#also I don’t remember the original post or who made it unfortunately but they put it much more elegantly than I have here lol

[mountttmase]

Winter Sun - Chapter 1

Note - I can’t tell you how excited I am to finally post this 🙊 it’s honestly one of my favourite things I’ve written and I really hope you love it. I wish I could find the original anon who inspired this but I hope you all love it 🩷 feedback is appreciated as usual 😘

Pairing - Mason Mount × Reader

Word count - 6.6k

Warnings - series will contain fluff, smut & angst

Masterlist

‘Thanks for saving me in there, Mase’ you smiled as you squished yourself in the back of the taxi. Whoever thought it was a good idea to order a 7 seater you had no idea but Mason managed to steady you as the pair of you sat practically in the boot.

‘Don’t worry about it. It’s like a jungle in there sometimes, they look like animals on the hunt. Makes my skin crawl’ he laughed, his body turning to face yours slightly in order to give you a bit more room before you slung your legs over his. ‘You alright there’ he chuckled, his warm palm pressing to your thigh but you just gave him an enthusiastic nod.

‘Perfect’ you winked before the car finally jolted forward.

‘You two got enough room back there?’ Ben asked from in front of you, turning in his seat to check on you both before your best friend, and Ben's girlfriend, Carly turned to face you too.

‘Just about’ you laughed before they turned away, leaving you and Mason to talk amongst yourselves.

‘I’ve been meaning to complain to you actually’ Mason started, his hand is travelling down your leg to massage the soft skin of your calf. ‘Why haven’t I received any baked goods delivered to my door recently?’

‘Because I’ve been selling out’ you laughed, catching on to his impressed expression before he shrugged. ‘Christmas is my busiest time of year’

‘Well you need to make me extra then’ he winked, causing you to chuckle. ‘Christmas is over now anyway’

‘Two weeks ago yeah’ you laughed. ‘Don’t worry I’ve made you something extra special for your birthday’

‘Cute’ he laughed but you didn’t miss the subtle bite of his lip. ‘Can’t you still make me some of those Christmas tree brownies? I like those’

‘Thought Christmas was over?’ You told him, brows raised as you tried to use his words against him and you could tell by the twinkle in his eyes he was enjoying your teasing.

‘You know if I could live in your bakery I would but unfortunately I have a job myself’

‘Well that’s just not a good enough excuse really is it?’

‘I guess not. You wanna be my sugar mumma in more ways than one then yeah?’ He joked, causing you to roll your eyes before laughing loudly. The joke was unexpected coming from him, considering you were only friends and he never spoke to you like this but you also knew he was as cheeky as they come and Mason always liked to make a joke about the name of your business no matter how much he told you he loved it.

Sugar Mumma was a concept you’d dreamt up at school. Wanting to put your baking talents and love of sweet treats to good use, you’d always wanted your own bakery and two years ago after lots of grafting and selling your bakes from home, you’d finally been able to open your own shop.

It wasn’t anything huge, but it was yours and you loved it more than anything else.

Mason loved it too by all accounts, in fact the first time you’d ever met him was there. When Carly had first met Ben she took him in a few times to grab some treats for various date nights so you knew him well and around six months into their relationship Ben had bought Mason in so they could pick up her birthday cake.

You remembered that day fondly, you’d been rushed off your feet for most of it. Flushed, sweaty and covered in flour when they’d arrived but you’d blushed at the sight of him. Oh he’s cute you thought, suddenly realising what a state you must have looked but his gentle smile and kind eyes relaxed you.

Mason seemed impressed by everything and his sweet tooth had clearly got the better of him. Not wanting to wait until later for cake he was looking at your basically empty display to try to curb his cravings but all you had to offer him was the last triple chocolate muffin.

You knew they were good, but watching the way his eyes rolled around in his head as he took a bite filled you with satisfaction. The sinful moans and groans pouring from his lips telling you how much he was enjoying it without any words as Ben watched on with mild embarrassment at his friends' antics.

That had been a year ago and it was pretty safe to say you’d all formed a pretty strong bond since then. Mason was alway nipping into your shop to get his sugar fix, in the end striking a deal with you that you’d give him a box of leftover items from that day in exchange for tickets to his games and you’d often be caught leaving them outside his front door with a silly note attached. That was until he’d moved away around five months ago now and you barely got to see him.

You knew he was a bit homesick so you began sending his sweet treats up to him in the post and you still remember how happy and excited he sounded when he called you that first day he’d received them.

You liked Mason, he was fun and kind and just someone who made you feel good when you were around him. You both grew to be great friends as you hung out with Ben and Carly and soon enough as you met more of their friends you had a pretty nice friendship group going even with him being further away.

But you weren’t blind. You knew how attractive he was and you couldn’t lie you had a soft spot for him but you loved the way it was so platonic between you both. He was never over the top with you, if anything he always came across as soft and a little shy. A true gentleman that was never inappropriate with you and you truly treasured having him around.

There had been a weird and unfamiliar tension in the air since he’d stepped in to save you earlier though. You weren’t sure what it was, maybe the alcohol and some new found confidence, but his eyes were focused on your lips constantly when you were talking and the times you did make eye contact, his were dark and sultry.

‘Come on then, Muffin. Let’s get you out’ Mason laughed quietly and you shook your head even though your heart was fluttering.

Muffin.

What had started out as a cute nickname he’d given you after the first treat he’d tried from you had become a small inside joke. You pretended you hated it as you really had at first, but now you’d grown fond of it. The fact he seemed to be using it as more of a term of endearment now made your insides melt every time the name passed his lips but he didn’t need to know that.

You allowed him to help you out of the car, stumbling slightly in your drunken state but he was there to catch you. Hands tightly gripping your waist and you held onto his strong shoulders, laughing into his chest before he turned and bent slightly. You could never seem to say no to this man so you let him help you on his back, arms around his neck as his arms looped around your legs so he could carry you up the drive and into Ben's house.

He was straight into the kitchen, popping you down onto the counter so he could scour Ben's fridge for snacks and you laughed as he absentmindedly wiggled his hips as he assessed his options.

Sober Mason was one of your favourite people, but tipsy Mason was something else. His bleary eyes and dopey smile tugged at your heart strings and you watched on with a fond look as he was seemingly lost in his world. This was the first time you’d seen him like this and the more you were, the softer you were feeling for him.

‘Hey Mase? Why don’t you check in the box on the counter? 'Carly called as everyone started filtering in and you watched him shimmy over to the box of treats you’d bought over earlier in the day.

‘Ooo, muffins’ he giggled, lifting one out before making his way back to you. You watched as he practically shoved half of it into his mouth before offering you some, where you awkwardly managed to take a bite. His eyes were on your lips the whole time, a fond smile playing on his as he watched you intently. ‘Does it ever feel weird eating the stuff you’ve made? I’d imagine it feels like eating your own babies’

You wanted to laugh but you were frozen. The feel of his thumb running under your lip to gently brush away the crumbs made you stop until his eyes were back on yours. Your heart melting at the gesture but also at the crumbs all over his face so you reached out yourself to do the same to him yet the smile on his face made it difficult. You didn’t miss the way his breath hitched in his throat at the feel of your fingers though, eyes carefully locking as he took down a nervous gulp before you couldn’t take the intensity of it anymore.

‘You’re a weird drunk, Mase. I can’t believe this is the first time I’ve seen you like this’ you commented as he scrunched his nose up at you adorably.

‘Well I like to let my hair down on my birthday but what can I say, I’m a good boy usually’

‘I’m not so sure I believe that’

‘Yeah I don’t think I would either’ he laughed before his hands found your hips and he winked at you seductively.

This Mason was different to any Mason you’d seen before. Wondering where the hell he’d been hiding the extra cheeky and flirty form of himself but you couldn’t say you weren’t enjoying it. It had been a while since you’d been paid any male attention and the fact it was coming from someone like Mason was making you giddy.

‘You two coming in?’ Ben suddenly called from the doorway, motioning to where everyone else was in the other room and you watched in fascination as Mason shoved the rest of the muffin in his mouth before nodding.

‘Coming now’ he called, holding a hand out to you to help you down but you shook your head at him.

‘You go, I just need to get my shoes off and I’ll be in’ you told him but his hand was on your thigh instantly.

‘I’ll do it’

‘No Mase-‘

‘I can do it’ he told you sternly and before you could stop him, he was getting down on one knee in front of you so he could rest your foot on his thigh. You weren’t quite sure what he was up to but you felt a shiver roll through you as his fingers trailed down your legs. He must have felt it too, you could see the cocky smile playing on his lips as he delicately traced your skin.

You let him carry on, enjoying his soft touches as your skin tingled in the wake of his fingers before he finally made it to your ankle strap. He was quick to unbuckle it and pull your shoe off before manoeuvring the other leg so he could do the same, your heartbeat quickening with every second that was passing and as soon as your other shoe was off his eyes were on yours.

You were frozen under his seductive gaze, unsure of what to do next as his fingers gripped your ankle but even in your wildest dreams you couldn’t have foreseen him breaking eye contact so he could place a small kiss to the inside of your calf.

It was like the wind was knocked out of you, but you didn’t have time to react properly. He was up on his feet again, hands on your waist so he could help you down but you felt yourself wobble slightly as you hit the floor. Thankfully Mason's hands were still on you to steady you and you shot him a small smile that he returned as you ran your hands up his arms to grip his biceps.

‘Thank you’ you whispered, making Mason smile as he bit his lip to try and suppress it. You couldn’t take your eyes off of each other, trapped in a trance until the booming sound of Ben calling for Mason made you flinch.

‘Mase! Get in here!’ He bellowed, causing Mason to playfully roll his eyes at you before nodding his head in the direction of the living room.

‘You coming?’

‘Yeah, I’ll be there in a sec’ you told him and with one final squeeze of your waist he was gone.

Where the hell has this boy been hiding? You thought to yourself. Mason had always been a little cheeky but this was something else. He was sexy and alluring in a way you’d never seen him be before. You could feel the atmosphere between you becoming thick and electric but you were unsure about what it all meant. In the end you pushed everything to the side and padded into the living room to join the conversation in hopes of distracting yourself.

Mason was sitting in the arm chair, his legs spread wide and you unconsciously licked your lips as you fantasised about crawling into his lap.

‘Ah there you are,’ Carly called, patting the seat next to her as an invitation for you. ‘Saved you a seat’

‘Thank you’ you smiled, plonking yourself down next to her but immediately you felt too far away from Mason and his cheeky knowing smirk thrilled you.

‘I swear to god, I’m never going out again, those rude pricks ruin it every time. I’m trying to dance with my girls not get touched up’ Carly suddenly moaned, and you nodded in agreement beside her. ‘Sorry we ruined your birthday night out Mase’

It was true, the whole reason you were all home so early was due to the fact you and the rest of the girls couldn’t seem to enjoy yourselves at the club you were in. At first you didn’t care, if they wanted to look they could, but as time went on you could feel the lingering touch of countless men. You’d pushed all of them away, moving in closer to Carly and the other girls but it was no use. It was only when Mason appeared out of nowhere and wrapped his arms around you did you start to feel a little safer.

‘Don’t worry about it, I think I’m happier here when I can hear myself think’

‘Maybe we’re getting a little too old for clubs now. I don’t know about you but the whole thing stresses me out’ you laughed and thankfully everyone pretty much agreed with you.

‘I still want to go to a few clubs when we’re away’ Carly told Ben, referring to the big group holiday all your friends were going on to Portugal in a few weeks.

From what Carly had told you it was her and Ben, Dec and Lauren, Woody and his new girlfriend Kayla who you’d met a couple of times and Mason. You had been invited from the start but due to low funds and a shop to run you’d had to pass and even though it was your decision it still stung a bit to hear them talk about it. ‘I really wish you were coming, y/n’

‘So you’re really not coming then?’ Woody asked as he popped himself on the arm of Mason's chair and you shook your head lightly.

‘It’s fine, I’ve got a lot on’ you shrugged, trying to play it off but you knew deep down you were disappointed you couldn’t go. You hadn’t had a proper holiday in years and you could feel the pit of jealousy in your stomach at the thought of seeing everyone’s holiday snaps. ‘I’m just gonna grab a glass of water’ you mumbled before jumping up to go to the kitchen.

You took your time, hoping by the time you were back the conversation had moved on but you could hear them all still talking about the villa so you popped yourself on the stairs and had a quick check of your emails.

‘Who are you texting? Anyone I should be worried about?’ You suddenly heard, looking up to see Mason walking towards you and you smiled as he took a seat next to you.

‘No I was just checking some work emails’

‘Ah yeah, sure’ he winked, bumping his shoulder into yours. ‘So, still no Mr Muffin on the scene?’

‘I don’t really have time’ you told him but he just scoffed at your answer.

‘Everyone has time. You just have to make it’

‘Fine, I haven’t met someone I’m willing to make time for yet’ you countered, watching the way he raised his brows at you. ‘What about you anyway? Is there a Mrs Mount lurking about?’

‘The only Mrs Mount you need to be concerned about is my mum. And she loves you anyway so I wouldn’t worry about it’ he smiled, your heart fluttering as you thought back to meeting her at a few games. She’d always been super sweet to you and you were glad to know she liked you back. ‘So in answer to your question, no. I haven’t met someone I’m willing to make time for either’

‘Considering you could probably pull half of the population I'm surprised’ you laughed and you couldn’t help but notice the blush that settled on the bridge of his nose. ‘Are you blushing?’ You teased, laughing as he hid his face in his hands. ‘Aww been a while since you received a compliment?’

‘Been a while since I received anything’ he joked, his words clearly having a double meaning and you felt yourself now redden at his words but the alcohol in your system shut off the sensible part of your brain and you felt yourself agreeing.

‘Oh tell me about it, I feel like I’ve forgotten how to do it’ you giggled, watching his eyes crinkle adorably as he nodded along.

‘It’s like riding a bike, you’ll be fine when you give it another go’

‘Yeah but it’s finding someone to help me, you know… get back on the horse’

‘Are you kidding me? Did I or did I not save you from a long line of men who clearly wanted to get in your pants tonight?’ He teased and you rolled your eyes at him playfully.

‘Well yeah, but if you think I’m taking some random man from a club home then you’re very mistaken. I don’t know where he’s been’ you laughed and you watched him turn on the step slightly so he could face you a bit easier. You took this as your cue to do the same with both of your elbows resting on the step above you, smiling happily at him.

‘Okay so hypothetically, if you were to take someone home. What’s your type?’ He asked, his fingers delicately tracing your knee and you felt your breath catch in your throat at the intimate gesture.

‘I mean pretty much what everyone else wants’ you said lowly. ‘Tall, dark and handsome’

‘Well then look no further. I may not be overly tall but I’ve got the other two on lockdown’ he winked and you felt your face heat up. Not sure if he was being serious or not, thinking maybe it was the alcohol talking but you shook your thoughts away and tried to move the conversation on.

‘Well what’s your type then?’ You questioned and he looked at you thoughtfully before speaking.

‘Nice eyes, pretty smile’ he started and you rolled your eyes at his generic statement, thinking that’s what all boys say but you stayed silent and let him continue. ‘Someone confident but a little shy, feisty around the right people’ he carried on, pulling back to look at you properly and your tummy dropped. Is he talking about me? You wondered, your thoughts somewhat confirmed when his fingers started trailing up your thigh and it took everything in you to keep up eye contact with him when all you wanted to do was watch where his fingers were going.

‘Anything else?’ You whispered

‘Good eye contact’ he smiled before reaching up to tuck your hair behind your ear. He let his hand trail down your neck until he was holding you just under your ear so he could gently tip your head to the side before leaning over like he was about to kiss your cheek.

He didn’t, but you felt your legs go to jelly and he gently rubbed his nose along your cheekbone whilst a low hum poured from his lips. ‘Smells nice’ he whispered, pulling back so his lips were an inch from yours. Your foreheads nearly touching as his eyes scanned your face. ‘Probably tastes even better’ he finally uttered, causing you to take a small shocked breath in.

You were hanging on his every word, heart pounding as he was seeming getting closer to you and you subconsciously tilted your head up to meet him in the middle. You’d never understood the concept of being drawn to someone like a magnet but you finally felt it as you were pulled in his direction. Your lips so close they were almost touching but at the last second he backed up with a knowing smile across those pretty lips of his.

‘Not here’ he whispered, tilting his head so he could lightly kiss your cheek and you couldn’t lie you were slightly disappointed. You saw him go to say something else, yet the words never made it out of his mouth. You both jumped at the sound of Ben's voice calling him from the other room, scrambling away from each other when you heard his footsteps and you knew you were blushing hard when he eventually rounded the corner to see you both.

‘Woodys setting up the ps5, you coming?’ He asked, not really looking at the pair of you or waiting for an answer before heading out causing the pair of you to chuckle.

‘I’ll come find you in a bit, yeah?’ He promised and all you could do was nod. You sat wondering what the hell had just happened. This ultra flirty sexy version of Mason obviously only came out when he was drunk and you were a little bit disappointed this was the first you’d ever seen of him.

You went on the hunt for Carly though, hoping he would come and find you soon but you’d been separated from Mason for about half an hour now and your eyes rarely left each others. Even when he didn’t know you were looking you could see his eyes all over you in a way he never had before and you couldn’t lie and say you weren’t loving all the attention he was giving you. When he was distracted for a while you made your way upstairs to the bathroom so you could sort yourself out as you knew you probably looked like a hot mess. The combination of Mason's flirty antics and the alcohol in your system had made you flustered and you needed some time out just to collect yourself.

‘Hello? Who’s in here?’ You heard, Masons voice booming through the door suddenly as you’d just finished washing your hands and you smiled instantly as you dried your them off.

‘It’s me’

‘Hi me’ he chuckled, clearly pleased with himself and you quickly opened the door to reveal his dozy smile and kind eyes.

‘Hello you’ you laughed, stepping aside and back over to the sink in hopes he would follow you inside and you smiled as you heard the door click shut. ‘Missing me already?’

‘Maybe. Missed looking at you in this dress at least’ he commented, positioning himself behind you with his hands on your hips as you caught eyes in the reflection of the mirror. You were trying to act unbothered, touching up your makeup like you didn’t care but his teasing attitude was making you crumble.

‘Oh yeah?’ You giggled, unsure as to what to say to him but the need to clench your thighs together was growing stronger and you watched him eye you up with his bottom lip trapped in between his teeth.

‘Mmhmm’ he teased, squeezing your hips softly before his eyes returned to yours. ‘I mean you always look good but I like this one a lot’

‘I’ll make sure to wear it more often then’ you told him quietly, watching him gather your hair and move it over one of your shoulders so he could expose your neck. You knew it was coming, but when his lips finally touched the base you felt your whole body erupt in goosebumps.

You didn’t say a word, just watching him in the mirror as he slowly peppered kisses up and down your exposed skin as you tried to regulate your breathing but you could tell he knew how much things were affecting you. The smile on your lips telling him as much but the hard length that was pressed against you bum was telling you how much he himself was enjoying too.

‘Easy there big boy’ you laughed, squeezing his hands that were gripping your waist and he buried his face into your neck with laugh before pulling back. His eyes were basically black as he turned you round to face him, pressing his crotch into yours and you had to hold back a moan.

‘I’ll show you big boy’ he whispered, lips dangerously close to yours and as much as you loved his teasing you’d had enough now and were ready to have him. Luckily for you, the pair of you seemed to be on the same page because as soon you wrapped your hand around the back of his neck his lips were on yours.

It was one of the softest kisses you’d ever had, lightly brushing your lips against each other but it was growing heavier by the second until the pair of you appeared to have gotten the giggles. Laughing onto each other lips until it was becoming impossible to carry on

‘What is happening’ you giggled, your hands coming to grip his jaw so he wouldn’t part from you but the firm grip on your thighs already told you he wouldn’t be.

‘I don’t know’ he laughed, peppering kisses across your jaw and cheeks. ‘I don’t wanna stop though’ he breathed and you had just enough time to nod your head in agreement before he was back kissing you. Deeper this time as his hands travelled up your thighs and to your bum, pushing your dress up with him so he could grip your cheeks with his thumbs under the waistband of your underwear, stroking your skin gently. A contrast into how aggressive he was being with his mouth.

You didn’t know what came over you but you pulled back, resting your hands behind you so you could shift your weight onto them. Raising your hips in order for him to rid you of your underwear and even though he was taken aback you could tell he wanted to rip them off of you.

‘Come on Mase. I thought you were gonna show me your big boy’ you laughed, watching his expression turn shocked before he was smiling devilishly at you.

‘Don’t start something you can’t finish, sweetheart’

‘Try me’ you whispered, knowing he wouldn’t be able to resist as soon as the words left your mouth he was blushing before he pulled your underwear from you as quickly as he could, kissing you frantically.

You knew what you wanted, reaching to undo his jeans but he pulled you away before placing your hands in his hair. Thankfully he knew what you wanted, his thumb connecting to your clit suddenly and you moaned into his mouth at the sensation.

‘Mase, please’

‘Shhh’ he breathed, his lips trailing down your neck before biting your shoulder. ‘Easy baby. Let me take my time with you’

‘We don’t have time. They’ll coming looking for us soon’

Mason let out a short breath, knowing you were right and you couldn’t risk it so when your hands flew to his trousers again he didn’t stop you from unbuttoning them. His hands were back on your hips to pull you forward so your core was closer to him and when he tugged his boxers down so he could free himself you shivered at the sight of him.

You both knew you had to be quick, but you thanked the lord he was slow and careful with you to start with. Lining himself up with your entrance as you sat back on your hands before he hooked your legs over his forearms to give him better access.

It really had been a while, the stretch of him delicious and by the look on his face he was clearly feeling the same. His thrusts slow and steady before he picked his pace up, the sound of skin slapping against skin only making everything feel more intense and when he moved his hand to play with your clit again you swore you were seeing stars.

‘Mase’ you moaned, your head falling back as he drove into you but the low moan that fell from him made your head snap up.

‘I know, you’re so tight. Fuck’ he breathed, hips slamming into yours and you knew it wouldn’t be much longer as he’d been turning you on all night. He looked wild, dark eyes intensely on yours with his bottom lip trapped in between his teeth and the blush across his nose was proving how into it he was. You tried holding your moans in, not wanting anyone to hear you but he was making it difficult. It was like he knew your body intimately already and the way he was making you feel was like no one else ever had. ‘Come on, cum for me’ he whispered and it didn’t take you much more convincing, whimpering below him as he fucked you through it before pulling out to cum over your thighs.

Your eyes were on each others instantly, uncertainty settling inside of you but the sight of Masons pretty smile settled you instantly.

‘Sorry about the mess’ he laughed, grabbing a towel and cleaning you up before picking your underwear up off of the floor and helping you down. ‘Well that was unexpected’

‘You can say that again’ you blushed, pulling you underwear up your legs and readjusting your dress. You weren’t sure where to look but you felt his finger under your chin so he could make you look at him and as soon as you saw his kind eyes you felt settled again. ‘Happy birthday I guess’ you joked and thankfully he laughed along.

‘Thank you, you okay?’ He whispered, dropping a kiss on your forehead and you nodded shyly. ‘Good. We best go or they’ll get suspicious’

You agreed, following him out the door before he pushed you forward a little and you turned to look at him when a confused expression.

‘I’ll come in a bit. Make it look like we weren’t together’ he told you and you wanted to leave but the overwhelming need to clarify somethings before you left took over you.

‘Hey, Mase? I um- I’ve never, you know… this isn’t what I um’ you stumbled, and the heart melting smile he gave you made your tummy flip.

‘It’s okay, I know. We’re just having a bit of fun yeah?’ He told you and you felt your shoulders relax instantly. ‘We can talk about it another time if you want but don’t worry, I’m not getting down on one knee just yet’ he winked, causing you to roll your eyes with a laugh. ‘Now go, I’ll see you in a sec’

You did as you were told, trying to act as normal as possible when you went to join the others but they were back talking about the holiday and you felt your heart sink again.

You didn’t want to be a misery though, helping them find clubs and restaurants to try without trying to appear too bitter about it and when Mason finally came back you tried to avoid his eyes as to not be too suspicious but you knew he was looking at you. You were also trying to to not over think what had just happened with Mason just now. It was so unexpected, you didn’t know what had come over the pair of you and it was like you could still feel his touch on your skin.

When it all got a bit too much you went back to the kitchen, no longer wanting to hear about all the exciting things they had planned while you slaved away in a hot kitchen. You knew you were being moody and it was your choice not to go but it didn’t make it hurt any less having to hear about it.

‘I’ve been thinking’ Mason announced suddenly and your heart nearly jumped out of your chest from the sound of his voice. ‘This holiday, it’s not right you not coming. I know you wanna be there so I’d like for you to come with me’

‘You know I can’t Mase, I can’t afford it for one’ you told him, finally admitting to someone the real reason for you not going but by the look on his face you could tell he knew it already.

‘That’s why I’m asking for you to come with me. You don’t need to worry about that then’

‘What?’ You asked, your face scrunching up in confusion ‘Mase, no-‘

‘Before you say no, just listen to me’ he laughed coming over to you so he could trap you in between his arms by placing his hands on the counter either side of you. ‘You know me, you know I’ll do anything for the people in my life and if anyone deserves a break it’s you’ he told you sincerely before his face turned cheeky. ‘Plus, I think I can make it worth your while’

‘What do you mean?’ You asked skeptically

‘Just let me look after you a bit, yeah? We’re both stressed out and need a break. I’ve only got a couple of weeks before I need to get back to training and I need to let off some steam. I’m not saying this has to be anything you know? But there’s obviously some level of attraction here and I’d rather spend my time with you than go through all the shit of trying to find someone else. You get that right? I’ve got a rep to protect’ he winked.

You were confused to say the least, not sure exactly what he was getting at but if it was what you were thinking then couldn’t lie, you were tempted. If you were understanding correctly he was willing to whisk you away with him for a week of sun sea and no strings sex for nothing. The tipsy part of your brain was willing to accept straight away, eager to get to feel more of him again yet the sober part knew it sounded too good to be true.

‘So you mean…?’

‘We keep it casual you know? You scratch my back, I scratch yours. You said you don’t know where these boys have been but you know exactly where I’ve been cause it’s just with you. Then at the end of the week we go back to our normal lives. I just need someone who I can trust and I know that’s you and I hope you know you can trust me. And we both know we can be sneaky sneaky now so it’s a win win’

‘I don’t know, Mase…’

‘If you don’t wanna, you know, that’s fine I’m not asking you to come for that reason only. Just turn up. That’s all I’m asking. If anything else happens then cool but I hate the thought of you being here when we’re there. You’re meant to be with us’ he reasoned and even though that took some of the pressure off he could still tell you were unsure. ‘What’s holding you back?’

‘We’ve been drinking Mase. This may sound like a good idea now but what about tomorrow when you’re wondering why the hell you even kissed me, let alone anything else’ you asked but he looking at you like you were talking rubbish before he shook his head with a laugh.

‘Stop talking shit. If it makes you feel any better I can text you tomorrow cause I know for a fact I’ll still feel the same. This isn’t just some weird thing I thought of off the cuff, I’ve hated the thought of you not coming with us since Ben told me’

‘It’s a lot of money, Mase’ you whispered ‘I’d never be able to pay you back.

‘I’m not asking you too. There’s plenty of other ways to repay me’ he teased and you rolled your eyes with a smile. ‘Not like that’

‘Like what then?’

‘I’ll let you buy me an ice cream’ he smiled as you laughed into your hands. ‘Or you can make me lunch or help me with my sun cream. I’m not bothered about how much it costs or you paying me back. I just want you there’ he huffed and you couldn’t lie, you were convinced. ‘Please muffin’ he pouted, bumping his nose with yours and you smiled up at him softly.

‘It’s not just the money, I can’t leave the shop that long’

‘What about Nads?’ He asked, referring to the girl you hired a few months ago to help you run things. ‘Think of it like a trial or something for her. If she does a good job then you can leave her in charge more often and you get a bit more of a life. I know it’s your baby but you have to learn to let go sometimes’ he told you and you hated how reasonable he sounded.

‘Can I think about it? I’ll let you know tomorrow’ you asked quietly and with a small nod he closed the relatively small gap to place his lips on yours in a soft kiss.

‘Take all the time you need’ he nodded before wrapping his arms around your shoulders so he could pull you into a hug. ‘You staying here tonight?’

‘Yeah’

‘Well I’m gonna head home with Woody in a sec’ he told you gently, the pout in your face evident even though he couldn’t see you. ‘We’ll talk tomorrow yeah? About all of it’ he suggested and you knew he mean the holiday and whatever had happened between you earlier.

‘Okay’ you whispered before he dropped a soft kiss on your forehead.

‘Have a good sleep, yeah? I’ll text you in the morning’ he smiled before giving you one last squeeze and pulling away.

y/n

liked by: carlywlms_, masonmount, benchilwell and others

Y/n mission take a picture in focus has failed

view comments

carlywlms_ my sparkly sister ✨

y/n the brightest star in my sky 💫

benchilwell Why do I not remember any of this

y/n that’s cause you’ve got nothing in between your ears

masonmount thanks for a lovely evening 🩷

y/n happy birthday masey moo 🥳🎁

jorginhofrello happy bday papai ♥️

woody_ you’re missing out on a week of this

y/n that’s fine I don’t think my body could physically take it 😩

okaylaaa pray for me ☹️

y/n 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

masonprivate nice shoes 😏

y/n you too 🤫

yungchalobah 👀🤔

y/n 🫣

Tagged: @footiehoemcfc @prideofpd @yoursselo @chelseachilly @willow-writer-ivy @mm-vii @katharinanadiaa @mmountseb @carlottawllms @saltyheartnightmare @masonmtxo @harvestmount @chillymountsjess @treblebluesblog @pulisicsgirl

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hello! In one of your previous posts you mentioned the game purposefully hiding the faces of figures who play a significant role in each OB boy’s trauma. So do you think this applies to Idia's parents as well (they have masks to cover their faces and they don't even have separate sprites but the default STYX members' sprites)?

[Referencing this post!]

There’s a lot to unpack here, so I’ve put my thoughts under the cut!! I hope you enjoy reading ^^

***Note: Many spoilers for books 6 + 7 of the main story!!***

I definitely wouldn’t put the Shroud parents into the same category as like… Mrs. Rosehearts, who was basically the origin from which other issues stemmed. The Shroud parents themselves were not the “root cause” for Idia’s trauma, the “cause” was Ortho’s death and Idia feeling immense guilt and shame about it. Not once has Idia blamed his parents or implicated them for this misfortune (not counting the Shroud curse, which is really the fault of their ancestors and not the Shroud parents in particular). I guess where some fans feel there is an issue is the implication that the Shroud parents did not seem to be there emotionally for Idia or offer him healthy coping mechanisms for his issue??

Before I give my thoughts on why the Shroud mom and dad obscure their faces (and how this does or doesn’t fit into the “purposefully obscuring the faces of those significantly related to each boy’s trauma), allow me to offer a different perspective to those who find fault with Idia’s parents. Firstly, consider that we know very little about the period of time between Ortho’s death leading up to Idia enrolling at NRC. Even then, most of what we know of this period comes directly from Idia, which provides us with a biased and limited perspective. Idia views most things negatively and does not seem close with his parents, so it makes sense that he would describe them in an inflated and unflattering way.

I think where a lot of the initial thoughts about the Shrouds being bad parents (a sentiment I myself had prior to their book 7 reveals) predominantly comes from them not being present in Idia’s post-OB flashback and Idia stating that his parents care more about results than their son’s feelings. We also learn from later that the family used to go out a lot as a group, but those trips stopped after Ortho died. These heavily imply his mom and dad were not there for Idia after the… incident. But let’s back up for a moment; where does the flashback pick up after Ortho died? Over two years later. That’s a large gap to not be knowing what the Shroud parents were doing during it. The STYX employees present also state that Idia has “completely withdrawn” ever losing Ortho, and this could be inclusive of the parents. So… we don’t really know for sure if, during this expanse of 2 years, the parents never made an effort to reach out. Even if they did, it seems highly likely that Idia rejected them. It’s possible that the flashback didn’t feature the parents because Idia largely shut them out of his life or did not deem them to be deeply linked to his trauma; he laments only the general family curse and the loss of Ortho, he does not direct hate at either parent in the flashback.

What we also have to remember is that it wasn’t just Idia that lost a brother that terrible day. Mr. and Mrs. Shroud their sons; Ortho literally (he passed away) and Idia figuratively (as he started to emotionally distance and isolate himself). That’s tough for any parent, but the world cannot stop for them just because they experienced a tragedy. Unfortunately, life moves on and the Shroud parents are in such important positions that they need to work. This is especially true of Mr. Shroud, who oversees all of STYX operations and is burdened with a curse that demands he constantly be surrounded by blot or else the curse will start to chip away at his own magical energy. They need to do this while juggling their own sadness over losing Ortho. There’s only so much time the Shroud parents can try to comfort Idia when they have work, their own emotional trauma to work through, and their surviving son who doesn’t seem to welcome any efforts they put in. You could even theorize that the Shroud parents (particularly the dad) threw themselves into work to try and bury their own feelings. The Shrouds do obviously have a responsibility to Idia as his parents, but parenting is not so easy of a task. They’re still individuals who have other things to balance alongside parenting and they realistically cannot dedicate 100% of their time or energy to Idia.

Now, please do not misunderstand me. I don’t want my words to come off like I’m pointing fingers or victim blaming. What I’m trying to say here is that it isn’t Idia OR his parents’ fault that they grew distant; to me, both parties were busy dealing with their own complicated emotions and their coping methods didn’t seem to align (because different people can have very different trauma responses) and ended up hurting Idia even more in the end. Making mistakes is human and normal. We've seen other characters also falter with their past actions and what they were or were not able to do at the time (Trey not standing up for or to Riddle, Lilia acting callously towards his children, etc.). This by itself is NOT necessarily a bad thing or something to hate on them for; I'd argue that what matters much more is how those matters were dealt with and what the results of those efforts have been. In the case of the Shroud parents, they do not appear to have bad blood with Idia or Ortho in modern day and the game has really done little to indicate that the Shroud parents should be viewed in a morally grey light. They've welcomed Ortho as a part of their family, openly refer to him like a third son, supported his official enrollment as a NRC student, and worry about his safety when Ortho tries to rush headfirst into danger. As for Idia, though he sometimes grumbles about his parents and tends to their actions as coming from a place of not caring, his peers have pointed out that being scolded is proof of his parents’ love for him. For example, Idia complains that his parents have sent him back to NRC so they don’t have to deal with a “nuisance” like him. He also says that there has been public interest in STYX and demand for accountability, which has specifically put his father under fire. We could view the situation like Idia has—that has parents wanted him out of their way. However, as Rook so tactfully pointed out, Idia’s parents must hold deep affection for him. This implies that the Shrouds chose to send Idia back to school for his own safety, and Mr. Shroud was willing to take the full brunt of the heat himself rather than let people suspect his son, whom Mr. Shroud must know is socially anxious. Idia has plenty of other stories about how his parents punished him for dangerous tech modifications he made, and how they’d take away his gadgets as punishment. Again, because they care about their children and their safety, even if they (especially his more stern and work-oriented father) may not show it in conventionally affectionate ways. Idia has pessimistic views that color his parents as annoying and isn’t as close to them anymore as he used to be, but this doesn’t condemn the Shrouds to the eternal hall of bad parents who never ever learn or refuse to change their ways.

Now, about their outfits! Mr. and Mrs. Shroud wear the same robes as NPC staff at STYX. This much is true!! … But I don’t think there is any deep meaning in this, seeing as Idia too wears the same robes?? I believe this is just the default work uniform for STYX researchers, regardless of the position they’re in (so this uniform detail does not technically contribute to the “intentional obscuring” of the Shroud parents’ designs).

We don’t really know what the reason for them wearing the helmets is, and nor is there very strong implication as to why. There have been plenty of fan speculations and theories including but not limited to: special personal protective equipment, magical enhancement gear, general Shroud family shyness, cost/time saving measure for the devs, etc. I can’t really say one way or another which is the “most correct” idea 🤷‍♂️

What I will say is that I do not think there was an intent to hide the Shroud parents’ faces for the same reasons that Mrs. Rosehearts’ face was. Why? Well:

Their faces are not censored in the same way as Mrs. Rosehearts was in the manga; she has her face shaded out by black, but we can still see the details of her outfit. The Shrouds, meanwhile are making the conscious decision to wear helmets—and highly personalized helmets at that. (Mr. Shroud’s helmet is different in colors and design than Mrs. Shroud’s.) This indicates individuality and wanting to make the Shroud parents stand out, not to homogenize them as anonymous black blots at which the OB boys’ trauma finds its roots.

To build off of my previous point, the comment about purposefully obscuring the face of the "source" of Riddle's trauma was ONLY said in the context of the manga, NOT the game. Therefore, in-game assets cannot be considered reliable for "the Shroud parents wear helmets to hise their faces; hidden faces = source of an OB boy's trauma" theory. If you doubt this, then please refer to each boy’s post-OB flashback. In the game, it is not just the sources of their trauma that are blotted out in black, it is literally every character (even the ones with positive memories or experiences associated with them). This includes Trey and Che’nya, whose younger form faces ARE openly depicted in the manga. So again, the “obscuring the faces of characters who are major trauma sources” thing only applies to the manga and the game does not follow this.

The Shrouds are largely depicted in a positive light. The negative aspects of them tend to come from Idia, who tends to have a pessimistic slant to his perception of the world and other people.

Idia’s personal accounts and even his post-OB flashbacks do not attribute or credit his parents for any aspect of his trauma. Much of the guilt and shame he feels is self-imposed and directed at himself.

As I’ve pointed out earlier in this post, we are assuming a lot of things about what happened in Idia’s life following Ortho’s death. The downside to this is that it doesn’t grant the parents any grace and takes everything we see (as little as it is) at face value without considering alternatives or how the parents could have changed in recent years.

Again, we don’t have a lot of information on why the Shrouds wear the helmets. I don’t think it’s wise to assume it’s for a bad reason when most of the canon has indicated we are supposed to “like” the Shrouds (or, at the very least, they’re supposed to be “redeemed” compared to the initially negative comment we were given of them).

In conclusion: no, I don’t think Idia’s parents are wearing their helmets because they’re associated with their son’s trauma. To me, the helmets feel like something they must wear for some in-universe purpose such as additional protection or to indicate their role within the organization.

[theshadowrealmitself]

Thinking about the post I made about an omega getting transported to a universe without the a/b/o dynamics (unfortunately can’t reblog that original post with this addition cause both posts are gonna be scheduled) and I think a situation like that would really help give me what I want out of omegaverse

What I really want out of omegaverse is all the world building stuff, how a society and its people would function in that situation, but most of the time it’s a reimagining of intense misogyny, which is not my cup of tea

But I think a situation where a person goes from a society like that (without the omega hate) to a society where a/b/o isn’t a thing, would really highlight how different things would be

Technically the omegaverse society is different depending on the author, so I’m making up my own version, and adding in aliens:

Heats and ruts can cause health problems, the stress it puts on your body every month can lead to a ton of issues down the road, and honestly you just don’t wanna have your life be disrupted that much, so going on suppressants is common, especially for people who are single

But going off of suppressants can be deadly, and sometimes your suppressants can start being less effective as time goes on, so calling out of whatever to make sure you can go to the doctors and have that all figured out is not only normalized but also encouraged

(But now you’re suddenly in a universe where Humans don’t go through all that and you’re running out of suppressants and you’re just hoping the scientists, Vulcan ones who are strangely extremely interested in your heat suppressants and keep asking you about rut suppressants?, can quickly figure out how to make more)

Depending on the situation, scent blockers can be used (mostly in the maternity ward, so the medical staff don’t accidentally get their scent on the kids and accidentally cause the parents to instinctively think they’re trying to take away their kids), but it’s more of a personal preference

Alphas, omegas, and even betas can scent mark things, but alpha scents are usually just more noticeable because they tend to be more territorial and aggressive, doesn’t mean that omegas and betas aren’t scent marking things for the same reason, so just because you can’t smell an alpha around, doesn’t mean you aren’t encroaching on someone’s space, you can also tell people’s emotions from their scent

(You hate that in this new universe, no one can smell that you claimed stuff and you have to remember to verbalize it, you also hate that the only ones who can smell you are aliens who have to be weird about it because they aren’t used to Humans smelling like that)

I can never think of anything cool for betas and I hate that it’s usually just like “betas are usually just how Humans are irl”, so what, they don’t have cis guys that can get pregnant and cis women who can sire kids? boring! but I can’t think of anything fun for them!

Claiming bites are a thing, but mostly a thing of the past, still, you never touch go near an omega’s through without explicit consent

(If another fucker tries to go near your neck again you’re losing it at them >:/)

Nests are a big thing, even outside of heats, and kids, and stuff, it’s just really beneficial to an omega to have a safe, soft, place they have complete control over, their instincts demand it

(Apparently nesting isn’t a normal fucking thing for Humans in this universe?? you can’t find the round mattress with the round frame that has a headboard that goes around a majority of the bed to kinda cocoon you anywhere, that’s like, the most basic thing you’d used to find in stores, and now you keep having to find specialty shops that cater to extraterrestrials to find anything remotely similar, or figure out how to replicate it yourself, this is so frustrating!!! you’re gonna be so much more frustrated when you try to find the other supplies needed for nesting)

Instead of heats and ruts being quick things, there’s still a lot of time and clarity before it hits them, so like, let’s say if it’s a default alpha/omega, the omega will obsess over their nest and get it just right while the alpha get their scent on everything else in the room to let everyone else know to fuck off (if it’s any other pairing, then whoever feels the most comfortable fighting if a trespasser comes by, [even though that almost never happens, but there’s always that instinctual worry that if will happen] is the one who gets their scent on everything else and makes sure the room they’re in is secure)

(I love the idea of this omega getting a temporary Vulcan partner because their heat came on quickly, and Vulcans understand their predicament, so the omega is stressing over their nest while the Vulcan is walking around, methodically trying to scent everything because they know that also serves to make the other person not scenting feel secure in that scenario, and then, because I feel like Vulcans are a little bit of control freaks (lovingly) the Vulcan goes over to fuss with the nest as well and the omega is strangely content with that)

That’s what I have for now, may add stuff later

[befemininenow]

Welcome to my blog, stranger.

You probably got here by accident, or by intention. Whether it was the algorithm or a shared post from this blog, it was appealing enough to get you here. Maybe it was the girls in the pics. Maybe it was the captions that persuaded you. Maybe the descriptions in the posts were relatable. Or maybe even the blog’s name caught your attention. Whatever it was that led you here, welcome to my trans girl caption blog. It’s mostly captions and post descriptions based on the fantasies and IRL experiences of trans girls on a random POV. They may even “crack your egg”. While they may not speak for all trans girls, it may be relatable to you. Once in a while, I may end up making a post about other feminine-leaning identities such as femboys if you’re also into that. However, If you’re not comfortable with this topic or expect other BDSM-related topics (i.e. sissy, dom worshipping, etc.), I suggesst you look somewhere else.

Update as of April 26, 2024: I made some edits to the post since so much has changed from last year. Also, hi. I’m Ashley Nicole. But you can call me “Nicki/Nikki”.

What is this blog about?

It is caption blog detailing the experiences of trans girl’s (or woman’s) while closeted or out. Some posts even detail my own experiences dating as back as I can remember. Imagery of girls, cis and trans, are generally used in relation to the captions. Each experience is unique, so don’t feel bad if you can’t relate to posts like “anime girls cracked my egg”. I seldom share other topics related to issues trans girls often face, as well as even share a small biography of trans girls in a few of my posts.

Who is it aimed for?

It is aimed at those who identify as transgender, questioning, fluid, and those who wish to explore their feminine side. These captions are meant to detail experiences and fantasies that trans girls have even before transitioning. However, captions are not meant for everyone, just like how not every trans girl is meant to be a programmer (sorry if I crushed your dreams).

Why did you create this blog?

Simply put, the disturbing amount of forced feminization, BDSM, and sissy blogs overflowing this site motivated me to do something different. Although few of these blogs have at least something redeeming to the point where I may reblog it and attach a description, the vast majority repels me due to its negative, humiliating energy. Unfortunately, caption blogs focused on the experiences of trans girls are either inactive or overshadowed. Lastly, I wanted to share a few personal experiences of exploring my identity through captions and post descriptions. 

Where do you get your sources?

I get them through Google searches, social sites, and of course, other blogs from this site. Captions and descriptions are also based on what I learned, read, and heard through trans girls both online and IRL.

When do you usually post?

I post almost daily, or when I’m in the mood. I often reblog from other sources, but it is becoming a rare instance. Thursdays and Fridays are throwback and flashback posts recalling my own experiences or to jog the reader’s memory of seeing a familiar picture. I even point out the original pic source for trivia, or how the pic influenced me in making the captioned pic.

How will this help?

It is meant to affirm and validate any person who often deals with denial about being transgender. Although some of these captions seem a little teasing and may be seen as a fetish, everything is voluntary. However, NEVER use captions to treat gender dysphoria! Seek professional help if you are dealing with it! Also, please research the effects of HRT pills (hormone replacement therapy) as the changes may be permanent depending on the individual. They are not like Senzu Beans that will inflate you if taking more than needed. You WILL get actual and unpleasant side effects if abused.

Can you do any requests?

I’m sorry, but I rarely have the time to check back my blog or messages anymore. If I don’t read your message for some reason, don’t take it as an offense. I’m simply quite reserved and busy IRL. It could take time before I check back. Also, no, I will not take your request to “feminize” you! Fake “mistresses, doms, godesses, and daddies” are also out of the question! I had an awful intro experience online role-playing with them and I am never doing that again!

I’m a “sissy”, femboy, crossdresser (CD), etc. Am I welcome here?

I won’t place a ban on you if you are a sissy, a femboy, or a crossdresser as I have to acknowledge a good portion of my followers are of that category. However, I do not associate myself with the term “sissy” as I take it as a derogatory word used to invalidate someone’s gender identity. If you’re looking for “sissy” or “forced fem” stuff in this blog, don’t bother. You will dehydrate as fast as SpongeBob and Patrick on Sandy’s treedome.

Last: A little bit about you?

I’m a trans girl in her very early 30s who has an internal female side that I want to express. There are days I feel feminine and there are days I feel fluid with my gender. While I’m not completely out yet due to personal and social issues, I know I will finally be my own self once the chance comes. My primary interests are girls, though I may be interested in other feminine-leaning individuals in an occasion. While I won’t reveal my actual age, I am one of the older cuspers born between millennial and Gen Z. Favorite things include, but not limited to, anime, games, pop culture, and social media. You will catch some references through my caption posts.

I hope this Q&A solved most of your questions and doubts. Enjoy your stay here. You’ll probably find something you like. Thank you.

-Ashley “Nicki” Nicole

[silverfoxstole]

OK. Right. I've sorted my panel photos, which I'll start posting tomorrow (I won't bombard you with them all at once!), so I can get my thoughts straight about yesterday. This is going to be long; sorry! I'll divide it into two parts so that those who want to skip my wittering and just see the pics can.

I hadn't actually thought I'd ever go to a con again; my last one had been back in 2009 and they've got a hell of a lot bigger since then, which sort of puts me off as I don’t really like crowds, and living as I do right down on the south coast they're usually too far away. However, when back at the end of January an ad popped up out of the blue on my Facebook feed informing me that Paul would be appearing at Portsmouth Comic Con (less than ten miles from me) my heart skipped a beat and I started wondering whether I'd be able to go. Of course, there was nothing stopping me but I wasn't keen to go on my own, and I knew my DW-and-anything-else-related-to-scifi-fantasy-etc-hating sister would never agree.

When not long later I saw Sylvester was going to be there as well I mentioned it to my friend P (with whom I’ve attended cons in the past), lamenting that I had no one to go with and not really expecting her to suggest that she try to come down from Manchester so we could go together but to my surprise she did and so the tickets were duly booked. Fast forward to about three weeks ago, unfortunately, and things started to go - literally in this case - off the rails thanks to a driver's strike and then engineering work that meant no trains into Portsmouth for the 11th and 12th and P very reluctantly having to drop out because she wouldn't be able to get down here and back in time for work on Monday. Still wanting to go but not really wanting to do it alone I had no choice but to ask sis to come with me, which she very gamely did and I owe her. Big Time. It’s really not her thing and I know she didn't enjoy it at all. She works in town and made me stand on the outside in the queue in case she saw anyone she knew!

I had been worried about how I was going to react as I do suffer from anxiety and I've not been amongst crowds since before Covid, but much to my surprise I was completely relaxed, even when talking to the guests; I'm obviously long past my 'OMG it's Paul!' phase (thank goodness!) and instead it was a case of 'Oh, yeah, there he is, and Sylv and Sophie (a later addition, and one I'd been hoping for) too.' I don't know whether it's because they're so familiar or I just got used to actors popping in when I worked in a shop near a theatre, but it was easy and I'm so glad! The reflexology session I had in Thursday might have helped keep me calm, too; if you’re feeling tense I recommend it!

I had only previously visited the Guildhall for concerts (sis knows it better as she's had to do presentations to the city council in the past) so it was rather odd to be in there during the day. I have to say that I think they could have put aside more room for the guests as it was difficult to work out who was queuing to see who (ho ho). It was very warm and the setup also made taking photos a bit awkward with people having to dance round each other a bit. We went to see Paul first (of course), and when he clocked me in my NotD cosplay he leaned back, smiled and announced 'It's like lookin' in a mirror!' I honestly can't remember exactly what I said in response to that! Probably nothing that coherent! He asked if I'd made it myself, which gave me a neat opportunity to present the gift I'd made for him: an Eighth Doctor bear and Mr Bush bear.

I think i've wanted to make bears for Paul ever since I put together the first one nearly three years ago, but I never thought I'd get a chance so when I knew I'd be going to the con I started planning. I was originally just going to do the Doctor, and make a Seven bear for Sylvester, but as they were coming to Portsmouth I decided to do Bush as well since I can’t imagine Paul gets a lot of Hornblower-related gifts. Of course, when it was confirmed that Sophie would be there I had to make an Ace bear too and here they all are before I packed them up yesterday morning, sitting on the bags i'd also run up to put them in (not pictured, my terrible embroidery name tags to help me tell who was who):

I'll do some more detailed posts so you can see them properly another day, but I was so pleased with they way they turned out that it was really hard to give them up! At least I knew they'd be going to good homes!

When I gave Paul the bag he just looked at me in surprise and went 'Is that for me? Can I open it now?' and there was a smile on his face as soon as he saw what was inside. 'That's my career! Doctor Who and Hornblower!' He absolutely loved them, couldn't believe I'd made them and told me 'I have a room where I keep all the gifts I've been given, and these are going to take pride of place.' I couldn't wish for more than that! Well, maybe a photo of him with them but it was busy and I didn't like to ask and possibly hold things up. I hope he's found the alternative Dark Eyes outfit that I added for Eight bear as I had some fabric leftover from my jacket; the sonic for that one took a bit of ingenuity!

He asked about my costume again while we were getting into position (for want of a better term) for a photo and commented that so many people are paying someone to make their cosplays now and spending a hundreds of pounds, something I'd guess he finds quite astonishing given the incredulous look on his face when he said it. I could be wrong, but I got the impression that he likes to see what different fans have come up with; there are a lot of people who seem to be patronising Steven Ricks since Paul got his remade costume last year, which I can understand because the man is a brilliant tailor, but sometimes it must be a bit like seeing clones.

Jen took the photo and we were about to leave it there but then this strangely confident person I found inside me asked Paul a question:

‘Can I be cheeky?’

‘Sure.’

‘Can I give you a hug?’

‘Of course!’

Well, if you don’t ask, you don’t get! (says the woman who hates asking for things in shops) He gives very good hugs. 🥰

I did manage to let him go (it wasn’t easy!) and he thanked me again for the bears before we moved on to see Sophie, which involved going round to join another queue in the same small space. Confusing? Yep!

I don't know who here has met Sophie Aldred but you should because she is so, so lovely. Ace has always been one of my favourite companions and I was so pleased when I saw she would be coming. I'd already started an Ace bear with the intention of giving it to Sylvester with his, but of course that got changed and Sophie was smitten. She looked really closely at it, remarking on the little details - 'Oh, it's even got the plait. And a rucksack and baseball bat!' - and sat it proudly on the corner of her table, where I assume it stayed for some of the day. Apparently it's the best Ace bear she's ever seen - you can't get a better accolade than that! (My head was swelling somewhat by this point, by the way. I don't like to blow my own trumpet but I don't often get so many compliments, and never in such a short space of time, so i hope you can forgive me for including them.)

Last but not least, of course, there was Sylvester, which meant another queue in the same space, which was just daft as because their tables were next to each other you didn't know whether people were waiting for him or for Paul. I'm sure that could have been organised much better than it was. In the same section there were also two chaps who had somethng to do with Star Wars who weren't getting much attention at all which was a bit awkward. They haven't gone back today and I can't blame really them.

I've wanted to meet Sylv for years and he didn’t disappoint. He liked the fabric the bag was made from because its starry night pattern was similar to his waistcoat, which admittedly was why i bought it in the first place. When he got it open and saw what was inside he said 'Oh! I'm a little bear! That’s lovely!’ and when I said I'd made one for Sophie too leaned round trying to see it on Sophie's table. I half wish I'd made a set of both for each of them now but that might have been overkill, and I would have needed a rucksack of my own to transport them all; my bag was full to bursting as it was. Maybe if I see them again I’ll give Sophie a Doctor bear and Sylvester an Ace. As it stands I am so, so pleased that all three of them liked something I'd made so much, and Sylvester and Sophie were both also taken with the cartoons of the Seventh Doctor and Ace that I asked them to sign.

Phew! If you've reached the end of this, well done! I know I have tendency to ramble on and I commend your stamina! I'll put the photos in a separate post but I was one happy camper, especially as just afterwards i got another compliment on my costume and was asked to pose in the TARDIS! We didn't stay the whole day as it was hot, I'd pretty much seen what I wanted to (the Doctor Who 'exhibition' was just a few monster replicas, most of which weren't that good, unlike the really impressive experience they had last year for the 60th and which I would have loved to see. And there were no daleks! My ambition to hug a dalek sadly remains unfulfilled *sniff*) sis had developed a headache, but I'm very glad I went. 😀

[trans-luis-serra-navarro]

ok, so!! there's also another little thing about luis and the merchant that i haven't seen anyone discuss. in luis' house in the village, you can see a few packages of food (like in the first picture in your post, near the doll; it looks like a tomato soup or something??). and in the merchant's spot near the lake you can see a box of similar packages (not the same though, as far as i remember, but still they're similar, in a sense that it's still some modern food and it looks out of place in this village. it's something we only see in luis's house) sorry i don't have any pictures tho :((

so what im trying to say is that i just love that through these tiny little details we actually get a glimpse of luis's everyday life in valdelobos. i mean, just imagine him taking a boat to go on a little grocery trip to the merchant 😭😭 and it also kind of implies that luis actually knew the merchant and interacted with him somewhat regularly. like, it's not even that big of a detail, but i just love thinking about it 😭

(also don't stress yourself over answering these asks quickly!! there's no rush. i hope you're doing well!!)

Quick TW for discussions of food, starvation and animal death under cut!

@silverhexrt Thank you SO much for being so patient with me for this!!!!!!!! BUT YES YES YES OH MY GOD YOU ARE SO ABSOLUTELY RIGHT I’ve seen people talk about the canisters of food lying around his old childhood home but not NEARLY enough about the fact that those same packets of food are found elsewhere in the game too!!!!! Unfortunately I don’t have a photo on-hand of the exact model you’re talking about near the Merchant, but I do have a photo of one of the packets of tomato soup you were talking about;

Alongside the tomato soup there’s also various spices and I THIIIIIIINK what’s supposed to be a packet of noodles????

Needless to say Luis most likely did NOT have a very good diet during the last of his time spent in Valdelobos HFNUEENEUNDIDMD

And again I don’t have photos of the exact model you’re talking about but!!! YEAH!!!!!!!! You’re absolutely right!!!!!!!!!!!! Luis might’ve hung around the Merchant or even waited by his little corner stand for him to come back with decent food or cigarettes!!!! I doubt Luis would’ve been able to go along with him wherever he went cuz A) I think he would’ve escaped Valdelobos MUCH sooner if that were the case HCNWHENEUSN and B) The Merchant is kind of an enigma. Where’s he getting his stock from?????? Who knows!!!!!!!!!! He’s a mystery man we’ll never get answers for!!!!!!!!

It also makes me wonder WHY he gravitated towards those foods instead of just killing the livestock that hung around the village or eating the fish you can find hanging up on the side of the house. Did he feel bad??? Did he just not know how to effectively kill livestock????? Was he trying to preserve it???????? Or did he have a childhood preference?????? Did his Grandfather or whoever looked after him make him those foods??????? Did HE as a child wander into nearby towns to get those foods??????????????? How did his supply of food get so low????? Was Los Illuminados feeding him and the other scientists he worked with or were they starving them to death and Luis was the only one with a source of food???????????

I also wanna mention a theory a friend of mine @hamartia-grander put together- I’ll link the original post if I can find it but the tl;dr of their idea was ‘Hey! Y’know those yellow bits of paint that are splattered on crates n stuff that indicate there’s items inside in both the main game and Seperate Ways?? What if that was Luis who made them and put the items in to help himself escape later down the line?????’ And I think that paired with your theory that Luis hung around the Merchant for a while makes for a REALLY interesting narrative!!!!!!!

And also I am FAR from the first person to point this out but again. Luis clearly does NOT have a good diet while in Valdelobos. It makes me wonder if that added to the urgency of him trying to get out (I mean obviously but still HD EHENEISN HOW hungry was this guy) and if he DID survive, how would he react to returning to an environment where food is easily accessible???? How would that trauma and instinct to hoard come into play??????? Would he gain any weight as a sign of healing???????? It’s a VERY interesting subject to delve into but obviously one you’ve gotta handle with care

TL;DR is that I think people gloss over WAY too much the just. Straight-up HORROR of Luis’ situation. Like take all the supernatural elements away- this is a man trying his best to not starve to death and succumb to the same infection everyone around him has. He’s got no other scientists (they’re all dead) no other family (MEGA dead) and to me it makes the fact that his first and most important goal is helping the others instead of helping HIMSELF first all the more just. Devastating BDNEJEMSJXJ

Anyways this went SO OFF THE POINT YOU WERE MAKIMG DHENEYENDIDK but OUGH the idea of Luis and the Merchant just hanging out together trying to survive The Horrors best they can is!! SUCH a heart wrenching idea!!!!!! Thank you SO SO SO much for this ask I went INSANE over it clearly HDBEHENEJXNS

[lord-of-the-ducks]

Ok so I already made a brief post about the scene about halfway through s5e5 between Guillermo and his mother, and I tacked on an edit about potentially expanding my thoughts into a full length post, but I’m gonna be honest, when I wrote that I did so with the expectation that it would be yet another thing that I would say that I’m totally gonna do without ever getting around to it. Now it’s barely an hour later and I still can’t get it out of my fucking head and so I need to speak my thoughts into the void in hopes of getting validation from strangers on the internet.

I’m gonna put this all below the cut, both because of potential spoilers and some sensitive topics like religious trauma and queerphobia, but also because I know this is going to be long and I don’t want to clog up people’s dashboards.

Okie dokie let’s get into it

I was vague on purpose about The Scene I would be discussing above just in case anyone who hadn’t seen the episode accidentally stumbled on this, but just to clarify, I’m specifically referencing the scene after Guillermo’s family has left and it’s just him and his mom. I hesitate to say that it’s the most emotionally heart wrenching scene in the entire series, but it’s in the top 5 at the very least.

However, I just want to laser focus in on the moment where Sylvia puts the crucifix around Guillermo’s neck. Right after she notices it missing from Guillermo’s neck, she immediately goes to give him another one, because he “needs” it. I wanted to point out that phrase in particular, because it’s not that she would feel better if he wore it, it’s entirely for Guillermo’s benefit.

This reminds me of a particular quote from Dracula, where it’s really beginning to set in that Jonathan is a prisoner, and he thinks back to one of the villagers who gave him a crucifix:

“Bless that good, good woman who hung the crucifix round my neck! for it is a comfort and a strength to me whenever I touch it. It is odd that a thing which I have been taught to regard with disfavour and as idolatrous should in a time of loneliness and trouble be of help. Is it that there is something in the essence of the thing itself, or that it is a medium, a tangible help, in conveying memories of sympathy and comfort?”

I bring this up because in the scene between Sylvia and Guillermo, the crucifix serves less as a Christian symbol, and more as a demonstration of Sylvia’s love for her son. It’s even stated that it used to belong to Guillermo’s grandmother, giving it even more of an explicit connection to familial bonds. Hell, even in Dracula, Jonathan is told to wear the crucifix for his mother’s sake. I didn’t really need to quote Dracula to make this point, but I’m gonna be honest, I thought it was pretty cool how in both of these instances, any specific powers a crucifix might have aren’t ascribed to a divine being, but a more motherly power.

And all of that would be nice and cool, but unfortunately, What We Do In the Shadows has gone with the specific brand of lore where crucifixes are a vampire weakness, meaning that this symbol of motherly love is actually harmful for him. Watching the scene where Sylvia puts it around Guillermo’s neck, I honestly got chills, because you know that Sylvia is doing it for entirely altruistic reasons. However, the way the scene was shot combined with Guillermo’s reaction were a lot more brutal, and I just remember thinking how much it looked like he was being strangled. And then once it’s on his neck, they both turn to look in the mirror, and Sylvia is lovingly rubbing Guillermo’s back, and Guillermo is trying to smile even though he’s very visibly in pain. 

Like I said in my original post, I do kinda wish we got badass dhampir!Guillermo who is immune to crucifixes and other vampire repellents, and I actually thought that the moment Sylvia put the crucifix around Guillermo’s neck would be the moment that this superpower would be revealed to Guillermo and the audience. I’m gonna be honest though, I cannot imagine a better way to visualize the idea of genuinely believing that you are helping someone, when in actuality you’re hurting them. 

Here’s the part where you can stop reading if you’d like, because we’re about to enter the territory of “Red starts projecting their own issues onto Guillermo and calling it media analysis”, aka, “the part that is way too long”. I considered making all of this it’s own post, but it felt relevant to the ideas expressed in the scene I just discussed, and also I kinda just don’t feel like it. I hope other people can relate, but it’s purely my subjective feelings, and I’m not gonna pretend that this is universal. And if you’re someone who knows me in real life and you already made it this far uh... you are allowed to keep reading, but if you say anything about this to me in conversation I will actually die of embarrassment.

I found myself wondering a bit about what the crucifix scene was specifically a metaphor for, since Guillermo has already come out of the closet in season 4 (and also admitting that he wants to be a vampire), and his family loved him unconditionally. This is arguably a bit silly on my part, since the entire point of that kind of metaphor is that it doesn’t have to mean anything specific, it can represent a lot of things to a lot of people. 

Which is why I’m gonna spend the rest of this post talking about how I think Guillermo’s vampire transformation is a metaphor for transgenderism because nobody can stop me.

I am not the first person to read Guillermo as a trans adjacent character, and people who are way smarter than me have made some fantastic posts about why he might be particularly relatable to a trans audience. I never particularly related to Guillermo for that reason (actually that’s a big fat lie I absolutely related to Guillermo because of my own angst about being in the closet) and I never thought of Guillermo as a trans character or a trans allegory until the start of the season 5, when I drew a connection between Guillermo going through Changes that would hopefully bring him closer to his ideal form and the fact that I personally just started taking HRT in early June. I never really had a reason to make any posts about it, since most of the connections I was making were pretty flimsy, and it was hard to make any actual arguments besides “it’s my comfort show and I get to choose the coping mechanisms”.

Then episode 5 came in with the steel chair.

My body is changing. A lot of it is barely noticeable, but it’s happening, and I know from hours of research that it’s going to be a lot more difficult to hide as a go along. And as dramatic as it might seem, I’m beginning to ask myself if there are people who I might never speak to again as a result. For the most part, I live my day to day life as Red, but there are people who still know me by my dead name because I purposely haven’t given them any reason to believe otherwise. Sometimes I feel like I’m being unfair by never allowing people to make up their own mind about my transition,  but it’s terrifying to imagine how drastically people’s opinion of me might change if they knew The Truth about me. 

Which is why Guillermo’s interactions with his family hit really close to home, because it’s clear that he loves them and they love him. But he’s turning into a vampire, and they’re vampire hunters. And it’s only a matter of time before that causes some serious problems. It’s entirely possible that he could tell them that he’s a vampire and it goes as well as when he came out the first time, but when the worst case scenario is having a stake driven through your heart, sometimes it’s better to just disappear, and leave them with memories of the person they thought they knew.

The crucifix scene in particular struck a cord with me, because so much of the time, people have done things that hurt me, and they have absolutely no idea how much they’re hurting me, because I don’t want to know how much they’re hurting me. Part of it is because I’ve convinced myself that any suffering I experience is worth it if I’m the only one suffering, but another part is that the only thing that scares me more than the pain is that if I tell them how much it hurts, they’ll do it anyway.

Letting go is hard though. Something I didn’t notice the first time I watched the crucifix scene is that after Guillermo leaves the apartment, Sylvia makes a comment to Miguel about how it’s the third time this month that he’s come to make that grand goodbye, and how he’ll probably be back again next week. I don’t really have anything to add to that to be honest, Guillermo loves his mom and will always love his mom and you just know that he’s gonna come up with any excuse to see her “just one last time”.

OK ANGST OVER. Wow, I honestly didn’t know I was about to get that depressing but that’s what happened so... I hope y’all enjoyed, and maybe it’s time to explain what tumblr is to my therapist

[high-mackrels-musings]

In Defense of Ki-Adi Mundi … Again

Look at that, one of my favorite Jedi from legends is relevant again … for all the wrong reasons. But regardless I’ll take any chance I can to talk about my favorite Cerean.

With that said I’ll just say two things with regards to the acolyte and Mundi, I’ve watched two episodes and have little interest to watch anymore, canon isn’t my cup of tea, if you enjoy it good for you, Star Wars is a big enough fandom that both old EU and canon fans can enjoy their respective parts of it. And please understand that Ki-Adi Mundi of legends is not the same as canon, unfortunately people are woefully ignorant of who he was in canon.

With all that let me go ahead and repost one of my old posts from reddit where I defend the now seemingly popular Ki-Adi Mundi. Original post found here.

Introudction:

In recent days it has become quite common to bash the jedi for their perceived arrogance, hypocrisy, and coldness. Seemingly a few jedi are always quick to be singled out for their actions Mace Windu is directed plenty of ire for his role in ousting Ahsoka, as is Shaak Ti for her inaction in the clone chips, and Luminara for her response towards the death of the Martez sisters’ parents. However, I shall be focusing solely on one whom has recently been getting a lot of attention with (reddit posts like these), (articles like these), and ( videos like these).

This is a horrible video, please don’t watch this.

It seems apparent to many that Ki-Adi Mundi deserved his death and that he is a prime example for the Jedi losing their way. However, I felt it necessary to attempt to put things into some perspectives. Not only because I feel people are taking things heavily out of context, but also Ki-Adi represents one of the best Jedi Masters of his era in my opinion.

Common Criticisms:

Mundi’s denial of the Sith Existence (The Phantom Menace):

One of first instances that many will bring up will be the hubris that Mundi’s quick denial that the sith might have returned as Qui-Gon reported to the council. While it is true that Mundi was perhaps just a little too quick to judge. However, one needs to consider the viewpoint of his and the rest of the council. As he states, the Sith are believed to have been extinct for a millennia, following the supposed death of Darth Bane in Darth Bane: Rule of Two. But while the Sith had believed to be extinct there were plenty of examples of Dark Jedi and other Dark Side users well into the clone wars, as exhibited in the stages before the Clone Wars such as Aurra Sing and Komari Vosa, and before The Phantom Menace as seen by Qui-Gon’s own former apprentice Xanatos.

Red lightsaber, familiar in the Jedi arts, but not a Sith.

Thus, to the Jedi on the council it would have made much more sense that Qui-Gon had been attacked by a possible fallen Jedi, rather than a long believed to be dead group.

While Mundi was at times sure of himself, this is not such an example that can be used to discredit him. Rather what we can see here is an example of the arrogance of Qui-Gon to always listen to his first instinct. The Jedi Council rightfully so declares that such a matter should be looked into more closely with Mace Windu stating, “We will use all our resources to look into the matter more closely.” Of course, it looks bad in hindsight, but as viewers we have more information than the characters on the screen.

Mundi’s defense of Count Dooku (Attack of the Clones):

In Attack of the Clones following a failed assassination, Padme is quick to bring up the name of Count Dooku for whom might be responsible for the attempt on her life. This is quickly followed by the Cerean master’s words, “He’s a political idealist not a murderer.” It is backed up by the words of Mace who describes him as being a former jedi. One needs to remember the context of this. Dooku while having left the Jedi Order, did so amicably as seen by his statement when leaving the Jedi as found in Jedi VS. Sith The Essential Guide to the Force where he states:

It is my plan to return to Serenno and serve my people as a philanthropist. It is my last request as a Jedi Master that you Respect my decision, as well as my privacy. Good-bye old friends, and may the Force be with you.

Further as seen in the deleted scene Jocasta Nu states, “He disappeared for nine or ten years and reemerged as the leader of the separatist movement.” Dooku thus is thought of as only being a political leader, which would fit the description of him in the Revenge of the Sith novelization, where he is described in the common consciousness as:

The political heart of the Separatist Confederacy, Count Dooku, is known for his integrity, his principled stand against what he sees as corruption in the Senate. Though they believe he’s wrong, many respect him for the courage of his mistaken convictions.

Thus, this viewpoint by both Ki-Adi Mundi and Mace Windu is well supported in universe. They have yet to see any reason for such a quick accusation that Padme makes, instead they must stand behind the evidence at hand, that being that the attempt on her life was that of spice miners as intelligence pointed. It should be kept in context that Dooku was still seen at this time, by the Jedi at least, as a good friend who had simply become disillusioned by the Jedi and the Republic.

Ahsoka’s Trial (The Clone Wars Season Five):

Perhaps one of the most spoken criticisms against Mundi, is his role in expelling Ahsoka from the Jedi Order. With Ahsoka being a well-beloved character of the fanbase, it’s no wonder everyone would come to her defense against what most would consider an unfair treatment of a fan favorite. Yet, should one look at the evidence that was available to the character’s it is not so cut and dry. Indeed, should one look at this without any outside insight they would have come to such similar conclusions.

Indeed, the case against Ahsoka was much stronger than some might very well remember. In the second episode of the arc The Jedi Who Knew too Much the murder of Letta, the one responsible for the explosion, was caught on camera. The visual for anyone would have been obvious. Ahsoka is seen holding out her hands while Letta floats in the air visibly running out of air. This is just the first piece of damning evidence. Further there is the statement that Letta makes in plain earshot of the clone commander to Ahsoka, “I was told if I ever needed help you were the Jedi to contact,” further implementing Ahsoka into the role of mastermind of the temple bombing. In this same episode Ahsoka is let out of prison, though to anyone apart from the audience it appears that she has fled, along with reportedly killing a few clones. And then there is Ahsoka being spotted, by Anakin nonetheless, with Asajj Ventress, a known separatist and war criminal. Finally, when Ahsoka is captured by the clone and Jedi team, she is found next to more explosive nano droids. All this culminates in showing Ahsoka in the worst possible light.

Furthering the matter is the fact that this was no longer a Jedi Matter that could be investigated internally. As Admiral Tarkin explains to Anakin and Ashoka in *The Jedi Who Knew Too Much* Letta was moved because the matter was now in the hands of the military, “Clones were killed, which makes this a military matter.” A statement Anakin agrees with. And as mentioned in the same episode, Palpatine had made sure to remove the Jedi from such military matters. It further complicates the matter. And thus, one may see that the Jedi had little choice but to expel Ahsoka. Not only did all the evidence point to her. But they simply were not in a position to set up their own trial.

Further it should be noted that Mundi had very little involvement in the decision to expel Ahsoka other than simply voting, a vote that was split according to Yoda in the final episode of the arc stating, “Reached a decision the council has, though not in total agreement are we.” Indeed, Mundi himself never actually voices an accusation against Ahsoka. In To Catch a Jedi he simply asks Anakin if there was any chance to stop Ahsoka. And in The Wrong Jedi he merely asks that everyone consider that the evidence points to Ahsoka being the mastermind behind the attack, which is correct. Perhaps why everyone holds it against him is that he is the one who reads to Ahsoka what the consequences are for her being expelled from the order are. Regardless Mundi himself is not solely at fault for Ahsoka’s leaving of the order. Nor, was it outlandish for Ahsoka to be accused of said crime, as all there was strong evidence against her.

But what about the droid attack on the Wookie’s (Revenge of the Sith)

It seems a bit odd that this is constantly brought up as a point as to why the Mundi was an idiot. The Council were the military command of the republic. It was their duty to plan out the movements of the republic army, and where best to send them. While the scene first begins with Anakin’s appointment to the council, it quickly shifts to discussion about military matters, with Mundi informing the council that they do not know where General Grievous is. This prompts Obi-Wan to mention how little ships they have to spare. Naturally with how thin they are spread; Mundi asks what they will do about Kashyyk. As should be known Yoda volunteers to go to the aid of the Wookiees, stating, “Good relations with the Wookie’s I have.”

Some might see this as Mundi indirectly helping Palpatine’s plan. However, it should be noted that Obi-Wan is not exaggerating. Kashyyk really is a system that the Republic could simply not be allowed to lose. As noted in the Starwars.com encyclopedia, “Kashyyyk was of prime strategic importance, serving as a major navigational point for the entire southwestern quadrant of the galaxy.” There were also several oil refineries located on the planet which the confederacy wanted to take control of. One can also make an argument for the Humanitarian reasons to get involved. The Wookiee’s had always been loyal to the republic and were a group often targeted for slavery and hunted down. They were a marginalized group, and thus it makes sense for why Ki-Adi would want to support the Wookiee’s.

And it should be noted that Yoda himself volunteered in his desire to go and aid the Wookies, as he states he had very good relations. And it makes sense that he would want to go, and help them. The Jedi Council thus made perhaps the best decision that they could in sending not only their most experienced Jedi, but one who would have had the trust of the natives.

Common Misconceptions:

Mundi did not love or care for his family:

One of the most notable differences between Mundi and most Jedi of his time was that he had a family. As Cerean’s generally had a low birth rate, and because males were outnumbered one to twenty per *The New Essential Guide to Alien Species.*Thus, Mundi was granted a special exemption from this rule taking on one bond wife and four honor wives. Between them Mundi had seven daughters. He would spend much of his time with them as he was the appointed Jedi watchman of the sector which Cerea formed a part of. Strangely one of most common misconceptions is that Mundi somehow did not care for them.

However, in Star Wars: Prelude to Rebellion one can see quite the opposite in fact. In Part 1 we see him openly comfort his honor wife Mawin, after their daughter has run away. And he states with regard to his bond wife Shea the narration states:

”Four honor wives have given him seven daughters. He loves them all, but his heart longs for a son. He can hide his disappointment from the others. But from Shea, if she should bear him another girl? No, not from Shea. He can hide nothing from her.”

This quote shows two things. It demonstrates for us the love that Ki-Adi Mundi actually had for his family. And that he loved his bond wife Shea so much he could not bare to let her see any semblance of disappointment in his eyes. This shows the actual empathy of Mundi. And in Part 5 of the comic, we again see him demonstrating his fatherly love towards his daughter Sylvn saying, “He had not realized until she was brought so close, and then wrenched so cruelly away. How much he loved his daughter.”

Mundi demonstrates in these early comics just how much he loves his family. And indeed, it goes contrary to the popular opinion that Mundi somehow did not care for his family.

Mundi was cold and lacked empathy.

Mundi has also been characterized as lacking empathy or feelings for others. Indeed, one of the most common examples of why Mundi is a prime example of everything bad with the Jedi of the Rise of the Empire era. Mostly I have seen people point to one scene in Star Wars: Republic 62 where following the supposed death of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mundi relates to Anakin how he felt about the death of his family saying, “I cared for them, but tried to remain unattached.” I have seen some point to this being proof that Mundi did not care for the death of others. One can get into a debate about the Jedi and their views on death, however as noted above, Mundi absolutely cared for his family. And his advice was to tell Anakin that while death is hard one can move on from it.

Further we have evidence of how deeply Mundi cared for the deaths of other sentient beings as seen in Star Wars Clone Wars Adventures Volume 6 we see Mundi mediating under dripping water. His exact words as to why he does this are: “It helps my meditation in these dark days. Each drop reminds me of every life that has been lost.” This shows us once more how much Mundi felt empathy for the death of every single life that had been lost.

In the same comic, Mundi shows concern for the life of the young Jedi Knight Rivi-Anu who runs to try to save the lives of clones and Jedi. Mundi sees her goal of stopping a crash landing Venator from crashing knows that she is trying to save them all, following her death Mundi states, “Greater love has no being than to lay down their life for a friend. Rivi-Anu is now one with the living force. It will make me proud to one day join her.” Mundi shows once more how much the death of others matters to him when he thinks of Rivi-Anu while mediating under dripping water once matter.

These two examples demonstrate that Mundi was far from a cold unfeeling Jedi some portray him as. While it is true Mundi did not stop to weep at the death of everyone, he undoubtedly felt every death touch his heart. His attempts at teaching Anakin the difference between mourning and holding onto these feelings is evident. And indeed we see that Mundi concentrated on the death of his fellow Jedi.

Conclusion

While it is entirely possible that one may have feelings towards Mundi, still perhaps you may feel he was incompetent or the single embodiment of everything wrong with the jedi. I would hope that this little essay does a decent job of trying to correct some of the possible misconceptions that have faced the Cerean Master. I believe it’s important to contextualize many of these criticisms. To try to make one see things from the perspective of the character, and indeed to provide direct quotes from many of his most famous stories. Ki-Adi Mundi is a character I grew up with falling in love with his stories in early comic run.

I certainly believe that Mundi was a very noble Jedi holding up the ideals of one. Growing from a young arrogant Jedi Knight. Into an introspective master. Who after losing every one of his daughters and wives still remained on the Jedi path. Who did his best to pass on wisdom to the young Jedi who would follow him. And who wanted nothing more than to preserve the republic all the way to the end. Hopefully putting some context into such claims can quell the ire driven against one of my favorite characters in Star Wars.

[nekoannie-chan]

Nobody can take your place

Pairing: Steve Rogers X Reader.

Word count: 678 words.

Summary: Steve waited for you after the Snap.

Warnings: Little sad but happy ending.

A/N: This is my entry to @springdandelixn​  Beannie’s Double-Trouble Sleepover with lyric #9:

“And you need to know that nobody can take your place.”

“Spring.”

@saiyanprincessswanie​

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Steve opened the window, spring was beginning, and the flowers were blooming to show their beautiful colorful petals, you had taught Steve to appreciate all those details.

He was sure you would enjoy the view, but you weren't there to appreciate it.

He always told others that they should move on with their lives, not dwell on what had happened, but he didn't do that.

He took his favorite picture of you, you were so smiling, showing him a giant sunflower, just the one you had liked the most when you went to the sunflower field, he put it in front of the window as if he wanted to show you the scenery.

“I bet you'd like us to go on a picnic, and take lots of pictures together," Steve whispered, not caring if he had no answer or no one had heard him.

Steve let them heal his wound, he hoped that everything had really worked out, you had been home the first time, and he had hoped you were still there since he didn't see you in the battle.

It took the others a little while to convince him to let them heal his wounds but just saying that you were going to worry if you saw him in that state was enough.

He was urgent to go home to be reunited with you.

You looked up when you heard the door open, everything was very confusing, the last thing you remembered was screams in the street and a strange feeling in your body, and then you woke up on the carpet of the house, but you were not entirely sure that it was your house. You also didn't know where else to go and Steve hadn't answered his mobile phone.

“Steve? What happened? “You asked confused.

“Y/N... Are you really here? This isn’t... This isn’t a dream? “Steve's voice sounded on the verge of cracking, he couldn't believe they had finally made it, you were back with him.

You looked around you and everything seemed so similar, but at the same time so different, suddenly you were surprised to be surrounded by Steve's strong arms.

“Steve, what happened? “you asked again.

“It's been five years since we last saw each other," Steve answered seriously. Then he began to tell you all the events that happened from the moment you disappeared.

You went through different states, as it seemed implausible what he was telling you, although you were also beginning to understand why some things looked different, but what else had Steve done in those years?

You took a breath, you had to ask a question, five years seemed like a long time and maybe Steve...

“What have you done over the years, is there anyone else? “your voice trembled at the second question. You were afraid of the answer you might get, especially since maybe the next question might be "where are my things so I can go and you can be happy?"

“And you need to know that nobody can take your place. “He replied, still looking at you.

“Steve, did you really wait for me all this time? “You took a deep breath, you didn't want to cry, although you were very surprised by his answer, you didn't believe that someone would wait so long if they didn't even know if there was any way to fix what happened.

“Always, I promised you when we got married," Steve continued talking, taking your hands, he needed to touch you again, to feel you, it was the same as he remembered.

“Steve... you were older than me before... now you're five years extra older “you joked, you had so many feelings and emotions, you needed to get them out somehow.

Steve laughed, he missed so much your jokes, your laughter; he had dreamed so many times of hearing your voice again, your smell, your skin.

He knew that in the next few weeks, you two were going to be very busy, making up for the time you hadn't been able to spend together.

[deariemaybank]

Concealed Hearts

Summary: Angela goes back to the outerbanks after many years to visit family but this time she actually plans on making her holiday worth it.

Pairing: eventually JJ Maybank x oc mid size reader

Pls note: this will also be posted on my Wattpad if you prefer to read it on there. This is my first ever time writing something, I’ve recently had an obsession with outerbanks and JJ Maybank that I had the biggest urge to write up a story thats been playing over in my head for a while. Sorry if this is not written well and as you can probably guess I’m from Australia so I will do my best to avoid any Aussie slang but can’t make any promises. This is a eventual JJ Maybank x original character story, it will not follow the show completely but most parts will be put in and adjusted to match up with the whole story. I don’t own any of the OBX characters, only the ones I added to the story. The prologue is the only thing that’s going to be written second person, the rest will be written in first person.

Warnings: swearing (which I have done my best to keep minimal at the moment), talk of body sizes

(Pls comment what you think and where I can improve and if you would like me to continue the story - which I probably will anyway 😂)

Thank you and I hope you enjoy the story.

Prologue:

“Flight 181 is now boarding…” you over heard on the airport speaker. You picked up your carry on bag, holding onto your current book that you were reading and followed your family to board the plane.

“Are you excited?” Your little sister asked you trying to make small talk to calm both of your nerves. You both loved flying but there was always a small amount of nerves lurking around. This was technically your sisters second but first time as she claims heading to the outer banks, you had been once before when you were about 6 years old just after your Aunty had moved, your sister came but she was still a bit too young to remember anything even though you two are only one and half years apart. You remembered small details here and there like the few people you got to meet but mainly remembered and tried to stay friends with a girl you met on one of your last days, her name was Kiara. Unfortunately you guys lost touch over the years as you both moved on with your lives, you in Australia and Kiara in the outerbanks.

“Yeah, you?” You replied, your sister nodded. You found your seat on the plane next to your sister, loaded your bag in the overhead compartment, made sure to grab your book and buckle yourself in because as everyone knows Australia to America is about a 15hr flight so you had no choice but to get comfy and wait for the plane to take off.

Once you landed in Charleston, you caught the ferry over to the outerbanks where you spot your Aunty waiting for you, you ran up to her with the biggest smile on your face, you haven’t seen her in a few years the last time being when she came to Australia about two years ago. “Angela!!�� “Aunty Jessica!!” You both shouted at the same time running up to each other, your sister joining in not long after followed by your parents.

You drove to where your Aunty was currently residing with your uncle Matthew, who she met while on holiday and moved to the Outerbanks to be with. Your Aunty lived in what the outerbanks people called the cut which was for the working class/poor people. The rich people lived on figure 8 which was the other side of the island and were called the kooks, your Aunty and Uncle made enough to get by comfortably but just weren’t rich enough to live in figure 8, they were kind of in the middle. Your uncle had a garage working as a mechanic and your Aunty was currently working at a place called the wreck which is how you met Kiara after running into her at her parents shop last time you were here as you waited for your Aunty to finish up her shift on that day. Once you unloaded your luggages and found your room for the next 6 weeks, you decided to take a nap as it was night time in Australia and you could feel your body needing a good rest.

Chapter 1:

I could hear my sister coming into my room before I could even open my eyes fully, pulling me out of my peaceful slumber. We had landed in the outerbanks about three days ago and have just spent the last few days sleeping, settling in and catching up with our Aunty, Uncle and cousins who we weren’t very close to due to the age gaps between us all but I still cared to know how they have been going.

“Ange?” My sister called my nickname from the door before entering my room like she didn’t already disturb my sleep, I prefer to be called Ange, Angela was just a tad too formal sometimes and Angel just didn’t sit right with me “Can we please go to the beach today? The sun is out and I wanna go see some hot surfer dudes!!” I looked at her for a moment then decided why the fuck not, we are on holiday anyway. “Sure, sounds like a plan” I told her, I honestly had no interest in surfer dudes or any romance at the moment (especially not after getting my heartbroken like 3 weeks ago back home by a guy I had a crush on who was just playing with my heart strings because he thought it was funny in front of his friends, luckily I didn’t end up doing anything with him, thankful to my stubborn self for once for not falling for his trap fully and losing my virginity to him) but my sister was what I considered boy crazy, everything she did in life always revolved around them but as long as she was happy, that’s all that mattered to me. I just wanted to sit back in the sand and continue my book, perhaps go for a swim as well because the ocean is where my mind finds solace and swimming is just something I always found naturally easy and calming.

I put on my swimsuit and cover up on top, packed my sunscreen,towel,book and sunnies and headed out to the beach with my sister. We found a spot and placed our umbrella above us mainly above me because I am known to burn pretty easily, placed our towels down and got comfy, me with my book and my sister tanning while scrolling on her phone.

“Angela? Is that you?” I heard someone say, slowly looking away from my book,I turned to see a familiar face walking towards me, I swore I couldn’t put my finger on who it was, as the person got closer, I started to notice her brown eyes first, my mind knowing I knew those eyes from somewhere.

“Oh my god, Kiara is that you?” I shouted out as my brain finally caught up with what was going on. I ran up to meet her half way pulling her into a hug both of us squealing with excitement of seeing each after soo long. “ what are you doing here?” Kiara asked me “came to visit Aunt Jessica and uncle Matthew” I replied

“Girl it’s been too long and we have so much to catch up on, you look really good.” Kiara mentioned and I agreed with her “yeah it’s been way too long and what are you talking about? Have you looked in the mirror?You have grown up to look like an absolute goddess girl” I replied to which Kiara laughed at, thanking me for the compliment.

My sister came up behind me, eager to meet my friend “Oh Kiara, this is my sister, Isabella but we all call her, Bella. Bella this is my friend, Kiara. The one I met last time we came here.” I introduced them allowing Bella and Kiara to officially meet, they hugged and started going on about how it was so nice to finally meet each other in person and Kiara mentioning she is glad she got to finally meet my ‘famous’ sister.

“What are you doing tonight, Ange?” Kiara asked me “Nothing I think, why do you ask?” I replied. “My friends and I are having a bonfire tonight and I would love for you to come, Bella can come too.” Kiara asked me “Ah, thanks for the invite Kiara but I’m not a huge party girl.” I replied

“Angelllaaa” Kiara said dragging out my full name in a pleading tone “First of all, please call me Kie and second, I really want you to come please even for just a little bit so we can catch up and you can meet my friends, I know they want to meet you as I’ve told them all about you.” Kie said

I thought it over for a minute and then referred back to my previous mindset in the morning, I am on holiday, might as well have some fun. “Okay Kie, I will come for a little bit but can’t promise I will stay long.”

Bella decided to chime in then asking me “can I please come with you, Ange?” I replied “yeah sure but pls no drinking as you are way too under age and our parents will kill me.” Bella was so excited and hugged me and then went up to hug Kie then got back to her tanning session and staring at the boys surfing. After exchanging phone numbers and socials with Kie so I didn’t lose contact with her this time, Kie then had to leave so she could go help her parents at their shop.

“So I’ll see you tonight?” Kie asked. “Yeah see you tonight.” I replied. As I finally got comfortable again with my book, Bella started hitting me on the arm with such urgency that I almost lost my place in your book. “What is it, Bell?” I asked her, sending her a glare because I was certain it was about a boy to which I was correct.

“Ange, you see the blonde one surfing out there? He is so hot!!” Bella said. I looked over and spotted the blonde boy coming in with his surfboard, he was cute I couldn’t say she was wrong but I just didn’t have the same mindset as her especially after he who shall not be named fucked me over, I honestly was really here to just enjoy my holiday, I replied “oh yeah, he seems kinda cute” not fully interested in taking it further but not wanting to ruin Bella’s mood and went back to my book because fictional men are better then real men at the moment and they are always end up being perfect to their partners and thats because they are usually written by woman, which is a fact I will always stand by.

“Angela, make sure you look after Bella and stay safe.” My mum reminded me for the fifth time tonight before we left to go to the bonfire.I was wearing a simple black crop top and light blue pair of ripped jeans which always did wonders for my body shape, highlighting all my favourite curves and some comfy shoes because I mean who doesn’t want to be comfortable, with my hair left down in it’s natural style with slight waves, while my sister who has a slightly different wardrobe style to me was wearing black bike shorts and a white crop top which suited her body shape. My sister has always been skinner than me, she was just blessed with a faster metabolism like my father and I unfortunately was not as I took after my mother but I never let that get me down, even though people at school and some distant relatives always tried making me feel like I had to change my body which don’t get me wrong I have tried, it’s just never worked and I found that the less I try and I just focus on being happy mentally is when I actually see better results. My family and true friends never saw me any different which is why I was proud of the body I had, always doing my best to be grateful about small things in life I had where I can be. “Yes mum, I will.” I replied, Bella also voicing out a promise to our parents that she will be good, we headed out towards the beach where the bonfire had already started.

A/n: sorry there is only so little mention of JJ in this chapter, i always feel like backstory is important when starting something so you can fully understand the story. Anyway, I’ll put up chapter 2 soon and hopefully we can get a good start on this story. Thank you so much for reading :)

[aburruso-capstone-uhwoacm]

Progress Update #5

Not that much has happened since the last update, but I still managed to hit some major milestones.

First of all, I got *almost* all of the preliminary sprites done.  I actually forgot to make sprites for the markers, though this is because the markers themselves were not part of the original plan.  Other than that, I did all the sprites for Sasha, the firewalls, the servers, and the buttons.  That being said, I’m going to have to redo them.  I will explain why pretty soon.

Besides the sprites, I also made some sound effects.  I made them with the help of a website called jsfxr, where you can generate various sound effects for video games.  For most of the sounds, I just fiddled around with jsfxr and then downloaded them when I was satisfied with them.  However, I did a bit more editing for the sounds that play when you take down a server and run into a firewall.  For those, I made two different sounds in jsfxr and then blended them together in Adobe Audition.  I am mostly satisfied with the end results, but I ran into an issue with the firewall sound effect.

Now, remember how in the last post, I mentioned that I was going to do a playtesting session?  Well, I wanted to get all the sprites and sound effects into the game so that the students who would be playing it wouldn’t have to just look at squares; even if the sprites weren’t perfect, they would still be a step up from what I had in the first build.  So, the day before the session was spent importing all the sprites and sound effects into the game.  This is when I found some issues. 

First of all, Sasha’s sprite is super small compared to the play area (see the picture below - this is before I put in the other sprites; fortunately, their sizes were fine).  Her sprites’ current resolution is 22x22, so I’m thinking I’ll have to increase it to make it easier to see her.  Besides that, the firewall sound effect sounded different when I put it in GameMaker.  Specifically, it sounds less like an electric shock (which is what it’s supposed to be) and more like a really loud and annoying grinder.  I don’t know why the sound changed, especially since the others didn’t.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to fix those issues, so I just had to leave them as is in for the playtesting session.

As for the session itself, it went rather well.  A lot of the kids had fun playing it.  They also provided a lot of good feedback for the game.  While they provided some suggestions that I do not think I can do (such as adding more levels), they also had some that I will try to do this month.  They include:

Polishing the graphics

Recoloring either the servers or firewalls so they look more distinct (most likely, I’ll make the firewalls yellow instead of orange)

Adding a working tutorial (fun fact: the old tutorial still used the squares, and I didn’t have time to add the new sprites in it, so I completely removed it from the build the students played.  As a workaround, I did demonstrate the game in front of the class.  Regardless, I want to get the tutorial done since I obviously can’t do that for all the people who play it).

Try to implement numbers into the grid (to make it easier to see where the coordinates are)

Fixing the firewall sound effect

This is quite a lot to get done.  I am a little nervous about redoing the graphics; I'm not 100% sure if my skill is up to par to make something better than what I have now.  Still, I’m going to try my best.

Also, here’s the link to the game; you can now try it out with the new graphics: https://aliyah-burruso.itch.io/capstone-sneaker-first-build.  (Yes, the url says “first build.”  No, this is not an April Fools’ prank.  I just didn’t want to change the url and confuse the teacher who let me playtest with her class.  I’ll definitely change it later).

That’s all I have for this update.  For the next couple of weeks, I’ll focus on revising the sprites.  Once I’m done with that, I’ll do the tutorial and add some more things I’ve been wanting to do for the game.  Let’s see how things go.

[gnomeniche]

peri hathm had a sister??? (NOT FAKE) (NOT CLICKBAIT)

this is kestrel "kes" west, peri's younger sister. despite being friendlier and more lively than her brother, she had the same mad wizard obsessive tendencies. both peri and ambrose loved her very much, but unfortunately, she is no longer with them.

also that is a real hairstyle i gave her + yeah their names are kestrel and peregrine. yeah like the falcons.

more info under the cut. EDIT: putting a readmore in deletes the whole paragraph under it because tumblr is allergic to functioning. so this post will just a wall of fucking text i guess. i hate this site.

kes was the one who originally found the spellbook that peri lugs around + the scarf he has was originally hers as well. she was into life magic, i guess? healing, yes, but also weird body shit. flesh and blood and bone. she used the methods she found in the book to brew healing potions to help people in her community. but all secretly, of course. that's how she and peri met ambrose, actually.

but she was also dying. she and her brother studied the spellbook to try and figure out a spell that could save her, but it wasn't until she was on the verge of death that they made a breakthrough. nothing left to lose, she drank the new potion, died, and then returned.

of course, as it does with all Mysterious Serums Of Life, it goes wrong. though she seems fine for a month or so, she starts sporadically losing control of herself and her physical form, as well as coughing up glowing magical fluid. she, peri, and ambrose try to figure out and fix whatever went wrong with the magic, but they're not fast enough, and it culminates when she violently transforms into a monster and loses herself for good.

in the struggle between the three of them, kes kills ambrose and peri has to kill her. kes's body dissolves into magic goop, but peri is able to flee with ambrose's. since they had gotten pretty far in fixing the spell already, it doesn't take him much time to perfect it, and he uses this revised spell to bring ambrose back.

fortunately there's no mutation-y side effects this time, although ambrose has some holes in his memory because he was dead for a while. he remembers recent events fine, just not earlier parts of his life. also, he is still very much An Undead and not truly resurrected, but this is as good as anyone can get wrt reviving the dead at this point. and peri is so so so relieved that he could at least save ambrose. not wanting to be parted from another loved one, he turns himself into a lich as well. and that's how all that shit happened.

in terms of differences between the siblings, kes was always more interested in the living, while peri is more interested in the dead. see, bc kes's main concern was her illness, she really wanted to continue living. she wanted to live to watch the world change around her. meanwhile, peri's main concern was keeping his sister alive, and later bringing back ambrose. he wants to preserve that which he loves. there's the difference between life magic and necromancy, though they seemingly share goals.

nowadays ambrose and peri don’t really talk abt kes. it’s too painful for both of them and they refuse to unpack it, esp given that ambrose was killed by her and peri had to kill her. but neither of them has forgotten about her.

[sainamoonshine]

Okay so I have watched like, three Avatar live action episodes so far and here are some quick thoughts on it. (Spoiler alert this is a positive post, negativity DNA unless you want to make me sad)

- Right off the bat it should be noted that my standards for good tv / movies are pretty low these days. Due to the general state of tv / movies, I have been forced to place the bar of acceptability at « I can see what is happening on the screen and the character’s costumes have colours ». NATLA passes both criterias with flying — well, colours.

- Secondly I actually like the way the show handles the character arcs. I feel like people who are complaining just noticed that they changed or toned down some aspects of the character arcs, and were so angry that they straight up stopped paying attention instead of noticing all the new and nuanced things that were added in. Every character is getting an interesting and intriguing storyline, they just don’t look exactly the same as in the original. If that makes you froth at the mouth, may I suggest not watching any adaptation ever maybe? Because huh that’s kind of what adaptations do.

- Unfortunately the pacing is kinda clunky and some of the dialogue is irritating, especially the recurrent thing where a character who would usually prefer to die before speaking about their feelings — or wouldn’t have the emotional maturity to even realize what they are feeling — just turn to the camera and loudly announce « I am feeling this thing! ». However, those two issues are obviously a result of not enough episodes. They had to cram A LOT in eight episodes and that is Netflix’s fault, not the showrunner’s. With eight episodes they basically had the choice between not having the time to properly « show not tell » and therefore having to cut out the character’s more subtle emotional states entirely, or try to work in conversations and monologues in which the characters just straight up say things to each other. So you get Aang telling Appa he’s scared of being the avatar and Zuko actually admitting out loud that he has hope that he might get to go home. It is what it is.

- They clearly ran out of money for wigs tho. Gran-gran’s wig is horrendous and the only thing I cannot forgive.

- Aside from some clunky pacing and gran-gran’s wig tho, everything else has slapped so far. Sokka is PERFECT. Suki was great too. Sad that they didn’t put Sokka in the full Kyoshi warrior getup but it does create an unintentionally hilarious moment where the kyoshi people are all like « um no we don’t have any outsiders in our village, no sir mister fire soldier » and meanwhile this idiot is just standing there all dressed in BLUE

- Aang is also perfect. Zuko is perfect. Katara is doing that thing where you bottle up all your anger inside and never make it anyone else’s problem and just keep smiling and being nice and polite and then you die, which unfortunately seems to make people think she just has no anger? Lmao okay.

- the cgi was hit and miss in the first episode but then got a lot better

- the fight choreographies are ON POINT OMG

- I didn’t remember why I didn’t like Jet (forgor most of his arc in the show) but just remembered I didn’t like him, which made for an interesting ep 3 viewing experience lol

- also Kevin from supernatural?????

- would prefer it if my husband stopped saying « okay Anakin! 🙄 » every time someone gets set on fire but I think that might just be an issue in my household

[twinhood-2dot0]

A Shallow Dive Into: Batman’s Rogues Gallery Part 2

Here, part 2. The first one somehow got 7 likes??? I barely even put any effort into it. This one is also gonna be pretty low effort :P I started writing another post yesterday and I wrote 1360 words and I’m only like only a ⅓ finished??? And I kinda spent the whole day watching an anime start to finish 💀.Anyways, let’s get into some more that I missed.

The Al Ghul’s

Ra’s al Ghul (Raysh-Al-Ghool or, Raas-Al-Ghool. Even DC writers can’t agree, although I’m more accustomed to Raysh, I think that was how it was pronounced in the DCAU and the Arkham games. It’s Arabic for “Head of the demon”) is a man born around 700-450 years ago, who discovered the powers of the Lazarus pit, which has the power to bring people back from the dead and used it to prolong his life. (Yeah, this how pretty much most of the dead Batfam characters came back to life. Jason Todd, Kate Kane (Batwoman), who died for like one issue a few meters away from a Lazarus pit, Riddler, as mentioned before, when he got cancer and took a dip in the pit and figured out Batman’s identity.) Ra’s al Ghul, in his long life, played a part in like a lot of historical moments, and later comes to resent humanity and becomes an environmentalist. I’m not very familiar with the character unfortunately, with all of my experience being the Batman Begins version, the kinda weird role he played in Arkham City, and JLA: Tower of Babel where he takes down the entire Justice League using Batman’s countermeasures for his own allies, and the Injustice series, which I don’t remember much of except that he has like a nature sanctuary with various critically endangered species and he was besties with Animal Man.

Talia al Ghul is the daughter of Ra’s al Ghul, on-and-off love interest for Batman, and mother of Batman’s biological son, and also on-and-off ally of Ra’s al Ghul. She also played a part in Jason Todd’s resurrection and consequent training.

Ra’s also has one other daughter, Nyssa, but I honestly didn’t even know she existed until I played Arkham Knight. She has much less appearances than her sister.

Lady Shiva, while not a member of the family, has relations to the League of Shadows, so I thought I’d group them together. Lady Shiva is among the best martial artists in the DCU, able to best even Batman. She’s also the mother of Cassandra Cain, the other best fighter, although more so because of her procognitive abilities. 

Man-Bat

Wow, the realisticness makes him so much scarier.

Dr. Kirk Langstrom is a zoologist cursed with deafness, and in an effort to cure his deafness, creates a serum with the help of bat DNA but it goes horribly wrong and is turned into a giant bat. In recent publications, he’s more of a sympathetic villain acting more on primal rage than malice. His interpretation in Arkham Knight was done really well. Although Arkham Knight is not a horror game, there’s a ton of jumpscares. While just gliding and grappling to different buildings, the player may be randomly met with the shrieking face of the Man-Bat, and you have to go to his lab and piece together what he has done and create an antidote.

Mr. Freeze

Dr. Victor Fries’s (pronounced “Frees”. Yeah, DC names are often very on the nose, just look at E. Nygma and Harleen Quinzel.) wife Nora Fries is afflicted with a terminal illness, and is cryogenically preserved by her husband in hopes that a cure might one day be discovered. While working, he’s trapped in an accident that made him unable to survive outside of sub-zero environments, forcing him to wear a cryogenic suit, and he turns to crime to find a cure.

Mr. Freeze was originally just another bank robber with a freeze ray, but Paul Dini changed his origin story to the current iteration in an Emmy Award winning episode of Batman: The Animated Series titled “Heart Of Ice”. Scott Snyder, as much as I loved his stories, controversially retconned this in the New 52 reboot and made Fries a man who got obsessed with a cryogenically preserved woman named Nora Fields.

The Court Of Owls

A newer addition to the Batman mythos, appearing first in Scott Snyder’s Court Of Owls and City Of Owls arcs that kicked off the New 52 Batman series. The Court Of Owls are Gotham’s own Illuminati. A secret society made of the wealthiest and most powerful citizens of Gotham, they have existed for centuries, controlling the city from behind the shadows, along with the help of immortal assassins named the Talons.

Batmen of The Dark Multiverse

Scott Snyder’s 2017 crossover event named Dark Nights: Metal introduced us to the Dark Multiverse, a multiverse where everything that can go wrong, does go wrong, and is doomed to destruction. We’re introduced to the Batmen (and Batwoman) of The Dark Multiverse, who are all different versions of Batman with some drastic changes.

Joker 

A fan favorite, and the leader of the Batmen, is The Batman Who Laughs. This Batman gave into the urge of killing Joker, after he killed all his rogues, thousands of Gotham citizens and Jim Gordon, and is infected with a version of the Joker toxin that turns him insane, making him a Joker with the brain and physicality of Batman. He tricked the Batfamily and killed them all, and hid in his Batcave for a week, emerging to kill the Justice League, and he turned Damian into a mini-Joker and recruited the children affected by the Joker toxin as his “Rabid Robins”. This guy is freaking horrifying in all of the stories he appeared in.

Superman

The Superman of Earth -1 goes on a killing spree, even killing Lois Lane, leading Batman to decide to use lethal force. After his attempts with a Kryptonite spear doesn’t work out, he ingested a version of the Doomsday Virus (Doomsday is the monster that killed Superman in The Death Of Superman, the virus causes people to develop features like it.) aiding him in killing Superman, but after his victory, the virus spread and he could only watch helplessly as it destroyed his world.

The Flash

After all of the Batfam dies, Batman is compelled to take extreme measures, and tries to get The Flash to give him access to the Speed Force too, and when he refused, he used all the weapons employed by his Rogue’s Gallery to defeat him, chained him to the Batmobile (merged with the Cosmic Treadmill, it’s a treadmill that Flash uses to time travel accurately and stuff), and drove both of them into the Speed Force, absorbing The Flash and his powers, with Barry forced to watch as Batman murders each of his villains.

Aqua(wo)man

In a universe where everyone is gender-swapped, Bryce Wayne’s lover Sylvester Kyle (bleugh) is killed by metahumans, and starts killing every metahuman. After killing all of them on land, she meets Aquawoman, and peace negotiations turn into a conflict, and then she steals her trident, and kills her with her own weapon, and in retaliation, the Atlanteans drown Gotham City and a large part of the world, leading her to perform surgery on herself to give herself Aquawoman’s powers and designed an underwater army called the “Dead Waters''. Does that qualify as a navy?

Okay, there are a few more, like Cyborg Alfred Batmobile Batman, Ares Batman, Killed all of Green Lantern corps as a kid with a Green Lantern ring Batman, but I’m lazy, sorry. Maybe next time, cya, I gotta go finish Chainsaw Man.

[dragons-and-dwarves-are-nice]

To the Shadows that Cry Witch /// Chapter 11

Hello!! I know it's been less than a month, but it feels like I haven't posted a chapter in forever! As much as I've enjoyed this small hiatus, it's definitely given me the motivation to start writing again. Now, as for the first chapter of Part 2, Chapter 11 includes an introduction of one of my own OCs, who's name you will find out below and I can't wait for you to meet him! Enjoy! <3

Summary: Magic was real, but it came at a price. So when two girls end up in the one place they never thought they could reach, strange things began to happen. Good or bad? That's up to them to find out.

Tags: Kíli x oc/reader - Fíli x oc (POV to be written soon) - Thorin's company x ocs/reader (platonic) - fluff - angst - EXTREME slow burn - crack - Bagginshield

Word Count: 2355

Warnings: Mentions of Minor and Major Injuries from last chapter.

Taglist - comment or message to be added!

PLEASE START FROM THE BEGINNING IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY OK LOVE U

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Now available on Wattpad and AO3 (please let me know if links aren't working)

< Part 1 // Chapter 11 // Chapter 12 >

PART 2: Chapter 11 -

Unfortunate Beginnings

Anodyne (Definition): Capable of soothing or easing pain. (Figuratively) soothing or relaxing. (Adjective / Origin: Derived from the Greek/Latin word anṓdynos/ an·​o·​dyne ˈa-nə-ˌdīn)

Hobbiton, The Shire – T.A. Sunday 25th September 2939 of the Third Age (1339 in Shire-reckoning)

The moment Bilbo’s footsteps faded away, Kay was immediately upon me as she whipped around in her chair and I could see the question she had wanted to ask earlier burn in her eyes.

“Why’d you ask for his name?” she practically blurted out.

“Because we don’t know him.” I stated. Kay’s brows furrowed in confusion.

“But we do? Don’t we?”

“From the book and movies, yes,” I began explaining, “But we don’t actually know him, we just know of him. Plus if we called him by his name without asking for it first, I’m pretty sure he would be given enough heebie jeebies to throw us out. Then we would really have no place to go.”

Kay nodded slowly in agreement, before responding. “I mean, we do know of other places to stay.”

“But, would we actually get there alive, let alone know how to get there?” I questioned rhetorically.

Kay slumped back in her chair disappointedly with a groan at the obvious truth. We were raised and conditioned to live in a – somewhat – sheltered society. We hadn’t had a single lesson in life on how to survive out in the uncharted wild, apart from the occasional Bear Grylls show that I couldn’t remember anything from, except that thing where you drink your own urine, but I would honestly die on the first day of thirst than go anywhere near my piss. Soon Kay pulled me out of my spiralling thoughts as she pushed herself out her chair and I twisted my head to watch as she passed me.

“Oi.” I said, reaching out to prod at her arm. “Bilbo said to stay put.”

“He also said help yourself to tea.” She fired back as she made her way to the kitchen. “And I have two working ankles.”

It was now my turn to slump back in my own chair with a huff. A bit bored, I stretched my legs towards the fireplace in an attempt to warm my feet as I listened to Kay’s footsteps as she pottered around. You couldn’t let her be too sure of herself whilst she walked around with a knocked head after all. The clinks of ceramics became clearer as she wandered back through, balancing everything on the ornate wooden tray in her hands. She plopped it onto the small table that sat in between our armchairs before settling herself back into her chair.

Swatting my outstretched legs away from the fire whilst muttering something about my lack of fire safety, she passed me my cup of steaming tea, before picking up her own. Facing towards the open window, where the sun and many sounds of the morning wandered through, her expressions shifted as thoughts floated around in her head.

“Where do you suppose he’s gone?” She pondered as her eyes wandered about.

“Some sort of healer maybe?” I suggested, taking a sip of tea. “He did seem to panic over our whole ‘We’re severely injured!’ ordeal at the end of breakfast.”

“Huh, maybe.”

We sat in a peaceful silence for a bit as we waited for Bilbo’s return. Though whilst I stared at the crackling fire, an unwanted thought came to mind.

“Wait, so.. how are we gonna repay him in this condition?” I said worriedly. Kay joined me in staring at the fire as she tried to think of something. “I just don’t want to be kicked out for not being able to do anything meaningful.” I added.

“Eugh, you’re right.” Kay replied with a slight panic in her eye as she looked away from the flames at me. She took a moment as she thought of her next words. “Though I’ve read the hobbit enough times to know he’s surely not like that. We’ll explain that whilst we’re healing, we’ll start with smaller things, then the better we get, the bigger tasks we take on.”

I took a deep breath as I nodded, drinking more tea to distract myself from overthinking.

Moments passed before the second stretch of silence was interrupted. The muffled sounds of voices getting closer to the front door increased, one voice sounding familiar but frantic, whilst the other one unfamiliar and annoyed. We both leant over our armchairs to fixate on the circular door as it swung open, and we both watched as a now tussled up Bilbo quickly ushered in another hobbit. This other hobbit looked as if he had been dragged out of bed then through a bush backwards by his pointy ears as he stumbled in with bleary eyes. Poor guy was nodding almost subconsciously at the words that were pouring out of Bilbo’s mouth as he rubbed at his eyes in an attempt to be rid of his tiredness. He slipped off the coat that was already askew on his shoulders, before haphazardly patting down his unsightly bedhead of mousy brown hair as he turned away from his now hung up coat to follow Bilbo deeper into the house.

“Now Master Baggins,” The stranger managed out whilst stifling another yawn. “Let us see what caused you to wake me up at the crack of dawn, on a Sunday might I add.”

“Yes, yes, through here.” Bilbo said almost dismissively as he strode up to where we were sitting, beckoning the other hobbit over. I spotted the relief on his face as he saw that we hadn’t really moved at all from where he had left us. As for the second hobbit, his tiredness was snatched away from him in an instant as his half lidded eyes landed on us, and he almost stumbled back in shock at the sight of us, his hand clutched over his heart.

“By Yavanna! Where in Middle Earth did they come from?!” He cried as his wide chestnut eyes scoured over our appearance. We recoiled slightly at his outcry, eyeing each other concerned. Surely we didn’t look that bad?

“Fell straight from the top of the hill, they did.” Bilbo began explaining, , (Ok, maybe we did look that bad) stuffing his hands in his pockets as he swung back and forth on his heels. The other hobbit faced him with a gaping mouth at Bilbo’s casualness, before turning towards us.

“And you’re still alive?!?” he gasped incredulously. I shrugged whilst Kay gestured at herself with a ‘guess so!’ look on her face. He faced back to Bilbo, “And what in Yavanna’s name made you make the decision to bring two unknown big folk into your home???”

“That’s what I was saying!” Kay muttered to herself, though the two hobbits were too busy squabbling to notice.

“They mean no harm to any of us. No weapons or anything malevolent in their packs. From what they’ve told me, they simply got lost in the woods and never found the way out.” Bilbo stated, his tone indicating that this was his final decision. “And they’ve given no reason for me to have them leave. Nothing but impeccable manners.”

We both eyed each other confusedly at Bilbo’s sudden defensiveness, then all three of us watched as the second hobbit’s mouth bobbed open and shut, unable to form the words. Bilbo looked between him and us for a moment before letting out a frustrated sigh. Gesturing towards us with a firm hand, he glared at the unnamed hobbit expectantly. Looking rather panicked for a second, Mr No-Name brought his eyes back on us. He then straightened up, nervously digging his thumbs into his belt loops as he began to speak.

“I errrr – Good morning.” He managed out and we both smiled politely as he spoke, which seemed to relax him slightly. “I’m Erard Noakesburrow, Hobbiton’s doctor, and uh – my good friend Bilbo here, told me that you both had quite the night!. And he’s certainly not exaggerating, from what I can see.” He said whilst mostly eyeing the bruises and cuts that were scattered around on the both of us.

“You’re not wrong.” I replied jokingly. “I’m pretty sure everything’s broken.”

Erard huffed a light laugh at my half-joke, giving us both a weak smile back that emphasised the freckles dotted on his face. Luckily he seemed to be calming down from his original panic.

“Right,” He said, lightly patting his legs to rid of the rest of his nerves. He turned back to Bilbo who was looking back expectantly. “I guess I’ll go and get what I need to examine them both. Then we can go on about the healing process.” He explained. “I take it they need a place to rest?” He asked Bilbo.

“There’s no need!” Exclaimed Bilbo, causing Erard to blink at him in surprise. “They’ll be.. staying here.”

Erard eyed us both slightly, then back at Bilbo.

“Allllright then, if you insist Master Baggins! Saves me the hassle!” He said as he turned towards the door. “I’ll go get my stuff.”

Kay and I both looked at each other questionably at Bilbo’s insistence. He was a hobbit, and I’ve read many times that hobbits do love having guests, but surely he wouldn’t be this eager to let two strangers he just met (officially) this morning?

We watched as Bilbo waved Erard out the door, nodding at whatever the doctor was saying as he walked away, before pushing it shut and heading back over to us. Bilbo went to say something, but I quickly interrupted as to not forget what I wanted to say.

“Are you sure you want us here?” I questioned. Bilbo blinked at me in confusion. “I mean, you don’t actually know us and you seem very sure about letting us stay.”

“Well I – I’m not too sure, actually.” He said uncertainly. “It’s true that I don’t know you both, in fact the only thing I know are your names.” He uttered half a word, before quickly changing course,” But you should know! Us hobbits truly love having guests – and to send you away, seeing the state you both are in, it would be very cruel to do so!” He finished with a nervous laugh.

My eyes drifted to the ground as my thoughts darted around to try and guess what Bilbo would have said, but the answers were too far out of reach right now, so I simply nodded at him. He gave a strained smile before disappearing off into the kitchen, muttering something about another kettle of tea. Kay and I instantly had a silent conversation, the both of us mouthing questions and gesturing our confusion at each other. It was somewhat unusual for Bilbo to let us stay and despite our uncertainty, it wasn’t like we were complaining.

Finally, Erard had returned with his bag. Placing it on the floor near us, he knelt down to take out what he needed and placed it on the table next to the fresh tea Bilbo had brought in. I leant forward to take a look at what he had. Most of it looked like traditional doctors equipment. I identified a stethoscope, but I’m not a doctor, so everything else I couldn’t put a name to.

“Okay, why don’t we start with what you know.” He said.

Just like we had done with Bilbo over the dining table, we listed off everything we knew. With each injury, we watched as Erard’s face became more and more concerned, and by the time we had finished, he was quite pale.

“I.. – I’ve got to say,” he huffed, his cheeks puffing out as he took a deep inhale. “It’s a miracle that you’re both here.”

Everyone had grim looks on their faces as he said this, reality setting in as Kay and I both realised how lucky we were to survive (and land in Middle Earth of course).

As respectfully as he could, Erard gently examined my ribcage, lightly pressing his small fingers down to identify which areas were broken. As for Kay, no torch lights were available in this dimension, so he used his finger for her eyes to follow to check on her head injury, confirming that she indeed had a concussion, but to add to our growing list of luck, it was only minor. Like he did with me, he used his fingers to see where Kay had injured her back as well. Standing back up, he brushed off his trousers and retrieved a book from his bag. He asked to borrow a quill and ink, which Bilbo quickly rushed off to get. He spoke as we waited.

“From what I have examined from the both of you, it’s not looking good.” He said a bit solemnly and we looked up at him with worried faces. “Though, it’s not the most terrible, either.” At this point Bilbo had walked back in and wordlessly handed him the quill and small bottle of ink. Erard thanked him with a nod and began writing in his book as he spoke again. “Everything I’ve observed will heal on its own, though it will take a while. Bed rest with short spurts of gentle exercise will ensure that you stay healthy. You – ” he pointed the quill at me, “ – will need a sling for that wrist of yours, but your ribs and ankle should heal as long as you’re gentle with those areas. And you – ” the quill darted in Kay’s direction, “don’t lift anything heavy for a while, otherwise you’ll worsen the strain on your spine.”

The two of us nodded obediently at his words and he snapped his book shut, satisfied. After repacking his bag, he beckoned Bilbo over to the front door for a private conversation. We carried on drinking our teas as we tried to tune in to the unintelligible murmuring going on down the hallway. Eventually the front door opened and we both leant over our chairs again to call out our thanks and wave goodbye. Erard raised his hand in response as he slipped on his coat, sending a warm smile in our direction before he turned. Giving Bilbo a nod – most likely to do with what they conversed about privately – he picked up his bag and stepped out, leaving Bilbo to push the door shut behind him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope you enjoyed meeting Erard! I'm going to create a character sheet of him soon, so look out for that <3

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< Part 1 // Chapter 11 // Chapter 12 >

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[even-the-tiniest-bugs]

wandersong x wings of fire au weehee

i am here with a new long post about a crossover au. this one i’ve been thinking about for a LONG time so i have lots developed in my brain already! i’ve been waiting to make references but i’ve been too lazy to do that so. just have this small silly doodle instead

(these designs are not final because again. i have been too lazy to make actual references for them but they’re a Basic Idea for dragon kiwi and miriam)

this is going to be VERY long so i’m putting it under the cut!!!

With this being an au, it doesn’t take place in any set time period in canon Pyrrhia—I think it’s like somewhere when the Night Kingdom is still on the Talon Peninsula, but also RainWings are already pacifists (though they still have some connection to other tribes, less than in Darkstalker’s time but more than modern Pyrrhia. And they can read). NightWings have animus dragons, and IceWings still do as well, though I haven’t decided if there are any living ones at the moment (NightWings did not get their magic from the IceWings in this AU). Most canon characters don’t exist except i guess past IceWing animus dragons because i want the Ice Kingdom to still have those gifts and stuff!!! ANYWAY onto the actual Wandersong part of the AU:

Act 1 & 7 take place in the Rainforest Kingdom, Act 2 is in the Sky Kingdom, Act 3 is in the Kingdom of the Sea, Act 4 is in the Ice Kingdom, Act 5 is in the Kingdom of Sand and the Night Kingdom, and Act 6 is in the Mud Kingdom! I originally had the Sky Kingdom and Mud Kingdom swapped, because Act 6 and mountains and the fact that the Mud Kingdom is closer to the rainforest, but with the theme of Act 2 being winds/freedom and Act 6 being hearts, it just made more sense this way. Though I’ve yet to figure out how the swamps would be super dangerous.

Kiwi is named Kiwi (wow) and is a RainWing/IceWing hybrid! They grew up in the Ice Kingdom before changing their name and moving to a village in the Rainforest Kingdom later in life. They look mostly RainWing, just with IceWing back spikes and smaller teeth (so they have no venom). They also have no frostbreath, and have normal non-serrated claws so they are about the least threatening dragon ever. And they can change color! They like to do that a LOT. Most of the time they change their scales to fit vaguely with their surroundings, like the way their color palette changes in the game, and they change some spots to align when they sing to align with the color of the note! Kiwi has strangely good control of their scales when it comes to the emotions shown on them. Unfortunately they have had a lot of practice; their ‘strategy’ is simply to not think about negative emotions and repress them to the point where it’s basically like they’re not having them anymore (this isn’t true, of course, but they also try not to think about that either). They’ve spent a lot of their life only letting the happy thoughts through for their mother, who is a RainWing named Iridescent. Their father is an IceWing named Evergreen (A.K.A. the Baron), though the only thing they know about him is that he is an IceWing. They didn’t have a lot of friends growing up—they didn’t live within the Circles, so it wasn’t as hard as it would have been in them, they still had the status of being weird. Which is also a reason why they’re so good at controlling their scales, but I don’t think they’d interact that much with others anyway. Nobody remembers them when they return. Mostly they’d go outside for suntime.

Okay some more wholesome tidbits: they named themself Kiwi because it was the first fruit they ever had! And in the rainforest, they have LOTS of pet sloths. And also other pets??? Animals there are just very drawn to them. Though they’re less ‘pets’, really, the other RainWings call them that. Kiwi also looks after everyone else’s sloths when they’re busy, which basically became their assignment by accident. They always wanted to have ‘bard’ be their assignment (although it’s not an actual Official one), and then it ended up being petsitter. Oh well, they can have two!

Miriam is a NightWing. I haven’t entirely figured out her name, so any suggestions would be helpful! I’ve been thinking something related to the sun (because I love Miriam sun symbolism and also the circumstances of her hatching which I will get into in a bit), something to do with fire? Explosions? Or anything relating to her personality, etc. I’ve been using the name “Magicspinner” for now as a placeholder although I’m not entirely sure, but I’ll just be using that for the rest of the post. Again, any suggestions welcome!! Magicspinner lives with her grandmother, Sapphirevision, in a small house around the Claws of the Clouds mountains—just a cave away from a little town in one of the lower parts of the Sky Kingdom. Saphy has future-seeing abilities, while Magicspinner doesn’t have any moonborn NightWing abilities. However, you may have guessed from her placeholder name that she is an animus! That’s why she always carries a broom on her; it was the first object she ever enchanted! Her earrings are probably enchanted too, and she also wears an enchanted necklace (I haven’t fully figured out what they do yet but they are there!!! I’m not getting rid of her broom. The Broom Is Eternal).

They live separated from the rest of the tribe to be safe from the war going on between the NightWings and SandWings. Saphy initially lived on her own out there—her sister, Rubysight, also left with her, but decided she didn’t want to live with Saphy and instead went to the rainforest—until Magicspinner’s parents left her egg with Saphy to stay protected as well. And also to raise her, because the two were important generals in the war, and wouldn’t be able to do it themselves. They may have also feared that if she ended up being an animus that the queen would find out and use her as a weapon.

And there’s a reason they live by the Sky Kingdom specifically! They have SkyWing genes in them! That’s how their family got animus magic—some generations ago, a SkyWing discovered they were an animus, but didn’t tell anyone out of fear of being killed for it. They lived on the edge of the kingdom for a while, isolated, just to make sure they wouldn’t be found out. Through some events they ended up meeting a NightWing, falling in love, and moving to the Night Kingdom. They still decided staying hidden was the best option, and continued to carry that belief down each generation, but at least they didn’t have to constantly live in fear anymore. So, the NightWings have had animus dragons for a while now, and still don’t know about it. Saphy managed to find that same house in her ancestor’s story and has been living there.

I mentioned I’d get into the circumstances of Magicspinner’s hatching later, and later is now! I wanted to give her sun symbolism while still being a NightWing, and also a special hatching considering her always having had a “special destiny” in the game (not exactly stated ingame but confirmed outside of it and implied in things like the way she’s the Only one of the main trio without a change in color palettes), so! She hatched during the dark period of a solar eclipse. Saphy had seen it in a vision, and knew to put her outside at the time, but the fact that that could happen at all was very surprising to her.

And now onto Audrey! She is a MudWing! Originally I had her as a SkyWing, but honestly I think she works better as a MudWing. She’s maybe even a blood-red egg MudWing. Her name in this AU is just Redheart, referring to the small tree that can be found on the edges of swamps.

The sword is an enchanted object that lets Redheart breathe lightning if she holds in her fire for long enough! It also lets her breathe fire in colder climates. I can’t decide whether to keep it as a sword or to have it be a wearable item or something though.

And also this is getting super long!!! And it is late! There was a lot more I wanted to talk about but unfortunately I’m too tired right now. I didn’t even get into the story bits!!

If people enjoy this I’ll probably make another post. And also I’m open to answer any asks because I’ve got a lot fleshed out in my head so 99% of the time I will probably have an answer!! (Of course any suggestions are 100% welcome too!)