#and if twitter sonic got a hold of my posts they would use me as proof that critics are unreasonable lol

[beevean]

Another nitpick I guess...

....Tails is there trying to save you too, Amy?

No one respects Tails in this joint 😔 f

When I read that quote, I hear SA1 Amy. You know when she meets Sonic at the beginning of her story, and she says those exact words? I don't know if it's meant to be a direct inspiration.

I did feel that there was a deliberate attempt to "re-rail" Amy in this issue to make her the silly 2000s Amy that her fans are calling for, and perhaps her more overt gushing over Sonic (and Sonic in particular) is part of it. But much like Sonic yelling in pink font lol, it kinda feels... eh? Too much for the occasion? I don't know. Amy, you should know by now that Sonic would come to help you if you're in need, no need to be all fangirly over it.

[shadamyheadcanons]

Headcanon #285: Halloween III

Relevant, from a post on the official Sonic twitter:

“Aaaand...TA-DAAAA!”

Amy stepped out of Rouge’s walk-in closet with a flourish. She twirled to show off the flashy magical girl outfit she wore, then ended the spin with a girly yet heroic pose. “What do you think?”

“Oo!” Cream piped up, her makeshift halo wobbling as she hopped in place. Cheese briefly clapped from atop her shoulder in his Wisp costume, clearly excited.

Blaze nodded in agreement, tipping the cap of her Robin Hood outfit. “Nice. It suits you.”

“I’ll say,” Rouge added, sounding mischievous. She tugged playfully on the hem of Amy’s short skirt. “Someone’s dressed to impress.”

“It’s not like that!” Amy protested with a laugh, lightly swatting Rouge’s hand away. “It’s just a cute outfit, that’s all!”

“Mhm. Whatever you say, hun,” Rouge teased, standing back up straight. “And I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that you’re newly single and ready to mingle, hm? I might have to step up my game. You’ll get all the attention at this rate.” Rouge strategically adjusted her corset.

No one knew exactly what Rouge’s costume was supposed to be. That wasn’t really the point.

Amy giggled but waved her off again. “I just want to look cute for a fun night out with my friends. It’s not like I can’t go one night without flirting. Let’s do this!” She cheerily pumped a fist in the air, and Cream and Cheese imitated her.

“Uh-oh...”

“Huh?”

Blaze had stepped forward and hunched down to examine the back of Amy’s outfit. “You might want to check this out first.”

Amy lifted her arm and tried to look over her shoulder. “Don’t tell me there’s a stain or something!” She twisted her body around as best she could to try and see where Blaze was pointing, but she couldn’t get a good view.

In the midst of straining to see it, though, Amy heard a sound, quiet yet alarming.

Rrrrrrrrrrip

Amy froze. Her blood went cold. Rouge came forward and guided her to the full-length mirror in the corner of her room. Amy turned her back to it and peeked down. There, stretching down from below one of her back spines, was a long tear in the fabric. She gasped. “No way!” Cream came forward to check it out as well. Amy glanced between the two of them, frantic. “What do I do?!”

They all cringed. “Can it be fixed?” Blaze asked hopefully.

Amy tugged at the stretchy spandex, and her heart sank. “I don’t think so. And I don’t have my sewing kit with me anyway.” She grumbled and hid her face in her hands. “You’d think I would have learned by now!”

“Maybe we could stop by a costume shop on the way there,” Cream suggested.

“There’s no time for that. It took me ages just to find this one. Ever since my back spines grew in, it feels like I’ve been ripping through shirts on a weekly basis. I can’t wear half the things I used to.” Seeing the way her friends drooped in sympathy, she half-smiled. “It’s a good thing I like backless dresses, right?”

Rouge scoffed and brightened up. “That’s no problem. I’ve got to dress around these, you know,” she pointed out, flexing one of her wings. She ducked into her closet. ���I’m sure we can put together an outfit from what I’ve got.”

Amy sighed. “Thanks, Rouge. You’re a lifesaver!”

“Any preferences? I don’t have any frilly dresses, but I’ve got a ton of stuff I’ve grown out of.”

Amy shuffled to keep her back against the wall, warily covering the tear in the material. “I don’t care so long as it covers me!”

“Hmmm...too tight, too loose, too revealing, not revealing enough...”

The other three waited, watching as various shirts were tossed aside. Amy frowned in suspicion.

There was a pause. “Hmm...maybe one of these?” Rouge wandered out of the closet holding a red halter top and a green tube top.

“Perfect!” Amy hopped forward and took the shirts from Rouge’s hands. Rouge stepped aside so Amy could close the doors and change.

Amy untied the strings of the red top to widen the opening. She slipped it on, taking care to thread her head quills through it properly. Hope bloomed in her chest when she was able to pull it all the way on. Unfortunately, she found it was impossible to tie the strings around the back of her neck. A set of wings would have fit just fine, but there just wasn’t enough room for spines. She grumbled. “That’s a no on the red one. The opening isn’t big enough in the back.”

“How about the green one?”

“One sec...”

At first, Amy was hopeful. A zipper ran partway up the side of this one, so it was easier to slip it on. This shirt had its own problems, though. Amy looked down the front of it and pulled it away from her chest, feeling embarrassed at the large gap that remained. I could fit a small family in here. She laughed nervously. “Hey, Rouge, do you ever have back problems?”

There was a pause from outside the closet. Cream, Cheese, and Blaze made confused noises. After a moment, though, Rouge laughed, apparently having caught her meaning. “It’s all about counterbalance. These wings are good for more than just flying.”

Blaze grumbled, apparently having figured it out as well. Amy muffled a giggle. When she turned back to the outfit, though, her heart sank once more. If she zipped it any farther up, she’d run the risk of tearing it to shreds. She sighed. “It’s a no-go on this one, too. The back just goes up a little too high. I’ll have to just go in my street clothes.” She could hear the others sigh on the other side of the door. She smiled wryly. “It’s okay, these things happen! I finally get to look like a hedgehog now, and my spin-dashes are more powerful than ever!”

There was silence from outside. Amy cringed. That sounded less sad in my head.

Just then, the silence was broken. Amy heard Rouge mutter something about hedgehogs. She spoke up after a moment. “I’ve got one last idea. Wait here.”

Amy glanced down at her half-clothed state. Not like I’m going anywhere anyway.

It took a few minutes, but Amy soon heard the sound of high-heeled shoes clacking against the floor that announced Rouge’s return. “Okay! This should work.” A black shirt was tossed over the door. “Put that on while I grab a few other things. I’ve got an idea.”

Amy made a curious noise. It was a black tank top with a simple blue arrow pattern. It just looks like a normal tank top. What’s-- She flipped it over and gasped. Two holes were cut into the back of it, lined by strong, reinforced material to prevent tearing. She eagerly slipped it on. Not my usual style, but who cares?! It fit snugly around her frame. She squeaked happily. “Rouge, this is perfect!”

“I thought you might say that. Now add these,” she suggested, her voice growing in volume as she approached the door. A few more items were tossed over it.

Intrigued, Amy slipped on the black miniskirt and...fishnets?...that Rouge handed her. She shrugged. If there’s anyone who knows fashion, it’s Rouge.

“There should be a pair of black combat boots in the back left corner. Try them on.”

Amy snorted. “Combat boots? What are you up to, Rouge?”

“Just trust me.”

Amy pulled them on and laced them up, amused. “Whatever you say!” Thankfully, they fit well enough. She slid open the door once more. “How do I look?”

The others all gaped. Cream grinned. “You look really cool, Amy!”

“It’s not your usual style, but I have to say it suits you,” Blaze agreed.

Rouge smirked. “Just like I thought.” She shuffled Amy over to the full-length mirror.

“Oo!” Amy hopped in place. “You’ve outdone yourself this time, Rouge. Maybe I should dress this way more often!” The outfit hugged her body in a flattering way, and the color set off her fur fantastically well. “So what is the costume supposed to be?”

“Nothing specific, just a punk biker kind of thing. It’ll be more obvious once the last piece gets here.”

“If that’s the case, we need to change your makeup,” Blaze insisted, ushering Amy over to a chair.

“Huh?”

“It doesn’t match. What have you got to work with, Rouge?”

Rouge chuckled at Blaze’s brusque manner and power-walked to her dresser. She picked out a makeup palette. “This should work...are you sure we have time?”

Blaze took it from her hands and immediately got to work, swiftly wiping off Amy’s magical girl makeup and starting anew. “Don’t worry, I’m an expert here. I had a...phase when I was thirteen.”

Amy tried to keep a straight face as she held in a laugh. “How did your parents feel about that?”

“Oh, they were mortified.” The others laughed, and Blaze couldn’t help but join in.

Blaze kept working for a few minutes. As she went, Amy took in a few deep breaths through her nose. Blaze’s eyes narrowed as she put the finishing touches on Amy’s lip gloss. “Why do you keep doing that?”

“Oh, it’s nothing, this shirt just smells really good for some reason. Where did you get this, Rouge?”

“Uhhhhhhhhhh...”

Amy’s eyes flicked to the door to find the source of the noise. Shadow was standing there, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. An article of clothing dropped from his hands to land on the floor with a soft flump.

Amy glanced down at the shirt she was wearing. “Oh! I bet this is your shirt, isn’t it?” She hopped to her feet and flitted over to him. “I hope you don’t mind me wearing it.”

He just kept staring. Amy could hear Rouge clear her throat, making Shadow snap out of it. “Yes!” He paused, then winced. “I mean...no. It’s great.” He cringed again. “I mean you can wear it. It’s fine.”

Amy frowned, baffled. “Okay...? If you’re sure.” She turned around and exchanged a confused look with Cream.

Blaze, on the other hand, was covering her face with her hand and unsuccessfully trying not to laugh.

“Blaze? You alright?”

Still covering her mouth, Blaze just waved her off and nodded.

Rouge bit her lip to hold back a smile. “Shadow?”

He tore his gaze away from Amy. “Huh?”

Rouge shook her head and looked pointedly at Shadow’s feet. He followed her gaze and shook himself off. “Right! Right.” He scrambled to pick up the item at his feet. “Rouge said you needed this, so...here. It is.” He cleared his throat and stiffly handed it to her.

She cocked her head and took it from his hands. “Um, thanks? What’s...” She unfolded it, and her eyes bugged out. “Wait, is this--!” She slipped her arms through the sleeves, slotted her spines through the holes in the back, and squealed in delight. “It’s so warm and comfortable!” She turned around and checked the mirror, twisting this way and that to examine every angle. The leather jacket completed her costume perfectly. She twirled back around to face Shadow. “Are you sure I can wear it? I know how much you like this jacket--”

“PLEASE WEAR IT.” When Amy jumped in surprise, he gritted his teeth and added, “I...I want to help, that’s all. Because...hedgehogs need to have each other’s backs.”

Amy laughed briefly. “’Backs,’ right? I get it! Can I remind you of that the next time Sonic--”

“Absolutely not.”

There was an awkward pause. It was broken by Cheese, who snickered quietly. When Cream gave him a confused look, he whispered something in her floppy ear. Her eyes popped open, and she immediately covered her mouth to hide a fit of giggles.

Amy looked around. “You guys are all acting off tonight. My costume isn’t that weird, is it?”

“IT’S PERFECT.”

Shadow immediately facepalmed at his own automatic response. Amy’s nose scrunched up. “Well...if you say so,” she replied haltingly. She addressed the others once more. “How about we get going?”

Cream, Cheese, and Blaze nodded and started heading out. Rouge followed, but then she paused and shot Shadow a sly look. “Why don’t you come with us, big guy? It’d be better than hanging out here alone, right?”

Shadow froze. His hands fidgeted uncharacteristically. “Well...I have to hand out candy.”

Rouge brushed off the reply. “Omega can handle that.” After a pause, she added. “I’ll give him very specific directions. He’ll do alright.”

Blaze’s expression turned mischievous, matching Rouge’s. “It would be nice to just teleport there. We’d make up the lost time,” she pointed out. “Driving’s a nightmare on Halloween anyway.”

Cream’s face turned unusually coy. She clasped her hands behind her back and dug her foot into the carpet, her angel costume only adding to the “innocent” look. “The more the merrier, riiiight?” Cheese nodded along.

Shadow’s eyes had been fixed on the jacket draped over Amy’s form, but they darted away. “...I don’t know...”

He looked oddly nervous. Amy smiled up at him, trying to look reassuring. “We’d love to have you, Shadow. Come on!”

“Yes.”

He immediately winced at his own hasty reply. The others let out muffled giggles. Rouge told Shadow the address, and everyone joined hands. Shadow took a deep breath. “Chaos...control!”

--

The group landed outside a bar. After a brief wait in line, they entered the building. Amy heard Shadow let out a quiet sigh, probably relieved that Rouge had picked a less crowded bar. Amy crept close to him and muttered into his ear to make herself heard.

“I’m glad you came with us, but I’m a little surprised. I know this isn’t usually your kind of place.”

She didn’t miss the way his ear twitched. “Well...y’know. It’s nice to switch things up every so often.”

Amy side-eyed him. Not for you, it’s not. You’ve been a creature of habit since I met you. She set her curiosity aside. “I could go for a drink or two. How about you guys?”

“Always,” Rouge said with a smile. Blaze shrugged and nodded.

Cream grinned widely. Amy and Blaze exchanged subtle nods. Cream didn’t drink too heavily, but that wouldn’t stop them from keeping an eye on her.

After a few minutes of waiting, the group made it to the counter. Shadow and Amy even secured a couple seats in the corner. She had to shuffle closer to him to make room for the others. Surprisingly, he didn’t seem to mind.

They ordered a couple drinks, enough to loosen up but not enough to get truly drunk. Shadow fibbed and took advantage of the bar’s “designated driver” policy to snag himself free sodas instead. When Amy noticed this, she choked lightly, surprised. “That’s totally cheating!” she hissed, quietly enough not to alert the bartender. “You can’t even get drunk! And you’re not driving.”

Shadow shrugged and looked away, clearly trying to look innocent. “Chaos control takes focus. And I don’t see any rules against alien physiology, do you?”

He took a sip of his soda, but it didn’t hide his tiny smirk. Amy gaped, then laughed disbelievingly. She whacked his arm good-naturedly. “You’re bad, aren’t you?”

He gulped audibly and looked toward the ceiling. “D-depends on who you’re asking, I guess.”

Amy narrowed her eyes at him. What in the world are you hiding?!

Rouge cleared her throat. “I think I’ll hit the ladies’ room. All these drinks are getting to me.”

Amy squinted at her smug grin. You have had one drink.

“Same. I’ll go with you,” Blaze offered. Amy could see the way she inclined her head at Rouge.

Before she went, though, Blaze lightly nudged Cream’s shin with her foot.

It was almost imperceptible.

After a moment, Cream brightened up. “Right! I’ll go, too.”

Amy’s eyes flicked between the three of them, baffled. “How about I go with you?” she ventured, suspecting she knew the answer.

“Nope! We can’t let Shadow get lonely, can we?” Rouge teased.

“Definitely not.”

“Oh, goodness, no!”

Even Cheese nodded along.

Before Amy could protest, they pushed their way through the other patrons, leaving her with Shadow. She looked back at him, still confused. “What is up with everyone today?”

“Dunno.” He kept sipping his drink, blatantly avoiding eye contact. Amy pressed her lips together.

Okay, THAT’S IT. I’m going to get to the bottom of this!

Before she could interrogate Shadow further, Amy spotted a pair of eyes openly looking her up and down, not for the first time that night. She groaned and rolled her eyes.

That got Shadow’s attention. “What’s wrong?”

Amy pointedly looked away from the creep. “There’s this weird coyote from across the room who keeps staring at me.”

Shadow immediately tensed up next to her and sat up. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see his red eyes flash dangerously as they locked with the coyote’s. “Is he bothering you?”

A growl had crept into his voice. Irritation was plain on his face. Amy’s eyes widened. “Honestly? Yeah. It’s uncomfortable. Why?”

Shadow grumbled. He leaned in and wrapped an arm around her without hesitation, pulling her close. His face was set into an intense glare.

The coyote’s face went white. He instantly booked it out of there.

Amy looked up at Shadow’s face, eyes wide. “Wow! Thanks!”

Shadow was still glaring after the coyote. He nodded absently. Amy chuckled and leaned comfortably against his shoulder. “You’re sure coming in handy, huh?”

The motion drew his attention. He started at seeing her face so close and swallowed. “Y-yeah.” When he noticed her proximity, he whipped his arm away from her. Oddly, Amy found she missed it immediately.

She set aside her unexpected disappointment and shrugged. “Honestly? I’m surprised that it took until now for someone to assume I’m your girlfriend.” She peeked down at her left arm, where “Shadow the hedgehog” was sewn into the fabric. “I mean...I’m wearing your clothes. Your name is literally right on me.”

Shadow immediately choked on his drink.

“Um...are you...”

He tried to regain his composure. “I’m fine, I’M FINE!”

Amy shook her head. Okay, what is...

Just then, Amy spotted the way Shadow’s ears had turned bright red. A blush was spreading over his cheeks, too.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

A catlike smile grew across Amy’s face. She suddenly realized why her friends had gone to the bathroom...and why they hadn’t come back.

This might be fun.

“I really want to thank you for lending me this stuff, though,” she continued once he was done coughing. “I really do love the damage output these things give me,” she admitted, gesturing to her spines, “but they’re such a pain sometimes!”

“I’m with you on that one,” he replied, voice still somewhat hoarse from the coughing.

“Right? I still remember when mine first got sharp. All I did was lean back on my couch, and when I stood up, I shredded the whole thing. Never again!” Amy lamented.

“Hmph.” Shadow actually smiled a little, apparently relaxing at the change in conversation. “One of the...less sympathetic scientists aboard the ARK kept nagging me about having better posture. I may have engaged in some...malicious compliance to make him stop.”

Amy smirked. “Shadow, what did you do?”

“Heh.” He chuckled once and shut his eyes. “I took a seat in his conference chair. At his direction, I held the best, straightest posture I could. He ‘praised’ me, asking why I never sat that way when I clearly could. So I stood up, letting my spines slice right through the leather, dragging out half the stuffing along the way.” He laughed lowly.

Amy tried--and failed--to hold back her own laughter. “You really are bad!”

He shrugged one shoulder. “He probably thought so. Maria and Gerald thought it was hilarious.” He didn’t hide his smile. Amy’s own grin widened.

It turned mischievous when she got an idea. She waited until he had a mouthful of soda before adding, “I still think the clothes are the worst of it. You guys are lucky. I wish I could just walk around naked all the time.”

Shadow spat out his drink all over the counter. His ears instantly turned bright red again. She snickered.

Shadow hastily wiped his mouth off with a nearby napkin and shot her a glare that held no real bite. When she just kept smiling, he looked away. “There’s a specialty store for hedgehogs in Central City called Lookin’ Sharp. They make reinforced apparel to deal with spines, like the tank top you’re wearing. And they’ll alter clothes to make room for them, too.” He hesitated, then briefly ran a finger between her spines, avoiding the sharp edges. She shivered a little, then squeaked in embarrassment. He let out a quiet, mischievous laugh.

Amy pouted. Not to be outdone, she shifted closer and leaned against him again. “That does sound nice. I’m always cold, and halter tops really aren’t enough in the winter. Or maybe I should just wear your clothes more often.”

Shadow’s eyes were wide, but he didn’t pull away. He coughed and cleared his throat. “It does work for you. It’s great--I mean, it’s fine!” he insisted, his voice cracking. “You look fine. In it.” He paused, then panicked. “Not that you don’t look good in other things, even if they don’t cover--I mean--UGH.” He hid his face. Amy’s laughter grew louder. Shadow peeked out between his fingers to scowl at her. “I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.”

Amy got her giggles under control. “Aren’t you?”

He pressed his lips together and looked away, holding his nose in the air. “Hmph.”

The small smile that just barely showed on his face told her everything she needed to know.

--

The rest of the evening continued in much the same way. Amy alternated between sincere, relaxing conversation and shameless flirtation, easily drawing reactions out of him. She wasn’t sure which she enjoyed more. By the time the others stopped by to bring them home, Amy was delighted from something other than alcohol. She practically skipped over to Rouge’s walk-in closet to change back into her regular attire, reluctantly parting with the comfort and nice smell of Shadow’s clothes. She stepped back into the main room to meet Cream, Cheese, and Blaze. The latter couldn’t help but tease her.

“Looks like someone had a good night.”

Amy giggled and handed Blaze the coat she’d left in Rouge’s closet. “Maaaybe.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself,” Cream said sincerely as she helped Cheese out of his Wisp costume.

Amy held a bashful pose, only feeling slightly embarrassed. “Yeah. It was nice.” She knew her cheeks looked a little rosy, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

Then, Amy froze. She hid her face in her hands and groaned.

“What’s wrong, Amy?”

Amy pouted at Cream. “This was just supposed to be a fun night out with friends, but all I did was hit on Shadow the whole time. I really can’t go one night without flirting, can I?!”

Not that it wasn’t fun...

Cream and Cheese burst out laughing. Blaze shook her head and patted her on the shoulder. “Never change, Amy.”

--

While Amy gushed with the others, Rouge brought Shadow’s clothes back to him. “Seemed like someone was having a good time.”

“Hmph.” Shadow rolled his eyes.

Rouge shrugged, sighing fondly. “You can’t expect me to believe you didn’t like it. I know you too well.”

At last, he met her gaze. He looked back down at the clothes in his arms.

“It was...nice.”

Satisfied, Rouge left him with one last smile.

--

((Naturally, the moment the Sonic twitter released that image, wonderful fanart of Amy wearing his shirt flooded the internet. My favorite is this one by ChocomilkAmy on twitter. Absolutely adorable. God bless fanartists, honestly.))

[lea-andres]

Tell us about the rarepair that got discovered by the show’s writers!

Hear that? That's the sound of all of my mutuals groaning, because

NEW PERSON ASKING ABOUT BUGBEAR~

(Also, technically it was the comic writers, but same difference lmao)

Okay... *Cracks her knuckles and her neck loudly* SO-

(Art by @hansuart)

This is BugBear, aka Jewel the Beetle and Bark the Polar Bear. I've been losing my absolute mind over this rarepair for... Two years now?

The two have NEVER canonically met, but the pair was inspired by @bitter-sweet-coffee reminding me this moment exists in the IDW Sonic comics:

(Jewel is 2'7" tall, that is Storm the Albatross holding her in that panel, he stands at 4'7" tall. Bark himself is 5'11" tall. This is all important to the madness.)

BSC and I had set out to make a gag ship for laughs initially. How funny would it be to see tiny Jewel paired up with one of the 4 foot plus, muscular characters? It'd be COMICAL-

Until we settled on Bark, and it instantly quit being funny.

Jewel is an anxious sweetheart, and Bark is a shy, soft spoken gentle giant. Both of them have crazy best friends they desperately attempt to wrangle (with little success). They deserve a quiet relationship where they don't have to constantly be on and ready for the other to do something completely insane and potentially dangerous.

Jewel would be a little afraid of Bark upon first meeting him, but she'd see the real him and warm up eventually.

Speaking of warming up, I like to play with the fact that the Sonic characters are animals and bring in what species are cold blooded and warm blooded into my shipping shenanigans. Who would make a better cuddle buddy than A MASSIVE POLAR BEAR???

Checkmate. 😎😂

We only have two fics right now over on AO3. One I'm writing (When the Day Met the Night), the other written by my lovely friend @stillafanofsonic . I will link to theirs, it's a one shot, vs my multichapter nonsense.

So, as for it being discovered by the comic writers... I took a brief peek at your blog and didn't see anything to indicate if you're in the Sonic fandom, so I will keep this brief. Ian Flynn is one of the main writers on the IDW Sonic comics. He also runs a podcast called the BumbleKast, and back on Valentine's Day they made the BOLD DECISION to discuss shipping. Oh boy...

Their guest... Commentator? (I don't go to podcasts typically, not certain what the terminology is for what the speakers are called. 🤷) @/pedanticat (Not sure if they want the tag, so I will spare them from being part of this essay for now.) brought up the ship during the episode, having either seen it floating around on here, or over on Twitter when I posted some art by hansuart and @seagull-scribbles (both posted with permission) over there. And like... BugBear isn't like some other rarer Sonic ships where a couple people might've had the idea independently of each other and it's hard to gauge who got there first. Unless I'm missing someone or something, I'M the first person to mention it, and the art that does exist of it exists because I infected the artists with the same brainrot... So... Oops...

The ship was brought up during the question at 46:03 (Have you ever seen shipping fanart of two Sonic characters that made you go "Huh, I never thought of that pairing, but I could see it working"?) But the exact timestamp it comes into discussion is at 49:11. "A crackship that isn't too crazy" was the verdict. I will take it and be annoying about it forever:

So, long story short... (TOO LATE!), that's how I made a rarepair that got discovered by the main comic people. 😎

Thank you for the question, I'm sorry you got an essay lmao.

[straw-of-the-hat]

I love Kit's and Izuku's friendship. They're my BROTP. So could I bother you to write some headcanons based on their friendship and the shenanigans they get into?

Kit and Izuku shenanigans

These headcanons belong to this story!

✨ Let me just start out by saying they've definitely committed arson.

✨ Kit is the only reason Izuku had any confidence and if anything ever happens to him Izuku is probably going to shrivel up like a piece of month old broccoli and never move again.

✨Tenya is deathly afraid of leaving Kit and Izuku alone together but can't do much considering how close they live to each other. He's never considered himself religious, but by god does that boy pray everytime he sends those two off on their own.

✨Kit somehow managed to get into a fist fight at least once a week on their way home but Izuku has learned to just sit back and watch it go down rather than try and intervene.

✨They both chill at the Midoriya apartment all the time and talk about theoretical plans to overthrow the hero commission and revamp it from the inside.

✨Izuku has written "adopted by All Might" fanfiction and yes Kit knows and will forever hold it over his head. He's printed out four copies and has sent it to fifteen different emails.

✨They try to start a quirkless mafia but it's literally not working and Kit is irrationally angry because most of Japan's quirkless population is made up of old people. Old people with knee problems. As the mafia, they should be the ones causing the knee problems, not experiencing them!

✨Izuku is inspired and decides he absolutely must know how to seduce people. Kit forces Tenya into his demonstration and Izuku has like, half a notebook worth of notes.

✨He practices on Katsuki, naturally. Kit is all for it because Katsuki always comes home looking like he just got blasted in the face with a stream of ice water: shivering, flushed cheeks, wide eyes. It's fucking hilarious.

✨ They're low-key constantly insulting each other. Like all the time. And yet their self-esteem never stops growing? How can they be putting each other down and lifting each other up at he same time it doesn't make sense. Quirkless unity?

✨Kit tried—really, honest to fuck tried—to get Izuku into anything other than one of his weird shirts labeled "pants" or "flannel". He made a gargantuan effort and it just didn't work. Izuku could be a fashion icon if he just let the shirts go. He could be on the runway, and Kit is in agony.

✨They DIYed their own Tenya shirts to irritate him because what else are they supposed to do if not annoy him? They also run an Iida family Stan account on Twitter and worship Tensei like he's some sort of saint. Which I mean, he may as well be.

✨Izuku has never had alcohol so they dressed Denise up in their stolen Endeavor costume and sent him in to go illegally purchase them whatever the nomu could get his hands on. It was white claw but they made do.

✨Izuku starts a blog about Kit and Tenya's relationship and Kit knows this yet can't find a way to permanently delete it. It just pops back up and Izuku rags on them publicly for their PDA. It's brutal. The commenters are so cutthroat.

✨They stole a minivan once because Izuku used his pay to buy a rare, life-sized All Might statue off of eBay and they had no way to transport it. Where did Izuku even learn how to hotwire?

✨Denise does have a crush on the statue and they're not going to tell All Might this nor are they going to do anything about it. It's comedic relief at it's finest. Plus Inko really enjoys setting up fake dates for the statue and Denise because it makes the Nomu so impossibly happy. Who are they to get in the way of that?

✨They make a Chad shrine in every public bathroom they find and there's sort of a thing about it on Reddit that's slowly growing in size. I.E., they accidentally made Chad his own cult. They're both too afraid to tell Tenya.

✨They bully Katsuki on purpose and it's so fun. He gets so scared. Kit is already teaching Izuku how to take him down in a one on one fight without a quirk and by the time Izuku gets to UA he will be unstoppable.

✨They like to dress Luis the Chihuahua up in little outfits and post them on the Instagram he made for them. They're both way too invested in it. It's a miracle that dog isn't dead with own old and decrepit it is, honestly.

✨They have six different secret handshakes and they all mean different things.

✨Kit is GOING to give Izuku a haircut one day soon, even if he has to knock him out to get it done.

✨Why does Kit literally make Izuku livid what the fuck. Izuku used to be fine. Docile, if you will. Now he's just irritated and drenched in sarcasm that he can't stop from pouring out. Yet he also adores him. Where is the line and when did they cross it?

✨ Izuku's still too afraid to ask for ketchup at a restaurant. That's what Kit is for, Izuku supposes.

✨Izuku writes down any kink Kit alludes to ever for the sole purpose of later shaming him. Oh, and giving Tenya a heads up. Poor guy has no idea what's going on.

✨ They kill it at dance dance revolution

✨Kit is always trying to hook Izuku up with anyone hot they come across. He just knows Izuku would thrive in a relationship.

✨ He's sort of eyeing Shoto Todoroki for the role, actually. He and Izuku would be cute, right?

✨Izuku knows all of Kits passwords and sometimes breaks into his Instagram just to screenshot all the thirst messages the other boy gets and sends them to Tenya. Tenya gets so offended and Kit is left to deal with the aftermath. Absolutely hilarious.

✨Izuku knows how to disarm pretty much any type of bomb you can think of and teaches Kit all he knows. In return, Kit takes him to a casino and shows him the ways of poker

✨Kit is really good at poker and that makes people made and yes they are now running for their lives

✨Izuku always carries a pair of emergency shoes for Kit even though he knows they'll just be lost. Better safe than sorry.

✨Kit, in parallel, has a variety of fidget toys hidden on his person at any given time in case Izuku finds himself feeling anxious

✨Kit once sat on Izuku's shoulders and they wore a really longe trench coat to break into Best Jeanist's main fashion department building to steal his runway plans so they could know what they were up against

✨They outclassed him in every imaginable way

✨Izuku literally dissociates anytime Kit opens his mouth to talk about Tenya. He doesn't want to know. TMI. Time out. No.

✨Kit dared Izuku to go up to Endeavor in disguise during his patrol and pretend to ask for an autograph and instead knee him in the balls.

✨Izuku's chosen disguise was a full sonic the hedgehog costume and he did in fact knee endeavor in the crotch. And yes, it's a meme now

✨ They have an Endeavor hate chant

✨Izuku really wants to add All Might merch to the Suzuko line and Kit just thinks he's a nerd and a suck up. All might is already his teacher and now he wants designer clothes with his face on it? Too far, man. Too far.

✨They have matching jeans that they definitely didn't steal when they broke into Jeanist's fashion depot.

✨Overall they're an unstoppable and rather irritating force to be reckoned with and will stop at nothing to wreck havoc, much to Tenya's disdain.

[aquillis-main]

Hi. I hope I’m not being a bother or anything, but can I ask you a favor? Could you (and maybe your mutuals too if they’re alright with that) please not post so much negativity in the main tags for IDW Sonic or its exclusive characters. Or maybe even tag them as something like “IDW Sonic critical”? Before you answer, let me explain: (1/5)

I don’t mean to pressure you or anything. I’m not involved in any of the arguments or discourse you’ve faced with lately (and quite frankly, this favor goes out to EVERYONE involved, not just you guys). I’m only asking because, as someone who personally still likes the comics and its characters (yet also has issues with Flynn’s writing), I still like to check the tags and see stuff like fanart, regular fans’ discussions about the story, headcanons/theories, and so on. (2/5)

But because of the recent discourse, the tags have been flooding up with arguments that mainly boil down to people insulting and accusing one another of false claims. It’s been making me very uncomfortable because as someone who still enjoys stuff despite the bad aspects, I feel like fans such as myself are now being put at risk for being shamed for liking something that most others don’t. It’d be opening up old wounds from old fandom wars, and I don’t want to see it happen again. (3/5)

Sadly, Numbers 4 and 5 have been eaten by Tumblr’s shitty ass Ask system, so I have no idea what else this Anon has been saying.

Thing is, I, like my friends @crusherthedoctor, @benignmilitancy, and @darklightheart have already been doing that -- we’ve been using the tag ‘Anti IDW Sonic’ because nobody in the IDW Sonic fandom wanted to hear us when the comic got bad. The only time I’ve decided to drop the ‘Anti’ part was to note that Twitter’s going through the same problem Tumblr is in terms of disagreements and fighting, and to showcase the next two pages of the comic.

On top of that, I know what you’re going through -- I myself have been through what you’re dealing with, and I understand your points. I don’t like how you’re trying to come onto me, telling me that your fears of being shamed are my fault for some reason. Not trying to sound like a douche, but your writing just... comes across as that to me. I understand wanting to avoid the drama and whatnot, but there’s only so much me and my friends can do, before you have to hold the other side accountable for their actions, as well. You understand what I’m saying with this? I hope that you’ve addressed this message that you had wanted to send to those defending IDW Sonic to the tooth and nail as well, because it would not look good if you’ve only sent this to me and my friends.

Just saying.

[sonicringbond]

Sonic Ring Bond: The Journey - Scene 16

And here we go, the second update since the schedule change! It’s really so weird only posting twice a week, but survey results implied that would be best for everyone.

Onto the scene itself, I’m really enjoying writing with a dual narrator approach. I need to be really careful with it in the future though as it’s very easy to over use it. But that’s for me to worry about. For everyone else I just ask that you enjoy...

     “OW! Is that really necessary!”

     Rosy held nothing back as she yelped in tune to the jingling of lost Rings. The black robed priest looked at her confused that she would ask, but still answered her all the same.

     “It is customary to strike free the Rings that we come into contact with on our travels.”

     “But you could just ask me!” Rosy huffed while puffing up her cheeks. “I don’t see the point but if you just asked, I would turn them over.”

     The priest sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he shook his head. “You do not understand child. The nature of the Rings… If we do not strike you the energies binding them to this world will not be released.”

     “Hrmm~!” Her cheeks growing redder and larger as she tried to keep in her anger, Rosy eventually let it all go with a sigh. “I still don’t see the point. Rings are helpful.”

     “They are an accursed thing child. Were you not taught this already?”

     “I’ve been taught plenty of times, but where I’m from Rings are just accepted as normal and used to keep everyone connected.”

     “It’s hard to fathom such a distant land exists,” the priest scoffed and again Rosy’s cheeks puffed up in frustration. It was unlikely she would get anywhere with the priest and soon headed off, though not without pulling down on an eyelid and sticking her tongue out at him when he was not looking.

     ~I know making faces at the priest wasn’t going to help me, but he was such a jerk I had to do something. He also wasn’t why I had traveled to Jutting Rock Village either. Though it wasn’t like I could just walk around town and stumble onto the source of the rumors. Not that I didn’t want to walk around town. Tee-hee~♫

     ~No one knew where the ancient ruin had come from, or even what it was built for. The town itself had been built on it sometime in the past and even past Ring Shifts had not dislodged it. That afforded the town a sort of fun atmosphere as no one was scared of losing their homes. Windmills adorned various streets and stairwells that threaded through the ruin and high up to it’s upper reaches. The stone slab road seemed kind of silly compared to the colorful pebbly roads of the town. Trees growing out of the side of the ruin were amazing to see to. And it wasn’t just the ruin either, everything had plants of some kind or another covering it. The moss and flowers were my favorites, though some of the vines looked like they could lead me to interesting places. It was the type of town I could get happily lost in so easily. Fortunately for me I was kind of famous in a way, tee-hee~!~

     “Excuse me miss.”

     “Hm?” Rosy tilted her head back as someone called from among the busy market stall lined street. Turning fully around to see if she could figure out who called her, a young human man with pasty skin tumbled out of the crowd holding a cloth to his sweaty brow. He was well dressed as though he worked for someone important but seemed terribly flustered and worn out. “Did you call me?”

     Walking to the man as he braced himself on his knees Rosy clasped her hands behind her back and began to sway absent mindedly.

     “Y-yes!” The man exclaimed between gasping breathes. He was obviously not in good shape and Rosy felt sorry for him.

     “I hope I didn’t upset you at all,” Rosy somewhat apologized as she looked him over curiously. He did not appear to be a threat, but alone as she was in a strange land Rosy could not afford to be too careful. She was sure though that it was more likely him that needed help rather than her and offered him such. “Maybe I could help you out?”

     “P-p-please! If you would be so kind miss.”

     Scratching her cheek Rosy laughed nervously. “Well, if it isn’t too much I guess.”

     ~I have a love of fortune telling and keep a deck of tarot cards with me, my oldest friends really, so I knew before I ever arrived that today would be fortunate. The silly man who called out to me was a servant of an old man who saw me from his bedroom window while I was wandering around town. His reason for wanting to see me was kind of sad though, even if it was fortunate for me.~

     “AH~! It’s really everyone! I can’t believe it!” Rosy eyes shimmered with joy at the framed picture of her and her friends on a bedside table in a plush and cozy room of a well-off sapient owl. In material wealth at least. Looking from the table to the venerable owl who lay in his bed watching her with eyes that had almost lost all sight to an unsightly white film, Rosy’s tail stopped wagging and she calmed herself down. “If you don’t mind me asking, where did you get it?”

     “It’s a funny story,” the owl breathed, smiling at Rosy. “My son came across it and thought you were perhaps performers. It has been some time since I’ve watched any and he thought it would cheer me up bound to bed as I am. Imagine my surprise when I saw you walking by garbed as you are. The way you carried yourself It was obvious that you were no performer, but rather a traveler. Such a curious outfit for that lifestyle.”

     “Well, it’s kind of multipurpose,” Rosy laughed embarrassed. “I can run, and tumble, and swim in it, and it’s so pretty too. Though I don’t remember how I got it anymore, just that I wear it when I travel…”

     A sad smile came to Rosy’s face and she kicked at the carpeted floor as she clasped her hands behind her back. She was not one to dwell on sorrows though and thought she would cheer up the old owl instead. “But, while I’m not a performer I tell fortunes as a hobby and could tell you yours if you’d like. Or maybe I could try to perform a little bit. I’m pretty acrobatic and good at tumbling and somersaults and twirling!”

     “Why that would be delightful! Yes, I would like that very much!”

     ~And so, I did my best to entertain the kindly old owl. He was so much nicer than the pirate owl who was chasing me and my friends. And maybe it was his age or health, but it was his son’s fortune he wanted to know and not his. I’m glad it was a good one too as it made him so happy.

     ~I ended up staying in town for another day or so trying to figure out how I could ask him for the picture. It would help so much in finding everyone, but it made him so happy to imagine us being traveling performers that I couldn’t just take it from him. But I didn’t need to.

     ~His house servant found me again while I let myself get lost in town. He was really sad too as the old owl had passed away. His last request of his house servant was to let me have the picture so I could find my friends. It was just like my cards had foretold. I would be very fortunate in Jutting Rock Village. But why did the old owl have to die?

     ~No matter how many times I’ve watched the sun rise and set I know I haven’t aged a day. Is it because I interact with the Rings in this strange land? It doesn’t make sense. I don’t know. But I do know I don’t want to waste the old owl’s gifts. He wanted me to find my friends and so I will. With the help of the picture he gave me.~

     “But I wonder who made it?” Rosy pondered aloud as she walked along the stone slab road that led from Jutting Rock Village. “I know we didn’t have time to make a picture after we took it, so how?”

     Pulling the folded photograph from one of the puffy shoulders of her leotard, Rosy finally noticed writing on the back.

     “This is–!”

     -If you’re reading this Rosy-lass, consider it a gift from your friend, Mach Frog Gill. Though really, just me tossing fortunes to the wind and hoping it’ll indebt you to me instead. I could always use help gathering more Rings.-

     “What do you even need Rings for Gill?” Rosy laughed and wiped away the tears welling in her eyes. “No one likes them to begin with that I’ve met. Ooh~! I guess I’ll just have to find you too so I can ask!”

     Her mind made up, and a clue to finding someone she knew in hand, Rosy picked up her pace and soon was speeding along at a pace that would take her to distant lands in hours. Her next adventure had begun, and she would chase it to the ends of the world.

Scene 16 · CLEARED Rosy the Traveler, End

-----

And there we are, the first episode of Rosy the Traveler. I hope everyone enjoyed this tinier and more intimate style of adventure with the dual narrator approach. And perhaps it’s a bit of a sad story, but I really hope everyone enjoyed it all the same and will look forward to the next episode.

Thank you everyone!

-----

Story Format by @cutegirlmayra​ Story by @JoshTarwater/SonicFanJ Illustration by Nella @NellaSanchz on Twitter Inspiring Song - Granblue Fantasy — Lumacie Archipelago Mysterious Forest

Fair Use Disclaimer

Sonic the Hedgehog and all affiliated characters and logos are the express property and Copyright© of SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS used without permission under Title 17 U.S.C Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976 in which allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. “Fair use” is use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be considered copyright infringement. The Sonic Ring Bond: The Journey alternate universe (AU) consumer written work of fiction is a non-profit transformative work primarily for personal use and can and will be taken down without warning or prior notice at the request of the copyright holder(s) should it not be recognized under “fair use”.

*Sonic Ring Bond logo created by DEE Art – twitter.com/daryliscute.

Sonic Ring Bond AU and Sonic Ring Bond: The Journey are the creation of Joshua David Tarwater/ynymbus/sonicfanj/@Joshtarwater and is to be, including all contents herein considered for all legal purposes the property of the Sonic the Hedgehog intellectual property (IP) and copyright owners, SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS. All story contributors via prompt, suggestion, written scene, art, and all and every other contribution acknowledge that all contributed material is forfeit for legal purposes to SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS upon official request from SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS.

[thelittlesttimelord]

The Littlest Timelord: The Fall of the Eleventh Chapter 13

TITLE: The Littlest Timelord: The Fall of the Eleventh Chapter 13 PAIRING: No Pairing RATING: T CHAPTER: 13/? SUMMARY: Elise Smith is now a teenaged Timelord. In addition to losing the Ponds, the fields of Trenzalore are calling. But first they have to figure out exactly who Clara Oswald is.

[A/N - I feel like I’m going to break everyone’s hearts with this chapter. This one is a longer one.]

The Doctor and Elise stepped out the TARDIS to find little black cubes everywhere.

The Doctor picked one up. He turned to Elise with a smile. “Well this is new.”

They met up with Amy, Rory, and Brian.

The Doctor was now walking around the console examining the cube in his hand. “All absolutely identical. Not a single molecule's difference between them. No blemishes, imperfections, individualities.”

“What if they're bombs? Billions of tiny bombs? Or transport capsules maybe, with a mini robot inside. Or deadly hard drives. Or alien eggs? Or messages needing decoding? Or they're all parts of a bigger whole. Jigsaw puzzles that need fitting together,” Brian suggested.

“Very thorough, Brian. Very, very thorough. Well done. Stay here. Watch these. Yell if anything happens,” the Doctor said, placing his cube on top of the one Brian was holding.

“Doctor, is this an alien invasion? Because that's what it feels like,” Amy told him.

“There couldn't be life-forms in every cube, could there?” Rory asked.

“I don't know. And I really don't like not knowing,” the Doctor said.

They stepped out into Amy and Rory’s lounge and the Doctor made his way into the kitchen. “Right, I need to use your kitchen as a lab. Cook up some cubes. See what happens.”

“Right, I'm due at work,” Rory mentioned.

“What? You've got a job?”

“Of course I've got a job. What do you think we do when we're not with you?”

“I imagined mostly kissing.”

“I write travel articles for magazines and Rory heals the sick,” Amy told him.

“My shift starts in an hour. You don't know where my scrubs are?” Rory asked.

“In the lounge, where you left them.”

The Doctor went to work constructing whatever it was he was going to use to experiment on the cubes. “Ah, the Ponds, with their house and their jobs and their everyday lives. The journalist and the nurse. Long way from Leadworth,” the Doctor said, sonicing his device.

“We think it's been ten years. Not for you or Earth, but for us. Ten years older. Ten years of you, on and off,” Amy said.

“Look at you now. All grown up.”

The front door was busted down and heavily armed people entered the house.

The Doctor pulled Elise behind him and Amy stepped closer to the Doctor.

“Clear! Trap one, kitchen secured.”

“Trap three, back garden secured.”

Rory was lead into the kitchen at gunpoint. “There are soldiers all over my house, and I'm in my pants,” he said.

“My whole life I've dreamed of saying that, and I miss it by being someone else,” Amy quipped.

A blonde woman entered the house. “All these muscles, and they still don't know how to knock. Sorry about the raucous entrance. Spike in Artron energy reading at this address. In the light of the last twenty four hours, we had to check it out, and the dogs do love a run out. Hello. Kate Stewart, head of scientific research at UNIT. And with dress sense like that…” She pulled out a scanner and held it up to the Doctor. “You must be the Doctor. I hoped it would be you.”

Kate frowned. “We seem to be missing someone.”

The Doctor reluctantly stepped aside, revealing Elise behind him.

“Ah, hello there.”

The Doctor stepped back in front of Elise. The Doctor wasn’t too keen on all these heavily armed soldiers around his daughter. “Tell me, since when did science run the military, Kate?”

“Since me. UNIT's been adapting. Well, I dragged them along, kicking and screaming, which made it sound like more fun than it actually was.”

“What do we know about these cubes?”

“Far less than we need to. We've been freighting them in from around the world for testing. So far, we've subjected them to temperatures of plus and minus two hundred Celsius, simulated a water depth of five miles, dropped one out of a helicopter at ten thousand feet and rolled our best tank over it. Always intact.”

“That's impressive. I don't want them to be impressive. I want them vulnerable with a nice Achilles heel.”

“We don't know how they got here, what they're made of, or why they're here.”

The Doctor picked one up and tossed it in the air. “And all around the world, people are picking them up and taking them home.”

“Like iPads have dropped out of the sky. Taking them to work, taking pictures, making films, posting them on Flickr and YouTube. Within three hours, the cubes had a thousand separate Twitter accounts.”

“Twitter?”

“I've recommended we treat this as a hostile incursion. Gather them all up and lock them in a secure facility. But that would take massive international agreement and co-operation.”

“We need evidence. The cubes arrived in plain sight, in vast quantities, as the sun rose. So, what does that tell us?”

“Maybe they wanted to be seen. Noticed,” Amy said.

“Or more than that, they want to be observed. So we observe them. Stay with them round the clock. Watch the cubes, day and night. Record absolutely everything about them. Team cube, in it together,” the Doctor said. He kissed the cube and smiled.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Four days later and the cubes hadn’t done anything.

The Doctor was currently hanging upside down on Amy and Rory’s couch, while Elise sat by the window. “Four days. Nothing! Nothing!” He picked up one of the cubes and started hitting it. “Not a single change in any cube anywhere in the world. Four days, and I am still in your lounge!” He sat up.

“You were the one who wanted to observe them,” Amy told him.

“Yes, well, I thought they'd do something, didn't I? Not just sit there while everyone eats endless cereal!” The Doctor jumped up from the couch.

“You said we had to be patient,” reminded Rory.

“Yes, you! You, not me! I hate being patient. Patience is for wimps.” The Doctor threw himself back on the couch. “I can't live like this. Don't make me. I need to be busy.”

“Fine! Be busy!” Amy yelled, “We'll watch the cubes.”

The Doctor jumped up from the sofa and started to get things done around the house.

“How are you not bored?” Rory asked Elise.

Elise shrugged. In truth, she preferred the quiet. She could let her mind wander.

The Doctor soon threw himself back onto the couch. “That's better. Nothing like a bit of activity to pass the time. How long was I gone?” he asked.

Rory checked his watch. “Uh, about an hour.”

“I can't do it.” The Doctor jumped over the back of the couch and went inside the TARDIS.

“Where are you going?” Amy asked.

Amy, Rory, and Elise followed him into the TARDIS.

“Brian, you're still here,” the Doctor said, finding Brian in the jump seat.

“You told me to watch the cubes.”

“Four days ago.”

“Ah! Doesn't time fly when you're alone with your thoughts?”

“You can't just leave, Doctor,” Rory told him.

“Yes, of course I can. Quick jaunt, restore sanity. Ooo, hey, come if you like.”

“They can't just go off like that,” Brian said.

“Can't they? Can't you? That's how it goes, isn't it?”

“I've got my job,” Rory said.

“Oh yes, Rory. The universe is awaiting, but you have a little job to.”

“It's not little. It's important to me. Look, what you do isn't all there is.”

“I never said it was.” The Doctor looked at Amy, but she just stood there. “All right. Fine. I'll be back soon. Monitor the cubes. Call me. I'll have the TARDIS set to every Earth news feed. Come along, Elise.”

“I’m staying,” she told him. Her statement stopped everyone in their tracks.

“Ellie…”

“I want to stay with Amy and Rory. I like not having to run for my life or wondering who’s gonna die.”

“Oh, okay then.” Elise walked over to him and put her hand on his cheek. “It’s not forever. Just a few weeks. Just like when you sent me off with River.”

The Doctor smiled softly. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too. I just need to grab a few things from my room.” The Doctor managed to keep it together long enough for Elise to pack a suitcase and say goodbye. The minute he set the TARDIS in flight, he broke down. He should have known she’d leave.

They always did.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Elise settled into life with the Ponds quite well. Their friends got used to seeing Elise around the couple.

Amy and Rory had come up with the story that Elise was Rory’s niece who needed a place to stay while attending university.

Amy loved having Elise around the house and enrolled her in art classes.

Amy and Rory treated Elise more like a daughter than a friend; Elise becoming a surrogate ‘Melody’ for them both.

“Goodnight, Elise,” Amy said.

“Night,” Elise said and closed her bedroom door. She’d been with Amy and Rory for about a month now, but she missed her father and River.

Amy and Rory were great and all, but they weren’t the Doctor.

She spent her days sketching and painting. Amy and Rory tried to convince her to sell some of her paintings, but Elise refused so they kept getting moved into the garage.

Eventually one month turned into two and soon it was Christmas.

Amy and Rory noticed a change in Elise. The happy girl who had first moved in with them turned into a girl who spent all her time in her bedroom, sketching in her sketchbook. Even the allure of Christmas presents and Christmas dinner could make Elise come out of her room.

Amy burst into her room.

Elise was laying on her bed, staring at a picture of herself, the Doctor, and River taken on a past Mother’s Day.

“That’s it. Get up. I’ll not have you moping!”

Elise rolled away from her.

Amy sighed. “Elise, I know you miss your father, but you can’t keep doing this.”

Elise ignored her.

“Have you tried calling him?”

“He won’t pick up the phone. I can’t even get in touch with River!”

Amy heard Elise’s voice crack and she soon dissolved into tears. Amy quickly embraced the girl, holding her tightly.

Elise didn’t think it would be this bad. She thought she’d like being stationary. She did, but she missed her father more.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The New Year rolled around and Elise’s attitude started to improve.

Amy and Rory made sure to get her out more often, instead of just leaving her in the house with Brian all the time. She got back into painting and even started writing in her journal again.

Soon, Amy and Rory’s wedding anniversary rolled around.

Amy had purchased Elise a new blue dress for their summer barbeque, reminiscent of the one she wore to their wedding. Amy even taught Elise how to put on makeup and did her hair.

Amy was leaving yet another message for the Doctor. “Hey! Doctor, it's me. Hello. So, the UN classified the cubes as provisionally safe, whatever that means, and Banksy and Damien Hirst put out statements saying the cubes are nothing to do with them. And the cubes, well, they're just here. Still. What's it been, nine months? People are just taking them for granted. Maybe we'll never know why they came. But anyway. Elise is doing better. Personally, Rory and I just think she was going through her rebellious teenage phase. I remember how I was when I was her age, but let’s not get into that. I got to Laura's wedding. It was great. She's here tonight, being as it's our wedding anniversary. We thought you might have dropped by. I left you messages.”

The Doctor appeared behind her, holding a huge bouquet of flowers. “I know! Happy anniversary! Come with me. And bring your husband. Where’s Elise?”

Amy pointed over to where Brian stood.

Elise looked…beautiful. He almost didn’t recognize his own daughter.

Elise finally looked over at him and dropped the drink in her hand. She ran over to him and threw her arms around his neck. “Please tell me this isn’t a dream.”

The Doctor smiled. “You’re completely awake, Ellie.”

“Good, because I’m never leaving you for that long again.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The Doctor tried taking Amy and Rory on one trip as a gift for their anniversary and things kept going wrong and soon it had been two and a half months.

They returned on Amy and Rory’s anniversary, but no one but Brian noticed that they were in different clothes. Even Elise.

As Elise settled in for the night, the Doctor entered her room.

“Can I talk to you?” he asked.

“Um, yeah.”

The Doctor sat down next to her on the bed. “I’ve decided I’m staying.” “What?”

“I miss Amy and Rory. And I missed you most of all.”

“I missed you too.”

The Doctor reached out and wiped a tear off Elise’s cheek, causing her to break down.

She’d cried so much in the last nine months, it was a wonder she still had tears to cry.

“Shhh, it’s okay. I’m here now,” the Doctor cooed, rocking gently, “Why are there so many songs about rainbows and what’s on the other side…?”

The song wasn’t enough to calm Elise like it normally did.

The Doctor felt bad that he was causing her all this pain and that he couldn’t take it away. He worried for what it would do to Elise in the end.

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S3 Ep 11 pt 1: Mokuba Gets Kidnapped (Again)

I miiiight have to split this one in two?

A lot happens this episode, and when I cap things it’s mostly to help summarize what’s going on so these posts won’t be so freakin long but visually--a LOT happens this episode. So...there’s a few caps.

Anyways, I’m still trying to not think too much about what it is that Tristan has turned into. Considering that apparently you can exist here without a body it makes you wonder if their own minds are here at all or if we’re just following some shadow selves but again, it’s--that’s way too deep for Yugioh.

Been joking about the team getting turned into Heartless for a whole season and it actually happened. Sort of. Being turned into a monkey isn’t exactly the same as being turned into Darkness but if Yugi, Bakura, and Marik are any indication, being turned into Darkness on this show just means your hair gets kinda big and sometimes you almost (and often do) kill people.

Tristan’s CGI body is now running around and I’m not sure how that works.

Like if Tristan’s ACTUAL body is being stored somewhere, then the CGI body should have vanished, right? Like, his CGI body got incinerated by lava? Anyway, apparently, his body is absolutely fine, and now it’s being controlled by Nezbitt.

I’m glad he found the Kaibas at their familiar territory. Yes, that’s right, they all met up again, reunited after 10 episodes at their favorite place in the whole world. Guess where? Guess where they are?

It’s like meeting at the Cinnabon at the mall. They just all know where to go.

(read more under the cut)

And then Kaiba just kind of acts like he’s been expecting this for years. I mean...there’s reasons to expect that.

TBH if Tristan nabbed Kaiba in the shoulder with that broomstick, Would Kaiba even be able to feel it with all that padding? He’s got like football gear for shoulder pads up there.

We get no explanation of how Blue Eyes Wife made it to the VR zone. Probably willed itself out of pure love or whatever. But, don’t worry, Seto will have to choose cards from a pool just like everyone else at the end of this episode so uh...that’s about all we’ll see from her. Unless she was also in the pool, but I kinda doubt Noah gave Seto a Blue Eyes.

Just so weird that in the same episode she’s clearly here, but in 10 minutes from now, she’s not.

Anyways, everyone else finally shows up and they don't seem to be confused as to how Tristan is just fine when they just saw him die like...just now. They just left the place Tristan was dead and incinerated by 600000 degrees of lava and they were like “Oh good! We found him immediately! Hallelujah!” as if this isn’t very weird.

And...in a past life, Kaiba was the head of the House of York or...something? Like he was in the War of Roses or something? I forget exactly what y’all were saying Kaiba was up to in a past life in some video game spinoff when he and Yugi were European 500 years ago. Their family bloodline really got around.

ALSO, thing I just realized now I’ve actually read the wikipedia, Kaiba is supposed to have been Christian Rosenkruez in this game, which is amazing. Because, if you thought the Kaiba timeline was effed up before, just you wait, because Christian Rosenkruez was a freakin nut. We’re talking Indiana Jones type of nut. I’m pretty sure the game never brings this up, but Christian Rosenkruez is famous because so many people thought that he was the reincarnation of Lazarus.

LAZARUS.

Sorry, I’m like...kinda cracking up as I’m typing this. For those who don’t know your Christian/Middle Ages art, Lazarus is this guy, seen on the right. He’s always wrapped up like a mummy and with this expression like “woah, Jo, I’m alive!? Nice!” as at least one guy in the foreground plugs their nose because he smells like so freakin bad.

Yeah. So now, canonically, a past self of Seto Kaiba swore that he was once Lazurus. Who is...a real freakin nice guy, actually. Which--and this is my favorite part--this means that Lazarus--a real guy from the Bible--was also soul married to a Blue Eyes White Dragon. Hot damn.

I mean, this is a mess, but aesthetically though--Lazarus was a dead guy right? Like a revived mystical dead guy? Wrapped up like a mummy? In a crypt? If you don’t know too much about Christianity, it kinda fits right in with our whole vibe.

And if art twitter is anything to go by, the original fanart was bible stuff anyway, so anime and Bible stuff are absolutely and always interchangeable.

(Sorry, I was about to derail on another art rant hoo boy, a rant within a rant. You know, I hide a LOT of art discourse in these posts. Spicy times. Thanks for bearing with me, I’ve been holding that one in for a WHILE.)

But this is mostly amazing because, completely unintentionally, that means Seto Kaiba’s bloodline met freakin Jesus, y’all.

In fact, lets go over it, so Kaiba’s bloodline was Egyptian wizards who killed Pharaoh Yami (who ends up being Yugi’s bloodline), kinda forgot they were royalty or magical, went up to Jerusalem for a spell, hung out with Jesus and got helllla Christian, then ended up in Germany, fought Yugi who was British royalty for a hot minute, buried Rosenkrueuz in a very weird and mystical spooky sarcophagus, and then both families forgot they were super special royalty and somehow ended up in Japan where Kaiba got orphaned with no knowledge of any of this and got adopted by a crazy Gozaboro Kaiba who is now trying to kill them all with a VR game.

Anyway, if a past version of himself was in the War of Roses, dueling with actual swords should come naturally to him. Or at least would have come naturally if Tristan wasn’t so good with brooms.

(Bro’s Spicy Headcanon: Tristans wooden stick was originally a sword but they edited it out in development. Sure Wtv.)

And surprisingly, Joey got to do a hit in this version of Yugioh--like actually kicked a guy. On screen. And it was Tristan. Wow. Really thought that would get edited out, and I’m glad they left it in because lol this whole sequence is a mess.

Anyway, Tea gets hella mad at Joey because they don’t want him to kill Tristan although this body was in fact incinerated at the bottom of a lava pool not ten minutes ago, and so she decides to go after Tristan herself? Because she figures that Tristan’s body will not attack her? Maybe because Tristan’s body would be too afraid to attack Tea.

And this is Tea, so she is used to people going ghost, getting cray, and then passing out ten minutes later and being like “Oi, love! I seem to have made quite a fuss, again, innut!”

Please look at the bottom of this cap and admire that Joey kicked Tristan so hard, that his body bent a metal door completely the other way around.

That’s right, the motorcycle license is back, and now it gets to serve a purpose!

Guys, when they revealed that Tristan could drive a motorcycle I did not think that later this ability would be yet another insane way to abduct Mokuba.

Lol what?

Moki just...hanging off the side there. Like...he’s not even strapped in. What is it with the kidnappers in this show having just no idea how to properly hold Mokuba? At least this time he isn’t being suspended from a helicopter but it’s still kind of of a lot?

And there goes Kaiba.

They reunite again for like...2 minutes after like 10 episodes and then bam, Kaiba is signing out immediately.

Unfortunately, there goes the only two people here that know how to drive motorcycles, so the rest of our team is just kinda stuck back here with Tristan in a monkey suit.

Because of perspective issues, Serenity appears to be like 2 feet taller than Yugi Muto, dang.

So I think I mentioned before that one of the reasons I was like “Yeah lets watch this show” is because someone tweeted that Yugioh had motorcycle dueling, and so when this happened I was like OMG they’re actually going to do it somehow, right now on this Sonic Adventure Highway. Finally! A motorcycle duel! I thought that was only in the spinoff I’m not going to watch!

I mean look at him go.

JK no motorcycle dueling in this series. My poor hopes. Dashed.

And he runs right into Kaiba’s coat from last season who is wearing just the thickest old timey Southern accent. Ah, I miss when his coat color was nearly his font color and it all made sense.

Bro pointed out that the best part of this scene is how small the motorcycle was compared to how big this fire is now. Like...they should just be able to walk around the fire at this point, right? Like it’s a highway with multiple lanes? What was even in this motorcycle? Nitro?

Anyway, this post will be very long if I don’t chop it in half, so get ready for next time, when we find out what this guy and his accent’s whole deal is. How many references will he make to grits and warm summer evenings? A lot, right? Like a lot?

Anyways, if you just got here, this is a link to read the recaps from Ep 1 S1

[onychaos]

Changes and moving forward

This was a post I made on wordpress but never got around to posting here on tumblr but I feel that it is better late then never, I guess? 

As the year 2018 comes to a close, as 4 days remain. Had a lot of ups and down, and a lot has happened or changed for better or for worst.. But during that time, I was able to reflect on my own life and know what must be done or must be changed on my end.

Take this with a grain of salt. There is a chance that you will:

Not agree with my changes

Not like what is said here

Or just don’t care or won’t care about this.

And I know I can't please everyone but oh well, here we gooooo!

There is a lot to cover here, so sit back or not and get ready for the list of things

To make things easy on some, just hit control + F and you can look for the following below

Updates on my life

Twitter stuff

Dropping Grudges

Twitch.tv stuff or stream related

Updates on the fan game

Youtube stuff

My Goals for 2019

Updates on my life

I have been avoiding drama that I have no need for, be it ignoring it, muting friends or followers who take part in it. I realize that me, worrying about drama that doesn’t affect me is a waste of time. I will still defend friends who are being attacked

I think it’s time that we move on from Skype to Discord for a number of reasons. One of them being security reasons, and skype is slowly being snuffed out little by little by Discord. Discord does have it’s problems but it’s time to move on, eh?

I have been more social with people Or rather, being more social with my friends since they are the only ones who like to answer others ignore me but it’s whatevers. I got used to it

Been pretty happy with life, despite what has happened in this year. Things could have been better but what can you do? :V

I have some goals and plans for this new year coming up and hope they going to turn out ok but time will tell what the future holds for me. And I shall see if my friends will be along for the ride or this may be your final stop. Let’s see, eh?

I have been using WordPress for a good while… It’s not bad, though limited in some areas, like coding html. I may switch over to Blogger, because Tumblr is useless to me. Most of my post don’t show up in Tumblr search and it’s not worth it to me.

Twitter stuff

I have been using Twitter way more than Discord.. that’s not a bad thing, This is pretty good for my standards, And my followers consist of a number of users (“Why does this matter?” I am sure you will say. sit a spell)

So, following has to be cleaned out as it has needed that for a a long while.. Pretty much accounts on the chopping block are, Art bots that I don’t look at, inactive accounts.

I may set my twitter account to private in the future.

Going into the year 2019, I will not unfollow users talking about drama. I will ignore it. I will not tell someone that they can’t or can say whatever, that’s not my thing. If it does not get out of hand..

Been adding friends to my Twitter friends's list, if you are on my Twitter friends list then you are a friend of mine

Being more social and such

That’s it for the Twitters. :V

Dropping Grudges

Going into 2019, I will be letting go of my grudges I held on people. I, however, have no plans on being friends with those who done me wrong off the bat or maybe never but I want to go into this year not hating anyone.

I will be dropping my biggest grudge against FlyingfoxTSC or whatever name she goes by now (FlyingFox). Why am I dropping this grudge? I realize holding a grudge only holds you back in many ways or can turn you into a petty or a bitter person. I have forgiven her but not forgotten. If she talks to me, ok. And if she doesn’t talk to me, ok. With this said. I no longer “Dislike” her.

I will be dropping my grudges against other Sonic Speedrunners and will unblock them on Twitter (no one cares but that is good.)

Everyone gets a clean slate. Cause why not. :V

Twitch.tv stuff or stream related

I wanna start doing podcasts and streaming other games or even stream making things

SRL racing is a part of my life that I am now closing. Once I hit 200 races completed, I will take a break but I will most likely be done with racing games. I’m burned out with it. You could say that SRL racing is in the same boat with how I feel about speedrunning and CyberScore.

Twitch.tv chat moderators for my stream. If you lost mod status, you could come back and get it again. I am sure some will not like this but starting in 2019 moving forward. Losing moderator status will be permanent but can be regain, if you wish. Some users are safe from this list. But no one watches me, so it’s fine.

There will be more co-op streams with my friends. I already know people who can’t join for reasons, so I not even gonna ask them. These will be streams where we shoot the shit and talk about things, and have a good time and fun

If you are still here for racing SRL stuff and speedruns, this be the wrong place. That’s coming to a end, I would say.

Updates on the fan game

So, it has been months. Progress has been slow for a number. Drama, friends fighting, Life issues, and so much cooking. Cause of that, I been learning more code to use in my fan games. But I can say without a doubt the prototype will be pushed back to a “TBA” for now. Can’t call it a beta, yet.

I will be sending Masta, Hyper, and SBCZ a document where they can fill out the stats for their characters and much more, within reason. :3 Once they get the document, they can open / edit it in Googledocs and edit in the info. Once they get their document, They have 30 days to fill out the document, and sent it back on discord.

When the prototype is ready for debugging, a new channel will open up in my server, Private testing only. When the first demo is live for testing, it will be uploaded to firefox’s file hosting site

Youtube stuff

Youtube let plays are coming back. Had no time to record games but I will fix that, soon. I have some in mind. :V That’s all

 My Goals for 2019

I would like to be drama free. I do not care about drama. It’s a waste of one’s time, and I have better things, man because drama ain’t one of them

I would like to get a fan game ready for testing or even released a app for others to use. I have 2 apps ready to be released

I want to talk to my friends again in voice calls, and play games with friends that I enjoy.

I have been removing myself from toxic environments. This could be discord groups, servers, and friends on Twitter or Facebook.

My Discord will become semi-open to new users.

Move my friends over from Skype to Discord

I will keep moving forward, with you or without you. If life changes the plans, I will adjust to the change, if need be.

Draw more things for fun, and to learn new ways of drawing

Live through it all

That’s it really. :V Thanks for reading, and hope to see you with me in the new year that is 2019.

OnyChaos~

[attract-mode-collective]

2019, Say Hello To Mega Drive Man 1989

Sup. Also, yup, still around.

Okay, not so much here these days, but the Attract Mode blog itself did survive the Tumblr purge! Minus a few random posts, for reasons I still can't fathom (other than the bots in use are terrible). But I've bitched about it enough, over at my new regular digs, aka Twitter.

So what's the first post in 2019 about? Why, it's a long overdue translation of something from 1989! The Mega Drive Man ’89 feature in the very first issue of Beep! Mega Drive, originally published in August 1989, to be exact...

... Behold Sega's 16-bitter if it was the star of a Tokusatsu superhero show. Mega Drive Man 89’s powers include being able to hear unconfirmed game rumors from thousands of kilometers away, as well know what's inside a cartridge by just looking at it.

(it's worth remembering that this was still the era of highly illustrated and idealized game art)

Genre conventions state that Mega Drive Man 89 must have a regular ol' human being alter ego, which in this case is "Lt. Iida", who is based upon by a real-life Sega employee in the publicity department (more on him in a sec)...

... As you can see, there's a button sequence to unlock him and surprisingly it's not the same one used to unlock the level select in Sonic 1, which is what I thought it was initially.

You'll have to go to the source to fully appreciate the translation; here we meet the entire all the members of SEGA, "an elite organization composed of the top game developers and gamers in the world". As expected, they’re a mishmash of other IRL Service Games employees and personalities...

Dr. Sato was inspired by Hideki Sato, the assistant manager of r&d at the time, and Captain Kamata was aka Shigeo Kamata, head of the home video sales department. Here's what both men, along with the aforementioned Iida (no idea what his first name is), looked like...

You also have Nei from Phantasy Star 2, the Space Harrier, who reminds me of Simon Belmont from Captain N for whatever reason, and "S", Sega's original mascot for the Mega Drive before Sonic came along. You know, this guy...

Then you have everyone’s various rides, naturally based upon ones found in various arcade games that got home conversions up till that point. Which aide them in their battle against kaiju, and this Is where most might be disappointed; Gesoku the Cyber Alien is the only to reference Nintendo, Sega's mortal enemy IRL, and not nearly as directly as many would hope for...

Still, Mega Drive Man 89 is quite the way to kick off yet another campaign from Sega to claim the hearts and souls of Japanese school kids across school yards!

The translation is courtesy of MD Shock, aka my new fave blog of the New Year. There’s only a few entries, thus far, but quality over quantity folks. And even the most diehard Segaphiles may discover something new; myself, I never knew there were two different ways of holding the controller...

On, MD Shock also a Twitter and it is equally on point...

[precurelegends]

Galaxy Rise Pretty Cure: Beginnings

If Hana had gotten any sleep at all, it was a miracle. She had been counting down the days until the trip to the Link Cube. And now, for the first time in her life, she’d get a chance to visit the world on the other side. A planet where apes had evolved into the dominant species. It was going to be so much fun.

As she stood in line with her fellow Zyuman students, the teacher, a Shark Zyuman told them to buddy up. “Make sure to stay with your buddy at all times, and return to the Link Cube before sunset.”

Hana had paired up with Macchu, a llama Zyuman and he was already planning their first stop, based on his own trip to Earth. “We’ve got to go get curry at this place called Snack Safari before they run out. Then we’re going to head down past JAXA...”

“Wait, what’s JAXA?” Hana asked as their double file line made its way to the Cube.

“The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency. They’ve got some amazing technology there. You have to see it for yourself, Hana. They don’t teach us these things in Zyuland.” Macchu smiled a big dopey grin.

“Then that’s what we’ll do.” They were still six rows of students away from the Link Cube, so Hana put her paws together in prayer. “Father, wherever you are, please watch over me and Macchu.” She had lost her father a few years before. He had gone to Earth and never returned. But maybe he was still there.

Macchu, seeing his buddy in prayer, joined her. “Yeah, Mister Ookami. If you’re there, give Hana a sign so she’ll smile. She does have a pretty smile, after all.”

“Macchu!” Hana blushed and her buddy grinned.

“Hey, I’m just telling the truth. People would be blind if they didn’t see that.”

“Macchu, are you flirting with me? Because, you know...”

“I know, Hana. You’re not into boys.” The llama shakes his head. “But you and I have been friends for seven years now. I like to think you’re one of my best friends. And best friends can pay each other compliments without it being romantic, right?”

“Yeah. So let’s see what’s on the other side of the Cube.” Hana smiled. “Besides, you’re always going to be in spitting distance of me, right?”

“Hey, that was one time!” Macchu gave his best friend a little shove as they approached the Link Cube and Hana smiled in response. At least she’d have some fun adventures with him by her side.

--

Sleep did not come easily to Perelta Malin. By the time the sounds from the spaceport had died down, it was just after midnight, and Perelta had been keeping track of the different engine sounds. She knew full well what the engines of SPD ships sounded like, and thankfully, that sound had not crossed her ears all night. And yet, as she came down from the loft, she has a sensation of uneasiness. Her parents had been gone for the better part of two days. Their little “expeditions” always put Perelta on edge. So she sinks into her own blankets, praying to the god of journeys that she’d at least get some good dreams.

Some prayers are answered immediately, but the desires answer is not always the one that is given. A mere hour passes before the doors slam open. Perelta falls from her bed, knowing what that sounds means. Yet another uprooting.

“Get up, take only what you can carry and get ready to go.” Her mother says from the doorframe.

“No.” She’s been steeling her nerves for this moment for a long time. But it’s finally time to put her foot down. “I am not involved in yours and father’s crimes. I’m not a thief, I’m not wanted by SPD. I am my own woman and I will not be relocated because you two took a job too far. Not now, not ever again.”

Her outburst catches her father’s attention and he enters Perelta’s room, fire in his eyes. “What did you say, young lady?”

“You heard me. I have no need to repeat myself. You two can run, you two can go to another safehouse. I am not part of that life, and unlike you, I have nothing to hide.” Her adrenaline is rushing. She quickly grabs up her favorite clothes, some towels and body washes and throws them all into a travel bag.

“I am leaving. I would say ‘farewell’ but I never want to see you two again.”

Perelta pushes her way past her parents, aiming for the front door.

“Young lady, if you go through that door, you’re in for a world of pain.” Her father calls to her back

Perelta has her hand on the console to open the door. She gives her parents one last look before waving her hand to open the door. “I will take my chances.”

If she had learned anything from them, it was how to shake a tail. Her size makes it possible to blend in with the back alleys of the spaceport. Finally, she found her way to the refueling station. Choosing the ship that looked like it was outfitted for long distance travel, she slips past the guards and hides herself in the cargo compartment. There, she finally has some time to catch up on her sleep.

---

“Wake up, little bird.” The voice of her mother came from the PA system.

As Kilena’s eyes fluttered open, she waved her hand over the panel by her bedside, letting the light flow through conduits around the room. Bright enough to see by, but not so bright to blind her after her long slumber. A quick run through the sonic shower and a few more minutes to preen her feathers, and Kilena was ready to head for the cockpit of the ship.

“Good morning, Starlotta.” Kilena smiled at her bodyguard waiting outside her door.

“Good morning, Kilena. Your parents are waiting for you up ahead. Is it true they never told you what planet they’re going to be serving on?” Starlotta falls into step beside her charge, and Kilena giggles, a laugh that sounds more a songbird twittering.

“Nope. I’ve known that we’d be going across the Milky Way, but they wanted me to be surprised. I guess we’re about to find out.” Kilena runs her fingers over the nestmate necklace and enters the cockpit.

“Kilena, are you ready to see your new home?” Her mother, a beautiful corvid with bright blue feathers asks as she takes her daughter’s wing in her own.

“Of course, Mother. I can’t wait.” She walks with her mother until they reach the center of the bridge, and she stands next to her father, his midnight black feathers displaying his pride in his family and their future.

“Turn on the viewing screen.” Ambassador Mitres Akralis orders his men, and soon the external cameras show off an obscure body in the SK system.

Kilena puts a free hand to her mouth in surprise. “Earth? Your new posting is Earth?” She looks between her parents with a combination of joy and amazement. “I’ve heard so much about Earth from my penpal at SPD. It’s full of natural wonders, strange creatures and giant robots! This is the best posting ever!”

“That’s why we requested it.” Her father puts a hand on her shoulder. We’re going to be touching down at the SPD spaceport soon to get our paperwork finalized. Get in the chair over there and get ready for landing.”

As the energy barrier around the planet falls, Kilena gets into position, bracing for the landing. The inertial dampeners on the ship make such an action just a formality, but she still does it.

---

When the ship lands at SPD, the space police run a scan of the ship to make sure it’s decontaminated and free of any kind of contraband. To their surprise, and the suprise of the Raloi ambassadors, they find a stowaway. A green-haired staggers from the hold, her hands above her head. “Please, don’t shoot. I surrender.”

“We have no intention of shooting you.” An SPD officer in green steps forward. “Put your thumb on this scanner, please.” Perelta complies, and the identification software brings back a match.

“Perelta Malin, daughter of Corus Malin and Mori Malin. You have no criminal record of your own, thankfully.”

“And I would like to keep it that way. I am willing to give information regarding my parents, whether or not doing so would afford me police protection.” She says, running a hand through her hair.

“Hold off on any confessions until you’ve had a chance to meet our child legal advocate.” The officer waves down an alien woman in a black pant suit. “Mrs Shinsei, this young lady would like to offer evidence against wanted criminals.”

“Thank you, Officer Enari. I will take her to get cleaned up and fed, with your leave.” The advocate nods, offering her hand to Peralta. “It will be my pleasure to represent you, Perelta.”

“If it pleases you, I would prefer a new name for the legal records..”

As this conversation is happening, Ambassador Akralis calls over Officer Enari. “Sorry to distract you, Officer, but I have an important question.”

“We have a security detail preparing the route your vehicles can take to the embassy.” The SPD officer says quickly.

“That’s good, but it’s not the question I was going to ask.” He points to Kilena, who is currently watching the conversation between the green-haired stowaway and the advocate. “My daughter has recently entered her adolescent years, and as such, we will need to send her for the best education she can obtain. Do you have any recommendations for schools that would be friendly to extraterrestrials?”

Officer Enari strokes his chin. “My suggestion would be Amanogawa High School. Make sure to request Kisaragi Gentaro as her teacher. There isn’t a human teacher alive who cares for their students like he does.”

---

Several hours later, after Perelta has finished her testimony, she emerges from the SPD headquarters to see Kilena waiting there for her.

“May I help you?” She looks over to the humanoid bird girl with curiosity.

“Actually, I wanted to help you. You came a long way to get away from a terrible family life, and since you were on my ship, I figured I’d offer you something you probably need. A friend.” With Starlotta looking on, Kilena approaches, her hand extended to the other. “I’m Kilena Akralis. What name should I call you?”

The runaway looks to her own legal advocate with a soft smile. “You can call me Michiko. Michiko Shinsei.”

“That’s a pretty name. So, Michiko, if it’s all right, how about we go take a tour of Earth?” The bodyguard and legal advocate talk for a moment and agree that it would be a good thing for both of their charges.

As they travel down the street, they come to the front of JAXA where Hana and Macchu are checking out the rockets out front.

“This vehicle is rather antiquated.” Michiko says to Kilena. She wasn’t expecting the wolf girl to hear her.

“Maybe to you, but where I come from, they don’t even have these.” Hana answers.

“Where do you come from that they don’t have a space program?” Kilena asks. 

“It’s a dimensionally shifted version of Earth called Zyuland.” Hana points to Kilena’s feathers. “You’d fit in just fine there.”

“Really? What’s your world like?” Kilena is now curious, though judging by the wolf and llama before her... “Humanoid animals, right?”

“That’s right!” As Hana smiles at the other two girls, the lights go out. Not just the lights in the aerospace building, but the sunlight itself seems to fade away.

Hana feels Macchu’s hand in her own and it’s shaking, with good reason. Then in a moment, that hand is ripped away. A sudden gravitational pull drags Macchu away.

A similar fate falls upon Mrs. Shinsei and Starlotta. As they try to get their girls, they’re pulled away.

“And now, let’s let this experiment begin!” A voice carries over the area, as if over a loudspeaker. Hana, Michiko and Kilena turn to see a tall man in a bedraggled lab coat, holding up a strange disc, which he throws at the rocket.

The rocket reshapes itself into a giant humanoid shape, howling at the three girls. In the center of the rocket monster are what appears to be the bodies of Macchu, Mrs Shinsei and Starlotta.

Hana narrows her eyes and with her Zyuman speed, she dashes over to the mad scientist and rakes her claws across his face. “HOW DARE YOU? How dare you hurt them? What gives you the right?” As she says that last word, she claws him down the other side of the face, giving him two sets of matching scars.

“It’s all in the name of science, little girl!” The mad scientist is suddenly driven back by another impact to the side of his face. He looks over to see Michiko holding up a chunk of concrete that had broken from the mooring when the monster was made. It matches the one on the ground by his feet.

“I do not care for your motivations. You took the first person that had ever shown me kindness and turned her into a monster.” Michiko hurls the second rock, and the mad scientist catches it. But this leaves him open to an attack on the right side from Kilena. She takes off the glove covering her own talons and slashes at the madman’s left arm.

“You clearly have no interest in scientific progress. Very well. I will take my leave. Alypse! Destroy them!”

“Alypse!” The monster roars again as the madman leaves.

The three girls gather with Hana and Kilena standing in front of Michiko. “Any ideas, girls?” Hana asks.

“We fight!” Michiko answers. “Even if we’re not strong enough to beat that thing, we have to fight! For my new mother!”

“For my bodyguard!” Kilena answers, her feathers bristling.

“For my best friend!” Hana answers and she lets out a loud howl that causes the Alypse to pause for a moment. And in that pause, the darkness is broken up by a shining star.

“Your wish has been heard.” A melodious voice speaks to the girls. “Reach out the heavens and call upon the stars.”

With no other options, the girls raise their hands, shouting in unison “Come to me, power of the stars!”

A shooting star blazes across the sky, and the stars hear their cry. The shooting star flies across their hands, dropping two items into their palms. The first item is a cellphone like device with a rocket charm on the front. The second item each of them receives is a living creature, seemingly combining rabbits and technology.

“Introductions later. You three have to transform.” The apparent leader of these creatures says to Michiko. “Take the rocket charm and slide it up the outside of the phone! Then say “Pretty Cure! Blast Off!”

Not really knowing why, but knowing that they have to step into action, the girls follow the orders of the strange creatures. As soon as they say the transformation phrase, the cellphone devices sprout fins like rockets and fly around their bodies, covering them in stardust.

Soon their outfits have formed around them, leading into their first rollcall.

“The Shimmering Northern Lights, Cure Aurora!”

“The Sparkling Cosmic Cloud, Cure Nebula!”

“The Shining Starburst, Cure Nova!”

“As long as light shines in the heavens, evil shall not go unpunished. Galaxy Rise Pretty Cure!”

Though the new heroines had never done anything like this before, their companions named Mir, Hayabusa and Hubble, guided them through the fight. And just like that, a new team is born.

Once they are sure that their loved ones ae safe, they head back home for something they all needed. Sleep.

--

As Kilena and Starlotta returns to the Embassy, the bodyguard shakes her head. “After all that, am I really needed? You can clearly handle yourself.”

“Of course. You’re not just my bodyguard. You’re my friend.” Kilena answers before sliding into bed with her favorite stuffed animal in one hand, and Hayabusa in the other.

--

Michiko stands outside the door of Mrs Shinsei’s home, not certain if she really belongs. But that doubt is quickly cast aside as Mrs Shinsei opens the door. “I’ve got a room set up for you, Michiko. Tomorrow, we can go shopping to decorate it.”

With a tear in her eye, Michiko doffs her shoes and crosses the threshold. “I’m home!”

“Welcome Home, Michiko.” Mrs Shinsei is all too happy to have a daughter, even an adopted one.

--

Hana looks over at her mother, and the shrine dedicated to her father. “Mom, you know how it’s getting time for me to choose a high school? I want to study on Earth.”

Her mother smiles. “We’ll talk about it in the morning, my cub. Now, get some sleep.”

“Good night, mom.” And then quietly, she says “Good night Michiko, Good night, Kilena. I’ll see you soon.”

[icequeenjules26]

A drop in the ocean

Summary: Dan had been ecstatic when his manager had informed him that strictly come dancing wanted him in the next season, until he found out HE would be there.

Word Count: 12,3k

Tags: Musician!Dan, Actor!Phil, Fluff, Angst, Strictly Come Dancing AU

A/n: Written for the @phandomficfests, crossing off the prompts Dancing with the stars (Writer's choice), 2012, Pen Pals, dog, second chance, birthday, communication, Starbucks sofa, commitment, picnic and #spon! (What a list, lol) As always the biggest ever thank you goes out to my angel @succubusphan for doing everything she could so this would get done on Phannies' day!!!

Read on AO3

August 2018

 @DanIsAGod3918: This is happening oh my god

@PhilLikesMen: finally i waited forever for this

@dannyboiiiiiii: still can’t believe they worked alongside each other without ever meeting? wtf

@bisexualDan: @dannyboiiiiiii ikr but i’m so here for it

@phanwillbeathing: FUCKINGFINALLY they’ll be together and in front of cameras this is a dream come true

 Dan groaned as he scrolled through the comments on his latest instagram post. It was honestly unbelievable. How could he not have known? He couldn’t do this - he couldn’t deal with this. It had been 6 years and Dan was still hung up about it - how was that even possible?

 He didn’t want to be here, honestly, not anymore.

 He had been ecstatic at first, when his manager had informed him that strictly come dancing, UK’s very own dancing with the stars show wanted him in the next season. He was a musician, so he hadn’t even bothered to ask them - musicians at least had the rhythm it took to dance, putting them into an advantage - but they had apparently seen the making of to his newest music video.

 Which wasn’t bad, not particularly, at least - it just showed him attempting to do an easy dance routine his choreographer had designed just for him but failing miserably. He first and foremost was a pianist, with mediocre guitar skills, but even the singing part was pushing it from time to time. Dancing? Like actually, physically moving his long limbs in an attempt to look at least somewhat graceful? The word alone let laughter bubble up his chest.

 But he had tried, for the sake of his team, and if it’s that what got him into this show in the first place then he was glad he did.

Or maybe not so much, anymore.

 Not since… Him.

 He had been invited under a bit of false pretences, Dan decided - they could’ve told him they were planning to get him as well, could they not? - as he stared at the coffee table in front of him, or more specifically, his laptop, displaying an article from some sort of gossip page. Headline:

 The meeting the UK has been waiting for: Howell and Lester both starring in strictly come dancing.

 He groaned again, shutting his laptop with his foot and letting his phone drop from his hand to sling an arm over his eyes instead, sliding down his sofa until his back laid flat on it, his butt hanging from the ledge in an awkward angle, feet propped up on his coffee table. This couldn’t be happening.

 He had been good, so, so good for so long, he had momentarily forgotten what he has even good about. But, as always, life will come and fuck him over when he least expected it. He should be used to it by now.

 He had nearly done it. Nearly forgotten those piercing blue eyes. Nearly forgotten this soothing voice, the blinding smile.

 He had almost gotten over how his stomach would swoop on the sole mention of the name, how his heart would skip a beat before picking up its pace.

 This brought it all back - and not in a good way. He couldn’t do it, it wasn’t fair. It had been years and the multiple edits of them together floating through the infinite space of the internet still made him feel like his heart would get squeezed harshly inside of his chest. He had accepted it by now; he would probably never be over him. He didn’t have the right to be, either, but meeting him now… Like this… It still hurt.

 A lot.

 Like a rusty knife in his chest.

 He had managed to avoid meeting him even while working on the same movie, for fuck’s sake. He had even skipped the premiere and every other event and interview he knew he’d be present at. Now they were being forced together by a bloody dancing show, one he was excited about, sure, but not excited enough for this.

 Never for this.

 The reaction of his fandom didn’t make it any easier. He had seen the theories and shipping all over tumblr and twitter, of course, but it had been sort of inevitable, with all the stuff they had in common and the fact they were both open about their bisexuality. Now, with the movie long over, he had thought it would subside as fast as it had risen.

 It didn’t, though, and Dan had no other choice than to go through with this.

 He groaned again. Sometimes, he hated life.

 :::

 April 2004

 Dan was ecstatic when he first learned of a thing called “Pen Pals”. His Nana had explained it to him and he loved the idea of having someone, somewhere, that he had never met but could share things with nonetheless, loved the idea of writing letters back and forth, of being excited to get home from school to check the mailbox, to see if something would be in there.

 He was only ten, but he knew enough about writing letters to do it properly, he thought. He’d also get the first checked over by his Nana, that was for sure, to make sure he wouldn’t embarrass himself on the first try. He was so excited to get started, but when he took the time to go through the suggestions the teletext had for him he was gutted. Not one of the kids there seemed genuinely interesting, not enough. Some lived so close it wouldn’t be any fun to write letters, and others were just too old.

 Then he got to the last page and a large grin erupted on his face. “Phil Lester, 12, Rawtenstall. I like Sonic and crash bandicoot and i love pokemon! buffy is the best tv show ever created. I’d love to gain a friend from far away!!!” it said, and Dan knew he’d found them. The person he’d write to.

 :::

 September 2018

 So far Dan had done an incredible job at avoiding Phil. His shooting with his tall, but quirky and optimistic dancing teacher and partner Cathy went well and fast enough for him to evade Phil. He was there during the group foto, obviously, but Dan had made a point of wanting to stay on the opposite end and surprisingly, no one had caught up on it or commented on it in any kind of way. After a week of simple dancing lessons they were now about ready to start practicing for their group dance. He was running out of options.

 That was the reason he allowed himself a chill night before the first group practice. A funny netflix show was running on the TV, he had a hot cup of tea on the coffee table and Jennah had her head resting on his thigh - he was relishing in the feeling of it.

 When his phone vibrated from somewhere next to him he grumbled along with his lady. Picking it up with his left hand he brought his right one down to lazily stroke her head. “It’s okay,” he mumbled when she opened her eyes to look up at him, only paying attention to the still offensively vibrating phone when she nuzzled closer and closed her eyes again.

 “Howell,” he answered it grouchily, head sinking against the back of his sofa. “I hope this is important.”

 Apparently, life hated him.

 “Dan? It’s Louise.”

 He suppressed the urge to growl lowly in his chest, almost certain about what was to follow. “Louise,” he huffed out instead, closing his eyes and bringing his right hand up to gently massage his glabella. There was exactly one person who knew of the whole debacle Dan had had with him, and he really didn’t need to hear another lecture about it from her.

 He knew it had been his fault.

 He also knew there was no way of undoing it, even if there was nothing he wanted more than to set things right.

 Yet, she kept pushing.

 “I just got home from vacation and checked instagram.”

 Oh. That’s what this was about. She hadn’t heard it before.

 “Louise-” he started, but got interrupted almost immediately. “No! Do not Louise me, Dan! This is getting ridiculous! Why can’t you just talk to him? If not to make it right, then at least for closure. What do you think will happen, the fucking apocalypse?!” He could tell she was aggravated, gruntled. She had always wanted him to do something, to not just sit around and let it weigh heavily on his heart, and this show obviously only made it worse.

 He couldn’t hold in the growl this time. He was gritting his teeth trying to keep himself from saying something that he’d regret later, but even that was getting harder. Jennah immediately reacted to his distrust, opening her eyes and sitting up next to him before moving closer, nuzzling his shoulder. She knew how well he reacted to cuddles, and she was willing to provide them. He could only move to stroke her back in a silent thank you. “I can’t, Louise. I fucking can’t, okay?”

 He could already hear her, taking a deep breath, setting up for a monologue, but he was having none of it. “No, Louise, no. I can’t hear it anymore. You think I don’t wish for what you want me to do, every day of every fucking week? You think I like this, doing nothing, suffering in silence? Because that’s what I’ve been doing for the past six years. But as long as you haven’t miraculously invented a time machine on your vacation, there’s no way to undo this. Have you?”

 His friend on the other end stayed silent, and he could feel the tears starting to pool into his eyes. “I thought so,” he closed, his voice breaking along the way. He managed to keep it together for as long as it took him to end the call, but then he broke down, sobbing violently. His body started shaking, he didn’t know what to do, how to make it better, so he did what he always did when he needed comfort:  he threw his arms around Jennah and moved to press his face into her neck, hiding from the world.

 :::

 April 2007

 It had been two years since Dan had send his first letter to Rawtenstall near Manchester.

 Him and Phil had become fast friends and the amount of letters they were sending to each other had become ridiculous by now. Dan’s Dad had gotten mad at him for spending that much money on postal charges only a few months after the first letter and basically told him to stop being friends with Phil - or at least tone it down considerably - so they were now using his nana’s letter box so his dad wouldn’t catch him.

 Even his nana had become agitated with it after a while, so they had a deal now. Dan did chores around the house or the garden, like doing the dishes or wiping the floor, and his nana would give him postal stamps as a payment. Other kids wanted to buy candy or save the money to spend it on games, but all he wanted was to write Phil. His nana could probably make him do anything if he’d get those postal stamps in return. To him, they were worth more than diamonds.

 They had exchanged pictures of themselves and their homes, they shared their secrets with each other and knew everything there was to know about the other, and Dan reveled in it. The had even exchanged phone numbers, but they had to pay calls in minutes, so they usually didn’t call each other except for special occasions.

 Today, apparently, was such a “special occasion”.

 When Dan got out of school he didn’t even bother to go home. Instead, he walked directly to his nana, who lived right next to him. That was a normal occurrence by now - he spent most of his time here. His parents were barely home anyways and his nana was watching his little brother after school, so it didn’t even attract his parent’s attention,

 Luckily. His dad would probably not like it. Especially not the reason behind it.

 Because, obviously, Dan didn’t spend all his time at his nana’s just because he loved her so much. He did, but he was still an introvert; he loved having time for himself and not having to talk to other human beings - he did this for Phil.

 Ridiculously much he did seemed to be for Phil nowadays.

 He was waiting for a new letter that should probably arrive today or tomorrow. It usually took four or five days, sometimes six, from sending a letter to receiving one, and he had send one last wednesday. It was monday now.

 When he opened his nana’s door with his key she was already sat in the kitchen, obviously waiting for him. After greeting her he sat down his bag on a kitchen chair before taking a seat himself, snatching an apple from the fruit bowl sat in the middle of the table. “Everything okay, nana?” he asked after taking the first bite. It wasn’t usual she was waiting for him like this, she was usually up and about around the house or reading in the living room when he got home from school.

 A smirk slowly creeped onto her face as she obviously observed him closely. “A very agitated young man called around an hour ago. Said he wanted to talk to you,” she stated and he perked up immediately, eyes flying up to her face. “Phil?” he asked, almost breathlessly, and felt the heat rising through his neck all the way up to his cheeks. He cleared his throat. “I mean - Was it Phil?” He forced his voice to be calm this time, but the grin on his nana’s face had already widened and he knew she had picked up on his behaviour immediately. “It was. I told him you’d be back around now, he should be calling again in a few minutes.” She paused, raising an eyebrow mockingly. “Anything you’d like to tell me, son?”

 He could feel his cheeks heating up even more and almost desperately avoided her eyes.

He was about to start saying something, anything, when a shrill ringing interrupted him. “I’ll go,” he practically squeaked out and jumped up to run to the hallway to get the phone.

 “Phil?”, he answered it breathlessly and was rewarded with a laugh. “Dan! Take a guess who can now phone people as much as he wants without having to pay more?” greeted him an excited voice on the other line and a wide grin stretched his face in seconds. “Hm, I don’t know. Sarah Michelle Gellar?” Again there was laughter on the other side and Dan wished he’d have a way to look at the other boy’s face when he laughed. “It’s me!” was the answer and Dan could feel excitement bubbling up in his chest.

 He looked around the hallway, realizing there was nothing to sit down on while talking on the phone. Maybe they should put a chair in there somewhere. He could see himself needing it a lot in the future.

 :::::

 September 2018

 Dan’s day was not going great so far. He was exhausted, probably dehydrated and he hadn’t eaten in a few hours, but still did not have the time to catch a break. He hadn’t gotten any proper work done for months now - since he had written the music for the movie, actually - and his manager was getting nervous. Not that he could blame her, he’d promised her a line-up for his new album back in July - but that had been before Strictly come dancing had poked its head at him. He couldn’t have let this opportunity go, so he’d had to promise her he’d work while practicing for the show.

 It wasn’t working. The whole idea had been rubbish to begin with, to be honest; he’d known the show needed his whole attention and utter commitment. Stef was just ridiculously persuasive, that was the problem here.

 Still… He couldn't do it. He just couldn’t. He’d just have to talk to Stef, he decided when he let his pen drop and looked up for the first time for hours from his place on the ground in his music room, musical sheets and random pieces of lyrics scattered around him. His head was completely blank, not one idea breaking through properly.

 He wasn’t used to this. Normally he sat a pen to paper and had an almost finished song mere hours later, but now all that came out of his head was crap.

 Or a name, he realized when he got up, looking around him to get a general view of what he’d written. His name was smudged across random pages, written in large, black letters that instantly managed to catch his attention. His breath hitched. How had he not noticed he’d been doing that?

His heart hammered in his chest and tears were starting to pool in his eyes as he looked over the papers scattered across the floor. Without thinking he pulled out his phone, taking a picture and sending it to Louise. He would probably regret that later, but he didn’t even realize what he was doing in his horrified state.

 He left his music room in a hurry, closing the door behind him in panic as if he could contain the ghost of his past relationship in there, trapping it inside. How was this still getting him? How was he still basically unable to function with the thought of it, after more than six years? Why was he still unable to let go?

 Somewhere at the bottom of his heart he knew why. He knew why he couldn’t breathe at the prospect of being in the same room with him for hours - he knew what it meant that his heart was hammering in his chest every time he set foot into the studio they were practicing the group dance in.

 He knew it. Had known it the whole time.

 He was still in love with him. Six years later and the feelings he had been fighting against the whole time were still there, strong as ever.

 He knew it, but - it didn’t change anything. Not really.

 Not when he couldn’t even think his name without breaking down into tears.  

 Phil.

 :::

 April 2008

 It had been four years since Dan had written his first letter to Phil. He was fourteen now, and he spent most of his time on the internet.

 Actually, he spent the most time talking to Phil.

 Through the internet.

 He was lucky his family had still not caught up on it. He was pretty sure his nana was aware he had not just miraculously stopped talking to Phil, even though the hour long conversations in her hallway had lessened immensely; but the rest of them - especially his dad - were still in the dark about it.

 And that was honestly the only thing that was important.

 Today was a slow day so far. It was wednesday, which to him, was amazing, because it was a day he had only a few hours of school while his parents usually stayed out far longer than usual. Why, he had no idea; he just assumed it was the busiest day of their week.

 He had gotten home around an hour ago, had made himself some lunch and settled down in front of his TV to watch some mind-numbing midday show to calm himself down after school.

 Normally, he would already be talking to Phil, who usually had a slow wednesday as well, but for some reason he wasn’t picking up, neither on his skype nor on his cellphone. He wasn’t that worried yet, but he still thought it was odd. It happened from time to time that Phil wouldn’t be there that early on wednesdays, for example when his mum caught him before he could get into his room, forcing him to do stuff for her. Normally he’d at least let him know via text, so Dan was getting a little agitated by now.

 When Phil still hadn’t texted him or picked up his phone three hours after their usual skyping-time he grew increasingly worried. He seriously considered calling Phil’s landline but was a bit scared to only reach Phil’s mum - the woman didn’t seem to like him much, not that he could blame her.

 At the exact moment he was about to call, his laptop started making noises from its place next to him on his bed, indicating an incoming skype call. He accepted the call before even picking it up.

 “Phil!” he called when the video finally loaded, revealing an obviously excited Phil, eyes sparkling and hair pushed up into a messy quiff in contrast to his usual, neatly arranged fringe. “Dan!” He grinned broadly, bouncing up and down, making the video jump along with him in the process. “You won’t believe what happened!”

 Dan was unable to hide the fond smile sneaking its way onto his face. “Robert Downey Jr. joined a cult and you get to replace him in Iron Man 2?”

 He almost choked on his own spit when Phil pouted in response. He could feel warmth wandering up his neck, settling in his cheeks and knew he was probably about as red as a lobster. How could someone be so goddamn cute and handsome at the same time?

 “Sadly, no,” Phil answered before a new grin lit up his face as he clapped his hands excitedly. “But! I did just get a role!” he exclaimed, with a smile so wide Dan was surprised it didn’t split his face in half.

 “What?” he asked, almost dumbfounded, staring at his best friend as if he’d just told him the sky was green. “Are you serious?”

 “Yes! I just got home from casting, that’s why I couldn’t call earlier. I scored a role in the sixth series of Shameless!” Phil answered, excitedly bouncing up and down again, and Dan was left to do nothing but stare. The news hardly even reached his brain with the way Phil looked, excited and glowing and all focused on his screen. Focused on Dan. He secretly pressed the Print Screen key on his laptop, conserving this picture to look at it again and again and again.

 That’s when Phil’s words properly registered in his brain. “Are you serious?”, he croaked, voice raw with the emotions coursing through him. When Phil nodded he started bouncing up and down as well, completely unconsciously, beaming so brightly in the process, the muscles in his cheeks started burning almost immediately.

 “Yes! I get to act! And I’ll earn my own money!” he exclaimed, obviously still not completely able to believe it himself. Dan let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding, eyes wide as he stared into the blue eyes of his best friend - the best friend who made his heart flutter and his breathing hitch. That was normal, right? That’s what best friends were supposed to do to you?

 Deep inside, he knew they were not, but he enjoyed living in denial for just a few days longer.

 “I’m so happy for you, Phil!” he replied, happiness seeping through him from his head all the way down to his toes. “What will you do with the money?” His voice was high pitched and giddy and his best friend chuckled in response.

 “Well, there’s someone I know that’s in desperate need of train tickets for his birthday…”

 Dan’s eyes sparkled so bright for the rest of the day, even his mum caught up on it hours later.

 :::

 September 2018

 As the date for the launch show drew incredibly near so did the point where he’d finally have to talk to Phil. The amount of requests for interviews with them both together were growing ridiculous and the bbc hyped it up as much as possible. He was a professional, and he got the general idea of why the bbc reacted the way they did, but that didn’t mean he liked it.

 Not really. Not at all.

 Still, when the launch show was rolling he managed to not exchange a single word with Phil. Whenever there were cameras he was at least 20 meters away from Phil so they couldn’t force them both in frame with the little time they had backstage.

 He got on stage sometimes in the middle of the show and was interviewed. It was mostly just general questions about his life at the moment, how his new album was coming along and if there was anything planned, but he truthfully answered that right now, he was entirely committed to this show. It meant a lot to him already. He was excited to learn even more about music and to dance, and when he announced that any money he’d make during it would be donated to Young Minds the audience basically flipped. He was amazed at the reaction it caused; he hadn’t expected it.

 The questions got a bit more personal afterwards. They packed it nicely, sure, asking about any Ladies or Gentlemen in his life that could be offended with his dedication to the show, but it was still basically the question of if he was in a relationship or not.

 So he decided to have a bit of fun with that.

  “Well, there’s always Stef, my manager. Oh, and my queen, of course, she’s really not amused I’m spending so much time away from home,” he answered with a chuckle, all teasingly and with a suggestive wink, hinting at something that wasn’t there. He predicted that it would grant him protection from the bbc’s shipping attempts at least for the first few shows; it was also their own fault.

 They didn’t know “my queen” ment a five year old Shakita Inu lady named Jennah after the queen in his favorite video game. Most of his fans would obviously know or at least assume that - she was all over his Instagram after all - but even that could take a while.

 He looked around when he said it, gauging the reaction it caused in the audience. He had expected everything, really, from joy to devastation from his fans, some of who were clearly sat in the audience right now; but what he did not expect… Was Phil.

 He caught sight of his face only briefly, but he could not believe what he found there.

Phil’s face was scrunched up, hurt written all over it, and when their eyes met for just a single blink, the blue was dull and washed down, more grey than colourful. He could have sworn there were tears glistening in the corner of them, threatening to fall any moment.

 But that had to be some kind of coincidence.

 It had to.

 There was no other option.

 After the interview he somehow successfully weaseled himself out of without giving away too much information, he performed his latest single, written for the movie Phil had played the leading role in. He could feel Phil’s eyes on him the whole time he played, the look burning on his skin like melted caramel, sweet and hurtful at the same time. His fingers prickled with the knowledge that those eyes were finally looking at him again, playing a song that was obviously based on their relationship.

 Not that any song that Dan had written had not been somehow based on that.

 For a brief moment, Dan wondered if Phil had realized, if he still cared. Cared that his career was basically solely based on the things Phil had told him when they were younger. Did he even realize how big his impact on Dan’s life had been? Or did he still believe the things Dan had told him six years ago to push him away?

 He didn’t know. He only knew that it hurt.

 A lot.

 When the last, sorrowful notes of the song thrummed through his fingers and his throat as he pressed the keys and sang the words, his mind provided him with the fact that their anniversary was only a few weeks away and he couldn’t stop a single tear from making its way down his cheek. His heart was throbbing forcefully in his chest and his breathing hitched the exact moment the last note had rung out. He just hoped no camera had caught that.

 Knowing his luck, they’d have it on closeup.

 ::::

 October 2009

 Dan didn’t know why, but this time things seemed to be different when he arrived at Manchester Train station. Phil seemed agitated, almost nervous when he greeted him, fiddling with his jacket and adjusting his fringe whenever his hands weren’t otherwise occupied. Dan wasn’t sure what to make of that, but decided to let it slide without much comment. He was sure whatever it was Phil would tell him as soon as he was ready. They knew each other for longer than 5 years at this point, Phil knew he could talk to him about everything.

 Instead of taking the bus back to Rawtenstall Phil lead him on a journey through Manchester. They visited sights Dan had never payed attention to and afterwards they went to get a coffee at Starbucks, sitting together closely in the booth they always occupied when they were there; so closely their whole sides were touching. Dan’s right hand laid on the table as they talked, occasionally sipping on their caramel lattes, and he itched to take Phil’s left one into his, placed just a few centimeters apart. Did Phil realize he had his palm up, basically inviting Dan to take it, or was it just coincidence?

 They continued their journey when they were both done with their coffees, talking and laughing as usual, yet, something seemed different. When they walked, their hands would brush together, and Dan could have sworn Phil’s fingertips were outstretched towards the back of his hand.

 He knew it was probably nothing more than wishful thinking, but a guy could dream, right?

 Phil still was straight up on edge when they arrived at their destination, which Dan quickly identified as the Manchester eye. Why they were there, he had no idea, but he liked it. He had been living close to London his whole life, yet never had had come around to take a ride on the London Eye.

 “Did you do it on purpose?” he asked gently when they got into the cabin, both sat on the same bench, pressed up together. “Do you remember?” The view got better and better the higher they went, but he couldn’t keep his eyes off of Phil, whose blue eyes shone brightly in the light of the setting sun.

 “Of course I remember,” Phil answered softly, eyes completely trained on Dan, “You always wanted to visit the London Eye, so I figured this is the next best thing.”

 Dan couldn’t keep the eye contact any longer, so he turned his head, looking out the other side. He could feel tears rising, that’s how overwhelmed he was with the whole gesture, but he blinked them away. “This is better,” he murmured, voice barely above a whisper.

 Then there was a hand on his cheek, gently taking a hold of his chin, turning him around until his sight was back on Phil. All the previous tension and nervousness seemed to have left his body. His movements now were confident and certain, determination shining in his eyes as they gazed into Dan’s. “Everything's better with you,” Phil whispered and Dan breathing hitched, his whole body shuddering with anticipation.

 When they finally kissed Dan realized it had been inevitable from the start. Phil’s lips felt warm, velvety, right against his own and it was like the world finally set into place. Like everything had been unsure and wavering all his life, turning and spinning around him, leaving Dan unable to ever find his footing, but now it had clicked into place and everything stood still for the first time in his life.

 After the kiss ended Phil didn’t let go of Dan. Instead he sat his hand on his cheek and pressed their foreheads together, his bright, blue eyes gazing into Dan’s as if he was the only one that would ever matter. “I like you, Dan,” he whispered, voice almost inaudible. “I really, really like you.”

 Dan’s heart stopped for a few seconds, his breath caught in his throat and he felt like the world around them had come to a crashing halt, like time had stopped for everyone but them. Was this really happening? Or was it just one of the dreams that would keep him on edge for hours afterwards, knowing it would never come true?

 He had hoped, wished for this for so long; had prayed to a god he didn’t even believe in - yet Phil had never made the first move. They had felt like a real possibility from the first time they met over a year ago on Dan’s 15th birthday, when Phil had stumbled over his words when they had hugged and his cheeks had burned crimson red. Dan would never forget that day; the day he had realized that he wanted them to end up together against all odds.

 Then his neck started burning from the way it was bend and he realized - this was real.

 It was raw, it wasn’t perfect, but it was real, and Dan could feel tears rising into his eyes. “I really, really like you too, Phil,” he answered and then Phil leaned in to kiss him again, a sob of relief breaking from his throat.

 And for that one, single moment Dan felt like they could defeat everything that would ever stand in their way.

 :::::

 October 2018

 Their anniversary had always been particularly hard on Dan. Normally he’d spent the day curled up on his couch with Jennah, eating a ridiculous amount of chocolate and drinking too much alcohol, Louise on the phone or somewhere in his flat, keeping him from doing things he would regret later on - like calling his dad; he’d done that one year, hadn’t ended well. Not really.

 This year, Dan wouldn’t be able to do that. This year, he’d even have to meet Phil at some point of the day for rehearsal, probably for longer than he’d be able to endure.

 Because that’s what he was doing, Dan realized as he checked into his hotel room, enduring Phil’s presence. It was still torture to even be in the same room as him, let alone talk to him. What would happen when Phil finally got tired of ignoring him; when his selferestrain would finally break and he’d unload six years of pent up aggression towards him?

 Dan would crack at the first word, turn around and run, public appearance be damned.

 He was just hoping it wouldn’t happen during a live broadcast.

 This week Dan had decided to screw the hotel’s room policy and bring Jennah with him. He needed her today, more than ever, he wouldn’t survive the day without her - especially not the night, when he’d have gotten back from rehearsal - after seeing Phil. Fortunately, he didn’t even get one single negative comment when he lead the lady dog into the hotel, suitcase in tow. The pretty, courteous dog got nothing but positive comments from the staff, especially when they realized how well-trained she was, following his commands immediately even when he accidentally dropped her leash. She was wary towards strangers, still hadn’t even completely accepted Louise as his friend, but she trusted him with a burning passion that overshadowed everything else.

 They finally made it up to their room and Dan didn’t feel energized enough to do anything else but flop down on the bed. Jennah, who knew she was not allowed to climb onto the bed without an explicit invitation, whined softly at him, and he didn’t have it in him to deny her request. She was incredibly sensitive of his emotions and sensed that he needed comfort, but was unable to provide it due to the distance Dan had put between them.

 He softly patted the space next to him and she jumped up immediately, laying down cuddled into his side, head gently resting on his shoulder. He drapped his arm around her, stroking her soft fur. She continued to make quiet whimper like noises, but they were less needy now, more content.

 The tears started rising without his consent. He didn’t even know what caused them, he just knew that suddenly, they were there, threatening to fall; and then there was a sob escaping his throat, the dam broke and the tears started flowing freely. He couldn’t believe this was happening.

 A few more hours and it had been nine years on the dot. Exactly nine years since Phil had made the first step, kissing him on the Manchester eye.

 Dan wanted nothing more than to kiss him again, like he had been able to until this faithful day six years ago, to kiss him and hug him and love him - but he couldn’t, and it was ripping him apart from the inside out.

 It wasn’t fair. He was aware he hadn’t always been the best person, was aware he’d made mistakes, but didn’t everyone? What was it that entitled him specifically for this sorrow, this heartbreak; a pain you wouldn’t wish upon your worst enemies?

 When it was time to head over to the studio for the final rehearsal he was barely able to let go of Jennah. He knew he couldn’t bring her with him, but that didn’t make it any easier to leave her soft fur and gentle comfort behind.

 He managed to though, eventually, tears dried and the puffiness of his eyes immensely decreased after crying for what felt like hours.

 Maybe it had been hours. Or maybe he’d stopped crying halfway through and had just laid there, cuddling Jennah and staring off into space, into nothingness, into a time where he and Phil had been together and so happy Dan had thought he might just burst any second.

 Before his world had been ripped into shreds.

 Arriving at the studio he discovered that life definitely hated him. He and Phil had never really met on camera and he’d managed to avoid him during the aftershow and even the daily talk show, but now he saw this week’s order of dancHe didn’t have it in him to say much more, his heart was itching to tell the truth and he knew he couldn’t trust himself much longer.ers and he wanted to barf or cry or die on the spot.

 It was just his luck that put him on seventh spot with Phil in eighth - the exact time they had kissed, half past seven - which meant that despite his best efforts he would definitely meet Phil today.

 Out of all the shows, why did it have to be today? Wasn’t it enough he was already laying on the ground, broken beyond repair? No, life had to send someone after him to squash him, again and again and again until he would be unable to ever get up again.

 While waiting for their turn Cathy, his dance partner, managed to keep his mind off of things. They talked and laughed and when she asked him about how his queen was doing he gladly took out his phone, showing her a few of the array of pictures he had taken on their walk last night. Her eyes started sparkling immediately. “She’s so beautiful. And she’s completely fixed on you, Dan, like you’re her everything, it’s so cute,” she gushed and Dan blushed.

 Something crashed then and he looked up, only barely catching sight of a distraught looking Phil scurrying away in a hurry.

 Surprisingly, his rehearsal went okay. He was a bit more nervous and jumpier than usual, but he was a professional, so he was able to act it off quite successfully.

 When he was done with it, though, and turned to get backstage, that’s when it all went to hell.

 Cathy had gone on ahead without him, claiming to desperately need water, so there was no one else around when he met Phil on the way. He was trying to get past him as fast as possible, but due to the passage backstage being so small there he had to brush Phil - that’s when he felt long, slender fingers reaching for him, closing around his wrist. For a moment, their eyes met and the blue was so vengeful, so cold Dan was left standing in a snowstorm.

 He stopped dead in his track, eyes wide open, staring ahead, trying to not look at Phil, to not give him any more openings.

 Because this was it, Dan thought; this was the moment his carefully mended heart would get smashed into pieces all over again.

 Phil moved his face next to Dan, so close he could feel Phil’s breath on his skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake. “I hope she’s good enough for you,” he hissed into Dan’s ear, voice so cold it froze the remaining pieces of Dan’s heart. They clinked a melody as they burst, a melody sounding dangerously like the song Dan had written for the movie, the song Dan had written solely for the purpose of reaching Phil.

 He didn’t even know how he got away. Maybe he hadn’t, maybe Phil had just moved past him and let him stand there, desperately clinging to the remaining shards of his heart. They seared him as he tried to hold on to them, but he didn’t even feel it anymore. The pain was gone, all that was left was a numbness that could’ve, should’ve scared him.

 The next thing he knew he was sitting on a sofa in one of the resting rooms backstage, a bottle of water in his hands. He could hear people walking by in the hallway, but he was completely alone, which he was more than glad for. Streaks of tears were running down his cheeks as he sobbed quietly, and all he wanted to do was to get to Jennah, to press his face into her soft fur and accepting the knowledge that yes, he would never be okay again, but it didn’t matter as long is this amazing creature loved him.

 The opening of a door tore him out of his thoughts and he stood up reflexively. He had hoped that maybe, it was Cathy checking in on him or one of the crew members informing him that he could go back to the hotel now, but no.

 No. It was Phil.

 Of course it was.

 He looked horrible. His form was hunched over, as if he barely had the strength to hold himself up anymore and his eyes were red and swollen with tears running down his cheeks.

 Dan took an unconscious step forwards, moving to comfort Phil, until he realized that he had lost all privilege to do so years ago.

 How was he still not used to that, he wondered briefly when Phil finally raised his head and their eyes met.

 “You know,” he started, voice hoarse and barely above a whisper, “I want to forgive you. I want to forgive you so that -” His voice broke and he took a deep breath - or maybe it was a sob. Dan couldn’t be sure.  “So that I can stop.” He got louder, more confident and Dan wanted to say something, anything, but he was frozen, unable to move or even breathe.

 “Stop thinking of what you did to me… Stop thinking of you,” he continued and fresh tears sprang into Dan’s eyes, a pain in his chest, so soaring he was sure it would consume him any moment.

 “Forgive you, so that I never have to think of you ever again… Because I refuse to.” Phil’s voice broke again as a sob rattled him, new tears spilling from his eyes and he looked so broken Dan’s heart was pierced by a million spears all at once.

 Just for a second it was quiet, complete silence engulfing them aside from the distinct chatter coming from somewhere down the hallway. Not that Dan even registered it as they continued to stare into each others eyes, a pain soaring through his body like howling flames, burning their way through his veins, leaving behind nothing but destruction.

“But I can’t.” Phil sobbed again and finally looked away, down to the ground before he lifted his gaze again, staring dead into Dan’s eyes. “I want to, so, so desperately, but I can’t.”

 He didn’t even wait for Dan to react, not for the hurried “Phil, wait!” Dan finally managed to throw after him, only released from the spell that had kept him rooted to the spot when they broke eye contact, nor for the sob that fought its way up his throat. He just turned around and left Dan to break down on his own.

 :::

 June 2012

 Dan’s nineteenth birthday was the most beautiful one he’d ever had.

 Firstly, he was in a generally good place in life. He had finally started pursuing music as a real career option after Phil had practically begged him to for years and had gotten his first contract a few weeks ago. His parents were surprisingly okay with it - or at least his mum was - and his nana was the most encouraging he’d ever seen her.

 Secondly, Phil was the most amazing boyfriend he ever could’ve asked for. He was supporting Dan’s every decision, he was thoughtful and attentive and, quite frankly, hot as fuck. He always took Dan’s opinions into account when he made decisions and was considerate of whatever problems Dan had - which were, mostly, about the fact that Dan’s parents still didn’t know of either the fact that he was still in contact with Phil, nor about Dan’s sexuality - let alone his relationship to Phil. It didn’t make things easy, but now that Phil earned a lot of money he sponsored Dan a train ticket every other weekend - at least when he wasn’t away for whatever acting role he was doing at the time. It was a system that worked for them, and Dan didn’t care about anything else.

 And thirdly, his amazing boyfriend had managed to get some time off from filming so they could spend a few precious days together over his birthday.

 Spending time together got increasingly difficult with Phil’s rising popularity, but they spent a week all alone in the cottage that Phil’s parents owned, a cottage on top of a cliff on the isle of man. They went on a picnic on the beach almost every day, and it was during one of those on monday, his actual birthday, when Phil gifted him with a key to his new flat in London and a speech soaked with the love he felt for him.

 Dan had never felt more like flying than he did in this moment.

 Unfortunately, that only made his fall even harder.

 When he got home on thursday the atmosphere at home seemed weird from the very first moment he stepped through the door. He was well rested and had been in a bliss-like state the whole week, but now he got anxious when he climbed the stairs to his bedroom, suitcase in tow.

 His suspicions got verified when he pushed the doors to his bedroom open and revealed his little brother, hunched over on the edge of his bed, clutching a pillow to his belly and sobbing loudly.

 Dan closed the door behind him and hurdled over to his little brother. “Adrian!” he murmured apprehensively, moving to sling an arm around the boy’s shoulders. “My god, what’s wrong?”

 “I-i’m s-so sorry, D-Dan,” he squeezed out in between sobs. Dan tried to comfort him, gently murmuring encouraging nonsense, until Adrian had calmed down a bit, at least enough to form semi-coherent sentences. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to, I swear, I was just looking at the pictures and dad came in and-”

 Dan’s blood froze in his veins, his heart stopped and the hand on his brother’s arm clenched involuntarily. “What did he see,” he clenched out between gritted teeth, missing the questioning tone but Adrian answered him anyway. “One of the picture of you and Phil kissing. I’m so sorry.”

 Dan didn’t even hear him anymore. He felt like the world had been pulled out from under his feet and he was falling, tumbling down an endless cliff he had no idea how to get out of.

 His dad choose this exact moment to storm into the room, looking about ready to murder his innocent child. “We need to talk, Dan,” he said in a monotone voice, but his eyes were so aggressive Dan wanted nothing else but to curl up into a ball and hide. It’s fine, he wanted to make himself believe, you can just go and live with Phil if he throws you out.

 But it went worse than he had feared.

 It turned out his father didn’t want him out of the house, now that he was on his way to success in the music industry, and he had his way of forcing him to stay. Instead of screaming at him, threatening him to throw him out, he blackmailed Dan.

 He still screamed, a lot, about what a disgrace he was and why, out of all the males in this country, it had to be this one. Dan strongly assumed it wouldn’t have made any difference if it would’ve been Prince Harry or whatever other male member of the royal family, but he kept his mouth shut.

 He briefly toyed with the idea to jump in to defend Phil, to tell his father that he was a successful actor and an amazing person, but he didn’t give him the chance to say anything.

 “I want him out of your life. You are going to cut every and all ties to that filth and will not contact him again in any kind of way. That clear?” His father’s voice had gone from screaming to hissing and the volume had gone down considerably, but his eyes stayed the same, fixing Dan in a gaze harder than steel. He took a deep breath. That was it. That was him standing up to his father for the first time in his life.

 “Why?” he asked, eyes set dead on him, “Why would I do that? I love him, Dad. I’ll stay with him, no matter what you say. I don’t care what you’ll do to me.” He was proud his voice didn’t break or falter in the slightest, and for a moment he thought that he’d done it, that he’d won.

 Then a smirk creeped onto his father’s face and he knew something was about to go terribly wrong.

 “You might not care about yourself”, his father said, voice cheerful like he knew he was about to ruin Dan’s life, and he liked it. “But don’t you care about your boyfriend?” Dan hadn’t been aware that the term boyfriend could sound like a slur, but suddenly it did. “I have acquired some pictures the public might find incredibly interesting…”

 Dan hadn’t noticed it before, but his father had Dan’s old laptop open on the table in front of him; the very laptop he had given his little brother because he had gotten himself a new one from his first self-earned money.

 Dan already knew what he would see there when his father turned it around. He had transferred, but forgotten to delete all the pictures he had saved on there, including a variety of ones of Phil and him, cuddling, kissing - happy. Maybe he hadn’t even particularly cared to delete them, considering Adrian was aware of Dan’s relationship, had been for a long time. He had been happy for him and the warmth Dan had always felt at the prospect had frozen to solid ice now.

 Tears started prickling in his eyes and it took all his willpower to suppress the sob that was threatening to rip from his throat. He knew what his father was suggesting. He was obviously waiting for Dan to make a choice - but they both knew there was no choice to make.

 The crushing realization that he would give into his father’s blackmail made his heart shatter into a million pieces, but there was nothing he could do about it. The public had become much more open about those topics, but they both knew a sexuality scandal would be enough to destroy Phil’s entire career.

 They also both knew Dan couldn’t do that to Phil - not even risk it. His father had his resources, and when he wanted to know of every interaction between Dan and Phil, then he would.

 So Dan had to end it. For good.

 He was given the chance of one last skype call to break up with Phil. He knew he wasn’t the best actor and that Phil would be able to tell he’d been crying and how incredibly crushed he was, so he had to make sure that Phil wouldn’t realize, make him preoccupied with himself.

 He had to play into Phil’s insecurities. He hated himself for it, but it needed to be done; even if it tore him apart in the process.

 Phil greeted him in his usual, cheerful voice when the call connected and Dan could already feel the tears starting to rise, a sob threatening to escape his throat. There was a weight on his chest, so heavy he didn’t know how he was able to stay in an upright position. He carefully plastered an indifferent mask onto his face while his mind went back in time to keep the tears at bay; back to his birthday, back when he’d been so happy he hadn’t even known what to do with all the happiness.

 He cut right to the case, unable to put off the evil any longer.

 “Phil.. I can’t do this any longer. I have tried, but… I can’t. You’re just…” His throat constricted and he almost had to gag. He had never said words more untrue in his entire life. “You’re not good enough for me.”

 He couldn’t look Phil in the eyes as he said it. He didn’t want to see the pain, the sorrow; didn’t want to hear the sobs and the pleeds. He wanted away. Far, far away; to a place where he and Phil could be happy… Could be together.

 He felt like a monster.

 Would feel like one for a long time.

  “But I love you!” Phil pleaded. Dan’s heart constricted in his chest. His palms were probably ripped open with the force he pressed his nails into them, trying to keep himself from breaking.

 He didn’t have it in him to say much more, his heart was itching to tell the truth and he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep his facade much longer. He couldn’t help but let a tiny, incredibly quiet “I’m sorry, I love you” slip out, but it was drowned out by Phil’s cries.

 Louder, he said “We’re done. Don’t contact me ever again,” ended the call and forced himself to block Phil on any and all social media.

 Only then did he allow himself to break down.

 He knocked the glass from his bedside table as he started wailing, crumbling apart; and he watched it fall to the ground and shatter into a million pieces…

 Just like his heart.

 ::::

 October 2018

 Dan didn’t know how he made it back to his hotel room. He only knew Jennah was already waiting for him by the door as he stumbled inside, whining when she saw his state. She was by his side immediately, whimpering as she pressed her head to his thigh.

 He didn’t even make it to the bed. Instead, he sunk to the ground right there, back pressed against the door. Jennah didn’t waste any time to cuddle into his side nuzzling his shoulder. He raised his hand to stroke her ears and she rewarded him with a soft whimper, nearly drowning the sound of his sobs.

 He couldn't do this any longer. He had endured the pain for six years but now It felt like he had reached his breaking point. he couldn't do it one single second longer. He was at his breaking point.

 He skurried a bit to fumble out the phone hidden in the front pocket of his black skinny jeans. Jennah continued to provide comfort, and he appreciated it more than anything else, but he needed more. He needed his best friend.

 He had to discover that the reception in the hotel was more than bad, though, so he had no other choice but to drag himself across the room to the balcony. He slumped down again when he was outside, sliding down with his back pressed against the glass. It was the middle of October and only around six pm, but it was almost completely dark outside already. He could see the stars from where he sat and briefly wished he would be up there, somewhere far, far away, where the way his heart had been crushed meant nothing anymore.

 He was aware there was no such place, no matter how far away. But for a moment, he let himself dream.

 Until Jennah’s wet snout nuzzled into his hands.

She was back at his side again, a chocolate bar held carefully in her snout, and he wanted to cry again, out of love for this wonderful creature. “Thank you. I love you so much,” he whispered and ruffled the fur between her ears affectionately, taking the chocolate and ripping the wrapping open to take a bite. It was a bit inconvenient with one hand, considering he still held his phone in the other, but -

 Wait. Phone, balcony…

 Right. Louise.

 He dialed her number as he swallowed the first bite of chocolate.

 She picked up on the first ring. “Dan. How are you doing?” she asked, gently and caring, and suddenly there was warmth spreading through his chest. “I’m okay,” he tried, but his voice was croaky and hollow and he didn’t even believe himself.

 “Oh, honey. What happened?” Of course she wasn’t fooled. He shouldn’t even have tried.

 “I.. He… He talked to me.” He cuddled into Jennah for the extra comfort as he talked, who sat pressed into his side, a bastion of calm in the middle of the storm that was his pain.

 That’s how he told Louise everything that had happened. How they had passed each other in the entry to the stage. How Phil had come back to talk to him, what he had said, how broken he had looked. He started crying somewhere halfway through the story and there was some kind of rustling on the balcony beside his, indicating there was someone there, but he didn’t care.

 “Oh, Dan,” she whispered when he was done, and he could almost feel her embrace. He was so accustomed to her present, especially on this particular day, and it was strange to not have her there with him. He sobbed again. “It’s just,” he croaked, new tears spilling from his eyes, “In the end he’s right. It’s my fault. What happened is my fault and I just -” He halted, unsure of how to continue. “How could I do this to him?”

  “It’s not your fault, Dan,” Louise remarked, voice still soft, obviously scared to make his breakdown even worse by unsettling him.

 In the end, maybe it was that what unsettled him the most. The carefulness, the way she treated him like he was a small child or a wild animal, like he could get spooked and run away every second. “But it was!” he cried, louder now, and Jennah next to him howled lowly. “There has to be something I could have done differently! I could’ve tried fighting my dad, or try to make him see reason! Or at least something to make Phil understand I did it just to save him and his career!”

 It was silent for a while before he continued, and he knew she kept quiet just to let him get it out. “I was just so scared. I loved… Love him so much, Louise. Everything I did was just for him.” There was a broken sob from somewhere to his right and he froze immediately. For a second he thought it had been him, choking out a sob unintentionally, but Jennah’s head was turned over to the right too, staring intensely into the darkness. Again, there was rustling on the balcony there, a sound like a door sliding closed. His lady dog growled lowly for a second, but then complete silent engulfed them both, aside from the voice of Louise in his ear, murmuring soothing words.

 He was starting to think he’d imagined it all when there was a harsh knock on his door. He sat there, frozen, head turned to look through the glass pane, across his room to where the sound came from. He sat completely still, a hand laid on top of Jennah’s head tentatively to keep her quiet. A few seconds the knock came back, louder this time, more insistent. “Dan, open the door!” a voice shouted from the outside and his breathing itched. That had almost sounded like…

 “Phil?!” he questioned quietly, talking to himself, which made Louise quiet down on the other end of his still going phone call. “Louise I think… I think Phil is at my door,” he whispered into the device, unsure of how to proceed. “What are you doing still on the phone then?! Go talk to him!” she insisted in a high-pitched voice and had hung up on him before he could even react.

 “Dan! I know you’re there! Open the goddamn door!” the voice shouted again and there was more knocking. For a second he looked between his phone and the door, unsure of what to do, but then he got up and made his way inside of the room. Jennah followed him cautiously, but he stopped by the bed. “Can you stay here for me, love?” he asked her, pointing to the ground she stood on, and she sat down reluctantly, throwing him a look that was clearly not amused and slightly worried. “I’ll be fine,” he whispered and moved forward. He turned on the soft light on the headboard of the bed through the switch by the door before he opened.

 In front of it stood Phil, hair ruffled, cheeks reddened, if from the shouting or the obvious tears, Dan couldn’t be sure. He marched into the room, brushing past Dan as if he hadn’t even seen him, but stopped dead in his tracks when he spotted the dog still patiently sitting next to the bed.

 It was silent for a while after Dan had shut the door. Phil stared at his dog as she stared right back, silently estimating each other, and Dan stood slightly to the side, gaze switching between them like he was watching a tennis match.

 “Come here, girl. It’s okay,” he said after a while in the direction of his dog, who stood up silently and made her way over to them. She let Dan stroke her fur before she bravely marched forward, right up to Phil. Dan held his breath as he watched her generously accepting Phil’s outstretched hand, letting him pet her.

 “Phil, meet Jennah,” he introduced them, and Phil, who had crouched down to be on eyelevel with his dog, stopped dead in his track, head wiping up to meet Dan’s gaze for the first time since he marched through the door. His eyes were blue, so blue in the soft light and Dan’s heart constricted in his chest. He felt like drowning.

 “Jennah?” Phil whispered questioningly, eyes wide, still stroking the dog’s fur, “as in… Queen Jennah?”

 He whipped his head around, looking between Dan and his dog as he obviously made the connection. “She’s not a girl,” he stated, louder this time, “When you said your Queen you… You meant your dog?”

 Dan just nodded. He didn’t trust his voice in this moment. The weight of the situation came crashing down on him, and he felt himself swaying a bit. He moved over to the couch in the corner of the room, sinking down on it, closely followed by Phil and Jennah.

 “I thought…” Phil murmured to himself as he sat down quite close to Dan, not quite touching, but it was a close call. “You thought I was talking about my girlfriend,” Dan stated in a matter-of-fact tone as he pulled his legs up to his body, leaning against the backrest of the couch. Jennah sat right in front of it, her head cramped on the couch in the small space between his and Phil’s leg.

 “Yes,” Phil answered breathlessly, absently stroking Jennah’s fur, staring at her like he couldn’t quite believe she was real. “She likes you,” Dan declared fondly, full of affection, “She doesn’t even let Louise that close. And she usually sits her when I’m gone.”

 “Is that who you were talking to?” Phil asked softly, turning his head over to Dan now, who tensed up immediately at the question. This was it, then. They would talk about this, right now.

 His heart was beating wildly in his chest and a light feeling bubbled up in the pit of his stomach, a feeling he couldn’t quite place… Not until he recognized it as something that he had deemed impossible for a long time now. Was that... Hope?

 “Yeah,” he answered, and his voice was deep and husky and nearly broke halfway through this one single word. He was so nervous he couldn’t even hope to control his breathing and had to wrap his arms around his legs to keep his hands from shaking.

 “How much did you hear?” he whispered, stoically staring ahead, avoiding Phil’s eyes. “Pretty much everything, I think,” Phil answered and Dan’s heart almost leaped out of his chest. Oh god, what was he supposed to do?

 He started chewing on his lower lip as he took a deep, but quivering breath. “What happened back then, Dan?” Phil asked softly, body completely shifted into Dan’s direction now, one leg folded under the other to allow him to sit sideways. He was still stroking Jennah’s fur absently with one hand and the lady dog savoured it with closed eyes. Traitor.

 For a second, Dan didn’t know how to breathe. He shot a quick glance over to Phil, to his eyes, and he wasn’t sure if the look in them made it easier or harder to say what he had to say. There was something in there… Something speaking of feelings Dan had contemplated as long-lost. He shuddered.

 “I was… So happy with you that week, Phil,” Dan whispered, tears nearly choking him as they silently started rising into his eyes again. Where he even took them from anymore, he couldn’t be sure. “But when I came home I…” His throat constricted heavily and he had to suppress a retch. “My little brother sat on my bed, crying. Telling me he was sorry and that it was an accident.” His voice was unbelievably quiet now and completely breathless, and he felt Phil leaning in closer to understand what he was saying. “I had given him my old laptop before we went to the isle of man, do you remember?”

 He took the courage to look over to Phil again, who nodded. “You were so proud you made money with your music,” Phil reminisced tentatively, matching his volume to Dan’s, “So you went and bought yourself a new laptop from it.” He chuckled lowly. “You were so excited, said you’d finally be able to see me when we skyped.”

 Dan nodded back and had to close his eyes for a moment to keep the tears at bay. “I had forgotten to delete the old pictures still on there. Or maybe I just didn’t do it, I can’t even remember. Adrian knew and I didn’t-” A choking sound escaped his throat before he was able to continue. “I didn’t think it would matter,” he closed breathlessly, so quiet the blood pounding in his ears drowned out his own voice.

 It was at this moment Phil obviously made the connection. He shot up from his hunched-over sitting and stared at Dan, wide-eyed. “Your father saw the pictures?” he asked and Dan could see the shock in his eyes.

 “He barged in on Adrian as he looked through them,” Dan confirmed, his voice back to a slightly louder volume. He shook his head. “He was so shocked, Phil. Full of guilt.”

 Phil sucked in a sharp breath. “What did your father do?”, he asked, tears clogging up his throat on their way up. Dan could feel his eyes on him as he moved to burrow his face against his knees. “Oh god, Dan, what did he do?” There was a panic in his voice now and Dan failed to keep the next sob from breaking out.

 He raised his head, tears stinging in his eyes as he looked over to Phil. “He blackmailed me, Phil. My own father. He told me... “ His voice broke and Jennah whimpered from her place on the ground, sensing his pain. “He told me he’d out you in public if I wouldn’t cut all ties to you.” He was full-on crying now and before he knew it, Phil was suddenly there, taking him into his arms, gently stroking his back. Jennah nuzzled his thigh and he moved one hand to gently caress her head.

 “I’m so, so sorry Phil,” he squeezed out in between sobs, burying his head in the crock of Phil’s neck. “I was so scared he would destroy your career. He would have found out when I would have tried talking to you in secret and I just... I couldn’t let him do that to you. I loved you so much.”

 For some time he just sat there, crying as Phil held him in his arms, mumbling soothing words and gently rubbing his back.

 It was Phil who eventually broke the silence, long after his cries and broken sobs had rung out. “Out there on the balcony, when you talked to Louise, you said…” He let his voice fade out and Dan could feel him swallowing heavily. “You corrected yourself. You said…”

 Dan knew what he wanted to say. “I said I still love you.”

 He felt Phil nodding, felt his hand tremble as it rubbed circles into his back. He uprighted himself, staring straight into Phil’s blue eyes.

 I was now or never.

 “It’s true, Phil,” he whispered, voice hoarse as he stared. “I love you. I never stopped. It’s been six years and I just...” He let his head hanging down, closing his eyes. “I could never forget you. You were always there. I couldn’t even watch you on TV without breaking into tears because of how much I missed you.”

 Suddenly, there was a hand on his cheek and he opened his eyes, wordlessly staring into Phil’s. The blue was shining brightly and there was a smile on his face, so wide Dan was sure it hurt. “I love you too, Dan,” he said, his voice full of joy and happiness - and love. “I love you too, oh my god, I never stopped. I wanted to, so badly, but I couldn’t.”

 There was a moment of silent communication, of Phil asking for permission and Dan granting it, and then they moved forward in utter synchronicity until their lips met in the middle in a kiss so sweet it would put every candyfloss to shame. Somewhere in the room the needle of the wall clock ticked half past seven.

 When they broke the kiss to come up for air it was quiet for a moment as they looked into each other’s eyes, and then they were crying; crying and laughing and reveling in happiness, Jennah cheerfully barking back at them.

 “Can you… Will you give us a second chance?” Dan asked when they both had calmed down considerably, holding Phil’s hands in his, thumbs moving over the smooth skin on their backs; still unbelieving of the fact that he was allowed to feel it again.

 There were tears in his eyes as Phil looked at Dan, silently, and then he was laughing as the tears started falling. “Of course. Of course, Dan, of course. I would like nothing more than to be with you again.”

 This time, the kiss was a bit less sweet, a bit more heated, and it lasted a lot longer - at least until Jennah, obviously dissatisfied of being left out, was suddenly there, running her tongue across both of their faces.

 “Jennah!”, they both screeched in unison, laughing at the Shiba and Akita Inu Mix, who had her forelegs on the sofa to reach their faces, her tail energetically wagging around as she whoof-ed at them happily.

 They all slept in Dan’s bed that night, closely cuddled together, Dan with his head on Phil’s chest with Jennah somewhere in between.

 Four weeks later when, in the middle of a show, Dan heard about the fact that both him and Phil had been nominated for the german filmfest Berlinale, indicating that they were strong contestants for the upcoming Oscar-Nominations, he didn’t even hesitate. He ran right on stage after Phil’s dance, catching him in a bone-crushing hug. He told Phil what he had heard, tears of happiness in his eyes. Again, there was some sort of silent communication and then Phil was kissing Dan, right in the middle of the dance floor, in front of millions of viewers.

 They didn’t care they all knew - all that mattered was the happiness radiating between them.

[zannaleejoy-blog]

15 Tips For ACTUALLY Writing ✍🏼

Disclaimer: Some of these tips are ones I’ve come across on social media and some are from my own personal experience and research. These tips don’t necessary apply to novel writing just really for any kind of creative writing such as: comics, fan fictions, essays, scripts, etc…

Tip #1 Reward Yourself

 Working is a lot easier when you know there is something to gain from all that work. Whatever that may be. If you are someone who has an income and at least 20-100 dollars they can set aside. Pay yourself to write, for as many amount of pages, words, or scenes you write, pay yourself and use the money to buy yourself whatever it is your heart desires. And for those of you who don’t make much money instead- reward yourself with something you love to do. Maybe it’s playing video games for the rest of the day, or watching a YouTube video, or even taking a nap or just some time to yourself. Personally, I have a piggy bank that I put all spare money into and for every page I write at the end of the month I get that money. So if I write 15 pages in the whole month I’ve got 15 dollars to buy whatever it is I want, maybe more pencils or snacks!

Tip #2 Hold Yourself Accountable: 

If you are someone who gets embarrassed easily or who has a lot of guilt find a family member or friend who can make sure you are writing. For example: If you let them know your word goal everyday is 100 words have them ask you about it and be honest with both them and yourself. Heck, a friend on the Internet or posting on your favorite social media platform your success or failure can go along way to make sure you stick to your goals. I tend to post how many words I write in a day on Twitter. My followers tend to congratulate me on my success and I like to have that positive reaction daily so I stick to meeting my goals.

Tip #3 Writing is Practice:

 If you’re are scared that your writing is bad I can tell you first hand that not writing or being scared to write something bad is the worst thing you can do if you are fearful of sucking because you’re going to at least for a little while but the best part about humans is that if we were to do any one thing for days upon days we will inevitably get better at it. So if you write constantly than you are 100% guaranteed to get good. I have an old fan fiction that's been left on the Internet for years and I constantly go back to it to see my massive improvement and it excites me to think that I will continue to get even better.

Tip #4 Track Your Progress:

If you follow me on Twitter than you already know that I have a planner that has stickers for every 500 words I write in a day. I originally got this idea from Alexa Donne’s sticker method here on YouTube and have altered it slightly to fit my personal writing journey. I really like putting more stickers in my planner and it fulfills the child in me to see visually how much I’m achieving as well as I will purposely write more if I am close to receiving another sticker. Tally marks, or a spreadsheet on excel can also do wonders or anything that allows you to visually see your progress.

Tip #5 Set Low Low Word Counts: 

On days that I feel shitty I usually only expect me to hit 250 words because I know on my worst day I can achieve that- Also if I hit 250 I am only halfway to my regular word count of 500 so I strongly advise setting something stupidly achieve able. 20 words? 50 words? You can write that! So do that and when you've got the hang of it build it up. Just understand that the smaller the word count the longer it'll take to write it.

Tip #6 Writing Sprints: 

Writing Sprints are probably the only thing on this list I don’t practice mainly because time limits stress me out and I tend to work quickly anyway. However if you need that extra push or have very limited time to get some writing done than I encourage a writing sprint. 10 minutes to write 300 words? Or 20 minutes to write as much as you can. It prevents that critical side of you from coming out because like sonic you gotta go fast.

Tip #7 You’re Not Writing A Book:

 Now for my aspiring authors like myself understand that you, especially if you are on your rough draft, are a long way from publication and that's drafting is just putting words on paper, bad words, good words, little notes of incoherent babble. It’s a mess and you are the only person who will ever have to see it. It’s a story and it’s like telling one verbally you are just trying to convey the general message it’s sloppy and you’re mumbling and stumbling and repeating and backtracking. But as long there is a complete story no matter how sucky it’s still complete.

Tip #8 Quantity is 10x’s Better Than Quality: 

To add on to last point I suggest in prewriting and drafting to just put whatever the fuck comes to mind down. Especially in the prewriting phase when you are brainstorming and outlining just fit as many wild ideas as possible because in those times where nothing seems to be coming that will be your saving grace every single time. Because having too many ideas is better than none. When I was brainstorming I sat with my boyfriend when he was playing games and generated all kinds of ludicrous ideas but also came across a lot of awesome and happy accidents. You have to be brave and just dump whatever out and save it for later and dig through the trash.

Tip #9 Give Your Book Some Essence: 

Your book has a certain feel that only you know this comes from playlists for scenes, characters, and plot- you've got aesthetic boards for your characters, maybe you have vines that remind you of your characters. Find those things and jot them down, put them in a folder or document and hold them close. I have Pinterest boards for my characters and settings. I’ve got playlists, and these things fuel my writing and creativity. I understand my book and I am reminded that no one can write it like me.

Tip #10 Nothing is Set In Stone: 

Unless you are carving your book in a stone tablet or writing your book across the walls in sharpie than you can always go back, you can always fix and delete. We often rewrite from paper or go back into our word documents and mix things around. Write shit until you have the courage to fix it.

Tip #11 Write With A Person/Person(s) In Mind:

Writing for an audience is hard to envision for me, so instead I write for a person or a couple people in mind. Which falls in line with my writing, I’ve always written for people whether it be classmates, friends, or people on the Internet and soon when I write a book for everyone to read. Writing for me has always been about writing for others and getting through drafting and writing in general is trying to get reactions, laughs, and smiles out of my readers. If you write for someone who loves you then you will always feel comfort in pleasing them and that no matter what you write it doesn’t matter what others think because they will love it regardless. I often write for my boyfriend, mother, brother, and my best friend. The four people who are close to me and are guaranteed to enjoy my writing and I can guarantee that you too, have someone that will love what you write and you’ll want to please them.

Tip #12 Write For Children/ Write Silly:

If you feel like you have to write a story that needs to have complex prose and have subtleties and be nuanced which is nice and all but if you are struggling it’s okay to just write like you are writing for a young one, someone old enough to read but young enough to understand basic storytelling. And if writing once upon a time puts you in the mood to write more than all power to it. You can always delete that once upon a crap later. Just tell us the story. Hell I use to do this kind of stuff with outlining which was fucking hard for me at first when I was a hardcore pantser sometimes I would write really silly. For example, Henry eats food, and he falls dead, the village knows the food is bad, food is suspicious, main character Zora will find it out, it’s the storm the storm has ruined the food. Oh no! This is just a simple way for me to get many thoughts down and to easily expand and not feel like I need to write something perfect.

Tip #13 Write Dialogue First and Finish The Rest Later: 

It’s pretty self explanatory but you need to just get dialogue done first. When I wrote Dragon Age fan fiction this is when I first used this. It was a sure fire way for me to get words on paper because Dragon Age’s dialogue is a big part of the dragon age experience if you aren’t already aware. I usually get distracted by dialogue tags and description and slows me down significantly so write all the dialogue and figure the other stuff later.

Tip #14 Surround Yourself With Positivity: 

If you’ve got friends and family who support you like I am lucky enough to have people who support me, even if you don’t have people in your everyday life who support you then it’s a good idea to join a writing community whether it be on discord, Instagram, Twitter, whatever find your writer friends and hold them close because having some friends to cheer you on, support you, and fall back on does all the good.

Tip #15 Character and Setting Visual Stimuli: 

Because I am horrible with description of people and setting I found that have pictures of my characters and settings is the easiest way to describe when I can see it somewhere other than in my head. I strongly suggest utilizing this because you also add on your own little things if the picture doesn’t fit entirely.

[birupulmeo1983-blog]

Early on, during that time period, I had stopped by my Dads for a visit. He's a farmer, and wanted help moving a hay elevator. A very large, very heavy, and the case of his bale elevator, very ancient, piece of farm machinery. I am so glad you are holding firm on your boundaries. You clearly see right through her; honestly she's the type of person who said NEVER be given the benefit of the doubt. All of my alarm bells are going off over her treatment of DD. It only six pages. If the limit for whatever the short is for is five pages, then yes, it too long, but other than that, it doesn really ever matter. If it good, but a hundred pages, people will read it. I had the baby, I was like these are the same people that made fun of me and posted the stories that were so awful, calling me fat for something I couldn control. I don want to smile for them. Who suffers from severely dry skin on her face and legs, is set to use a new surrogate for her fourth baby with husband Kanye West.. It has absolutely made it difficult to relate to most people and their struggles because my experience was just so different. It helps to remind me that someone else's worst might not compare to mine but it's still the worst to them. Just like others have had it worse than me but that doesn't invalidate what I went through.. I think it depends on the history of the brand. Years of this crap and suddenly they change their tune 성주출장샵 I wouldn buy it. Also, I do think people can change (to a point), but it different with businesses because you got a line of employees who are giving the thumbs up on something like this. The only stated archdevil is Zariel and she is really tough (CR 26). I imagine the other archdevils would be around her power level (?) with the exception of Asmodeus, who depending on your setting and time period, might be a god. Tiamat was CR 30 but honestly, I think gods should be higher than that, but that just me. Seems like people are more pissed that the movie reviews flopped than this joke. Since the nature of the joke is to explain why the movie isn doing well.The best part about all of this, is your overly sensitive, demands for PC responses, kind of is why the movie seems to get bad reviews. If you stop putting a PC, feminist narrative into the movie and focus on the actual movie and what makes the comic great you get a good movie.t0beyeus 1 points submitted 1 day agoSadly it seems people in this thread are bitching without actually keeping up with the company and its recent sexual harrassment and sexual discrimination scandal. Interesting you pointed out intersectional feminism. I think this scandal really pointed out how contemporary feminism is often just a disguise for white feminism. Black twitter and especially black women were really the ones who called out how messed up it was for ppl to be putting all the blame on Jordyn in that situation. The reason I love Dangerous Woman is because I think it is pop perfection. It's full of belting, loud vocals you can sing to, and pulsing electro 성주출장샵 pop beats that you can really dance to. Sonically, it's her best pure POP album, surpassing Sweetener and TU,N (both of which I adore). Thai is not offered there but they are very chill about everything as well. I always incorporate a little Thai into every massage I give. It's just part of my techniques now! I do live in Colorado where alternative healing is very common and widely accepted.

[dannifielding]

Season 10 Sneak Peak

Here you go, then. Another one.

I expect lots of questions and asks and things, because this one is quite spoiler-y. I thought you would enjoy it and now that it’s out of my brain hopefully I can get on with writing what I’m supposed to XD

~0~0~0~

Danni stormed into the bedroom, grumbling to herself before she dropped her laptop onto the bed. How was she supposed to study if the Doctor insisted on talking at every single moment? Bill didn’t know any better, but he did. She needed quiet. How long had they been at the university now? He knew how she studied, it had never changed.

She ignored the fact that she was just angry because he’d brought in a companion with zero consideration of her or the responsibilities that he decided they needed to bear. If he hadn’t been so soft at heart then Missy wouldn’t be underground right now, alive and planning her next move. They were Time Lords, they had lifetimes to think of escape plans. She should know. She’d lost a lifetime to that monster. He didn’t understand but how could she argue? He’d taken on the oath of looking after Missy’s body for a thousand years which wasn’t something he could just get out of.

Apparently.

Not that she’d found, anyway.

Even if he could, she knew that he wouldn’t. He wanted to help Missy find the goodness inside and he wouldn’t listen to her when she told him there wasn’t anything good inside that woman. She was beyond redemption.

She sat heavily on the bed, opening her laptop with more force than necessary. And now she had to write a 4000-word essay on the drawbacks of viewing time in a linear fashion. She smiled slightly before she opened the word processor. He was a fantastic teacher, though. She could listen to him gives lectures for the next thousand years no problem at all. Even if he went over old ground, she would still enjoy it more than pretty much everything else.

She started her studies by, naturally, going on the internet. This time period did love Twitter so that was her first stop. It was usually a hellpit of arguments and death threats, but sometimes there was a good meme she could lose some time in.

Next was Facebook, where she liked a couple of posts on the group that had been created for everyone who attended the Doctor’s lectures. She turned down an invite for a night out, but promised to fill a spot at a trivia night. She liked to show her face from time to time. It was part of being a student.

Lastly were her emails. Brian still liked to drop her the occasional update of the 1950s, and all the plants that he was cultivating in Amy and Rory’s back garden. She appreciated updates from all her family and, no matter which body she was in, she made sure to give him the proper level of attention and intrigue. If he loved the plants so much then they must have been important.

Then, amongst the spam and newsletters she’d inevitably signed up to when she went online shopping, a random email appeared. With the subject of ‘FAO: Danielle Fielding’ she should have guessed it was just some more spam, but it still caught her attention enough to open it.

‘Hello, my Pet.’

She smiled softly to herself. The Doctor hated email, but who else could it be?

The door opened and the man himself peered around the door. “Ah, I thought you would be here,” he said. She looked up at him. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’ve just got an essay to write,” she replied a little cheekily. “My professor decided he wanted us to write a 4000-word essay for next Tuesday.”

“And some old idiot kept prattling on so you couldn’t focus?” he asked in reply, looking a little sheepish.

“Oh, you heard him too?” she asked, playing along. “I’ve asked him so many times to not do that when I’m working but he just can’t help himself.”

“He can’t. He must love the sound of his own voice,” the Doctor replied. She smiled brightly. “Your professor is always giving you homework. Maybe you should find another one who doesn’t eat up so much of your time.”

“Nah,” she dismissed. “The rest of the universe is boring. He’s the only one who can hold my attention long enough for me to actually want to do the homework he sets.”

“That’s good. Because I know, from experience, that he’s only teaching because he likes to see you smile,” the Doctor told her. “Speaking of.” He stepped into the room, revealing a large mug he’d hidden behind his back. “I thought you could do with something warm while you studied.”

“Thanks,” she replied sincerely. He walked over and placed it on the bedside table. He then leant down and placed a kiss on her hair. She turned, caught his lips for a brief kiss, but let him go. She really did want to get the essay done.

“Was 4000 words too many?” he asked as he headed for the door. The fact she’d hauled herself up in the bedroom told him rather clearly that she wanted to be left alone.

“I shouldn’t think so,” she replied. “Linear time can be quite the complicated subject when you dive in enough. I suspect you’ll have a few over the word count.”

He paused at the doorway. “Perhaps I should stop assigning so many essays,” he declared. “I’m just making more work for myself.”

“Definitely might be something to consider,” she agreed. He chuckled, knowing that he wasn’t going to stop challenging his students, then headed through the door.

Danni looked back at her computer and saw the email he sent her. “Theta?”

He darted back into the room. “Yes?”

“Did you send me an email before?” she asked. His brows furrowed.

“Why would I do that? I know where you are,” he replied, confused.

“I guess so,” she mused with a frown. Then she smiled. “Love you.”

“Love you too, my Pet,” he replied before disappearing. Probably going back to Bill, she was sure their tutoring session had another half an hour or so to go.

She didn’t pay it much mind, instead she turned back to the email. She believed the Doctor completely when he said it wasn’t from him, but that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t send it from his future to her present. The TARDIS could, on occasion, divert from one timeline to another if needed.

‘Who is this?’

It seemed the simplest of questions and she sent it without much thought of manners. A moment later it there was a reply.

‘Don’t be stupid.’

She frowned, annoyed for a moment. They obviously thought that she should know who they were, which she didn’t. Maybe she could work it out. The Doctor was the only one who called her his Pet but, while the next message could have easily been from him, she knew it wasn’t.

She checked the email address, something she should have thought of sooner. Her eyes widened slightly. The username and domain name were exactly the same.

‘knockknock.’

Four knocks.

Well, she had to admit, it was pretty on the nose and she felt rather stupid for not noticing it sooner. It didn’t last very long, though, because the anger at the thought quickly took over. She slammed the lid on her laptop shut and jumped off her bed. She stormed out of the TARDIS, straight past the Doctor and Bill who just watched her leave but didn’t follow. The look on her face must have told them that she was best left alone and she was glad at it, because she didn’t want Bill to see her shouting.

Nardole was outside the Vault door, doing whatever checks he tended to do when he was there. He glanced over his shoulder. “Danielle, I was just making sure…”

“Move,” she demanded shortly. He spun, looking slightly alarmed.

“What-What are you…” he stuttered but she pushed him out of the way, tapping away on the keypad that unlocked the doors. “You can’t go in there! She’s not ready to see anyone.”

“Don’t care,” Danni retorted. “She’s broken the rules.” She continued to type – the Doctor had really overdone the passcode – and didn’t look up as she called inside. “Get inside the glass box!” she commanded. “If you’re not in there I’m not coming in!”

“Danielle, I must insist you stop this at once,” Nardole exclaimed. “The Doctor gave me strict instructions to keep everyone out of there, including yourself. It’s for your safety.”

“Who did River tell you to listen to?” she countered.

“Well, that’s not really fair…”

“That’s not an answer.”

He sighed. “You, Danielle,” he admitted reluctantly.

“So, my orders supersede the Doctor’s. Stop contradicting me.”

“But you have to see why I must,” Nardole pressed. “She’s recovering, not recovered. If she gets ideas then it could set everything back decades!”

“She’s never going to recover,” Danni snapped as she stepped back and the Vault doors started to open. She wasn’t sure if she was relieved or not to see Missy sat in the middle of the room in the containment field in the middle of the room. On one had she was very happy to see as many barriers as possible between her and Missy, but it also meant that she would be able to talk to the other Time Lady and that was never a good prospect.

Keeping her anger tight, she strode into the room. “Where did you get the internet?” she demanded. “You’re not supposed to contact the outside world at all.”

Missy held her hand up to her chest. “I don’t have access to the internet,” she promised. “Or a phone, or even a Morse code machine.”

“You are lying,” Danni snapped back, getting as close to the glass as she dared. “Where is it?”

“I promise I don’t have any such thing,” Missy replied. “You know I’m not lying.”

Danni barked out an angry laugh. “You’re not lying?” she exclaimed. “All you do is lie!” She opened the laptop, showing her the browser where her email inbox sat. “What is this, then?” she demanded. “Knock-Knock at Knock-Knock dot com. Did you really think I wouldn’t get that?”

Missy leant a little closer to see and, despite the glass walls separating them, Danni stepped back and away from her. “I can see the confusion,” Missy replied calmly. “But honestly, Danielle, that isn’t me. You can check the room if you like. I’m sure you’ve got that silly little sonic device with you.”

Danni stared at her for a moment longer, alert in case she tried something she needed to react to quickly. She did have a point, unfortunately, so after a moment to make sure she wasn’t too much of a threat, Danni tucked her laptop underneath her arm and pulled out her screwdriver. She did a quick scan of the area and found Missy was right. She lowered her arm, still holding the sonic screwdriver tightly. “There’s nothing here,” she admitted reluctantly.

“I’m glad you can see that now,” Missy replied, standing up. Danni again moved a little backwards from the glass. “I really am trying to change, Danielle. Surely you can see that?”

Danni shook her head. “You can’t change,” she retorted. “You’re never going to change. Your regeneration is poisoned.”

She actually looked hurt, which just made Danni feel a little sick. “I am trying,” she insisted again. “I know I hurt you, I know I did wrong. Please, let me show that to you.”

She stepped towards Danni and Danni shot backwards, dropping her screwdriver in her panic. “Stay back,” she cried. “Stay away from me.”

“Please, Danielle,” Missy begged. “I just want to make it up to you.”

Danni shook her head. “No, no, you’re not going to change and you’re not coming anywhere near me,” she exclaimed. She turned and quickly strode out of the Vault. “Lock it up, Nardole.”

Nardole sighed heavily, doing as she said. “I said it wasn’t a good idea,” he muttered.

“I know you did,” Danni retorted as Missy sat back down, watching the doors to the vault close in front of her. “Don’t tell the Doctor I was here.”

“But Danielle…”

“Don’t tell him!”

Nardole sighed again as she disappeared out of the basement. “I shouldn’t have come here,” he muttered. “No gratitude at all.”

~0~0~0~

Danni stopped after bursting back out into the outside world, leaning against the wall and panting heavily. Her hands were shaking, her hearts were racing. They had been here decades and she still couldn’t help but feel absolutely terrified just at the sight of Missy. She hated going down there, but she had needed to find out if Missy was trying to escape. There had been no ability to contact anyone outside the Vault, though. Missy was clean.

The thought should have calmed her, but it didn’t. She reopened the laptop yet again and replied to the email quickly.

‘Who is this?’

She watched, trying to catch her breath and calm her nerves, for what felt like eternity. She’d never been so anxious to get an email before. Then the reply appeared. There was a picture attached and embedded but, as the university infrastructure was absolutely awful, the text appeared first.

‘Did you miss me?’

‘What do you think of the beard?’

Her eyes widened, her breath caught and her knees went weak. The wall was the only thing holding her up as the image quickly revealed itself. Brown hair, styled beard, a killer grin and a ridiculous smug look.

“Koschei?”

[smashingatsonicspeed]

The Box Theory + One Banned Character for the Contest

I want to talk about a current things that has come out this past few days that might have shown what we have left in the base game. I do want to say that because of where we are right now. There will be one banned character. I won’t say who it is in this introduction paragraph so those who are trying to stay out of spoilers for the roster can skip this post entirely. But after the break I will be heavily talking about what are seen as the final characters in the base game and how many there are.

The main thing that I will say without spoilers though. Is I’d advise to lower your expectations for base game newcomers in the case this theory turns out true. I don’t necessarily want this to be true, but if I keep my expectations to the point where it’s only what the theory states either I’ll have come to peace with it weeks beforehand or I will be pleasantly surprised when there’s more then I think. It’s still controversial in the Smash speculation boards, but so was the final Brawl newcomer list as well as the ESRB leak for Smash 4 in the last game where there were people denying it because certain “shoo-ins” weren’t in it. So tread carefully either way with all this. After the break I will fully discuss what might be it for our base game roster for Smash Ultimate

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED, IF THIS THEORY HOLDS OUT TRUE. WHAT”S TALKED ABOUT BELOW IS IT FOR THE BASE GAME. THERE’S STILL LIKELY DLC EVENTUALLY FOR THIS GAME BUT WE DON’T KNOW WHEN IT’LL START DROPPING.

First take a look at this box

The characters seem to be in a strange order. For some reason Corrin is next to the Mii Fighters. Sheik is on this side and not next to Zelda. Some strange placement it looks like at first glance. But there is an actual design choice being in mind. The characters are put into groups of 9. To show this here’s what those groups of 9 are

LEFT SIDE (Not shown in the image)

| 1 2 3 4 4e 5

6 7 8 |

|17 18 19

20 21 21e 22 23 24 |

| 32 33-35 36 37 38 39

40 41 42 |

|54 55 56

57 58 59 60 60e? 61 |

RIGHT SIDE (The one actually showing in the image)

9 10 11 12 13 13e

14 15 16 |

|25 25e 26

27 28 28e 29 30 31|

|43 44 45 46 47 48

49 50 51-53 |

|62 63 64

65 66 66e 67 68 69? |

Basically each row either starts with 6 or 3 and followed by 3 or 6 in the row below. And it goes like that for nearly all the groups. The image was of course released prior to Isabelle’s reveal. So eventually she’ll be on the box too. But accounting for all these groups of 9 there’s one spot on each side that would be missing. So allow me to tell you straight on what the Box theory implies is left. With 36 characters on each side there’s only 2 spots left out of 72 (Mii Fighters and Pokemon Trainer are merged)

1. There’s only one echo to go. Any additional characters on the left side of the box can only be an echo because none of the Ultimate newcomers are on that side of the box except for echoes. And it’s highly expected to be Ken from Street Fighter. And even if somehow it’s not Ken. It can only be from the group of 54-61 (AKA Palutena to Cloud). Though there’s more evidence for Ken aside from this. In that Vergeben, perhaps the only somewhat legit leaker we have for this game has said and even doubled down on Ken in this game. He’s gotten Ridley, Snake, Simon, and now Isabelle all right. So there hasn’t been much reason to doubt him so far other then maybe he hasn’t told us of the echoes aside from Ken or K. Rool. BTW it is Ken who is the banned character in my contest. No one picked him beforehand anyway but just wanted to state if someone sends Ken as their choice they will be told it’s invalid because it’s too easy of a guess. When most people signed up there wasn’t a sure thing for anybody getting it right. If circumstances change I’ll keep you guys posted. But for now, Ken is ineligible.

2. The last unique newcomer is heavily rumored to be a Gen 7 Pokemon and most in particular Incineroar. Rounding out our base game non-echo list to 69 (Inb4 the internet jokes). While you could argue they could just put whatever is left after Incineroar on the bottom or even the back of the box. The groups of 9 still seems like such a purposefully made design choice with all the symmetry of 36 characters on each side. The only way if this theory is correct there can still be more echoes or newcomers without having to move some characters elsewhere on the box is if there is 2 Smash directs coming. One in October where all the Smash reveals up to then will be on the Special edition box that comes out November 2nd and then another in November where more reveals are done as a final surprise and newcomers are left out purposefully because of it.

(On a side note, I know someone picked Incineroar on my contest. But their choice is not invalid because they picked Incineroar long before all this. And they don’t officially win until Incineroar is actually officially announced. But for now if they’ve been paying attention. They may very well know they will be a winner if this is all true)

I’ll also cover some of the common arguments against it. (I may be slightly making this similar to PushDustIn’s thread about it on Twitter but thought I’d put it in my own words anyway)

“It’s a placeholder/edited”

Why leave the characters like that then? They could of left it all blank and kept the characters off until after we knew everybody prior to the release of the box. It’s quite suspicious to leave those last two blank and not think they’re room for newcomers and combined with the order design choice you could put two and two together and figure out what would be missing in this case

“This would *insert highly expected character of your choice* that totally was a lock for the game isn’t in!”

Never, ever, ever, EVER consider any character a lock. We should have learned this lesson after Wolf in Smash 4

“Why would Nintendo marketing mess this up?”

Nintendo isn’t perfect, they’ve made mistakes before even in Marketing. And it isn’t even the only case where a game box leaked that only a certain amount of characters were playable with Fire Emblem Warriors the base game was restricted to just the ones who got sprites on a certain case. Not to mention a Smash 4 3DS character showed an offscreen Ganondorf prior to his official reveal.

“Didn’t Vergeben mention a 2nd Square Enix character?”

He has sometimes not been too sure about and he is now currently investigating it. It could mean that whomever is the 2nd Square Enix character, it may be our first DLC fighter ala Mewtwo in Smash 4 (Which I’d say is probably Geno)

“Only 2 characters left is such a lackluster ending!”

Reminder we got Olimar and Shulk as our final newcomer reveals before release in Brawl and Smash 4. They aren’t heavy hitters like some of the reveals before them, that’s for certain (I don’t hate Olimar or Shulk BTW. But comparing Olimar to Sonic, or Shulk to Pac-Man or Mega Man it’s just no comparison)

“Why are you defending this?! Don’t you want more then two characters?”

Yes I’d love more then two more. The more the merrier. But as it stands, nothing is wrong with lowering expectations. Again, if I’m wrong in believing the theory I’ll be as ecstatic as some of the doubters will be. But if it’s the truth, then I will have made my peace weeks prior to the confirmation of it all. Thus I won’t be upset either way.

All I can is I advise you to take a similar approach. Expect Ken and Incineroar to be all that’s left at least until we get any potential surprises that proves this theory all wrong. Either you will have long accepted what is currently our amazing roster of so many amazing characters, or you’ll be partying that there’s even more then we think.