#bonus points to everyone who remembers the original one of this

[hoperays-song]

Johnny and Rosita’s Text Messages

Translations:

Que quieres = What do you want (Spanish)

Pues = Well (Spanish)

***Foster mum Rosita has learned to be suspicious of the theatre trio’s random declarations of affection***

[carouselunique]

Here you go!

Bonus Explanations for the Elements:

I treat the Elements as the values being the same throughout it's just how the bearers choose to interpret those values is how they end up being defined. In a sense the original Mane Six and the Swap Six all have similar values but express them somewhat differently.

Roseluck: Element of Inspiration - Rose inspires others to be their best selves, she is inspired to strive toward her dreams through her friendships and wants to pay that forward.

(Element of Generosity - Rarity focuses on what she can give to others while Rose focuses on bringing out what one already has.)

Ditzy Doo: Element of Cheer - Ditzy always delivers a smile, a cheesy mail joke, a wing to lean on, a feathery shoulder to cry on so you can feel better, someone to remember you and make you feel seen etc. She makes others feel lighter and cheerier and that cheer spreads to others in a domino effect!

(Element of Laughter - Ditzy doesn't mainly focus on laughter the way Pinkie does because she believes not everyone needs a laugh to feel cheer. Pinkie is more of a clown type while Ditzy is, well, more of a motherly type)

Sea Swirl: Element of Trust - If you put your trust into Sea, she won't let you down. She is honest sort, even if you sometimes have to take a leap of faith that you aren't sure about at first. Sea will uphold your belief in her with a trustworthiness that makes you want to be someone that others trust as well.

(Element of Honesty - AJ treats her Element as a very literal value while Sea doesn't feel the need to say every true thing outloud, more that you know that she is someone who's words and actions you can inherently trust even if she isn't always literally honest.)

Ginger Gold: Element of Integrity - No matter what ambitions Ginger has, she will always have the integrity to stick by her friends and family and do the right thing. Her integrity and willingness to do what's right by those she cares for no matter what even at the cost of her own goals makes everyone around her a little more honorable in turn.

(Element of Loyalty - It's nearly the same here more just that in my head, Rainbow will be loyal to her friends because they're her friends while Ginger Gold will have integrity because it is something she believes one should just always have and by having that she can be loyal to her friends - not to say one is more noble than the other, that is just how they see it if they're asked to really define it.)

Sunny Rays: Element of Empathy - Sunny is, as her name suggests, as warm as the sun. She is soft and understanding and empathetic and seeing everyone as being worth a chance at being seen and their issues felt allows everyone a kinder view of situations.

(Element of Kindness - Sunny Rays sees empathy as different than kindness, especially as she develops. She can have empathy and not always be kind as someone might see it and someone can be kind but not understand the point of view through an empathetic lens and therefore be kind but not empathetic. Of course it's a struggle to balance how to be kind and empathetic or when kindness has to stop because you know it is hindering your understanding of a situation, etc.)

Minuette: Element of Friendship - Her friendship brought the group together and allowed them to share their best values with each other and her realization that you should make time not just for academic exploration and what we can discover but for the cultivation of emotional and social development and that we need our connections with others to be truly happy helps other realize what truly counts.

(Element of Magic - In my head, Twilight calls it Magic because she believes that Friendship is a form of Magic a flaw that shows up in the later seasons where friendship is treated as something inherent and almost religious in a sense? At least to me? While Minuette believes that the Magic comes second to the Friendship and can only occur if one works on Friendship and treats the Magic of Friendship as something you work at and feel more than it is literal magic.)

[phantom-0-writer]

original prompt: Gotham Academy's Mentorship Program

scene 1

table of contents

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

scene 2: tim’s arch nemesis 

“Have a good day at school Masters Tim, Thomas, and Damian.” Alfred wished, as they all got out of the car. 

“Later, Alfred.” Duke waved as the car left the drop off zone.

The three of them walked together until Tim remembered the conversation from Bruce’s study. He peered over his shoulder at Damian who was trying to act nonchalant as he ditched the principal's office. Tim turned and stopped right in front of Damian ``Ohoho, and where do you think you’re going Damian?” Sneaky little plans for a sneaky little kid, huh.

“Tsk.” He rolled his eyes at being caught 

Tim smirked at him, the words hillbilly civilians echoing in his head. “Aren’t you supposed to be in the principal’s office?” 

“I was just on my way.” Damian said, trying to seem unbothered as he walked away. 

“Y’know one of these days he’s gonna snap and finally murder you.” Duke mused next to him, before they split into their separate hallways. 

“Better people than him have tried.” They shared a small laugh. Finding his usual seat in homeroom, Tim scrolled through his phone until class started. 

At the bell Ms. Kross stepped to the teacher’s podium to start the daily announcements. “Hello class, happy Wednesday.” She smiled at them, “You’re all chipper as usual,” she commented humorously to herself at the silent audience. “Well today is the day I’m sure all of you have been waiting anxiously for. Before I announce everyone’s placements after the midterms, I just want to remind you all that grades only matter so much in the grand scheme of things, and if you did not score as well as you would’ve liked, there's still time to do better.” Ms. Kross gave them the yearly pep talk, as the system booted. 

Tim had been attending Gotham Academy since the first grade, and he was familiar with the ins and outs of the system now, as opposed to the many students that often filtered in and out of the Academy. Gotham Academy is one of the best schools on this side of the coast and many affluent families would send their kids here. So naturally the Academy was incredibly competitive and so much as one point could move you from 5th place to 50th. 

The competitive atmosphere of Gotham Academy had never been too hard of a burden on Tim’s shoulder. Since grade 3 Tim has easily been placed first in his grade without so much as a sweat, no matter the amount of Robin, or Red Robin responsibilities on his shoulders. Knowing this year would be no different, Tim let his chair lean back leisurely as his other classmates sat forward in anticipation. 

“With no further ado, this year’s first place as for now is Daniel Fenton.” Yup, just like every other- Wait. 

“What?” Tim asked, the front two legs of his chair hitting the floor hard. Tim looked at the screen in disbelief, only to have his suspicions confirmed. 

“Mr. Drake, is there a problem?” Mr. Kross asked, surprised. 

“Are you sure this is right?” Tim asked incredulously pointing an accusing finger at the screen, there's no way that he- Timothy Drake - placed second?

“Yes, Mr. Drake, I assure you this sheet has been double, triple, even quadruple checked. There are no errors.” Ms. Kross smiled exasperatedly. 

Ms. Kross continued down the list of names in the class, announcing their places but Tim wasn’t paying attention. Tim glared at the spreadsheet at the front of the class, waiting for it to correct itself. But no changes were made. The name placed at the top of the list had been burned into Tim’s skull. 

Who the fuck is Daniel James Fenton? 

----

Bonus:

Bruce waited his turn in the pick up line, ready to see his kids' surprise when they found out that he came to pick them up instead of Alfred. When it was finally his turn to pull up to the curb he smiled happily as Tim, Damian and Duke entered the car. 

“Surprise.” Bruce smiled at them.

“Oh, Bruce. Alfred didn’t come today?” Duke asked with a smile. 

“Nope!” He said driving into the street. “Since it’s just us today, how about we go grab ice cream?” Bruce offered, looking at his passengers in the rearview mirror. 

“Ooh ice cream after school!” Duke cheered. 

“I could appreciate some ice cream.” Damian nodded from his seat. 

“Oh how did meeting Daniel go today, Damian?” Bruce remembered. 

“It was fine. Daniel is not entirely despicable.” Bruce blinked in surprise, Damian seemed to have taken a great liking to the kid if he was already calling him by his first name, especially on day one. “Not entirely despicable” and “it was fine” in Damian-speak usually meant that he had had a phenomenal time. 

“That’s great, buddy.” Bruce turned to tell him when he stopped at a red light. “Duke, how was your Chemistry Test?” 

“It went okay, I think. We’ll just have to wait till the results come out, I guess.” Duke shrugged. 

Bruce nodded at the information. He was doing a good job. Engage, Assess, Appreciate. That’s what Dick had said. 

Tim. There was something today, he had mentioned it offhandedly. What was it? Right! The placement release. 

“Tim, how did your-”

“Shut up.” Tim seethed from the back seat. Bruce saw the irritation radiating off of him and decided that today, nor any day, would he be ready to deal with that.

“Ok.”

[performativezippers]

This is a departure from what I usually do, but I'm hiring a bunch of people at my work right now and thought I'd leave you some tips in case you're going to be job searching anytime soon. Disclaimer: nothing applies to everyone, etc, whatever. I work in higher ed as a staff member which is big and bureaucratic and of like a dysfunctional nonprofit, but this will apply to many other jobs/industries as well.

tl;dr: make your resume relevant and clean, customize and personalize your cover letter, use every interview question as the chance to share an experience from a previous job that makes you look good, and remember the answer is never just "no."

Resume Tips

Include past job history for 5 years if you're young or 10 years if you're older. If your only experience isn't directly relevant (ex: you've only worked in fast food and it's a receptionist job), frame the duties in ways that make it seem more relevant, such as "customer service" instead of "500 hot dogs a day."

include dates of employment -- i fyou don't, i assume you have something to hide (you got fired after 3 months)

Each job should have 3-5 bullet points describing the duties. Don't lie, but you can make them sound cool. "Answered the phones" could be "First point of contact for all clients and contractors."

Format it so I can read it. I should easily be able to see position, company, dates, and duties. The page should have a decent amount of white space so my eyeballs don't explode, but it's very obvious if you have nothing to say and are making the margins big to make it look full. Don't do that!

Cover letter Tips

WRITE ONE, oh my god. We asked for resume and cover letter for the application and automatically rejected everyone who didn't write one. I know they suck, but if you're applying for the job, actually apply for the job.

Address it to the right person/job. We are hiring for a case manager, and we got several that said things like "i look forward to joining your company as a project specialist" or whatever. (a) not a company, (b) not a project specialist. I KNOW you use a template that you update for each job you apply to, but you have to actually update it, buddy.

Customize it. "I will bring valuable skills to your company" is nothing. That's meaningless. I ignore that. The cover letter is for you to tell me why you'd be a good fit for my job, not a job.

The format can be: "Dear X, I am writing to enthusiastically apply to the position of [job] at [company]." Paragraph on your related experience. Paragraph on why what you can bring is perfect for what they specifically need (include something you learned from your research on their website for bonus points). A sentence or two on what excites you about this job. "Thank you very much for your time and consideration, Your Name."

Interview Tips

Be on time. Dress in a way that demonstrates effort (like a button down shirt). If you have a natural resting bitch face, try not to for the interview.

If you're doing it in person (not on zoom or phone) bring something to write things down on, like a notepad. This is where you can keep your questions for them, as well as jot down ideas that occur to you as they're asking the question. Don't use your phone, it looks unprofessional.

Write down questions in advance that you have for them. DO NOT ask about pay or benefits or vacation (you can do that later). You can ask things like "what would a typical day in this role look like?" or "how would you describe the company culture?" or whatever. if you've done research, the more specific questions you can ask, the better. "I'd love to hear about the origins of X project, which I was reading about on your website." Nice.

Every question is a chance for you to share a specific story from your work history that paints you in a positive light. If they ask "How would you organize all of our client files?" don't say "in a filing cabinet or hard drive." That's because I know about filing cabinets and hard drives; assume the interview isn't stupid. You can say, "At my previous role, we had a lot of client files and what I did to organize them was ____." I KNOW you don't know how I organize my files, and that's okay because you don't work here yet. What I'm really asking is, "do you understand the ways that not organizing things is bad, and have you had experience with organizing similar stuff in an effective manner? Prove to me I can trust you with my files."

Do not ever speak about yourself or your previous job negatively. If they ask why you're leaving your current job (they shouldn't), be vague and polite. You're "looking for a new challenge," or "my current position has taught me a lot, and while it's really great, my future career goals are much more in line with [something this company or job does]."

If they ask about your experience with something you have zero experience with, like "have you used salesforce" and you're like, bro, no, i worked at wendy's, YOUR ANSWER IS NEVER JUST "NO." You can say something vaguely positive about yourself like "I haven't, but I learn new systems quickly and that's something I'm really looking forward to learning and becoming fluent with in this role" or you can mention something similar, like, "I haven't used salesforce, but my previous role used a different database to manage our client contacts and [some stuff you think is relevant about that and how good at it you are]."

Questions? feel free to ask!

[l0uterstella]

EVER RED: THE THEORY (MASTERPOST)

This is a post compiling all the theories surrounding Ever Red from the Fragaria discord server

Last updated: Dec 2 2023

AMNESIA THEORY, THE TIMELINES

Fragaria's story is confirmed to be separated into two: The MVs and the voice dramas. This could imply two separate timelines. The 1st timeline is “ruined”, and the 2nd timeline (possibly the one for the MVs) acts as the present. In the Ever Red MV, there are lyrics highlighted in red, most of them pointing to them forgetting something.

This theory is unrelated from Ever Red, but the main point of the amnesia theory is that the knights don't remember their "original" selves, their current names and forms being a show of their connections to their lords (hence why Hangyon's name is only 2 letters off from Hangyodon for example).

These lyrics also point to something being forgotten (strawberry/fruit representing memories. Sweet and sour memories, a memory that ripens/develos as it is repressed)

But forgetting their old identities also means forgetting past events.

RIBBONS

The ribbons represent the pains of the past. In this part, Hallritt sings "Once the ribbon is tied, the knot marks are still there." Once pain is inflicted, the wounds and memories are still there.

The ribbon now ties everyone close to each other. The Red Bouquet will be there for Hallritt to help process his past, and make things right again (see next header).

I just want you to laugh, that's all I wish for Even if our memories are mismatched

Hallritt is now being covered by the ribbon, except for his eyes. He must face the truth of what he did.

HIDDEN AUDIO, "ELDRITCH HALLRITT"

Refer to this post to listen to the hidden audio.  "Move. That dream… It was my fault." It was Hallritt's fault for the destruction of the 1st timeline. Around 3 minutes into the MV, there is a quick frame of this shadow version of Hallritt which me and the discord have named Eldritch Hallritt/Eldritt.

(isn't he so silly <3)

He was the "original" Hallritt from the 1st timeline, and a manifestation of the current Hallritt’s true feelings and repressed memories. He knows everything. He was the one who destroyed the 1st timeline, and is here to make sure the Hallritt of the current timeline doesn’t mess up.

But what was Hallritt's mistake in the first place?

SEEDS

SEEDS are the antagonists of Fragaria's story. They could be the original knights, as seeds come first before flowers/bouquets. One day, they took things too far, leading them to be banished and replaced by the Fragarians.

They might have once tricked Eldritt/The "original Hallritt" into joining them, which led to him ruining his contract with Hello Kitty, destroying the 1st timeline. Eldritt then reset the timeline into the current one, and is watching over the current Hallritt to not make the same mistake he did.

BONUS/MINI THEORIES

My friend Angel pointed out that "Fragaria Memories" sounds similar to "Fragmented Memories"

System Hallritt - Eldritt is an alter for Hallritt (+ is a protector or a gatekeeper) who wanted to prevent him from finding out the truth, but they can't run from it forever.

Bouquet leader doomed yaoi (I don't have a better name for this) - If Cielomort and Badobarm find out about Hallritt's secret, they could get angry and not trust him anymore. If this happens, the conflict could grow, repeating what happened in the 1st timeline that led to its destruction.

Hangyon and Chaco know - These two are suspicious. For Chaco, his title is "The detour dog with a hidden motive." The hidden motive could maybe have something to do with SEEDs. For Hangyon, if he knows what happened in the 1st timeline, that could be why he's close with Badobarm specifically. He watches him for any signs of the past repeating itself.

In a world that continues to change Only time will never come back Yet no one can take away our memories (EVER RED) I'll never forget them for eternity Living in memory No one can see it, but it'll never disappear Ever certain, ever red

[razorblade180]

Tough Choices

Caelus:*looks left*

March:🥺

Caelus:*looks right*

Stelle:🥺

Caelus:….Since when does this fall to me?

March:Caelus! Look at me! *shakes him* She’s so close! She’s right over there!

Robin:*sitting pretty*

Stelle:Don’t look at her! Look at who matters!

Firefly:* also sitting pretty*

March:What happened to not liking Stellaron Hunters!?

Stelle:Shit happens!

March:Well I’ve been consistent! I am a fan and I’d really like to hangout with my favorite idol regularly!

Stelle:Caelus, we can literally stop one heart from breaking.

March:GUESS WHO SUNG THAT!?

Stelle:GUESS WHO LIVES THAT!?

Caelus:(Is this why Welt gave me the bag of jades?) Maybe we should revisit this?

MS: No.

Caelus:Oh…

March:Listen…I consider myself a respectable lady with pride. Caelus… you know that dress you like?

Caelus:Have you no shame!

March:Not today. I’m just showing my resolve! It’s not this is anything new between us. Remember last month?

Stelle:Are you…bribing him with the birthday present you wanted?

March:…* smiles sheepishly* Okay, you got me there.

Stelle:If we’re going this low then I’m going to hell. Caelus, Firefly totally likes you as much as she likes me. Also, you may of noticed that she has two hands. What a coincidence! One for each of us!

Caelus:You bring up interesting points…

Stelle:Why are you acting like you don’t want to see her here!?

Caelus:I’m acting like the crew member in charge of our funds! Look, if we get a little lucky and go hard with our duties, we’ll have enough for both. We even have a bit of bonus funds.

March:*red* You could’ve said that before my proposition!

Caelus:I kinda wanted to see how deep this well goes. Also, both of you disappoint me. I take food bribes before anything else. *crosses arms* I have my morals.

Stelle:Topaz smiled at you and she got in.

Caelus:Let that go~ it paid off in the end.

Topaz:*on the couch* Imagine my E1 hehe.

MS: *intense stare*

Topaz:It was a joke! Relax!

Caelus:Okay. Problem solved. Let’s all find peace again.

The loud sound of a creaking door turns everyone’s head.

Fu Xuan:….

Everyone:…..

Fu Xuan:Have you lost sight of your original agenda? The path you set out on?

Caelus:Listen-

Fu Xuan:A single step away from genuine, premium Mono Quantum. You lot have Bronya…

March:But-

Fu Xuan:Ruan Mei…

Caelus:That’s-

Fu Xuan: And Sparkle! All the harmony in the world won’t buff a corpse! You. Need. Protection. I’ve seen how Gepard coughs up blood every battle, and that blonde gambler can’t be in two places at once. Do I even need to bring up the fact certain individuals decide to bruise like bananas!? *turns head*

Qingque:*whistles in guilt*

Silver Wolf: It’s not my fault they know I’m a threat.

Fu Xuan:My sorry excuse for a worker also is threading the needle with 70% rate. As usual I will pick up her slack and keep others healthy. Caelus, be smart.

Caelus:…Screw it. Y’know what? We will gamble the funds. Robin gets one shot to show up and if it fails then onto Fu Xuan. If Robin arrives then Fu Fu gets the one shot. No second chances!

Everyone:What!?

Firefly:(That goodness I’m going last. They’ll probably have more funds by the time I arrive.)

Caelus:This is my decision! All or nothing!

xxxxxx

Aventurine: *walking in nothingness* ……. Why do I feel so proud all of a sudden?

[weirdowithaquill]

Ships? But Sir, They're Trains!

It's Valentine's Day, and to celebrate, I thought I'd break my usual streak of not shipping the talking trains together and share the pairings that I like the best! But only of the original 11, and a few other RWS-related friends (and maybe a bonus or two from the TVS).

Also known as: local weirdo decides trains can kiss, but only on Valentine's Day.

Let's get into the ships... er... trains.

Thomas:

Almost chronically single. I'm sorry Thomas, but you're not very good at the dating thing. Maybe Hank if I swallowed my pride and went to watch Season 12 - just because Hank's calm and friendly personality would naturally balance out Thomas. But also because they are the epitome of 'gentle giant' and 'tank engine terror'. Also, Thomas blushes in this episode:

(Sorry for the Season 12 image, but it's the only Season Hank was in!)

Edward:

This engine has options! Or more to the point - this engine has suitors. Not all make sense to the poor engine - but that's the pain of being the one everyone looks up to. I would put him with BoCo, but I must admit I had a phase where I read EdwardxJames fanfics. So... nostalgia wins (that and Edward needs someone with a fiery personality to boost his confidence sometimes, and James needs a cooler head all the time).

(Look at the smile on James' face! He's ecstatic to see his engine.)

Henry:

Bear. The answer is Bear. I'm sorry, but that Hymek has it bad for Henry, and Henry fought for Bear to stay on Sodor. And after the early days when every engine fought, Henry has no interest in getting tangled up with them again, only this time romantically. Besides, the youthful energy and eagerness Bear has will only benefit Henry, who can be a bit of an old grump.

(Bear, I can't tell if you're looking into Henry's eyes or not...)

Gordon:

Hoo boy... Gordon, oh Gordon. What to do with you? Henry and James are taken, Edward and Thomas are more siblings than romantic interests - and engines 6 through 11 are just not close enough. But how about BoCo? (Yes, this is why I didn't pair him up with Edward). BoCo is calm and polite where Gordon is loud and brash - and Gordon does see BoCo as his saviour. It would probably be the plot of a b-list romantic movie, but I can see these two getting together, with Gordon being the jock and BoCo being the 'kid' of Edward.

(Look at that little smile Gordon has! This engine is smitten.)

James:

He's with Edward, thank you. More than that, he doesn't really fit well with the other RWS cast romance-wise. Thomas is something of a rival and friend, while he wants Gordon and Henry to acknowledge him and Percy is something of a little brother/annoyance to James. Edward and he have a lot to work out (mostly James groveling) but they got a lot of coding in the series from what I remember. Plus Edward saved him - so we've ticked the cliche box.

(Yes, this means Edward is the knight in shining armour. James is a diva anyway.)

Percy:

Has about as much luck as Thomas does, if we're honest. Young, childish Percy has no chance, while older, grumpier Percy is more interesting to consider. The Percy of Seasons 5 and 6 I could see bagging Harold. But then, we could also consider the absolute insanity of Percy and Diesel 10. Imagine the shock, imagine the story! (I'm a writer, let me dream about how I'd write this lot). Diesel 10 would be the delinquent who is soft for Percy and Percy only. It would also lead to an epic fight between the helicopter and the engine with a giant claw.

(Um, is Percy... blushing?! What are these faces?! I have questions.)

Toby:

Is married to Henrietta. They are old couple goals. Percy and Thomas are extremely jealous.

(Toby is grinning cause he knows his wife - that poor manager...)

Duck and Donald:

I considered Percy for Duck, but I feel like what Duck needs is an engine who can really bring out the playful side in Duck - the engine who helps him be more than just the railway he used to work for. That engine is Donald. When they ended up playing pranks on each other in Donald's Duck to the point where Duck stooped to putting a literal duck in Donald's tender knowing Donald would find it funny really says it all about these two.

(Look at him, so excited to play his little prank! His driver is wheezing!)

Douglas and Oliver:

These two practically have a kid in Toad already (or an advice-giving uncle. One of the two). Douglas saved Oliver, and that sort of thing has a lasting impact - especially because it's also the most likely relationship to actually happen. Both Douglas and Oliver are known for sticking it to authority, being a bit hot-headed and being led a bit more by spirit and the heart than by their heads. They have Toad for critical thinking. They live and work together too - and it would be hilarious to watch Duck blast his safety valve off when he finds out.

(Ah yes, let me just stare into your eyes for half an episode.)

Mavis and Daisy:

These two are disaster lesbians, and we love them for it. It's also the femme fatale (or as femme fatale as a diesel railcar can be) and the butch (she works in a quarry - this girl wears overalls) tropes - and they're disasters. Need I remind anyone that Daisy was the one who encouraged Mavis to ignore Toby? It would also be hilarious purely for how much Thomas and Percy would grumble about being single, while Daisy and Mavis rub their relationship in the pair's faces. Which would lead to that one memorable incident where Thomas tried to flirt with a very unamused and confused Bertie.

(Mavis, sweetie - don't listen to Daisy's advice. I know you're distracted but ple-- and she's gone.)

Annie and Clarabel:

Are wine aunts and siblings. And no, neither of them are interested in Thomas, so you can stop thinking that.

(These coaches are Thomas' wine aunts and best friends - and he loves them too.)

Bill and Ben:

Are children! Edward's children! That he has with BoCo (sort of) leading to the brilliant moments where Gordon has to 'babysit' them - which is mostly done with a lot of grimacing and begging BoCo to just hand this lot over to Edward and James - no seriously, please stop letting these two just randomly adopt you as their parent. They're evil, and they wanted to throw me in the sea, remember? No, I don't care that James doesn't like them, I don't like them! BoCo!

(He's petrified of them, but he wants to be nice for BoCo's sake...)

Emily:

Does not need a man, thank you. But she is entranced sometimes by Caitlin's streamlining (yes, I have seen some CGI - I am not a true purist, I am sorry Awdry). Then again, sometimes Emily likes Hiro - and then there was that one time where she was just so upset that Mavis wouldn't notice her. Emily doesn't need no man - but she's also not exactly got the best selection of potential candidates at her shed...

(She's got an amazing poker face. Caitlin however...)

So... that was a thing I did. Somewhere around Percy's entry, this gained a coherent plot in my mind - probably a High School AU? - and now I'm just thinking of Diesel 10 towering over Percy, blushing and trying to give him flowers (with his claw???) while Harold seethes. Clearly, being a single pringle has driven me insane.

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone, I hope you enjoyed this wild idea and if people want expansions on these ships (still trains) and why I like the idea of them, please go ahead and ask!

If people really like this, I will take on the Narrow Gauge engines.

[delusional-dinosaurr]

Sleepless Nights (Alessia Russo x Reader)

It’s been 6 months since your first call up for the lionesses. Today was one the big camp weeks with the team at St Georges. You’ve gotten to know the girls fairly well, but playing at Barcelona made it more difficult to see the girls frequently, although you did get to see Lucy and Keira every day so that was a bonus. You were close with Leah and Georgia from room sharing in the past, but still to the rest of the team you were a fairly reserved and quiet person. You weren’t a massive talker, you mainly let your playing skill do the talking, but you were working on it.

“Alright ladies! Room arrangements are written up on the board here!” Sarina points at the board and gives it a little tap. You walk up to the whiteboard and see you’re sharing with Leah and that Georgia is sharing with Alessia, much to Ella’s dismay which you heard through a groan. “Remember, the facility is open 24 hours so you are welcome to use training areas or communal areas to relax in as I know a few of you may be jet lagged” Sarina smiles looking over at you. You’ve always struggled to sleep at camps, which is probably why she’s put you with Leah as she’s randomly awake at 3am most of the time. “Heeeeeey Roomie!” Leah nudges your shoulder whilst smirking at you, making you chuckle in response. You and Leah go up to your shared room and unpack ready for the few weeks ahead. Luckily Sarina chose for this camp to be during a break of the leagues meaning none of you had to shoot off for matches. You all go down for your dinner and chat amongst the tables. You are sat at a table with Leah and a few others come to join you. “So Y/N, reckon you’ll be able to sleep this time?” Lucy nudges you as she sits down, she’s familiar with your sleeping habits since being at Barcelona with her. “Pfffft, I doubt it” You wave her off whilst chuckling. Keira gives you a concerned look and rubs your back soothingly. This was something Keira did before big Barcelona matches to help you fall asleep, since then you two have been very close. Ever since meeting Keira she’s acted like a big sister figure for you, and she has made sure to look after you every step of the way. Later on that night everyone heads up to bed, but the classic Y/N sleepless night kicks in. You somehow manage to sleep for 3 hours before waking up. Pleased with the fact you even managed to sleep at all, you roll over and take your phone off charge to check the time. You groan when you read the time that covers your phone lock-screen photo of you, Alexia and Mapi. 02:24am “Ugh fuck it” You mumble as you quietly leave your room and head downstairs, after not being able to get back to sleep. You fumble around in the communal living room to find something to keep yourself entertained until everyone else wakes up. You dig through one of the cupboards and strike gold. “Ah ha!” You cheer as you find a slightly beaten up guitar in the corner on its stand. You spend a short while tuning it before strumming your heart out. Many years ago you used to go to a college that was for people who were musically talented and you originally dreamed of being a big singer and touring. You had to make the decision between football and a career in music, so you went for football. You continue playing a bunch of songs and quietly singing until you hear gentle footsteps coming towards you. You continue playing but slowly turn in the direction of the noise. “Lessi, what are you doing up?” You ask her, noticing the dark circles under her eyes. “I couldn’t sleep and knew that you or Leah would be awake down here” She smiles tiredly. She’s wrapped up in a blanket whilst wearing shorts and a Manchester united alternate green shirt. Even though she looks drained, her eyes are still as stunning as ever. Wait what? You shake your head to get yourself out of your head. “Feel free to sit with me, I can stop playing if--” You start speaking but she interrupts. “No no! I like it, keep going!” She sits next to you as you carry on playing a song. After a few minutes and some nice warm coffee, Alessia starts singing along with you to random songs that you’ve been playing for her. 04:10am “You should probably try and get some sleep Alessia” You nudge her gently as she shakes her head at you. “Nah, I like spending time with you” She says and blushes after realising what it sounded like “I mean, you’re really nice to hang out with. You’re normally quite quiet so it’s nice to see a different side of you” “Well I also like spending time with you too, you are nice to be around” You shyly reply whilst gently strumming the guitar still. “Okay now tell me, how are you so good at singing and playing the guitar?” She asks leaning closer to you with her head on your shoulder, intrigued to hear your answer. “Uh, I used to play a lot as a kid and then I sort of when to an arts school and college, but yeah that’s it really” You shrug at her, feeling slightly embarrassed. “Y/N that’s so cool! I never knew that!” She says excitedly. The night, well, morning carries on with the two of you singing away and you trying to teach her how to play the guitar. What you didn’t spot is your two best mates Leah and Georgia, walking in and spotting you up against Alessia’s back teaching her how to play the guitar. They gave each other a knowing look and left before either of you could notice. Camp continued and over the next few days neither you or Alessia could sleep, so you’d meet downstairs and hang out all night. Whether it was playing guitar (or teaching her), or playing pool, air hockey or even watching movies together, you really really enjoyed spending time with her. Even though it was a short amount of time since truly getting to know her, you wouldn’t choose anyone else to spend this part of your day with. You decided it was time to settle on the sofa with her and not run around like children. You picked Star Wars as your film of choice today as you loved watching it when you were younger. It got to the infamous duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan so you decided to stand up on the sofa with a pool cue in your hand pointing down at Alessia. “It’s over Anakin. I have the high ground!” You yell at her in time with the film, she giggles and grabs a pool cue. “You underestimate my power!” She quotes back at you making your heart skip a beat, you both pretend to duel with the pool cues and make the sound effects too. What you didn’t know was again, someone was watching the two of you playing about together. Ella Toone. She grins watching her best friend and new friend slowly become best friends, or maybe even more? Either way she knew the two of you needed a bit of help and a push in the right direction.

━━━━━ Later on that same week you’re downstairs again with Alessia, she’s fallen asleep on you whilst you were watching a movie together. Little did you know there was a small group meeting going on in your room, consisting of Leah, Georgia and Ella. "Okay we have to do something about those two, they're clearly in love" Georgia states. "I mean, I've known Y/N for years and I've never seen her like this with anyone, she's definitely got a soft spot for Lessi. We just need to come up with a plan" Leah ponders. "Well it's media day tomorrow, I'm sure being quizzed might help?" Ella suggests.

━━━━━

"Alright! Today is media day, you'll be randomly partnered up and shift around to different stations throughout the day. You may swap partners throughout but that is at my discretion!" Sarina says to the team. You see the group arrangements and it's you and Beth Mead together for the first hour of interviews and activities, followed by the remainder of the day being with Alessia. You instantly feel your stomach fluttering at a gentle touch on you arm. "Looks like we still get to spend the day together" You look at her and those beautiful blue eyes shine at you. You can’t help but feel yourself getting lost in them, the way the light catches them and causes them to glisten. You quickly smile at her and head off to meet your first interview partner. "Meado" You nod, greeting her on the sofa at the first media station. "Y/N/N" She nods back chuckling. The first hour goes fairly quick you get the odd question thrown at you here and there from interviewers as well as some funny games which you managed to win 4 out of 5 against Beth. Sarina yells for partners to change if that is what your schedule stated so you find yourself sauntering over to Alessia. When you eventually find her you poke her in the sides from behind to make her jump. "AHHHH!" She jumps and defensively turns around, she smacks your stomach in retaliation, only making you laugh harder. "Y/N you dick!" She whines at you with her head hanging sadly. "Aw, we cant have a sad Lessi can we?" You coo as you wrap your arm around her shoulders and pull her in for a quick hug. After a few interviews you find yourself at the next station with none other than Keira and Lucy with Rachel Daly being the host. You’re sat on a sofa with Alessia, Rachel is sat in the middle on a chair, with Lucy and Keira on another sofa to the side of her. You shuffle around to get comfortable and you end up against Alessia’s side. After your late night bonding she knew that you got very nervous and uncomfortable in interviews, so she knew she had to do her best to keep you calm. Even this small bit of contact already put your mind at ease and you let out a relieved sigh in response, which Alessia smiles at. "Okay I promise this is super fun. It's something I made myself for a quiz to see which couple knows each-other best!" Rachel cheers. "Oh Y/N and Alessia aren't a couple" Keira says quietly, making sure you aren't panicking about it, your eyes were still wide from assumption of your non-existent relationship with Alessia. "Well they might as well be! Or at least for this game" Lucy chuckles. The game goes ahead and it's questions based off our partners and it's neck and neck until Rachel gives us a tiebreaker question. "Okay, team Russo-Y/LN. The final question for you two. If you get this right, you win best duo of the team! The question is for Alessia, it’s a difficult one! What team did Y/N face for her first goal at a professional club?" Rachel asks, Lucy laughs and celebrates early knowing the question is almost impossible to answer, especially with you and Alessia only really bonding in this last week. "Oh god that's a difficult one! I'm pretty sure she scored a hat-trick as well, yes! It was against Villarreal I think?" She says somewhat confidently. Lucy’s face drops in realisation that Alessia got it right. "THAT IS CORRECT CONGRATULATIONS!" Rachel starts celebrating and the couple in front of you are gobsmacked that Alessia got the answer, same with you of course. "LESS WE DID IT" You grab her and lift her over your shoulder and start cheering loudly in celebration. She squeals for you to put her down.

━━━━━ After a long successful media day a bunch of you gather in the communal room and are playing games amongst yourselves. "Who's up for some truth or truth?" Georgia yells. "Why no dares?" Millie asks confused. "Because last time we did dares, Mary managed to break a sofa, Rachel got told off for being too loud, Millie woke up the coaching staff by singing in the hallways, and Sarina lectured us for it" Lucy points out laughing at Mary who you can hear protesting. You all gather around for 'truth or truth' which is clockwise and the person directly across from you asks the question. You've already learnt a lot about your teammates and finally it's your turn to be asked a question by Georgia who smirks when she realises it's her turn.

"So Y/N. Is there an active dating life? Or am I going to need to set you up on a date?" Georgia leans forward.

"No dating life here! Just seem to have no luck with women. I need all the help I can get" You jokingly sigh. You look over at Alessia who offers a small smile. Eventually people start getting tired with a few heading up to bed, but still a fair few of you chilling downstairs. This leads Georgia and Leah over to you as you are sat on your own as Alessia had already gone up to bed. "Psst, Y/N/N" Leah says elbowing you. "Ow, what?" You look at her, unimpressed. "I'm setting you up on a blind date. You can't say no because I know you trust me to set you up with someone nice, so please go out and get yourself out there!" She pleads with you. You agree to a blind date, purely because it'll make Leah happy. Worst case scenario it's only one night.

"How about tomorrow night, and the bowling alley just outside of the camp at 7! I reckon you guys will really hit it off. Oh! Casual clothing too, nothing too serious right?" Leah says and skips off excitedly. "What's got you all huffy?" Ella sits next to you. "I agreed to a stupid blind date so that Leah would get off my back about my non-existent dating life" You sigh and slump into the sofa. "Y/N I'm sure you'll have a great time. It's Leah setting you up after all, you're in safe hands I reckon" She says confidently to you. She's right. Leah would never do you wrong, you were most definitely in safe hands. You still couldn’t shake that feeling of whether this was going to be a mistake due to your developing feelings for the blonde striker you’ve spent most nights hanging out with.

━━━━━

You walk into the bowling alley and find it's bustling with people. You take in your surroundings, the odd coloured patterns on the carpet, the noise of the puck hitting the barriers in air hockey, and the cheering of people on the alleys which is accompanied with the clattering of pins. You realise that you’ve definitely zoned out for a minute and walk up to the counter at the entrance of the bowling alley. Leah meets you at the counter and gives you a hug.

“Looking good Y/N! I’m not sure whether you or your date look better, I’ll let you be the one to decide” Leah smirks at you.

The staff member at the counter lets you know what lane you are on and Leah walks you over to a booth. The booth is slightly obscured by the corner of the wall so you can't see the blind date yet. "Alessia?!" "Y/N?" You both yell at the same time.

“And with that, I’ll leave you both to it! Curfew is 12 tonight so don’t have too much fun” Leah winks and smacks your shoulders. She jogs over to Ella and Georgia over on the other side of the alley who are also on a night out bowling. "I mean, I'm not complaining. Leah said you looked stunning and my god, she wasn't wrong" You say whilst sitting on the other side of the booth whilst Alessia is blushing at your compliment.

“I’m also not complaining, I was dreading this date. I was sat debating whether or not to even come as I would rather spend the evening with you” Alessia smiles at you, she reaches over to grab your hand “Now come on, I’ve gotta show you who’s boss” she tugs you over to the bowling lane that you two are playing on. Rather than sitting down when it’s not your turn, you stand with Alessia as she bowls and cheer her on from next to her.

“Did you see that!” Alessia cheers at her strike.

“Of course I did! Maybe you will beat me like you said!” You laugh, grabbing a ball ready for your turn. The game carries on and you’re both flirting with each-other like crazy as you’ve both got comfortable with your date.

“How about we make this interesting?” You smirk at her, she gives you a questioning look. “If you win, I’ll pay for the next date if you want another one. If I win, you pay for the next date.” You suggest.

“Oh it’s on Y/LN, hope you’re ready to pay for the next date!” She smirks at you watching you bowl. “But how about we make it even more interesting” She smiles cheekily at you “How about if I get a strike on my turn, I get a kiss”.

You instantly blush at the suggestion but compose yourself “And if you don’t get a strike?” you take a sip of your drink as you’re waiting for the pins to reset for Alessia’s final turn.

“I’ll do anything you want, within reason” She smiles deviously, you instantly start to cough on your drink at her answer.

“Alessia!” You smack her arm to which she laughs even more at.

“Not like that! Well maybe within reason right? Anyway I will get a strike so I look forward to my kiss” She says confidently preparing herself to bowl. She bowls and gets a strike and does a celebratory dance which makes your heart melt at the sight of. You wrap up the game which Alessia won overall by 2 points and head back to St George’s Park.

No one is in the communal room so you instantly flop down on the sofa and Alessia giggles and joins you by your side and cuddles into you.

“I still can’t believe I went on a date with you, remind me to thank Leah” You say with Alessia agreeing to thank Ella too.

After a few hours of talking Alessia seems to be getting sleepy so you walk her up to her room which is just across from your room.

“Tonight was amazing Y/N, I really do like you and I’m so happy you feel the same way” Alessia says nervously looking down at her hands. You grab her hands and intertwine them with yours.

“No need to go all shy on me now Lessi, you’ve spent all night flirting with me and making bets” You chuckle “Speaking of, I believe I still owe you a kiss”.

Alessia looks back up at you and rests her hands on the sides of your neck whilst you rest yours on her waist, you can feel your heart trying to escape through your chest at the feeling of you both being so close to each-other.

“Mhm, you do. What a coincidence it’s at the end of the date” She smirks at you, causing you to lean in and press a gentle kiss on her lips. You feel her grip on you tighten slightly as you both start getting more comfortable with the kiss, it quickly gets a little more heated until you pull away when air becomes an issue.

“Probably should save that for date number two right? I look forward to a holiday in Barcelona to come and see you play” Alessia says whilst getting ready to go into her room.

“Yeah about that, we may have an issue” You say nervously, Alessia turning around to look at you. “I can’t take you to watch me play in Barcelona as I wont be playing there any more, as I’m being transferred to Arsenal this week. Please try and forgive me for not choosing Manchester” You joke.

“Arsenal?! You mean I get to betray Tooney and go to your matches when we aren’t playing?” Alessia fake gasps in shock. “Wait when we play each-other in a few weeks, Reckon we can trade shirts at the end of the match?”

“For you, anything. Plus I’ll most likely be marking you so that’ll be fun” You hug her “Right, you need to go to bed as you look super tired and we can’t keep talking in a hallway”

“Night Y/N” She says as she pulls you in for another bruising kiss “Sleep well!” she winks as she goes into her room. You sigh peacefully as you watch her, once she’s gone you go in your own room to find Leah standing in the doorway waiting for you.

“Looks like you had a good night” She chuckles as you both get comfy in your beds, you tell Leah all about your night and keep thanking her for pushing you two to go on a date.

“Oh and I’m transferring to Arsenal” You say casually, watching Leah spring out bed and jump on you.

“Oh my god she’s a gunner!” She cheers “She’s a gunner that has to play against her new girlfriend!” She jumps back to her own bed and tells you all about each Arsenal player and the team in general until you both get tired. You finally sleep for a whole night without interruptions, thanks to Alessia.

━━━━━

It's been a while! You know I can't resist making more Lessi content!

[bookdragon-shenanigans]

I just read the fourth wing bonus chapter and MAN. I knew I wasn't Xaden's biggest fan before but MAN. I honestly don't even know how they ruined a character with so much potential is beyond my understanding???? Xaden is straight up unlikable in the chapter. So many issues in the chapter.

[Caution: Listen, I love Xaden, truly. But he really makes me want to beat him up I'm sorry]

Opinions so far: (Warning: This is not Xaden-friendly I might be a major bitch for 80% 😭)

The chapter felt kind of unnecessary?? Like even if it was a cash grab (which I agree but that's not the point rn) did we really need a bonus chapter that's just the same chapter but just rewritten with some occasional Xaden comments? We could've gotten a new interaction but noooo

With the amount of obsessing talking Xaden does about Dain, you'd think Dain was the one he has a crush on. No because stop this you're literally doing the same thing you accuse everyone of doing to you. "Everyone judges the marked kids just because of what our parents did 🥺🥺👉👈" ISN'T THAT WHAT YOU'RE DOING RIGHT NOW??? Why are you being such a pissy bitch over the fact that he thinks you're bad for her when you literally agree???. [Coherent me update: In hindsight Xaden going out of his way to annoy Dain for entertainment is hilarious not gonna lie. Still think he was being a bitch tho]

The Imogen was missing plotline. Seriously? "Imogen was sick"?? They could just be like oh no she wiped everyone's memories so they don't remember because there is zero canon connection in her being sick. Also the fandom was spot on 💅. To be fair, I can excuse this one.

Xaden's "strategy". Why are we acting like battle strategy is a multiple choice question with one answer??? Where is the common sense?? Where is the individuality??? Where is the originality???

I just noticed this now but WHY IS THE CONTINENT THEY LIVE IN LITERALLY CALLED The Continent???? WHY ARE THEY ACTING LIKE THEY LIVE ALONE IN THE WORLD HELP

FINALLY Emery's last name

Okay I actually like passively possessive simp Xaden because let's be fr he's not noticing anyone other than Violet. He's really acting like the stupid hormonal emo 23 year old he his and I love him for that.

Xaden not understanding sibling dynamics is top tier I love this. Like this man is standing there so confused like 🧍‍♂️.

Highkey confused at the Lewellen part because I'm pretty sure they were fostered by Lindell?? Either this is shitty writing or a case of an unreliable narrator. Who knows. Not me.

SGAEYL. THAT'S IT. 🛐🛐🛐🛐🛐

"Violet would get over her sister's death eventually" CALM TF DOWN SIR. This is a civilized conversation. Okay but like someone needs to tell these people that murder doesn't solve everything. It's not even the best form of revenge 😭😭😭

I need more backstory on the Cygnis flier drama. Why only that province??? How come other provinces are safe??

"Wasn't my choice," I shrug. Lying is easy, except when it comes to Violet. I haven't quite figured that one out yet. Excuse me what

Okay, I know this is OS buildup but why were the wards down???

"Was it us?" LIAM. MY SWEET BABY BOY ILY YOU'RE THE BEST.

Okay I just realized now that Dain only name drops Rhiannon, Ridoc and Sawyer when he mentions the first years and man how did I not notice that before-

Lots of suspicious stuff. Lots.

IT HAS COME TO MY NOTICE THAT THERE IS A VERY HIGH AMOUNT OF MIRA DYING MENTIONED IN THE CHAPTER AND I DO NOT LIKE IT AT ALL

The bottom line is that I've read too much fanfiction and set my standards too high 😭😭

Anyways stan Liam my sweet summer child 🛐🛐

Update: I just came back from my exam and took a look at what I wrote here and help why was 5am me so salty 😭😭

[aashi-heartfilia]

BnHA 392: Ochako gets stabbed. No she's not dying.

Yeah so what if she got stabbed? With stabby pants Toga around this was bound to happen.

Doesn't mean that she is gonna die!

And even if it looks serious, I don't think it will have a serious consequence or anything. She might as well get a cool scar like All Might at most.

And I don't even wanna talk about that grab scene on the next page. I think it's a mistake that will be corrected during the volume publish, remember how inking on Ochako and Toga wasn't on point either in the last chapter.

With Hori's declining health, I think it's a very likely case.

Anyways, we'll have to wait now for two weeks to see if our babygirl is all right or not.

Contrary to popular belief, I think she's fine. Great infact, because now she'll fight more seriously.

Remember how in her battle vs Bakugo during SF, when even her friends underestimated her and thought she needed help?

But she proved to everyone that she's more than capable of handling herself when the time calls for it?

And this is a battle she cannot afford to lose, we have lives on the line. Not just her fellow heroes but Toga herself is also in danger and Uravity is a hero who wants to see everyone smile.

I think this is bound to come sooner or later. Like what kind of hero Uravity will be?

Like Ingenium is a hero who guides lost children to their home, Uravity will find a way to save Toga and the entire battlefield that is dealing with Sad Man's Death Parade.

Now, it's more important than ever because we've seen that Pixie Bob is down for the count. She was the main person containing the clones but now that she is down and Toga has created multiple doppelgangers of our beloved heroes, everyone is at a risk of getting stabbed.

Since the last two chapters were about Toga, I think the next chapter will be about Ochako.

Personally I would love an Ochako Uraraka: Origins chapter and then a Rising Chapter following it!

This will be one of the biggest moments of the series where a character gets an Origin and a rising chapter simultaneously.

A chapter that shows us Ochako's life before she joined UA.

Just like Toga, we only had a glimpse of Ochako's past. Bonus material suggests that she used to sleep to save money and bear the heat in summers because her parents could not afford an AC. But that's not all.

Horikoshi has been hinting at this dynamic for a long time. So I feel like there has been something about Ochako that has been hidden from us, as readers.

It was always hidden in plain sight, just like how those postcards were a foreshadowing for Ochako getting stabbed in the stomach.

The author said that there is a scene between TOGACHAKO that he is itching to draw.

Personally I don't know what scene it is. It could be Toga stabbing Ochako in the recent chapter, or it could be something entirely different. We won't know for sure until this arc concludes.

As for this arc, I think this fated battle will last for at least 3-4 more chapters.

Everything is in complete chaos and it will take time to wrap this up. Even if a miracle were to happen, I don't see a direct solution to TOGA's Sad Man Parade unlike Dabi where Shouto just reaching on time was everything.

Not only Ochako will need to convince Toga to stop her Parade but also deal with the existing ones that are running rampant around the battlefield.

Also, can I just say how much I loved Ochako just casually flying over the entire parade?

Also her jet boosters are finally coming in handy!

Also I just loved how much control she has over gravity now. She literally pulled both Toga and Tsu out like it was nothing! Plus the Twice clones surrounding her!!

Toga using the blood from the battlefield totally caught me off-guard. She really is playing 5D chess now.

Guess, it goes to show you how smart she actually was up until now.

Ochako and Toga are two faces of a coin. Of course, they're both smart.

Plus I think Toga is still not using her full power, as the Curious vestige suggested. She's still hiding her true self.

And maybe that's the answer to everything. Ochako will try to appeal to whatever goodness is left of her.

Ochako knows that Quirks are nature and just like Toga, she's been hiding her true feelings all along. And I think the feeling that she's been hiding is envy.

She was jealous of how 'normal' everyone else is and how they get to express their love and she doesn't. It is not a form that society will accept.

But in the world of MHA, how do you even decide what is normal and what isn't?

Her parents literally denied her humanity.

I also loved what Tsuyu said here about Heroes following the rules. If killing was the only way, Ochako and the heroes were more than capable of doing that.

But it's not about killing or arresting her anymore but rather about confronting a little girl who has been rejected her entire life, even by her own parents.

It's about a young girl with a big dream who wants to see everyone smile and yes that includes Toga too.

It was never a story about killing people because violence leads to even more violence, it's about understanding and sympathy, care and compassion and this is how true heroes are born.

Cheers! Sunshine!

~Thanks for reading

[shuttershocky]

let's say, hypothetically, someone picked up Gigantic after reading several of your posts despite never playing a moba before. what kind of tips or tricks of the trade would you give them?

The Closed beta test is finished for now (it was just a one day deal) but there will surely be more before the game (re)releases in April so here's some starter info for you.

Despite the overall game being structured like a MOBA, the actual combat system is based on action games. That means stamina management, 3D combat with verticality, dodge-rolls, jumps, all that good stuff. Even if you have no MOBA experience at all, you'll be able to get into the moment to moment gameplay

When you're new, I recommend playing the Rush game mode. Rush only had one lifebar per Guardian, you can switch characters anytime (like in a team 3rd person shooter like Overwatch), the only objectives are capture points, everyone starts at max level with a finished build, it's basically training wheels where you get to learn how the systems in Gigantic work against live players without having to learn the strategy elements yet.

Once you feel like getting into the real meat of Gigantic, play Clash mode. This is the classic mode the original game shipped with. In Clash mode, you cannot repick your character (so your team comp is determined at the pick screen), you start at Level 1, and over the course of the match you level up and use the upgrade points to upgrade your skills one by one. If you've played through Rush, you should be familiar enough with your chosen character by now to learn how to build them over a match. Another critical part of Clash mode is that you can sacrifice your Focus points (your Ultimate move) to instead summon a creature from your loadout to guard a command point your team captures. This is where the resource management and strategy of MOBAs come into play, as you have to choose between securing territory with creatures, (and different creatures having different abilities to help your team), or having Focus points to use your ultimate skill in a fight. You'll learn through experience.

The most important skill to learn when you first learn to play Gigantic is awareness about where your team is. The minimap shows you the locations of all your teammates. Unless you become really good at combat, you usually want to have the numbers advantage in a fight, as a 1v1 can be a struggle to win, but a 2v1 is going to end badly for the 1 guy 90% of the time. Don't let that one guy caught alone be you!

Contradicting what I said in the last tip (lol), all players actually take bonus damage when attacked from the back, so in a big fight it often pays to break from the team and flank the enemy while they're distracted. If you've played any team-based shooter at all, you know your target: the enemy support.

For very obvious reasons, melee characters are at a disadvantage when out in the open against ranged characters. Move from cover to cover when crossing open areas, melees have an advantage against ranged when they're up close!

They tell you this many times in the tutorial, but it bears repeating: do not fuck with the enemy Guardian who's a giant monster the size of a house. You can attack them in Clash mode to try to steal some power, but these WILL squish you flat if they catch you. If you do attack them like a crazy bastard, remember the gryphon Guardian has fast eye beams and tornado attacks to send you flying, while the dragon Guardian fires slow moving poison that slows you and makes you easy pickings. Both of them can just squish you if they want so be prepared to dodge.

You have a stamina bar that drains when dodging, jumping, attacking, sprinting, using skills, etc. When in a fight, it's important that you save enough stamina to escape in case you realize you can't win that skirmish, otherwise you'll have to limp away and hope someone saves you! On the other hand, draining an opponent's stamina can make them an easy kill for your team even if you don't have the stamina to finish them off yourself (that's why you play with your team nearby!)

Big glowy circles from various characters are often magic shields that reflect projectiles. Don't shoot them, you CAN hit yourself.

When your Guardian is fully powered and rampages across the map, don't get cocky and charge ahead immediately. The enemy Guardian is still dangerous and is capable of killing you swiftly right until the moment your Guardian punches them in the head and pins them down. Every member of the attacking team that dies during their Guardian's rampage gives energy to the enemy Guardian that lets them resist the attack. If you want to do maximum damage, you want to time it just right.

On the other hand when your Guardian is about to get punched in the face, this is the moment to go aggressive. Any kill you score here can strengthen your Guardian's shield, and if you die you can't empower a fully powered enemy Guardian anyway. Score a full 100 power shield and you can completely nullify the enemy Guardian's attack. Don't fall back scared when you hear the enemy Guardian roar, look for opportunities when the enemy gets cocky!

Since every ally slain empowers the enemy Guardian and every enemy slain empowers yours, it is in your best interest to protect your teammates and come to their rescue when they get in trouble. Losing them will only make the enemy stronger, but evening the odds and taking down the enemy together rewards your whole team.

Creature kills count as player kills! If a Creature defends a point all by itself and you take it down, that's a kill for you and power for your Guardian. That also means you must defend your own Creatures. Some of the upgraded creatures that take 2 or 3 Focus points to summon like a Stone Cerberus are powerful enough to fend off a human player by themselves, but don't leave a puppy Cerberus to die!

If you have a skill that says "pushes enemies" on its description, use it when the enemy climbs the level geometry. An enemy with the high ground advantage is hard to fight into, but the right skills can knock them off their perch and send them back down to the floor with you for an even fight.

[agentundercover]

Coming to you with my headcanons about Cunning Hares and PubSec being friendos because you asked for those so here goes with what I think would be the relationship between Billy and PubSec because Billy is my favorite: Billy and Seth being besties but also constantly have to reel each other because Seth needs to keep Billy from acting like an idiot and Billy needs to clue Seth on when people are being mean/teasing/sarcastic/friendly/ect to him because poor Seth sucks at social cues. Billy is pretty wary of Jane because he feels she could finds out about his identity in the Outer Ring so he just mostly is akward around her, but he also somehow manages to be one of the few people who is not remotely attracted to her physically or sexually and she can't fluster him like she does with everyone else so it just makes him more interesting to her and also she finds the contrast between him and Qingyi to be very interesting and also wonders about his origins because she's never seen an android of his type before so she is curious about him, but he thinks she's on to him being a feared enforcer but he also is good enough to manage to let suspicions off him, but it's really fun to see them interact, Billy and Zhu Yuan are friendly with each other but have almost zero things in common apart from liking to take orders and guns and that's about it, but Zhu Yuan kinds of like Billy anyway because he is less of a handful than Qingyi somehow, and she keeps asking him questions so as to not take him for the same type of android as Qingyi, he was offended when she said that androids are pretty much all the same, Billy and Qingyi get not so much along, partly because of Qingyi having made a very bad first impression on Billy to the point he filed a complain and a restraining order on her, because when they first met Billy was just minding his own business, Qingyi saw him and was intrigued, then scanned him and found he was also made of lost technology like her which made her aggressively interogate him about his origins and hers and then pushed the topic further by saying that they could go to where the first place he remember waking up to go search for clues but Billy ain't interested at all about learning who he was before that and doesn't appreciate her not respecting his views and feelings on the matter and it almost evolved into a fight until Zhu Yuan and Seth restrained Qingyi and made her apologize to Billy, Qingyi had to give her bonus to Billy as compensation and to have him lift the restraining order on her about him as she was on duty when they first met and she violated several protocols with him, but Qingyi isn't allowed near him without Zhu Yuan, Seth, Nicole, Anby and Nekomata being there too in advance when they meet up as Billy as finally decided to help Qingyi about their origins, just so that the sooner they get answers the faster she can stop bothering him.

Fun fact, Billy was actually my favourite ZZZ character before Seth, so helllll yeahhhh I'm so happy to talk about him too!!

Seth and Billy, Imma be real, I feel them together would be chaotic as hell, but in a good way! Like they'd bounce off of each other's energies and just get hyper lol. Seth also was looking for a gaming partner, so I'm sure Billy would be delighted to find someone else to play with! Billy's probably the better gamer, but Seth's a quick learner, so I'm sure they'd be rivalling each other in no time. I love the idea of Billy helping Seth with social cues but tbh? Billy's interactions kinda proved he wasn't the best at reading the room either, at least when it came to understanding what people thought of him. He seemed almost desperate to not be seen as weird/different, so I know he would really appreciate Seth's straightforwardness and honesty. Though what he thinks of Seth being pubsec, that I'm not too sure... Also they bond over Starlight Knight! Seth's a lover of hero movies, and we had to give him Starlight Knight to unlock him promoting the store I'm pretty sure, so I think he's a newer fan👀

I loveee the dynamic u thought of for Jane and Billy! I think that would be fun. Jane offering to help him with his registration at the precinct so she can learn more about him, and Billy warily agreeing cause he could use all the help he can get when it comes to official document stuff. One thing about Jane tho is that she is the "he asked for no pickles" type of woman that Billy desperately needs in his life, like she'd get shit done. And she definitely figures out his background, but I think she'd keep it to herself

Lol Billy and Zhu Yuan r the true opposites, aside from their weapons both being guns yeah. I imagine Zhu Yuan still knows him tho, cause of how often he's seen hanging with Seth (and Qingyi). They have a "friend of a friend" type interactions, friendly but not really much other than pleasantries. I imagine she makes Billy vaguely uncomfortable too as a Captain, like how Jane does, so he's extra awkward around her.

Qingyi! That's an interesting one. Qingyi is an automaton, while Billy is an android. I wonder if Billy's jealous of her very human features in comparison to his very clearly mechanical ones. As I mentioned before, he's always seemed very conscious of the fact that he's not human in a crowd of strangers. As to how Qingyi feels about Billy, I definitely agree that she'd be curious about the lost technology. I feel like they'd, maybe not get along exactly, but have this sort of rivalry. Automaton vs Android, as well as Qingyi being actually old vs billy's childish nature lol. Qingyi doesn't seem to mind youngins, she just teases them a lot, but with Billy I think it's a little more personal😭 Maybe Billy can show her more new things that the youth get up to these days (aka Starlight Knight), and while it might not be her thing, she's open to trying new things with a maybe friend.

Also tysm for this long ask! Yapping is my passion too, so feel free to message me more or send more asks about these guys, they consuming too much brain space atm

[venus-is-thinking]

DRDT Handwriting Analysis

Hello everyone! I decided to take a look at the canonical handwriting of the various characters in DRDT. We've actually seen a good number of handwritings and it definitely seems like they are specifically written differently, so it's a fun new dimension of the characters we can look at. I've done my best to compile all of them in this post, but please let me know if I've missed any!

I'll be going in order of when we first see them, starting with:

Arei Nageishi!

Arei is our first handwriting reveal, which we know because she wrote the arm wrestling contest board in Chapter 1, Episode 2! She seems to write in all caps and has a slightly curvy style.

Min Jeung!

Whoops, murder time. Min's handwriting is seen on the "OUT OF ORDER" sign. We don't know it's hers when we first see it, but in the trial, it's revealed that she must have written it.

As far as I remember, we don't have another sample of her handwriting, which is unfortunate, given that I believe this is probably not what her real handwriting looks like. She's clearly printing in very straight lines; it's probably meant to look official. If it looked handwritten, it would lower the credibility of the out of order sign.

I also tried to see if you could tell what any handwriting looked like from the papers on the table in the Bonus Episode she's in, but I didn't manage to pick anything out that was actually legible. So, I guess we don't really know what Min's handwriting would normally look like.

Xander Matthews!

Xander wrote "Charles Cuevas' Motive" on this DVD, but a lot of it got smudged off when he planted it in the CD reader (god I hope I got it right I'm sorry Charles I'm trying to remember which is which).

He seems to use all caps. It's also not the neatest, given that the two Cs run into each other despite being on different lines.

Notably, there is a more filled-out version.

However, the red text isn't written by Xander himself, because he's dead at the time. As best I can figure, this is Teruko writing in an impression of Xander's handwriting. The image of the CD appears as Teruko says, "Hm, are you talking about this?" implying she's the one carrying it, and the rest of the writing is filled in when she says so. It might seem like it would be Rose, given that she's the one who figures out what it's supposed to say, but Rose instructs someone else to rotate it, so it can be assumed Rose isn't holding it. Teruko is the one to take the DVD out of the player at the end of investigation, so I'd really assume it's her.

...HOWEVER!

We actually have a specific example of Teruko replicating Xander's handwriting! She smudges it during investigation and re-writes it on. It seems to me like the creator went back to the original version of the CD in the trial (the little ink blot at the left of the O matches better with the first of the two images here, imo). I doubt there was much internal consistency given to how Teruko writes Xander's handwriting when trying to replicate it on this CD, but...

Teruko Tawaki!

Teruko's handwriting is bad-bad. It's very shaky and she struggles with letters. The O and C (as she thinks she's writing) that she replicates back on the CD have some more of the shakiness that this handwriting has, which implies to me that the creator knew at the point of the Chapter 1 murder that Teruko's handwriting wasn't smooth. The replication of Xander's handwriting in red back in Xander's section looks smoother than I think Teruko's would, which might be points towards someone else having written it. No clue who, though.

Notably for Teruko, I honestly wonder if she's meant to have dysgraphia? I don't know a ton about it, but it's a learning disability that makes it much harder for people with the condition to handwrite clearly. Just an interesting sidenote, if anyone with dysgraphia knows more/if this is wrong to say in some way, please let me know!

Charles Cuevas!

Back on track, I skipped ahead with Teruko to put hers next to Xander's. We don't technically have confirmation that this is Charles' handwriting, but it's very very heavily implied. It's written in cursive, which Whit says Charles writes in in the Chapter 2 trial.

This also implies that Whit has seen Charles' handwriting, which could add more to imply that this is his, but considering Charles has evidently seen Whit's (more in a sec), I don't think that means much.

Plus, as a fun note, Charles' custom weapon is the only one that isn't listed on the above handwriting sample. This is the biggest factor in me believing that it's Charles'. (Plus, I think Whit says something about getting it from a friend? I'm not reopening the episode sorry gang)

Whit Young?

Wait, where's the handwriting?

Well, as far as I remember, we haven't actually seen Whit's handwriting. We know from Charles that he dots his Is with hearts, but that's all we got. Sorry gang.

Eden Tobisa!

Eden literally gave us a handwriting sample. Thanks!

It's pretty cute! She has a curvier handwriting style with some irregular spacing, which I think gives it nice charm and character.

The Chapter 2 Killer??? (or accomplice)

Idk man! It seems like it has to relate to someone who's at least somewhat guilty in this whole thing, right?

I've written briefly about why I believe this is Levi's handwriting on @1moreff-creator's Levi accomplice theory post, but that would totally work for the popular theory that he's the killer, too. Either way, it's a handwriting sample.

Bonus!

NO WIFI! WHY LIVE :(

I have no idea who wrote this. From what I can tell, it might've been here when the cast got there...? The weird thing is that it changes.

Shoutout to @accirax for remembering that the white board changed, because I did NOT notice/remember. However, that begs the question...

WHO THE HELL WROTE THIS???

It's very possibly Veronika, as she's the one who's noted to, like, know and remember what Monokuma looks like. If so, that means we have a Veronika handwriting sample, yay! I really don't know who else would be drawing Monokumas. Maybe the mastermind...?

And that's all! Clearly there's no point to this post and I can wrap this-

Haha. You didn't think I actually made a post that doesn't have a theory to it, did you?

This has all been building up to me trying to figure out who the hell wrote this note. Because, I originally believed it made the most sense if it was a note that Xander wrote to himself, but accirax pointed out that we've seen Xander's handwriting, and it looks different. Then, I started noticing that we've been receiving various handwritings. Like, a LOT of handwritings.

I think that it's plenty likely that we're going to receive EVERYONE'S handwriting at some point throughout this series. Notably, all characters who have died thus far (Xander, Min, Arei, Chapter 2 Killer Even Though We Don't Know Who They Are) have already shown us their handwriting. This is probably because we're going to figure out who wrote this note at some point.

Does that mean everyone whose handwriting we've already seen thus far is safe? Maybe! I've gone through and talked about Xander, Arei, Eden, Charles and Teruko's with confidence. From what we know of Min's and Whit's, it doesn't seem like it's theirs, but I'd believe for either of them that it could be theirs if the devs wanted to pull a fast one on us (Whit could just... not write with hearts on the Is for this one. Min was replicating printed text).

I guess that means I'm saying that the most likely authors of the "Kill Teruko Tawaki" note are Mai Akasaki Ace, Rose, Hu, Arturo, Veronika, J or Nico, with Min, Whit and Levi also being possibilities that I just don't believe as strongly. I do want to note that, if Rose IS the one who wrote it, she could also easily be replicating someone else's handwriting. Ultimate Art Forger moment.

Conclusion

I compiled this image of all the handwriting I talked about with the purple being known handwriting and the gray being unknown.

I think it's really cool that the dev put time into giving each of the characters unique handwriting, and I think it's definitely a piece of evidence to keep in mind when theorizing about masterminds and killers and such.

Hopefully this was a fun read! I look forward to possibly figuring out the handwritings of literally every other character someday.

[necroticyuzu]

BG3 Tav Backstory Bash

This is a challenge to help people flesh out their Tav’s backstory by exploring their past. It is organized into four sections with seven prompts. You can treat this as a monthly challenge or a general project. You can write headcanons, fics, or share art based on the prompts! You can interpret the prompts however you want. If you want to share use the tag #bg3backstorybash original post by @kelandrin's

This seems really fun and wanted to give it a try.

Don't wanna bother others too much but hope you who got tagged will have some fun with this, don't feel forced to join and I wish you a continuing great day. @falcatamandarina, @voloslobotomyservice, @fan-tav-stic, @spiritfaredfox,

Tamia Geraldottir

Half-Orc ~ Knowledge Cleric of Oghma ~ Neutral Good

Baby

~Parents~

- Father Gerald Bendalson: A Half-Dwarf (Technically Quarter-Dwarf) from Blackgate in Baldur's Gate who grew up dreaming about working in the famous Candlekeep and was finally able to fulfill that dream in his 50s when his two daughters became independent. Much like his father, and his father before him, he's attracted to big, strong women. So when he saw Vel showing off her amazing strength in a gladiator show he immediately fell for her. How'd he manage to woo this mighty woman who could easily rip him into pieces? Puns! Even the bad ones.

- Mother Vel: A proud Orc from the Cool Woods up in the Silver Marches who enjoys seeking challenges that put her strength and tactical thinking to the test. The more challenging the better and if she gets to show that off for others then that's a bonus. While participating in a gladiator show out in Rivington she managed to catch the attention of a tall dwarf who after the show wooed her with some absolute bangers of puns. Not one for settling down she'd rather keep on traveling around seeking challenges while her partner looks after their two daughters.

~Birth~

- Hammer 23rd 1463, was the day Tamia was born after taking her sweet time by being both an overdue baby and also taking almost two full days of labor which really annoyed her mother Vel who just wanted it over with.

~First word~

- Dada, which really made Gerald's day for sure while he was feeding her usual porridge about a month after her first birthday.

- An update that he made sure to brag about for everyone to hear whether or not they wanted to hear about it.

~When they first walked~

- Much to Daddy Gerald's worries and Mommy Vel's frustration, Tamia's first steps did not happen until she was about 15 months old.

- She was just so damned adamant about either scooting or crawling to move herself around in her little home.

~Tantrum~

- The first notable tantrum that Gerald could remember was when he was gonna head out for work which freaked her as she entered her separation anxiety stage at 10 months old.

~First sickness~

- Breaking out in hives and getting very itchy from trying out eating cherries for the first time around 9 months old. Really freaked Daddy Gerald out at the time until Grandmother Siv calmed him down. Turns out Tamia got that trait from said Grandmother.

Childhood

~Friends~

- Tamia had a fair bit of friends from the neighborhood but very few strong enough to last up until adulthood.

- Ranvia Bronzegrace: The one notable friend that stayed strong was with a Shield Dwarf called Ranvia whose family runs a repair business of wagons with a mix of smithing and carpentry that's doing great thanks to all the trade traffic through the Black Dragon Gate. Once old enough Ranvia joins her parents in the family business and one day will take it over.

~Siblings~

- Sarina Veldottir: Her 2 years younger sister who's a lot more outgoing than Tamia herself and a troublemaker to boot. Always gets herself into trouble one way or another to the point of aging their poor old Dad Gerald at least 10 years. Be it starting fights with older kids (and usually winning while fighting dirty) or trying to steal various random objects or food items from visiting merchants waiting to enter Baldur's Gate through the Black Dragon Gate. Tamia has to often step in to apologize for her antics while their father is off at work. Sarina very much looks up to their Mother Vel and aspires to be as strong and adventurous as she is. Once deemed old enough she went with her after one of her rare yearly visits. Their sibling relationship has gotten a bit better now as adults.

- There may or may not be a half-sibling or two out in the world on her mother's side that they simply do not know about?

~Getting into trouble~

- The most trouble Tamia gets into is when she fails to stop her little sister from getting into trouble. Since she's the older sister she's expected to be more responsible and set an example for Sarina.

- One such instance was when she was supposed to keep an eye on her while the two of them went to purchase some more exotic food from The Wide for the family to celebrate a special occasion around age 9 and Sarina age 7. While in the middle of her purchase, Sarina managed to sneakily getaway to explore on her own and was not found until MANY hours later when the Upper City curfew was about to start.

~Birthday~

- A typical birthday growing up was a very simple celebration with a small batch of their favorite cookies and not too expensive a gift to add to it. Tamia's favorite cookies were Apple Oatmeal Cookies with Cinnamon and for gift was mostly whatever book Gerald or his parents could find for a good price or just lying around abandoned.

~Games~

- The typical games that most kids tended to play in the neighborhood were hide-and-seek, stick fights, and whatever you could come up with using bean-bags that day.

~Learning something new~

- Tamia just like her Dad Gerald had a thirst for learning growing up as a child with a passion for reading books. Growing up she wanted to be a wizard and be able to use magic. Alas, no matter how much she read up on magic, tried to connect to the weave, and prayed to Mystra herself Tamia could never find the connection she oh so badly wanted. And yet despite that, she kept on trying to learn what she could.

- However little did she know that another god would take notice of her love and ambition to learn. That being The Lord of All Knowledge Oghma himself who would later in her teens send her signs to let her know that she is seen by him and encourage her to keep on learning with his support.

~Trauma~

- The closest thing to a trauma in her childhood was when she was 11 years old. She went climbing up to the roof of the old family house to reach the small bean-bag she tossed up there during a small competition she had with the neighboring kids in 'Who can toss the highest?' To which she won. As she got her bean-bag she lost her footing and went tumbling down, breaking her right arm, her left wrist and earning a concussion. It was also how she earned the scar on her forehead that she would later try to hide with her hair.

- After that incident, she started to fear heights but started to handle it better in her late teens. Until all that progress got tossed out the window at age 19. Literally!

Teenager

~First love~

- Her first love or more accurately crush occurred when she was 14 and it was with her friend Ranvia's cousin who'd temporarily moved in with the Bronzegrace family to learn their trade for 2-3 years. His name was Emdur and like Ranvia was a Shield Dwarf but unlike his cousin he had no interest in their craft.

- The crush lasted for about 3 weeks and ended while she was visiting her friend to ask if she was interested in hanging out. While conversing with Ranvia about possible activities Emdur decided to ask his cousin "Why you hanging out with a Stupid Orc all the time?" To which he then received a mighty punch to the face from his cousin.

- Any and all interest Tamia had for the guy was immediately snuffed out and took some of her self-confidence with it.

~Rebellion~

- Not much rebelling from Tamia growing up. The only time that she would count herself rebelling was when she let her Dad and Paternal Grandparents know that she refuses to take any form of responsibility for her little sister's behavior and antics. They received it loud and clear.

~Running away~

- Does wanting to run away from her sister count?

- Tamia was never really rebellious so the whole 'Running away from home' thing was never her cup of tea. Her family already had to live with an over-energetic, trouble-making, constantly looking for a fight sister, and Tamia simply did not wanna add to that.

~Reckless behavior~

- Growing up everyone in Baldur's Gate knew about Ramazith's Tower, its mysteriously dead owner, and the rumors about possible treasures he's collected hidden behind magical traps. And more importantly to Tamia, Knowledge.

- At the very end of her teens at age 19 which still technically counts as a teenager the talks about this new and young wizard had managed to claim said tower, Tamia who by then had already received Oghmas blessing quickly made her way to seek this wizard out to ask for his permission to create a catalog record of the mysterious content of Ramazith's Tower.

- It took her a little over a month of begging and pleading to finally convince him to accept her Oghma-blessed service much to her joy. Only for him to then send her into areas of the tower that were still trapped without telling her thinking she'd deal with it for him.

- After somehow managing to escape with either dumb luck or divine intervention through the still-active traps Tamia made her complaints known to this very reckless wizard whom she still knows nothing about. His response was to simply have her tossed out the nearest window faaar up in the tower with an air elemental. How fortunate that she's invested in purchasing a Ring of Feather Falling for her fear of heights.

- Lesson to learn from this? Don't trust random new wizards in town to then immediately ask to see their shiny magical collection.

~Peer pressure~

- Tamia's not really one to fall for peer pressure from other people with the exception of her own family to be a good older sister and keep her younger sister in line when they are not around to do so themselves due to work.

~Growing pains~

- Not really pain but there was plenty of growing in her early teens. Her paternal family was sure that she wasn't gonna grow to be as tall as her taller than your average Orc Mother Vel who was rocking 2.06m (6'9) due to her father's side having those strong Dwarven genes with Dad Gerald 1.52m (5').

- Well, they were all in for a surprise as she kept on getting taller and taller than her Dad.

~Taking responsibility~

- If it's something she has either done or said that caused any form of harm, then Tamia will take responsibility for it and admit to her fault.

- However, if it's related to her sister or the other party took offense for the most ridiculous of reasons and blames it on her, then you lose all her attention and get ignored.

Adulthood

~Leaving home~

- Not long after the 'Tower Incident' Tamia had a rather hard time looking at the very prominent tower looming over her every single day. So about a month after it happened, she made the decision to apply any form of work at the Font of Knowledge in Waterdeep. She would receive her confirmation after sending them many letters for almost 5 months. As soon as she received this news she packed up everything that she still owed after selling off the rest in order to afford the fee to join a ship heading to Waterdeep at the age of 20.

~Their “first time”~

- Not to long after moving to Waterdeep Tamia started to explore as many new restaurants, bakeries, and taverns. During one of her culinary explorations, she encountered a charming Earth Genasi Cleric of Chauntea who was a regular and took notice that she was a new face. The two got to know each other by random facts the two learned over there years and teaching the other even more random fact. After their 5th outing of food and knowledge sharing they paid for a shared room to get to know each other on a more intimate level.

~Serious relationships~

- Alabaster: The charming Earth Genasi was her first-ever relationship she had and one that she treasures to this day. During their 4 years, he taught her all he knew of nature while she taught him arcana. They had planned to get married and start a family the upcoming spring when sadly tragedy struck. While out to bless the crops for some farmers he unfortunately ran into a group of bandits who were not too happy with how light he traveled with little value and took his life out of frustration.

- After losing her fiance Tamia took her time to mourn by diving into her work more than ever. Didn't give dating another go until 3 years later but was not as lucky with those and they mostly left her feeling uncomfortable afterward to the point that she stopped dating altogether.

~Work~

- From the moment she started working at the Font of Knowledge in Waterdeep it's been her one form of workplace. Starting out as a simple novice to eventually earned her current and favorite position as a Record Keeper. For 9 years she worked there and was very much content with it.

~Aging~

- As a Half-Orc she should be aging faster than your average human, though it would appear that the Dwarven genes on her paternal side have managed to get a foot in when the more dominant Orc ones took over. So it would appear that she ages slightly slower than humans would and ages almost similar to a certain Tiefling who's about her own age. A fact that the two don't fully realize until her late 30's.

~Finding your place~

- Who knew that while out during one of her lunch breaks she'd get snatched up by a fly by Nautiloid and toss her life upside down. After the whole Neather Brain business is dealt with and Baldur's Gate is safe from the whole Absolute Cult stuff Tamia has to decide if she wishes to return to Waterdeep or stay in the city of her birth to help build it back up.

- But once Baldur's Gate is built back up, what then? Stay longer or Waterdeep? Feeling bold she wishes to take a rematch at Ramazith's Tower she decides to offer Rolan her years of experience in Record Keeping services and her help in finding each and every secret that the tower has to offer.

- A project that would take them years to fully complete in a safe and methodical manner but suits the two of them just fine. It's during this project Tamia finds herself feeling like she's found her place, where she truly belongs. Working alongside Rolan, making sure he's not burning himself out and taking care of himself with him doing the very same for her.

~Staring a family/found family~

- The weird ragtag of individuals that Tamia traveled with while tadpoled has become this big strange little family in which you are close to some more than others. Which also includes the Tieflings that they helped way back in the Grove. Tamia makes the effort to stay in contact with the majority of them all however with how easily absorbed she can get with her work and family could mean long periods of silence.

- While she and Rolan work on their shared project of unpacking the mysteries of the Tower and its content the two enter into a close relationship that ever so slowly develops into a romantic to eventually turn sexual. Neither knowing when the shift truly happened and yet it feels so natural for them.

- 4 years after the Netherbrain the two receive a much unexpected surprise in their lives in the form of a cryptic pregnancy. Tamia jokes how their son is such an extreme introvert that not even his own parents had any idea he even existed until he was forcefully evicted into the world. Though he may have been a surprise, Derrick Rolansson is very much loved and wanted.

- Another 4 years after they had Derrick the two married and lived a very comfortable but far from boring life in the tower when they learned that they were expecting a second child. However this time they learned about them much earlier, giving them time to digest this news and prepare. They welcomed their second son who they named Aiden Rolansson.

(Edit: Realized someone else already had used the name Nathaniel for their own Child OC of Rolan way before I did, so I'm changing the firstborn's name to Derrick instead.)

[sophfandoms53]

Okay time to get sappy a week after the finale LMAOO

As always, The Tag is my favorite part of the season and if we get good feeds along with it? A feast. And a majority of this season was like that, and I shall highlight some of my favorite memories from throughout the season and the tag that I will always be thinking about in years to come

- This is the funniest one for me, but us being locked out of the tag during reilly’s eviction and how we discovered that just minutes before the episode started, but that didn’t stop us from live blogging anyway LMAOO.

- And then they had the AUDACITY to announce the pressure cooker was finally coming back the following week and we couldn’t even properly celebrate together so we were all just screaming into the void😭 (or the nether region lol)

- That random vegan person who dropped the season bc Felicia asked for real butter lmao??

- Omg that chipmunk account we all thought was ohthecleverness and y’all called it the squeakuel and i think this person vanished from the tag

- GOING BACK TO THE PRESSURE COOKER, THE FEEDS THAT NIGHT??? Immaculate.

- It was magic to watch that in real time with each other. The shock we were in that the hgs broke an hour and then come to find out they almost broke the original record by mere MINUTES.

- The panic every time someone we liked dropped. The collective “CORY NO”’s live rent free to me.

- Us STRESSING so badly when Cameron wouldn’t let go and then America threw it to him😭 truly was magic tho

- Watching Cory go from someone the tag tolerated to being the IT boy of the season and the tag, iconic, that speech and debate boy had those hgs clawing walls

- Cory shutting down any misogynistic or problematic comment from anyone (the 21 turned 22 year old being the most responsible person this season should be studied)

- Corswhores that’s it LMAOO

- Cory suffering from the second juror curse

- America truly being one of us

- Cirie a queen to watch live

-omg that time Cirie said “I ain’t never played with people this stupid before.” SHE WAS AHEAD OF HER TIME

-Izzy deserved sm better from the edit, you could not escape this girl on the feeds

-The episode edits sucking for a vast majority of the season and for the houseguests (i swear i’ve never seen a season’s edit and its feeds be completely different from each other before how tf did that happen)

- Our collective hatred for the multiverse twist

- FUCKING BOWIE JANE

- Everything about Felicia really, the FBJ remix, her and Mr B (smooches), even tho she was pawned all summer watching her game was so fun

- HISAM ROBBED KING BUT HE SAVED US FROM THE REILLY CULT

- Us being split just like the house during the Izzy flip (we managed to stay more civil than twitter ever did, as we should)

- AND HOW COULD I FORGET THE JARED AND CORY FIGHT IN THE HAVE NOT ROOM???

- Two hours of Jared forcing everyone to go in circles, Cory reaching his limit, Jag coming in, Cirie coming in, Bowie just sitting there

-“Who the fuck is for real for real???”

- This exchange kills me everytime idk why

Cory: You also told me seven deadly sins was fake.

Jared: Who THE FUCK told you that???

Cory: YOU DID.

Jared: You wanna know why I told you that?

- Jared’s “YOU must’ve misunderstood.” about Matt, and then Cory’s immediate “WHOA, WHOA, NO.” Lives rent free

- “Jared, you have been yelling for forty minutes.”

- That gif of Cirie face palming as she listened to her son completely obliterate their games

- Cory’s face palm image

- This happening on a hot dog bed

- Mecole, America, and Blue all getting ready downstairs while this was transpiring upstairs LMAO

- I can literally quote and go on about this fight for hours, and im so mad i cant go back and watch the unedited version anymore (UPDATE SOMEONE UPLOADED IT ON YOUTUBE LETS GO)

- Y’all remember that assignment i did about this fight? Not only did i get a perfect score but i also got a bonus point and my prof wrote a note that i was so descriptive he wanted to watch LMAO

- The post season being less chaotic than the actual season is such a funny ending

-everyone joining cameo???

- And lastly, How did your game change for, I’m gonna say the better, when you joined the Mafia with Matt and I :D

Alright all of that highlighted, despite the chaos and the exhaustion of this 100 day season (BB gods never do this to us again oh my god) it’s been such a pleasure to open up the tag and read my morning newspaper the last three months LMAOO.

This has been the most active I’ve been in the tag thus far and with a season this all over place, it was a trip. But, truthfully, I’d do it again. You guys always make all the nonsense worth it because despite the different sides we’ve been on all season, we know this show is a train wreck and that our real enemy is always production 😭

Thank you guys again for such a lovely community these past few months, and we shall be back in few weeks tragically 🥲🫡💙

[writerpyre]

Hello!!

It’s been a LONG time but if you’re inclined to read please have a bonus chapter to an older fic: first time in just over four years that I’ve posted anything for any fandom!

I found it in my files today and being as it’s been so long, I figured why the heck not, as I reckon it’s about time I came back with something. It’s not technically new writing, but I’m pretty gosh darn happy with myself either way. I’m finally at a place in my life where maybe things are going to be ok? I mean, I’m 31.

I’ll see what else the fates bring (my bestie is pretty unwell — not sure what’s with this people closest to me getting horribly sick thing), but I think I’m in a place where if I go back to using my writing to cope I’ll be fine. I can at least hope.

(For those who have by this point probably given up anticipating an update for Fulcrum (or anything related to it) never fear, for that one is next on my agenda! I’m ‘Bound’ and ‘Determined’ to get John through his decade-long predicament. Haha.)

Either way, have a chapter. :)

(For those who are unaware, Kent is my OC, Virgil’s identical twin who died of complications from a heart condition, three days after their birth. Technically part of my AIE “AU”, I originally wasn’t intending to ever post this part, as it’s a practice piece I used to look at who Kent Tracy may have been had he survived past infancy.)

Midnight

The soft sounds of Virgil’s snores rumble through the room from the top bunk, but Kent lays in the bottom bed, wide awake with his pen in one hand, the flashlight in another; scrawling furiously across the pages of his notebook.

It’s past eleven again, and the fourteen-year-old boy can’t sleep; the insomnia from sleeping all day has kicked in again, and all he can do is while away the hours until his father and older brothers roll out of bed. He doesn’t fear waking up his twin brother; Virgil doesn’t wake up unless someone holds the alarm clock right next to his ear; volume up on full, so it’s highly unlikely that he’s going to be disturbed from the light.

He doesn’t mind overly much though, these quiet hours before the dawn. Being one of six children often means that aside from the two hours of study that their father enforces every day, it’s very rare for any of the Tracy children to have any time to themselves without another sibling interrupting it somehow.

It’s nice to have this time to write, and consider and dream without his two youngest brothers asking ‘What are you doing, KT? Can I see? Lemme look!’ he finds it bliss to not have his father wanting him to help with chores or his grandmother wanting him to watch Alan while she takes Virgil and Gordon out, because their father is busy in the office again.

It’s peaceful, and as much as he likes a bit of chaos and excitement, Kent also likes to have some quiet now and again. He loves the way the moon streams through the curtains in the bedroom, how he can listen to Virgil dreaming and feel his brother’s happiness and quiet soul soar through their twin bond.

He feels the pressures of being the sickly child; the one who everyone has to be careful of and look out for too much, and for Kent, these moments when he doesn’t have them looking over him in concern and hovering when he’s ‘too pale’ or ‘overtired’, it just makes him feel more whole somehow. At fourteen, he just wants them to stop seeing him as the ill one and allow him to grow without them worrying that he’s going to overtax his weakened heart.

In these moments, he can remember his mother, and how like him; she was a writer, although with six children before she died, she never got to achieve her dream of getting a novel published. Sure, she wrote for the local newspaper, along with the kindergarten teaching and the music lessons she taught in order to help their father with the monthly bills, but it’s something that Kent knew she always wanted to do. Now she’s gone, he’s more determined than ever to achieve that dream, and make his mom as proud of him as she was as his other brothers.

That’s not to say that he didn’t think she was, but he just wants to do something that his three older brothers haven’t yet.

Kent loves his family, but he just wants to get out of this little box, pre-packaged, made just for him, the one that labels him as the sickly child, the one who is to be worried over and assisted.

It’s not that his father, Grandpa and Grandma don’t expect him to amount to anything, just that somehow, Kent has this invisible label on him that instantly informs people that he’s ill and that he is given just that little bit more leeway to get to places a little easier. There’s nothing more Kent hates more than to be told that he needs to take it easy, or that he can’t do something, just because he’s sick.

That’s why he uses this time, past the hour he should’ve been in dreamland to work harder on anything he ever has in his life, because he wants to make them proud, to break out of the accidental constraints that his condition has placed upon him. He’ll rise above and beyond those automatic assumptions, and prove to everyone that he can do just as much as his brothers. Even if it takes him a little bit longer, even if he has to work a little bit harder, he will achieve his goals.

As he packs up his book and caps the pen an hour later, still not sleepy but content that he’s worked with what he can for tonight, Kent is determined that he’s going to become a published author before he hits his eighteenth birthday, because he’s a Tracy, and for a Tracy, failure isn’t an option.

He’ll lie awake for the rest of the night, and yes, he’ll be completely exhausted and will spend the day in bed tomorrow, but he’ll keep with him through his grandmother’s fussing and John and Scott’s smothering, the peace and tranquillity that this time has given him.

He’s happy, and he knows that if his mother is watching, she’ll be proud.