#as well as that I just wanted to keep some of the funnier options in there

[everytimewetouch-dot-mp3]

this is the serial killer direction i WANTED that actors au nonsense to go. all that shit is happening too, but this was the part that sparked that whole idea.

this post is loooong

warning binghe is an obsessive yandere freak 🥰 bingyuan are freak4freak tho so like…. it's fine

dead dove do not eat; he is a serial killer and he's kinda horny about it lmao

luo binghe is maybe shen yuan’s biggest fan. when he was fourteen, he saw sy as the male lead in a classical romantic opera and it inspired him to act. he’s seen all of shen yuan’s opening nights and most of his closings, and he was coached by shen yuan’s older brother (until shen jiu dropped him as a client…there was something Not Right about that boy and sj didn’t want him close). he’s got a bit of a shrine to shen yuan in his basement, filled with photos and newspaper clippings a few dried flowers—whenever he was given flowers on stage, shen yuan always tossed one back to the audience. binghe has three. he has every part of shen yuan he can get his hands on, but it's not enough.

when he and sy start working on sqh's game, it's like heaven and hell all at once. sy is even more beautiful up close, even kinder and funnier and smarter than he shows himself to be in the few interviews he's deigned to give. every moment lbh spends with him is ecstasy. every moment he spends apart from him is suffering unlike any he's ever experienced. every day he yearns to touch, to taste, to take shen yuan. to have him and keep him and treasure him the way no one else ever could. no one loves him like luo binghe loves him.

this video game they're working on—it's got a lot of endings. most of the game is the player on their own, but there's one path that gets the shitty teacher character as a companion. and further down that path…well, there are a lot of romance options in a game as big as this.

things start out fine; lbh and sy have great chemistry, it turns out. even when sy has to play the cruel teacher, it's got this undercurrent of something that could easily open the door for the romance arc later on. lbh knew they'd have great chemistry. he and sy are destined to be together; of course they'd work well on screen. they hang out between takes, eat their meals together, carpool when they can. it's amazing.

it's not enough. binghe burns with the need to possess his beloved, and every day he's denied what he rightfully deserves, that fire burns hotter. one night, he goes out to try to find a hookup, just to let off some steam. it's supposed to be a hookup, it really is. he finds someone who looks similar enough to sy from the back that he can almost pretend it's him. but his voice is all wrong, and his attitude is too brazen, and it pisses binghe off so bad that he chokes the guy just so he'll shut up.

it's just—he doesn't stop choking him until he finishes a few minutes later, and by that point, the guy is…well. mbj helps lbh scrub the body and cover his tracks, and the corpse is found a few days later with no real leads.

it happens again a few weeks later. lbh can't have shen yuan, but so many pale imitations throw themselves at him. and every time, he takes them to bed and he swears he won't get angry this time. it's not sy; he knows it isn't sy. there's no need to be angry with them for pretending to be sy when they're not.

he gets angry anyway. he can't help it. he accepts these men's advances, he takes him to bed, he kills them and kills them and kills them. eventually, news comes to light. the date-night killer, a deeply uninspired name born only from the fact that their last known locations were all night clubs. they're all around the same height, all have short brown hair and glasses, all similar builds.

one night binghe asks shen yuan if he wants to go get drinks. he knows a nice quiet lounge, not too crowded since it's so exclusive. shen yuan declines. jokes that he'd better not—the date night killer likes guys with short brown hair; maybe they'd go after him next.

the next body that turns up is…different. still strangled to death, but it seems like the killer (a copycat most likely, the cops say) felt regret afterward. on the victim's back, over and over again, is carved "i'm sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry…"

his a-yuan is afraid of him. luo binghe hates himself, and he hates all these people who put themselves in his path, who get themselves killed by daring to try to replace a-yuan in his heart. it's their fault a-yuan is afraid. binghe is the only one who can keep him safe. he knows he is.

binghe keeps it together until they're approaching the end of shen yuan's time in the studio. the arc is almost finished, and shen yuan mentions that in a month he'll be leaving for his next show's rehearsals. some opera, binghe's pretty sure; his hearing sort of cut out when his beloved said he was leaving. the news is a knife to the heart. his a-yuan can't leave. a-yuan belongs with him, no one can take him away. binghe needs a-yuan, and a-yuan needs binghe.

that night, luo binghe and shen yuan vanish without a trace. binghe has a house. it's under a false identity, and it's way out in the mountains. there, he can keep his a-yuan safe and comfortable. there, he can work to earn his a-yuan's affection. there, no one can take his a-yuan away.

he explains to a-yuan that they're home now, that they are together as they belong, that luo binghe will be the best husband to his precious a-yuan. and sy is so beautiful, so clever, of course he figures out that luo binghe is the date night killer. it's alright though, binghe promises, because he only killed those people for daring to imitate his beloved. now that he and his husband are finally together, binghe's got no reason to kill anyone else. they'll be happy together now that there's no one else in the way.

when shen yuan smiles, it's like the sun breaking through the clouds. he shifts, asks binghe to untie his arms. of course, binghe obeys. anything for his husband. he's not a fool; he knows shen yuan might try to fight and escape as a test of binghe's ability to protect him, and binghe's ready. but instead, shen yuan reaches out and stokes binghe's hair, his cheek. 'binghe went so far for me,' he murmurs, a hypnotic gleam in his eye that luo binghe has never seen. 'i hoped that night… i thought for sure you'd take me when i turned you down for drinks, but you tried so hard to be respectful, didn't you? well. maybe someday binghe will let me see him work? i quite liked the one you carved for me, but i really didn't need an apology. you can try again, can't you? will you make something pretty for me?'

the next corpse is rather beautifully arranged. the wounds carved into the body are artistic, elegant flowing lines and flowers carved into the skin. in the middle of its back, the double happiness character is drawn. shen yuan thinks it’s a lovely wedding present.

[igotanidea]

Ranking: Jason Todd x fem!reader

graphic by @huedmmi (amazing job with that, thank you!!)

Summary: heroes couples ranking? Might seem like a good idea, but not every pair can make the top......

This is placed in the Ego!verse, cause been a while since I wrote for that. You can find other stories of this verse in my masterlist.

***

„What are you doing?”

„Reading.”

“What are you reading?”

“NOTHING!”

Jason sneaked behind her back, trying to sneak a peek of the article on the Internet Y/N was reading. However, all the time she spend being in the relationship with him and her vigilante instincts combined made her act quick enough to shut the laptop before he could see as much as one letter.

Jason smirked

“Oh, you’re hiding something.”

“What?” she scoffed “I’m not hiding anything.”

“You can’t lie to me, you know it.” He teased leaning forward, their faces inches away from one another

“Are you trying to intimidate me?” she moved even closer “Sorry not sorry, but it’s not working.”

“Well then maybe I just have to keep convincing you…..?”

“I’m the one playing with minds, not you, remember?”

“Come on princess….. just tell me what you’re hiding…..”

“Nope.”

“Y/N.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t be a tease.”

“Have you met me?” she smirked “Tease is practically my middle name.”

“Please?”

“No.” she cut him off “now stop whining, get up and let’s go.”

“Where exactly?”

“Batcave, duh! Did you think I was asking you for a date, or something?” she raised an eyebrow, looking at him teasingly.

“Wouldn’t dream of it……”

He didn’t like the idea of going to the manor for the debriefing, but….. there might be someone who could help him digging some information out.

***

“Drake. I need to talk to you.”

“Mhm….” Tim muttered not really paying attention, his head elsewhere “How about we reschedule that for next month? I’m busy…..” he tried to take a sip of coffee, but before the god’s drink found a way to his mouth, Jason snatched it out of his hands.

“Drake!”

“Give me back my coffee, Todd……”

“Not before you help me.”

“And why should I do that?”

Jason sighed in frustration. On one hand he could just tell Tim was this was about. On the other that would mean showing his vulnerable side and that was a no go. So he just settled on standing in Tim’s room, holding his mug of out his reach, considering pros and cons of each option.

“It’s about Y/N.” Jason finally said, relenting “I’m worried about her.”

“About Y/N? Why? She’s a tough one. I mean, she;s in a relationship with you, I don’t think much can break her.”

“I’m serious, Tim. You may not notice this, but lately she’s been acting… closed off. She’s…. sad.”

“Sad? Cracking jokes left and right? Two days ago she almost made Dick fall off the rooftop telling one of her funny stories.”

“Please tell me it was not a story about me…..?”

“Nope. Those are not funny anymore and she found a lot funnier subjects. Nevermind… Tim shook his head. The point is, she’s acting normal. Why would you be concerned? Wait. Why would you be concerned?

“Cause she’s my girlfriend!”

“Oh…. You do care….” Tim smiles

“Shut up!”

“You want my help or not?”

“If you helping me require me admitting I care about her…….” Jason sighed “Fine, I do. I do care about her. Please, help me?”

“Of course, I’ll help you Jason.” Tim grinned knowing well enough he just got Jason right where he wanted him “and just so you know, it’s not a secret you love her.”

“Shut up…..”

“Fine! Fine!” Tim laughed at Jason’s flustered face “What’s the deal?”

“Y/N…..” Jason said her name with the mix of affection and worry “she’s been spending a lot of time in front of her computer, lately. She claims she’s reading. And I believe her. But whatever article it is, she’s been spending her time on, makes her distracted. It’s almost like she’s been avoiding me for some reason I cannot fucking understand. She’s lost in her head!”

“The girl is a mind reader, Jason. She can hear people’s thoughts. Is this really so surprising that she’s had enough?”

“Yeah, she had those…. Phases. But it’s not like that. She;s only like that because of what she found on the net.”

“Ok… Let’s assume I believe you. But what do I have to do with it?”

Jason muttered something incoherently.

“Sorry, what was that?” Tim chuckled

“I want you to break into her computer……”

“You what now?!”

“I need you to…..”

“Oh no, I heard you. You want me to hack your girlfriend’s computer. It’s just I can’t comprehend what got into your head.”

“I’m kind of desperate…..And you’re the expert on tech…..”

“I’m not buying into this…….” Tim laughs

“Come on, Drake!”

“Not a chance, Jason. Again. Y/N is a mind reader. She’ll find out what we did in a heartbeat. And I don’t want to have my brain grilled. I saw her in action, I know what it means to make her angry. “

“Don’t tell me you’re scared of Y/N…..” Jason mocks

“You are terrified of making her angry yourself…..”

“Ok, fine! She can be scary…… Fuck! You’re no use, Drake!” Jason jumped to his feet, rushing out of Tim’s room, fists clenched, muttering something under his nose.

“It was nice to see you too, Todd!” Tim laughed. He always found it funny how Jason acted under the influence of emotions.

***

“Grayson!”

“Jaybird!” Dick grinned at Jason, the second the latter came through the door to the kitchen “came for some brothers’ bonding?”

“more like binding” Jason rolled his eyes “unless you’ll help me.”

“You must be truly desperate to come to me for help…..”

“Oh, God… have you been watching Thor again?”

“I had a whole marathon. But sure, I’ll give you a hand with whatever you need. What is this about?”

“Y/N.”

“Y/N? What about her?”

“Oh, fuck, not you too. Am I really the only person who noticed she’s been acting off lately? Are you fucking serious?!”

“Um…..relax Jace?”

“How the fuck am I supposed to relax seeing my girlfriend hurting?!”

“And it’s my fault?!” Dick exclaimed with shock in his voice.

“NO! Yes! Wait, is it?” Jason took a step towards Dick “what did you do to her Dickhead!?”

“Nothing! I swear!”

“You’re lying!”

“I’m not lying!”

“Then why won’t she talk to me?!”

“I don’t know! Come on Jace! Don’t get crazy again.”

“Talk to her.” Jason said, calming down. As much as it hurt him to admit it, he was acting erratic and he didn’t want to be aggressive. Not again. Those days were behind him. “Please, just talk to her.”

“Why me?”

“Cause you’re the only person I can trust to do this without making her suspicious. And because she won’t talk to me.”

“Jason…. She’s a mind reader….”

“You’re not the first person to tell me that today. Thank you.” Jason mocks “I kind of remember!”

“Wait…..” dick eyes grow wide…. “I might……”

“You might what, Grayson?!”

“I might know what this is about…..” Dick muttered slowly, but seeing Jason furious expression, with his eyes burning he picked up the talking pace at once “ok, so there’s this little site with superheroes couples ranking…..”

“WHAT!?”

“I mean, not that I read it…..”

“Sure you’re not Dickhead…..”

“But Barbara…. She’s actually a fan. And so it Lois …..”

“Lois? As in Lois Lane?”

“Yeah….. it’s actually pretty popular amongst the girls… I mean, it’s not any ambitious writing on anything like that but when you need something to relax and unwind after a hard day…..Steph and Cass read it too and we spend last evening going thought it and gossiping and……” Dick started rambling “sorry. Not the point.”

“Make the point then….” Jason had to fight the urge to punch his adoptive brother in the face.

“Um…. Me and Babs….. I mean, Nightwing and Batgirl  might have scored first last week……  And I might have slipped a word about it to Y/N…..”

“You scored first?”

“Yeah…..” Dick smiled wildly “I mean we are a really, really good couple but I never thought we could beat Clark and Lois to the first position. Sure, I also might have did some things to catch press attention, but still I ……”

“Grayson, I am warning you…..”Jason hissed

“Sorry. Long story short…. The news got to Y/N. and you know her. She’s the investigator. She started digging and found the site and now she’s been kind of addicted to it, checking it out every week hoping Red Hood and Ego will make it to the list, but…..”

“But what?” Jason asked but he already sensed the answer.

“You did not…..”

“So what you are telling me, is that you scored first, and I didn’t even make the first …. Ten?”

“Fifty……”

“I didn’t make the top 50?!!”

“I’m not the one making those rankings! Stop yelling at me!”

“That’s why she’s been so sad? Was she disappointed? let down?” Jason asked. What he did not form out loud was the question whether she felt unloved? Because of some crazy internet ranking. “I gotta go talk to her…..”

“Yeah…. You should….That might clear the air. You know, honesty is really important. And honest is, I scored FIRST!”

“We’ll talk about that later, Dickhead. I got more important things to do now.”

***

“Y/N.”

“Oh, hey, Jace. What’s up?”

“I know what you’ve been reading.”

“You know what?”

“Stop it”

“Ok, fine.” She sighed “I’m going to kill Grayson for spilling the bean. “

“Sorry princess, but he’s mine. But now… about this … stupid ranking thing… is that really making you this sad? Are you…. Unsatisfied with our relationship?” he asked, all his insecurity and vulnerability coming out in waves. He doubted him his entire life. He always thought that Y/N was too good for him and one day she would just …. leave. And now, it was practically coming true……”

“what?” judging by the tone she became terrified of what he was asking her. “Jace….baby….” she dived into his arms, hugging him tight. What got into your stupid pretty head, you dummy? I love you… I love being with you. If I got discouraged by something someone writes on the Internet that would be …. Childish… immature… stupid.”

“But…..”

“No buts, Jace…..” she pulled back, grabbing his face with both her hands, looking deep into her eyes “I love you, you idiot.”

“I love you too, sweetpea…..”

“Now that is a new nickname……”

“Do you like it?” he smirks “tell me what does it do to you.”

“You’ll have to call me that a few more times just so I can figure out exactly what it does to me.” She smiles pulling him down to kiss.

***

“JASON!!”  

Next morning Y/N standardly checked out the weekly ranking. Just for fun… After that little making up and clearing the air she had with Jason all night, she couldn’t care less about what vigilante couples made the top 10 and who did not. She was happy with her boyfriend. And that was what counted.

But.

There was something so surprising that he just screamed Jason’s name the moment she opened the page.

“Y/N!!??” Jason rushed into her room, shirtless, his face confused. “Are you in danger?! What happened?!”

“THANK YOU!!” she yelled again jumping into his arms. Obviously he immediately pulled her into his chest, enjoying her warmth and hugs and kissed she started planting all over his face , but was still unsure of what was happening.

“Y/N? Not that I’m complaining, but what is this about?”

“We made the first place!! I mean, Ego and Red Hood did! Look, look….” She grabs his hand and lead him to the computer, pointing at the page, almost jumping in excitement. “do you see that?!”

“Yeah, princess I see it….” he smiles, full of smugness.

“Thank you!”

“I didn’t do a single thing…..”

“So, Red hood spotted making some sort of floral carpet for Ego was purely accidental?” she smirked, but her eyes were glistening with pure love and admiration. “You didn’t have to, you know?” she stood up, locking arms on his neck, his founding a way to her waist and pulling her close. “I told you I didn’t give a damn about those rankings and you must have been working at it for hours….”

“It was worth it, baby. Seeing that smile and those pretty eyes shining….. And maybe I deserved a little kiss?”

“Oh, you deserved so…. much…. more….” She brushed her lips over his, making that little kiss a promise of something more to come. “And…” Y/N pulled back “as a bonus, you probably pissed off Dick.”

“Oh, yeah… That was definitely my biggest motivation….” His grip on her waist tightened suggestively.

“Really?” she mutters leaning forward “maybe I can convince you otherwise? Show you what should have been your biggest motivation from the beginning?”

“You know I can’t say no to you, baby……”

[fanfic-obsessed]

Mental Break

Despite the title I think this will be a funnier one.  As a reminder, disregard anything in canon (if such a creature even exists for DC) that contradicts this.

We start with Jason Todd, the Red Hood.  He comes to Gotham having been manipulated by Talia Al Ghul to believe that Jason had been easily replaced by Tim Drake as Robin. That Bruce likely never loved him. 

We are sometime in that strange time after Red Hood delivers his bag of heads, but before anyone knew he was Jason Todd.  He had plans to attack his replacement, but wanted more intel first.  

He tracks down his replacement and douses him with something aerosolized that would induce truthfulness for a short time and asks/shouts at him to find out why Tim took the mantle of Robin.  Tim answers with something to the effect of ‘It was the only option’. Now what Tim means is Gotham needs Batman, and Batman needs Robin, and nobody else was stepping up.  What Red Hood heard was that Bruce was forcing this child to be Robin, that there was some kind of hostage situation going on (Much later, whenever this story is told, Bruce gets an aggrieved, tired look and says ‘I was the hostage in this situation’). 

Somehow this twists through the Pit Madness until Jason is convinced that it was not that Bruce replaced Jason with Tim and that Bruce never loved Jason. Instead he comes to believe that Jason's death broke Bruce so badly that he believes that Tim is Jason. That Bruce kidnapped a neighborhood kid and forced him into the Robin costume so that Bruce did not have to face his son being dead.  Tim is, of course, just trying to survive what must be a terrifying and surreal experience.  It also gives Jason a good explanation why the Joker is still alive (Killing the Joker for Killing Jason means admitting Jason is dead).  Jason manages to hack into the bat computer and get some, but not all, of the videos of Tim’s training and nothing that he got dissuades this belief.  Particularly since many of the early videos have Bruce drunk, calling Tim Jason, and being unnecessarily rough (Some of which was deliberate to try to get Tim to quit).  He also manages to miss any evidence that Alfred knew anything about Tim being Robin, so he thinks that Alfred, in his own grief, is missing the whole ass child that Bruce has apparently kidnapped. 

So now instead of planning a confrontation between Batman and the Joker he is considering the implications of Bruce finding out Jason’s identity. He is asking himself if it would break Bruce further, if Bruce would hurt Tim for ‘pretending’ to be Robin/Jason, if Bruce would even believe Jason. 

To the confusion of all the Bats, Red Hood’s entire personality abruptly seemed to shift. He was still a crime lord, still killing. However, before he had clearly hated the Bats, now anytime he crossed paths with either Batman or Robin he asked strange, aggressive yet concerned questions about their well being and mental health. 

Even more hilariously, Red Hood goes to Nightwing and (after proving that he really was Jason Todd) convinces Dick of this belief.  Dick thinks back to his own first interaction with Tim, where Tim was trying to convince him to come back, and comes to the, entirely incorrect, conclusion that this actually supported Jason's theory. Dick reframes the conversation in his head until it seems as though Tim was asking for Dick to rescue him instead of what was actually happening. He is also only rarely in Gotham so cannot think of a single instance that disproves Jason’s theory. 

What happens next can only be described as Shenanigans. 

Batman, and Robin are trying to figure out why Nightwing is suddenly working with the Crime Lord Red Hood. Also why Batman calling Tim Robin in the field makes him flinch. He keeps refusing to come back to the Cave or the Manor (because Dick is sure he will spill the beans about Jason and is afraid that will break Bruce further) and is possibly trying to lure Robin away. In addition Nightwing keeps asking really weird questions about where Tim is sleeping and how he is getting food and is he going to school.

Nightwing and Red Hood are trying to figure out (subtly, a term which neither actually have any grasp on) how deep Bruce's delusions go, how much Tim understands about what is going on, and how to get Tim away from Bruce long enough to get them all some help. Plus trying to find a therapist specifically for Tim (whom they assume is going to be deeply traumatized out of all this). 

Just all around Shenanigans.

[breannasfluff]

Safety and Frogs

AO3 Link

Malon hums to herself, combing her fingers through fluffy brown hair. The screen door to the house swings open; squeaking on the hinges. She should oil it later.

“Got room for one more?”

“For you Fairy Boy? Always.” She smiles up at her husband as he settles onto the wide porch swing on her free side.

“How’s Hyrule?”

“Ran out of energy helping with the fairies. Now we’re both enjoying a nice break.” At her side, the traveler is fast asleep against her shoulder. She’s eased Link to sleep with the same gesture many a time.

“Well, I think I could do with some rest myself.”

“Finished with the horses?”

“The boys are still moving grain. Wild is…helping.” Causing chaos, comes the subtext.

“And Wind?”

“…hm.”

So, instigating said chaos. Well, as long as they don’t set the barn on fire. Link sets the porch swing rocking with a foot and she leans into his side. Even after 10 years of marriage, her favorite place is next to him. They’ve been together long enough that they can be apart, but it will never be her choice.

Link is…different, the more time he spends with the boys. Oh, sure, he’s changed a lot from the young boy who wandered out of the forest. Even more so since they started dating or got married. Those were drastic changes, borne out of struggles and pain.

Now, he changes subtly each time he comes home. Link grows comfortable in his role as the temporary leader of the group. He knows when to keep the boys out of trouble and when to let them learn their own lessons. With so many diverse backgrounds and ages, he deals with all sorts of oddities.

Malon can’t help but look at him with the boys and imagine little ones of their own. Her fairy boy would be a wonderful dad because he already fills that role for eight others.

At her side, Hyrule shifts slightly and she resumes combing through his hair. He settles with a little sigh. Glancing at Link shows a fond smile at the motion.

“How are they doing?” she asks.

Link turns his attention back across the ranch, eyebrows furrowing slightly at the racket in the barn. “It’s good. Everyone’s grown more comfortable with each other and their role in the group. Friendships are still being made but…there’s a lot more trust than when we started.”

He presses a kiss to Malon’s hair. “I love them. Even when they drive me up the wall. All I want to do is see them go home safe.”

“You’re doing that already.”

“But…I feel like I should do more.”

Malon knows this mindset; they’ve battled it for years already. It’s a product of the hero’s spirit; the insatiable need to help. “Link. You are already doing that. Do you let Wild blow up everything he sees?”

“No.”

“Did you let Wind steal Warriors scarf and dye it?”

That gets a snort; one of the funnier stories he shared with her. “No.”

“Do you let Hyrule wander off and get lost?”

“I think that’s impossible to stop, but I send Wolfie after him.”

“What about traveling all night? Not checking for dangers? Eating unknown foods?”

“Okay! Okay!” Link holds up his hands, waving her off. “I get it, I do a lot.”

She smirks and kisses his shoulder. “You do a good job, fairy boy. You’ll get them all home safe. I promise.”

“How do you know?”

“Because with you? There is no other option.” Link will do everything in his power to protect the boys. She’s made her peace with it, even if it raises his chance of injury. He wouldn’t be the man she loved if he was different.

The racket in the barn dies down, and there’s little sound but the odd whinny of a horse and the creak of the swing. Malon lets her eyes close as she leans on Link, taking a deep breath of the warm summer air.

“I can kill 16 bokoblins with thunder.”

Her eyes pop open and she glances over at Hyrule. He’s blinking sleepily up at her.

“…what?”

He just nods and yawns, showing white teeth. “Chu chus are edible if you are desperate enough.”

Well, that’s…worrying. Malon glances at Link, hoping for some help.

“Go back to sleep, traveler.”

Hyrule yawns again. “Legend’s got a pair of red underwear he stole from Wild…” and then he settles back on Malon’s shoulder and falls asleep again.

Malon presses her lips together, trying to stop the laughter from shaking her shoulders. Link rolls his eyes. “Hyrule says the weirdest things mid-nap. He gives me a run for my rupees; I’ve got no idea if what he says is true half the time.”

She arches an eyebrow. “And the underwear?”

“You’re welcome to ask.”

The silence stretches, and then they both break into quiet giggles. The gentle motion of the swing lulls her into a doze. She should go inside and start on dinner. Maybe bake some rolls? What would the boys like that she can make in a kitchen? Wild deserves a break from cooking, especially over a campfire.

Perhaps…she can make… ~

Malon wakes to whispering. She doesn’t move at first, although her ear flicks as she listens.

“Take the picture,” someone hisses. Legend.

“I did! Look, they’re all conked out.” There’s Wild.

A pause. Then Four asks, “Hey, what if I tickle the old man’s ear with a feather.”

“Don’t do that!” A light slap and some shuffling.

“Hey—”

“Shh!”

Someone else has joined the trio and Malon works to feign sleep.

“Why are we whispering?”

“They are asleep. Hey, whatcha got, Sky?”

“A frog! Look, it’s a small one.”

“Can I hold it?” Wild asks.

“Sure, here you go.”

Silence. Suspicious silence. It’s a silence that points to a prank in action.

“Hello, boys.” Link’s voice has Malon opening her eyes to take in the situation. Wild stands directly in front of Link, hands cupped around the frog. There’s a slight look of panic.

“Have a nice nap, old man?”

He ignores the question. “You weren’t going to put that frog on me, were you?”

“O-of course not! I would never!” Wild glances back at the other boys, looking for backup. Four edges away. Sky is confused, and Legend has a highly insincere smile on his face.

Next to her, Hyrule wakes up and blinks, looking around. “What’s going on?”

“Wild has a frog.”

“Cool, can I see?”

Wild passes the frog over, relieved at the distraction. Hyrule examines the frog and then pops it in his mouth.

Did he just…eat…a frog? Is that something these boys do? Goddesses, is she not feeding them enough?

“Hyrule.” Link’s voice is cool and he’s making use of his disappointed face. “Spit it out.”

The traveler does; the frog none the worse for its sudden journey into a mouth. Sky swoops in and saves it before anyone else decides they want a snack. Hyrule gives her a sunny smile. “Frog legs are excellent cooked.”

She manages a faint smile. “I’m sure they are.”

No, her fairy boy will have no trouble with children in the future.

[ninadove]

hi!

i’m so sorry if you’ve already made a post or answered an ask like this before, but i remember you saying a couple times how the lovesquare is queer-coded.

i think that’s such an interesting observation, and i was wondering if you’d be willing to elaborate on that a little more?

i’d love to hear your thoughts!! and thank you for taking the time to read this. :)

Absolutely Anon! Thanks for dropping by! ❤️🖤

I’m sure there are a lot of wonderful, more complete posts on the topic out there — my Sentikids tunnel vision means I don’t always grant other characters/relationships the attention they deserve. That being said, here are some things that popped into my head:

1. Secret identities

You know ‘em, you love ‘em. Secret identities are the core of the show — the very reason the Love Square is a square! Hiding part or the entirety of who you are for safety reasons is a theme most queer people unfortunately relate to, and the great thing is that we get two very different perspectives on the matter from our two protagonists.

For Adrien, Chat Noir means freedom: being away from his father’s grasp (read: from a power structure that tries to sculpt him into something perfect and bland — more on that later) allows him to become bolder, funnier, more like himself or at least more like the person he wants to be �� which very prominently features being in love with Ladybug, aka exploring romantic connections outside of Kagami, the only acceptable option for Adrien.

And yet… Chat Noir is also something dangerous. When Chat Noir gets rejected, Adrien tries to renounce his Miraculous, aka to bury this part of himself as far down as possible; when Chat Noir gets unmasked by Ladybug, the object of his affections, IT’S THE LITERAL END THE WORLD (twice and a half now). There’s an entire post to be made about Cat Walker and Aspik and Adrien folding himself into what he thinks Ladybug’s perfect partner should be.

The point is: Adrien being himself puts him (and the people he loves) in harm’s way, both emotionally and physically. You see the themes, I see the themes, we cry together and hold hands.

Marinette, on the other hand, fucking hates being Ladybug for most of the series. She wants to be a normal girl (!) with a normal life (!!) and it’s just not happening. The reason? There’s something about her that no one knows yet (!!!) ‘cause she has a secret (!!!!).

If anything, being Ladybug keeps getting in the way of her romantic shenanigans: she can’t be with Adrien/Chat Noir because Apocalypse, she can’t be with Cat Walker because her Lucky Charm doesn’t like him, she can’t be with Luka because she has to lie all the time! Not only that, it endangers her friendships as well, as seen in The Gang of Secrets. Look at the wording of her talk with Alya in this episode:

“I won’t try to figure it out our force it out of you. If you can’t tell me what’s in your heart… it’s your right.”

“Will we still be friends?”

“Marinette, I’m your best friend, and I’ll always be. That’s why it kills me that I can’t help you with whatever’s making you feel so alone.”

[…] “You know why I broke up with Luka? Not because I don’t like him! He’s amazing! It’s because there’s something that I can’t tell him. You know why I have to forget Adrien? For the exact same reason. You’re right! I keep secrets, I lie all the time, I lie to my friends, to my parents, everyone, and the worst thing is I can’t do it any other way. […] I tell you, things will never be the same between us again, it will mess up everything — maybe even destroy it!

“Marinette, I’m your very best friend.”

“And I… I’m Ladybug.”

If this isn’t a coming out scene, I don’t know what is.

Of course, Marinette progressively steps into her role as a superheroine and learns to navigate her relationships accordingly — but she’s still carrying this secret that sets her apart from the rest of the world. It’s the othering, isolating part of queerness, and it’s really well portrayed throughout the seasons.

2. The Adrigaminette-to-Lukadrinette pipeline

I cannot not mention it, because what the hell was going on here.

Adrigaminette felt less like a love triangle and more like the girls voting themselves out of the polycule in quick succession. We got an entire episode of the three of them running around, holding hands and jumping in ballpits together. Both Adrien and Kagami went heart eyes over Marinette’s loose hair.

Then André came in with his cart and clown shoes and said “Nah you can’t all share the Magical Ice Cream Of Romance. :( Yeah sorry my ice cream is for two people and two people only. :( Also I guess I could serve Marigami and Marigami only but the flavours would taste gross together. :( Don’t look into the subtext too much” HE JUST HAD TO RUIN IT FOR THEM DIDN’T HE

I’m really happy he ruined it for them, for bird reasons, but still. Adrigami is also the one time we get to see Chat Noir ruin Adrien’s love life, and most of the fuel for my aroace Adrien thoughts, but I digress — LUKADRINETTE

Luka is in the unique position of knowing both Ladybug and Chat Noir’s identities, aka the most secret part of their souls, and immediately went in repression mode in Wishmaker upon finding out his two crushes were basically soulmates. It pays off in Migration, when he becomes their de facto safe place, the one person they know has both of their backs no matter what. Just look at the way they all look at each other:

With Marinette knowing she does not have to lie to him anymore and Adrien being Adrien. I’m sorry but in my mind they both independently proposed to him right then and there. This is the timeline I live in now.

Parenthesis over. Let’s get back to business:

3. Feligami Adrinette

By which I mean the themes explored throughout their relationship.

Adrinette’s story has always been about rescuing Adrien from the abusive environment he grew up in, as Marc and Nathaniel so helpfully drove across through their delightful storyboards:

(Note the gender role reversal here, blurring the lines between Marinette and Ladybug as she takes on the role of the knight in shining armour, while Adrien is the princess locked away in her tower… Adrien’s gender deserves another other essay in itself, but for today, let’s just agree that he is Not Cis.)

In S5, this theme escalates into a full-on Romeo and Juliet situation. Gabriel and Tomoe are of course the main obstacles to Adrinette’s happy ending: given A. Gabriel’s history of forcing his son into a mold, B. the strict expectations placed on Tsurugi women and C. the oppressive, uniformly white world they want to create through Perfect Alliance (Perfect!!! Alliance!!! Rings!!! Marriage!!!), it’s not a stretch to see them as the messengers of a certain vision of masculinity, femininity and relationships. You see it, I see it, Marinette doesn’t see it because she’s too busy sobbing on the floor, which finally brings me to my favourite thing ever:

“But Nina!” I hear you protest, “you’re making everything about Feligami again!” To which I reply: first of all, yes I am. Second of all, you can’t stop me. Third of all —

Third of all, characters don’t exist in a vacuum, and this is particularly true of the Adrinette & Feligami quartet. Kagami’s name literally means mirror; Felix is a foil to Adrien, of course, but also to Marinette (and Gabriel and Emilie and a bunch of other characters and I love him so much but let’s not stray too far from the point). Of course Feligami is going to parallel and contrast Adrinette, especially since Felix is Aware of the Themes and Motifs and has decided to make it everyone’s problem.

So in June (!) 2023, a little thing called Representation (!!) aired.

There are sooo many things to say about the queer-coding of the Senti-lore in general and of Felix and Feligami in particular. Today, though, I want to draw your attention to the way the kids talk about themselves at the end of the play, drawing clear narrative links to the Love Square (and most specifically Ladybug):

“You know what it’s like to not be able to love the one you want.”

“To constantly fight to save the people you love.”

“To have to lie all the time and never reveal who you truly are.”

[Wipes a single tear away] They grow up so fast…

At the end of the day, this is what both Feligami and the Love Square are all about: embracing who you are and the love you feel, no matter its form, in a world that perpetually tries to enslave and/or kill you for it. I don’t know about you, but I find it hella queer in nature.

Thank you for coming to my DUUSUTalk! 💙🦚

[honeii-puff]

A NEW THING: Conceptualizing Middle-Grade Book Series into YA

Inspired by some stuff @ein-keiser does

So basically I'm going to take a middle grade book series I've read before and adapt it into YA; basically making it more adult. This is mainly for the concept and not me rewriting it all (rewriting 9+ books of KOTLC is not on my to-do list this winter)

And my first one is: KOTLC! Aka one of my favorite middle-grade book series.

(this is also going to be similar to @ein-keiser's format by how he does things)

KEY CONCEPTS:

-In the books, the main kind of focus is taking on the Neverseen as the Black swan, and very focused on the rebel groups. I want to touch on the politics a bit more of it; pointing out all the wrongs of the Council, The Neverseen, and the Black Swan, show how all of them have flaws in the way they handle things. -Sophie isn't going to have as many abilities, since I think 5 is overwhelming for both her and the readers. She'll keep her Telepathy and Inflicting from Elvin abilities and have her teleporting from the Alicorn DNA, but i think I'm going to erase the Polygot ability and streamline the Enhancing ability to just having more enhanced Telepathy and Inflicting instead of being essentially a battery for others. -The Moonlark symbolism is definitely going to be more prominent, about equally as prominent as the Black Swan's swan and the Neverseen's eye

SETTING:

-The Elvin world will relatively stay the same, but the species will be a bit more intermingled and less separated, aside from the Ogres, who prefer to keep their distance. Elves aren't seen as the superior species by everyone else, but they do have that inflated sense of self. The Elven council is smaller, with 7 members (odd number to prevent ties; a lot of the council members were just... there not really doing anything before), and there are representatives from the leaderships of the other species that they meet with regularly. -The society is very classist against talentless Elves and those of other species who also don't make the bar of what considers them "normal" -Violence is still very frowned upon by the Elves, and Elves themselves are all vegan, but some other races aren't. While they are all about the timeline of extinction, they also don't eat meat because they biologically cannot handle ingesting it. Due to Sophie being genetically weird, she can't eat meat, but her body can handle other animal products (Dairy and Eggs), so she was raised vegetarian (Kinda makes the 'soybean' thing funnier).

THEMES:

-It's definately more political than the original version, diving deeper into the councils wrongdoings, as well as the wrongdoings of the Neverseen and even the Black Swan. Sophie goes rogue for a while before eventually joining back up with The Black Swan. -Less focus on romantic parings when it comes to Sophie; Other characters will get romantic relationships though.

FOXFIRE:

-like the books, Foxfire is a school specifically for Elven Nobilty, though it is like a fancy prep school; there are other general Elven schools that you can go to regardless of class, and some that also have students that are other species. Like a prep school, Foxfire has optional dorms (And are only allowed for those ages 14 and older with permission from their guardian), but students aren't allowed to live in their dorms during breaks from school longer than three days. For that, they are required to be at home with their guardians. -The classes provided in the books stay the same.

CHARACTER DYNAMICS:

-It would be centered around the og main trio (Sophie, Dex, and Marella) more, with Keefe, Fitz, and Biana joining in (ofc the Twins when they come along too) - The stuff with Dex having a crush on Sophie will be omitted, instead having Dexiana coming later in the books - Keefe and Fitz stay close through the books instead of distancing from each other. -Stina and Maruca wont be as big of characters

aaand there we go

[mariuslepual]

honestly I don't know which option is funnier

1. essek keeps relating to caleb as bren because of the awkwardness of having to explain the caleb/bren situation after using the name bren with astrid. if essek doesn't want to have to disclose some of caleb's traumatic backstory, bringing up bren in the first place is not an... ideal choice. this is also funny because it's not really important to BH to know that bren that sends his regards is also essek's partner. they could just think essek knows two ziemnian guys.

2. essek wants to obscure the nature of his relationship with caleb from people he doesn't fully trust. this is funny because as far as we know anyone in the vanguard who directly wishes caleb harm also knows him well enough to know who bren is. this conceals nothing. you could've just given them a completely fake name, mr hot boi.

2a. this is also funny because his arrival as seth suggests essek may be hiding his true identity from the alliance but had to reveal it to BH later for practical reasons. so currently BH could reasonably assume caleb doesn't know his acquaintance seth's true identity.

3. in the years following the end of c2 caleb just decided to start using both names interchangeably. the grand caleb/bren dychotomy is a lie. essek just hasn't realised someone has to mention it to new people.

[incorrecthuntingdogs]

"#i have a post canon ''au'' where the ada is forced to (temporarily) take in the disbanded Hunting Dogs"

what??? that sounds so cool??? can we hear more about it

Gladly! I'm happy to get to talk about it :D even though it's sort of a loose concept lol

This is excluding Tachihara (for obvious reasons) and Fukuchi; as much as I would want him to spend time and properly reconnect with Fukuzawa, I doubt he'd get the opportunity to after the whole mess with the DOA, either because he's going to jail, or... well, that other thing...

So anyway, I see two possible reasons for this, one of which being related to Yosano's ability and the surgeries (credits for the idea to @sinetempore lol) or the less likely but far funnier option of Kenji dragging Tecchou to Fukuzawa like "can we keep him :D".

On the one hand we have some very awkward interactions with the people that were literally hunting you down like a week ago, which is equally uncomfortable for both parties. They'd eventually warm up with each other (Tecchou and Kenji setting a good example by being the only ones actually interacting with each other casually at first), but until then no one is having fun with the arrangement. And everyone is aware it won't ever happen for some of them. Jouno and Kunikida just sort of ignore each other completely, and you won't ever find them alone in the same room.

(I feel like Lucy would get involved in this process too, probably dragged in by Jouno who noticed that she used to be in a similar position. She is, in fact, even more wary of them than the ADA members, the only exception here being Tecchou.)

On the other hand, though, this opens some really nice angsty possibilities for the Hunting Dogs, and I'm not talking about the physical ones. We don't know how long they've really existed, but assuming it's between 6 and 14 years the chains of the government must be imprinted so deeply in their minds. And without the surgeries, their capacities are nowhere near as where they used to be; and that's leaving the side effects of not receiving them anymore aside. Imagine them out on their first new mission and failing. Imagine their panic. All aside from the punishment they would have received as Hunting Dogs, failure simply isn't a familiar feeling for them anymore. I doubt Fukuzawa would send them away all on their own for multiple reasons, and the ADA members accompanying them are... concerned, to say the least. It takes a long and sort of one sided conversation to even figure our what's wrong, and even longer to sort it out. It was, in fact, the first and last time Jouno and Kunikida actually talked to each other. Neither of them ever acknowledged it again later.

On the OTHER other hand, we could get the friendships I want to see so badly. Ranpo and Teruko. Dazai and Jouno. Guys I'm not joking I need Dazai and Jouno to be friends so badly. They (and Fyodor) are in fact the only characters I have not one, but two childhood friends AUs for. I need to see them together.

[beauty-and-passion]

Tackling The Magnus Archives

I hope you’re satisfied, TMA fandom.

For a lot of time, I’ve seen this fandom everywhere: posts, fanarts, even more fanarts, people mentioning scary stuff and an overall positive reaction about this series.

At first, I didn’t pay it any attention. It seemed just like any other series, with nothing exceptional about it. But the more time passed, the more fanarts I saw, the more they got my interest. I still had no idea what the series was about, but it looked interesting. Maybe there was something I didn’t notice before.

So… why not give it a try?

Cool, what’s the plan?

From the moment I decided to give this series a try, I ran away from all spoilers. That means I am currently facing a series I have no idea what will be about. I know nothing about the plot, nor the characters.

Well, nothing except for a few things I accidentally learned before:

Jonathan Sims is the protagonist. I think?

There is a Michael somewhere

Also, a Martin doing stuff

There are a lot of names

And a library

I’ve also seen a spider lady

Someone explores a dungeon? Is there a dungeon in this story?

There is a homoerotic story too

I also recently found out there is a season 2 - or a related series? No idea what the plot is about, but we will find out along the road.

How?

I had two choices: to analyze every single episode (and die of old age because it would take an eternity) or listen to the whole series first, then write one/several posts analyzing it. But it would still take a lot of time and I will inevitably forget a lot of stuff or don’t cover things as well as they deserve.

So, I chose a third option: to tackle the series ten episodes at a time and write a post with my impressions about all of them. (a bit like I do for Eurovision, only for TMA). This way:

I’ll cover every episode

I will remember more stuff

I will post constantly, so you won’t have to wait forever for me to finish the whole thing first

It will be funnier and more entertaining

Is there something we should/shouldn’t do?

I want my impressions and comments to be as genuine as possible, but in order to do that, I shouldn’t know anything about what I will read.

That means I will actively avoid every little information about the series. It doesn’t matter if it’s about harmless or well-known info: I won’t read it, period.

So please, do not write me anything about this series. I will not read any ask regarding TMA. You can still ask me stuff and write comments, sure. And you can put spoilers if you want, but please: be kind and put a big warning before them. Do not spoil the fun.

What’s the timeline?

Asap: I will write a new post and add it to the main masterlist. This new post will seve as masterlist for TMA and include this introductory post, as well as all other reactions. So If you ever miss one of them, you will read all of them there.

In the next couple days: it will come out the first post with my reactions about chapters 1-10. I’m already working on it, so it should come out very soon.

I will try to keep up a consistent schedule, but can’t promise you anything. I am preparing two exams and my final thesis too, so it might take me some time to post. But I will end this series. By now, you know that when I start something, I finish it.

In conclusion

Thank you in advance to all the people who will follow me in this adventure. If you already know about TMA, you can have fun, by mocking me for my ignorance or wait for the moment I will face the real shit. If you don’t know about TMA, maybe you will find the inspiration to start it - or to do it with me. It’ll be fun! And even if the series ends up being bad, at least we can laugh together at how terrible it is.

See you very soon with the first post about chapters 1-10.

(How about a coffee? ☕)

_______________________________

TAGLIST:

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[wingedcatgirl]

is it oc smash or pass time? it's going around so i'm gonna say yes. nobody tagged me but i want to do this. (you're tagged if you see this. if you wanna)

Inessa Fonseca, the Curious Lady

(i'm still kinda working out her appearance tbh. someone find us a better side-view picrew, that one's a homestuck troll maker which okay it worked surprisingly well but she's still definitely not that.)

Facts:

Age: Early 40s, probably (she stopped keeping track, it's the Neath, it kinda doesn't matter anymore right?)

Gender: Transfem she/her

Orientation: She does clearly have one of those, yes (tends towards women but doesn't really care about labels, like there are people walking around London with the faces of squid - squid! - and you want a label for specifically whether or not you think smooching them is a good idea?)

Propaganda:

Lapsed Seeker, but did she valiantly overcome the call or is she just currently distracted? And which of those, if either, would speak well of her character?

Polyamorous as hell, she's already married to a bewildering procession of lovers, but of course she always has room for more

Enjoys showing new Londoners the ropes, which is how she met her latest paramour, Ellesmere (@kung-fu-cutbug)

Somehow both Hedonist and Austere. Just accept it.

I'm counting this as my daily OC facts btw

One of her favorite pastimes is giving her friends flimsy excuses to call assassins on her. OH NO HOW CLUMSY I AM WITH MY WINE.

Then she styles on the assassins and steals their gear.

Her sense of fashion is "fuck you, I'm a scientist"

I once again refuse to clarify whether this propaganda is for smashing or passing

Most of her work time is spent doing ‼️SCIENCE‼️, in the form of either experiments or hands-on research (e.g. going to zee in her zubmarine to get zamples - i mean samples)

(Even though she is ostensibly a Midnighter. That's some good irrigo, she completely can't remember her job-on-paper when she's away from it.)

Most of her free time is spent hanging out with urchins or cats, though she does like a good party or honey-dream

She is completely blase about death, because the Boatman is a good friend and she likes playing chess with him :)

She's not any more serious about any other potential inconveniences tbh

And did you just overhear her talking to herself? Why does 'herself' seem so distinctly unamused by her own antics?

[cboffshore]

Back when I started writing An Evening with Operation: Cortado, I made myself a little promise: every time I felt grouchy about something and felt the need to vent (not even always fandom related, tbh, sometimes it was just silly everyday stuff), I would vent and then follow up with a bit of worldbuilding for the fic. Anything at all to redirect the grouchy energy.

Well. I've been grumpy lately, about a lot of things and places and events, and I have fallen behind on my atonement. However, I'm solidly in OSSAS season on my writing calendar, which means pure Cortado thinking isn't on the table.

So, to make sure I hit both targets: I'm going to blather about my OC Landon for a while. And then it's going to turn weirdly dramatic and poignant, I think, but... it's worth it, I promise.

(Note: if you are not caught up on the OSSAS series or Cortado, OR are not in the market for potential spoilers for either of those, do not proceed beyond this point until those are no longer true statements for you. This is about to spoil both some in-text and meta stuff for both works, and also won't make sense without knowing either of those. Also, some of this may be subject to change; this is where Landon sits right now.)

So, if you need a refresher, here's

History of Landon 101 - Meta Studies

While working on Coughing Up Feathers, I needed a named background pirate for Nadakhan to address... By name. I didn't like any of the background mook options, so I decided a homemade OC would be better. As a show reference and a small apology for how much bullshit I was about to put Nadakhan through, I decided to make the episode 61 crew naming dream a reality and just... give him a guy who was already named Landon. It was funnier than just pulling one of the background minifigures from a set and using them, at least, and it ended up being useful for If I Can Think (Of Something Clever).

That's as far as it was ever supposed to go. Until Cortado hit, and I needed people to populate the Skybound Death Club, and I thought... hey. He'd have a fun insider crew perspective. And there he was! Of course, even though I never use it in Cortado (and idk if I'll have space to), that meant cooking up a backstory for him, just like I did for everyone else around that table. So, for the first time ever:

Here's how Landon ended up on the pirate crew (aka History of Landon 102 - In-Universe)

Circa episode 61 - after the Landon crewmate mission flops and it's established the Keep is accepting any civilian that makes it up and wants to be there - Landon is a perfectly normal, somewhat aimless, fresh out of high school guy still a little woozy from a yearlong bout of senioritis. He's either on a gap year or just waiting to head off to college, where he'll major in Undecided and waffle about a Miscellaneous minor for a while; he doesn't know. I don't know, either. For now, Landon's just doing whatever catches his eye (and can be financed on a low-paying summer job taking tickets at the history museum).

Anyway, he's off doing Stupid Teenager Shit with his buddies (nothing criminal - maybe goofing around on a playground after it's closed, leaf blower on a merry-go-round type Stupid Teenager Shit. A few notches under whatever made Gerard Way write "Teenagers"), and naturally: they get around to chatting about the bizarre stuff going on in the city around them. Specifically: the landmasses going missing, and those big moving dark spots above the clouds, and if there's a link - or if it's just two competing alien factions trying to out-weird each other.

In fact... there's a piece of lawn slowly tearing itself out of the ground twenty feet away. Right now.

Seeing this, someone goes: hey. Here's an idea. Whoever falls off the merry-go-leafblower first has to get on that chunk of land and see where it goes. Who's in?

All hands shoot up. Everyone here is into Stupid Teenager Shit, after all, and this sounds like the qualifier round for the Stupid Teenager Shit Tournament. Landon revs up the leafblower and everyone clambers on.

I feel like you can fill in the blanks from there.

Anyway, Landon makes it all the way up, and gets onto the crew - with honors, based on the gleam in the weird floaty captain's eye once he tells him his name. No resume, no interview - he's immediately on first-name basis here and has no idea why, but hey, it beats taking tickets for temp exhibits!

With that, and the brief, bizarre career in piracy that follows: Landon wins the Stupid Teenager Shit Tournament, and nobody down on the merry-go-leafblower ever finds out. Reset and all that.

Which segues nicely into the big thing I wanted to wax poetic about:

What's Landon up to after the reset?

Minor Witness spoilers (or maybe not - I have no clue if I'll even be able to write this in): getting whacked by a soul slurping sword is kind of a life-changing event if you remember it. Cortado rules hold that those who are dead at the time of the reset are the ones who might remember it (this is to keep all those EMs in there out of the party, just because I can), and Landon - patron saint of plot convenience - gets lucky! The sword prison counts as being dead, or at least dead enough to land him back on the high school stage when the reset kicks in during graduation, all his memories intact. And that's a weird, weird feeling, to know that somewhere in this existence, you have technically been dead before you were ever handed your diploma. (I think. I've never experienced that but I'm sure it would be odd.)

His first thought: okay. I'm not going to any playgrounds after dark this summer.

His second thought: maybe I'll major in history. Figure out what that crew's deal really was.

Landon manages to keep the summer museum job going strong; he finds he likes the art wing best, and he takes that to college with him: history major with as many Era of the Stone Warrior specialities as possible, art minor for the fun of it (and for the very legitimate underwater basketweaving elective). Once or twice, he asks his classmates if anyone's even seen a pirate recently or lost a parking space to the sky, but nothing takes.

He starts to wonder if maybe he just spaced out during graduation and dreamt it all up.

But it feels so real. And he's paid all that tuition money in pursuit of answers, so... why not see where it goes?

How about after The Merge? How'd he find the club?

In the Cortado timeline, Dragons Rising (when the fic takes place) happens approximately ten years after Skybound would have. This gives Landon enough time to finish his four year bachelor's (maybe five - he seems a super senior type) and get well into a graduate program. Surprise, surprise: he's got an era picked out and he's studying art history and artifact dating front that era, all those unanswered questions about his deleted experience on the brink of being solved.

As such, his internship hours place him as a materials analyst and research assistant at some Crossroads-based inter-realm art preservation museum institute thing. I haven't picked a good name yet. Sue me. Anyway, he's enjoying his work, but nothing's really standing out to him... until his staff advisor tells him they've got a special assignment for him to lead a team on. They bring him to a small, one-painting exhibit, almost entirely set up... except for the plaque. That's where Landon comes in, because nobody else on staff has been able to get it, and there's some stuff in here that kinda lines up with his chosen focus era, right? Why not throw the intern at it, see if he sticks and can come up with something informative?

Anyway, Landon and his advisor round the corner and see this:

(Why? Because Landon is MY OC and I get to choose which of my works he interacts with. It's pretty much all of the Skybound related ones, by the way; they're all connected because I say so.)

Despite this painting being entirely anachronistic and making no sense... Landon's seen it before. Something like it, anyway, or someone, in the flesh and at a fitting she did not want to attend, and a much lamer outfit...

Oh, yeah. That's a thesis project if he's ever seen one.

Every time he sees the portrait during research sessions, he swears the veil gets longer. Or shorter. Or floatier. It moves a lot despite there being no draft in its little nook. Nobody else he's asked seems to be able to track the veil's changes, or even notice, but Landon doesn't really mind. When it hits the floor, he can sneak an extra sample for chemical analysis, and nobody knows... so it's fine. It's not haunted, probably, and hey, he gets to do the research and write the plaque and cut the ribbon when the exhibit opens! That's cool!

And then one day: he's doing some followup research during a normal museum day, holding impromptu discussions with everyone who stops in for a look and jotting down any comments about the veil. Mostly, he's just explaining how nobody knows how the veil is attached, or who painted it - until there's a girl in a band tee who comes by three days in a row, and every time, she takes a little longer with it than the other visitors. She's got a head of seafoam-shaded braids and a question on the third day that makes Landon's heart just about stop:

"What's up with the veil? It was touching the floor yesterday, and the day before, but now it's barely past the frame."

They get to talking. Landon lets her in on a secret: nobody else has ever asked. No, never! Maybe nobody else has ever noticed. Why her? Does she remember things nobody else seems to be able to see, he jokes?

Turns out: she does. And, apparently, so do a handful of others, and this girl is friends with all of them.

It's Wednesday night, and the museum closes at seven. After a breathless half-an-hour speed walk to the artsy district downtown, Landon steps into the CrossRoast, and for the first time, he realizes... it's not just him who remembers things nobody else can see.

And it never, ever has been.

(And, uh... Yeah. I've been meaning to make that link official for a while now. I had more to say about Landon, I think, but I really wanted that backstory out more than anything. If I remember my other points, I'll make them.So, until I get to updating Cortado again: take this instead of a proper chapter. Hope you had fun! I sure did!)

[therentyoupay]

How many languages do you know?

💕 english is my first language but i speak both spanish and english at home! i've been studying spanish for 20+ years, i speak spanish exclusively with my husbands' family (they only speak spanish!), and am comfortable getting my point across on most everyday-life things. i read in spanish for fun/to study (i forced my husband to read la sociedad de la nieve with me when we both got obsessed with the movie on netflix, even though he's not a reader at all haha), and we have a house rule about always watching movies in the language in which they were created EXCEPT FOR SHREK, which we both agree is extremely well done and just as funny (if not even funnier) in spanish. we do a lot of code-switching for the most part, and whenever we have kids, we'll follow the One Parent One Language plan, except for when we're out at restaurants, because we always ONLY speak spanish while going out to eat, it's just habit at this point. 😂 i once tried to write fic in spanish back in the early 2010s while living in spain but i felt that i didn't have all the vocab that i needed to give my writing the same vibe as in my first language, so i haven't tried writing fic in spanish since... (maybe i should??) for now i content myself with reading larivera's (@laurakrivera) spanish fic!! however, my academic!professional!spanish is much more developed than my fic!spanish writing style, lol, so when i publish my non-fiction book in english, i will work on writing the spanish translations myself (and force my husband to help me lmao)

i learned japanese fundamentals (e.g., basic vocab/phrases, word order, hiragana, katakana, some core kanji) when i was 12 (like most inuyasha-obsessed kids, maybe?? 🤣) and i learned a LOT when i lived there for a year and a half as an adult! but i never took any formal classes, it was all self-taught and in the streets (LITERALLY lmao, shoutout to the people of tokyo). i wasn't allowed to speak japanese at all in my job, so i turned to apps like hellotalk to practice and make friends who really wanted to engage in language exchange. (duolingo didn't add japanese as a language option until after i came back! 🤣😭) so i was just out there in the wild, picking it all up as i went along. i understand a lot more than i can speak, but i could probably hold a pretty convincing conversation with someone for 2 minutes before it became clear that i'd exhausted my limited repertoire. 🤣 i'd get by with a lot of discourse markers and reaction expressions and いいね! and 本当に!? and そうですね 😊 before i fell off the track completely lol.

i did 3 months of german on duolingo to prepare for a conference i presented at in austria a few years ago! helped with everyday basics, but i'm not currently investing in this language right now since i don't have many opportunities to use it in daily life like i do my other languages.

also just started learning korean literally five days ago. still working on the vowels. 🤣 i'm learning for friends, for potential work opportunities, for K-POP joking joking or am i, and also i'm a big believer in the philosophy of keeping the mind fresh and getting excited about Being "Bad" at Something every once in a while, as i purposefully Try New Things to ward off complacency, keep my brain happy and sharp, and remind myself that i can Do Hard Things. (of course, once you start to learn so many languages, your metalinguistic and metacognitive pattern-seeking skills really kick in, so approaching korean is a lot different than how it was in my other language learning experiences, so far 🤣) stay tuned, i guess haha!!

i guess you can see why i'm so obsessed with the idea of elsa being a serial polyglot/multilingual queen in basically every universe i write her in, not only because it fits with her upbringing/education/oryal duties but also i feel like elsa would appreciate all instances in life in which she could exert control over her surroundings by finding patterns and "rules" in languages and finding beauty in expressing so many meanings through so many different avenues when she herself had so much trouble expressing herself at all for so long should i write a one-shot about elsa's multilingualism as it pertains to NO KRIS NO STOP YOU HAVE WORK NOW KRIS NO

[formerlycookierunauprompts]

yo, it’s the thing I promised I’d write! I enjoyed what you wrote for golden butter, so here’s arcane egg suffering. (Note I copied this from the original post I wrote it on hope theirs no spelling errors) have a good day!

If you’ve lurked on my blog you’ve seen I’ve created my very own ancient “beast” cookie, who I’ve dubbed as arcane egg. You’ll also know although unspecific that they have very poor mental health at the moment, this little drabble / explanation will explore one of if not her darkest moment. That being said…

Warnings: suicide ideation, general dark thoughts, and almost committing suicide / letting yourself get killed (if you don’t want to read such things skip to the end to the tldr, take care of yourself)

Now this takes place during the dark flour, at this time arcane egg has taken on the persona of a cookie mage named “lemon curd” cookie. They were probably fighting within or close to the hollyberry kingdom, a large group of dark cake monsters had just began attacking and it was chaos. Lemon curd was doing the best they could to minimize the damages and loss of life, they were so focused in fact they didn’t see the magical blast heading their way.

It was a blinding cold that they felt first, like one of the times a frost potion blew up in their face. Second thing they felt was being launched threw the air by the force, and than thirdly skidding across the harsh ground… It was so cold, they were so cold. They could see their chilled breath and couldn’t feel their limbs to well.

The only thing keeping them from thinking they instantly kicked it were the sounds of war and battle. They could see arks of magic and sparks traveling through the air, and the sound of metal against metal… the smell of jam was there as well. But… it all felt so far away.

As they layed  there they could notice how tired they were, how their limbs ached and how their mind yearned for rest. Proper rest. The cold was making them so sleepy… so cozy… maybe it wouldn’t be so bad… if they just, fell asleep. It was enticing, to simply stop. To stop all of this… to never wake again.

…it scared them how inviting death was, how it felt so cozy, or how it felt like a credible option. As they pondered and almost slipped out of consciousness they saw a faint glint. It was the necklace they always carried with them…. The ones their friends gave them. 5 gems on a circular pendant, each one a different color corresponding to their beloved friends. Their

family.

What… what would they think of them now? They surely wouldn’t care, right? They were sealed away for becoming heartless beings, why would they care for them. But for a moment she did let themselves wonder… surely burning spice would say

“Hey! Don’t give up now! We got a fight to win”

Or maybe eternal sugar “ why now dearie this isn’t the time for a nap, you need to get up. I promise you some r and r afterwards. Alright?”

Or mystic flour “ cmon now, I see the path to victory. We’ll be blessed and live this day that I promise”

Or silent salt, no words exchanged but they would help you to your feet, keep you steady

… or how shadow milk cookie might lightly tease you “ hey now! No need to get all scrambled now is there ! I’d rather you do that to the enemy! I’d be funnier “He’s always make you smile…

You don’t know why or how you got the energy or willpower, but you get up. And help win the fight, quite viciously at that. After the battle you’re praised as a hero for saving so many lives … but you don’t feel like one. But you continue on anyways, like always.

After the fight dear lemon curd cookie continues to fight in the ear until it’s over, and they continue on not really taking the time to process her feelings. Or really addressing them at all no matter how unhealthy that is.

TLDR: arcane egg cookie who at the time was lemon curd cookie, got struck by a powerful ice blast during the dark flour war. After they were hit they seriously considered letting themselves die since life at that point was all too tiresome. It was only after seeing a necklace made by her friends, the five beasts. that for a reason they don’t know why got back up and finished the fight. Afterwards they never really thought about those feelings even though that dread and sadness continued to persist.

But they will be forced to face these feelings eventually, wether they want to or not… yeah they need therapy. 

Anyways I hope you enjoyed!

Arcane egg... /pos

[pensat-i-fet]

12 Days of Christmas: Day 12 (Rúben Dias)

Day 11

Masterlist

Wattpad

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Probably because it's the 24th".

Your out-of-tune singing was the soundtrack of every day but especially of the Holidays. You always changed the lyrics to something you found funnier and your boyfriend Rúben loved that. He even taught you what some of his favourite Portuguese songs said so you could make up lyrics for those ones too. 

And now, your main goal was to make him happy even if it was by singing every Christmas carol ever invented. Due to heavy storms all over Europe, his family was stuck in Portugal and he was really sad to be spending his first Christmas ever without them.

It was also your first Christmas together after your friend Rodri tricked you into finally going on a date together the previous Christmas. So you needed it to be extra special and the weather had already destroyed half of the plans you had made.

"Dance with me!", you told him when you found him in the kitchen.

"What?"

"Dance with me! Come on!"

He shook his head but joined your silly dancing. 

"We should start cooking soon so let's have fun first".

"There is no need for that. We can eat whatever is in the fridge or order something".

"Rúben, no. It's Christmas Eve. We need to make a special dinner".

"It's a waste when it's just for two".

"But I still want to do it", you said, trying not to sound too whiny. He had been saying no to most plans you mentioned since he knew about his family not coming to England. "It's our first Christmas together".

"I know", he said, and walked to you so he could hug you. "I'm sorry I'm so annoying right now. I'm just sad about my family".

"That's normal. I would be too. But we can still have a good day. What do you say?"

"Ok, let's do it!"

                                     **

"This is a long list", said Rúben when you were entering the shop. "You do realize it's just you and me, right?"

"The beauty of Christmas is having enough leftovers to last you a week".

He just laughed. "Do you want me to carry the trolley. It'll be very heavy if we buy all of this".

"It's fine, it has wheels. You can put your muscles to work when it's time to take the shop from the car to the apartment".

Twenty minutes later you were checking you had everything you needed.

"Chocolate chips, flour, cranberries…I think we have everything, yes", you said, with a satisfied smile on your face.

"The queue to the checkout is so long", complained Rúben.

You then turned to look at him and wrapped your arms around his waist. "We can cuddle while we wait".

"I thought you weren't a fan of PDA", he said, but still kissed the top of your head.

"Desperate moments require desperate measures".

"You sound like Rodri".

"Spend as many years being his friend as I have and you'll sound like him too".

                                   **

"Ok, Dias. Organization is key to success today", you said when you were back in your kitchen.

"Yes, ma'am", he said with a salute.

"You're too sexy when you do that. Don't distract me".

You started by preparing the chicken that would cook in the oven for over an hour and once it was there, it was time for the potatoes, vegetables and sauces you planned to have with the meat.

"I love cranberry sauce", you said, mouth full with a handful of berries.

"We won't have any if you keep eating them", said Rúben, taking the bowl from you and eating some while you weren't looking.

"So, there are a few options for dessert. But I think cupcakes are the best. And you can take the ones we don't eat to work tomorrow".

"For my teammates?", he asked, confused.

"No, for the people who work at the training centre".

"Right. I forgot you're good friends with them because they let you sneak in to see me".

"Do you want to know a secret?"

"Sure", he answered, raising an eyebrow. You two didn't keep secrets.

"They let me sneak in before we started dating because I picked up Rodri a few times".

"Ok…".

"And I used to go see your training and…well, it wasn't Rodri I looked at".

That made him laugh. "So you were stalking me? Wow! The things I discover".

"You? No. I was there to see Kalvin. I love a man with dimples", you teased him and his only response was to throw the tablecloth at your face.

You were laughing hysterically until you realized the pot with the sauce was still in the hob. "Oh crap!"

                                      **

"Food ready and dessert is in the oven. Time to get changed".

"We don't need to get changed. We didn't get our clothes dirty while cooking".

"Rúben, come on", you said, giving him a look. "I'm wearing gym clothes. I'm not wearing these while celebrating our first Christmas together. How tragic would that be?"

"I would call the way you look in those leggings many things but tragic wouldn't be one", he said, slapping your bum.

"I'm still getting changed and so are you. Wait until you see the dress I'm wearing just for you".

                                     **

"Can you pass me the iPad, please?"

"Sure".

He picked up the iPad that had been charging and gave it to you.

"Come here", you told him, patting the chair next to yours.

And when he sat down, he saw what you were doing.

"Why are you on zoom?"

"Because your family not being here doesn't mean that we can't be with them today at all. I know a video call is not the same but it's better than nothing", you shrugged.

"They told me they couldn't talk today".

"We wanted it to be a surprise".

His smile showed you it had been worth it making all the effort you had the last couple of days, trying to make him happy. White lies included.

"I'm so lucky to have you", he told you, putting the iPad away for a second so he could kiss you and show you how grateful he was to have you by his side.

                                   **

After the call with his family and having the lovely dinner you both made, it was time for some Christmas film neither of you were particularly interested in. You were a lot more interested in each other.

"Thank you for a great day", said Rúben when you were both about to fall asleep.

"You're welcome".

"Don't think I didn't notice all the things you've been doing the last couple of days. To cheer me up".

"Well, it's my job as a girlfriend", you told him, burrowing your face in his neck.

"You could have told me to go to hell many times. You've got the patience of a saint. I guess that's necessary to be friends with Rodri for so long".

Your laugh was the last thing he heard before falling asleep. But a couple of hours later, he was wide awake and had to leave the bed to put an extra Christmas present underneath the tree. Only then could he relax enough to sleep.

                                     **

Christmas morning had always been one of your favourite days. Not even because of the presents, but the time you got to spend with your family. And now, with Rúben.

“Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!”, you sang, unaware of how little rest he had gotten.

“One second”, he said, covering his face with the duvet.

You got up to make yourself a cup of coffee while he stayed in bed, thinking about what was going to happen next. He had never been this nervous before. Not even while playing big finals.

“Should we open the presents now or after breakfast?”, you asked him the moment he got to the kitchen.

“After”.

“You ok, Rúben? You don’t look good”.

“Calling me ugly on Christmas Day, how rude”, he tried to joke.

His attitude made you frown, he was fine last night. What had changed?

“I know you have to train later but do you want half of my cupcake? It’s Christmas!”

“I’m not hungry”.

“Ok, Rúben, you’re not okay. What happened? You were fine only a couple of hours ago”.

He sighed. “Let’s open the presents”.

And he took your hand to take you to the tree, confusing you even more.

There weren’t really that many gifts, since you had settled on a limit. Your budget wasn’t the same as his and you didn’t want him spending too much when you couldn’t do the same.

But you still managed to get him a couple of things you knew he would love. And seeing him open the presents showed you were right. His mood even seemed to improve a bit.

“We are done! Merry Christmas, my love”, you said, giving him a kiss.

“We are not done”, he said.

“But there are no presents left”.

You looked around the tree, just in case you had missed something and saw a small little box, wrapped in a different paper to the rest of the presents.

“What is this?”

“Not really a present but it’s for you. If you want it”.

Looking at his expression confused you even more. Why did he look so nervous?

So you just unwrapped it and found a ring box. A ring box. 

“Rúben? What…”.

He took the box from you and after taking a deep breath, he finally talked. "I didn't want to do this now because I didn't want my weird mood to taint this moment but I can’t wait anymore. I’ve been up all night thinking about this”, he laughed, nervously. 

You still sat there, staring at him. And not being able to read your expression only made him more nervous.

“So…”, he said, opening the box to reveal a beautiful ring. Of course, he would pick the perfect ring for you. “Would you marry…”.

“Yes!”, you said, not letting him finish. “Yes. Of course. I mean, I still can’t believe this is happening but yes. Did I already say yes?”

He only laughed, now smiling widely. Nerves gone. And took the ring out of the box to put it on your finger. “You said yes, but feel free to say it as many times as you want to. It might be my new favourite word”.

“I knew our first Christmas together was going to be the best ever”.

“Oh, you just wait until you see what I have prepared for next year”.

[pancake-breakfast]

Finishing up Trigun volume twoooooo

Archive

Trigun Volume 1: Covers + 1-3, 3 Detailed Thoughts, 4, 4 DT, 5-6, 5-6 + DT, 6 DT, 7-8, 9-10

Trigun Volume 2: Covers + Extras, 1, 1 Supplemental Research, 2-4, 5-6

Stream-of-consciousness thoughts for Trigun Vol. 2, Chapters 7-8 below.

Chapter 7: Demon's Eye

Look at this sassy pose. This man is not straight.

I just wanna note that, even without Monev or E.G. AND counting Legato as one of the Gung-Ho Guns, this spread does NOT bring their number up to 12. Or even 11.

Midvalley sure is smiley....

Dude. Legato's messing with people's brains in a whole different way now, apparently. I mean, he sticks out in a crowd, so it's particularly weird that they don't remember him. Come to think of it, how did that little street girl notice him if others didn't? Did he just... let her to make his point?

LOL, WW offering to give Legato a message for Vash....

They've only known each other for a bit, and already they're standing back to back.

Bye, Mr. Bondage Cross! I'm sure you, someone who featured on the cover of the volume, will not show up in any sort of meaningful way again in this entire series.

Vash seems suspicious.

Does... he smell Legato? I want to think he can smell Legato. I'm sure he's smelling, like, the big pile of rotting corpses... but it's funnier if he can smell Legato.

No one wants to talk about the terrifying man in a white coat.

It's... noteworthy that Vash has only described Legato by his clothes and not by his clearly strange-colored hair. He did the same when describing Legato to WW on the bus.

Yup, there's the blood he was smelling. These long shots with Vash in the foreground and devastation in the background....

Sudden lady!

Hello, Dominique! Glad you could join us! Now, if you'd please take a seat over there....

Nice of her to provide some context for the blood. I doubt Vash will be super-pleased, but it's still better than the alternative.

Yyyyyup. Vash is still Vash.

Dude. Vash. Rude.

Oh, she does have the same kind of coin as Monev.

Vash is gonna have a hard time of it here.... Story of Trigun....

Oof, no one wants to go on a full-out pilgrimage every time they go to church. Too many stairs.

Heh! That window looks like....

CROSS TO THE GUT

WW is correct. They are being quite rude with this welcome here.

LOL, Vash pussy shot.

"That wasn't humanly possible." Well, then, we need to consider other options, don't we?

Ok, I flipped back through the panels just to be sure, but... like, how in the HECK were we supposed to tell she's teleporting when she opens her mechanical eye??

Even if they miss, having a gun go off that close to your face seems unsafe....

I appreciate the level of detail that leaves the snaps he's missing off.

When your opponent is acting so weird you're momentarily caught off-guard and forget you're supposed to be killing him.

I forgot until just now that Vash is still running around sans one (1) arm.

Chapter 8: Fifth Moon

CW: Sexual abuse/assault reference/imagery

Shit, I recognize that title and I don't like it.

I figured they were leftover slavers because of their freaking leg poofs.

Heh. "Late Arrivals." I WONDER WHAT HE MEANS BY THAT.

Oh, good. They cleared it up pretty quick.

They keep calling the thing on Legato's right shoulder a torture device, but the only use I can think of for it is stabbing himself in the face when he moves wrong.

Stampede seems to have forgone the name "Chapel" for perhaps a more apt name. I wonder if "it "Chapel" will show up in Season 2?

Dude. Dominique. Overreaction.

Wait, did Vash just pass out?

No. No. Doctor bad. No doctor. Please send back. Surround the place with apples as a warding circle.

Who's this tall lady??

WW already having a crisis of conscience? Good good.

That's the real struggle, isn't it, Wolfy. VERY interested to see how Stampede handles this.

And I thought normal pregnancy was gross. Plants are on a whole other level.

Scary Vash is scary.

I'm sorry, I'm laughing so hard at Legato crying over Knives' rebirth. I know I shouldn't. This man's obsession just amuses the hell out of me sometimes.

Long-haired Knives! Long-haired Knives!

NM, Legato. I apologize for laughing. Long-haired Knives really is that beautiful.

If only the stomach stretch retreated that fast. Or... dissolved into a bunch of feathers shojo style. I'd take that, too. And I haven't even been pregnant.

We have no real idea where Vash is relative to Knives (aside from "in the same city"), and Vash is still screaming at him.

First glimpse of Vash's slutty windowed top.

Vash isn't wrong. AND he deserves to be slapped. Meryl is also right. Neither of them are listening. This happens a lot when everyone is shouting.

LOL, she hurt her hand on Vash's hard head.

Heheheheheh, Meryl has a cruuuuuuush....

It's interesting how, for once, as Vash goes forward with full intention of embracing his status as the Humanoid Typhoon, he's not wearing his iconic coat.

Iconic Vash back shot. I don't know why, in all the times I've seen it posted, I never thought to look at the color of his hair. I always assumed this shot was from Maximum. Even though I'm sure I read this volume back in the day. I just remember NOTHING from it.

Legato sure looks happy to see him. And heyyyyyy, someone in the background there has a big-ass cross....

Legato's getting a hell of a head-pat here....

ROFL, no one appreciates how much work it is to be a yandere. Knives shows up and he's like, "Screw you, Entire Con-Based Questline. And you, the quest-giver, in particular."

Ugh, I love love love this.

Knives really gets incredulous about Vash trying to shoot him. Also, My man needs to find himself some pants.

Legato looks kind of like a crushed spider here. He looks like he's still conscious, too, so I'm sure that's fun for him.

Of all the versions of Trigun, this version definitely has WW being the MOST clueless about the nature of Vash and Knives. Not in a "that's beyond me and I don't wanna know" way. In a "WTF did I get myself into, I don't think this is what I signed up for" sort of way.

Ugh, this interchange. It says SO MUCH about their relationship....

In the story up to this point, Knives has been built up to be this terrible, terrifying bad guy. But now that he's here, his primary concern seems to be Vash's well-being. Aside from his incredulous face when shouting at Vash for pointing a gun at him (again), his expression throughout this whole scene while he's focusing on Vash has been so soft.

Oop, all softness gone.

Something something body horror. Could you imagine having your whole being shift against your will at the touch of another person? If so, I'm sorry, 'cause the only things I can think of that do that are... trauma.

I do want to note that, should this come up in Stampede, they've set it up much better there. The very first time Knives and Vash have an encounter there, Knives touches him, and... it's not this bad, but it absolutely has an effect that Vash seems helpless to resist.

Something something rape imagery.

Heh, they're trying to save Legato.

All these folks were gathered here to supposedly help and protect Knives, and Knives is about to repeat the July incident even though everyone else around them would likely die.

Dude. Knives. You clearly don't give a shit how it feels to Vash. Ash Lynx had a whole speech about this kind of behavior in Banana Fish, and let me tell you, it did NOT conclude with people who behave like this harboring anything resembling love for their victims.

Dude. Vash, no!

Yes, he would.

Oh, babygirl Vash.... That's not the case.... Rem would tell you the same if you told her that.

WW looks... concerned.

Yeah, now they all have a constant reminder of what Vash the Stampede is. All they have to do is look up.

I really wonder how this will go down in Stampede given that they wrapped the aftermath, in particular, into the initial arc. Having Vash disappear for an additional two years seems unlikely.

Heh. The coat. Good luck, Coat.

Author Bonus Chapter: Welcome to the Future

It's funny to think of someone saying Nightow has no inner fire when one has a feel for the themes of Trigun. Just because someone isn't in your face about it doesn't mean they don't burn.

Tea heals so many woes....

Isn't this the story of any creative....

Dude, that's not a fortune. That's just life. In the internet age, you don't even have to leave your house to meet interesting people. May it indeed be fun.

[azure-buttercups]

arcane egg cookie: darkest moment

(@cookierunauprompts, hey it’s the thing I promised I’d write. Hope you enjoy)

If you’ve lurked on my blog you’ve seen I’ve created my very own ancient “beast” cookie, who I’ve dubbed as arcane egg. You’ll also know although unspecific that they have very poor mental health at the moment, this little drabble / explanation will explore one of if not her darkest moment. That being said…

Warnings: suicide ideation, general dark thoughts, and almost committing suicide / letting yourself get killed (if you don’t want to read such things skip to the end to the tldr, take care of yourself)

Now this takes place during the dark flour, at this time arcane egg has taken on the persona of a cookie mage named “lemon curd” cookie. They were probably fighting within or close to the hollyberry kingdom, a large group of dark cake monsters had just began attacking and it was chaos. Lemon curd was doing the best they could to minimize the damages and loss of life, they were so focused in fact they didn’t see the magical blast heading their way.

It was a blinding cold that they felt first, like one of the times a frost potion blew up in their face. Second thing they felt was being launched threw the air by the force, and than thirdly skidding across the harsh ground… It was so cold, they were so cold. They could see their chilled breath and couldn’t feel their limbs to well.

The only thing keeping them from thinking they instantly kicked it were the sounds of war and battle. They could see arks of magic and sparks traveling through the air, and the sound of metal against metal… the smell of jam was there as well. But… it all felt so far away.

As they layed  there they could notice how tired they were, how their limbs ached and how their mind yearned for rest. Proper rest. The cold was making them so sleepy… so cozy… maybe it wouldn’t be so bad… if they just, fell asleep. It was enticing, to simply stop. To stop all of this… to never wake again.

…it scared them how inviting death was, how it felt so cozy, or how it felt like a credible option. As they pondered and almost slipped out of consciousness they saw a faint glint. It was the necklace they always carried with them…. The ones their friends gave them. 5 gems on a circular pendant, each one a different color corresponding to their beloved friends. Their

family.

What… what would they think of them now? They surely wouldn’t care, right? They were sealed away for becoming heartless beings, why would they care for them. But for a moment she did let themselves wonder… surely burning spice would say

“Hey! Don’t give up now! We got a fight to win”

Or maybe eternal sugar “ why now dearie this isn’t the time for a nap, you need to get up. I promise you some r and r afterwards. Alright?”

Or mystic flour “ cmon now, I see the path to victory. We’ll be blessed and live this day that I promise”

Or silent salt, no words exchanged but they would help you to your feet, keep you steady

… or how shadow milk cookie might lightly tease you “ hey now! No need to get all scrambled now is there ! I’d rather you do that to the enemy! I’d be funnier “He’s always make you smile…

You don’t know why or how you got the energy or willpower, but you get up. And help win the fight, quite viciously at that. After the battle you’re praised as a hero for saving so many lives … but you don’t feel like one. But you continue on anyways, like always.

After the fight dear lemon curd cookie continues to fight in the ear until it’s over, and they continue on not really taking the time to process her feelings. Or really addressing them at all no matter how unhealthy that is.

TLDR: arcane egg cookie who at the time was lemon curd cookie, got struck by a powerful ice blast during the dark flour war. After they were hit they seriously considered letting themselves die since life at that point was all too tiresome. It was only after seeing a necklace made by her friends, the five beasts. that for a reason they don’t know why got back up and finished the fight. Afterwards they never really thought about those feelings even though that dread and sadness continued to persist.

But they will be forced to face these feelings eventually, wether they want to or not… yeah they need therapy. 

Anyways I hope you enjoyed!