#TML post game

[themerlinlibrary]

Favourites Friday (July 2024) – All Time Favourite

TML Favourites Friday round-up! July 2024 round 1

What is Favourites Friday? – The Basics

a different theme is announced on Friday each week; FF recs must match the theme of the week

only one FF rec per person per week/theme

FF recs must be unique within that week/theme; no double-posting the same fic for one theme!

no self-recs during regular rounds

only self-recs during self-rec rounds (last Friday of each month)

Theme for week 1: All-Time Favourite!

Imbolc by MerlinLikeTheBird G, 145k, Merlin/Arthur Canon AU

Sorcerer's Bane by BeautifulFiction E, 265k, Merlin/Arthur Canon divergence, Abduction

Once and Future Pride by Papysanzo89, Pinky_Wisteria, Snarky_Ship (Pinky_Wisteria)  E, Series of 8 art works, Merlin/Arthur Modern AU, Comics, Pride

The Crown of the Summer Court by astolat E, 24k, Merlin/Arthur Merry Gentry fusion

The Hands We Use To Catch Each Other by scripps T, 10k, Merlin/Arthur Canon Era

From Shadows to the Light by PeaceHeather T, 16k Post-Canon Fix it

My Significant Bother by evaelisaa, Leandra E, 96k, Merlin/Arthur Modern Era, Royalty, Friends with Benefits

wanna be your end game (my youth is yours) by ladililn E, 63k, Merlin/Arthur Modern Royalty AU, Series

Twitch Your Whiskers and Pull My Tail by BlueSimplicity E, 62k, Merlin/Arthur Modern AU

Avalon by s0mmerspr0ssen E, 133k, Merlin/Arthur Modern AU, Escort!Merlin

All lives are (love)stories by amithia E, 193k, Merlin/Arthur Canon Era, Soul Bond, Fix-it

Dower the Stars by RurouniHime E, 41k, Merlin/Arthur Canon era AU, Golden Age

Parchments by BlueGrassSax E, 33k, Merlin/Arthur Canon era

Let's Be Winners by Mistake by Seravia E, 48k, Merlin/Arthur Modern AU

A Challenging Hostage/A Challenging Quest by wryter501 T, 390k, primarily Gen with background ships  Canon AU

A masterlist of all round-ups can be found here.

If you want to make sure you never miss a FF rec, or would like to participate and share your own favourites; join us on the Discord TheMerlinLibrary! Happy reading!

About the FF round-up lists:

Recs are listed in the order they were posted on the Discord; the order does not imply any sort of ranking.

The pairing given in this list is the main pairing of each respective fic – please read the tags for any possible minor or side-pairings, as well as any potential warnings or triggers.

Pairings and Eras are given as tagged in each respective fic. (?) signifies that the tags were unclear and I do not know enough about the fic to fill the gaps.

Round-ups are compiled on the weekend of the week after the respective theme of the post (when the new theme has already been anounced), to avoid omitting potentially belated FF recs.

The weekly round-up is not a guarantee! I'm running this alone, so it can only be posted for weeks when I have enough time on my hands to compile a list. If you'd like to help out, feel free to contact me on Tumblr ( @zaharya ) or Discord. Thanks to @ravenwilds for helping me out with these round-ups, and to Chel for making a whole-ass bot to make it easier!

[loz-untold-myths]

◇ • Untold Myths Master Post • ◇

○•°•●•°○°•●•°○°•●•°○°•●•°○°•●•°○°•●

Synopsis

Hyrule has been cursed with eternal storms by a vengeful mage. A young boy follows a familiar voice to a spirit who may just be able to help him, and they join Princess Zelda in a quest to save her father.

Ao3 Version Link

Current Chapter Count: 6

Current Word Count: 23,967

Concept Art Posts

Concept Art (1)

Concept Art (2)

Concept Art (3) ❄️

As a Game

These posts are currently a WIP, keep an eye out! :)

Worldbuilding

These posts are currently a WIP, keep an eye out! :)

Other Art

Zelda and Lotus

2023 Holiday Art (Mistletoe)

TML Zelink looking at the sky! ❄️

Art Fight Refs

Sketches

Misc Sketches (1)

Oshi, Anouki Merchant

Temple of Time (1)

Misc Sketches (2)

Malon, Talon, Casual Ganondorf

Zelda's Fate (Sketched Comic) ❄️

Flower in a Hailstorm (Rohan & Zelda)

eepy zelda

Ganondorf

Zelink hug

A Fateful Meeting (Sketched Comic) ❄️

Archery

Zelda in a AoC/BotW Inspired Outfit

Zelda in ANOTHER dress

Classic Zelink Pose Redraw ❄️

Lon Family Concepts ❄️

Whiteboard Doodles

Misc Whiteboard (1)

Searis Whiteboard

Silly Posts

None yet...

OST

The ost has been in progress for a while! It will be ages before I'm happy enough with any of it to share it outside of Discord, however, so I apologize for the wait!

❄️ = personal favorites

○•°•●•°○°•●•°○°•●•°○°•●•°○°•●•°○°•●

Art by others! (Direct links)!

Toon Style Art Fight Attack

Multiple Links Art Fight Attack

[bunting27]

leanring curve ❤︎ r. sandin chapter three. the anaheim ducks

a/n: i contemplated not adding the ducks to this but it makes more sense in my head for carter to be more comfortable being open with her support system from home rather than auston who she’s just met, sorry to those of you who only pay attention to tml <3

summary: carter is weary about being back in california for the first time since she’s left.

warnings: allusions to toxic relationship, language probably, 

wc: 1.7k

taglist: @emsully2002 @sidcrosbyspuck @nylwnder @kenanlotus0​

✏︎

“come on, sit with me” the team was playing anaheim tonight, and auston could tell that carter had been off since the night before. 

he thought that he’d finally got her to be comfortable - at least around him - but it was like all his progress in getting the two of them to be friends was down the drain the minute the road trip was brought up.

he hadn’t really stopped to consider that she was going back home for the first time yet, since her being from california was never at the front of his brain. in his head, she’d always been around, at least it felt that way.

“sorry, matty. i have to finish some stuff for the media accounts” he raised an eyebrow, almost laughing at her.

“bullshit. you finish that stuff like a millennia before it needs to be posted, i know you do” she groaned, leaning her head back in frustration and then planting her face into his chest. he smiled, knowing that he was gonna get his way.

he lead her to where he sat last year, seating her by the window and taking the chair closest to her. michael and justin sat across from them, while mitch was in the aisle next to auston’s with zach. 

everyone else found their seats, and since it was the first trip of the season, carter figured everyone else would be getting to know one another or they’d be catching up from the offseason and she could tune them out.

boy was she wrong. it took ten minutes before auston had gone from calmly trying to get her to talk more and be involved in conversation to convincing everyone else to also try and convince her.

michael had given her a spot in an ongoing mario kart tournament that she did not ask for, mitch was asking ten questions a minute, justin was giving her a spew of tips on how to beat michael specifically at mario kart, and timothy, zach and rasmus were laughing quietly and giving her pitiful looks.

the other players were mostly chatting with one another or keeping to themselves. she tried with no avail to put her headphones on and flat out ignore the handful of voices that were trying to get her attention, but auston had taken her them and stuffed them in his bag

she was trying to pull it back from between his legs, but he would catch her every time, and now they had just been tugging it back and forth between one other, laughing. 

in the midst of the friendly game of tug of war, though, rasmus had caught her attention and discreetly nodded over to the empty seat across from him. she let go of the bag, causing auston to smack himself in the face with it, and then she climbed over him.

“i’m going to the bathroom” he stared at her, mouth agape in offense while she walked to the bathroom and tried not to start laughing hysterically at his expression. 

she stood in the bathroom for a moment before flushing the empty toilet and washing her hands, then she peeked her head out of the door to see that auston was deep in a conversation with rasmus about his role in the power play.

she took the opportunity to walk by, take the bag and jump over austons leg in the aisle to get to the seat across from rasmus. she hugged the bag to her chest when he made an attempt to swipe it back from her, staring at him with a close-lipped grin.

he looked at her, then at ramsus, almost buffering in his seat before he crossed his arms like a child. “you’re a traitor, sandman. a traitor”

ramsus laughed and then turned to face her, a big smile on his face. 

“you seem to have this thing where you keep saving me”

“you seem to have this thing where you keep needing saving”

-

carter walked into the honda centre tucked under auston’s arm. she had been taking glances around every once in a while, and almost everyone had noticed she was on edge. nobody said anything to her outright, but she could feel that they were confused. 

her heart almost came out of her chest when she made direct eye contact with trevor zegras, and he stopped abruptly, mouth agape and eyes wide. 

in true trevor zegras fashion, his confusion was replaced with excitement on a dime and he took it upon himself to yell her name across the room and come barreling towards her at top speed. 

she met him in a hug, but covered his mouth before he could yell anything again. auston stopped to keep an eye on her, brain finally registering why she had been so weird on the flight and for the day or two leading up to the road trip.

this was a twisted homecoming.

he listened in as she pulled away from the hug but kept her hand over trevor’s mouth, curious to see if he’d finally get any information from her.

“you cannot tell tucker im here, trev. i swear to god. you never saw me” he nodded, pulling her back into him and letting his eyes fall shut.

“promise, c,” he paused for a moment, still clutching her close to him with his nose in her hair, and she could almost sense that an idea was forming in his brain.

“... can i tell jimmy?” she smiled into his chest, laughing lightly. she knew he’d tell jamie, whether he’d asked her if he could or not, but she trusted the two of them enough to not out her new life to tucker.

she murmured a small ‘yeah’ and turned back to auston. 

“i’ll be back in a minute, yeah? i’ll text you if i get lost” she wouldn't. he knew that now, but nodded reluctantly regardless and slowly made his way over to where the team was getting themselves situated, while trevor wrapped an arm around carter’s shoulders and led her to the ducks area.

“he’s not here, is he? tucker?” trevor shook his head, looking down at her with a sad smile.

“we just sort of.. ghosted him, after he texted the groupchat asking if you were staying with any of us. we figured you found a way out, only ever stayed friends with him because of you. he never comes to games anymore” she slowed her walk down to a stop and hugged onto him tight, eyes watering and vision blurring.

“thank you for sticking around” he nodded into her hair, locking his arms back around her and squeezing so hard her heels came off the ground. 

when they pulled away again the first thing carter saw was jamie, who was looking at her like he’d just seen a ghost. she smiled at him from where she was down the hall, nodding to tell him that he could come over.

“oh my god where have you been, c. why didn’t you say anything. you could’ve stayed with us, you know you just need to as-” 

“shut up and hug me, nerd” he rolled his eyes and hugged onto her, still shaking his head like a disappointed, exasperated mother. it was hard for him to contain his smile, though. he’d wanted to pretend like he was upset with her, but he was honestly just so glad that she was safe.

the three of them ended up sat on the floor, carter with her legs over jamie’s and her head on trevor’s shoulder. they talked for far too long, catching up even though it had hardly been two months since they’d seen one another. 

“ok, i’m gonna go before auston puts out a search warrant. was good to see you guys” she eased herself up, struggling to get onto her leg without putting too much pressure on her knee. the boys shared a look as trevor grabbed her arm to help her up.

“oh my god, i’m joking. he’s not that overbearing,” jamie shook his head and ruffled her hair.

“not that. your knee… it happened months ago, you still can’t put any direct pressure on it?” she chuckled awkwardly, then followed with a lengthy period of awkward silence. 

she coughed, eyes flickering between the two boys for a moment. “you know me, i haven’t necessarily been… taking care of it?”

you want to go off to who knows where, for what? hockey? we’ll fucking see about that. you won’t make it anywhere, anyways.

they didn’t look convinced, and it was not difficult to lie to trevor, so she knew she had to have been doing a horrendous job. 

“you don’t need to lie anymore, c. he’s not here” trevor nodded to that, kissing the top of her head and rubbing her back. 

“here. put your new number in there. when you’re ready, we’ll listen,” trevor handed her his phone and watched as she quietly put the number in and texted herself some random nonsense.

“thanks, guys. one day” she hugged them both one more time before making her way back to where the away teams stayed on game days. 

-

carter had thought that seeing jamie and trevor would have helped her be at ease, but here she was, staring at the ground in front of the door of auston’s hotel room much too late for it to just be for a simple question.

he opened the door, almost expecting a kid who had maybe seen the team checking in and had been going door to door to meet everyone, but instead he saw carter. 

he frowned, standing aside so she could come in. after a long, long time of him asking questions and her dodging them with shrugs, shakes of her head and silence, he sighed.

“carter, you need to tell someone. i don’t know what, i don’t know who, but it’s not me. if it was, you would’ve told me twenty minutes ago. you’re torturing yourself” 

she gulped, looking down at her phone and staring at trevor’s contact.

stick 🍓: you still awake?

z ☺︎ : you had to ask?

stick 🍓: jamie?

z ☺︎ : he’s being jamie

z ☺︎ : you wanna come over?

stick 🍓: you had to ask?

z ☺︎ : ordering mcds

stick 🍓: omw

[dmercer91]

happy tanner charlotte to the devs day to all who celebrate (ik in the og post i said her first game w them was on a wednesday against colorado, but i don't time travel and they don't have a wednesday game ever)

as a treat, here's a hockey deep dive on our girls (+ their relationships cause i'm nosy and i hope you are too)

tanner charlotte [charlie] NJD #19, RW

very physical player, felt the need to overcompensate when she was young cause she always heard that women never made it pro due to lack of hitting/ability to absorb- she just grew into the reputation and now it’s her thing. makes a point to be clean about it 

her and dawson used to always be 18 and 19, him being 19, but when he originally had 18 for the devs she decided to take 19 with the rags. now that they’re together again, they say it’s 91 and 19 inverted for each other

goal scorer with solid playmaking ability, definitely not a pk player but holds her own defensively. pp1 and 2 depending on rags or devs and also who’s hurt, how she’s playing 

really really good in the corners/puck battles 

not the speediest but it’s very obvious that she wants to get better and when she wheels, she’s pushing 

chirps like it’s the whole sport (her mouth gets her in so much trouble) and they’re usually funny ones she’ll throw around mid play. when she’s mad she doesn’t use her words as much as her body

drafted 19th overall in 2020

usually on a line with jhughes and bratt, but dawson begged and begged for them to line up together and it worked really well. as per usual, lindy fucked it up by separating them the next game

as of like three days from today, she’s in a long term relationship with jack. we all know the lore

jamie lochlyn [locho] SBY #12, C

she doesn’t particularly enjoy throwing the body but she’s so overprotective of her teammates that she’s like.. do u want me to kill that guy for you? and sometimes she does. do not, under any circumstances, get in her goalies crease. she’ll deck you. very often found jerking someone away from her goalie by the back neck of his jersey

as a kid her girls teams would give her whatever number was on the jersey that fit her best, and so when she got to her first rep hockey team and they had jerseys made to fit players with like last names and stuff, she was like,, twwwwwelllve (?). and so now she’s twelve, for funsies (listen. i wanted to give her a small number but tml has 2 and 3 taken, and 1,4,5,6,7,9, and 10 are retired. eight, one might say. but then the fuckass sby wolves retired her, too. they both have an 11)

she is one with the art of playmaking. so hockey smart it hurts. she was whipping plays out of her ass one could only hope to think up at like the ripe age of 9. goal scoring is rarely her friend, but when it is the goals are either gorgeous or a disaster, no inbetween. slays the pk and second pp unit

her and the boards are best friends

so fast that she creates a chill throughout the sudbury community arena, and her skating is absolutely beautiful 

she has anger issues on the ice so sometimes it’s witty and hilarious and other times shes reading you to filth. only whips out the chirps when she's really heated 

drafted in the 2022 draft, 95th overall (sry nicky you still exist i swear)

she works well with goyette, dvorsky and mccallum, so they usually toss her in the top 6 (sometimes on a wing) and hope for the best.

her love life is a complex thing (she refuses to admit she has a thing for a teammate)

due to her name, she can also go by JLO. this, in combination with dvorsky getting coined mr shortside, makes for a lot of content getting made with on the floor by jennifer lopez, ft. pitbull (this was 1000% why i gave her the name i did and why she plays for the wolves, sue me)

rylie scott [scotty] LDN #96, LD

will not hurt a fly, but can, if provoked. really good at absorbing hits cause the opposing boys in her first rep league were essentially told by their coaches to get her off the ice 

her big brother was a star forward about twelve years older than her, who never thought he was going to make it professionally. he wore 96 because her birthday was may sixth and his was april ninth. she always said she was a defenceman because she wanted to be able to stop him from scoring. he passed in a car crash a few months before he would’ve been drafted to the nhl, she was hardly six years old. when she made her first rep team and the jersey numbers went high enough, she chose 96.

shut down d all the way, a good handful or sometimes two of assists annually and four total ohl goals so far. pp time is through the roof but she will never see the ice on the man advantage 

good at digging the puck out but she rarely needs to exercise the skill cause she protects the puck so well, wonderful work at getting the puck out of the zone and guarding the line but she definitely won't be going on any breakaways.

she’s fast and her skating is very unique but she cannot go a game without banana peel falling at least once. edges are flawless… until they’re deeply flawed.

can’t chirp, doesn’t want to. someone will try to intimidate her and she’ll get nervous and laugh in their face.

127th overall in the 2023 draft

usually paired with bonk or dickinson, so they can help out on offence and she can focus on her role

love life? in her professional opinion, she has none. in my professional opinion, her and mackie samo met in dev camp this past summer and he’s hardcore pining. she argues that nightly facetime calls that can go on for several hours ‘don’t mean anything’ (EXTREMELY LOUD AND SORT OF OBNOXIOUS INCORRECT BUZZER)

:) enjoy! <3

pls send lore questions if you have any cos i love my trio to death

[solradguy]

I’m calling it, LtA will imply that ky learned that sol is a gear during TML. Probably from overhearing sol’s ending with justice. This is my tinfoil hat theory because of the amount of times i’ve seen these events mentioned in the eng and jpn fandoms despite never being mentioned in the games.

If the GG Comic Anthology is canon, then that could be used to confirm this too, that Ky found out Sol was a Gear during the tournament fight with Justice where she breaks Sol's limiter. However, in the official recap chapter on the ASW website, Ky gets his ass kicked by Justice and passes out before that happens (page 14): guiltygear.com/ggst/en/news/post-789/

It looks like Ky might pass out in the GGCA story (MEET AGAIN) too, but it's less clear than the recap comic (remember to read right to left):

Ky has enough energy to shout at Sol but then he slouches forward and the next few pages are Holy Order flashbacks, which imply he may have passed out and is having flashbacks to when him and Sol served together.

I can't find anything that confirms more definitively when Ky found out that Sol was a Gear, but it would had to have been during their time in the Holy Orders together. Sol does all this crazy acrobatic shit and gets chomped and blasted by Gears and doesn't die? Ky's smart, I think he could've put the pieces together haha Maybe Sol even just straight up told him at one point. He doesn't seem to hide the fact that he's a Gear, just that he doesn't really like talking about it.

I'll try to remember to come back to this if I find something that talks about when Ky finds out though. It could still be in Lightning the Argent even if it wasn't during the events of the Missing Link tournament arc itself.

[flamerunn3r]

Compilation post of info about the AU's ive posted about on here

Guilty Gear Fire Emblem AU

Persona 5 Arena

Primarily building off of Elibe lore. Exists in my mind as either a multimedia comic or a fangame. Exists in mutliple "arcs" that would cover tml-xx and overture-strive. If this was a fangame they would be multiple games. I've only really posted character designs from this.

On indefinite hiatus for the time being. Just not super interested in making Guilty Gear stuff right now. Some character bios can be found here off-site

The tag is #ggfe

Flowers Bloom in Winter

Personal idea for a P4A/P4AU style fighting game continuation of Persona 5's plotpoints involving characters from Persona 4 and 3. Mostly focused on fleshing out the Persona 4 cast's life in the interval between 2012-2017 at the moment. Main "plot" of P5A would probably involve following up on the aftermath of the third semester with regards to how that affected areas outside of tokyo.

The tag is #ul

MAJOR PQ/P5R SPOILERS

Skip to the next section if you wish to remain unspoiled

Terrible first years

Aka the ZenRei AU. WIP fanfiction centering around Zen, Marie, and Narukami during the events of P5R's third semester within Maruki's ideal reality. Main premise is that the bonds SEES and the Investigation Team forged with Zen and Rei in the labyrinth were enough to bring Rei back to life within the ideal reality, despite both parties not remembering her. Zen then finds himself in a situation in which he's been happily married to Rei for several years, and is currently living with her in Inaba.

Building a fair bit off of what I have established with the P5A stuff. Have only posted designs for this so far but I will update this post once my beginning chapters are fit to be published. Going to joint post it to ao3 as well as my personal site.

The tag is #zr

Shocial Links

Another P4 AU. Focused on Sho, Teddie, and Marie attending Yasogami following the events of arena ultimax. This one primarily exists for the sake of comedy.

The tag is #f1

Primarily @/mustdie 's au but it's been something we've been spitballing in dms. Focused on Sho as a wildcard trying to deepen his bonds with (for the most part) residents of Inaba and Iwatodai. Check out Charge's blog for the more concrete au my stuff is mostly gags

Tag is #shocial links

[nylanderbunting]

Post-Game - 3-2 win vs NJ Devils - March 23

FIRST PERIOD

No Goals

SECOND PERIOD

Damon Severson - PP (NJ)

Ilya Mikheyev - SH (TOR)

Nico Hischier (TOR)

Mitch Marner (TOR)

THIRD PERIOD

Pierre Engvall - SH (TOR)

NEXT GAME: March 26 at Montreal @ 7pm EDT

[willietheguy]

William Nylander appreciation post. 5 goals in 5 straight games! 🔥💙🙌🏻

Edit: 6 goals now (he scored another one tonight against the Jets! Hoping for the hatty 🤞🏻)

[readyfreddy]

I posted 6,373 times in 2021

1348 posts created (21%)

5025 posts reblogged (79%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 3.7 posts.

I added 1,358 tags in 2021

#leafs lb - 524 posts

#asks - 148 posts

#toronto maple leafs - 119 posts

#nhl - 98 posts

#kyle going feral 2021 - 93 posts

#hockey - 89 posts

#jets lb - 80 posts

#hockey lb - 73 posts

#isles lb - 71 posts

#tml - 63 posts

Longest Tag: 130 characters

#some players don't want to play in toronto because they are: going to be harrassed in public and never going to have privacy again

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Love the sport, not the organization.

44 notes • Posted 2021-07-27 22:01:32 GMT

#4

Someone release the boy

49 notes • Posted 2021-11-30 22:55:09 GMT

#3

Game seven (derogatory)

59 notes • Posted 2021-05-30 02:53:48 GMT

#2

It’s truly hard to put what has happened in the past few hours into words.

Never in my 20 years did I ever expect for a signed NHL player to come out as gay, and I’m glad it happened. Growing up, I never thought that I would never see a player come out. The NHL is officially the last of the “Big Four” to have an out player, whether that be active under contract or retired. It’s taken 104 years for any past or present NHL player to come out. 

I have utmost respect for Luke Prokop for being the first openly gay player under an active NHL contract. History in the hockey world has been made, and it is great to see the overwhelming support from teams and players. There are still a concerning amount of homophobic comments being made by many, but the comments and media attention is mostly positive.

Hockey is an insular and masculine sport, with a very prominent 'dude-bro' culture. Brimming with misogyny, racism, and homophobia. More often than not, it's brushed away as locker room talk or boys will be boys. It's irresponsible to justify it as either. The NHL is trying to improve their culture, it's nowhere near enough.

I’m not going to deny that pride nights are a good thing, but they are just a small step in the right direction. Yes, using pride tape on sticks during warm-up is great. I am not going to deny that in the slightest, but it is far from creating an inclusive culture. Comments on social media on pride nights are a mere reminder to why both hockey leagues and fans need to change. 

Now that there is an active gay player in the league, I hope that the NHL will actively try to improve it’s culture. They have already donated significant funding towards LGBTQ+ sport organizations such as You Can Play. It is also not Luke’s job to educate others or fix the entire league in regards of being gay in professional hockey. 

Thank you Luke and everything that you have already done to change hockey culture for the better so quickly. Good luck in the big show, can’t wait to see you hoist the Stanley Cup. 

Thank you for being the first of many.

74 notes • Posted 2021-07-20 02:24:06 GMT

#1

Via James Mirtle on Twitter

125 notes • Posted 2021-09-13 15:17:43 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[srawesleyghuewrites]

It's been way too long

Heey guys!! How are y'all?

It's been waaaaayy too long since I've last been active in here(about a year or so) for a lot of reasons that go from mental health to just being very busy BUT NOW I'M BAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!

During this past year a lot has happened in my life and I might've stepped away from playing choices and writing, however I've been thinking about going back for a while and now I'm finally ready >.<

I'm very happy to be back because I love writing and interacting with everybody here(and DAMN I'VE MISSED YOU PEOPLE)!! And I have some stuff for this new chapter of my tumblr:

First of all, I'm slowly going back to writing and I'm gonna need your help with some inspo by sending me requests or prompts about the character of your choice on my ask(or on my dm) - It can be any kind of plot(the story it will be short tho, bc i'm trying to challenge myself)

Second of all, I'm someone who loves to read so expect to see me talking about books quite often and maybe even doing some reviews now and then - I hope this doesn't get any of u bored

I've been away from Choices and The Arcana for a while now, so I'm late in terms of keeping up with the stories(which is why my tml might me a bit late) but I'm enjoying it again so I'll probably catch up in a bit

I know I've already talked too much - which I always do - but there's still one last thing about this "new chapter" of my tumblr: I have a sideblog now where I talk and post screenies(and stories) about other games such as The Sims and Stardew Valley, feel free to follow and interact with me there(because i rly love my games)

Lastly, I just wanna tag some people I hope will be happy to see me back and who I'VE MISSED SO MUCH - forgive me if I forgot to tag you my mind is jelly(also i'm very lazy)

@liamxs-world , @drakewalkerwhipped , @princessleac1 , @the-everlasting-dream , @mrsnazariowritesagain , @simplyaiden-blog , @majestickitty , @debramcg1106 , @drakewalkerstan , @supersaltylikethedeadsea , @lizeboredom , @pilitella , @missevabean , @artemishdp , @bella-ca , @nazarihoe , @boneandfur , @walkersdrake, @american-duchess , @ladynonsense , @angstymarshmallow

[themerlinlibrary]

Favourites Friday (May 2024) – Fusions and Crossovers

TML Favourites Friday round-up! May 2024 round 4

What is Favourites Friday? – The Basics

a different theme is announced on Friday each week; FF recs must match the theme of the week

only one FF rec per person per week/theme

FF recs must be unique within that week/theme; no double-posting the same fic for one theme!

no self-recs during regular rounds

only self-recs during self-rec rounds (last Friday of each month)

Theme for week 4: Fusions and Crossovers!

The Immortal and the Revenant by RileyWilliamsJr Not Rated, 153k Canon Divergence AU, Harry Potter crossover

May We Stay Lost On Our Way Home by orphan_account E, 40k, Merlin/Arthur Pendragon Modern Setting AU, Fantasy AU, Alice in Wonderland AU

This Remarkable Season by s0mmer and papysanzo E, 79k, Merlin/Arthur  Bridgerton AU

Only A Boy by RiddellLee E, 320k (series) Harry Potter AU

The Hawk and the Bear by Excited_insomniac and Papysanzo89 T, 17k, Merlin/Arthur Ladyhawke AU

Tributes by TheAvalonian M, 88k, Merlin/Arthur Pendragon Hunger Games Crossover

Fulcrum by beren E, 39k, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Merlin/Arthur Pendragon Harry Potter, Vampires

That Loving Feeling by ravenwilds T, 32k, Merlin/Arthur Pendragon Top Gun AU

Mise En Place by Papysanzo89 and s0mmerspr0ssen E, 30k, Merlin/Arthur Based on the 2001 film Bella Martha

Barbarian King by thenerdyindividual M, 48k, Lancelot/Merlin/Arthur Pendragon Dungeons & Dragons AU, Fantasy AU

Merlin: A Hogwarts History by Mamalazzer M, 86k, Merlin/Arthur Pendragon Harry Potter AU, Soulmates

A masterlist of all round-ups can be found here.

If you want to make sure you never miss a FF rec, or would like to participate and share your own favourites; join us on the Discord TheMerlinLibrary! Happy reading!

About the FF round-up lists:

Recs are listed in the order they were posted on the Discord; the order does not imply any sort of ranking.

The pairing given in this list is the main pairing of each respective fic – please read the tags for any possible minor or side-pairings, as well as any potential warnings or triggers.

Pairings and Eras are given as tagged in each respective fic. (?) signifies that the tags were unclear and I do not know enough about the fic to fill the gaps.

Round-ups are compiled on the weekend of the week after the respective theme of the post (when the new theme has already been anounced), to avoid omitting potentially belated FF recs.

The weekly round-up is not a guarantee! I'm running this alone, so it can only be posted for weeks when I have enough time on my hands to compile a list. If you'd like to help out, feel free to contact me on Tumblr ( @zaharya ) or Discord. Thanks to @ravenwilds for helping me out with these round-ups, and to Chel for making a whole-ass bot to make it easier!

[burnbookofkrp]

Oi, tudo bem, plastics? Eu sou o player em questão que andam falando sobre a situação da KSU e queria explicar um pouco do meu lado e porque eu continuo na comunidade, como parece que foi questionado em alguns posts sobre quem fica/ficou. Eu sou uma pessoa que joga a anos no rpg, mas eu nunca tinha jogado em grandes comunidades, apenas em pequenos grupos de 5 pessoas ou 1x1, onde tudo era resolvido com conversa direta e muita calma, então nunca havia acontecido problemas como o que aconteceu recentemente.

Eu entrei no rpg grande por indicação de amigas e é minha primeira experiência, e como dito no meu pequeno disclaimer que soltei, sou passível a mais erros devido a essa falta de familiaridade. Faz um tempo que eu desenvolvo meu personagem, gosto muito de escrever povs e sempre postei selfparas na tml, tanto pessoais quanto acadêmicos, já que vejo importância em ambos. Acredito que quem está na comunidade faz um tempo, me reconheça pelas postagens frequentes, e em todos, TODOS os meus pov's, eu indiquei os tw's. Meu personagem tem um passado sofrido que resultou em diversos problemas psicológicos, desde cedo esse lado autodepreciativo e autodestrutivo andavam sendo levantados em meus povs e em interações na dm, então o jogo veio e a situação ficou mais pesada para ele. Contextualizando, meu personagem havia magoado pessoas importantes para ele porque estava desesperado para continuar vivo, e depois disso, a depressão dele se agravou. Novamente, eu indiquei todos os tw's nas postagens e no próprio documento dos povs, para que não precisem ler caso seja um gatilho.

Eu não sabia que a situação do meu personagem precisava ser relatada previamente a moderação, já que, mesmo dentro do ambiente universitário, aconteceu longe dos olhos dos outros personagens, em uma área "proibida", em que até a conversa dele com a amiga não poderiam ser ouvidos. Sim, eu avisei no chat da dm do dormitório sobre a situação, porque a amiga envolvida faria barulho a procura dele, e percebi depois que talvez eu não devesse ter avisado, mas eu gostaria de deixar claro que diversas vezes eu comentei que sei que pessoas podem ter tw e não deveriam ler, da mesma forma que era indicado no post. Enfim, eu já havia combinado com algumas pessoas que acabariam descobrindo da situação previamente no pvt. Admito o erro e me desculpei por mandar o LINK do tweet do pov (não era o pov aberto) na dm do chat e me desculpei com a moderação quanto ao não aviso prévio. Realmente, foi uma consequência direta da situação do meu personagem dentro do contexto do The Game e uma falta a atenção minha.

Nisso, eu não fui comunicado diretamente no meu pvt sobre a regra de avisar a moderação, mas sim recebi no chat do dormitório, com outros players presentes, um texto deveras grosseiro. Poderia não citar meu personagem ou eu, o player, mas era óbvio já que falava sobre o plot dele, e fui retratado, novamente, exposto a diversos outros players, pela própria moderação, que eu era um irresponsável e, em palavras mais chulas "sem noção", porque foi assim que o texto fez eu me sentir. Para piorar a situação, uma ask bem agressiva foi postada e respondida, o que me expôs ainda mais, ainda mais porque a resposta não falava "Já resolvemos com o player" ou coisa do tipo, mas sim colocando uma certa lenha na fogueira, como eu senti. Eu fiquei absurdamente chateado e eu falei todo meu descontentamento para a moderação, falei que deveriam ter vindo falar comigo direto no pvt, que me senti exposto, humilhado e julgado. De primeira, recebi uma resposta com desculpas porque o fato era apenas por ter sido na universidade, no entanto, a ask postada falava sobre unicamente o conteúdo interno do pov, não o local e enfim, no final, se desculparam por qualquer ofensa e disseram que iriam considerar meu feedback sobre a situação.

Eu fui dormir, me acalmei, e quando fui pro pc, vi um comunicado sobre toda a situação. De certa forma, me senti ofendido, já que alguns colegas disseram que enviaram asks em defesa pois a situação tinha sido deveras exagerada, mas disseram que não postariam mais nenhuma ask do assunto, mas postar a que me ofendeu, tudo bem? Complicado... Eu fiquei chateado também porque não recebi um pedido de desculpas ou sequer falaram sobre essa exposição não se repetir, porque vejam, se eu fui tão exposto negativamente, porque eu não poderia receber um pedido de desculpas exposto também? Pode parecer uma fala mimada, mas honestamente, nessa situação? Eu esperava.

Agora, então... Por que eu continuo na comunidade? Por causa das pessoas que ali dentro me apoiaram. Eu não conheço muito a tag, não conheço tantas pessoas assim e a ksu é minha primeira comunidade, eu conheci pessoas muito especiais e muito atenciosas comigo, criei amizades em ooc, criei amizades em ic e eu gosto da minha interação em ic, além disso, eu gosto do desenvolvimento do meu personagem, onde eu não conseguiria sem aqueles que estão comigo lá! Estou chateado e meio insatisfeito com a posição da moderação e com u player que veio falar coisa sem nem tentar resolver comigo? Sim, e deixei isso bem claro. Vou deixar que isso afete o desenvolvimento no meu personagem naquele universo? Não. Eu continuarei desenvolvendo e continuarei postando meus povs, devidamente sinalizados, e se alguém se incomodar que se mude ou continue denunciando, porque minha consciência está limpa, nunca obriguei NINGUÉM a ler um pov meu com trigger, se a pessoa abriu e leu é problema unicamente dela. Tenho meus triggers, abro conteúdo disso? Não, é simples. Corrigi meus erros e espero que todos corrijam os seus.

Bom, é isso que tenho a falar, to tentando seguir em frente e tudo. Acredito que sair de comunidades que te deixam desconfortável seja realmente a melhor opção, mas quando não é um desconforto a ponto de não querer desenvolver, existem motivos que nos façam ficar, seja por aqueles que gostamos ou nosso apreço ao personagem em si. Um ótimo dia pra vocês, meninas! E para os players da KSU que vieram perguntar se eu estava bem e tudo mais: Muito obrigado!

mesmo anon anterior, da situação da ksu! não precisam responder, eu só quis expor meu lado mesmo!

Olá, bunny. Boa tarde. Como diria a Fish: Café?

Mesmo que tenha dito que não precisamos responder, eu acho importante que as pessoas saibam sobre o seu lado.

Declaro que, como u envolvide se pronunciou, encerramos esse assunto aqui. Nenhuma ask posterior sobre esse acontecimento será respondida e as que restaram serão apagadas.

Mesmo assim, quero deixar algumas palavras aqui para você, bunny.

Erros acontecem e está tudo bem, ainda mais porque, segundo você, foi postado um disclaimer a respeito e tudo estava sinalizado. Eu, Owl, não me incomodaria nadinha com isso, mas você bem viu que tem pessoas que se incomodam e por isso deveria passar pela moderação. Até aí é ok, você relatou que não sabia, que faz pouco tempo que joga em comunidade... E nesse ponto, eu quero afirmar que os players deveriam ter mais empatia e paciência com as pessoas antes de causar um alvoroço. Eu duvido muito que quem começou o alvoroço deveria acompanhar o desenvolvimento do seu personagem ou sequer pensou que você seria novate em um ambiente como comunidade, até porque foi um acontecimento condizente com a sua linha de desenvolvimento. E já deixo aqui meu aviso: cuidado, existem muitos canalhas por aí.

É muito nobre de sua parte ter assumido e se desculpado. Isso só mostra que a sua maturidade está em dia, diferente de quem causou picuinha. Como já falamos em outra ask aqui, nós não concordamos com tal exposição e também achamos que certas coisas devem ser tratadas somente no privado. Nós entendemos sua chateação, porque somos a favor justamente do oposto de tudo o que aconteceu.

Se você se sente à vontade para continuar na comunidade e para continuar seu jogo, isso é ótimo! Esperamos que tenha um bom jogo e que, se continuar pela krpbr em futuras comunidades, que tenha um bom jogo também. A gente tem que ter esse pensamento de "vida que segue", porque nunca dá para agradar gregos e troianos. Já não é assim na vida real, no rpg muito menos.

E sabe de outra coisa? O desenvolvimento é seu.

Vou frisar uma parte importantíssima da sua mensagem, embora eu tenha achado todos os pontos importantes, é mais uma chamada de atenção para a tag:

"Corrigi meus erros e espero que todos corrijam os seus."

É isso, não olhem apenas pelo umbiguinho de vocês e aprendam a resolver problemas como adultinhos.

Ficamos felizes por, apesar de tudo isso, ter feito boas amizades ic e ooc, ter tirado coisas boas do ambiente da comunidade em questão. Afinal, rpg é para se divertir, não? Ficamos felizes também por saber que ainda existem players que se preocupam com os outros e te acolheram perguntando se estava tudo bem. Precisamos de mais pessoas assim. Fique bem, queride. Um ótimo dia e final de semana! Qualquer coisa estamos aqui para desabafos.

[crqstalite]

writing tag game

tagged by the lovely @ljandersen!

tagging @confundere + @staff-lieutenant-alenko + @lyrishadow +@mariaalenkoshepard + @that-wasnt-so-bad <3 If you've already been tagged, sorry!!

How many works do you have on AO3?

26! (1 unfinished epic, 3 multi-chaptered and 22 gen. stories)

What’s your total AO3 word count?

252,821!

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. Aftermath (F!Shep/Kaidan Alenko, 5.8k words - 29)

2. Shadow of the Sith (Multi, 104.4k words - 20)

3. Shan (F!Inquisitor/Theron Shan, 26k words - 18)

4. Atin'la (F!BH/Torian Cadera, 3.7k words - 16)

5. TML-143 (F!JK/Lana Beniko/Theron Shan, 2.1k words - 14)

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

On the occasion I get them, yes! It takes me a while to get around to them though, sometimes I just don't know what to say! I'm more likely just to ramble back at you or say thank you in thirty thousand different ways than give any insight on a story.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Hm. That's...debatable.

Top one? Probably Crisis. I'm still not quite over it, and I still haven't taken another crack at the early months after Koda's death because of it. Usually stories like it I'd be pretty careful to make sure I fleshed it out enough, but it's shorter than most others like it. Short, concise and to the point. And really damn sad because it ends with how Citlali found out she died.

Morbidly, I'm still rather happy with it even just under a year since I wrote it.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

I have a pretty small handful, enough to count on my hands. The happiest ending is probably between Rubber Duck (F!Shep/Ashley) and Coasting (F!Shep/Kaidan). Both post-war, both about mostly meaningless tasks or events. They're probably the only ones that are pure fluff.

Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

No. Doesn't interest me, I like my fandoms in neatly made boxes.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I have not. Let's not start that.

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

No.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes! I found some really old fics on a translated site that had never asked my permission maybe three or four years ago, right when I was starting to gain traction on another site. Given, I was one of many and I'm not sure what I should've done in that situation, but unfortunately I'm not sure what happened. It was years ago, yet I wonder why they did that. It was a little fic about kids in space. It just doesn't check out no matter how I think about it. Am I upset? Not really, just always thought it was weird.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

See above.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Technically, I currently am. Not quite a fic, but it is writing heavy and I'm terribly excited to share it when I can.

What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Of all time? Percy/Annabeth easy. I was a YA nerd. Occasionally I still am. Those books were the best escapism I was going to get. But I'm also nearing the three-ish years I was on that both with ME and DA now so that'll probably eventually change.

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

It's a pretty high hope, but getting Nine Lives done is seeming more and more impossibly by the day. Developing more characters, developing more relationships, sticking all that on a timeline -- figuring out where the hell Citadel-dweller kids go to school, how they interact with other alien children, biotics, the list goes on and I get more and more frustrated.

What do you even study in alien school?? What the hell do the history books look like?? Gah.

What are your writing strengths?

Combat prose and weird poetic one offs. I am still very happy with the Mars chapters in Redamancy for that reason.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Romance and keeping things concise. Emotions are hard sometimes, I don't know why they did it, all I know is that they did. I get lucky if it's in 1k words or less, and it's not rambling on about an under-explained metaphor.

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

Meh. I'm not of any opinion, I just appreciate it when it's translated at the end of the chapter if they do it. Other than that, well, that's the reason I'm learning other languages.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

I feel like my answer changes every time I answer this, but probably Legend of Korra? Or anything coherent, it'd have to be pushed forward a few years to Maximum Ride. I remember scribbling away on loose leaf paper during class with my trusty stolen (read: found in the hall) mechanical pencil I never had lead for.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

I'm not sure right now. I love and nitpick at every one of my fics equally. However, while Letters Home has it's problems, I am terribly happy with how it came out in the end, especially since it came after a bit of a dry spell.

[mizzy2k]

WIP Title Game

tagged by: @rubickk7​ rules: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. send me an ask with the title that most intrigues you and i’ll post a little snippet of it or tell you something about it!

I'm just going to limit that to the WIPs that are on my netbook or we'd be here all day!

(Striking through ones that have been asked about!)

Marvel STHP MTH1 MTH2 GANN JOSIN ID PORN MTH3 SPIDEYTORCH ID PORN PYWREN F4OZ WORMS PREQUEL ST SENTINEL ST RETALIATORS2 ST 3490 ST AOU FAKE BF

Magicians QE WARJAMES QE DISNEY PRINCESS Q QE TML MOM FINDS OUT CD PREQUELIOT QE GARDEN PATH QE MOSAIC VISIT QE BAMF Q QE Q TELLS THE TRUTH QE EL'S MAGIC LOVES Q QE 20 YEAR TIME JUMP MA DIVERGENCE QE BRICKING IT

Tagging: @ishipallthings @athletiger @capnstars @the-casual-cheesecake @cathalinaheart @bambiesque @sineala @nostalgicatsea @loraneldin @viudanegraaa

[kingofthewilderwest]

I'm so jealous of your instrument corner! Have you ever or will you ever post a recording of you playing? I'm very eager to hear you! The only instrument I currently have is a bass clarinet. I used to play flute, viola, and piano, and I want a cello very badly.

Oh my goodness, you play so many instruments too, and I can’t believe that we have so much overlap in what instruments we play! Flute, viola, and piano are definitely the instruments I’ve performed the most on, with flute and piano being my old competitive instruments when I was more directly involved in music circles. MULTI-INSTRUMENTAL MUSICIANS UNITE! You sound so awesome and musical, bless you. Also? Bass clarinets are LEGIT, what a great instrument, that’s so cool.

And thanks so much for asking to hear me play! I guessss I do have a cringey outdated video of me playing through most of my instruments... but let’s be real, that vid needs to be redone and it might be better forgotten. XD Another video where I played several of my instruments (12 of ’em) is a TML cover I did, though I did that in one spontaneous afternoon rushed and you can tell hahahaha my intonation OUCH. But lots of people have been really nice about that cover and ahhhhh I feel really touched for all the listens and reblogs and comments and stuff!!! Thank you guys!

I am, however, in the process of arranging a cover of a video game tune - and the cover will include most if not all of my instruments, including my newest babies (don’t expect miracles on the guitar, didgeridoo, and ukulele, but they will be there haha!). It’ll even [gasp] have me singing [bigger gasp]. I plan for the cover to be polished. I’m not sure how soon that cover will be out - it’s months yet, let’s be real, but that will be a recording of me playing! I’ll be posting it online on YT and tumblr (both my main blog and lefthanded-sans), and hopefully it’ll sound good. 

[genesisarclite]

Here’s a meta that’s been drifting in the back of my head for a while, and I’m only just now brave enough to bring it up. You see, it’s a completely unpopular opinion, and I... sort of expect some glares and maybe a torch or two (hopefully the British kind, because ouch otherwise). That being said, I still want to talk about it a little.

Basically, it has to do with Adam’s state of mind by the time MD ends.

Depending on who you ask, Adam is either suffering from severe PTSD and is depressed, is a boring gravelly-voiced protag, or is actually a pretty chill guy who is slow to heal, but otherwise functional, and getting better. I’m in the lattermost camp. Now, keep in mind, the way I perceive the world is colored by a number of things (like with anyone else)... including the fact that I share numerous introverted traits with Adam. Obviously, there’s degrees in between all three of those options, but those are the easiest “extremes” to point toward.

Adam was genetically modified as an infant, and he was too young to remember any of that happening. It’s unknown whether he was a test tube baby or had a Sephiroth-esque conception, but it doesn’t matter, because Michelle Walthers got him out of White Helix as the lone survivor and stuck him with a normal family. We don’t know much about his father, but his mother was definitely not fully stable, and the lore says so. Raised in a blue-collar neighborhood, B-average student, yeah, yeah, we know the deal.

Condensing a bit, we also know he was well-liked and got stomped on by his superiors after Mexicantown, though that’s more or less where it stopped. They tried to ruin his reputation, but he managed to get past it, and he was hired at SI. Yes, it was due to a number of things, not the least of which was Megan’s knowledge of his special genes, but he did become Chief of Security at one of the most prestigious and well-respected, multinational biotech firms in the world. It’s no small feat, and no matter what there is to say about Sarif Industries (and there’s a lot), it’s an accomplishment he should arguably be proud of.

Then all the things happened, he was forcibly augmented, his life went to pot, and the world came apart. We know the drill.

When I first played through these games, I agreed with the general consensus that there was something very wrong with him, that he suffered from PTSD, he was self-destructive in a way, and so on. Now, though... well...

HR does present an angry, vengeful man. He isn’t thinking clearly, he’s reacting, which is out of character for him. He calms down a bit over the course of the game, but he’s not firing an all cylinders, so to speak. While we don’t know much about his post-op recovery, we have enough info to suspect it was really bad. A man so immaculately groomed and in control of his life has suddenly had it spiral out of control. His body was violated, and precious things were taken: his autonomy, his dog, his girlfriend, his very appearance. Coming to terms with that when you’ve got no one to turn to and no one who seems to care would be a horrible experience.

More things happen, he’s yet again violated in Facility 451, and he has to struggle to adapt in a post-Incident world.

In MD, it can be easy to take all the information we’ve been given and everything we see in that game to mean he’s sunk lower than before, or is just kind of coasting along. From the melancholy music to the grim atmosphere to the subtleties of his behavior, it paints a depressing picture.

And yet... the more I play the game and the more I examine everything, the picture I get is very different.

Adam is an introvert. That much is blatantly obvious. It’s rather refreshing to see, in fact. Fellow introverts of similar type to him might not see a depressing man-cave in his Prague apartment, but something different. Something warmer, actually: a slow, hesitant, but definite return to normalcy.

For an introvert, any quiet space we can be alone is a sanctuary for us. It is where we can drop our guard and be ourselves. We can sleep half the day away, or get up early and explore the world inside our own heads. We can think, ponder, learn. We can read, watch the telly, play games, stare out the window, create, think, whatever we want. Unless we get visitors (which most introverts would rather not have regularly, thank you very much), we care about what our space is like only insofar as it affects us.

Adam’s space is a little chaotic, but not in a bad way. He has a couple boxes stacked around that he’s set things on, but otherwise, it’s actually rather well put together for the most part. The ambient lighting is soft and calm, facilitating feeling and thought. The layout allows for large amounts of light, but also soft shadows and gentle ambiance when desired. The space is a little big, but easy to fill. He idly tossed things on the coffee table. He has postcards and a hammer just sitting on the floor. His bed is messy and there’s books everywhere. He has a telescope pointed at the sky and nerdy magazines everywhere. He organizes the parts of his life that matter and scatter the rest to the wind. Even the music is more mellow than meloncholy, with a distinct sense of foreboding, but "Safehouse” is not as heartrendingly sad as “Home” was.

Unless the introvert in question is concerned with cleanliness and organization to some degree, you’ll find this is the sort of layout we tend to have. We organize what’s important - our hobbies, our quiet places - and drop the rest wherever it’ll go. Once in a while, we’ll go, “you know, I really should move that”, followed by a mad scramble to clean up, but for the most part, we go on our merry ways. We also tend to be quiet in our homes when we’re alone, because the only company we keep is ourselves. We don’t need to pretend, and even if we feel overjoyed, we probably won’t show it.

Adam’s space feels far more lived-in and cozy than his last apartment. He has computer parts scattered on his desk, alongside clockmaking bits. His bedroom is crammed with stuff, from the shelves to the trash bin. Go into his bathroom, and it’s got a homey touch to it, with too many clothes in the laundry bin and shelves full of stuff. Go into the living area, and it’s a bit messy, but not in a bad way. The kitchen has random foodstuffs everywhere and a box on the counter with more items, like paper towels and cans of food.

But one of the most important details is the mirror in his bedroom. It isn’t hanging up or in an easily-reachable place, but... it’s there.

In HR, Adam was in permanent “angry at the world” mode. Almost everything out of his mouth post-op was snark, and when it wasn’t, it was usually a word away from becoming something savage. He was rarely polite, scowled all the time, and never showed any sense of real happiness. Though he had a few moments of being more optimistic, they were rare. He’d joke around, but not a whole lot. Some of it can be chalked up to Adam not having a totally stable character when HR was written, and other bits to the limitations of the engine, but the fact remains.

In MD, I’m pretty sure I can count the number of times we see him smile (including all DLC) on two hands. He’s still snarky, but he’s not malicious about it. He’s frequently kind and polite - tells it like it is, but tends to couch it in gentler terms. Unless you actively choose to be a jerk, his default behavior is that of conflict avoidance and constant concern about others. While he’s still obviously keeping everyone at arm’s length (frequently a result of subconscious wariness and self-protection, which tends to happen after being hurt or backstabbed too many times over too many years), he’s much more relaxed with his coworkers and wants to trust them. Those eye-shields stayed up almost the entire time in HR, but come down multiple times in MD (and that’s not even getting into TML or ACP). Whoever sees those eyes of his when he voluntarily uncovers them is someone he feels he can trust.

Adam is recovering. It’s slow and still tinged with wariness and distrust, but he is getting better. He is not wallowing in misery, but recovering pieces of himself and normalcy. He snarks quite frequently, but it’s usually appropriate, and he doesn’t (usually) press the matter or insult people anymore. He tries to build bridges, make amends, listen, be kind, and offer help to anyone who needs it. He is shown to be compassionate and isn’t looking to hurt anyone. He can enjoy an evening alone (see the opening of SR) and spare a genuine smile here and there (see Milena, or even the Fixer). Sure, he had to knock back a drink after GARM, but it was more “I need a freaking drink” than “let me wallow in self-pity and depression for a while”. He knew something was coming down the pipe and needed to be ready for it.

Just because he lives alone and isn’t terribly trusting does not mean he’s gotten worse or not improved at all. This is not uncommon for introverts, especially those (speaking from personal experience, and based on testimonies of others with similar personalities) who have been hurt, betrayed, or forgotten too many times over too many years. Eventually, the scars heal, and they are worn as proof of living through the endless fight that is daily life. Adam might have hated his augs before, but he has accepted them as part of himself. He might have thought they were hideous once and couldn’t bear to look at himself, but they’re just kind of there now. He might still be shocked if someone says he’s beautiful, but he’s not going to deny it out of spite or bitterness.

In my personal thought, the most natural and hopeful progression of his story from here on involves the fight to make the best of what’s the come and not give in to the darkness. While he does need a friend, friends, a lover, or all the above to do it best, he’s not broken right now. He’s still anxious, wary, and quiet, but the impression I get is that he does want to get better, and he’s working to do exactly that. Is it hard? Of course it is.

But Adam, despite being quiet and conflict-avoidant, is determined. I daresay he’s even stubborn, to some extent. He seems to have a distinct and complex inner world, and the glimpses of his mind and heart we get are fascinating. He looks scary and like he’ll kill you if you look at him wrong, but he’s actually a kindhearted gentle giant of a man whose first instinct is not to hurt even someone who’s out to hurt him. The face he shows to the world isn’t necessarily his true one.

Adam is scarred up in a lot of ways, but he’s also healing, if slowly. The golden ending of MD shows this relatively well during the final apartment scene. Even in the other endings, he isn’t totally giving in to the darkness. He’s a warrior at heart, and he simply refuses to give up.

And at the end of the day, he goes back to the quiet place he lets so few people into, sheds the skin he puts on for everyone else, and goes quiet, just the way we like.