#anyway the combat is still confusing to me but it is fun

[bipedalseal]

so ive been playing pathfinder: wrath of the righteous for a few hours now and so far the premise has not really hooked me. compared to dos2 and bg3, the premise feels like generic christian-flavored fantasy "demons destroyed the city and i am chosen by heaven to save it". the companions not having a lot of overworld dialogue also threw me off (like i lead into the party in a room full of disfigured corpses and medieval torture devices and there was no reaction or insight whatsoever

[renstardust]

Two months.

It had been exactly two months since you fled the First Order, leaving behind your life as Apprentice beneath Commander Ren.

You left without any trace or explanation. Ren assumed you left because you didn’t think anyone would care; that they could track down another dark side loving Force-user with ease. He worried that maybe, you thought you were disposable.

It’s not like the lingering glances or touches between you and your Master meant anything anyway — it was all just business. Neither of you had time for feelings or any of that soft shit.

He assumed you’d think he wouldn’t care if you left. That if anything, he’d probably be relieved. That he could find someone older, stronger, more serious about being in one of the most sought after positions in the galaxy.

Kylo was losing his fucking mind, actually.

The worst part was that he could feel you. Everywhere. Not just in the Force signature you’d left behind that lingered in the cold, metal hallways of the Supremacy, or in your former quarters (the same quarters he now only visits once a day, sometimes twice), but he could feel you, out there, running about.

Driving him utterly insane.

He replayed every little conversation in his head, every moment you’d spent together: training sessions, meditations, meal times, quiet moments in cockpits during missions. Trying to piece together every memory, trying to figure out exactly when and how he screwed up.

What he did — or didn’t do — to keep you.

Losing you made Kylo realize how deeply he actually felt about you. The sound of your voice that he felt soothed by, the way your black clothes hugged your body in a manner that would make his pants feel uncomfortably tight, how graceful and calculative your combat skills looked, both in training and actual fights.

He missed the warmth of your scent. The softness of your hair. Those beautiful fucking eyes. Your little quirks, your sense of humor, your confidence, your occasional stubbornness, your persistence.

Gods, he missed you. You haunted his dreams, interrupted his meditation sessions, caused a tightness in his chest that hasn’t disappeared since the day you were suddenly gone.

As if you were never here to begin with.

Kylo’s lip trembled, tears pricking at his hazel eyes as he sat in his quarters after a particularly rough day of training with the Knights. He shook his head, shoving his feelings aside, including the everlasting urge to go sit in your old quarters across the hall and try to smell the barely-there scent of your perfume. He still hasn’t let the cleaning droids come near that room.

Was he….grieving you?

Should he go looking for you? Maybe he could coax you back-

“Why is everyone being a dick to me today?”

Your voice suddenly filled his quarters, pulling him from his daze, the metal door sliding shut behind you. Kylo blinked, tense as ever, quickly rising from his seat and adjusting himself. His eyes were wide, eyebrows furrowed, lips parted.

“I get it, I took a little leave to visit my family, but I really needed it, and I’m glad I did it. Two months without my datapad was really refreshing too. It’s not my fault everyone else here is married to their job.”

Kylo cleared his throat, confused as all hell.

“Apprentice-“

“Especially Hux! He looked at me like I was a ghost. I get that we aren’t on the greatest terms, but he could’ve at least acknowledged me with a nicety.”

“APPRENTICE.”

Your lips snapped shut, eyes widening at your Master’s stern, husky voice. The extra deep version that you only heard when he was at his breaking point.

“What, Kylo?”

“Where the hell have you been?”

“…On vacation? I sent everyone notice like three weeks before I left. And the night before…?”

“Nobody knew you went on vacation.”

“But Officer Mitaka told me to have fun before I left.”

A beat of silence. A creak of leather in Kylo’s gloved hands, now squeezing into big fists. Tight, trembling fists.

“Which database did you forward the notice to?”

You raised an eyebrow. “Eleven. I usually message in eleven.”

“Highest ranking officials message in database thirteen, Apprentice.”

Your pupils dilate, lips parting. “Fuck, is that why none of you guys reacted to the pictures I sent?”

Kylo didn’t know whether he wanted to kill you, or take you right then and there. Irritation and relief pulsed through his body simultaneously as he took in slow breaths of frustration. He was fucking pissed.

And so, so fucking happy.

You were here.

You never really left.

Kylo pulled his lips into his mouth, eyes darkening before he responded. “Medbay. Now. Let’s go.”

“Why?”

“I’m getting you tagged, Apprentice.”

[pomefioredove]

If you still take req for the event (if not ignore 🙏), could we pls get "I can't stop thinking about you." With Sebek

RARE SEBEK REQUEST 🙏🙏🙏

summary: "I can't stop thinking about you" type of post: short fic characters: sebek additional info: romantic, reader is gender neutral, reader is yuu

You are a problem.

Not because you're always getting yourself into trouble, not because of your poor temperament, not even because of that direbeast you carry around with you.

No. Sebek couldn't have cared less about all that.

If that's all it was, he could have tolerated you. What's one more bothersome human to him?

You would have been no different from the others.

If not for...

"Ah, young love," Lilia sighs. There's a dreamy current in the stream of his voice that makes Sebek stiffen.

"It is NOT... love,"

The elder fae chuckles. "Yes, I remember what that was like. Denial is the first stage, you know,"

"That's grief, father," Silver mutters, keeping his head down to avoid being dragged into the conversation.

"And what is grief if not love?"

"Again," Sebek is tense. "I am not interested in such things. I have already devoted my life and service to Malleus."

Silver and Lilia give each other a look.

"You know, Sebek, it's okay to have these kinds of thoughts. You're young! You have the rest of your life to guard Malleus. You should have some fun," Lilia says.

"Father is right. Maybe you'll loosen up a bit. You're too stressed,"

"YOU'RE NOT STRESSED ENOUGH!"

Lilia sighs that certain familiar sigh.

"I admire your focus, Sebek. If you really want to rid yourself of these feelings, the fastest way to do so is confessing. That way, you won't spend months toiling over them,"

Sebek's expression flips forthwith, and he beams. "Thank you for your wisdom!"

Silver raises an eyebrow, and Lilia dismisses him with a wave. It doesn't matter, anyway; Sebek takes his words to heart.

It's long past dark when he pounds on Ramshackle's door.

Nonetheless, you answer, bleary-eyed and sluggish, a thumb-sucking Grim tucked in your arms like an infant.

"Sebek?" you ask. "Is... everything alright? Are you okay? Did something happen to Malleus?"

Your words of concern are like an arrow through his heart. Worried for both him and his liege?

But also... worried for him...

He better get this over with fast.

"Malleus is well, do not worry about him. This concerns us,"

You stare in disbelief, as if you hadn't heard him right. "Us?"

"Did you mishear me? I am here because I cannot stop thinking about you!"

"...Oh!"

Oh?

"...Me?"

"Am I not speaking loud enough for you? I said, I CANNO-"

Your eyes widen. "No! No, I heard you! I'm just confused. What exactly does that mean?"

Sebek crosses his arms. Of course. Sigh...

"Lilia said I might overcome my feelings for you if I express them. So? What do you have to say for yourself?"

You blink. You're clearly still tired, he thinks, otherwise you would have understood, accepted his words, and been gone by now.

Right? Nothing more.

"Um... I don't know," you finally say. "Maybe I can come to training tomorrow?"

Hm. A strange response, but not an unwelcome one. Sebek grins.

"Finally taking up the offer? Of course. Anyone who spends time with Malleus should know the basics of combat,"

You hum, looking up at the sky behind him. "I wasn't really thinking about spending time with Malleus, but... okay. Tomorrow,"

"Tomorrow!"

And with that, he's gone, with a warm feeling in his chest that wasn't there before.

Lilia must have been right about confessing- he suddenly feels much better.

[writemeaway]

NEW AU IDEA IM HAVING

Inspired by DDVAU and the fact that I can't find any good Mumscarian fics out there (that have the specifics I want- you know, the normal fanfic trouble)

HEAR ME OUT-

Welcome to: Worse Than a Love Square (name pending)

We have Hotguy, we have Cuteguy, and now Give me PrettyGuy!!! It's Mumbo :3>

I debated on a ton of names but HandsomeGuy was too long and EmoGuy was too funny so PrettyGuy was the ultimate choice. All Mumbo art features a very pretty guy so I think it suits him and it also fits the descriptors of our other two vigilantes! I still need to come up with a design for him though... (I’m thinking something along the lines of Grumbot, but different colors so he’s not matching colors with HotGuy) he'd be a very technical guy, not too great at hand to hand combat, but he makes little creatures to fight for him and has great inventions for the other two heroes

Now!!! The actual AU!!!

So get DDVAU and make the relationships even MORE conveluted. Love square? Prepare to become a love HEXAGON.

YES IT'S CONFUSING BUT THATS THE FUN IN IT, But I will make this as simple as possible (which isn’t very possible)

Mumbo has crushes on Hotguy and Cuteguy

Scar has crushes on Cuteguy and Mumbo

Grian has crushes on PrettyGuy and Scar

Of course the story would be vastly different than ddvau because obviously. I'm not about to copy anyone's work, especially the beloved creators of DDVAU

But to sprinkle Mumbo in this mix, he's a huge fanboy, he has a lot of their merch, but his favorite piece is the hotguy calendar. Cuteguy has yet to do one but there's a rumor going around that Hotguy and Cuteguy will collaborate on one together soon, and Mumbo already has it preordered somehow… don’t ask, he’s a little freak <3

Anyway, there's a horrible battle one day that ends with HotGuy gravely injured, and CuteGuy is struggling to get him out of the fight without getting hurt himself.

Mumbo, being the fucking insane man he is, hides his identity the best he could (hoodie and mask because he doesn’t want a villain to see his face and track him down, he knows the danger he’s putting himself in by trying to rescue his hero) he pulls HotGuy out of there just barely, ignoring CuteGuy telling him to get out of there before he gets himself hurt

Mumbo thankfully has first aid training under his belt and is able to stop the bleeding for the most part.

HotGuy is dazed but doesn’t protest against the help, too out of it to try. In his face he calls Mumbo’s eyes pretty :3 (they’re the only part of him that’s fully visible, and to be fair, Scar doesn’t recognize him as Mumbo since his signature mustache is hidden behind a mask) Mumbo of course is flustered as all hell

When Cuteguy finally fights off the villain he comes stumbling back, telling Mumbo that what he did was reckless and dumb (he doesn’t recognize him as Mumbo either) but he’s grateful to him for saving HotGuy’s life.

CuteGuy then takes HotGuy with him, ignoring how HotGuy is trying to tell him how pretty his savior is. They have a healer that they both trust, Grian thanks Mumbo, then flies off apologizing that he can’t walk him home.

The fact that Hotguy called him Pretty gets stuck in Mumbo’s head for days.

It gets so stuck in there that he starts thinking, “I helped them once. What if I can continue to do that?”

Mumbo creates himself a costume and an assortment of weapons and nick nacks to use in combat. (I’d like for him to have those cool screen masks, though I don’t know if he should have a mustache or not seeing how telling that could be)

He helps save the day in his new getup, and before he knows it, he’s apart of the team.

Though Hotguy mourns the fact that he can’t call CuteGuy “Pretty Bird” anymore.

Can you tell how I’m already going wild over this idea? Because I am. I NEED TO WRITE THIS SO BAD

Of course there’s a bunch more from Mumbo’s first meeting face to face with the pair, his hero debut, him inserting himself into the hero duo, the rejection of him being a hero but him being a stubborn little shit, the ideas race on through my head

I’ll temporarily call it, “Worse than a Love Square” idk if that’ll stick or not but we’ll see

Second post relating to this AU is here!!!

Third post here!

[memepocalypse]

Bardic Inspiration Starters pt. 2

[source]

"There is no sweeter music than the screams of our enemies. Now, go compose."

"As much as I would enjoy looting your dead body, I truly do want you to succeed here."

"If reckless shenanigans got us into this mess, then why can't they get us out?"

"If it weren't for a foolish attempt at glory, then nothing would ever be accomplished.

"You might fail, die even. But at least it won't be boring."

"They say laughter is the best medicine. Your face must be curing the world."

"Your roar didn't scare me. The stench of your breath did though."

"This a special occasion. I didn't typically engage in mental combat with the unarmed."

"You're proof that even the gods make mistakes sometimes."

"As it turns out, stupidity is a crime, and you have been sentenced to death."

"You will never face an opponent as great as I. In fact, you will never face anyone again."

"This isn't going to hurt for long. But oh damn is it going to hurt."

"We're not going to simply stand here poking fun at you. We're also going to poke swords and arrows at you."

"People told me you were terrible. It's not true. You're actually far worse than that.

"Some babies get dropped on their heads. You obviously were thrown against a wall."

"At first I thought that you were brave. Then I realized you're actually just stupid."

"You run about whacking things with a piece of metal. Truly, what an advanced being you are.""You remind me of an ape in armor."

"Typically I have to pay to see a freak show like you."

"As an outsider, how does it feel to have humanoids slaying you?"

" You fiends are most courteous."

"You are full of malevolence, wickedness, and evil. Soon you are going to be full of our weapons and spells."

"Fiends have been trying to take over the world for thousands of years, and you've failed every time. Are you noticing a pattern here?"

"You're probably too stupid to understand this, but worry not, the confusion will be over soon."

"If you shave a dwarf, all that's left is a nose and a beer gut."

"Elves live ten times longer than humans and accomplish ten times less."

"The only thing lucky about halflings is how they don't get crushed to death by real people walking around."

"I am not certain what it is that makes you so stupid, but it really works."

"Is this your first battle ever? Well, it's certainly your last."

"Blade with whom I have lived, blade with whom I now die, serve right and justice one last time, seek one last heart of evil, still one last life of pain, cut well old friend, and then farewell."

"I do not study the divine to imitate what they do. I study the divine to imitate what they are."

"The PCs aren't for the wine or storytelling, they are here for the gnome tossin' and dwarf wresslin'!"

"The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules."

"I was once a man, not a great man, not a saintly man, but a good man, and a man nonetheless."

"I did not choose to be a monster—a shell of a man—half-human, half-fiend. I am a tiefling. I am what I am."

"If it has walked these lands, I can track it. If it hasn't I will find it anyway."

"Because the wizard will eventually need a personal audience when slaying gods."

"That perfection is unobtainable is not an excuse not to strive for it."

"Words carry weight. Mine far more so than yours."

[babiebom]

Hello!! Soooo I was reading your headcannons about Shane going with his S/O to the mines and that got me thinking. How would the Bachelors (and maybe also the Bachelorettes) react to a Gn S/O who kicks a slime or other monster in the face which kills it instantly? The Bachelors/Bachelorettes are either shocked or impressed as the S/O explains they just are really good at kicking and could probably break open a rock if they wanted to.

A/N: brother i do not remember writing that but I probably did and forgot bc let’s face it I forget things pretty easily. The bachelorettes will be a separate post because I’m taking too long posting this. Also sorry this is late. Also also my writing has gotten slower because I have taken up making music and have currently a couple songs that I’m working on including one from my farmers pov about Sebastian so y’know with that and work a lot of things are going on lmao. Pt.2 I have a cold again because of work.

Tw: violence, cursing, mentions of death, killing slimes lmao, lmk if I should tag anything else

Bc/Wc: maybe 3 for each. Maybe more? At least 100 words me thinks for each.

Stardew valley Masterlist

Sebastian

Literally just blinks and is like ….okay :|

It’s probably not surprising to him that you kicked a monster to death

Sticks to swinging a bat at them (I think he would have a bat or like a pipe or something) but thinks it’s cool that you have hand to hand…or monster to foot combat down.

Sebastian stares as you kick a duggy to death. It honestly was getting in the way of you digging for treasure and nipping at your ankles every time you weren’t paying attention. It only took one good kick for it to die and as you breathe out a puff of air in frustration, your boyfriend simply nods to himself and continues the search for anything you could donate to the museum.

“Are you gonna say anything?” You ask

He just shrugs in response, “no not really…”

In all honesty he figured you had to have a way to survive down here for hours. While kicking wasn’t the usual way, it did work and that’s all that really matters to him.

Sam

Probably did not realize at first and was like okay yeah cool it’s dead

Then realized and probably shouted VERY LOUDLY

Thinks it’s super cool because WHAT?

The stupid things take SO long to die. You kill them and they just come right back unless you blow it up…or give it a good kick to the face out of annoyance. Sam’s eyebrows raise for a second before he continues to break rocks, wanting to get this adventure over with.

Then comes the excited shouting. He’s holding you by your shoulders, shaking you and yelling words that don’t quite make it to your ears. “Sam, please!” You shout over him, the echoing sounds starting to hurt your head.

“I’m sorry,” he lets go of you but is still bouncing in place, “but that was so cool! I wanna kick things!”

Shane

Openly thinks it’s hot

Is very relieved because he never comes down into the mines and does at least want to know you’re safe

Steals your kicking strategy because it is quicker and more efficient

Do those things ever die? Can a skeleton die? How can a skeleton even be alive if not inside a per-okay they’re kicking it….and it’s dead. Wow.

Shane just stares in slight confusion as his mind races to catch up with the events that just unfolded in front of him. It was kinda fun taking out his feelings on monsters that were technically picking a fight first, but then thinking about the morality and the actual logic of it all distracted him until you actually kick a real life skeleton in the face causing it to finally permanently die. He says nothing to you, but does give you an amused smirk before adopting your strategy as his own. Kicking is way more fun than hitting rocks anyways.

Alex

Secretly thinks it’s hot

Would also try to kick things

Would want to do a playful contest to see how much stuff you two can damage honestly.

It thew Alex off when the rock he had hit with a pickaxe started moving. It threw him off even further when said rock pinched him with its apparent pincers that he didn’t even know it had. His brain completely left his skull when you kicked the thing to death with one good stomp because it had pinched him.

It didn’t even hurt that much because he wasn’t paying any attention to his wound and instead staring at you with what could only be described as adoration. Alex clears his throat and grind at you, “how ‘bout a kicking contest? Winner gets a prize”.

“What prize?” You ask, confused about his reaction. You thought he would be in a little pain at least.

“Whatever the winner decides I guess…” you shake his outstretched hand. This was going to go well for you. Now all there is left to do is think about what you want as your prize.

Harvey

Would be absolutely floored.

Like THIS IS NOT SAFE BUT OH MY GOD IMPRESSIVE

He is never coming into the mines again but at least his anxiety has gone down just a little bit (well went up then down so technically it is lower than previously).

The little thing on the ground wasn’t terrifying in the slightest, but your ferocity in destroying it made Harvey think that it was more serious than he understood it to be. Don’t get him wrong, all of the things in this mine could kill someone easily, but the monster that looked like a big ass worm didn’t really seem like a big deal compared to everything else you two had come across.

His mouth hung open as he stared at you as you glared at the stained spot where the worm thing used to be. “It would’ve turned into a monster that could fly.” You offer as soon as you turn to look at him. He nods and makes a mental note to get you muscle relaxers or something because your legs definitely have to be sore after this.

Elliott

Is MORTIFIED

like he was not expecting you to do that at ALL

The mines aren’t his favorite place and he’s glad you can defend yourself but it’s also TERRIFYING.

Probably will insert this into one of his novels where you’re already a character because it’s hot.

The bouncing little jelly things were more dangerous than Elliott had expected. Sure, he knew to some degree that you being tough was a fact because you were in these mines damn near every day for hours at a time. Whenever you came back home after a trip to the mines, covered in bruises and cuts after midnight, he always felt thankful that you had made it back home alive. But this was more than he expected. If something that looked this harmless could make him feel heavy and tired enough to wanna just lay down and die, how strong were the other monsters that lived in these mines?

Snapping out of his distracted thoughts, he watches as everything happens too quickly in front of him, rendering him unable to help because you got everything under control before he could even think to help. In one second you’re hissing in pain after a slime that you both had missed crashed into you, then the next your foot lifts up and then kicks the slime across the room. The thing splatters into goo on the wall as you check yourself for any serious injuries. Elliott calls out to you in shock, rushing over to also look over you because he wouldn’t be fully calm without checking you himself.

As you two stand in the now empty room, checking each other for any injuries that might make you leave early, Elliott can’t help but think that a sexy strong love interest in his novels is just what he needs to make his work skyrocket in popularity.

[sirellas]

post canon ds9 fic i won't write for real, in bullet points:

story starts with jake sisko, pondering and writing. he got a commission from some federation news service to do a fluff piece on "the soul of the klingon people" now that the war is over and they have a new chancellor, essentially a "look federation people, klingons are still chill. maybe chiller, even. so everybody be cool" deal (i'm imagining they have to do an article like this for every group of aliens that were a major combatant in the war) but jake takes it seriously and refuses to phone it in.

first he goes to alexander, who's visiting the station while between KDF assignments or something idk. but he says look buddy i wanna know what's up with klingons, you get me? alexander does not get him and also would like to know what's up with klingons, so he says hell yeah human friend let's figure this out.

then it becomes a series of vignettes of these two kind of out of touch young people learning about the klingon spirit and also themselves as they seek out someone who can tell them the secrets of life and honor etc etc. jake has a warped sense of normal from growing up on ds9 and alexander has never felt right in solely klingon or human spaces, so they have some gaps in their knowledge to fill.

i'm thinking they start with worf and martok, who are busy on qo'nos building their credibility and new government. worf isn't great at talking about feelings and martok's being pulled in a lot of different directions, so they're not much help. hanging around on qo'nos is interesting, but ultimately not what jake and alexander are looking for either.

then they start thinking outside the box. order isn't important but they start hitting up all relevant klingons and klingon adjacent folk: darok, sirella, ezri, nikolai, kurn, maybe a duras sisters cameo for equal representation of shitty klingons.

last we saw of kurn of course he had lost his memory but since this is my fic i'm not writing i'm gonna say bashir's not as great at brain reconfiguration as he thinks he is and it didn't take fully. so he's a little confused but getting the hang of it. a lot of "which one of you is my nephew again? i can't tell humans apart" kind of deal even though alexander is 3/4 klingon. he tells them what he's re-learned about klingons since he's been rebuilding his own identity.

nikolai also was essentially exiled but it's fine. he's got a gaggle of kids now and alexander and jake have to do the fake forehead thing to blend in while they talk to him. nikolai's got a lot of insight into worf as a brother but not much on klingons as a whole. alexander brings him some pierogi helena made.

alexander: "wow my foster uncle's wife looks a lot like your stepmom, isn't that funny?" jake: "nah i don't see the resemblance"

maybe at this point nog joins them because he's having his own identity crisis as the only ferengi in starfleet so he decides to just hop on board for jake and alexander's identity crisis.

they go see jeremy aster too, the kid from tng who became worf's brother through a whole thing, and he's got a pretty interesting view of klingons and the klingon spirit from an outsider/insider perspective.

sirella and darok are probably the least helpful but i think sirella baby-ing alexander would be fun. they're both trying to deny it and deny how much they like the attention (sirella at having a new-ish nephew-ish and one who wasn't raised klingon so she can do all the classic klingon things with him fresh, and alexander at having a(nother) mother figure to love him). jake is studiously taking notes in the corner while sirella tries to teach him how to skin a fresh kill or something like that.

anyway this whole journey ends with them finding kahless 2 (the clone of kahless) whose only occupation is thinking about the klingon spirit. but his wisdom boils down to "everyone's different and everyone has to figure shit out on their own, but together we can strive to be greater than yesterday" etc etc and jake gets his article. alexander reaffirms his grasp on his cultural identity and also gets to see a lot of his family so he's reminded that he's loved, even if everyone is doing their own thing. and nog develops a huge crush on sirella. everybody's happy.

[snakebites-and-ink]

CW: Capture, isolation, beating, nonhuman whumpee

It was cut off. The break had been so sudden and all-encompassing. The inputs and exchanges from so many others just…gone. It was like losing senses and arms and brainpower all at once.

“You’re coming with me,” a human said to it. Out loud, not through a joint consciousness like it was used to.

The drone automatically tried to ask the hive what to do, but the connection was still gone. They were out of reach. It was so lost. It let itself be pulled along, because it didn’t have any other directions to follow.

It was alone. It was directionless. It was helpless. It was alone, it was alone, it was alone, it was alone—

The bioluminescent spots along its face flashed in a distress display that was part fear, mostly sadness.

“What are you doing? You’d better not be trying to call your friends. Stop that!” the human demanded aggressively, which only added to the drone’s distress. It couldn’t just stop. If anything, the display increased.

“You listen.” The human grabbed it by its throat and slammed the drone against the wall. “You belong to me now. You’re going to do what I say, you’re going to be here a long time, and you’re never contacting that nasty hivemind again.

“Now,” the human added, slipping on a crude hand weapon the drone would later learn was called brass knuckles, “let’s have some fun.”

The first blow was a surprise. They weren’t in combat, the human had no reason to strike. But the attack came anyway—and then repeated.

When the drone felt a hit this time, it wasn’t surprising, but it was no less confusing than the first had been. Why was the human hurting it? It was already their captive, and it wasn’t fighting them. What could anyone possibly stand to gain from this? It didn’t understand.

Each new strike brought a burst of fresh pain, and each old one left behind an awful ache.

When they were done, the human left the drone trapped all by itself. Then it learned what it was like to really be alone.

It was so much worse.

[fridgrave2-0]

so far I wanna share my opinion about the game since I played it for 30 hours or so. starting with cons bc there's much less of them than pros

cons:

lockpicking. I was speedrunning all the locks in the first game with any skill level, and as much as it feels "unrealistic", it's still a matter of understanding the mechanics. many players got issues with it while others did great, so it was kinda fair. now the lockpicking is so hard with those shaking hands that opening a plot related hard lock took me AN HOUR and dozen reloads since all my lockpicks were breaking like they were made of paper — and I couldn't leave to work on the skill bc of the quest

horses. they are just slow and awful to control. in kcd1 I could ride from sasau to ratay with pebbles stopping once to let her rest, but now I need to stop every minute to go from the village to trosky castle. annoying af

this game makes me so stressed for the characters that I probably have grey hair by now (not a con actually, it's fun after finishing the quest, but during these i cry like a bitch)

changing block from q to right mouse button. i played kcd1 before the sequel a lot, and many other people probably did that as well, so the need to relearn that complicated combat system is annoying. also I'm fucking tired of pressing x to mount the horse like it was in kcd1 and opening it's stat window. even after 30h of the game I still get confused by it

it depends on the person, but I don't like the interface AT ALL. its just too bright in some places and dull in others so I literally can't see the text sometimes. it just lost the cool drawn vibe and many details are in 3d now (henry poses are fun tho)

the speeck checks feel to high, but I can admit it may be my skill issue

and now the pros!!:

quests!! the first game was really interesting as it is, but kcd2 has insane writing and I just miss how the time passes. the main story (the only thing I play for now bc I speedrun hansry romance) is so intense that I feel any death will be permanent like irl. the plot twists are fun, characters make me love them or hate their guts with nothing in between (spoiler I killed everyone for semine family bc I loved these to grandpas and turned out I was right about it yay!! and so was when the chamberlain asshole died, I cheered so hard). some moments made me go "hey I know [character-name] will be later, they can't die here... can they???😟😟)

kuttenberg. it's just gorgeous, nothing else to say. haven't seen much of it yet, but it's amazing and my wish to visit czech got even stronger

hans. the best thing for me in this game by far. I would give up anything and enjoy just talking to him for 200 hours, keeping him safe and sound. all the scenes with him make me either feel happy af or literally sobbing from stress because that idiot gets in dangerous situations way too much for my sanity (also third option is being angry like hell at him in the beginning of the game bc he acts like the biggest asshole, but I love him anyway). every reunion with him feels like home and I make henry tear bohemia apart just to save hans from everything (just as it should be). and the option to legit romance him feels like the most right thing to do because he loves henry, henry loves him, and that's it

spoiler!! the option to defenestrate istvan. the most czech way to kill someone, and it's one of the main villains! I was very satisfied

radzig is hot af

literally everything else what I didn't mention. this game is fucking amazing and in most of things are a huge upgrade

HANSRY IS CANON BABY

feel free to share your opinion unless it's bigotry ⚔️💖

[zeephyre]

CRITICAL ROLE CAMPAIGN 3 EPISODE 85 SPOILERS

IM LITERALLY ABOUT TO LOSE MY MIND YALL

Where do I even ??? start ???

I haven't been posting c3 as the episodes dropped in...a while actually, like right before they went to the feywild. i have many thoughts and many feelings about so many things that have happened since then and I'll summarise them so I can get to THIS episode.

fearne and ashton - love their shard powers, they're literally royalty and terrifying, and i want them to make-out. i can't wait to see them go full primordial again in a real combat situation.

imogen - save her. literally save her. free her, even. i love everything about the call of ruidus when it comes to imogen on a narrative standpoint, but...God I get so worried that we're gonna lose her. I don't mean she's gonna betray the hells, but...ruidus could take her and then i would simply perish.

laudna - before i really get into wtf went down this episode with her and she who must not be named, i gotta say... im worried. very very worried. however, that fireball was objectively the best shit ever.

fcg - i can't even really remember anything stand out abt fcg except what Sam pulled last night so.

chetney - still the heart of the team, still my baby girl, still my favourite. love him to bits.

orym - i think laudna is going to beat his ass one of these days and im... even more concerned about that after this episode. his nana morri powers are cool as fuck tho... does that make him a warlock now? i know he isn't multi-classing but wouldn't that be cool

ANYWAY WE'RE ON THE FUCKING MOON AND WE GOT MOON LORE AND EVERYTHING WAS SHITTY THEN FUN THEN SHITTY THEN FUN AGAIN THEN REALLY FUCKING SAD THEN IT ALL WENT TO SHIT AGAIN.

the moment imogen reached out to ruidus and matt mentioned that she could sense where other ruidusborn were i fucking knew that otohan was high tailing it in their direction, and i thought they instinctively knew that too but they probably got so distracted.

we were travelling for hours and had a huge fight that almost got them captured (not to be confused with the OTHER two fights that almost got them captured) and I was begging and screaming and crying for them to get a long rest safely hidden away AND THEN THEY SPLIT THE PARTY WITH BARELY ANY SPELL SLOTS OR HIT POINTS AFTER BEING DRAINED FROM ANOTHER BATTLE WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM

(Sidenote, the willmaster really opened up the door to the further increase in moral pondering in a certain number of hellians. i do think using the harness is disgusting and hypocritical, but i don't condemn them for it, it just...makes me wanna vomit thinking abt what ludinus did with it. not to mention the HUNGER parallels between laudna and ludinus...its just not good yall. also??? objectively funny that fcg seemed weirded out by the idea of killing the willmaster, not just with the harness but in general, considering how many people they've killed up to this point)

idk if its just the inherent terror that an evil old hot lady can inspire that makes otohan so much more terrifying to me than ludinus. like, objectively, ludinus is a worse threat and could wipe them out EASILY but jesus otohan is like the damn reaper to me. it's the trauma from the laudna, fearne, orym massacre mixed with the underlying little drop from their uthodurn romp that let us know that resurrection spells are NOT working and idk if that got fixed bc of time passing or distance from the leylines but i really did not want to test that shit out in real time

thank...god that sam riegel is a damn genius player, that banishment of fcg and fearne was the ONLY reason fcg survived. and thank GOD FOR KEYLETH BECAUSE WITHOUT THAT CLOUD SPELL BELLS HELLS WOULD BE VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY DEAD RN.

God, "otohan has us. run." is going to haunt me just as much, if not more than the almost tpk. it just...shot me straight back to bassuras and the plan to run that just...immediately fell apart.

god fcg truly could have died there. and fearne would be captured. i know the hells would be too stupid and too brave and too loyal to leave fearne with otohan in their cloud form but can you imagine a world where fcg was gone, fearne was captured and the hells had to switch from recon to rescue... itd be stressful but pretty fun.

thankfully it didn't come to that and some good came from the shit.

ruidus is so beautiful. i was worried they'd end being trapped under ruidus while they explored (not that I wasn't on board with the detours, I wish this wasn't a time sensitive mission), but matt's imagery of the fossilized elven structure and garden made me sad but also happy that we got to see it.

i cannot believe that the stupid plan to shove fearne up a water hole happened AGAIN and it ended up with us FINDING A BACK HOLE TO RUIDUS GOD I LOVE THESE CHUCKLEFUCKS WHEN IS THE NEXT EPISODE MATT YOU CANNOT DO THIS TO ME. WHERE EVEN ARE THEY??? IS IT EVEN EXANDRIA???? WHAT DO WE DO IF IT IS EXANDRIA??? WHERE DID THIS HOLE EVEN COME FROM???? DOES IT CLOSE AND REOPEN??? IS IT STAGNANT?????? IS IT FUCKING STABLE?!?!?!?!?!

God...we could go back to keyleth and the others and actually invade ruidus without encountering the ruby vanguard. (that's if they're alright because otohan did go out onto the battlefield and we don't know what fhe fuck she did when the illusion fell through)

GOD. IS IT THURSDAY YET??? WE HAVENT EVEN FOUND THE RESISTANCE????

[primalsouls]

Inner Visions

can you tell what's happening?

nothing's ever what it seems

tighnari x gn!reader pt.2

theme: general

warnings: ooc Tighnari?, kinda heavy dialogues, not much but please lmk if you find anything triggering or need a warning for.

summary: Tighnari's life was safe but appreciation wasn't shown. Forgetting the new fungi, his attention moves on to an individual who claims they can see the future, which he finds to be impossible to do. No one can really see the future.

notes: outfit look because i suck at description lmao it took me a while to get this done lol. it is currently 2:00am and i work at 8am xD .... oh gosh. anyway, here is Inner Visions pt 2! would try to work on pt 3 this week or next. please enjoy and lmk what you think in the comments. the characters might be a bit ooc but that's due to me not playing the game for a long while haha. anyway, please have fun!

pt. 1

✿ some reader info ✿

has a third eye - uses to see future visions when activated, atm the third eye is ◉ᵕ◉.... third eye is the closed one haha...

a "deity" - doesn't have a region to rule nor followers to guide

third eye makes them lose energy, making them be tired easily, sleeps regains their energy/power back

wields a polearm mainly but can use more than one weapon - hand-to-hand combat mostly preferred

Kunishiko is the name I used for Wanderer haha.

more will be added once i remember haha

⌑ reblogs & feedback are appreciated here! ⌑

"That's impossible." Were the first words Tighnari spoke right after (Name) introduced themselves. The atmosphere felt thick but he wasn't sure if it was the horrendous smell of the fungi or the deep unsettling gut feeling built within the depths of his stomach. It was confusing. How was it possible for someone to see the future? What if they followed him here instead and lied about such nonsense? But if that were the case, he would have known by the sounds of their footsteps his long ears would have picked up or Iraj would have let him know there was someone behind him from the get go. Actually, how didn't his ears pick up any sound from them? Tighnari looked around. There wasn't any other entrance nearby other than the one he came from.

"I'm a light walker." (Name) answered without hearing the ranger's worried questions. Their voice caught his ears, his eyes snapped back on their figure. "You're thinking how I got here. I didn't follow you. I just saw in my visions that someone was going to die in this cave by eating a deadly mushroom. I was actually heading my way to Sumeru City. This place was just on my path there and before I could continue on, I got a flash of someone with fox-like features about to commit a stupid move."

Tighnari frowned, his bow lowered by his side. He still kept his stance up, not fully trusting (Name) yet. And they could see it in his eyes. Such pretty serious eyes. (Name) figured there was no use to continue staying in the cavern with the forest watcher. They had done their good deed for the day, there was no point in trying to prove themselves to someone. Especially when they had someone else in the city waiting for them.

"Believe me or not, take what you can from this encounter. It's not like I've expected for anyone to believe or know about me. Though, as much as I'd like to stay and chit chat with a pretty fox like you, I have to go." (Name) said as they turned on their heel, but they didn't miss the chance to see the light pink blush decorated the fox-hybrid's cheeks. Raising the hood over their head, the stranger began to walk away.

Tighnari stood there, watching their figure distances as they walked out of the cave. Bow in hands. His heart was still racing from the earlier attack—or in their case, help—(Name) caused by the use of their polearm. Letting his weapon disintegrate as he put it away behind him, Tighnari quickly climbed out of the cave. There were too many questions in his mind. The new fungi was long forgotten the moment he set his eyes on the other. Maybe they hadn't gotten too far. His ears stood on high alert for their footsteps but nothing was able to be picked up. When he reached the entrance of the cavern, Tighnari turned to Iraj.

"Iraj!" The ranger called out, hurriedly making his way towards the startled man.

"Oh, Master Tighnari! What's wrong? You looked as if you saw a ghost." Iraj said as he walked towards the dendro user. Tighnari glanced around the area for any sign of (Name).

"I hope I didn't." He said, panting under his breath. "Have you seen someone just walk out? A hooded individual with a trident?" Iraj shook his head, a look of confusion on his face.

"No, sir. No one has walked in nor walked out." The ranger said. Tighnari frowned. How was that possible? Then how was (Name) able to pass Iraj with being seen?

"I see…" His brain tried to wreck any other entrance of the cave. There was the first Southern opening just where Iraj guarded. Above them to the right was both the second southern entrance and the first northern one. But the northern opening belongs to another cavern just above the one they stood at. Maybe they came from the second way in. Though they would have been too late to stop him if they took that way in. "What are they?" He asked himself, looking back at the cave before he scanned his surroundings once more.

"Was someone in there, Master Tighnari?" Iraj asked, concern laced in his tone. The fox-hybrid scratched the back of his head, unsure what to say.

"No, um, forget it… I'm gonna leave my stuff behind there. Need to go to the city." He said. Before the ranger could say anything to stop him, Tighnari already headed on his way to Sumeru City. It was the destination they mentioned they needed to reach afterall. Who knows, maybe he would be able to catch them before they reach the city's walls.

"So, who are we meeting again, Nahida?" Paimon asked, looking down at the dendro archon with a tilt of her head. The duo were called by Nahida at the Sanctuary of Surasthana for a small meetup. They were notified by Katherine at the Guild when they went up to report their last commission. The small archon requested their presence at the sanctuary. And there they were, the archon catching them up with her latest commission.

Nahida smiled, looking up at the floating girl. "(Name). They are an old acquaintance of mine. I found out about them when I was searching for some more information about Aether's sister through memories in Irminsul Tree. There was a hidden ley line that held some unusual information about (Name). I figured with their help, maybe we could learn more about your sister." Nahida explained, turning her gaze on the puzzled traveler.

Help them learn more about his sister? Could this (Name) person have anything to do with Lumine? What could their relationship with his sister be? So many questions ran through his mind, but he won't let this opportunity slip away from his fingers. "I hope they can be of any help. Thank you, Nahida." Aether said, a kind smile crossing his face. Nahida beamed with a nod, turning her small body towards the door.

"Then let's go. They should arrive here in no time." Nahida said.

"Wait, what about Kunishiko?" Paimon asked.

Nahida giggled. "He's studying with someone right now."

The pair raised a brow. That was a first. Usually he wasn't the type to study with someone. Dismissing the whereabouts of the Wanderer, the trio descended their way to the entrance of Sumeru City. Nahida looked forward to meeting her old friend. She was grateful they managed to reach out. Hopefully there was no trouble heading their way. She didn't want anything to ruin their rekindle meeting and friendship.

Tighnari frowned. He stood at the entrance of Sumeru City but found no sight of (Name). Did they lie to him? Did they also see in the future that he was going to follow them? A scoff of a laugh left his lips. There was no such thing as future visions.

"Who would have known you would be a stalker." That alluring voice! Tighnari turned to the source. There they were, standing near the Guild with their arms crossed over their chest, the hood down to their shoulders. Registering the words from the other, Tighnari scoffed.

"I didn't stalk. I-I… I—well—I…" Why was it difficult to think of a lie? "I've… came to pick up some new materials. Yes, new materials. Since the ones I had were destroyed." Tighnari eyed the individual with a glare.

(Name) smirked, a shrug being delivered at the fennec fox. "Sounds like it could be partially true, but we both know why you came here, cutie." Their words made Tighnari do a double take, a huff leaving his lips. Another blush colored his cheeks from the endearment they used. Before he could continue the banter, another voice popped out.

"Tighnari!? What are you doing here?" Turning to the owner of the high-pitched voice, the young man noticed the traveler and the other two make their way to the Guild. Paimon flew over to him, standing between him and (Name). "Do you know them?" She asked, glancing between the two. Tighnari kept quiet, unsure what to say until Nahida took account of their behaviors.

She turned to the individual, a polite smile on her face. "You must be (Name), right?" She asked. Earning a nod, Nahida clapped her hands. "I don't know if you remember me but I'm Nahida! The dendro archon of Sumeru. It is a pleasure to meet up with you again, (Name)." The archon asked. Hearing her introduction, Tighnari frowned.

"I'm sorry but you guys know them?"

"Only Nahida does! We're just meeting them now, too. They're here to help Aether learn more about his sister's whereabouts." Paimon explained with a nod towards Tighnari. "Have you met them before, Tighnari?"

"We met at a cave today. Poor fox was about to meet the stars so soon." (Name) said with a cheeky smile. They received a glare from him.

"I've almost eaten a new mushroom found within the caves of Gandha Hill. Fortunately, (Name) was there to stop me." Tighnari admitted, a look of embarrassment on his face. (Name) chuckled.

Nahida looked at the vision user. "Why don't you join us then? We would love to have more extra hands to help, I'm sure (Name) wouldn't mind." She offered. They shook their head, silently agreeing they truly didn't mind his presence. Paimon and Aether agreed excitedly as well. It would be a good chance to catch up with Tighnari. The fennec fox hesitated in his answer, sparing a glance at (Name) who only sent him a wink. Huffing a sigh, Tighnari agreed to come along. With his positive response, Nahida guided the group to the Lambad's Tavern. Today's reunion meeting was going to be interesting.

[cheese-ducks]

TWRP ORIGINS

Chapter 13: New Perspectives

Previous chapter Next chapter

Main Masterlist

August 7th, 2007

It's been forever since I've used this thing. I honestly thought I threw it out. Mom bought me this notebook assuming I'd use it for songs and feelings or shit like that. Instead I found my old angsty poetry and a bunch of dick drawings. Why did I expect nothing less? Anyway, Sung is probably the reason I’m writing this down. He seems like the type of nerd to journal. Speaking of Sung, I actually took his advice and started working on No Pants Dance again. It’s actually sounding pretty rad if I do say so myself. I’m still kind of embarrassed about showing it off, though. Mom came in earlier today while I was working on it, and I totally freaked out. Luckily, (I think??) she noticed the random traffic cone Sung had brought home from the Atomic Hawk. He said he needed to "study it further". I just hope the construction guys he took it from didn't notice. He better help me think of an explanation for why I have it. I think Mom is genuinely starting to worry about me, even more than usual.

Ship's log 08-87007

The findings from Mission Atomicawk were a total success. I don’t care if that is not the name of the food place, the human said it was close enough. From my observations humans have stricter social habits than I initially realized. Honoring Stone's request, I did as his brother would do. I stayed silent, and did not speak unless spoken to, or if it wouldn’t listen laughter from the group. It’s strange to me, how those were. The only times the human feels qualified to speak. It continued like that throughout the night. According to Stone that is a common occurrence on earth. Fascinating. I need to conduct additional research and what better subjects than my own bandmates? I will report my findings as ASAP as possible. The human taught me that.

August 11th, 2007

Sung and I are freaking the fuck out at the moment. I mean, changing emotionally is one thing, but we did something NUTS today. Even he was confused. At what he called "musical combat training", it was going pretty well. I was having fun playing, the guys thought I was funny, Stan even complimented me directly, instead of referring to the group and tacking me on at the end. Everything was fine until I went to tuck my hair behind my ear. It was more pointy than usual. I booked it to Andy’s bathroom and sure enough, they were Sung's ears, alright. I had no clue what to do, but luckily Sung reminded me about the disguise from the other night. Thank God I forgot to take it out of my backpack. I put them on and no one noticed until dad picked us up. The second I got in the van he asked about it. I told him I was trying something new, and he didn’t believe that for a second. I should feel more freaked out about this, but honestly, the fact that Sung is nervous about this too, is kind of comforting.

Ship's log 08-81200727

Holy shit, I have a ton of findings to report! First, I inquired about my colleagues pasts which led to interesting results. Lord Phobos informed me he felt a similar way to the human. The key difference being that while his choices were made for him, the human chooses not to make a choice. Both circumstances seem to have left them with profound levels of anxiety and loneliness. Commander Meouch was slightly harder to crack. He wouldn’t tell me anything directly, but I did overhear a conversation between him and Lord Phobos. Apparently, his rough exterior is a defense mechanism developed over his time with those brutish smugglers. To take his words, when the smugglers hit him around, he hit them right back, even harder. Havve's story was quite similar. Deemed unworthy of artificial life, he was tossed aside at the first imperfection. It was strange hearing these stories. My empathetic inclination acted in a way I’d never felt before. I was genuinely sad for them, independent of influence, coming from deep within my being. It was unexpected. Just like the accident at the human's musical combat training. I needed to know why. For the first time in my life I wondered what exactly I was. I didn’t find anything definitive, but I didn’t find a damn close match in a study on ancient galactic beings. I found this description of a being made of star dust and soundwaves, that was traditionally solitary, and could perceive the emotional energies of lifeforms around them. The most damning piece of evidence came from the last sightings of these beings; 13 billion years ago. I read the rest of the study, completely engrossed, finding similarities between myself and the descriptions. Suddenly I found the explanation for the unique incident:

"I theorize that due to their impermanent, genetic makeup, if the species were to take a host for an extended period of time, eventually the two beings would fuse into one. Each retaining half their genetic makeup, but still remaining whole. They would live as a fully new, being, not remembering their separation." - Prof. Rakken Heliat.

I must tell the human at once. As much as I’d love to test the theory, I fear it may be permanent. I couldn’t do that to either of us. I have a mission, a noble purpose. He has a life, a loving family. I couldn’t selfishly take that from either of us. I’ll discuss it nonetheless.

August 19th, 2007

Holy shit, I think they’re onto me!! Mom and dad have noticed for sure!!! Last night while Sung(who has been weirdly quiet recently) and I were trying to sneak out, we heard them talking about me. They heard on the news that if your kid is super distant and weird they're probably on drugs. They don't genuinely believe that shit, RIGHT?? To be fair I am writing this in my room with my disguise on. I somehow woke up with Sung's eyes and ears so I’ve been in here all day. Sung won’t answer me. I KNOW YOU'RE THERE ASSHOL

.........................................................................................

"Hey, pal."

Jack jolted at the sudden sight of his dad, standing in the doorway with the dad look that Jack knew anywhere.

"Whatcha up to, bud?"

"J-just writing." He adjusted the sunglasses in case his dad could see the cosmic horror that lie beneath, but it only made him more suspicious.

"Ok, kid. Cut the bull. What's going on with you?"

"Uh, I..." His mind begged for Sung's help, but he still didn't answer. "Come on, man!" He muttered.

"Alright, take off the sunglasses"

"What? I can't!"

"Take em off or I'll take em, your choice, kid." Curt ordered.

"I really can't. You just have to trust me on this one, dad." The panic in his voice was barely hidden. Either he let his parents think he was on drugs or he let his parents think he'd gone insane. Both were terrible options to be fair.

"Please, dad. Trust me."

Curt paused for a moment before backing away from the door.

"Ally!"

"No! Please don't tell mom!"

Ally dashed up the stairs to see her husband and son pulling the bedroom door open and shut, specifically Jack nearly pulling the doorknob off.

"Jack! What is going on?" She scolded.

Jack paused to come up with a plan. He couldn’t lie to his Mom. He couldn’t lie to either of his parents. What was the alternative? Reveal his recent disfigurement and scared of the hell out of them. What would they say? How would they react? The fear he felt while telling Stone was tripled in this moment, he felt paralyzed.

Curt ripped the hat and sunglasses from Jack's head, expecting to find large pupils or red eyes. Both parents screamed upon seeing their son's face. Fortunately, Jack wasn't there to see it.

"The initial state of bewilderment will pass I assure you."

The parents stood in shock, unsure what to make of this situation. Sung sighed as he took a step forward, but the adults recoiled in response.

"Greetings. I did not anticipate we'd meet this way. I sincerely apologize for any terror and apprehension I have caused."

"What the hell have you done to my son?" Ally demanded.

"I was just getting to that. I-"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU KNOW, STANLEY?" Curt shouted into his cellphone.

[jjkamochoso]

The Perfect Fit

Story Overview: Levi Ackerman begrudgingly finds himself falling in love with the Survey Corps’ seamstress. Will they be able to own up to their feelings for each other? Or is their love doomed to fail before they discover the truths of each other’s hearts? This slow burn reader insert story will be filled with angst, yearning, and a bit of mystery as we slowly unravel the truths behind Y/N’s past… and explore her and Levi’s future!

Chapter 5

Series Masterlist

Chapter 4 linked here

Chapter 6 linked here

Levi Ackerman x female reader

Warnings: cussing

You easily settled into your new routine with the Scouts. You would wake up at the crack of dawn, get ready, eat breakfast, work on whatever clothes soldiers brought you, have lunch, keep working, eat dinner, get ready for bed. You were looking forward to spending more time with Hange since your offices were near each other, but they were too preoccupied with studying their captured titans. You were proud of the fact that you were part of the small team that put together the large net used to capture said titans, but you were still too scared to visit the product of your work. You believed Hange that Bean and Sonny were very interesting so you didn’t need to confirm it yourself. You and Levi had become closer and you figured that was mostly thanks to your friendship with Petra, a member of his special operations squad. You were normally great at making friends but when you first started eating at the dining hall, you were nervous to find a place to sit. Everyone seemed to have their own groups already. You, having no combat experience, felt like you wouldn’t be welcomed at any table full of soldiers so you made your peace with sitting alone. That didn’t last long, however, because a ginger haired woman eagerly made her way over to you one morning during breakfast.

“You’re Y/n L/n, right? I’m Petra,” she said. You shook her outstretched hand, a bit confused but happy to be having some interaction.

“Oh! Petra! I remember you. You came in the other day, right? You needed your shirt collar fixed?”

Her eyes lit up. “Yes! That’s me! You do such great work. I noticed you’ve been eating alone, do you want to sit with me and the squad today?” She gestured to a table filled with a few other people.

You nodded gratefully. “I would love that. Thank you.”

That day, you met Eld, Oluo, and Gunther. They were an eclectic group, but fun nonetheless. Ever since then, you found yourself in their company for most meals. You and Petra became extra close, being the only girls at the table and bonding outside of meal times as well. It was nice to finally have a sense of belonging for one of the first times in your life. It was even better when you felt that sense of belonging when Levi finally joined the group for dinner. The first time he saw you eating with his squad, he was surprised at the feeling of relief that washed over him when you weren’t alone for once. He figured he should’ve sat with you at least one of the times he saw you by yourself, but he could never bring himself to interrupt your peace and quiet. That didn’t matter now anyway. You were laughing at something Oluo had said when you spotted Levi observing the scene in front of him.

“Captain!” you had called out, “come join us!”

He thought that was awfully silly, you inviting him to eat with his squad, but it was still endearing. You fit in his group like you were a missing piece of the squad puzzle, making witty comebacks to anyone who dared to test you and thoughtfully contributing to the conversation.

From that day on, you always had a spot at Squad Levi’s table. Levi had enjoyed seeing you getting along with his most trusted comrades. It was perfect that you understood the trash talk and teasing was just their weird way of showing affection and the fact that you dished it back tenfold was the cherry on top for Levi. He liked that you laughed at his shit jokes and loved that you usually followed up with your own. Speaking of you and shit:

Shit. He needed to see you.

Winter had finally rolled around and Levi received a new pair of cold weather uniform pants. When he tried them on, he internally groaned. They were much too long, as he expected. He had skated by the past few years with wearing his perfectly sized old pair, but they were too beat up for any more use. Going to get things tailored was the bane of Levi’s existence. Forced proximity to people so they could get his measurements, hands going places where hands should never be. He also hated being seen in pants that he was swimming in. Not that he cared about his height, being short was fine and there’s nothing he could do about it anyway, but it was still a little embarrassing to be a grown man looking like a child who stole his father’s pants, even if only for a few moments. A blizzard was set to come in a few days so he knew he had to see you now. He departed his rarely occupied office and walked past the few doors that separated you two. He knocked gingerly on your door that was left ajar.

“Come in!” you replied. When you saw it was Levi, you had a big grin appear. “Now you’re a sight for sore eyes! What can I do for you?”

Levi rolled his eyes at the compliment. “I have these pants. The dumbasses at production only make them in size titan so I need you to tailor them for me. Please.” He added the adverb when you looked at him expectantly.

“Since you asked nicely, I have an opening right now. Change into the pants and I’ll get right to work.”

Levi disappeared behind the dressing screen. When he stepped back out, you couldn’t contain the laugh that slipped out and he glared at you.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, it’s not you, those pants are a ridiculous size. I should have Hange order a bunch more and we could have a titan fashion show. I mean, I get that they have to be long enough to fit soldiers of all sizes but I could make a whole other project out of the scraps I’ll have from these pants,” you said, grabbing your measuring tape and clipboard so you could start working. Levi was thoroughly enjoying watching you doing your task. It was a side of you he’d never yet seen; you were serious, calm and collected, and best of all, you made him relaxed. He should’ve felt awkward with your hands brushing over his legs but you made him feel at ease. It was over as fast as it started and he already missed the feeling of your ghostly touch.

“Alrighty! You can pop those off and leave ‘em to me. I know the blizzard’s coming in quick so I’ll definitely have them done before then. I know you’re not in your office much, is there somewhere else you want me to drop them off at?”

Levi felt his heart lurch at your words. How did you know that he wasn’t in his office often? Do you come looking for him? Does this mean you observe him in the same way that he does you?

“Levi? You get lost back there?” You chuckled at your own joke.

“What? No, and don’t laugh at your own jokes, idiot, that means they aren’t funny. I’ll pick them up here. You’re in the dining hall for every meal, I’ll get an update on their status when I get my tea. Deal?”

“Sounds good to me,” you replied. You heard some shuffling and Levi emerged from the dressing screen. You were already getting to work on making the marks to cut his pants and Levi knew he should leave, let you work, but something wasn’t letting him go just yet. He craved the feeling of your feather light touch, selfishly wanting to take up more of your precious time so he could shamelessly watch the way your hair moved with every measurement you took, how your e/c eyes washed over him, double checking you got all the information you needed. He was desperately trying to think of another clothing item he needed worked on but you paid him no mind. His presence wasn’t bothering you in the slightest; it was quite the opposite, actually. Levi brought a sense of comfort to you that you had never known before, and you weren’t sure why, but you weren’t complaining.

“If you wanna stay, feel free to. The other table is open if you have paperwork to do,” you said, a needle hanging out of your mouth.

Levi could’ve never predicted this. Sure, you guys were acquaintances, friends even, but you enjoyed his company enough to invite him to stay? He was never a particularly warm person, especially to you at first, yet you were treating him like you treat your closest friends.

“Why?” The words fell out of his mouth before he could stop them, but you weren’t fazed in the slightest, working while conversing.

“Why what? Invite you to stay? Levi, we’re friends, that’s what they do. Look, I like hanging out with you and being around you. You’re rough around the edges, sure, but you’ve got a big heart and that’s all that counts. I’m not asking you to marry me, I just offered you a place to take load off or get some work done. It gets lonely in here by myself and I enjoy your company. That’s all.”

You were met with silence and when you looked up, Levi was gone. You sighed. Did you say something wrong? He was a tough case to crack but you hoped your words got through to him. You may not have known him that long but you cared deeply for him. Of course you still found him insanely attractive but your friendship trumped that in an instant. You had gotten to know him better over the past few months as you learned that Hange was right when they told you Levi was gruff but extremely compassionate. If anything, you hoped Levi understood that you had his back no matter what he went through. Getting lost in your work, you didn’t notice the door opening until it shut again. You saw Levi come in with a stack of papers and a tea cup on top.

“There’s a chair under the stack of books over there. You can use that or sit on the bed. I don’t mind.”

“Drinking tea in bed? Do you think I’m some sort of animal?” he chided.

“I was thinking more royalty but they’re the same at the end of the day, aren’t they?” you joked, earning the slight raise of lips in his Levi way of laughing. There was a comfortable silence in the room as you were absorbed by your tasks. Levi felt lucky he had a quiet place to work like this. All of his other spots had been found out so he would constantly be bombarded throughout the day with questions and impromptu meetings, but here was like his own slice of heaven. He worked well with the background noise of scissors cutting and the purr of the sewing machine. As he reread a sentence in front of him for the third time, he yawned and felt his eyes start to close. He jolted himself awake. The effects of his insomnia were catching up to him. There was no way he’d fall asleep in your room, that would be… well, he wasn’t sure. Improper? Rude? What would you think of him, the man who insulted your work ethic the first time you met him, if he fell asleep in the middle of the work day? Your room was so warm on this chilly winter day and the repetitive noises you made were lulling him to sleep. That damn cup of tea certainly didn’t help, either. Levi was fully relaxed in a way he didn’t think possible. If only he had taken your advice and sat on the bed…

You hadn’t realized something was amiss with Levi until you heard soft snores coming from behind you. Was he asleep? You crept closer, investigating the scene in front of you. His cheek was resting on one of his forearms that was splayed out on the table while his other arm dangled to the side of his body. Strands of black hair had fallen over his face, giving him a more youthful look. You would’ve guessed that Levi would look tense even while sleeping but the man in front of you was anything but. He looked like the pinnacle of relaxation, even if he was hunched over in an odd position. You smiled softly, delighted that your workshop proved to be a much needed refuge for the overworked captain. Taking the blanket from your bed, you placed it over his shoulders, careful not to wake him.

“Sweet dreams, Levi,” you whispered, fighting the urge to kiss him on the forehead.

Chapter 6

[deusexlachina]

This game took fifteen hours to play and upset me! (good)

In Stars and Time probably wins for most upsetting video game I've played. It makes other games about depression feel like the fun roller coaster version of depression in comparison. Even Start Again, the game it's an extension of, looks extremely tame in comparison.

There's a number of things I've seen that are Trapped In A Time Loop. I don't think I've seen one this dark since Russian Doll. ISAT isn't as gritty as that, but it's as least as dark. It really puts the "trapped" in Trapped In A Time Loop, while still being fun. For me, not for the protagonist, Siffrin. He is not having fun.

One of the things that makes it work so well is that the characters (and to a lesser extent, the settings) are really lovingly made. I like Siffrin's party. If they were in a straight fantasy story, they'd work. That's what's missing most in a lot of Edgy Depression Games and cartoons - the sadness is real, but the joy is not. So it feels more hollow than sad. A good example is with magical girl shows: Madoka is a guilty pleasure and all the ripoffs are just execrable - you can feel them wanting to go straight to the torture, so they make characters just to be tortured, ensuring that not even the writer is invested in the cast.

ISAT, in contrast, showed me a cute, engaging adventure with terrific characters, and then forced me to watch as it all got stale and stagnant and twisted. With plenty of new parts scattered around, reminding you of what it's like to be curious and excited. At a certain point, I was skipping through dialogue less because I'd memorized it and more because it was painful to go through these tender scenes again, knowing they lost their impact on Siffrin long ago.

There's a few mechanics that didn't work for me. Having to fight monsters to loop forwards in time didn't feel necessary. Looping around is already monotonous; this mechanic doesn't add anything. As the game progresses, you end up looping forwards quite a bit, long after combat has ceased to be a challenge. Not being able to completely skip seen conversations - instead having to fast-forward through them - is also tedious but feels much more necessary to the story being told. The little animation you get of Siffrin nodding blankly as they metaphorically and literally mash through a conversation remained funny for me even to the end. Be sure to have dialogue speed set to instant and running set to always (why indie RPGs ever have a "walking" setting continues to confuse me).

Anyway, if you're looking for a game with great characters that's very sad without relying on a shitty ending, this is definitely worth checking out. Really not kidding about the heavy stuff, though. Caveat emptor, fuckers.

[harukamitsuki]

(This is a stupid idea, but please bare with me 🙏) How do you think it would've effected the plot if Izuku Midoriya had been born with a combination of a Healing and Shield Generation Quirk? You think Katsuki Bakugo would've felt threatened by him and his treatment would be more worse (unless others stepped in to help him realize his behavior is not healthy at all)? Let's say in this scenario, Inko Midoriya has a healing Quirk (I can imagine her being a doctor in turn as a result) whilst his father has a Shield Generation (akin to force fields) like Quirk instead of their canonical Quirks. I know this is already changing a lot of things, but their Quirks are rather lackluster in the canon series. One major issue is that of Dr. Tsubasa (i.e., Kyudai Garaki) would realistically have stolen his and his parents' Quirks, but let's just say that that the Midoriya family instead of living in Japan, lived in the USA and thereby were away from him, OFA or their associates (unless we're counting OFA also having associates in the USA 🙃) As a result, Izuku would as a result, probably not be childhood friends with Katsuki as a result (but perhaps he has heard of him through his mother being friends with Mitsuki). So Katsuki would probably be a bit worse (in the beginning at least?), unless a different Quirkless individual took Izuku's place??? (I know at that point, they're just becoming OCS and really OOC compared to their canonical counterparts, but these ideas are just for fun and for a fanfiction rewrite, it won't affect the main series at all) (Also tempted to change Hisashi Midoriya's name in my BNHA rewrite since I get confused a lot between his name and Hizashi Yamada/Present Mic, ngl) Sorry for this long rambling and if the ideas sound stupid, lol.

It would change the plot a lot.

Izuku having a quirk as powerful as that would probably mean All Might wouldn't offer him OfA. And, yes, that quirk is powerful, and I've already started analysing it and how it could coexist despite being wildly differing.

Instead of Izuku focusing on strength and combat, I would imagine him to focus on protecting and healing people, maybe even becoming a support hero rather than an action one.

Also, it's heavily implied that the reason Izuku started analysing quirks in canon was because he himself didn't have one. He was quirkless, so thinking about the quirks he could have had was inevitable. By being born with a quirk, unless he has a reason to, he wouldn't really analyse quirks as he does in canon.

Changing Inko and Hisashi's quirks is fine, as they don't impact canon anyway. Inko could have had the fire breathing quirk, and nothing would change - so it's perfectly fine to change it. Hell, in my rewrite, I'm changing quirks too, with the analysis stuff.

With Izuku in the US, I honestly believe Bakugou would somehow be tamer. Without Izuku, someone he percieved as the weakest of the lot, reaching out to help him, he wouldn't feel incredibly challenged in his ego. He would still be a bully, but I doubt he'd go after someone as intensely as he did to Izuku.

(He'd still be a bully because he was shown to bully others.)

I doubt Izuku would have heard about Bakugou, however. Mitsuki and Inko being close friends is fanon - they barely if ever interact in canon, the fandom decided they were close because Izuku and Bakugou used to be friends when they were four.

Finally, let me just shed some light:

All fanfiction is OOC. Because you are not the author. You are putting these characters in non-canon scenarios, and those reactions will never be confirmed as canon, (unless the author makes the exact same story arc and it's basically a copy).

Plus, characters are the way they are due to their backstories. If you change their backstories, of course they're going to be different. Some of my favourite fics, and really popular fics, change the characters' personality.

For example, in 'Why Are We Here Again?' everyone is OOC, because their backstories are different. But nobody complains about it, because it's still a good story with strong messages, themes, and writing.

I hate complaints about characters being OOC, because authors aren't trying to be canon compliant 90% of the time.

You're fine. Don't worry about being OOC, because it's always going to be OOC, even if you can picture those canon character doing it exactly. Because it's not canon.

Anyway, this sounds genuinely interesting - keep at it!

[bubbleteacat]

Welp, took a while eh? ^^ I swear I lost motivation at some point but after people commented/messaged me, asking for part 2, I somehow got the motivation back to write this. ALSO I just noticed that no one said a word in the last drabble... let's say the last one was just... character introduction... yeah. NOW HAVE FUN WITH PART 2

Trigger warnings: Stalkerish behavior, violence mention, yandere behavior

[ See here Part 1 ]

You slept in the next day, mostly because you could use the sleep, and didn't intended to stream that early. If the power was back on that is. You still had to get grocceries before though. So, after rolling around in bed for a few more minutes, you finally got up and immediately went to check if the energy was back. And as you had hoped, everything worked perfectly again! Seems like you will have no problems to get live later! While you poured yourself a bowl of cereals, and shoved some inside your mouth, you looked through the news to see if there was any information about the blackout from last night. To your surprise there wasn't really any information. Just some news that the cause of the blackout was not clear, so they just said it probably was a simple technical error. How annoying. A simple technical error was the reason you couldn't stream. Wonderful.

After finishing breakfast, you got dressed, and went outside to the groccery store. It wasn't to far away, so you saw no reason to take the bus. You also had no car, but why should you get one anyway? You could walk to your job, and to the groccery store, and if you needed to go further there were always busses or the subway you could take. Besides that, driving sure was exhausting in the city. You silently walked in the direction of the store, not really paying much attention to anything as you were thinking about what you could talk about with the stream later. But you were suddenly ripped from your thoughts as a somewhat... eerie feeling creeped up your back, and made you suddenly stop in your tracks. It's the same feeling from last night when you went home. Like someone was watching you. It honestly wasn't the first time you had noticed such a thing. People had watched you before, but mostly because they had recognized you from your streams. You guessed it was just the same now. Even if this feeling was more... intense than the times before. You looked around, trying to find the source of said feeling but... there was no one staring at you. None of the people you saw on the street were looking at you. And as soon as you had looked around, the eerie feeling had disappeared again. Perhaps you had just imagined it. So you shook your head a bit, and continued on your way to the store. Perhaps you were still tired... You should make some coffee before the stream.

Your trip to the store didn't took to long, and soon you were back on your way home. You have around an hour left until you decided to start the stream, so you had to hurry a bit if you still wanted to eat something before you start. On your walk back to your apartment something caught your eye though. A small group of people, around your age or slightly younger, stood around someone on the other side of the street. You could hear how energetic they spoke. Was there someone famous around or what? It certainly seemed like it by how excited those people were. You craned your neck, as you passed by them on the other side of the street, to see who they were talking to... and you immediately stopped in your tracks. Oh. My. God. That was a Hank cosplayer! From Madness Combat!

"Holy shit! They look amazing! Uh, I wish I could take a pic."

You mumbled to yourself as you eyed the man in the middle of the group, who looked a bit confused from one person to the other. Maybe they hadn't expected that so many people would recognize the character? But the cosplay was amazing! The googles, the coat, the sword on their back, and just everything was just like how they had made Hank look like in the trailer! That's one really determined cosplayer, in your opinion. But you sadly didn't had time to cross the street, and try to take a picture with them. It would take to long, especially with all the other people around who probably had the same idea like you. A shame, really. But perhaps you see them again at the next game convention! So you hurried along, but not without looking one last time at them... just to notice the 'cosplayer' was staring at you. It was kind of strange, but you didn't thought to much about it. Perhaps they knew you from your streams. So you simply smiled at them, before continuing on your way home.

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

You smiled at him. Hank immediately recognized you. The Player. His Player. Of course he would recognize you. He had stared for hours at the pictures of you that they had taken from the Auditor's office. And you simply smiling at him had the grunt rendered speechless. He could not move, not shout out to you. Everything around him disappeared, and the voices of the other people around him seemed suddenly so far away. You must have recognized him as well, otherwise you would have never granted him a smile like this, right? Maybe- Wait. Where did you go? The mercenary suddenly snapped from his dreamy state, and frantically looked around just to find no trace of you. Where had you gone? Why haven't you come to him? Roughly, he pushed some people, of the circle that had formed around him, out of the way, not caring for their complains, before making his way to the other side of the street where you had been standing a moment earlier. You couldn't have gone far. If he hurried up, he surely can reach you! And while he did choose the right direction in which you had walked off, you had already had disappeared into your apartment building... by which Hank rushed by, and down the street in a frantic attempt to find you again. But he couldn't find a trace of his player anymore... So he just decided to go back to Doc and the others to tell them about his encounter. Perhaps Doc has an idea how to find you again. So the mercenary returned to their new hideout in this world. The moment they had entered the world all of them had noticed that it was so different from Nevada. The colors, the residents. There were also beings in the sky, and also basically everywhere that they had never seen again. So, given that they were also very different from everyone, and everything here, they had decided to set up a base that is a bit more hidden. And they had immediately found something that should do the job. An old run down building. It had been boarded up, and it seemed like that no one had entered it since years. While it hadn't been perfect, it was fine for the time they stayed here. While they looked for you. The Auditor, and the other Employers, had entered this world as well. So they had to hurry finding you before they did.

Hank entered the building through the cellar door, that they had entered the place the first time, and went immediately to Doc's new office. Well, 'office' was perhaps a bit exaggerated. It was just a room with a few computers, some medical equipment (all that they had totally not stolen), and a few very old beds. Earlier when Hank had been here, everything had been still full of dust. Seems like they had tidied the place up pretty quickly. Surely with most of the help from Sanford. And the moment the mercenary had entered the room, Doc immediately started to lecture him. Ugh.

" Hank! Where the hell were you? I told you not to go out until we gathered more information! You- "

" I saw the player... "

That immediately made the other shut up, and just stare at Hank for a moment, before he found his voice again.

" WHAT??? Where?!? And why aren't they with you? "

He asks, fearing for the worst already. What if the Auditor had found you before they did? What if they-

" They saw me, smiled, and left... "

Wait, what? 2BDamned just stares at Hank for a long moment through the googles his mask. Confused but also relieved that nothing that he had imagined had happened. Apparently. Still, how could Hank have lost them so quickly? He was fast! Had he been sleeping or what? The 'doctor' let out a tired sigh, not even in the mood what kind of excuses Hank would make if he questioned him. At least they know now that the player was near. He was about to ask where the mercenary had seen you as Deimos and Sanford rushed into the room, with Deimos holding a laptop that he had snatched for himself.

" DOC!!! You need to see this! "

Deimos spoke, and shoved the laptop onto 2BD's desk, knocking over some things, but didn't seemed to care about that all to much. And as Doc came over to scold him, and be more careful... he stops in his tracks as he sees what was on the devices screen. A website was open. A streaming website. And there you were. Idly chatting with your chat, smiling, and apparently you were alright. Doc was taken aback given that it was the first time for him to see you move around, and not just in a picture. The others were also entranced, and did not say a word as they just stared at the screen, and listened to your voice. But Doc was the first one to rip his attention from the screen.

" Hank saw them earlier as well. "

" WHAT " " WHAT "

Deimos, and Sanford called out simultaneous, and looked at Hank who just huffed, and kept looking at you on the screen.

" Yes. He lost them, but at least we know now where they could be. The Player can't be to far from that place where he saw them. Deimos. Can you somehow hack into that system, and track where they are? "

The Hacker gave a sharp toothed smirk at that, and immediately sat down on the laptop to start to track your IP, and your exact location. Wouldn't be the first time he had done such a thing. But usually they killed the person he tracked.

" Sure, Doc. On it already! "

While Deimos worked on the laptop, they let the stream run on one of 2BD's screens. Though instead of doing anything productive, the others kept watching the stream, and you. Until the Hacker announced that he had successfully tracked your location. But instead planning about how to approach you, they kept watching your stream... until you went offline, and to bed. Just then they actually started to plan how to approach you... on the next day already. They really wanted to hurry up, and get to you first. If it was because they feared that the Employers got their hands on you first, or if it was just their own desire to finally meet you is debatable though.

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

You surely had a blast at the stream yesterday. Sure, you did apologize to your chat that you hadn't been online the previous day, but they were quick to reassure you that it hadn't been your fault. You had also a few very generous new followers. Funny though that one of them had a name that is obviously from Madness Combat. They did donate a very high amount which had made you almost cry. You surely are getting that cool new headset, that you got your eyes on for some time, with that money! You got a bit earlier up that usual this morning. You had to work this night again, and wanted to stream again later before you had to head out. As you walked into your kitchen, to make you once more a bowl of cereals... you noticed that you finshed the box yesterday, and forgot to buy new ones when you went to the supermarket. Great. You really wanted some cereals right now... Maybe a short trip to the store again won't hurt? So with an empty stomach, you got ready for your short trip, before leaving your apartment. Not knowing that your vessels had also already went out to finally meet you. They were approaching your place from the direction in which you walked to actually. From where you had seen Hank for the first time. You didn't noticed the group that slowly approached you, and suddenly halted in the tracks when they laid their eyes on you, because you were more paying attention to your phone. Until you were standing almost in front of them. Just then you also stopped, as you felt eyes on you, and looked up from your device... just to stare at them as well. None of you said anything. Them because they clearly had no idea what to say, and you because you were amazed to see such accurate cosplayers of your favorite madness combat characters. After a few seconds passed, you opened your mouth to say something... but suddenly flinch heavily when a black car stopped right next to you and the group with screeching tires.

Confused you looked at the car as the doors opened... and two men in suits got out... But something immediately seemed off about them... They had sunglass but.

Where are their nose? Or ears? Their skin was also weirdly gray? They really did remind you of these agents in-

And then they pull out some guns. You gasp in shock. And suddenly they open fire on the group, and you.