#consider this an apology for the blonde comic

[midnightbrightside]

silly guys,,

[pinkslaystation]

OMG I JUST HAD A THOIGHT. What if like on this fic that you wrote “tulips or roses”, what if Rose and reader met?!?!

PLSPLSPLSPLS MAKE IT ANGSTY TO FLUFF TOO 🙏🙏🙏🙏

AMAZING THOUGHT POOKIE I WAS THINKING THE SAME >_< also i'm on holiday rn visiting family so ofc the wifi decides to the shittiest rn so apologies for slow uploads and errors :( and tags aren't working??? Word Count: 2k

Tulips meets Roses.

It was a Friday evening at the pub, where you sat beside John Price, your arms interlinked with his clenched bicep listening to another one of Johnny's story.

"'n' th' mornin' efter we shagged, she juist vanished! Efter a' th' love we made?"

Ghost grunts in mock sympathy, and Gaz stifles a scoff next to him, "She probably got scared of your haunted puppet collection mate-"

"Oh ye leave Bonnybelle oot o' this-"

These outings weren't as frequent as one would hope, considering how busy the Task Force usually was, but when there was a break with the missions, most of the soldiers found themselves at the hustle and bustle of the local pub, and it made it better when you could bring a plus one.

It's been a few months since the 'argument' about Rose, and even though John likes to name it a 'dispute', he's drilled it into your head how it was his fault completely not yours.

"Yeah well, me and my girl visited Bali for our anniversary-" Kyle boasts to the group.

"Yeah 'n' Simon gaed tae Croydon wi' his grandma, sae whit." [to all my non-londoners, Croydon is THE GHETTO. always in support of croydon slander]

John snickers, and you smile as the feelings of his arms encapsulating you. "You'll find someone one day, Johnny, I know it." You smile sloppily, partially tipsy from all the alcohol consumed and partially from all the sweet talk.

"Aye ah better, a'm wantin' th' Tulip tae mah Price."

Ah, turns out John's been calling you Tulip to everyone.

"She's limited edition, find your own fuckin' flower." John comically dismisses, taking a hefty sip of his beer, bringing you impossibly closer to him.

Your smile at the compliment is cut short when a blonde bob catches your peripheral, and just as you're about to turn your head to catch the face you're looking at-

"Is your garden in bloom?" Simon casually questions.

The table immediately erupts in coughs and laughter, with Gaz side-eyeing Simon's question, and Johnny laughing at the clever Bridgerton reference. John corrects his posture at the comment and covers his cough with his fist, a light tinge of pink painting his pale bearded cheeks. He'll make sure Simon runs double the amount of laps during practice.

"And that's my cue..." You press a warm kiss against John's temples, before heading off to the women's bathroom, not blind to the 'awwws' and coos from Soap, and the "What does it mean? I only watched the sex scenes..." from Simon.

Walking to the women's bathroom, you yawn and stretch your tense back after sitting on the wooden chair at the bar for so long.

"Tired?"

You snort, "An understatement, I'm sleepy as fuck- Oh."

Locking eyes with the voice in the mirror, grounds you back to reality. The once fictitious woman you were most worried about stands next to you in the bathroom, returning your glance through a mirror.

You break the silence, feeling awkward at the tense scene, although you're unsure if she's feeling the same. Does she know who you are? Does she think of you as her replacement?

"Weather's nice." A terrible comment considering it mid November in England; the weather's far from nice, yet Rose chuckles. For a moment, you can see why John longed for this woman, from the way her skin creased around her mouth as she flashed you a grin through the reflection.

"It's nicer in Greece, moved a few years back." She smiles amicably.

You hum, nodding as if in agreement, even though you hadn't even set foot in a Mediterranean country, "When did you come back? To the UK?"

She looks up, recollecting the days, "Hmm, must been a week now, Greece is lovely, but the UK's home, you know?"

Once again you just nod, watching as she pulls out a red Dior lipstick and reapplies to her supple lips. Watching her intensely focus on her lips makes you question John once again, a wave of insecurity rushing through you like that previous time.

She's so much better than me... You think to yourself.

"How's he been then?"

There's a pause in your breath, your eyebrows raising slightly. Rose makes eye contact with you again through the mirror, and you're grateful that she doesn't turn to look at you physically, you're scared that you might pass out in nervousness.

"I- uh, who?" You manage to blurt out, mentally cursing yourself for what you think sounded like a helium-produced high pitched squeak.

Rose chuckles at your response, "John Price. I see the way he looks at you, you been dating him for long?"

You purse your lips into a thin smile, even after years of dating and marriage, any compliment given to the both of you would send your heart to a warm frenzy.

"Been together for 4 years, married for 1..." Your smile in inevitably giddy as you admire the glittering rock plastered on your ring finger. Rose looks at your ring, her smile faltering a little, but you don't notice it in time.

"And you?"

"Me?" She straightens her posture, and even her mannerisms reflect that of your husbands a bit, "A few years of marriage...it's...nice." But it sounds like she's trying to convince herself more so than answering your question.

Your response is again, a shy nod.

Silence evades the conversation as she closes her lipstick delicately, placing it back into her expensive purse. You want to press the conversation further, beg her for more answers about the history that she might have had with John, you wanted to hear it from her perspective.

"I loved him you know."

Oh.

The world stops for a moment, and you feel the slow emergence of bile erupting from within. You're silent for moment, your thoughts halting. What kinda woman just announces that she had feeling for another's man...no, not just feelings...love.

Her reflection in the mirror breaks into small minuscule frames, as your eyes tear up. Not even a breath escapes from your mouth.

A droplet of sweat cascades down your back and you tremble at the thought of John kissing Rose.

"I...of course, realised too late. When we were celebrating my retirement, me and the team, I, uh...I was about to tell him...and I saw his phone screen...didn't know about you then, but it was a picture of you," She giggles at the memory, "Thought you must have been important 'cos that man's had that brick phone for years, and this is the first time I'd seen a different lockscreen."

You don't respond, unsure of whether to scream at her, calling her a homewrecker, or just to let her complete her speech. You realise she had used the past tense, loved. Did she still feel the same?

"And then I followed him back to his office...he was on the phone...to you. And oh my God. I swear I looked through the crack of his door, that guy was literally melting. Caught him twirling the invisible phone line and everything."

You can't suppress the tiny smirk on your face.

"And it was just a mundane conversation, nothing special...and it looked like he would kill the task force, just to have a spec of your attention on him. I've...never seen him this way, not even with me..." She whispers the last part, looking down at the droplets of water on the porcelain sink.

"I'm sorry if I'm intruding, I guess I just came here to get closure-"

"Did you get it?"

The first you've said in minutes, and the tone was so gruff, one would think you were berating her.

She nods, still smiling, and for a second you wonder how strong this woman would have been, flying all the way back, just to see someone she'd harboured feelings with another.

"And even if I hadn't, I wouldn't do anything to either of you...forgive me, I'm not like that."

You nod, intaking some air after what felt like hours. You force yourself to turn your body towards her, a question still stuck in your head, urging to be answered.

"Rose." You whisper. She looks at you with a sweet smile, and for a second you feel bad for even thinking such inhumane thoughts about her.

"Do you still love him?" It was short and curt, no hesitation in your question, which did sound somewhat more like a command.

She looks at her reflection in the mirror, as if assessing her flaws and imperfections. There's another uncomfortable pause in the atmosphere, and it feels like the two of you have sucked a breath in anticipation.

The truth is...she doesn't know. What even is love? Is it measurable? Is it subjective, objective, definite, is it yes or no? Are there layers to love? Can you love two people at the same time? Has she ever felt love?

Does she still love John?

Did she ever love John?

Did John ever love...her?

She thinks back to when she walked into the bar, her eyes searching for the bearded captain, only to see them locked on...you.

Oh the way he looked at you. It reminded her of a loyal dog watching upon his master, like a peasant being granted a sip of golden delicious nectar for the first time. Like the way the moon orbits the Earth indefinitely, following Mother Earth on her orbital path.

Like the way a wounded man would rest in his knees painfully, praying for his Goddess to notice at least one his pleas, as he weeps for her.

It was a look she never gave to him, and one he never gave to her. That look, he had only reserved for ... you.

"No, I suppose not, not the way he loves you." It comes out in a pained whisper, and Rose can't tell if she wanted to go back in time to have John all to herself or if she believes that she would ever experience that kind of connection with him.

You hum, it felt like your voice box was strained every time you responded, but you felt at peace, finally.

How long have been in the bathroom for?

Run along now, John's probably looking for you.

You hug Rose, and you can tell she's not used to physical touch, the way her tall frame freezes at the contact. She smiles to you, silently apologising for her burdensome self.

You leave the bathroom, with a smile bigger than you had ever worn.

Soap's points towards you, at the table, and the others smile, John immediately whisking his head so quickly, you fear he might have pulled a muscle.

"Hey baby," you whisper into his hair, sitting down next to him, with his arm around you, where you belong.

"Jesus, sweetheart, 'was about to go to the bathroom m'self to look for you..." He mumbles, pressing his soft lips against your temple, purposely brushing his beard against your cheek.

You hum, as he presses fluttering kisses against your neck, whispering all kinds of affectionate names, oblivious to the fact that Ghost was already submitting a letter of compliant for excess PDA.

Rose shortly leaves, exiting the pub, her eyes falling on John's blushed cheeks burying into your hair, as she opens the door.

He turns to her, feeling someone looking at her, but instead of freaking out, he just smiles, acknowledging her presence, and quickly shoving his cheek against yours.

Tulips truly were his favourite flowers.

"SHE GAED TAE TH' BATHROOM 'N' DINNAE WASH HER HAUNDS"

tag yourself, i'm gaz's wife 😹 tags -> @lilliumrorum, @kxtz3, @poohkie90, @rainlovesyou12, @restrictionsapply-blog, @lunamoonbby , @nigthmar3moon , @thychuvaluswife , @itsnourm , @bubusi11, @chessecakelover , @owkittie, @cheomain , @corvusmorte , @k4es , @mandythemint , @copiasratscheese , @yyiikes , @funkyysho3es, @delta98-idk , @spankmydepression , @yourfavbabigirl

[ice-cream-writes-stuff]

♤RAMPAGE♤

Episode 1: ♤AGGRESSIVE♤

{WHERE a young teen screams out her aggression with heavy death metal for a boy she barely knows.}

[Warnings: Yandere Aqua, will add more Warnings later.]

《AGGRESSIVE: Pursuing one's aims and interests forcefully, sometimes unduly so.》

♤

Aquamarine Hoshino was a strange type of person...

He was a liar, a scoundrel at best.

Yet he was a young man. With simple and unhinged desires.

Meeting you didn't change that.

What attracted him to you like a bear to honey? Was it your sweet smile and compliance? Or your features that made him feel like he was gonna melt into a puddle?

"Uh-umm, you okay?" Your voice captures his attention as you gave him an awkward smile.

"Yes." The blonde replied smoothly as he watched you nod unsurely.

"You were talking about how you felt bad for not getting in the assignment for one of your classes, right?"

You look at him blankly... Then, eruptly bang your head against your desk. Comically, whining as your female friend, laughs at you robotically.

"It's not funny!!" You cry fruitlessly.

Aqua studied you like a new breed of animal.

You weren't much of an attention bringer, yet so ordinary to the eye, while also being so secretive and polite.

People wanted to be close to you, good or bad.

He was one of those people.

Aqua believed it was possible that you held that 'star-power' that he, Ruby, and his mother had.

And you did.

But instead of showcasing it to the world with pride. You kept to yourself, going as far as tl screaming your lungs out a simple karaoke room across town.

Aqua.. Wanted to see you shine like Ai. But the selfish part of him relished the simplicity of your relationship with him.

Of course, it was held together by thinly veiled lies. But not so detrimental to his plans.

Deceiving had become easy, was this how Ai felt when she showed her "love"?

Aqua would never know. Yet he yearned to, one day.

"Hey, (Y/N)? Wanna join us for drinks at a new cafe we found?"

Aqua narrows his eyes slightly at your male friend. His blushing and humble appearance ticks the blonde off.

"Maybe it'll help you keep your mind off it?"

You groan miserably at your friend.

Aqua, used to this, expected you to decline. Yet raised your head and sighed.

Don't tell him you were considering-!

"Maybe another time.. You guys should go.. Lunch is almost over.." You mumble distracted and off into your own world.

"See you guys.."

You don't bother to get up as you shove your face back on the desk.

Your male friend eyes you worriedly as he says goodbye while your female friend taps something on her phone. Before glancing at you and Aqua.

"You'll get over it," she said simply, "you always do.." She sighed agitatedly before leaving the classroom too.

"She could of been a little nicer.." You grumble before leaning your back against the chair, a calm sigh leaving your lips as you pull out your school book.

"Hey.."

You look away from your task, giving your sorta, new, school friend, attention.

"Yeah? What's up?"

"If you need help studying, maybe you should-"

"Please don't give me advice," you said sweetly.

Ah.. He could tell your rage was rising.

Good.

"Sorry," he mutters, looking away.

Noticing his aloofness, you quickly scramble up an apology for him.

"Wait! I'm sorry! I-I didn't mean it!"

You try to back-track your words.

"It's just.. I'm suprised, you didn't really give advice.. So.."

"You think I'm not wise?" Aqua acted offended as you squeak and raise your hands, hoping for mercy.

"No-!"

"You know.. You can just ask the teacher for easier work." Aqua said in a monotone voice, hiding his smile as he sees your composure slightly crack.

"HAH... FUNNY JOKE." You grit out, your lips pulled together into a gummy smile.

Alright, Aqua knew when to quit, and he rather be kept in your good graces... For the mean time.

"I wanted to ask you something.." Aqua said seriously, his bright blue eyes giving off a small gleam.

You look at him expectedly and curious, capturing your full attention once more.

"Yeah..?"

-

You huff, exasperated at the end of the day. Your normal shoes padding down the pavement calmly as you stride with a purpose.

Finding yourself in front of a familiar Kareoke Club, the clerk nods to you.

"Party of one?"

...

Typing in the numbers to the kareoke machine, you take a single breath.

"WHAT. THE. HEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLL~!!!!!"

♤

{Hi! So.. This will be a slight mini project for me, and I would love for some feedback and such! Comments and art are always appreciated! Thank you!]

(Ps: The Ai Hoshino series is on my Qoutev.}

[callsignspark]

soft-tober | 05 | Jake Seresin

soft-tober is about experiencing the joys of October with loved ones. each day is a fall-related one-shot for one of the couples from my Dagger, Sword & Shield universe, plus a few extras! today is Jake and Flora with “Trick or treat?” “…Depends on if you’re the treat or not.” from this prompt list.

If you’d like to be tagged for soft-tober, please send an ask!

word count: 1.4k

soft-tober masterlist | main masterlist | divider credit here

warnings: extreme fluff, Jake being a sweetheart, lots of kissing

callsignspark disclaimer: my blog is an 18+ space; minors do not interact - you will be blocked. I do not consent to my work being copied, run through an AI generator, translated, or posted elsewhere. I do have an AO3, where I eventually will be cross-posting my works.

05. “Trick or treat?” “…Depends on if you’re the treat or not.”

“A little to the left… no, right. Left. Right. Don’t you know how to center something, Jake?!”

The blonde man turns on the ladder, eyebrows raised in amusement. “It is centered, Flora. You’re just standing at an angle.”

Her heart drops as she looks around, realizing she is off-center. A couple scoots to the left tells her that Jake does have the wreath perfectly centered on the balcony.

“I’m sorry.” The apology is muffled as she rubs at her eyes. Flora knows she’s being ridiculous, putting way too much effort into decorating for the shop-or-treat the business of Madison Ave are hosting during the fall block party. Staying open later than usual to hand out candy to costumed children while their parents patronize the shops.

She’s trying her hardest to appeal to kids so they’ll drag their parents inside. A florist isn’t exciting to little ones, not when there’s a bakery three doors down and a comic book store across the street. So the décor - a strategic blend of fall and Halloween - is going to be doing the heavy lifting to get people to stay for longer than it takes to put a Snickers in a pumpkin bucket.

Jake climbs down the ladder after securing the wreath in place, wrapping his arms around Flora and pulling her into his chest.

“I’m sorry.” She apologizes again, her face pressed against his strong chest.

“It’s okay.” He reassures her, his warm hands rubbing her back. “I know you’re stressed, but you don’t have to worry about Studio Cacti taking over.”

Studio Cacti. Another florist shop that opened up over the summer only two blocks away. Owned by some snobby girl who was paying the bills with Daddy’s money. Flora felt hypocritical saying that, considering how she paid for the shop’s remodel and the new flower cooler, but she had started all on her own. Scrimping and saving, pouring every available cent into her shop. During that first year, she had even slept on an air mattress in her office, unable to afford the store mortgage and her apartment rent at the same time.

“Yes, I do, Jake. She’s got more money at her disposal than I’ll make in my entire life. When push comes to shove, she’ll win because she can afford it.”

“Trust me, I have a few ideas, and if I can get everything into place, you’ll be the most successful florist in the city, maybe even the county.”

Flora pulls away, tucking her hair behind her ears as she stares at Jake. The smug look on his face should make her wary - should turn her off - but it doesn’t. It makes her feel giddy whenever she sees it; she’s pretty sure he Pavloved her with his bright smile.

“And am I allowed to know about these plans?”

“Nope, just worry about shop-or-treat for now.”

“It’s my shop, Jacob.”

“God, I love when you call me that.”

“Focus.”

The undignified noise that escapes as he squats down and wraps her legs around his waist makes her cheeks burn. Usually, she hates when men try to pick her up, but she never hates when Jake does it. Flora is taken off guard again when he plops her on the counter next to the register, using the distraction to ignore the voice telling her it’s okay when Jake does it because she likes him.

“I am focused, Phillips. C’mere.”

He kisses her just like he did the first time, like he’s done every time. Gentle at first, simply pressing their lips together as he cups her neck, then he tugs her closer, intensity increasing as he tests the waters to see if she wants to go further.

Normally, she’s all in for a good makeout session, one where his big hands will roam and caress her body in just the right way that will lead to them being naked later on, but tonight, she pulls back.

“Can we do a test run?”

“A test- of what?”

“Of shop-or-treat. You go out and come in pretending to be a kid. Use fresh eyes; look for anything that needs improving.”

“You want me to pretend to be a ten-year-old boy?”

“It should be easy; that’s how mature you are.” She regrets the snipe as soon as it leaves her mouth, Jake immediately attacking her sides. Flora holds out for about five seconds, laughter bubbling out as she gives in. “Uncle! Uncle!”

“I just want to put it on record that I think this is a dumb idea because everything is already great, but I’m doing this anyway. For you.”

She hates the way her heart flutters at his wink. They had agreed to be friends-with-benefits, nothing more. Heart thumping was definitely not within the bounds of their agreement. Maybe it was time to end the arrangement.

The bells ring as Jake walks back in, doing exactly what she asked and interrupting her thoughts. Green eyes big and round as he looks around the store like a kid in a candy shop. His eyebrows furrow slightly at different points in the room, and Flora knows he’s making mental notes on what needs to be changed.

She lets him go on for a few minutes, swinging her legs and admiring how his gray t-shirt stretches across his broad shoulders. Shoulders that probably still have marks where her nails dug into him a few days ago.

“Aren’t you going to say it?”

“Say what?” He asks as he finishes his examination, standing a few feet in front of her.

“Trick or treat?”

“Well… depends on if you’re the treat or not.” He laughs as she whines his name. “Everything is great. The only thing that’s going to make it better is us finishing what you already had planned.”

“Really?”

“Even the most sticky, snotty-nose brat will want to come into the flower shop with the pretty lady behind the counter.”

Flora’s breath hitches as he crowds into her space, hands tugging her hips closer as their lips meet. She melts into the kiss, sinking her hands into his hair. It’s getting a bit long; he’ll need to get a trim soon so he’s up to regulations, but she loves how it feels between her fingers. He’s the only man she didn’t have to introduce to conditioner, his sisters taking care of that lesson back in high school.

“Excuse me, are you open?”

Her internal debate about whether to hook her legs around him here or pull him up to her office and put the couch to good use is interrupted as they break apart.

“What?” Flora pants, brain still scrambled from how Jake was grabbing at her thighs.

“Are you open?”

“No, ma’am; I’m sorry, we’re not open right now.”

“Oh, that’s too bad! I wanted to get flowers for my daughter, she just gave birth! Lilies are her favorite, and I saw your case through the window. You have the most beautiful options.”

“I’m sorry if you want to come back-”

“Is it your first grandchild?” Jake interrupts, sliding Flora off the counter.

“It is! A little girl!”

“Congratulations!” He smiles, turning to Flora. “Take the sale; I’ll finish decorating.”

A kiss on her forehead, and he’s making his way up the stairs, unraveling leaf garland to wrap around the banister.

She’s only slightly distracted as she puts together a bouquet filled with white lilies, baby’s breath, and eucalyptus for the new grandmother, Jake constantly on her mind. And after cashing out her newest customer and locking the door, Flora makes her way upstairs. Her heart soft as she watches Jake carefully string twinkle lights along the railing he just finished decorating, his tongue poking out in concentration.

“Hey, Jake?”

“Yeah, darlin'?”

“Thank you.”

“For what?” His pretty green eyes blink up at her in confusion, and she realizes she’s not quite sure how to answer.

Thank you for helping decorate.

Thank you for understanding about how much I work.

Thank you for accepting that I can only do friends-with-benefits with you.

“Just… for everything.”

“Of course, whatever you need, Flora. You know that.”

She feels herself weakening as he stands up and saunters over to her, his smile so big that his eyes crinkle and his dimples show. This time, Flora doesn’t make a noise when he lifts her; just wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him. The two of them giggling when Jake drops her onto the couch and climbs on top of her, hooking her legs over his hips.

The decorating is so not getting finished tonight… oh well.

@gretagerwigsmuse | @hangmanapologist | @hangmanbrainrot | @princessphilly | @hangmanssunnies | @thesewordsareallihavetogive | @a-court-of-roscoe-and-baby | @katieshook02 | @hellojameshowyadoin | @aristotles-butthole | @atarmychick007 | @whatislovevavy | @kmc1989 | @sometimesanalice | @laracrofted | @yuckosworld | @mika-darling | @bradshawsbaddie | @bobblebobsbae | @ohtobeleah | @withahappyrefrain

[desultory-novice]

Bonus Talk: Storycrafting for Noir and Apologies

So, I keep thinking how funny it is how this whole thing started. I had a chain of ideas at dinner one night: "What if the Master Crown really WAS trying to transform Magolor into Dark Matter? Would he be 'Dark Matter Wizard?' But then, what was Swordsman before he was Swordsman? Hmm. There is that one piece of human concept art he has... and you know...maybe it's the retro anime look or the fact that this series doesn't have hardly any humans in it but he looks just enough like Adeleine that one could think they're related-..."

Back then, "Noir" didn't really exist. I just drew up a quick sketch in Adeleine's notebook that I hope looked recognizably like the human DM concept art. He wasn't in color but given Dark Matter's palette, he probably would have had dark hair, and poring through the wiki - I found at least one Dark Matter incarnation with a purple eye. I also had Ado drop a line that her brother was "bad at making friends" because of that one JP guide and that was IT.

But then... I thought it was sad to draw this poor guy only to kill him off in the backstory without even fleshing out what he looked like (and I was afraid Adeleine's pencil sketch made him look blond XD) so I drew up a quick color pic of him, rendering Swordsman's gear as a normal scarf and coat. Before thecrashman said anything, I hadn't even considered the two of them as living on Shiver Star!

As soon as he said that though, everything started to come together...Now DMS was an overprotective brother taking care of his little sister in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Of course he was. No wonder he couldn't bond with anyone. He was straining under the weight of his responsibilities. He's older. He's supposed to be the protector, so he could never bring himself to tell his kid sister about the things he was going through. He focused on her joy to his own exclusion. A destructive pattern. A fatal flaw for this tragedy.

Twitter readers asked after the first comic how Adeleine's brother even became Dark Matter Swordsman, some suggesting perhaps it was because he died in battle against Zero? I thought a big human-led global effort against Zero and Dark Matter seemed too complicated in scope, so my solution was to go back to where this idea started: he would be the same as Magolor - looped in by a bad ancient artifact that parasitized him before he knew what was happening. Only he doesn't have a Kirby to save him...

At this point, I had to give him a name. I wanted something French-sounding, so he sounded good alongside Adeleine, and remembering the origin of Adeleine's name, I thought to choose something in FL-ese. I combed the lyrics of "Welcome to the New World" back and forth in both English and Japanese. (I was lucky as the song is sung as a one-to-one Japanese audio cypher and I speak Japanese.)

It wasn't easy though. I wanted a "strong" word but almost everything in there was about food or naps. XD I finally found a phrase in the Japanese lyrics, "邪魔できない"/"unable to be interrupted"/"unstoppable" and matched it to FL-ese.

Noruruwa. Sounds kinda like "Noir." And with Dark Matter being "Matiere Noire" in French, well, it seemed all too perfect...!

The rest all flowed pretty naturally from there. If our setting is Shiver Star and Shiver Star exists at the same time as the New World, and it resembles our Earth's globe while the New World doesn't, perhaps Shiver is an "abandoned earth"? One with an angry, betrayed populace and two kids doomed by birth to die a cold, miserable death in a place utterly neglected by the rest of humanity.

Now "Noir" had a good reason to seek out the power that would be his undoing. While I'm at it, why not tell the story of how Adeleine gets her brush? That's magical(?) too. It's no Drawcia's Paintbrush, but neither is Dark Matter Blade equal to Galaxia. So now, we've got the idea for "off-brand artifacts" - found in an abandoned exhibit, perhaps? Maybe Noir wants to get Adeleine a present? He grabs the sword on the way out without even thinking because...it's a dangerous world out and he's got a young sibling to look after.

(Although, similar to the Master Crown, it's hard to say whether it was originally entirely his choice to pick it up...or the sword's.)

But wait, why do the artifacts do the bad things they do? Now that I'd introduced the New World into this story, I had Fecto Elfilis/ID-F86 on the table. The concept that the Shiver Starians were sooo angry at the New Worlders when for all we knew, the New Worlders weren't even ALIVE anymore made me think, "Do we really expect powerful, angry psychic Elfilis was passive that entire time? While they were being tortured? What if...they sabotaged everything?"

I'd already speculated that Elfilis and Void are two of a pair, and you can trace their offshots throughout the entirety of Kirby lore. (If you buy into my Galactic Nova is based on Fecto Elfilis theory.) And seriously, at least half those artifacts have led to serious tragedy. Now, we had a reason for Noir to be doomed by the narrative.

I do HC that everyone who has ever had their soul consumed by an Ancient Artifact had some red in their ledger - and so, I conceived of some for Noir. I didn't and don't ever want to write/draw a "humans are a disease" story, which is why 99~100% of anything "bad" implied to be going on in their lives on Shiver Star is entirely background. That was purposeful for several reasons. One was simply to demonstrate the degrees to which Noir was protecting Adeleine. He would build up more stress and more pain and more trauma while she remains the same throughout. Two is I just didn't want to go into detail about what wretched scenario would force Noir to take another person's life, but it is still a part of his character history.

(I write Kirby fan comics after all! I try to stay within the bounds of what I consider acceptable content to show. Best I can ^^; )

Noir was also just pushed to the brink, despairing in his life and the world around him. He wanted more than anything to escape this life. Of course, Artifacts have this funny way of twisting your wishes in the WORST way. (Screams of joy > screams of pain.) So Noir's artifact transforms itself into a collar he can't remove, with an unspoken time limit to do anything his newfound power could do for him - at the end of which, his body and soul become forfeit to the darkness. Now he has lost all escape routes. Even death only delivers him to a fate of serving Zero, robbed of independent thought and choice and memories of the one bright thing in his life.

Adeleine...

Adeleine still needed to escape though. She has to get to Popstar. This was the most complicated part for me to logic out. In the end, I went with the simplest, quickest, and most brutal method of getting that done. Quietly imply that Noir, resigned to his fate, killed as many people as it took to secure Adeleine safe passage off the planet and then lied to her about everything with a gentle smile.

Perhaps it's because the Dark Matter Blade has affected his mind and dulled any emotional responses the normally gentle (if sharp-tongued) Noir would have to harming people (as again, artifacts tend to twist people in the worst possible ways; Noir is verbally abrasive but his nature is defensive. Now he has only violence to rely on to get his wish) but I also think the look of calmness on his face throughout "Brightest Star", in spite of the blood on his hands, is because he's just honestly happy - relieved, for once in his life - to have at least saved Adeleine. He was already consigned to hell, doomed from a simple mistake born from the desire to do good; to protect. (*) But Adeleine doesn't have to carry either his mistakes or his sins.

His was a character who took everyone onto himself. And he succeeded at that. His and Adeleine's past and their traumas will be buried underneath the unending snowfall of Shiver Star...

...Adeleine departs and Noir dies, his human body dissolved into Dark Matter, rising up into the aether right as the first flakes of snow began their long task of erasing all that has happened...

-

Rest now, Noir...

...it's The Swordsman's turn.

-

-

-

-

(*) I consider Dark Matter Swordsman be in a very small group with Joronia and Max Haltmann as the only sympathetic characters to be permanently dead In Kirby canon. Which is another reason why I crafted Noir's story explicitly to resemble theirs. We had a pair of (potential) lovers whose story ends in tragedy and a father and daughter tragedy but no siblings whose story has ended tragically. By fanon, that's arguably Swordsman and Gooey, but that just made him more fit to be this story's tragic brother figure...

In which case, Noir basically HAD to be someone who had a simple wish (to keep his only family safe) ran afoul of an ancient artifact almost by accident in the midst of trying to do good and suffers an inevitable, horrifying physical and mental transformation that would end with his only option for salvation to be put out of his misery...

Curse you, Dream Land 2! :cries:

[Apologies AU]  “Apologies”  “One Sneeze”  “Summer”  “A Walk in the Snow”  “The Swordsman” “Wonderful Gift” "Damnation" "Salvation" "Unstoppable" "Brightest Star"

[Bonus Illust] “Ugly Scarf”  [Bonus Illust] "That's...Funny..." [Bonus Illust] "Full Regalia" (DMS "Gijinka") [Bonus Illust] "Was I A Good Brother?" [You Are Here] [Bonus Illust] "You Won't Win..." [Relevant] “Vestige” (script-only)

[Bonus Text] Noir Facts!

[Dark Matter Painter AU] "It wasn't supposed to go this way...!" "You're a good knight!" "The Body Remembers"

[jayalaw]

I Saw the TV Glow Deviation: If Owen Had Social Media

This obviously has spoilers. The film is on streaming so definitely watch it if you can first. Using they/them pronouns for Owen given those spoilers.

Most viewers accept the hypothesis that Maddy is right, and the mundane world where she and Owen live is the Midnight Realm, meant to torture Tara and Isabel while they slowly suffocate. It explains why there is no social media, memes or mentions of current events. This life is a cheap copy of our world, and no dental insurance even!

But what if it did?

Suppose the 2010s arrived the way they did in our world. Meaning Owen has seen social media rise. On a whim they google the Pink Opaque, and find fanart on deviantart, fic on A03, headcanons and video edits. People have written their continuations of the show. One blog even reviews each episode, having a "Racism Alert" and tracking all the microaggressions and subtext that plagues poor Isabel. So that when Owen on streaming sees the other version of The Pink Opaque and sees Isabel is a white blond girl, they know something is very wrong. Especially thanks to the black fandom of The Pink Opaque. They also call bullshit and some teens talk about a class-action suit against Netflix for fraud and whitewashing.

In their free time, Owen keeps Googling. And they have a LOT of free time during COVID lockdowns, when his boss keeps paying all the employees not working. Owen insists he is grateful for having a nice boss and being able to pay his bills.

Tumblr exposes Owen to fandom. They sees the good and the bad: the rule 34 art, people who insist that fanfic authors continue their stories after abandoning them for ten years, some fan-artists getting shamed for not drawing Isabel's hair and skin properly. Wikipedia tells Owen that Tara's actress went on to do a sitcom about friends doing wacky side hustles when their jobs get outsourced. Isabel's actress quietly retired after season five of The Pink Opaque. Some forums and YouTube videos quietly assert that being a black teen lead in the 90s-- both actresses were the age. oftheir characters-- was not a safe career choice.

Other people talk about queerness. Owen learns the terms for asexual and aroace. They feel a sense of relief. This is a part of them. It's perfectly normal to not like girls or boys, or men and women in this case because Owen is no creeper. Others talk about transitioning, and the symptoms for gender dysphoria. For some reason, these posts make Owen's heart pound and he gasps for air. He doesn't follow those users.

It leads to the same conclusion: this isn't his home, or his world. Because the kinning culture reminds him that another random stranger isn't Isabel. Even Isabel's actress isn't Isabel; Owen watches a video where, at the first San Diego Comic Con held since lockdown ended, she talks quite calmly about how she was blacklisted, no pun intended, after The Pink Opaque ended. In fact, the showrunner fired her because he insisted she was "difficult to work with" when in fact, Isabel's actress was pointing out that the Luna Juice drugging looked too similar to a drug overdose and the writers hadn't considered how traumatic filming such a scene would be for her and Tara's actress. Isabel's actress said she didn't want other black girls to watch the show and feel that horrible fate engrained into their minds; she's introspective, talking more confidently than her character ever had. Marco and Polo's actors, a set of identical twins who went on to film an evil wizard movie, had taken the time to check on her after the multiple takes, and even bringing her chocolates as an apology. They argued with the showrunner a lot about some of the raunchier jokes and fanservice, despite knowing they could be replaced at anytime.

She discusses how she had pushed back before, how her parents were constantly on set and making sure no one was hurting their daughter because her parents were not stupid about Hollywood dynamics or racist subtext, and their protection had worked for years until it didn't. There was a reason Isabel had curly hair and not ironed waves, why her bathroom had pomades and picks that her actress used.

Maybe the showrunner had gained too much of an ego after five seasons of success. Or maybe he wanted to move on to direct the next X-Men film. He had beaten out Bryan Singer for the part.

There were rumors he slept with the underage teens on the show, extras and regular characters alike, grooming them; Tara's actress refused to confirm that rumor because she would play the game to fulfill her dream of becoming a serious performer. Isabel's actress understood, even if she didn't agree. But Isabel's actress asserts the rumors were very true, and she doesn't care anymore because she refused to sign NDAs about illegal behavior no matter the hush money or the harassment. It's not like she's returning to Hollywood; she does the convention circuit for the fans who thanked her for saving them, for being a positive role model. Tara's actress is currently married to a former producer on The Pink Opaque, who looks no different from other genetic white dudes. She and Isabel's actress meet up for drinks occasionally.

Isabel's actress apparently went to college and got her PhD in anthropology. Though the revenue from The Pink Opaque and its reruns meant that she never had to work again, she didn't want to be Isabel anymore. Because Isabel no longer belonged to her. Isabel belonged to the fans that saw her, saw themselves in a black teen facing a hostile magical world. And Isabel belongs to the people watching this video. Like Owen.

Owen sits long after the video ends. Most of the comments say in all caps, "I KNEW IT!" and "There goes my childhood." On Tumblr, the post with the video gains 100,000 notes in less than five hours.

They could respond. Perhaps they could say, "She isn't Isabel. And this isn't the show I remember." Or, "Maddy was right."

Owen doesn't respond.

The next shift at the Fun Center starts a few hours later.

Owen doesn't call in sick, send an email apologizing. They just don't go. Because it's a new moon, meaning no one is watching from the sky. It's time to leave.

[trigun-manga-overhaul]

Trigun Ultimate Overhaul Update: Magazine to Book, the unseen art.

OVERHAUL FRIDAY 01/06/23 - MAGAZINE TO BOOK, the unseen art.

Welcome everyone and happy New Year!

This will be our first post of the year and we're excited to enter this year, as it will be a big one for Overhaul 2.0. We hope you enjoyed the Multiple Bullets release and that the new scans were to your liking. It may have been the first time for some of you reading those extra chapters, so to continue the theme of never before seen things, we want to share a few things from the magazines.

A quick few notes before showing these examples.

The quality of the images will be varied, as magazine paper is very rough and lower quality, so the grooves of the old paper can be very clear on black print. These scans are not representative of Overhaul 2.0 quality scans, as they are scanned from the book releases. All information and imagery in magazine releases that since have been changed for the final release is no longer considered canon.

PREVIEWS:

(Above: TriMax vol 5, chapter 6, page 172. Magazine version.)

There are a few hotspots for when a lot of changes happen. These are usually around important and emotional events, moments where the tiniest details can be important for the weight it might carry. If the scene comes across as jagged or incoherent, then the entire mood can be ruined for the scene.

One of the bigger series of changes happen in the last chapter of TriMax volume 5, here several pages in a row are different, along with different dialogue too.

~

(Above: TriMax vol 5, chapter 6, page 168. Magazine version.

Translation reads: "I will not sway. I will no longer yield. I will make a stand."

This earlier dialogue gives a very different mood from what we eventually got in the book, where he instead apologizes over and over again. It reflects some kind of resistance to outside factors, be it Knives’ influence or his own powers, it's hard to tell.

A fantastic piece of art that eventually didn't get, but at least we can enjoy it this way nonetheless.

~

TriMax vol 5, chapter 6, page 174. Magazine version.

Some of you might already spot the deal with this page, but to those who haven't noticed it yet. Nightow accidently drew Vash with his black hair here despite it being a flashback from when he was fully blond. The art is still really nice, but I personally really appreciate that he turns this page into a two page spread for the final release.

~

TriMax vol 8, chapter 1, page 39. Magazine version.

Another scene that has been heavily altered, though I will only show this smaller example, as the changes are many tiny panels of similar but different art from the final version. I feel like this example serves as the most prominent change, as a couple of pages of Knives reacting was simply a single panel originally. Some of the dialogue was also different in this release, but we've yet come around to translating it. We'll share more info on changed dialogue some time in the future.

~

TriMax vol 10, chapter 3, page 73. Magazine version.

TriMax vol 10, chapter 3, page 74. Magazine version.

Another series of big changes for several pages in a row. Not much to share about these beyond the fact the art is amazing, but what is being conveyed is also a little confusing, so it's no wonder things got changed up as they did.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves as I share the last pieces of interesting art from this volume.

~

TriMax vol 10, chapter 3, page 76. Magazine version.

TriMax vol 10, chapter 3, page 77. Magazine version.

~

Last we've got another thing to show, which is future content that we'll be releasing. There are a few tiny comics here and there for Trigun, usually marketing material, and these haven't been posted and translated online before.

We're currently working on cleaning these comics up and translating them. They'll eventually be uploaded as a small standalone release, but here is a small teaser of some early Trigun material.

Trigun 1995 promotional comic.

~

And with these pictures and info shared, we haven't got anything left to show off for this post!

MORE INFO NEXT WEEK!

[m-joys]

Hi there!! I was wondering (only if you have the time/want to), if you could do a matchup for me with the ROTTMNT or Bayverse Turtles?? My name is Morgan and I use He/Him Pronouns, and I’m an INFP Ravenclaw!! I’m a very artistic/literary person, but I also have a deep interest in mathematics and science (usually utilizing both to write my own fantasy/sci-fi stories)!! I never really stick to one project— I have three books going on, two drawings, and FAR too many unfinished writing projects. I care a lot about my academic success so I’m always trying my hardest to achieve the best grade possible. Admittedly, I tend to have very high standards for myself and this leads to me getting easily frustrated with myself for mistakes— this also makes me a very apologetic person. I’ve been told by a few people that I’m somewhat of a doormat since a lot of my actions are made with others in mind rather than my own well being. When I’m interested in something (like a book, game, or show) I am VERY interested— there is no chill with me when it comes to my interests. That usually leads to me only wanting to talk about that specific topic until the fixation leaves my head. I can also be a bit insecure from time-to-time, and I’m definitely very sensitive to how people perceive me. I’m a huge overthinker, and that definitely leads to me assuming people are mad at me unless proven otherwise. I appreciate it when someone listens to me when I’m talking, and is actually interested in what I’m saying. Those are the times where I feel the most appreciated. I would consider myself a mature and well spoken individual, and I believe that past decisions display that. I make decisions using my head— but I tend to react using my heart. I’m a very emotional person, and sometimes that leads to me overreacting over things that truly aren’t that big of a deal. I am definitely on the nerdier side of things— liking a lot of books, comic books, movies, shows, and games and knowing an extensive, obsessive amount about those topics. I don’t know if my appearance really matters, but I’m about 5’3 with blonde hair and glasses— and I dress like a grandpa (according to my friends). Thank you, I really appreciate you reading through my request!!! I think what you do is really neat and It’s wicked cool that you’re doing it!! Thanks again!! :]

Its been a while, and Im going thru requests only rn so I apologize for the waiting.

The person I can imagine you dating would defs be Bayverse Donnie!

[wixelt]

Just occurred to me that durring Andrias' early attempts at getting Mumbo to give him principles to build off of interdimensional travel, when Grian arrives and listening to the conversations, he probably suggests 'building another son.'

Andrias thinks he means sun at first, as in Grian thought producing another star would help somehow, but as the conversation went on it became clear they meant an AI connected to an interdimensional hivemind capable of rending holes in spacetime.

That considered its programmer and constructor it's 'fathers'

The idea was quickly challenged by False then immediately vetoed wholesale right after.

Andrias learns that Mumbo is fully capable of building and programming technological singularities on the final step of their evolution but doesn't know how he gave the thing the ability to tear rifts in between realities.

As it turns out, Grian has also built sentient robots in the past but only got them to such a level when copying Mumbo's design.

These, it would turn out, are not isolated incidents. Hermits will tend to build fully sentient AI by accident often, to say nothing for on purpose.

Andrias now realized something that failed to occur to him when Mumbo recreated the core and made it into a storage system.

The fact that he could tell just how the core worked but couldn't remember even encountering the thing.

And yet. And yet.

The more hermits he met, the clearer it was the hermits used bows and swords and tridents for combat. Their most advanced options for combat were canons or a crossbow loaded with fireworks. Technically they could build flying machines that destroyed massive swathes of land, but those were slow and took time to set up, on top of devestating what was being faight for. Technically they could build machines that halted time, but those are no-win devices.

Andrias glimpsed a picture of a multiversal culture ironically so advanced that honorable combat was the only way for them to do combat and not destroy themselves. His saving grace was he faced a culture so advanced its potential for war collapsed under the wheel of progress and the principal of mutually assured destruction long ago.

Canon. :D

Have some of my thoughts on this anyway, though.

-----------

"Why don't we just build another son?"

Andrias had to mentally pause & reboot on hearing those words. Even coming from a Hermit, they were a non-sequiter, & the way Mumbo took this statement from the newcomer - Grian - as if it were the most sensible thing in the world didn't exactly help.

Son, though. Not sun. Only mildly more sensible, but still absurd all the same. Hell of a first impression to have of the Chaos in Red.

Still.

Grumbo AI child.

Hive mind Grumbo AI child.

Dimensional rift tearing hive mind Grumbo AI child.

Andrias was instantly intrigued, & had already started running numbers on how long it'd take him to coax Grian & Mumbo into helping build such a device under Core control...

...and then False Symmetry had to come in & ruin everything.

The way the blonde's eyes bulged in long suppressed panic at the very mention of building another Grumbot would've been downright comical if her yelling in disbelief hadn't ruined his plans. With the way Mumbo & Grian abruptly winced & apologized - remembering the same past trauma False was still deeply burdened by - Andrias knew commissioning an AI from the pair was off the table, even with Marcy’s eyes having lit up at the prospect.

For now, at least. He still had time to nudge things in his favor.

In the meantime, this had opened up a whole meaty can of technological worms he really should've seen coming.

If the Hermits were intuitively capable of such advanced feats as true AI, dimensional rift tearing & temporal anchoring, but were making light of it to the point of occasionally creating these things without even understanding how (sometimes able to replicate tech with only an unconscious glance - thankfully Mumbo's "Core" lacked any uploaded minds)... he's due both a massive headache & an entire new round of scheming once its passed.

Now if only their insistence on doing most combat "the reasonable way" - by Hermit standards, at least - to save disaster wasn't so irritatingly ingrained, or he might be making more progress on tricking them into advancing Newtopia's tech base.

Maybe its for the best, though. A Hermit faction in a genuine wartime advancement mindset might be something he ought to avoid...

[sverupintola]

SYBILL AND PETER

Sybill and Peter met in the library. Even though sybi isn't really a big fan of books, she really likes riddles. Which is something that studies exist. So after work she goes to the bookstore, not paying much attention to her surroundings. Just focused on studying and delving deeper into your beloved divinations.

Everything changes when she starts paying attention to a certain boy. He always went to the next session, taking my books, sitting in the same corner. This intrigued sybi. She wasn't much for paying attention to her surroundings, much less people. But something about him caught her attention, and that only made her more excited to study divinations.

Their first interaction was on a Tuesday, Sybi had a bunch of books and bad eyesight. She literally stopped in an available corner, just to sit down and organize her stuff. It was then that she looked ahead and realized that the boy with blond hair was right in front of her with those fat eyes wide open. She almost had a heart attack right there.

She apologized exaggeratedly, while the boy didn't even blink. He held some kind of comic in his hands, Siby was too nervous to notice properly. It was then when he was about to get up that he spoke. She said there was no problem with her staying, that everything was fine, she said with a smile on her face. So she was, totally embarrassed but she stayed. Of course she wanted to know his name, and as she was never a shy person she simply asked after a long silence. He looked at her a little measuredly, but responded.

"Peter. Call me peter."

Oh, Peter. Sounds like a hypnotic melody.

He didn't ask her name back, but she didn't mind anyway.

Then she started to sit next to him. They didn't talk, sometimes they looked at each other but that was it. Until one day, Peter spoke up. "Sorry, I didn't ask your name. And why do you read this?" His way of speaking was so comical that Sybi couldn't help it and laughed. Peter didn't understand, but he started laughing too. But later he will learn that the name of the girl in front of him is Sybill, she studies divination and signs. Hence the strange books.

The silence over the next few days began to be filled with conversations, laughter and jokes. To the point that books and comics are forgotten. Peter liked to cook, his favorite hero was Spider-Man, he also had a pet mouse. Sybill liked thrift stores, hot tea and cookies, children and had twelve pet cats. They learned so much about each other in weeks inside a bookstore. They didn't care about the place, they cared about each other's company.

Their first date was at a magic item store. Sybi said she would take Pete there, as if it were a necessity. They walked around the store, Sybi telling scary stories to make Pete scared, and Pete scared to death and making jokes at the same time. They ate so many things, talked about their tastes, showed photos of their pets. They discovered that they both prefer to stay at home watching movies while eating popcorn.

It didn't stop there, they went out a lot more. Going to each other's houses, or going to your favorite places. They loved giving each other gifts, going to waterfalls even though they didn't know how to swim, having pillow fights or just enjoying each other's company.

They started dating after six months, but before that they already considered themselves together. They wear matching rings, sun and moo.

The end.

| I apologize if it was bad or confusing, English is not my first language and most of the things I wrote using the translator. Anyway, I hope you like it.:3|

[fiveapocalypse]

NOT A STRANGER.

For as much as he’s changed, Five’s always stayed their sibling.

No trigger warnings apply, just fluff, and a bit of spoilers for S1-S2. This is an alternate universe where S3 never happened and there’s some elements from the comics in here.

On the kitchen counter, a mess of black hair pokes out of curled up arms. The Umbrella Academy uniform shows the sleeping boy to be a part of the manor, if not the child of an obsessed fan—though that thought is promptly discarded when someone walks into the kitchen, pausing to a halt and causing others to bump into their back, sending them stumbling forward. “Jeez, Allison,” someone complains, “why did you—" but the voice stops suddenly, upon the woman, Allison, pointing towards the counter where the figure moves, burying his face deeper into his arms. “Oh….oh, since when did he…” now quieter, the voice watches the small boy, noting how he tossed and turned, and how in front of him, a cup of half drunk coffee sat in an Umbrella Academy mug.

“Should we…?”

Someone else speaks, a bulky man with wide eyes and messy blond hair. He watches the boy carefully, nervously stepping forward, and then back. “He hasn’t…he hasn’t slept in a while has he?” The man tries to keep his voice low, and he freezes when the boy on the counter mumbles, face scrunching up. Allison takes a step forward, hand hovering over a mess of black hair.

“It’d be best if he didn’t pass out on the kitchen counter,” she responds, finally letting her hand fall. It passes through black locks effortlessly and the tension in the boy’s muscles ebb away when she uses her other hand to rub circles on his back. Allison feels the way his veins pop and his skin smooths over underneath the uniform shirt and vest. “He’s drooling,” she comments nonchalantly, looking around him, as if trying to figure something out. “I wonder what he’s dreaming about?”

“Maybe killing a bird,” someone says, spinning a knife in the air. Next to them, someone sighs.

“He’s not that deranged, Diego.”

“But he’s not that sane either, is he?”

In the back of the group, a slightly shorter male steps forward, apologizing to their siblings. He joins Allison, picking up the mug of coffee. “Sometimes it feels like he’s a stranger now, having been gone for so long.” His sister hums before hooking her hands under the boy’s armpits. He’s worriedly light as she lifts him from the chair, not moving an inch except to have his head fall forward.

“And he’s pretty much knocked out too, did he drink milk or something? That got him sleepy pretty fast when we were kids.”

Allison can’t believe Five hasn’t woken up to attempt murdering her as she tries her best to hold him. It’s easy, since she often had to lift a sleeping Claire out of things without waking her, and Five only shifts to bury his face into her neck and grab at her shirt with a death grip. He’s still drooling. Her neck feels all wet. “He looks like a little kid like that,” her brother comments, dumping the rest of the coffee out and beginning to clean the mug. She snorts, and the sound of it makes Five mumble and angrily pat at her face with his too small hand.

Everyone snickers.

“Look, he’s telling you to be quiet!”

“Shhh..!”

Placing a finger on her lips, Allison shushes her giggling group of brothers and looks around. “You think he’ll let me set him down on the sofa?” One of her brothers look over, gauging the situation, then shakes his head.

“With the way he’s holding onto you? I doubt it.”

Allison considers it, noting how Five was gripping at her shirt with one hand, the other one hanging off her shoulder, hand playing around with her hair. She tries to imagine setting Five down somewhere, and immediately gets the vision of the assassin gripping her hair and nearly pulling her head clean off her body. Sleeping on her would have to do, she supposed. In her arms, Five mumbles something about twinkies.

With her siblings, she walks to the living room, sitting on the couch, and Five ends up sprawled on her lap snoring when she does. “He looks cute like that,” one of her brothers whispers, reaching out nervously to move the boy’s hair away from his eyes. Five doesn’t immediately wake up to break their fingers so the sibling sighs. “It’s hard to think he was alone for so long, growing up like that…” Allison doesn’t want to think about it—tiny Five, finding their bodies, having to bury them, being alone for years and years and—no, she won’t think about it, running a hand through his hair.

“Well, he’s back now,” the woman murmurs, watching Five snore, “and we’ll make sure he gets a childhood, even if he thinks he doesn’t need one.”

Around her, everyone looks at each other, then at the sleeping Five, and nods.

[inoppositionflorien]

P.S.A.

The leading cause of death in our country is being a love interest to a main character. If you or a loved one are at risk of marrying a main character, or even being an object of desire for them, consider taking these steps.

Preventative Steps:

If someone turns up to a date late, extremely late, or after you've already left with a dramatic apology as the music swells, LEAVE. Do not attempt to contact them ever again. They are likely a main character.

If you are at extremely high risk of getting involved with a main character, (F, Under 40, White, and Blonde being the primary risk factors) do not attempt to tie yourself up by picking a partner with whom you do not mesh. This actually makes you more likely to leave them for a main character. Instead, remain single and attempt to develop traits that are rarely romanticized, such as a wide egotistical streak, strong, vocally held political opinions, and engage in strawman activist behaviors from time to time. (Consider chaining yourself to a tree or something in public at least once every three months to protest something or other.)

If you are blonde, steps can be taken to mitigate the risk that it carries. Do not dye your hair, as this will inevitably be "fixed" by the main character. Instead, consider getting a bad haircut, or shaving it off entirely. It is a powerful preventative measure against becoming a love interest.

Any childhood friends should be cut off, if you are in a high-risk demographic. You can contact them again after your risk level drops, but they should not be contacted before then. Childhood friends are at high risk of becoming main characters and making you their love interest.

Emergency Steps:

If you or a loved one is already a love interest for a main character, or fear you might be, take these steps.

Destroy all recordings and photographs of yourself that they will have access to. While this is not a surefire protection, it will reduce the odds.

Never go to the beach with them. Beach flashbacks are frequently reported in main characters who's love interests have died, and thus the beach should be avoided at all costs.

Do NOT attempt to suddenly cut them off. This will send them on an adventure to find out how they hurt you, and most likely you will end up even more committed to them than before. Instead, gradually drift away while introducing new potential love interests. With luck, the Main Character may lose interest in you and pursue a different target. Instruct your replacement in these steps if they do not know them already and with luck, no one will ever be a love interest long enough to be tragically dead.

If all else fails, attempt to kill them regularly, but playfully. If you can turn the relationship into a dark comedy, you're significantly more likely to survive it. If you attempt to kill them too seriously, you may become an enemy. You are unlikely to live out the year if that happens, so remember to keep your mutual murder attempts light and somewhat comedic. Sneak up behind them with a knife while they're eating. Attempt to poison them and end up failing and pouring the drink into a plant. (Make sure the poison is extremely herbicidal). The more comic, the better. Do not attempt to kill them with a gun unless you're out hunting. Guns are a weapon of the enemy unless you have been given it by the Main Character.

[queensharotto]

Stray Siren Explained: Chapter 2

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New Swabbie is the second chapter of @snow-bunnii’s Stray Siren and ran from Oct 6, 2014 to Mar 23, 2015.

This chapter is set the following day after the previous chapter. While on their way to return the stolen tablecloth, Coral begins to learn about Hylian society. Meanwhile, Tora tries to figure out some way to convince her boss to allow Coral to stay with her. Later on while Coral was running errands, she has a run-in with a certain pirate.

Synopsis

The chapter opens with a dream of Coral calling out the word “Mama”, to which a blonde haired siren with green scales turns around and calls her “My Little Girl!”, at the same time Coral begins to mumble in her sleep. Tora who had just woken up informs her to wake up, to which Coral asks if she’s her mother, to which Tora responds with “No.”

While on their way to return to tablecloth, Tora scolds Coral on events that happened earlier, starting with Coral being unfamiliar with the concept of a bath as well as humiliating Tora at the clothing store for mistaking undergarments for head accessories. Coral apologizes to which Tora subsequently brushes this off, when suddenly Coral is distracted by the sound of a fish salesman and runs off, with Tora following her. Upon getting her fish and Tora scolding her for running off, Coral states that it costs 11 Rupees.

Tora jokes in regards to Coral’s hair pieces and subsequently begins to question the coral pendant on her necklace, to which Coral states that it was a gift from her mother. Tora remarks that if she sold those pearls, she could have enough money to buy all the fish she wanted, to which Coral agrees, with Tora becoming envious with the amount of money she got for selling pearl strands. Tora questions why Coral refuses to sell the necklace, to which Coral states that it’s a memento of her mother that she refuses to discard, Tora states that it’s a good thing, considering that it likely wouldn’t sell much with a back piece, to which Coral takes notice and questions why it’s there since it didn’t have a back piece before.

After returning the tablecloth and subsequently apologizing, Tora remarks that Coral now has enough money to find herself a home and establish a life on Windfall Island, but unfortunately for her Coral is reluctant to part ways with her. Tora warns her against coming since they’re pirates and that she could’ve gotten in trouble for sneaking her on board last night, but Coral is persistent and begs to go with her, to which Tora reluctantly agrees.

Upon their return to the ship, Tora is spooked by Neiji who mockingly calls Coral “Pixie” and “Pipsqueak” telling her to get lost and proceeds to mock her until he’s interrupted by Tora. Coral then bursts into tears and subsequently takes notice of this, questioning Tora, to which the conversation is cut short due to Nelzen pointing out the captain’s arrival, with Tora telling everyone that she’ll explain why Coral’s there. When the Captain comes out to scold the crew for slacking off, he notices Coral and tells her to leave, to which Tora explains that she was the one responsible for bringing her on board. When the Captain states that they search for treasure, Coral shows him some of her rupees to which Tora abruptly stops her, and explains her situation, to which a deal is made: in exchange for a silver rupee, Coral will run errands or “swabbie work” and how fast she can do her job would determine whether or not she’ll go with them. Neiji and the Captain begin questioning why Tora is concerned about Coral since it’s not “the pirate way”. Tora firing back that he of all people should know why and proceeds to go after her. When Neiji questions what she meant, the Captain briefly states that before he met Tora, she was also homeless and orphaned.

Meanwhile, while Coral is finishing up her errands, she bumps into Tetra resulting in a mockery from the young pirate. This mockery reminds Coral of her past when she was abused and mocked, this results in Coral deciding to stand up for herself and proceeds to kick Tetra in the back which in turn results in mocking by Gonzo. This results in Coral screaming, which attracts the attention of Tora who calls Gonzo a hypocrite for harassing a child and proceeds to chastise them for causing trouble for their “new swabbie”.

Characters Featured

Coral’s Mother (Debut; Dream Sequence)

Coral

Tora

Gillian

Neiji (Debut)

Nelzen

Cap’n (Debut)

Tetra (Debut)

Gonzo (Debut)

Notable Events

- Coral meets Neiji and the Captain.

- Coral meets Tetra.

[pseudopeachy]

how do you think mikey or draken would react to you giving them the nickname "snakey snek" upon meeting them bc of their tattoos?

i cant stop thinking about it i find it so funny (everytime i see their tatts i hear im a sneek im a slithery lil snakey snek vine in my head)

my first ask omg thanks for this anon! <33

I hope I found the right vid tho, I actually did not see it coming lmfaooo 😭

btw can't write comical things for shit but i rlly had fun with this ask <33

--

DRAKEN:

I personally think you met Draken when the tattoo was like a day old

You were in the brothel, waiting for your guardian to end their shift so the both of you could finally go home. That's when you spot this giant ass of a kid entering the lobby.

The both of you were very confused as to why you were there.

Sensing the incoming awkward atmosphere + deciphering why this boy was literally eyeing you down, you decided to go for a small talk

"Nice snake, dude. Sneaky snakey snake." you said, eyes zeroing on the inked animal on the stranger's head.

Draken was taken aback. What snake were you talking about???

"Do you not know what a dragon looks like?"

It's either you blush a thousand shades of red and profusely apologize or you say sorry once and desperately tried to change the subject before it becomes one of your core memories, there's no in between

Yes he kept laughing at you until he was red

ofc he told your guardian abt the so-called snakey snake and no, nobody listened to your explanation

rip ur reputation and dignity ig

Then again, what's one tiny embarrassment when you became friends with said scary giant tho,,

Draken def calls you his 'lil mouse' after this lmao

MIKEY:

OOF

Being a bakery owner in Shibuya meant you're supposed to be up and at 'em even before the sun rises

Sacrificing sleep is alr second nature, so why not open up shop while your body runs on a cup of freshly brewed coffee and three hours of shut-eye?

So lo and behold, this blond man casually walks up to your store half an hour later. Your staff members were yet to arrive so you had to accommodate the customer

A 'good morning' and 'what will it be for today?' casually passed your lips as the man scanned the displays of fresh pastries. He ordered a chocolate croissant, pudding, and black coffee.

And just before you can return to your post after giving his order, you caught a glimpse of black ink peeking through his jacket. It was quite familiar considering you had a similar one on your right upper thigh.

"I don't mean to sound like a creep or anything sir, but your snake tattoo looks good. A cute and slithery little snakey snake if I say so myself."

You really hoped he’d get the reference tho

The innocent giggles died down once the blond's piercing gaze met with your tired pair.

"It's kinda embarrassing for a person your age to not know what a dragon looks like."

If coffee didn't wake you up, that did lmao

so of course, you gave him a parting gift as an apology because you were literally halfway to burying yourself alive after that

He became one of your regulars tho. You learned his name was Mikey.

Mikey wasn't quite talkative, but he really likes calling you his 'lil bunny' !!!

[ultraintrovertedgryffindor]

Ooh ooh can you do newt or Thomas falling for Gally’s little sister? And him just being his normal grumpy self about it?? Please

When I think of Gally, I never think "brother"...but sure! Lmao. Got a little bit carried away with this one sooo, enjoy?

2k words🤙🏻

~~~~~~~~~~

You had a brother, and you didn't even remember. Well, until you got stung by a Griever.

Being stuck in a Maze full of girls and one boy, it didn't even occur to you to wonder if you had any family outside of the concrete walls. You only considered your fellow Icers to be your family. But being one of the few lucky (or unlucky) souls that lived through getting stung by a Griever, you remembered so much; not a lot, but you didn't care that you couldn't, you were just so thankful you could remember Gally.

After escaping the Maze, you prayed to every deity you could think of hoping that Gally survived somehow, wherever he was.

Seeing the new arrivals from Group A, seeing that it was mostly boys and one girl, you knew that had to be where Gally was. You didn't even hesitate, you ran up to the group as they entered the cafeteria, all wide-eyed and staring at you like you were a lunatic. "Is Gally with you?" Your question seemed to make everyone speechless, a few seconds having to pass before one boy spoke up.

"Wait, you know Gally?" A blonde boy with a British accent asked.

"He's my brother."

"He's dead." A voice rang out, coming from the brown haired boy that stood in front of the group.

You froze, feeling your heart beat erratically. "What?" You stuttered.

"Are you deaf? I said he's dead, and he had it coming."

"Tommy-" The blonde placed his hand on "Tommy's" shoulder, but he pushed him off.

"He killed my friend, tried to kill me, all of us. He was insane-" You couldn't let him speak any longer, you cut him off by landing a rough punch to his cheek. He stumbled backwards, obviously getting caught by surprise. You moved to hit him again, but you were quickly detained by a couple of guards who were watching the whole encounter.

"You bastard!" You screamed, not caring who was watching or who heard you; you were in such agony that you couldn't even think. Your fist ached to wipe that almost smug look off of that brunette's face, even though it was already throbbing from when you first hit him. At that point, it didn't matter. You couldn't find it in yourself to care where the guards were dragging you.

The next day, by some miracle or stroke of luck, you managed to befriend the blonde who you now learned was called Newt. He apologized for his friend's behavior, and he filled you in on everything that happened to your brother. It was a shock, a painful one, to hear what he did under the influence of Griever venom, but it didn't lessen your love for him, not one bit. Newt tried to make you understand that Thomas wasn't a bad guy, he was just in pain from his own loss and needed someone to blame. It didn't matter what he said, you still felt deep anger for the so called leader.

But as your luck would have it, you were all but forced to join Thomas' group. Learning that you were all in a W.C.K.D. compound, you didn't really have a choice in the matter. Aris seemed to trust them, and Newt was good at convincing you, so you were doomed from the start.

It was tense in the beginning, having to be in the company of the boy you attacked, a nice purple bruise formed on his cheekbone that managed to stay there for awhile. You tried to hide that fact that you smirked every time you spotted the shiner, but apparently not well enough.

It became almost comical how often you and Thomas would bicker back and forth, every day, any chance you both got. Of course, neither of you thought it was amusing, but everyone thought so, and that was even more annoying. Some days, you wished you had stayed at that W.C.K.D. facility, getting your blood drained sounded more appealing than having to converse with Thomas the blockhead every day.

You tried to fight it, your growing affection for the idiot. You found yourself...caring, about the boy. It was hard to ignore, how your chest seemed to tighten unbearably whenever you feared for his life, how you felt heat rise up beneath the skin of your cheeks whenever he said your name, even if it was in anger or annoyance. There came a point when you couldn't hide it anymore, when Thomas stopped hissing your name and started to speak it more delicately, almost fondly.

Likewise with Thomas, he started to care for you. It was a drastic change from when you two first met, absolutely hating each other to saving each other's lives from time to time. Being Gally's sister, Thomas viewed you as someone not to be trusted, even before he actually knew you. His hatred for Gally seemed to pass over to you, even though you were your own person. The punch you managed to land on him just strengthened that belief. But he couldn't refuse Newt when he talked him into taking you with them when they planned to escape. Then, he was forced to get along with you.

It didn't take long for Thomas to view you as someone different from Gally, before you were one and the same, but you had a kind of softness that he never saw in Gally. He grew self-conscious of his interactions with you after the group started joking that you both argued like an old married couple, as if they even knew what that looked like. But they were eventually proved right when Thomas started to protect you more than others, he just brushed it off by saying you were the weakest and needed to be treated as such. He totally didn't do it because he was afraid of losing you, how stupid would that be...

The betrayal of Teresa only brought the both of you closer, sharing in the pain of losing family, even if it was different circumstances. Thomas staring into your soul with those big brown eyes, you so badly wanted to kiss him, but you remembered how hatful he was to you in the beginning, how you were as well, you thought he couldn't possibly reciprocate if you were to lean in; the thought along scared you out of doing it.

As you started planning the details of recusing Minho, the unexpected happened. You were all captured by men in masks, put in the back of vans and transported to who knows where. But when the leader took off his mask, you almost fainted.

"Gally?"

Your trembling voice seemed to echo throughout the group, causing Gally to almost drop his gun. "Y/n?" He remembered you, he actually remembered you.

You went to jump into his arms, but Thomas beat you to the punch, literally. You immediately went to stop him from beating Gally to a pulp, along with Newt, convincing him to back off. "Kinda had that coming." Gally rubbed his aching jaw.

Like most family reunions, it was awkward at first. You had so much you wanted to tell Gally, and you could tell he did too, but business came first. But eventually, you did have time alone with him. You talked about what you remembered about each other, time in the Mazes, how he survived, how you ended up with Thomas' group. You were just so happy to have your brother back, even if no one else shared the same sentiment. You had actual flesh and blood in this world, it was a feeling you couldn't even begin to describe.

You instantly picked up on Thomas' wariness of your brother, the last memory of him killing someone important to him. But you tried to get across that Gally wasn't that same person in the Glade, he was different now, more grown up and mature. "Come on, Thomas, just give him a second chance. Doesn't everyone deserve a second chance? You gave me one."

"That was different. You punched me, not killed one of my friends."

You sighed. "Gally was stung, Thomas. You know how that affects people."

Thomas didn't want to budge on his opinion, but he knew you were right. Your pleading eyes didn't really make him stand a chance anyway. He promised you he'd play nice, even though ever fiber of his being wanted to put another spear through the guy's chest.

For Gally, seeing you again was like a breath of fresh air, filling his lung. You were always going to be his baby sister, even if you were grown and could take care of yourself. You managed to make it through the Scorch and could outrun Cranks, he was proud of you. What worried him though was how close you seemed to be with Thomas. It's not like Gally hated Thomas like he did him, but that big brother side of him wanted to shield you away from anyone and everyone, Thomas was no exception.

It was funny at first, Gally being overprotective of you, but it soon lost its charm. Every time you were alone with Thomas, Gally always managed to show up at the worst times. It annoyed you and you could clearly see how it annoyed Thomas, but Gally always had an amused smirk on his face.

You loved your brother and you had missed him so much, but he needed to chill out. "Why must you follow me around like a lost puppy, Gal?" You whined.

"What? I can't make sure my baby sister is okay?"

"I'm not a baby anymore, Gally. I can take care of myself. I don't need you hovering over my shoulder all the time."

"It's my responsibility to make sure you stay out of trouble, especially when you're always hanging around Thomas." He mumbled that last half of that sentence.

You scoffed. "Oh come on. Really?"

"I see the way you two look at each other. Need I remind you that he left me to die?"

"Gally..." You spoke softly. "That was a long time ago, you both were different then. Truth is, I've been on my own for most of my life, I've had to learn how to take care of myself. I love that you're back in my life, I've missed you so much...but I don't need you to take care of me anymore."

Gally chuckled weakly. "My earliest memory is having to take care of you...you scraped your knee after falling down on the sidewalk and you were crying. I cleaned you up, put a Band-Aid on your cut and kissed it. I said that...I said that-"

"Your kisses were magic, that they could heal any wound."

"Then you said that magic wasn't real, stupidhead." He chuckled softly, his smile turning into a frown.

"You don't have to worry about me anymore, Gally. And as for Thomas...I care about it, a lot. And he cares about me. He's a good guy, you just have to give him a chance."

Gally sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine. But if he even looks at you the wrong way, he'll be six feet under faster than he can say wicked."

Eventually, you could see a pleasant change in Thomas' behavior around Gally. After the war with W.C.K.D. and the rescue mission, he and Gally seemed to grow closer, just a little bit. But it was even to make you know that everything would be okay.

"So, are you and Gal best buds now?" You teased Thomas, poking his side while to two of you sat next to the campfire together.

Thomas scoffed, smacking your hand away. "Yeah, right. He wished he could be best friends with me, I'm too cool for him."

"Not." You snorted. "My brother is the coolest person I know."

"Well, am I at least in second place?"

You giggled. "Yes, of course." You placed a quick kiss on his cheek.

"Just a kiss on the cheek? What, is Gally around or something?" He looked around obnoxiously. "No, I don't see him anywhere."

"Oh, shut up, ya idiot." You shut him up by placing a kiss on his lips, feeling him smile as he raised his hand up to hold the back of your head.

"Hey, hey, hey, cut that out." You both groaned as Gally's voiced boomed in your ears, causing you both to hesitantly pull away from each other.

"Gally the cockblock, who would've thought?"

~~~~~~~~~~

apparently group B were called Icers in the graphic novels? The more you knowww

[scarletify]

Thoughts about myself and my work (reposted from twitter)

Hello, I have been really struggling, and I've had a lot on my mind. I know a lot of you have been following me and my work for a long time, but if you are unfamiliar I would like to give a brief introduction. I'm Mana, and I am the creator of a webcomic called Blonde Sunrise. I love my comic very much, and it's a story that means a lot to me. But it has also been causing me a lot of grief. I started this comic 11 years ago, when I was still a teenager. It's my passion project, and I've always dreamed of one day being able to live off my work. Every year that passes however this feels like less and less of a possibility. My personal situation is currently very poor, and has been for a very long time. At this moment in time my comic's Patreon is my only source of income. I'm so, so grateful to those who have supported me all this time, both off an on Patreon, and as of late I feel like I have been letting everyone down. A reality is starting to hit me that it might be impossible for me to finish this comic. The very idea is horrible to me, but my personal situation has continued to get worse, and my comic is feeling more and more out of my reach. It means so much to me that people read and enjoy my work, and I really can't emphasize that enough. But it's been eleven years, and my life has gone nowhere. I don't quite know how to describe how I'm feeling right now. I want to finish my story, I love the story I've written, but I feel trapped and uncertain of the future. Putting so many years of my life into this project makes the idea of failure unbearable. I want to offer full transparency on how I'm doing and what I'm thinking. In a perfect world, I would see this comic finished. But it's no longer realistic to think that this comic can sustain me, and I might have to make some really tough choices in the near future. At this time I'm not saying I'm giving up, I just really need you to understand what I'm currently going through. I don't want to give up. But I do need to realistically consider what is best for me moving forward. My comic's website is up for renewal at the end of the year, but I honestly don't think I can continue to afford paying for hosting. I may be shutting down the website at the end of the year and hosting the comic elsewhere. I also have other avenues of work I really want to pursue, but I struggle to find time for my comic, let alone additional work. I want to change this, but I really can't juggle multiple projects at once. I know this post is a lot of rambling, and I apologize for. What I'm trying to say is I am in a position where I both deeply love my work, but also feel trapped by it, and it's causing me a lot of grief. For right now, I'm going to continue to update my comic on Patreon into the month of September. However I might have to make some tough choices by the end of the year, and I really want you to understand me and where I'm coming from. I'm so sorry for failing my work. Thank you for reading this, and thank you to everyone who has supported me and my comic all these years.