#all of these are first drafts which is fun

[imsogonesposts]

Balloon Game

|| ao3 || steve masterlist || requests are open!! || an: this has been in the drafts for far too long cause i wanted to save it for 4th of July LMAO ||

summary: You meet Steve in line for a carnival game when he makes you a deal, if he can beat you in the game, he gets to take you out on a date. (wc: 1253)

Every 4th of July week, since Mayor Kline was elected into office, the town of Hawkins would host a fair with many different rides, games, food stands, and at the end of the night a firework show. And every year since the Fun Fair was first introduced into the town of Hawkins, your parents insisted that you go and try to have some fun. Which is how you ended up in the line for the water gun balloon pop game, where you aim your water gun at a clown and try to be the first to get a balloon attached to the clown to pop. Normally, you wouldn’t waste your time with carnival games, but the teddy bear at the prize section was practically calling your name, and you couldn’t not play and try to win it.

While you were in line for the game, you had met Steve Harrington, a boy who was in your bio class the previous year, who you never got around to talking to, but had always seemed somewhat nice.

You had heard the rumors about him back in high school, about how he slept around a lot and wasn’t always the nicest person to be around. And then you heard the rumors that he changed, started being nicer, kinder, that he babysat a few of the kids in the neighborhood during his free time, that he was working a job at the ice cream shop at the new mall. That he truly had changed. And while the two of you were waiting in line for the game together, you could truly see the change everyone had been talking about.

“So, what are you trying to win?” He asked with a smile, eyes scaling over each of the prizes behind the clown targets. 

You pointed to a giant teddy bear hanging in the corner. “That one,” you said with a smile, “he’s calling to me,” you said through a small laugh.

Steve laughed in return, though it wasn’t a mean-sounding one, it sounded more out of amusement than anything. 

“And what are you trying to win?” You asked in return with a smile, looking up at the boy. 

Steve pointed to a small green alien-looking plush, “the kid I’m babysitting told me to win him that. Don’t really know why, looks kinda weird to me but, what are you gonna do?”

You nodded your head in agreement, the alien toy did look a little weird. It had big yellow eyes, long arms that weren’t proportionate to the rest of its body, and a bit of an odd smile if you were being completely honest. 

When the two of you had finally reached the front of the line, Steve sat himself next to you with a smile. “I have an idea,” he tells you as other players begin to fill in the rest of the seats. 

You smile, but oblige, “what’s that?”

Steve’s smile only seems to somehow grow, “if I win, I get to take you on a date.”

You pause, your heart almost stuttering for a second before you ask to confirm, “you want to go on a date with me?”

Steve nodded his head in confirmation, “course I do,” he replied quietly, almost hesitantly, as if he was beginning to regret his proposal. 

You smile, hoping to ease his worries, before replying, “You have yourself a deal, Harrington,” putting your hand out for his to shake; he eagerly takes your hand in his, shaking it before focusing his attention back on the game. He looks like a man with a purpose, a purpose to win and take you out on a date. 

When all the seats are occupied and the bell rings, signaling the start of the game, both you and Steve aim your water gun at the clown, hoping to be the first to get the balloon to pop. Truthfully, you decided you would go out with Steve, even if he doesn’t win the game, but you really want the giant teddy bear, so you put all your focus into winning and into popping the balloon. 

But then, the bell signaling a winner goes off, and you turn to your side to be met with a Steve wearing a wide grin, and a balloon popped on the clown he was aiming at. When the carnival worker asked Steve which prize he would like, his answer surprised you when he picked the giant teddy bear instead of the little weird alien. 

“Give it to the pretty girl over there please,” he said nodding his head in your direction. You thanked the worker before turning your attention to Steve who was still sporting a wide smile. 

“What about the alien thing?” You asked through a laugh. 

Steve only shrugged. “I’m weirdly good at fair games, I’ll just get it at another booth,” he tells you with a lopsided smile. 

“Thank you,” you said through another laugh as Steve took a small step closer to you. 

“So, about that date…” he trailed off, waiting for your response, to see if you were still up for it. 

You enthusiastically nodded your head yes with a wide smile of your own. “Yeah, I’d love to, do you have a pen or something?” 

Steve nodded his head, holding a finger up, signaling “one second” before darting to a boy with curly hair, who you assumed to be the boy Steve had been babysitting who wanted the alien toy. After what looked like a very animated conversation, Steve returned to you with a notepad, a pen, and a smile, handing you the two objects.

“Is that the kid you're babysitting?” You asked with a laugh as you began writing your phone number down on the notepad.

Steve nodded with a sigh. “Yeah, that’s Dustin.”

He took the notepad and pen back from you with a smile before scribbling his own number down on a blank sheet, ripping it out, and handing it to you.

The paper had his number, his name, and a small smiley face followed by the words, “call me.” You couldn’t help but smile yourself. 

“Is he upset about the alien?” You asked. 

Steve shrugged, “he’ll get over it.”

You wanted to frown, but that’s an almost impossible thing to do when Steve was smiling at you like that. “Okay,” you agreed.

“Okay,“ he replied through a laugh. “Are you free this Friday?” He asked as you nodded your head yes. Steve’s smile only grew. “Great, I can pick you up around six?” 

You nodded your head yes again before swallowing down your nerves and tip-toeing to quickly kiss his cheek. “I’ll see you Friday, Steve. Thanks again.” And with that, you turned around and walked off in the opposite direction, the teddy bear he had won you in hand as Steve felt a stupid, love-stricken smile grow on his face. 

“Wow, I didn’t think you could do it,” Dustin told him, suddenly appearing next to Steve’s side.

Steve only ruffled the younger boy’s hair before lightly pushing him forward and turning around to walk to a different game booth. “Cmon, let me see if I can win you that alien somewhere else.”

“I still can’t believe you got her the bear instead of me the alien! What ever happened to bro code?” Dustin protested, quickly moving to follow Steve, but not even Dustin’s dramatics and complaining could put a damper on Steve’s mood or erase his still wide grin. He couldn’t wait for it to be Friday already. 

[lixies-favorite-cookie]

how could you? ・l.f.

🧁 — baking with felix never included any actual baking, but what it did include was a battle with flour and giggles.

🍫 — paring・felix x gn!reader // genres・fluff, established relationships // words・557 // warnings・a few death jokes i think? mentions of bullets with baking powder, if you don't like rambles or tooth-rotting fluff than you won't like this

a/n・idk what this is imma be so fr. i found this rotting in my drafts and realized i needed to post something so...here we are! it's stupid, but silly and fun. i hope you like it lovelies!!

It was snowing.

No, really, if you were to take a snapshot of this very moment, it would look as if Christmas was coming from the ceiling. But it wasn't Christmas; it was your birthday, and somewhere between pouring flour into a mixing bowl and booping his nose, you ended up in this position: covered in powder.

He pops out from behind the island, fist loaded with a handful of powder. You screech, ducking behind the other side of the island. Though your efforts are futile—he's already wounded you. The dusty substance blankets your stomach. You tumble onto the ground, rolling around in your own self-pity.

"Oh, my love, how could you do this to me??" you cry out, a playful smile pulling at the corners of your cheeks.

He dives to the ground, placing his hand atop your chest and pretends to perform CPR.

"No, no, it was an accident! Y/N, stay with me!"

You flutter your lashes and loll your tongue out before expelling all air from your lungs.

"Nooooo!!" Felix laments, though he can't help the giggles that leak through his faux sobs. He drops to the ground beside you, fanning a hand over his forehead.

You stay there for a few more seconds, curating your super evil master plan. Unbeknownst to Felix, you've been planning his downfall this entire time. In the blink of an eye, you're sprinting to the bowl, scooping some flour out and, just in time for Felix's brain to catch up, throwing it all over his chest.

He blinks, a breath caught in his throat as he dramatically glances down at his chest like the flour formed into a bullet mid-air.

"How could you...?" his voice cracks in disbelief as he collapses straight back onto the floor.

You fall to your knees in laughter, which earns you a playful glare. "You betrayed me! How dare you laugh at my expense!"

He turns his nose away from you when you attempt to grab his hand.

"You hit me first!" You smile, rubbing more flour into his hair. He scrunches his nose up and swats your hand away.

"Actually, this is clearly all your fault."

You gasp, clutching your chest in faux offense. "You jerk! This is not my fault! Nothing can be my fault on my birthday."

Before you can say anymore, Felix has grabbed you by the waist and pulled you down into him, fingers digging into the sensitive parts of your ribs until the whole room is filled with your high-pitched squeals.

“Jerk? You think you can to call me a jerk after you betrayed me!” Felix cackles, hands still ruthlessly assaulting your sides. You can barely breathe, helplessly kicking your legs until your stomach feels tight and you’re gasping for mercy.

When it’s all said and done and laughter has made your stomachs too sore to actually eat anything, you both collapse on the ground, cheeks smeared with flour as you nuzzle your head close into Felix’s chest. The kitchen still smelled like chocolate and the ground was a little sticky with some spilled honey, but you didn’t notice it. All you could focus on was the soft patter of his heart against your lips.

Baking with Lee Felix never actually included a lot of baking. But that didn't matter. Felix loved every minute.

That is, until he has to clean it all up...

Yeah, Felix definitely wasn't loving that.

[laser-tripwires]

the way that sophie doesn't understand eliot because she is, by nature, a shapeshifter. any part of herself that she doesn't like, she can change, up to the point which her identity loses meaning completely. whereas eliot can't change the way she does so he instead has to/chooses to live with the things he has done. the way sophie can be separated from her past because she has changed and eliot can't because, in so many ways, he is still the same

so, full disclosure, this post has sat in my drafts for literal years because i was trying to think of a good response. i think one can go even deeper with this.

you're missing one key detail, and it's the one everyone misses when they analyse sophie. well, don't miss entirely, but it's the one everyone kinda seems to leave unsaid even if they contradict it. sophie can read people. she can read people extremely fucking well, and her default social interaction mode is manipulation. in the original series this is a skill overshadowed by nate's ability to do the same thing, but by redemption it's been suddenly retconned to be sophie's main skill and it's a testament to the og show's writing that that doesn't seem out of place. sophie can read people extremely fucking well.

so no, she doesn't understand eliot. but it's not quite just because of their differences in personal identity; there's also the fact that sophie gets an extremely accurate view of the person eliot is, but not quite the depths of the emotional intelligence eliot has.

it's why i love that scene in tap-out so much - you see soph making an assumption, buying into the read of eliot that they'll later use as a weapon in the con, and eliot steps back slightly to talk her through why she's wrong. but sophie's sophie - she reads people really well. she did pick up on eliot's pain in that scene, but her own view of the world slotted it into a different root than the one that was really there.

actually! you wanna hear something really fun that i realised last time i rewatched almost paradise? in that show, christian kane's character, alex, has a moment in a random fight scene in season two where he chucks a dude over a railing and makes an "oops that dude's dead" face. eliot never does that, the closest we get is the wedding job i guess, but... i lie. he does do that wince, and it's in the opener to season three. eliot chucks a guy into traffic and makes that same face.

and, of course, that sequence doesn't actually happen. it's just sophie's telling of a story to nate. it's the first time we unambigously see eliot kill someone, and it's in a story told by sophie.

see where i'm going with this?

she's dramatising. but she's dramatising in a way that i don't think eliot ever would, because in real life eliot isn't that sloppy and accidentally killing someone is a bigger deal than that. leverage exists in a magic universe where bonking people on the head is always nonfatal, shh it's fine.

just... not to sophie, apparently. not to little miss "spikes a diplomat's drink in order to induce a potentially deadly anaphylactic response as a distraction" sophie devereaux. do i think sophie's ever actually killed someone? probably not, and she clearly has stronger boundaries about this than the rest of the team (see last dam), but i also think in not having that darkness, she misses the softer lines that the others tread. especially eliot. that was true then - look at their conversations in the real fake car job - and it's still true now. sophie harbours a lot of guilt about a lot of things, but in contrast to eliot, all her regrets are to do with collateral damage. never direct harm.

bringing it back to sophie more broadly (i will start talking about eliot give me a minute) it's not really just that sophie has changed. a LOT of her has stayed the same.

oh, sure, she is a creature of change, she shreds names and identities like they're second skins. she has spent most of her adult life stuck in a toxic cycle of thinking that running away will fix things, and it's only recently (and by "recently" i really do mean "recently", like, after the muddy waters job recently) that she's prperly broken that loop. but there's a lot about her that's the same as it's always been.

she is a creature of change but that change is a constant, and it's only in ceasing to change - in finding a family, in falling in love, in putting down roots, in deciding to never fully start again but instead to just keep going - that sophie finally achieved her redemption.

so you're right about her, but you're wrong, too. she changes, and she doesn't, and it's in change that she stops changing, and that's what earns her redemption.

...and the thing with eliot, right, is that you're correct - he has been a similar person to who he is now for a very long time. including when he was killing people, which is something i think people gloss over. the eliot we have now is basically just that eliot minus the depression and plus some found family.

actually, by the by, this is what makes the "the white hat doesn't suit you" line from the big bang job so damn good. and "he prefers beer" is the scariest goddamn line in the show because we've been hearing all season about moreau's atrocities and now we find out that eliot is the kind of person to casually hang out with that sort of employer. that's chilling. our eliot has worked so hard for restitution, arguably too hard once we reach redemption. but this is spoken by someone who knows the stuff eliot is seeking restitution FROM, certainly better than we the audience do. and that's why this is so damn terrifying. think about who eliot is, a personality that's still the same and that moreau knows. how can the white hat suit a man like eliot, how can doing the good thing fit a guy with those oceans of blood on his hands?

so, we have literal concrete proof that at his worst eliot still preferred the same drinks, still made friends, still probably laughed and smiled. it'd be all too easy to just imagine him as a completely cold-hearted monster, and while that might've been what was at his core back then, on the surface? he was still the same person. news flash, kids, depression isn't always obvious. "he prefers beer" is the most spine-chilling line in the entire show, because it means eliot was happy to laugh with these people, to drink with them, to let his quirks slip through and be who he is.

eliot opens up in different ways with different people - look at his conversation with shelly, for example, and how that banter wouldn't have come up with the team. it makes you wonder exactly what jokes got told, exactly what blood got washed off of his hands before life as normal continued.

the person eliot was and the person eliot is might be very different people in terms of actions, but in terms of personality? i think eliot said it best in french connection; "Different guy. [...] Same bad attitude, though."

watch him, in the early episodes of the show, in season three when he's going through the wringer in secret. eliot does a lot of bantering and joking around without really actually opening up - he's not guarded, not in the same way someone like sophie is, but he is a human being with a lot of layers.

and people underestimate him! as nate says, that's kind of the point, but it's damn relevant here if we're gonna talk about how sophie percieves eliot, which i believe is at least partly what i intended for this post to be about.

so sophie changes, all of the time. she achieves redemption by learning when to stop changing, by finding a life and a name she is comfortable in. i will forever love that scene in crowning achivement where astrid asks sophie what her real name is and sophie tells her it's sophie devereaux, because... it is, now.

but eliot? it's not that he can't change, that he hasn't changed. his personality has stayed largely the same, but his actions and choices are extremely different now to what they used to be. but "bad choices are bad choices", see, and "they eat you up inside. and you don't even notice."

eliot's not stuck with being the person he was. he makes different choices now, but he'll always be the guy who did those things. he'll always know why he did them, and he'll always have to sit with the uncomfortable truths that lie beneath that.

can eliot be redeemed? i don't know. but his journey is not sophie's, and you're right - they're two people trapped in extremely different prisons of causality.

[thydungeongal]

Hello! I think I recall you answering somebody about TTRPGs that felt like The Elder Scrolls and was wondering if you could help point me in the direction of some games and systems with mechanics like other video games.

The first is (and forgive me if you’ve already answered this) have you seen any games that approach skills and leveling in the same way as TES games where doing a skill raises that skill and eventually player level?

The second (and unrelated to the first), but have you seen any games that play around with job/role/class switching that Dragon Quest and many other JRPGs have?

Thirdly, do you know of any that treat characters, resources, randomization, and/or challenges more like deckbuilding, either of the roguelike variety or the constructed TCG variety?

These are all really fun questions and sadly I don't have anything that perfectly fits any of your criteria, but here's a few!

For the TES approach to character advancement the closest I know of is RuneQuest/Mythras. In many games of the RuneQuest lineage characters using skills grants them "checks" which either translate to a chance to advance a skill or an immediate advancement to that skill at the next proper moment. These games also often have magic and skills taught by trainers at cults/organizations, so that's another close fit for TES. However, they do not track character level separately: character advancement is purely through skill advancement and there isn't a separate level metric that advances in parallel. So it's not quite a perfect fit.

As for the second, here's a funny little piece of trivia: the JRPG staple of characters changing classes/jobs/roles can actually be traced back to AD&D, which had rules for changing classes for human characters (which would be renamed Dual-Classing in 2e). These rules were adapted in a very different way to Wizardry, which very much was the template for Dragon Quest and subsequent JRPGs.

Besides AD&D there are a few more modern tactical combat RPGs that specifically model themselves after Final Fantasy XIV's system of a single character being able to perform as multiple jobs via a system of, well. Simply allowing characters to switch jobs between sessions. Beacon and ICON come to mind. It's less similar to the Dragon Quest system where by changing class a character gets reset to level 1 but retains some of their abilities (which is kind of but not really similar to AD&D), but it's still very video gamey explicitly.

As for the last one, oof, I sadly can't think of very many games that make use of deckbuilding as such. The closest I can think of is Last Stand, sadly unavailable commercially after the author was harassed off the internet. Last Stand is a game of playing futuristic supersoldiers wearing biomechanical armor fighting giant bugs who gain new powers by ripping off bug parts and slotting them into their armor. It's a cool as hell game and it has character creation handled via an MtG style draft, but besides that it doesn't really have deckbuilding as a major mechanic. I am sure there are some deckbuilding RPGs out there, but I simply don't know of them.

[tookishcombeferre]

Oh so much this.

I have a draft of stuff I was writing for "In the Flares" in which I was trying to flush out the exact differences between Chyrsta and Cedric from Sofia's perspective, and his is what I came up with.

"It feels wrong. Chrysta makes her work hard. Chrysta makes her feet bleed with heavy training. Chrysta never lets her stop working. Chrysta rarely has a positive thing to say. Chrysta isn’t tender. She isn’t soft. She isn’t the place Sofia runs to for shelter or comfort. Chrysta makes her work until she can’t hold herself up anymore.

Mr. Cedric is gentle. This isn’t Chrysta’s job. Sofia doesn’t want her comfort."

That's all of the drafting I can give without accidently giving spoilers for a major plot point. As it was, I cut a line because it might have given something away.

This is for really late in the story and is mostly place holders for my thoughts on these two characters in comparison to each other. So, it will likely change 20 times before it actually ends up in the story.

Given that, I think this is such a true analysis of Cedric's character.

I think we see it a lot in episodes in which we have Cedric interacting with the kids in significant ways in school settings.

"The Sorcerer's Secret"

"Sidekick Clio"

Even in the science fair episode, Cedric may send them to get more of their own Hocus Crocus. But, to me, that always read more as a logical consequence of the kid's actions than Cedric trying to anything truly nefarious.

Another fun little look into my writing process:

“I never saw Sofia, James, or Amber, for that matter, so enthused about lessons as they were when you came home from substitute teaching them at Royal Prep. Cecily wrote me about it too. Stars, Vivian was so different after that day. Band. Orchestra. She did all sorts of things after that class that she had never tried before. Honestly, I think that may have been the first time I heard you laugh! So, teaching will make you happy too, won’t it?” Miranda asks, the desperation more and more evident in her voice.

Why the desperation?

Now wouldn't y'all like to know. (JK. Hoping to have this posted soon.)

But, the difference in Vivian's character is pretty significant pre-Sorcerer's Secret and post. Same with Clio after Sidekick Clio and after.

Now, unlike with Vivian, we don't actually see her and Cedric interact directly. But, like, it is interesting to me that the times where Cedric is present to these young people are the times in which there is a really significant amount of personal growth.

Which @shychick-52 pointed out in a previous post may have contributed to Cedric's joy at the RPA graduation in the finale.

(I personally prescribe to the HC that Cedric decided to tutor at RPA post Day of the Sorcerers as part of his redemption arc.)

One of the little connections I built was that Cordelia works for Hugo's dad, and that Hugo almost flunked out of Sorcery at RPA. Sofia all but shoved him through Cedric's door, and the two of them kind of hit it off.

Here's another little glimpse into some drafting of dialogue:

“Miss Cordelia! Calista! I saw the Enchancian carriage pull up. Is Princess Sofia here? Did your brother finally come to see you, Miss Cordelia? Is Princess Sofia here? … I asked that already didn’t I?” He blurts.

Cordelia raises an eyebrow at the thirteen year old as he flushes red. He rocks back on his heels a few times and shifts on his feet with his hands behind his back looking around awkwardly. She smiles at him with a soft shake of her head.

Part of the reason I wanted to make the connection between Cedric and Hugo was that it's cute. It is setting Cedric up for his Uncle Iroh era, and I'm living for it.

I personally loved the idea of Hugo being like "Look, I know we're learning things. But, I like her, and no one else actually knows what she likes and Amber said you'd know. As awkward as this is, she said you'd probably know better than King Roland. So, I figured ... you know ... I'd ask?"

But, more deeply, it's exactly what Shy said. Cedric gets what it means to need a support system.

Hugo, like, doesn't really have that.

He kind of does? But, like, it takes a lot of convincing for his dad to get on board with anything that's not traditional.

And, if there's one person who would understand *that* ...

So, it felt like a fun little connection to explore.

And, it has been.

So much fun.

There were a great many things I have been able to do because of this. Not the least of which was write a rather funny scene of Hugo trying to flirt in the most middle school boy way possible - by trying to compose really over dramatic poetry in the style of Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur (which he probably stole off of Cedric's shelf.)

My source for this?

When my brother was 12, I was 22. I remember *all* of his middle school antics.

(May, or may not, be inspired by somewhat true events, though the books of poetry may or may not have been different ... I will neither confirm nor deny this, for his sake ...)

So, after getting us kind of off topic, but at the service of making deeper analysis, I think Cedric teaches the way he needed to be taught.

In the Sorcerer's Secret episode, he begins by just setting the students to do everything on their own. It kind of seems like Hexley lacks a lot of supervision and structure - given ... errr ... the fact that this whole Prank Day thing happens at all?

However, Cedric's teacher, the one who taught him about trying at things until he got them right built resilience in Cedric.

I often wonder about how close the two of them were through the FIFTEEN YEARS Cedric would have spent at Hexley. Was it the voice of Cedric's teacher or Master that kept sparks of goodness alive in him when all those lights were doused by other people?

Was it the lights Cedric's Master kindled that Sofia was able to rekindle?

Is Cedric a living representation of his Master's legacy?

Will we find out what the heck happened to that dude in the new series?

I don't know.

But, what I do know is that it sometimes seems like the Protectors are living outside of time. They don't have a structure to understand days, months, or years. They're kind of ageless. They transcend the human.

However, Cedric is very aware of what it means to be human.

So, in so many ways, Cedric and Chrysta are foils.

Chrysta has always been "the best Protector," but she's a terrible teacher. Chrysta has no context for what failure, at least as a Protector, feels like. She was a natural when it comes to what Sofia struggles with. So, to her, it must mean that Sofia is the problem *not* that she isn't teaching well enough.

Whereas, Cedric has the attention span of an over-excited toddler, and the anxiety of a prey animal. This makes him kind of rubbish at performing - especially under pressure. However, he's an incredible teacher because he *gets* what it's like to fail. The guy was literally called "The Bungler" his whole life.

So, in the end, what it comes down to is who understands the struggle of failure and and who doesn't.

Folks who have failed make better teachers than folks who haven't.

The students who spent their childhood kicked out of class in the hallways, who asked too many questions, who were called names, who had a handful of good teacher role models, but who's overall experience of school was constantly pushing the boulder up the hill as opposed to just being able to levitate the darn thing?

Generally, those are the folks who teach well because there's empathy in having failed.

If Cedric knew about the kind of teaching methods Chrysta was using with Sofia when she was very first being trained as a Protector, he would raise hell. Well, at the very least, he would have some VERY sharp words with that fairy. Because he knows first-hand not only just what Sofia is capable of and how strong she is, but he knows more than anyone what it's like to have others just expecting him to fail and treating him like a burden. He knows the necessity of good support, somebody to guide you with patience and encouragement to succeed.

@tookishcombeferre

[majorproblems77]

Taken by nightmares

TW - nightmares, Cia being creepy, warriors gets bullied by his own brain 101, warriors get his soul stolen (in the dream F), Sky gets a little present, but its not pleasant, blood

Running running running

He was running out of time

Time ticked forward. The flames rose higher. The pain in his soul turned sickly.

"LINK!"

Turning around he found a monstrous beast.

Ganondorf.

The glow of the stolen fragments of the triforce shone from his head as the beast stomped forward. But he felt frozen in place.

Impa lay still on the ground nearby. He was too late to save her.

He raised the master sword in front of him, her glow reflecting in the beast's eyes. A final light in the darkness that was consuming the world around them as it fell away in pieces. The screams of his fellow soldiers echoed through the abyss as the wind picked up into a torrent of pain and destruction.

"You have failed."

A sickening voice echoed from behind him. Female....

Cia...

Unable to move he found hands tracing up his arms as nails dug into his flesh. slow steady footsteps filled his ears as she came into view. Her eyes glowed crimson as she tilted her head and smiled.

"You caused this pain." she smiled. Plaicing a hand to his chin as she drew herself into his face. He could feel the blood rushing to his ears. "You should have given yourself to me. It would have made this so much easier..."

He couldn't speak. He couldn't get away.

Trapped.

Alone.

"My chosen one, my perfect soul. Give yourself to me."

He struggled, he cried, but no noise came out.

Let me go! Let me go!

"Your gods can't hear you now..." She giggled, as she took a step back from him, "By my guiding hand, you are mine to the end!" Turning to him she raised her staff, a dark red mist emanating from its gemstone. Stretching across from her and ensnaring him in its grip.

Gold light begain to stretch across his body, "I will manipulate you into my image. And together my hero we shall rule this world."

Nonononononononononono

Let him go!

"..nk"

He could feel his very essence being drawn from him as the darkness began to seep into his bones.

"....ink..."

Just another sacrifice for her war.

Just another one converted to her perfected image...

"LINK!"

Bolting upright the first thing he did was grab the thing in front of him. Turning it around as a scream of pain left it. Green and red filled his vision as gold joined it.

"Link it's okay!"

"NO! NO I WONT BE A PUPPET! I WON'T BE PART OF YOUR PERFECT IMAGE!" He gripped tighter. forcing the object into the green fabric. Another sound reached his ears. Another yell. More pain more suffering.

"Sky can you get free?"

Sky?

"No."

Sky? Sky... Sky...

The next thing he registered was a knife in his hands. A blade pressed against skin. Panicked voices.

"Step back. You're scaring him." A calm voice, unwavering and unafraid.

Who were they ? They wanted to kill him. They were going to kill him or take him to Cia or or or...

"Link. It's okay. The threat has passed." He pushed the steel against the man's neck. "Put the knife down. No one is going to hurt you."

Dusty blond hair filled his vision. As he registered the wrist in his hand roll slightly.

"Who do you work for?" His voice was low, and the knife pressed tightly against his neck. "You have five seconds."

"I work for Hylia. My name is Link. Like yours. I'm a hero from an age before yours." The man spoke plainly and slowly.

Other Links? Other Links...

the chain...

He moved the knife away slowly but The man did not relax. "Put the knife down, captain. It's okay..."

"Its okay... ITs okay.... Its okay..." Slowly repeating it to himself he moved the blade ever so slowly away from his neck. Watching for sudden movements.

The shift of grass from a boot...

On instinct, he turned the blade and stabbed quickly. Finding his blade stopped short of the man's neck by his own arm. Which was now dripping crimson red blood.

Pushing the man to the ground he jumped on top of him, removing the blade from his arm and trying to space it into the neck where it would be safest.

If they can't talk they can't tell. If they can't tell they can't find you.

The man below him pushed away at his arms, pain ghosted his features as he found leverage and twisted his body sending him to the ground. The man above him pinned him down, his arms placed above his head as he felt something heavy collapse across his legs.

"Warriors! It's me! Sky!" The piercing blue eyes looked down at him.

Sky... Sky....

Sky!

He let out a gasp before looking towards the skyloftian again. "Sky?"

"Yep. Thats me. You back?"

Everything came rushing back to him. He'd attacked Sky. He'd almost killed him.

Dear hylia....

"Sky?"

"You had a bad dream, that knocked your senses for a bit." The skyloftian smiled. and offered him a hand.

He offered him a hand?!

His eyes fixed to the skyloftians bracer where blood pooled around some damage. He didn't say anymore. Turning away. "I'm sorry..."

He felt a pat on his shoulder. "I'm okay." You could hear the grimace in his voice. Trying to hide the pain. "Get some rest, we can talk in the morning."

Why would he want to talk to him in the morning?

"I almost killed you!" He spoke to the air. His voice filled with shock as a hand raised to his lips.

"You were taken by a nightmare. That is not your doing." Sky's voice was unwavering and calm.

How could he be so calm at a time like this?

"I...." He tried again.

"No. Get some rest. We will talk in the morning."

Curling up on his side he spoke no more, but he would not sleep either. The threat of nightmares returning too close for comfort.

[crossbackpoke-check]

blessed be (lorscher bienensegen) | telling the bees (wiþ ymbe)

"Bees" [remixed, abridged], Claudia Emerson // "Letter to Someone Living Fifty Years from Now" [remixed. abridged], Matthew Olzmann // "Letter to my Great, Great Grandchild" [remixed, abridged], J.P. Grasser | Len Redkole, Nina Weiss, Brian Babineau, Christian Peterson, Mitchell Leff, Dave Isaac, Megan DeRuchie

[governmentmandatedryujinstan420]

releasing this from the hj discord dungeon because the public populace was in agreement also i'm chronically offline on tumblr and need to fix that for my chronically online ahh

[egoarc4de]

homecoming

[skitskatdacat63]

"The Boy With The Thorn in His Side"(x) - The Smiths × 2023 Strollonso moments + pundits' reactions

[mishy-mashy]

En was killed by being cut in half by AFO. It wasn't that he couldn't handle OFA, but that AFO just decided to nuke him

All Might says using One For All with an untrained body would make your limbs fly off. But

This isn't his limbs? Yes, that's his arm, but that's HALF OF HIS BODY

Yes, there's also the argument he could've used it on his whole body and that's the consequence but there is a small cut on his thumb. It matches the line in which he was cut in half, and blood spurts from his hand.

The translation hides it, but his thumb got cut too from the slice. His thumb wasn't the focus, but still got hit. It at least shows when En passes on OFA to Nana

Since Banjo's arms got wrecked by using OFA, maybe En used it in one leg and that's why his leg is differently-colored and looks more beat up. En probably couldn't handle the Quirk either.

This means that En was being logical and saw OFA as a tool, and only used it in a leg so he could run.

All Might specifically says an unprepared vessel's limbs will fly off. Even if En used it on his whole body, that means only his arms and legs; but that's his torso. His leg didn't go flying either; at least until they both went flying cuz he was severed.

[vargaslovinghours]

The unusual but no less hard-hitting 10½! (1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9)

So as it turns out, I did so many Blank Slate/Have you lost your mind? doodles that I ComPletely broke the last sketchdump lol, so it gets it’s own! Who could’ve figured that making basically a full comic of Chapters 2 and 3 would’ve made just a few too many sketches lol

Because of that, I’d strongly recommend reading what I've posted of Have you lost your mind? so far before this! Spoilers and author’s notes/behind the scenes warnings and all that haha

Concept sketch for Scriabin - I always love having visual signifiers to denote timeline/AU/etc. differences so you can tell at a glance where you are :) His silhouette gets to be correct! The details, well, sorry we forgot those ♪

And concepts for Edgar! I've drawn him in different glasses before so it was a bit of an excuse, using these new/old glasses to do so again haha

But in the end I went for a reference! Remember when I drew Edgar's glasses tiny?

And I mean, if he hadn't worn them in a while, maybe they're just a bit small on him! Lol

Poor memory-less Edgar's musings, it's not just sad to be forgotten, it's sad to forget :(

Early concept of Scriabin freaking out by himself in the bedroom. I'm glad I got to keep it :D

Always gotta draw 'em reacting to something just out of frame

Poor Scriabin, he wants to be close despite knowing Edgar doesn't remember him. He has to face this whole Being Human thing completely alone! Edgar just doesn't understand!

He doesn't know how good he's got it haha, if I was really mean I'd have let him keep his glasses instead. There's a bunch of fun themes either way, but stealing from Edgar while hiding in his own hair is as good as any hehe <3

Blank-faced Edgar, I ended up with a lot of these, unsurprisingly. Doesn't help that he's cute haha

As usual, starting from the middle - it's just easier to get ideas flowing around a core! Also that note pointing at Edgar of "Put Todd to bed" was all the everything of the prep work I did for writing that little section, but the rest Absolutely Needed storyboarding lol

He might come to resent you if you manhandle so much right after meeting for the "first" time

Scriabin actually touches him in the original draft, but after I thought about it, it'd probably take a bit to cross the touch barrier comfortably again! Scriabin's still weird about Edgar but Edgar is wary, it's an interesting dynamic

I won't show off every panel, but panels like these where I think they turned out especially cute Have to be included haha <3 I dunno what it is but Scriabin pouting always turns out adorable ♥

Floof harder! Edgar's innocent expressions ahh <3

Starting to lay the groundwork, but still a bit nervously! It is quite fun how they skirt each other, not quite sure what the other knows - how many lies can Scriabin get away with before he gets caught!

Scriabin using some informed guesswork in conjunction with what he definitely knows, he is rather intelligent :) You can also see Edgar's unfocused eyes well in this one, I tried to draw them fuzzy behind those glasses hehe

These are all lined up like this on the page :D Really happy with his hand expressions here, and his face haha

This was one of my favourite lines - he keeps making excuses for Nny! Edgar no! - I fully admit that it's also partially influenced by how cute Edgar turned out haha, the poor thing - but he's so wonderfully fluffy!

I love this line as well, Scriabin utterly convinced that all his hard work must have gotten through to Edgar somewhere in there, he said it often enough, he must have listened to him at least once-!

And then Edgar completely cuts him off and redirects him haha, they’re both hopeless <3

So mad at himself and Edgar, comedy = pain + time, but this is still fresh! Give yourself some time!

That last line in particular is so insidious because he did that, Scriabin was the one who put him in that situation, and now he’s trying to turn it back around on him! He's the worst ♪

Guilty Edgar <3 Still pressing on (changing the subject so he doesn't have to linger on the feeling hehe), he does have his own questions

These kinds of exchanges were especially fun to look back on from their individual perspectives since I only drew it once, starting with Edgar. How honest can Scriabin really be? He can't explain everything and not be kicked out for being a potential danger to Todd or Edgar! He's gotta play his cards Just So

Edgar is also quite intelligent! Catching Scriabin out in a lie, even when he's trying so hard to skirt the truth!

Scriabin so mad about being called out, gotta rub it in just a little bit that he's Totally Right lol, what a brat <3

Scriabin is legally and morally and emotionally and spiritually obligated to mess with Edgar sexually in literally every iteration of his existence, it is a core tenant of his being and also he really really wants to (lol) ♪ Drawing Edgar all blushed up is just a bonus, who does this stranger think he is! What has he forgotten! He's not some easy man! Haha, if you only (still) knew, Edgar

Whatever he was going to say would just hurt Scriabin's feelings, better to just cut him off before another reminder gets laid out

Probably my least favourite dialogue that I had to change was making "?" into something that flowed better in just-text, it's not the same! Lots of little notes about word choice actually haha. Love them reaching for each other even like this <3

Edgar has all these feelings to contend with! My favourite shot is easily the last one, Scriabin's relaxed mouth while Edgar's heart is beating out of his veins right into his ear ♥

Pls o////ò;

Existence is exhausting

Even without knowing him, he's just a cautious guy :) And he wants to be gentle with him! He doesn't realize what he's doing, what his actions would mean to Scriabin if he could see them, and he does them all the same 💕

Pretty lad <3

Technically backtracking, to Ch. 3! POV shifts are fun lol

Zarla mentioned Scriabin curling up into a ball in the blankets and I thought it was a cute visual haha ♪ Haven't had a use for it yet but never say never hehe

I wanted to go for some high perspective shots to drive home the uncanny feeling of being really truly alone for the first time ever. That, and he's dramatic anyhow haha

His posing was very important to me! Since Edgar knocks on the door while he's still leaned against it, the contact points would Feel a specific way

Scriabin got a lot of「bracket notes」for his section, usually as digs lol, where does Scriabin get off saying that Edgar has no tact haha

More blank-faced Edgar! These were actually drawn separately - could be chalked up to how each of them remember the event! Edgar sees himself as more put-together and Scriabin as more foolish haha ♪

That horrible sinking feeling

I pick on him a lot but this really would be incredibly scary and sad! He's alone, expelled, and the only person who Knows him now doesn't even recognize him! This was probably the one scene I wanted to be just a bit longer, really feel the weight, hmm

But he's also quite resilient haha, he has to be <3 He has enough tenacity, thank goodness haha

One of those examples of panels basically repeating lol, I can only fit so much text per pose! Plus it's fun to see the little body language differences :)

Another bracket note lol, Scriabin has to be the best at everything!

And another, have I mentioned that Kaggie is my favourite of the two? ✨ I'd still like to give both K and D a more sizeable reference sometime! Scriabin continues to be the cutest when he pouts, agh <3

Touchy touchy touch ♥

I do love the phrase "feeling himself" right after the last panel lol - it can be both literal and metaphorical! And that's what you get for not cleaning up after yourself! I swear that lightswitch panel confused me so many times on reviewing notes lol

He's not even careful pfft. Then again if he was, he wouldn't have a mess to grumble about in the first place!

A familiar face while Scriabin's already feeling small on his lonesome, ~it's symbolic~

Ough, it hurts to think that Edgar might actually be able to watch Zeitgeist, not knowing the deeper implications. The thought of him inviting Scriabin to see it! 💔

The most important question, and he hasn't come to a conclusion yet :) I wonder what his answer will be once he stops hiding from it!

Hhhh this has been a really fun AU to write for, I'm glad that I finally put it to words since it had been rolling around in my head since early 2021 - there are so many fun and insidious things to explore! Especially on Scriabin's side, though I still think it's the most fun to be stuck behind Edgar's eyes, an aware audience knowing what Scriabin is up to while Edgar doesn't hehe ♪ Hopefully I'll have some time to return to it after a bit! :D

[wundrousarts]

Mini Silverborn Countdown

If you’ve been around for a few years, you’ve seen me vaguely mention a “Silverborn Countdown Challenge” several times. It’s been delayed and changed as many times as the book itself, lol.

If anyone wants sort of a low-stakes, very chill and spaced out version of this ye olde never tackled challenge to complete in the next year before Silverborn, I propose what I’m doing:

Every 3 months leading up to the initial release, I am creating one thing based on each of the books.

January — Nevermoor

April — Wundersmith

July — Hollowpox

[copia]

ive been offline too long. this is ridiculous. sorry in advance for the queue that is about to be unleashed

[aperfecta]

Writing down all the ideas for the second draft of the thing I'm working on has made me want to. Work on it. My therapist was right sometimes one small step is all it takes (or for me a dozen small fake-out steps before I finally take off running)

[3416]

Would love your thoughts on will/mack and auston/mitch parallels if you are inclined!

not to be a #fraud but i have not done enough in depth research on will and mack's individual personalities and quirks and histories yet beyond absorbing posts that are regularly on my dash and tl, HOWEVER........ it's hard not to look at the way they came into this league and the blatant codependence and not think of mitch and auston as rookies, lol... like every major hockey pair fan has tried to put their own guys next to will and macklin as like, wow how similar, but i actually do think 1634 are the most accurate comparison so far on a realistic level... down to how exactly they came into the league and getting to be rookies together and being mentored by the same guys and the walk in game day shit and matching outfits and pregame solo routines like lmaoo.. all the interpersonal stuff i can almost find shot for shot moments w mitch and auston like LOL. we will have to see how the trajectory of their careers go obviously bc that's where they will probably differ from mitch and auston's hockey so far, but i hope the personal fun can last for a long time for them and they aren't boxed into not showing personality in some ways i think the leafs have suffered from in this market.

individually, i actually think macklin/mitch are more of the proper comparison and will/auston tbh... which is a flip flop from the first and fourth overall obv but they are their own people and their dynamic will be unique. but after i learned will's a gear guy and auston gave him a stick when we played the sharks at home, i definitely think that even more, lol. both will and auston being born in the us in places where hockey's not exactly the most popular of the youth sports (like yeah it's definitely Around but baseball/soccer/football are still bigger here even when you're a kid)... they both have more of a swagger and cockiness to them in general too i think..... and there this too-cool veneer to a lot of early days auston matthews that's been worn down over time. we have a realer sense of who he is than we did when he was a rookie. mitch and macklin definitely wear their emotions more... both from big hockey markets... both with the dads who put high high expectations on them and have some helicopter parenting tendencies. i think there are obviously differences in those father relationships but seeing the influence be sooo close to home with macklin's dad working in the bay area too is just. anyway. they don't play the same position and it's not a 1 for 1 here, but i like that..... they have their own unique flavor and will continue to i'm sure BUT IT WAS VERRY FUN to get to see willmack next to 1634 next to pattyjumbo and think about how all three of those pairs are very like..... soulmate kinda partnerships in this sport in different stages. just starting out... in the prime of their careers... numbers retired in the rafters together... like i felt that image in my bones klFJDKLS