when irish characters get the little jig music and it's funny because they're irish? 90s tv did this a lot. shore leave in tos did it too. i'm so exhausted

ALSO LMAOOO TURNING THIS POOR WOMAN INTO BREEDING STOCK...not even asking her...misogyny wins again. i'm sure we can find another woman somewhere dot meme. good fucking god

i don't remember what episodes come next and i don't care because i'm going in release order and guess what was released next. final frontier. spock movie. it's finally time to see him again.....................

[asoulofatlantis]

Sadly it is now time to leave my golden child, his stupidly hot best friend and the one-fourth of his harem behind and move on to... a green onion and a picnic squad XD

Honestly there was a time were I thought I would never again have the displeasure of playing Kevin, but Aidios denied me that relief and now decided to force me to deal with this idiot yet again...

(YES I do understand that people who love him have suffered long enough and deserve his long awaited return and I am also aware that as a Rean fan I have been blessed because he has been in 6 freaking games by this point, while Kevin barely was in 4 at this point. But that doesn't change the fact that we have a very complicated relationship and that I am not looking forward to playing him XD)

At least he bring an entertaining Team along.

Falcom can just not stick with their characters not growing up XD Making Altina and Millium grow both in size and proportions now even tho their growth was supposed to be stunted before the great Twillight was over. KeAs unique situation also made it look like she wouldn't grow up but she is now close to Altinas height. And even Lapis, who has an artificial body that is literally the body of a puppet, just got a new body to accommodate for the fact that IF she had a real human body, she would have grown by now ^^' (And she just added that it can be adjusted in the future... meaning she could likely switch for longer legs or a more female upper body, which is absolutely ridiculous but somehow still not impossible...)

I feel like a mother watching her kids grow up proudly but with teary eyes whenever I play Trails and see how characters have grown up or hear how old they are by now ^^'

So this is the kind of roleplay you are into, huh Rufus? *Achem* I mean... indeed it fits the role very well. Yes. Uhu...

Did you just call your girl a "nag"? The nerve of you man... (I guess Tocal calling Ein a monster still tops that tho XD)

Ah! He noticed he talked about Ries and suddenly his face got a bit... frustrated? Sad? I don't know but whatever happened is not just simply him telling her to stay home it seems.

No idea where she knows that from but... you just gotta love that girl! XD

WOAH! She just teased him about sneaking a peak at her swimsuit and he said its only natural. Like... WOW! Swin. I am happy but... wow!

He isn't even red when saying things like that XD Meanwhile Nadia is dying of embarrassment. (Makes you wonder what these two were up to all alone going to Remefria...)

You gotta hand it to him, he seems to be quite good at judging people. He knew immediately that Swin and Nadia wouldn't be up to the task and thus wanted them to stay out of it while he only borrows Rufus and lets Lapis tag along.

I gave Kevin too much credit, he knew about their Vow and he knew he was supposed to kill that... person, so he knew he couldn't involve those two because of that. And apparently, Rufus and Lapis were the ones to suggest it in the first place. But it naturally also made Kevin aware of that they would be in the way.

Wow. Thats harsh. Then again... most of the Enforcers are softies just playing around ^^' Kevin on the other hand... if he left Ries behind with whatever regrets are haunting him in this regard, is anything but playing around.

Rufus Albarea is broke XD It makes sense with Lapis having such a big appetite but still... it sounds so weird ^^' No wonder he accepted Kevins offer even tho excluding Swin and Nadia should feel wrong for him even if he describes himself as "heartless".

And they said our intelligence division was cruel ^^'

Damn it Nadia, you scored yourself one hell of a boyfriend. I am jealous XD

That aside tho... what kind of job are you planning to take on, hunny?

I guess it is time to show the onion some gardening tips, huh? Alright...

Looking at people Hollow-Cores is really funny. For example ,Crow has a Rock-Star-AI and our dear Kevin, the Heretic Huntger, leaving his girlfriend behind and decides to be a heretic hunter once again... as the voice of a gentle nun as a Hollow-Core. Rufus has a Buttler, by the way XD

*achem* Anyway... back to the real world after some much needed training and adding some Quarz.

Yeah... he has experience in talking to heartbroken maidens... left one at home himself just recently tho... (I never let him live any of that down EVER)

What is wrong with you guys? Why are you all in such a flirty mood in this game?

[bluroux]

People Id like to get to know better

Tagged by @spotsandsocks

Last song- I Found by Amber Run

Last movie- She's The Man, which is kind of nostalgia, but also not, because I have been hearing people talk about this movie and seeing clips and stills of it forever, but I had never actually seen it before.

Last tv show- Network tv was S.W.A.T. Yeah, yeah, I know. I got hooked, what can I say. Streaming service original was Make Some Noise.

Last thing I googled - Dr. Fahad Razak - he's the medical expert that my local news has been bringing on since the whole COVID reporting began, and he always makes me think of Nick Mohammed, who played Nate on Ted Lasso

Looking forward to - above zero C temps, which we are supposed to get at the start of next week, quick, someone knock wood so I'm not jinxed.

Current obsession - dyeing yarn. I just dyed what I hope works out to be a self-striping skein in the Ace pride colours

I had to overdye the black and grey sections, because the dye broke and left them redder/browner than I wanted, so in the first pic, those are the only sections that are wet, which is why the white and purple are bunched up out of the way. Gonna knit a pair of socks out of this soon!

Tagging the last 10 people in my notes: @theredrenard @round--robin @mwoeodieotteoke @rpepperpotshipssciencebros @snooziep @dunkthebiscuit @spinningbear @subtlybrilliant @myntti @lazyscience plus anyone else who wants to play

[indigo-sodapop]

Substack Spotlight!

This will be a continuously growing post (or series of posts because I wager this will get verrryyyy long soon) featuring pieces of writing from Substack that I've really enjoyed, and want to share with you! To read them, you don't need a Substack account, and you can subscribe to the writers with only your email address, if you'd like! Happy Reading!

The Enchanting History of Creepy Little Girl-Creatures by Ball-Jointed Diary

"This innocent thing has teeth; large, haunting eyes, a disturbing aspect that can’t quite be pinned down. Many BJD artists follow in the footsteps of Hans Bellmer, creating dolls with ghoulish and fragmented features in the surrealist vein. Often, the suffering of girlhood is made apparent and oddly pretty in the subtle details of these dolls."

Lessons on Loneliness by Petrichoral

"he only wears black, so i’ll come dressed as the night. i’ll cloak myself in snobbism, lingerie, and obscure opinions. he’ll wear a cloak of his own, of course, but i’ll see right through it. but still i’ll play along. i feel like etching myself into someone’s story today. carve myself out of somebody else."

mellon collie and the infiinte sadness by Sudana Krasniqi

"I have never felt more alive than when I am in the throes of the kind of day that makes me wish I was dead."

12 Years Hostage: The Hidden Truth of Solitary Confinement in Texas by Xandan Gulley via Black Lipstick

"Perhaps death is a token of life to those who are hostages. I sometimes feel as though solitary confinement was made for that very purpose-- to make us look forward to dying. But against all odds, I am sane."

Becoming Bewildering by Faye Boam

"I'm a firm believer that we are all doing the best we can with what we have. Which has far more to do with the actual forces our body can handle than the ideas of 'willpower' and 'manifestation' that are thrown around like they mean something concrete."

Domesticated by Jimmy Gardener

"There he is, sprawled like an idiot on the floor. The selfish prick hadn't even bothered to finish removing the lid from my nightly can of shit paste. He had it in his hands when I saw him seize, jerking upright as if suddenly harpooned in the asshole."

Life be like by James Worth

"But I really do have to double down and insist this isn't about New York, New York anyway. She's a backdrop for a feeling I've been festering over for a year now that really just ahppened to come to fruition on her grossly hallowed streets. And even then, the fruiting body of this epiphany paid little if any attention to the setting."

i'm afraid i've been lying to you by c.s. mee

"i've been quietly collecting pieces of fabric, leather and corduroy it seems, to place atop my skin and say they are my face."

i miss running fast by tanit

"there's some research around loneliness, and how people who takr hotter showers are intrinsically lonely because the feeling of hot water on your skin is like an intimate touch. my showers are always either scalding or freezing. i don't think i need a scientific paper to tell me i'm lonely. i'm a capricorn moon for fuck's sake, i was born lonely, i live to shit myself on how lonely i am, fearing that i will die alone."

i take offense to not being loved as hard as a song by heaven

"I TAKE OFFENSE TO NOT BEING LOVED AS HARD A SONG

ONE THAT YOU'D PLAY MORE THAN THREE TIMES A DAY"

freezing fingertips/ warm places by birdbrain

"you thread your fingertips into the space between my ribs

your inhale hinging on my exhale"

how to stop sighing in public by Griffin Blue Emerson

"Even if our lives are uneventful, without action, at least there's the small actions we make to make ourselves ramen, to make ourselves breakfast, to make ourselves sleep, to make ourselves shower, to make ourselves get groceries, to make ourselves take stock of our own self and wants, and to try to make ourselves know what it is that we really want."

[bestbonnist]

Chapter 171.1

The battle between the immortals is played for laughs, but the way that each of their arguments is connected to their core character traits makes me think it's indicative of more deeply ingrained conflicts. Let's break it down!

Tonari's same old same old. She feels indebted to the people she loves, Fushi especially, and believes that if she wants to be around them, she needs to be able to pull her weight. She doesn't think she has any helpful skills apart from a base level of poison resistance, so that's what she focuses on. Tonari puts a lot of emphasis on how "useful" it is when she dies, on whether or not her death helped her friends or not. She puts herself down and uses herself like a tool for the sake of the people she loves.

Gugu is similar to Tonari in that he uses his body like a tool for the benefit of his friends. As an impoverished, abandoned child—also very similar to Tonari—Gugu thought his only attribute was physical labor, especially after he had his accident and from his point of view, lost his humanity. Gugu got into his accident in the first place because he put himself in harm's way to save Rynn. It's a mark of how little he values his safety.

The main difference between Gugu and Tonari, in this case, is that Tonari sees herself the same as other people, which is to say: bad. Humanity is all a bunch of assholes, and she's no different. Her friends are the rare exception. Whereas Gugu sees all of humanity as fundamentally good. And Gugu, being a monster, is below them. So Gugu is willing to lay down his life for everyone, and Tonari is willing to do it for the people she loves (yes I know she literally says she does it "for everyone" but she's only talking about the people in the park with her).

Messar says that he's enjoying his life but he keeps dying in horrible ways. He froze to death nine fucking times and hasn't learned his lesson. Is that really enjoyable? It seems more like he's disguising a disregard for his own well-being as freedom. And as Hylo says, he has no purpose, so he's just kind of stagnant right now. It's, uh... It's giving depression.

If Messar is too hedonistic, then Hylo is too restrained. By setting goals for himself, like saving all of Renryrr or becoming a baker, he's able to get a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment that makes him happy. But he has no chill. Those goals are the will to live that he thinks are so important. Without those goals, he's no different than Messar. Only Messar is able to find the worth of moments spent doing nothing.

This is also literally the same shit they said in Chapter 165.1. This argument has been going on for five hundred years.

Messar "left unhappiness back in Renryrr," referring to when Alme died. His reason for living was to protect her, he was literally unable to move after she died and got killed by a knocker. Moving on is all well and good, but if his recklessness is any indication, he hasn't moved on at all, he's just trying not to think about it. As Hylo—who has actually done the work to move forward after the loss of his foster mother—points out, you can't really call that happy. Hylo is so harsh on Messar because he used to be aimless as well. But Hylo found something to pursue in the Renryrr arc and Messar isn't even looking.

In her first life, March agreed to be sacrificed because it was the way to keep the most people safe. She didn't want her friend or her little sister and their parents to be hurt, so she went along with Hayase's plan. She also died saving Parona's life. At this point in time her idea of a good life/good death was similar to Tonari's and Gugu's—that is, to use her death to make the people she loves happy. But as a ghost, she saw firsthand how much her death affected Parona. Being dead wasn't better for the people around her like she thought it was. Now the way she doesn't make everyone sad is by staying alive. She encourages others to do the same, as seen in this chapter when she chastises Messar for not taking care of himself.

March also takes this into account during important decisions, like when Fushi consults their friends on whether they should take the Beholder's powers or not and she calmly tells them that the choice is theirs. A huge difference from the time she freaked out when they told her they would be losing consciousness indefinitely at the end of the previous era. March's way of living is at odds with Tonari and Gugu's way of dying, but they're all dedicating themselves to the people they love.

Bon doesn't get involved in arguments, ever since the Renryrr arc he's relegated himself to a mediator/advisor role. He avoids having any contrary opinions and goes with what will placate the most people. I can't say much more about him because he almost never gives away what he's really thinking (sadly he is not a perspective character anymore), but this is definitely a continuing pattern. It's a shame because he's actually pretty good at decision making, although he stepped down due to the number of poor choices he made during the Renryrr arc.

Kai, and Eko don't care very much about the best death argument, which doubles as a "whose life has the most meaning" argument. I wonder if it's because they found a reason to live by working as mechanics and transferring their good points to people within the system, so they don't feel as insecure about it.

Well, that's that! I think their squabbling was a neat way to introduce the issues that'll be explored in this arc and to show how Fushi's friends have adjusted to immortality. The doll point blank asks them why they're alive, and in a roundabout way she gets an answer: they're alive to die.

[bokettochild]

Scars

This was prompted by seemingly nothing but it's the first productive thing my brain has done it a while so here

“What’s the craziest scar you have?” Wind asked randomly one night. 

The other heroes stopped what they were doing and looked to each other. Blue in all shades, and one set of hazel, flashed in the firelight as a few smiles formed and others smirked. 

Four motioned to their left ear. “A cat bit off the tip of my ear when I was a kid.” 

Warriors spun in his seat to look at the smithy at his side, “Is that why you hate cats?” 

“Yep.” 

Well that made sense. It also explained Four’s issue with people talking about claws. Wind had noticed that Four tended to shiver when those were brought up and he’d always sort of wondered. 

Time holds up his hand, on the outer side of it a small pink scar can be seen, one which most of them tended to gloss over but Wind had always assumed was because the man nicked himself with his sword once or something. “My mom bit me when I was a kid.” 

Faces fall and the heroes stare in shock and horror until Hyrule kicks their leader. “Your mother was a fairy, Time! How else was she to discipline you?” 

The man smiles but pulls his hand back, eye sparkling at their still frozen faces. 

Twilight hums softly. “I had my arm chopped off once.” 

All eyes instantly turn the rancher’s way. He still has his arm. Both of them. “When did that happen and how do you still have it?” 

A shrug. “A goat put it back. Scars still there though. It’s weird, sometimes I get phantom pains ‘spite still havin’ my arm. My brain just can’t process that it’s s’posed to be there or somethin’.” 

Warriors nods slowly. “Mood. I almost lost my leg during the war and I still have to remind myself it’s there sometimes.” 

Well, this is going downhill fast! He wanted to prompt some stories! Not a trauma fest!  

Wind shoots a look at Legend, the man usually has something to say at times like these, but the vet just stares back and shakes his head slowly. “Nothing interesting, sorry, sailor. Not the kind of stories you’re looking for.” 

Poop. Maybe Wild then? 

The champion chuckles, rolling up one sleeve to show a rather impressive scar on his good arm. “See this?” 

“How could we not?” The captain grimaces, looking more than a bit pained. 

Wild smirks. “Splinter.” 

Eyes widen and gazes trail back to the rather massive scar. 

“How big of a splinter?” Legend asks warily. 

The champion doesn’t answer, he just rolls his sleeve back down and gets back to doodling in one of his notebooks, looking entirely pleased with himself. 

“Champion, how big?” Warriors presses. 

Wild still doesn’t answer, he doesn’t even react and though Wind is dying to know he could also kiss his brother on the cheek for helping to lighten the mood again and playing coy the way he is. 

The rest of them huff, exchanging glances (and grins in Time’s case) and start discussing quietly among themselves. He knows he hears Warriors trying to calculate how big the thing must have been and Hyrule correcting him softly about whatever mathematical formula or nonsense they’re trying to use. Sticks are grabbed from the woodpile and the dirt is etched over several times before the captain caves and darts for his own bag and notebook. 

The rest of them watch, both entertained and intrigued by the answer, and it’s quiet in camp for a moment before Legend breaks it with a drawl. “Surprised the old man didn’t say he got scarred with a sliver of the moon or something.” 

The leader’s brows twitch just the slightest bit. “And who says I didn’t? Wind asked for craziest scars, vet.” 

Violet eyes twinkle slightly as Legend leans forwards, leveling their leader with a stare that’s met with equal force from the other side of the camp. The fire flickers between them, casting odd shadows and making them look quite strange indeed. “And being bitten by yer ma is the craziest you can get, Old Man?” 

“I don’t hear you beating that, vet.” Time’s lips quirk upwards for all of a second before his face is blank, only his good eye flickering enough to show a slight smile. 

Legend scoffs, but leans back into his own space as a few of the others giggle, Sky especially. The Chosen Hero nudges his friend gently, looking down at the vet with a teasing look. “What, you’re not going to tell them about the goat thing?” 

He’s never seen Legend blush, and he almost thinks the other will, but Legend only shakes his head, smiling slightly as Twilight looks to him in confusion. “Goat thing?” 

“Not explaining, rancher.” 

Sky rolls his eyes with a scoff. “Fine then.” Bright eyes turn Wind’s way with a smile he loves and which holds more warmth than their fire. “Zelda accidentally stabbed me with a knife when we were kids.” 

Across the fire, Warriors chokes and both he and Hyrule start up to stare at the Chosen Hero. 

Sky continues, entirely clueless, or else fully aware and pretending to be clueless. “We were pretending to be sword fighting and had stollen some knives from the school kitchens. I managed to trip her, but she ended up careening forwards and stabbing me in the leg.” He chuckles. “It hurt bad, and we were grounded for weeks, but it’s only a little scar and I honestly can’t feel it most days.” 

Four nods slowly, sagely. “I fractured my own ankle once trying to convince someone of something. It didn’t scar, but it sure hurt a lot.” 

To his surprise, while most of the others look vaguely concerned, he knows he sees Time crack a smile and Legend sniggers a bit into his hand.  

Hyrule nods though. “I once broke my leg in a keyhole. The bone cut right through and the scar is really nasty.” 

That gives them all pause save Legend who jumps up with a look of horror. “Excuse me you what?” 

[cipher26]

as a hollow one, wasn't Laudna technically without her original soul? I've seen some people point out that doing a true resurrection might get original 20 something year old Laudna, maybe like an amnesia arc, because she's been soul bound to Delilah since she was first resurrected and severing them might have more consequences than just losing a patron

Hello!

My understanding of Hollow Ones is that they retain a part of their original soul, they don't lose the whole thing. I'm not an expert on the rules or anything, but I don't think any resurrection would cause Laudna to lose the last 30 years of her memory. I used to think maybe that could happen, but Marisha has said repeatedly that Laudna remembers her whole life, it's not like she became a different person after dying. She just became, ya know, more hollow... I can't think of any legit reason for her to forget suddenly. And even if this resurrection brings her "whole" soul back, I still think she'd stay mostly the same (ya know aside from whatever trauma she's now dealing with). She's said she was always kind of a weird one, and I'm a big believer in nurture, so I think her life experiences would count more towards how she moves forward than how much of her original soul she has.

As for losing Delilah, there will be consequences no matter what. She could lose her warlock powers, she could ironically feel more lonely because she doesn't have that constant extra presence in her mind, who knows. It could go so many ways depending on what Matt and Marisha decide to do. But also she might not lose her powers at all. Look at fjord, he still had at least some traditionally warlock powers after switching classes, because that was a thing Matt homebrewed to fit the character's journey. They presented differently, but they were still there.

And Laudna isn't just a warlock, she's a sorcerer. She had powers long before she ever came into contact with Delilah.

But yeah, the point I guess is that Critical Role homebrews a lot of stuff for their characters. A lot of DM's do. Laudna especially is a special case, because it was Delilah who caused Laudna to be the way she is, no the Blightshore specifically. At least, I'm 99% sure that's the case, otherwise it's too convenient. Personally I think Delilah attached herself to Laudna before she killed her, as sort of a fail safe. I think she recognized Laudna had sorceress abilities, and so chose to link herself to the body in the event that she was killed. And did some kind of necromantic thing to Laudna to make her body become undead so Delilah could use it later to bring herself back if needed. So in terms of Hollow Ones rules, I think that gives Matt some room to play around with how a player character would work with that subclass. Because ya know, you don't want to make it so rigid right off the bat that any player who chooses to be a hollow one would have no chance of being revived properly if they were ever killed.

Anyway those are just my thoughts. I personally think most of the consequences of this resurrection will have to do with Laudna dealing with her trauma, and working through that. And possibly dealing with a change in her relationship with Imogen, because let's be real those two have been through it the last couple weeks, and they both desperately need the others' support. And it's hard to fully be there for the people you love when you are dealing with an immense amount of trauma yourself.

It's gonna be interesting for sure...

[adatheromcomaddict]

How You Meet the Cullens + Jacob

Hi! I've decided I'm going to put some of my stuff from Wattpad, over here. If you want to see my Wattpad, its the same username as I have here. Anyway, this is how you meet the Cullens, + Jacob. Probably intended for female readers, but it could mostly go either way... I think. And I do have the girls as well in here.

Edward Cullen:

Edward and you met at school. Of course.

"Um, excuse me?" You asked a small girl, with short brown hair.

She turned around, revealing her pale white skin, and beautiful golden eyes.

"How can I help you?" She asked.

"I was wondering where Mr. Molina's classroom is?" You replied.

"Oh, yes. I can show you the way!" She grabbed your hand, and pulled you down the halls. (Wow, this is turning into an Alice preference)

"Thank you!" You said, when you two arrived at the classroom.

She pointed inside the room, towards a beautiful boy, with golden hair, and dark, dark, eyes. He glared at her, with his hand over his mouth. I turned to look at her, and she winked back at him.

"Uh, thank you. Oh, I never got your name." You said.

"Alice. Yours?" She asked, still smiling.

"Y/N."

"Well, Y/N, looks like you'll be sitting next to my brother, Edward, in there." She waved, and skipped away.

I walked inside the class, towards the boy, and sat down. He looked away, took a deep breath, then turned back to me.

"Hi, um, I'm Y/N. You're Edward, right?" I asked.

"Yes. I-I am." He seemed like he was in pain or something.

Weird.

Jacob Black:

I had lived in the outermost part of Forks for as long as I have lived. (Sounds like a wedding vow)

We were right next to the border of La Push. Therefore, I go to the school in the reservation.

(I have absolutely NO clue what the school is like there, so I'm making it up)

But, I didn't really talk to anyone. I had a few friends from down in the more central part of Forks, Bella Swan was one of them. She recently moved here full time. I hadn't seen her since I was little.

There was this one kid named Jacob who I had met a couple of times, mostly when he played with Bella snd I while our parents went fishing or whatever.

But, since Bella was going to school in Forks, I decided I would try and re-connect with this Jacob, to see if I could hang out with him.

So, I asked around one day at school for what classes he was in, and found out that he was in one of my classes. How did I never notice? Oh, just me and my oblivious self. (Sorry, if you're like- not oblivious?)

Well, I found him one day.

"Jacob, right?" I asked him.

"Oh, yes, oh, oh! Y/N! Hi!" He seemed to be a very nice boy.

"Yes, it's me. Um, I haven't talked to you in years, I'm surprised you remember my name." I explained.

"I'm surprised you remembered mine." He laughed.

"So, uh, I"m kind of wondering if you want to like, hang out or something. Anywhere works. I just need some company." (Bella who?)

"Sire! You could come by my house today after school and we can catch up. Do you like cars?" He asked.

"Depends." I laughed in response.

"Well, you can come help me too. I like to re-build them."

"Sounds like a plan."

Emmett Cullen:

(for this one you are a vampire already, and yes I basically stole Rosalie's life. Also, if I get facts wrong, don't come for me, just tell me *kindly* and I will fix it)

I became a vampire in 1920. Two years after my brother Edward, and one year before my mother Esme.

I'd been a vampire for 15 years already. How time flies

One day I was running through the forest when I heard screams coming from a small patch. I sprinted towards the place, and saw a boy, probably 20, getting attacked by a bear. I shoved the bear off of him instantly, and bit into it, getting it's blood.

I remembered that the boy was watching, and was probably shaken up, not to mention, he was most likely dying. I turned back towards him, wiping a small bit of blood off of my lip, and said,

"Hello, I'm Y/N Cullen."

"E-Emmet. How did you do that?" He asked, very weakly.

"I have my ways. What hurts?" I asked.

"Everything." Of course-

"I'll be right back. Don't move." Not that he really could. I sprinted back to my house. I opened the door, and Carlisle, Esme, and Edward turned towards me.

"Y/N? What is it?" Carlisle asked.

"There's a boy, Emmett. He got attacked by a bear. He's very weak. You need to turn him Carlisle."

They all sprinted into the woods, and I led them towards where Emmett lay. He was still there, but weaker.

Jasper Hale:

(you're a vampire)

Jasper became a vampire in 1863. (I think)

He was telling me his story.

I had recently been turned into a vampire by Carlisle, after he rescued me, and I hadn't really met the rest of the family yet. (You can make up why you had to become a vampire)

When Jasper had finished the story, I said, "Wow."

"That's all I could get out. His story was just, wow....

I forgot, Edward could read my mind. I only remembered when he chuckled after I thought that.

I gave him an internal glare.

Bella was sitting in the corner, with him.

"So, Y/N, tell us your full story." Jasper smiled.

(Sorry, his is kind of short..)

Carlisle Cullen:

It was my first day working at the Forks Hospital and I needed some directions.

I walked up to mid-height man, with blonde hair, and very pale skin.

"Hello, sir?" I asked him, and he spun around.

"Yes, Ms. Y/L/N?" He asked.

"H-how do you know my last name?" I asked in response.

"I heard someone talking about you coming, and you're the only new face around here. We don't get them often." He smiled, and my heart fluttered. Good thing he wasn't like a super-hearer or anything. {;)}

"Well, uhm, I was just wondering where the surgical ward is?" He pointed towards the left, and I smiled slightly, walking away, and quietly looking back at him after I was sure he couldn't see me.

Alice Cullen:

(You had already seen Alice before, but never interacted with her much, like most of the students)

I was walking around in the forest, when I heard footsteps.

"Hello?" I called out.

"Y/N!" A girl replied, I noticed it was Alice Cullen.

"Oh, hello, Alice." I was a bit confused to how she knew my name, but to be honest, I knew her's too and that's a bit strange. But, everyone does talk about the Cullens.

"What are you doing out here in the forest?" She asked me. I didn't have a valid answer. I could say "Just felt like taking a stroll..." or "Oh, I'm working on my steps." but, none of those were true, I really didn't know what I was doing here.

"Uhm, working on my steps, and taking a stroll....??" I questioned myself.

"Oookay then. Would you like to come with me? I can show you some of my favorite spots to relax." The way she said relax made me think she wasn't relaxing, and probably meant running around and exercising. Just what I needed.

"Sure, sounds great." I smiled.

Rosalie Hale:

Everyone that lives in Forks knows about the Cullens. Even the people in the reservation.

There's the three boys, the goofy one, the silent one, and the constipated one.

Then there's the two girls. Alice and Rosalie.

I've talked to Alice, we've said hi.

But in general, I know nothing about Rosalie.

All I know is she is incredibly smart, beautiful, and did I mention gorgeous?

I've never had the guts to talk to her. Maybe it's that I'm a wimp, or maybe it's that she is very intimidating. Probably a mixture of both.

But today, I got lucky, and didn't have to talk to her. She talked to me.

I had noticed her eyeing me a few times, and I never knew if she was looking down on me, in a bad way, or if she was interested in me. Both ways scared me.

Today, she came up to me.

I was sitting at the lunch table with Angela and Jessica, and the new kid, Bella.

"Y/N, can I talk to you really quick?" She asked.

"Uh, uh, yes, yes, sure." I stood up quickly, and while walking away with her, I turned towards Angela and Jess, and they smiled and winked.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" I asked.

"Well, I wanted to know... did you want to hang out sometime?"

"Like, a date...?"

"Uh, yeah. Like a date." She smiled and we both laughed.

"Sure." I smiled back.

Bella Swan:

Apparently, today Chief Swan's daughter is moving to the school.

I'm looking forward to it, I want to make more friends.

I was standing outside, waiting to see if I spotted her, when a big, orange-red truck pulled into the parking lot.

It must be her! I've never seen that truck before.

I ran up to it, when I saw people laughing at it. Whatever, I think it's cool.

She climbed out of her truck, and I probably startled her, standing there.

"Hi! I'm Y/N Y/L/N. You're Chief Swan's daughter, right?" I asked.

"Uh, yes. Bella Swan." She stuck out her hand, and I shook it.

"So, do you want to know anything, anything special?" I asked.

"Um, I'm not sure...." She said, tucking her hair behind her ear. (Ugh, a classic Bella move)

"No worries. Let me show you to your first class." I smiled, and took her hand, pulling her down the hallway.

Esme Cullen:

I was walking around town, alone. A kind of dangerous move, since there have been so many mysterious attacks lately.

I was looking through random stores, when I noticed Esme Platt, (we're just saying she isn't a Cullen because I guess they aren't married...????) Carlisle Cullen's old friend. (I don't even know how to write this...)

"Hi, Esme." I said.

"Oh, hello, Y/N." She smiled.

"How have you been?" I haven't seen her in a while. We've talked a few times.

"I've been good, how have you been?" She replied.

"I'm great. We really should catch up sometime." I said, trying to be subtle.

"Yes, we should. Do you want to go to lunch tomorrow?" She asked.

"Of course! Where do you want to go?"

"Don't worry about me. I won't eat much anyway."

******

So, yeah, that's it. I'm aware that these aren't perfection, bur they were fun to write so, yeah!

I will be posting a lot more now since I'm getting really into writing again ;)

Thank you all for reading, (not that a ton of people are going to read this lol)

And yeah, see you soon! :3

-Ada