#drew this last night technically but posting it now

[bluegekk0]

embarrassing

based on this tweet

[sidesteppostinghours]

super sketchy cyrus kissing with easton from @steelh4ze. smooch your homies, it builds character!

...and spinal issues.

[anarchy-n-glitter]

The Good, The Bad, and...

Summary: Lucy and The Ghoul encounter a shadowy figure from his past while on their way to New Vegas. This stranger, nicknamed Red Eyes, is intent on collecting a bounty on The Ghoul as a means to settle a feud between the two after they were betrayed by him. Will Red Eyes succeed, or will they have a change of heart based on their complicated feelings toward the man? (Cooper Howard x OC/reader) Words: 2,941

A/N: I forgot to post chapter 1 of this on here sorry guys. Anyway this is low key a Star Wars AU because as a Cad Bane fan I simply could not help myself so this is technically kind of a follow up to this fic. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

From the Desert Comes a Stranger

“I’ve taken down so many of dese clones over da years…” Her father began in his heavily accented manner, sighing, and pushing his hat back with his pointer finger as he glanced at her from the corner of his eye. The red of his irises were somehow muted by the red lenses of the goggles he wore, which made it hard to see the look in his eyes as it was. He quickly dropped to his knees and with a single swipe of his knife he removed something from the clone’s body. She couldn’t quite make out what it was before he pocketed it.

He turned around quickly, pointing his gloved finger up at her. She straightened up.

“Now, Ciella, what ya need to know is…” He handed her the bloodied knife, closing her fingers around the hilt and holding her smaller hand in his. It was one of the only times he made a tender gesture towards her other than the odd hug here and there. 

“Once you figure out one da rest are easy.” She had to wonder what the point of all this was. 

When they arrived on the site - an old, decrepit warehouse with a caved-in roof - her father was quick to corner the clone that now lay dying before them. He tried his best to grab the gun that was strapped to his leg, fumbling with it and managing to point it in her father’s general direction before he was gunned down. Two shots in the chest from the looks of it, shots that left the man (clone) heaving and wheezing on the floor with blank eyes, and she knew that’s what he wanted to happen. If he wanted to shoot the man in the head he would have. He was the fastest shot in the Wasteland, and it would stay that way for many years. 

“Now, I want ya to take dat knife dere and,” He finally stood and moved her closer to the dying man. “Yer gonna have to cut his throat, unless ya want to hear him scream. I’m not against it but it’s best dat we keep him quiet. Don’t want any stragglers comin’ in and takin’ us by surprise.”

Ciella drew in a deep breath as she knelt down beside the man. His blank eyes suddenly held so much emotion, it was a look she’d seen in her own eyes a few times before. Mostly on dark nights in the Jewel as she listened to the way men spoke to her mother… and the way her father spoke to her at times. It was the look she saw in the mirror after she saw how her mama took care of those men - their purple, mangled faces contorted in pain and their eyes bloodshot staring up at her, and their hands clutched around their throats. 

This man was in pain, and he was afraid of dying. 

There was a large tattoo on the side of his face, around his eye. It was a symbol, most likely belonging to whatever faction he belonged to since escaping his vault. From what she overheard her dad discussing, Vault 66 seemed to be defunct, with the clones created within revolting and escaping into the Wasteland. He had been hunting down the clones for the last five years, among other things. She never quite understood why anyone would flee a vault to live on the surface. 

Her father took the respirator off of his face, letting it hang below his chin. She felt more at ease at this, happy to hear his own, unmodified voice walking her through what she was about to do. Her heart was beating fast and felt like it had leapt into her throat. She glanced at the open ceiling and focused on the large, white moon that hung in the deep blue sky. 

Perhaps the sky full of swirling stars would be enough to comfort her.

“When he’s dead, cut off da part of his face with da tattoo and hand it to da Tin-Man. Den we can go home.” He instructed. Ciella hesitated. 

The clone looked at her, stared her down, silently begging her for mercy. He was just a clone, and he was wanted so he must have done something bad, right? She looked back at her dad, who had pushed his goggles up onto his forehead, revealing his bright red eyes staring back at her expectedly. Tufts of navy blue hair peeked out from under his hat and over his goggles and his lips were curved into a small smile. 

He actually looked like a supportive father for the first time in his life.

Ciella made her decision at that moment, and the girl at only eight years old turned around and drove the knife into the clone’s throat. His eyes widened and met her gaze for a moment and she felt her heart drop. He groaned and wheezed, the blood gurgling in his throat as the crimson substance dribbled from the corners of his mouth. A sputtering cough had his blood spraying across her face and she wasn’t sure if it was on purpose or not. She tried not to heave at the disgusting feeling. 

On instinct, she pulled the knife from his throat and drove it back into his flesh. Over and over. A larger, warmer hand wrapped around her wrist and stopped her mid motion. 

“Dere ya go.” Her father smiled wider as pride swelled in his chest. His baby would be a killer, just like he was. “After dis I’ll teach ya everyding I know.” 

☠☠☠☠☠☠☠

The sun bore down unbearably upon the duo traveling along the Mojave Desert. It had been miles and miles of desert between the Griffith Observatory and the place the Ghoul was certain Lucy’s father was heading. The vaultie was starting to fall behind, clearly tired from the constant moving. It was hard to find shelter all the way out here, and unfortunately for her the Ghoul didn’t feel comfortable stopping out in the open. 

They had traveled through a few settlements at that point, each one growing more and more decrepit and sparse. The people were quieter and hid away in their own corners of the small towns, eyeing the Ghoul and his traveling companion wearily. The whispers and glares of the different townsfolk hardly made for good hospitality, if anything it was that fact that drove him away from each place. Something was happening, someone said something, and he felt it was too risky to stop for a few nights in any of the settlements.

The last place they’d been to was a day’s walk away at this point, and the talk amongst the people in that saloon made him deeply uncomfortable. Then there was the body. 

In the sandy dunes of the last settlement they had been to laid a man with sun kissed skin and snow white hair stained at the temples with red. The poor man had his brains blown out, by who…  well, let’s just say he had a good idea of who it was. It was clear the job was done quickly, the man clearly didn’t see them coming, and the fact the man’s armor and other supplies went untouched raised even more alarm bells. He got them out of there quickly and quietly.

Unfortunately for Lucy, the Ghoul was one-track minded at the moment. His family was out there, he could feel it. There was a reason he kept going for over two hundred years, and he would not let those years of anguish be in vain. 

He would kill anyone who tried to get between them. 

“There’s gotta be somewhere we can stop, right?” Lucy sounded hoarse, tired. He wished he could answer her truthfully. He hadn’t traveled this far into the desert before, and the way the sun seemed to hang so high in the sky for so long made him question whether anyone ventured that far, let alone set up shop. He shrugged.

The dunes seemed to stretch on for miles and miles, with only a few rocky formations on the horizon. A few dried plants littered the ground here and there, somehow finding the strength to grow in such a harsh climate. It was a wonder anything was able to grow and flourish after the bombs. Maybe he should have sent the vaultie to ask for some sort of transport back at the saloon instead of being stubborn like he usually was. 

“Maybe that person’s coming from a settlement down that way?” The Ghoul froze, feeling himself go numb. 

Among the dancing heatwaves stood a dark-clad figure on the horizon. 

They stood still, any discernible features hidden by a wide-brimmed hat and respirator over the figure’s mouth. The wind blew and kicked up dust and whipped the figure’s coat to the side, revealing the large holster against their hip. Their dark attire starkly contrasted with the bright blue sky and pale sand. 

The words of the men in the saloon ran through his mind. 

Someone’s lookin’ for a ghoul just like ya! There was a bounty put out not too long ago, I think it’s been taken offa the board. A lotta caps goin’ for that guy. He considered that a warning at the time. 

Anyway, it looked like the guy who took the bounty was Red Eyes. He had the goggles an’ everything, but we all thought he was dead. 

And Red Eyes was supposed to be dead. He died around five or six years ago. 

The figure in front of him was a ghost. 

Red Eyes stopped a good twenty feet in front of them, standing perfectly still. The wind shifted again and from beneath the wide-brimmed hat came a tuft of navy blue hair that blew in the breeze. The desert was all too quiet now, and it felt like something from one of his old movies. Red Eyes felt like an old western villain, dark and ominous, seemingly a force of nature. He worried the figure wasn’t only after him. 

“Lucy, you should head back.” The Ghoul muttered, putting a hand out to stop her from moving any further. She stared at the figure for a moment, suddenly afraid because of the Ghoul’s reaction. 

“It’s only one person.” She muttered. “Maybe they’re lost?” The Ghoul stayed silent. He would not repeat himself.

Her doe-like eyes flickered to him and she noticed the way his mouth was set in a seemingly permanent frown. His whole body looked stiff, like a cornered animal. She nodded, understanding finally, before turning on her heel to make a run for it. 

The Ghoul watched as the stranger glanced in Lucy’s direction. Red Eyes observed her, seemingly studying her like an unbothered predator eyeing a nearby animal knowing it couldn’t do anything to stop it. He grit his teeth and took a few steps forward, spurs jangling with each stride. 

This was not good. 

“Now I know that fancy getup you got on is not yours.” He began through a false bravado, flashing teeth that used to be a pearly white. It was so easy for him to slip back into a role, something he had been doing this entire time. Yet, this time, he was given the chance to play the good guy. It felt unfamiliar somehow, after all, it had been several years since he’d done such a thing. He was almost grateful for this stranger’s theatrics. “Who might you be? Cause you sure as hell ain’t Red Eyes… he’s dead.” 

He knew all too well who this was. 

Red Eyes looked up, the red goggles reflecting the bright sun and making it impossible to see past their lenses. More of the stranger’s hair seemed to flow from behind them, long strands of navy waving in the wind like a flag. Their stance shifted from one of leisure to subtly looking like they would pounce. The stranger moved their coat away from their hip, revealing the large gun strapped to their form. 

“I’d be careful where I was sticking my nose if I were you.” The heavily modulated voice called out. “Or lack thereof.” 

The Ghoul bit his tongue. “I’m assuming that corpse we found back there was you, then? Certainly wasn’t the handiwork of any ol’ fiend.” 

“Wasn’t much work.” Red Eyes spat quickly. “Was a clone. They're easy. Woulda gotten in my way.” Their accent, even through the voice changer, was thick. Louisiana, most likely from the New Orleans area. 

“You’re here for me.” He didn’t feel the need to ask. He threaded his thumbs through the belt loops on his trousers, opting to seem more relaxed than he was. He knew Red Eyes would see right through his guise.

“Isn’t that obvious?” Their hand twitched beside their gun. He eyed them wearily.

“Well, I’m not goin’ willingly.” A low, rumbling chuckle sounded from the stranger. 

“I never said I was gonna take ya in alive.” They answered, voice cold with an edge to it. He fought the urge to argue, to call their bluff, for doing so would be too risky.

Truthfully, Red Eyes had every reason to want him dead. It had been a few years, five to be exact, since they last saw each other. Five long years since he turned the fellow bounty hunter in for killing a crime lord. Five years since he left them for dead. This would be a fitting end for their little rivalry, even if it wasn’t always that way. 

But he wouldn’t go down just yet. Not without a fight. 

He had to find another way to fight them. A quick draw duel would mean a death sentence for him, unfortunately. Red Eyes was and still is the quickest draw in the Wasteland. He would have to throw them off somehow, say something to really disarm them. 

He did the only thing he could think of, and instead of indulging in the stranger - instead of going for his gun - words that he never thought he would say slipped from his dry, cracked lips.

“Ciella, I’m sorry.” 

Red Eyes froze. Their hand was still dangerously close to their gun’s grip. Over the wind, he vaguely heard the sharp, uneven intake of air from the figure. The breeze picked up again, blowing open the stranger’s coat to reveal the figure of a woman. 

“It’s a bit late fer that, isn’t it, cher?” It most definitely was her. “I came ta finish the job. I shoulda known a coffin wouldn’t hold yer ass.” 

Cooper held back a laugh. Ciella Bane was an ally at one point, and maybe even a friend, but the moment her picture was up on one of those boards he knew their partnership was over. Someone was offering a hefty reward for whoever could bring the bounty brat in, preferably alive. 

That was his mistake. He knew he probably should have killed her while she was sleeping and taken the smaller reward for her corpse. Killing her like this would be a pain in the ass. 

“You wanna take off that ridiculous getup and let me see you?” He taunted, much to Ciella’s dismay. He just had to hit her where it hurt, get her emotional and in her head so she missed when she inevitably shot at him. However, it had been a few years, he couldn’t be sure that trick would still work.

Though with dear ol’ daddy not around to give her more of his tips and tricks he doubted she would have improved much more than the last time they brawled. 

Ciella scoffed. “The last thing you’ll see are these goggles. Everyone’s gotta know it was Red Eyes who took ya out, ghoul.” She spat, though there was a sadistic playfulness in her voice. Cooper rolled his eyes. 

“I got places to be, girl.” Cooper countered with equal venom. He was getting antsy, and he felt she was wasting his time. “Let us through and…” He stopped.

What would he do? What could he do? What could he possibly offer her where she wouldn’t be on his trail while he and Lucy trekked the Wasteland on a wild goose chase? Ciella coming back from whatever corner of the world she ran off to after burying him alive was the last thing he wanted. 

“Let us through and we can finish this some other time. I’ll tell you where I’ll be and you come find me.” He offered finally, feeling the weight of his words in his chest. He wouldn’t give up finding his family so she could have her petty revenge, but maybe one day, when everyone around him was gone and he knew his daughter was safe and could live a happy life, he would go to Ciella and let her put him out of his misery. 

“We do this here and now.” The bounty hunter replied. “That head o’ yers is fetchin’ a pretty penny. Figured it was better I did it than some chem addicted fiend on the street.” Her words were purposefully inflammatory. She was doing the same thing he was. 

She straightened up again, mimicking the stance of a cowboy in a western getting ready to draw, and Cooper knew what it meant. She wasn’t giving him a choice. They’d done this dance once before, and unfortunately for him it didn’t end well. 

The Ghoul sighed and moved his coat from his holster, and he mirrored her stance. “This ain’t gonna go the way ya think it will, sweetheart.”

“I doubt that.” That same, robotic voice answered, yet he knew she was still all too human underneath. 

[cryptidwrestling]

I need to sleep. I am putting way too much thought and upset energy into a scripted sports soap opera 😂😭 Anyway

Some Of Cryptid's Current Thoughts And Feelings™ On The State Of Her RAW Faves

1) Liv Morgan's booking.

Ya'll. I'm a Rhea simp/stan and a person second, anyone who's been on my blog for more than thirty seconds knows this 😂 And I've also made it no secret I, for the most part, am actually still enjoying the Liv v Rhea feud. So all that being said, what the fuck is going on with Liv's booking.

I know she's a heel and part of a heel faction and in-ring bullshit is the name of the game, but the fact that neither of her title defenses have been won clean (granted, she didn't technically win the Bad Blood one anyway but whatever we all know that ending was botched and she was supposed to technically win) and 9/10 times she runs from Rhea when confronted. They're making the Women's Champ look weak.

Liv can be cunning and vicious, we've all seen it; for fuck's one of my favorite theories that I'm willing to die on the hill of is Liv still just using Dominik as a pawn and is gonna drop him the moment she realizes he doesn't fit in with her plans anymore. Book the feral Liv if they're gonna keep this storyline going.

2) Finn v Damian

I mentioned this in a another post but I feel like the reason they weren't pushed as hard is because they didn't want to risk something forshadowing the PunkIntyre feud...And if that's the case, they shouldn't have had Finn turn yet. With this theory in mind, and tbh even if NOT true this would have still worked, the tldr in my head is

-Dom's turn should have been the same

-Have Finn, and the rest of the JD stick around and the rivalries be Dom v Damian and still Rhea v Liv

-Bad Blood rolls around, Dom and Damian have a match, and Finn's turn comes in the form of him and the JD assisting Dom.

-The Finn v Damian feud kicks off the same night Punk v Drew ends

There was NO REASON to have Finn turn and to wait this long to really start doing something with it. I still standby my opinion if done right, this rivalry could still be AMAZING...But it doesn't change the fact it has lost a LOT of momentum going the way it has.

3) Rhea Currently Standing Alone

To a degree, I get it. Her and Damian agreed to do their own thing because he's done with the JD (as far as he thinks.) and they're in different divisons but he would/will always come if Rhea called. I'm not a fan of how fast they split them up as a team-again, wave two of the Terror Twins shirts had barely shipped when this happened-but this segement was okay. It was sweet and mutual.

THAT SAID.

Rhea is currently in a 2v1 (not counting Dom cause I have little hopes of us ever getting a sanctioned match with them cause ✨intergender✨🙄) rivalry. Liv has Raquel...Who the fuck does Rhea have? Tiffy? Maybe, but we can't even say that for certain because as it sits right now, they're on different shows. Show borders are just currently being blurred in, assumingly, prep for Survivor Series.

Why the fuck does Rhea currently have to stand alone.

4) Jhea

THIS KINDA PIGGYBACKS OFF MY LAST PARAGRAPH AND IS THE ONE I REALLY DON'T GET??? Okay, yes, it was probably supposed to be something cute and just for fun to fill time while the other main storylines Rhea and Jey are/were in moved along. But if that was the case, why did ya'll move it to the main stage and not just keep it in backstage segments? Rhea during a preshow interview, I think it was Bad Blood?, said Jey showed her what a real man was like. Not to mention Jey coming to Rhea and Damian's defense or Jey agreeing to tag with Damian cause he "can't say no to Rhea." Why the fuck would you plant seeds like that on screen, on the main stage, and then just??? Drop it??? I don't get it???

5) JEY MOTHERFUCKING USO'S 28 DAY REIGN

I'm gonna make this one short and sweet cause you can literally see all my posts directly below this word vomit and see how mad I am 😅 But, in short; Why. Why not wait until after he's done with the Bloodline to give him a title? Why not have this same set up but give him the title ages ago. Give him a decent title reign with the same ending. Predictable at that point sure, but okay...What is the fucking point of having him, a fan favorite who everyone was cheering the house down the night he won, get his first solo title ever after fourteen years...Only to give it back to Bron less than a month later?

Bron is a GREAT preformer, do not get me wrong but making this...I don't want to say newcomer, but newer star a two time champ in his lesser time with the WWE just doesn't sit right with me.

I know Jey was gonna get involved with the Bloodline story at some point. I know it would have been hard to impossible to book him in a Smackdown story as a RAW champ...They could have done in without stripping his first non-tag title from him in under a month. We could have gotten crashout Jey going after Solo and Co without what we got tonight.

[hastalavistabyebye]

Last line challenge

Rules: In a new post, show the last line you wrote (or drew) and tag as many people as there are words (or as many as you feel like). 

So I may have a smidge of backlog on this, just a tad bit.... *clear throat* I've been tagged and/or uno-reverse by @nooneherebutusghosts, @loverboy-havocboy x2, @whiskygoldwings, @ninjababypowpow, @aerjnn, @five-oh-thirst x2, @sithfox, @adhd-coyote, @cookiemonsterv3, @mamuzzy-creates-stuff x2, @workingchemistry and @mereelskirata ! I love you guys <3

Technically not my last line because that was for a drabble and I want to give you more than just one line.

Things start to settle down in the Senate district. Or do they ? “After the last few months, the protests against the Senate seems to have finally calmed down, especially after the call for internal peace sent by the infamous Marshal Commander Cody of the 7th Sky. Many planets still promised that actions are being taken, but the Dome’s Place is finally empty for the first days in many long months. Chancellor Palpatine had now announced an hour ago that the annual Spring Equinox Gala will still occur, like every year. But, he also publicly and warmly invited every Clone Commander present on Coruscant during the event to join him for the Gala. This always awaited celebration will stand strongly for unity and peace this year.” How to help the clones ? Commander Fox of the Coruscant Guard held a press meeting this morning after the enthusiastic demand of the citizens to know how to help their devoted soldiers. Find the report of that meeting and some additional solutions in this article. 

[...]

Padme Ami-who ? Core News.  One of the most hated men of the Republic steals the show at the Spring Equinox Gala, learns about it in this article.  A dress to die in. Mode and Fashion “The Spring Equinox Gala is galaxy-wide known as The fashion event of the year. The most beautiful and influential people of our planets all gathered for an incredible night. And incredible, this year's edition sure was. But repack the crystals and hide the Nabooians, because every breath has been stolen the second black heels, as sharp as that crown of thorns, hit the red carpet. Marshal Commander Fox was more deadly than ever in this dress, the jewels on his skin like the blood of his people. More regal than a prince, he [subscribe to Mode and Fashion to read more]

To be perfectly exact my last line is the second article, but I couldn't resist adding the two others even if I hadn't write the ones leading to them yet x'D it's still very much a first draft with a few things like the journal names missing here and there, and I have still no idea how to format it, but it's lots of fun !

Of course I uno-reverse you all and also tagging everyone of you who read this. Yes yes, you're tagged. Show me what's you're cooking. I just doesn't want the list to get completely out of control that's why I'm not tagging manually anybody else x'D

[what-the-flux]

Future status of this blog.

Hey you lovely peeps, it's just me giving a bit of an update for those that noticed the slowdown in my posts in recent months. I feel like talking on a personal level for once so if you don't want to read the whole thing and just want the tl;dr, here it is: This side blog will soon be going on an indefinite hiatus. I may come back to the fandom eventually but no telling at this point in time. If you’ve ever enjoyed my art, writing and characters here then you might enjoy yet more of that in original worldbuilding settings and a motley of other fandom or AU stuff then please follow my main @sparkyopteryx, I’ll be getting more active on that page again. I do have a couple more GW2 pieces to finish up and post at the end of this year so I hope you guys enjoy a sort of "last hurrah" from me before I redirect my focus. <3 If you want to read my open diary thoughts as I wax nostalgic and wistful then clicky the read more (DISCLAIMER: there is absolutely no callouts to individuals or guilds of any kind mentioned here and no name dropping. It's all just me and my thoughts and feelings, so hopefully that assuages any anxiety).

I've been here a looooong time. I checked my archive to see how far this blog goes back and whoof, January 2015. February 2015 was me posting my very first GW2 art on here, surprise surprise it was an asura. (technically not my very first asura art, very first asura I drew was Quinn in July 2014). Didn't know how deep the GW2 claws would get me and hold me for a decade, no other mmo had that kind of effect on me. WoW wasn't even close. DDO, Neverwinter Nights, Perfect World, all a piddly drop in the bucket compared to GW2. So much has happened to me since starting this game up to this point. I transitioned. I changed my name. I moved to a different living space. I started new relationships. I acquired two best friends. I went bald and grew a beard! This game rewired my creative brain, and I say that with....mixed thoughts and feelings. I've written SO many character stories and rp'd a ton and made so many characters that in some cases are up there with some of my most important muses I've ever created now. I love so many of them so much I'm picking them up and taking them with me to my other universes because I can't bear the idea of just leaving them behind and many of them are just too powerful to be contained (looking at you Oort, Euphix, Hoskk....yeah a lot of them). I say mixed though because also, it was to the detriment of my original settings. GW2 had me in a choke hold, which normally is fine with hyperfixations but this was a fixation that spanned actual years and I'm really feeling needing a change for a while and I miss creatively living in the spaces from my settings that I've carried around with me since elementary school. There's also the social aspect. I acknowledge the ever-shifting dynamic of fandoms, friend groups and how social media and how a social game like an MMO shapes things over the years. It's all a part of putting yourself out there with other people, I get all that. I have a hard time putting my thoughts into words but I still want to express myself in some fashion so I'm going to do my best but it's a complex, many faceted thing. I've met and made friends over the years but kept a tiny few. I've seen how other platforms and changing social expectations have shaped how people interact in fandom spaces. It's fascinating, to say the least. But as much as I've tried to put myself out there over the years, GW2 is the one that has given me the most dread, anxiety or general feeling of always being in the orbit or outlier. No, I don't care about being popular. But we're always trying to look for somewhere to belong in these fandom spaces you know? I am a firm believer of how we're always creating for ourselves and that is what I always do, every day I create it's cuz it's mine and I want to see it out in the world. Art is also a communal work, that's what makes art, writing, music and such unique. We make something from nothing for us, but also because we do it to share something of ourselves to others. I've gotten all sorts of beautiful comments and feedback and very occasionally the joyous feeling of someone asking about a character or idea. I've also given these things, because I genuinely love peoples' characters and hearing what they think up. I always hoped to carve my niche and feel at ease with a group of people long term. To get that feeling of communal exchange of ideas, characters, really deep rp and character interaction and all that. Ultimately though it's never been a lasting thing here and unfortunately I have a full time day job, finite amount of energy and focus for me to be constantly trying to be the one to initiate, maintain a social presence and be regularly updating with art and posts. NOT me fishing for sympathy or any of that so any of those comments are unnecessary. It’s alright, it’s just a thing that happens anywhere but it’s happened to me consistently here so I’m just not expending my energy overextending anymore and moving on.

As I said before, it’s complex. It’s not all negative, but I’m exhausted and burned out so it means simply putting down things that feel like they aren’t doing it for me anymore or aren’t making me feel fulfilled and happy in some way, because goodness knows I need every scrap of it with all the stuff I’m dealing with in my life these days. This space may be active again one day! Who knows! I sure don’t. I don’t make promises one way or another because no one can predict what will happen a month or a year from now. But regardless of whatever happens I hope to be able to still interact with and share other spaces in other capacities, and if not I wish you the best of luck in all your creative and personal endeavors! If you’re still actually reading this, I want to say that at the end of the day, many of you have given me support even in minor ways and for that I earnestly say thank you, it was people like you that helped keep me going. Even the people that I don’t really talk to anymore, you count too because we shared a lovely if fleeting thing. That’s about it from me though. Sorry if it got a bit rambly in parts, the original draft of this was much longer and probably even harder to follow. These are my feelings and my experiences I’m talking about, not general sweeping statements that should be taken as fact and I myself do not consider them facts, just what I’ve faced and what I’ve observed and felt. In the event this really is the end of GW2 for me, here’s to a decade of art, rp, writing, characters, silliness and good times. Tyria really did a number on me and for that I am thankful, I will keep the good memories with me. Excelsior! --Sparky

[starkskeep]

When the Dragon Howls (4)

When the Dragon Howls Chapter Four

Characters - Cregan Stark x OC (Maera Velaryon), Aegon Targaryen, Aemond Targaryen

Summary - Maera Velaryon feels consumed by the obsessive clutches of her uncles. A wolf from Winterfell could potentially be the one strong enough to confront the dragons.

Word Count - 1,406 words

Warnings - Typical Targaryen relationships

A/N - I am constantly surprised by everyone who continues to like and share this series. This chapter will actually have Cregan in it. I was hoping to put it in the last chapter but ran into technical difficulties due to the post character limit. It seems to be fixed now so most chapters should at least be over 1k words. Enjoy!

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As if in apology for not allowing her wish from the night before to come true, the gods sent Maera a savior in the form of Baela Targaryen.

Maera quickly rises when she sees her cousin/step-sister arrive, hoping to catch her attention. It seems that she is precisely the reason Baela came into the library because her eyes locate Maera immediately. “I have been looking for you. Some of the younger lords are training in the yard this morning, including your brothers. I believe it will be amusing to watch.” Maera smiles, always happy to see Baela, especially at this moment. She stands and takes Baela’s arm in hers immediately, steering both of them out of the library. If Maera was accompanied by someone else, she would not be bothered by either of her uncles. Aegon and Aemond only got obviously close to her when there was no other noble around to catch them. “Jace is your betrothed. Shouldn’t you be a little more supportive of him?” “He is your brother yet you still laugh at his misfortunes. I fail to see how it is any different. Life would be boring if I couldn’t find humor in the actions of my partner.” Maera smiled as Baela voiced one of the exact wishes she had for her own potential husband. None of the men she had met so far seemed to be particularly willing to share a laugh at their expense, especially not her uncles. Baela soon turned serious after they were a safe distance away from the library. “Are you alright? It was very tense when I walked into the library. I would not be surprised if either of them drew a weapon upon the other.” She looks Maera up and down, inspecting her for any potential injuries that would be a result of Aegon or Aemond’s actions. “Father sent me to search when you were unable to be found after breaking our fast. He has been on edge since you came in with Aemond at dinner.” Maera scoffs despite appreciating Baela rescuing her. “Daemon is on edge whenever he has to be around anyone whose blood bleeds green. He should know that I am fine, given that he gifted me a dagger and told me to use it on his nephews. If my mother listened to Daemon, I would be confined to my chambers on Dragonstone until my husband was chosen for me. I believe his current fear is that I end up dishonored and forced into a marriage with Aemond, however, that may only be the excuse he uses to hate those related to Otto Hightower.” Baela laughs. “My father does not need an excuse to hate the man and his family. It comes naturally to him. He does not want you married to your uncle.” “Well that is quite hypocritical of him, isn’t it?” Baela and Maera both giggled at this, allowing themselves to act as young girls do despite the seriousness of the topic at hand. 

The two continued to walk arm-in-arm through the Red Keep until they made it to the training grounds. Most of the noblemen there were practicing for the upcoming tournament being held as part of the festivities. This meant that the lords that vie for Maera’s attention would be too occupied with besting each other on the training field to notice her as long as she did not make her presence obvious. Maera would finally be able to breathe. Baela led her to a small archway that opened the main part of the castle to the training yard. They were able to see the whole area and all of its inhabitants for that morning. The clanging of swords and the grunts of fighting men filled the air. Not a particularly proper location for noble women to be seen but children of dragons are hardly ones to adhere to decorum. Maera’s eyes scanned the grounds. None of the lords looked adept at fighting. It is obvious that they had been taught to direct fighters rather than actually join their men on the battlefield. How unfortunate for Maera. Shouldn’t a husband at least appear to have the potential to defend her honor?

The sound of Jace’s laughter drew Maera out of her thoughts. It was easy to spot her brother but it was the man, definitely not a boy, that had her attention remaining on the duo. The unknown man knocked Jace to the ground. Maera’s hands shot out to grip Baela's arm. Anytime Jace or Luke trained at the Red Keep, Aemond and Ser Criston ensured that the fighting was as brutal as possible without the risk of being reprimanded. The girls were able to relax when they saw the man help the prince up. Jace beckoned Luke over from the sidelines to join their training. Maera’s younger brother had been standing near the archway where she and Baela stood under. In this action, the unknown man turned to face Luke as well. “A Stark?” She heard Baela whisper beside her. “How can you tell, Baela?” Maera questioned. “His tunic. It's embroidered with a direwolf.” A Stark. A Wolf of Winterfell. They are one of the few noble houses that Maera has yet to meet a member of. Northerners rarely came to the capital. The last time Maera knew of it happening was when her mother was named as the heir to the Iron Throne but that was long before Maera was born. She watched as the Stark began his duel with Luke. A true fighter. Rough, like she had heard from the gossip about the Northmen before, yet still honorable. He wasn’t using any underhanded tactics against Maera’s brother despite having many openings to do so. The Stark took time to correct Luke’s movements and stance without belittling her brother. 

While one of Maera’s brothers was being helped, Baela took the opportunity to tease the other. “Prince Jacaerys! Are you not going to introduce us to your partner? Surely you can’t expect us, as two shining examples of proper young ladies, to introduce ourselves.” Her words ended the session between Luke and the Stark and left Jace blushing and stuttering. The three boys, or rather two boys and a man, made their way to the Maera and Baela. Jace cleared his throat and made the introductions. “Sister. My lady. May I present Lord Cregan Stark of Winterfell. Lord Cregan. This is my sister, Princess Maera Velaryon, and my betrothed, Lady Baela Targaryen.” Maera watched as Lord Cregan bowed his head to Baela before turning to her. Her breath was caught in her throat as he turned his attention towards her. She continued to hold her breath as he gently kissed her hand. “My lady. It is a true honor to meet you. These southern lords have not exaggerated when naming you The Realm’s Beauty.” Lord Cregan spoke with a rich voice that revealed a thick Northern accent. Maera felt like she could faint. She couldn’t focus on his words when she felt him kiss her hand. It sent a jolt down her spine. And his eyes: a piercing grey that she couldn’t look away from. She was enraptured. How could anyone expect Maera to pay attention to anything when this man was speaking to her, touching her, by the gods even just being near her? A blush spread across her cheeks and Maera found herself becoming far less composed than the moment before Cregan Stark looked at her. It took Baela subtly nudging her to get Maera to return to reality. “Thank you, Lord Stark. It is an honor to meet you. I imagine you have already been properly welcomed but let me personally welcome you to King’s Landing.” Maera hoped that her voice did not sound as flustered as she felt. At that moment, the princess decided that she wanted to know more about this Stark in the hopes that he would prove to be different from the other noblemen she had the unfortunate duty of interacting with. He already made her feel different. It was obvious to her brothers who looked disgruntled that their new training partner was making their sister blush, it was obvious to Baela who had never seen her cousin/step-sister instantly taken by a man, and it was obvious to the inhabitants of the training yard who would cause rumors to quickly spread throughout the Red Keep of the northern lord who made the Velaryon princess blush. 

[lixenn]

long vent post, this mostly me just word vomitting my feelings into the voide to cope, feel free to ignore

Got five hours of sleep last night (totally my own fault cause I napped in the afternoon which fucked over my schedule) and I'm so tired. I could technically nap again but this is kind of what got me in this mess so I might just try to power through.

I mostly didn't sleep because of the nap but I also started reading dark fic to distract myself from feeling sad and upset and just generally kind of shitty which naturally made me feel even more like crap. I thought I kicked that bad habit but apparently I didn't which means I need to pay more attention to my emotional state and what I consume in the future... yay about that I guess.

I know I should go outside cause it's been days since I left the house but it's hard OTL it's raining so motivation is even lower than usual. Also my mum wants me to cook this one thing (it's this soup paste thingy? which can be added to several dishes for taste) and I'm so fucking tired I dunno if I can handle making it today because there's a lot of prep work involved. Nap... I want to nap so bad... maybe i can do a power nap on the couch...

Also, I really want to finish chapter 5 but it's dragging a bit. I dunno if it's too dialogue heavy... like my writing is generally pretty damn dialogue heavy but this one hmmmm... yeah. I will need to sort out the one scene I'm working on and then figure out the next one. In general I'm kinda unstasified with my writing rn which might just be because of my low mood and because I stared at it too long but it still sucks feeling that way.

Art wise I'm doing... kinda okay? could be better. could be worse. I wanted to draw a new oc and used a reference on the charater she was inspired by but in the end I just drew the character because... yeah... the pose was too difficult to adjust for proper desgin change OTL I might just finished it anways and just make it a fanart but I put it on hold for now. I will try designing her on actual paper later though I really don't know about hairstyle... I might need to look at pinterest for inspo. Also I keep having ideas for drawing but no real motivation to actually make it because I know it will be difficult. I might need to go back to emote making for something easy to do.

Also I can't continue rewatching that let's play I did recently cause Resident Evil is not something I should watch when I feel like this (the fanfics that fucked me over where RE ones because of course they are). But I'm still in a horror mood so more fluffy things to watch don't hit the vibe. But I wanna watch something... But I can't watch what I want to watch cause it's bad for the brain. Ugh... I'll need to dig through my let's player's old stuff to see if something will scratch the itch without making me bleed.

[taiigaatea]

hi ok shorter post today because TECHNICALLY i dont have to post for at least another month but whatever

ive been getting back into vocaloid/pjsk recently and it is ENTIRELY because of the edluca world is mine animatic (its SO GOOD genuinely one of my favorite videos ever) but i was like. "Huh what if. the romeo and cinderella cover was edgar valden" AND THEN I COULDNT GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD UNTIL I DREW IT LAST NIGHT!!! it was so fun though especially since i dont usually put this much detail in my art!!!! yayyayay i might make more album covers as edgar/other characters and ships but idk

fine ill add a bonus sketch but im not getting it in a nice pretty png its just gonna be the screenshot

ive been working on this for like almost a month now but i doubt ill ever finish it,,, it started as a sketch then when i started lining it i decided to add more (this is only one part of what i had planned) and then got bored #lol (i have like 10 hours on this one) i thought id post what i have rn because i am proud of the luca (this wasthe first time i drew him since that one post back in june)

WHY IS SIMS 4 MODDING SO ANNOYING. WHY IS GIMP THE WORST PROGRAM TO EXIST. i wanted to do something simple and oops! ive spent like 3 hours doing something and im not even CLOSE to being halfway done and i dont even understand any of the gimp controls???????? fuck dds files fuck it all im done

[siriuslysatorusimping]

Okaeri (a scrapped 'Another Level' scene)

Hello!! I decided to post this old draft of Rinko and Gojo's reunion after he was released from the Prison Realm to give you guys a lil look at just how much changed from when I originally started writing Another Level to where we are now.

This draft was something I wrote very early on, and by the time we got Gojo out of the Prison Realm, it didn't fit the story at all.

I'll provide a breakdown at the end to give more context and commentary, but the primary thing you'll need to know before reading is that, originally, I had intended for Rinko to stay in hiding and completely isolated throughout almost the entire 19 days. So, that's where she's at in this draft that I eventually scrapped completely 🙃

Happy reading 💕

If you haven't already, you can read Another Level on AO3 😊

*This work contains possible JJK Manga spoilers. Gojo x Original Female Character. Uhhhh. Implied smut?

Okaeri

2018

Twenty days.

It had been twenty days since he’d been sealed. 

Well, technically, it was nineteen and a few hours.

A glance at the clock told her it was still the middle of the night.

Around day eleven, Rinko asked herself when she’d become the kind of person who counted days like this.

She used to go weeks without speaking to him. Months without seeing him. It never bothered her before.

Got somethin’ real important to tell ya.

It was because he was still their win condition. 

Because they couldn’t win this without him.

Got somethin’ real important-

Probably didn’t help that she hadn’t left his damn condo in almost fifteen days now. She’d gone to let Shoko reassess her injuries and get the all-clear afterward because, apparently even Shoko didn’t fucking know where Gojo lived.

Secretive little shit.

Rinko had since learned that the list was shorter than she originally thought, only including her, Yaga, and Nanami.

Well, it only included her now-

Got somethin’ real-

Having gotten enough basic food to last her for a long time when she’d gone to see Shoko, she’d been isolated since.

And going fucking crazy.

At least the dreams had stopped. Mercifully, they’d stopped a few days after her fucking delusional wet dream.

Got somethin’ real important to tell ya.

Releasing a heavy sigh, Rinko forced herself out of the torturous safety of the bed. She needed to shower and get dressed. Wear real clothes and feel like a fucking human instead of a walking corpse just because her- best friend was gone.

She’d received a text earlier telling her to meet Hime, Shoko, and Yoshinobu at the Tokyo Tech campus because they had news, but she’d been asleep. So, she’d texted Shoko to let her know she would head that way soon.

Her body ached from the strain of moving for the first time in what felt like days. But she knew that wasn’t true. She’d forced herself to make food the day prior, staring at the stove as she made herself eggs and toast, wondering how much longer she’d be able to force herself to live like this.

Unable to help. She’d had to learn about Megumi from Shoko, unable to do anything to help. Knowing it was partially because Tsumiki-

The shower drowned her sobs and amplified them at the same time.

Pulling another one of Gojo’s sweaters over her head, she realized she needed to do laundry. She’d quickly run out of her own shirts, which she hadn’t been too worried about. But she drew the line at wearing his pants.

Grumbling to herself, she looked through her bag on the floor of his closet before moving into the bedroom to search through the pile near the hamper. She was not going to wear his pants. Even if she had to wear a dirty, gross pair of her own.

As she rifled through the pile, swearing briefly when she couldn’t find any, she continued mumbling.

“Fucking swear, I know I brought more than one pair. Where the fuck are they?”

She let out a small cry of relief when she finally found a pair at the bottom of his hamper.

“S’legs are too fuckin long anyway,” she said to herself, sticking her right leg in. “Would fuckin trip before I could-”

A quiet chuckle cut her off, halting with her left leg halfway into the pants. She blinked slowly.

She was really fucking losing it.

There was another chuckle, this time causing Rinko to whip around to see him standing in the doorway, smiling at her.

He was wearing the same clothes she’d last seen him in, his jacket ripped to shreds. His hands were in his pockets as he stared at her, blindfold nowhere to be seen.

“Nope,” she said, shaking her head. “Nope. Officially too far. Don’t care who it is on the council. I’ll just fucking- I’ll just kill all of them. I could do it. More than capable. Just a bunch of old fucks. I’ve gotta fucking leave this place.”

Yanking her pants the rest of the way on, she kept mumbling to herself as she refused to look at the specter in the doorway.

“Fucking hallucinating, great. Oh, Hime’s gonna fucking love this. Never let me fucking live it down. Know exactly what she’s gonna say, too: ‘I told you so, Rinko. I knew he’d drive you crazy someday.’ Fucking-”

Rinko cut off when she tried to walk through the door, ignoring the stupid apparition of her damned delusional, fucked up mind, only to find that this apparition was solid.

She blinked for a moment, staring straight at the hallucination’s chest.

Did she- was the door closed, and she just forgot? Had her crazy dumbass just fucking run into the door?

“Rinko,” it whispered, arms going around her waist as she stumbled. “Rinko-chan-”

“I have fucking lost it,” she breathed, tears in her eyes as it grasped her chin, forcing her to look up.

Bright blue eyes from her fucking nightmares at this point.

She closed her eyes immediately, squeezing them shut and willing herself to make it go away. To stop torturing herself.

“Rinko,” he repeated quietly. “I’m here. You might be crazy, sweetheart, but not that crazy-”

“Exactly what an insane person’s hallucination would say,” she stated.

Gojo laughed, the sound ripping her chest open. And she felt that void blow wide open with it as she realized she’d truly gone insane.

Completely broken and unhinged, and honestly, maybe Shoko would understand if she just crawled back into bed. Because, at this point, she couldn’t do it. Fully and truly, honestly couldn’t do it anymore.

“I always knew you liked me more than you admitted,” he teased, his voice sounding too real. “Open your eyes, baby.”

“You’re not fucking real,” she whispered, her voice cracking on the last word. “I-”

“Rinko,” he cut her off, his breath against her lips. “Rinko, baby, look at me.”

When she still didn’t open her eyes, he hummed quietly, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

“Baby,” his voice was amused now. “Don’t make me spank you-”

Her eyes shot open, irritation flooding her as she met his bright blue, glowing eyes as he grinned.

Only this asshole would-

“Thought that might get you to open them,” he murmured, chuckling when she scowled. “Baby, I’m here.”

Her face scrunched as he leaned even closer, nudging his nose against hers teasingly.

“Rinko-chan,” he breathed, his lips brushing hers. “I’m home.”

Not waiting for a reply, he pressed his lips to hers gently before moving his hand from her chin to tangle in her hair. His other arm stayed around her waist, pulling her so she was flush against him.

“Missed you,” he said, sucking her tongue into his mouth. “Missed you so much, baby.”

Tears were running down her cheeks, her mind still not believing what was in front of her was real. He ground his hips into her, moving to lick her neck and groaning when she whimpered quietly.

Giving in slowly, her hands grasped his shirt, fingers clenching the fabric as she sobbed.

“I- you were- I thought-”

“Couldn’t stay away from you,” he teased, sucking her pulse harshly, moaning as one of her hands went to his hair, tugging the strands lightly. “Had somethin’ important to tell you, remember?”

“You’re a fucking asshole,” she whined, feeling Gojo’s laugh rumble through her. “You can’t just-”

He silenced her by leaning back up, capturing her lips again, and slowly walking her backward.

“Shh, baby,” he hummed, biting her lip. “Just let me make you feel good. Been a bit, yeah? You miss me?”

-

Commentary

Obviously, this is very different from what we had in Something Important.

As I said before, I wrote this early on. So by the time we got to Shibuya, this draft no longer fit. It just didn't fit who Rinko was as a person anymore. With the growth she experienced, especially in the few months leading up to Shibuya, she wouldn't react this way.

I've mentioned a few times that I hadn't intended to really include the Culling Game arc. And I still didn't, not really. But having Rinko hiding away and being scared of the higher-ups just isn't who she is. Especially when it comes to her kids' safety. Like hell would Rinko have just sat in isolation with no updates on the kids. Hell no. If they'd tried to get her to, she'd have stormed one of the barriers herself and killed anyone who got in between her and her kids.

I also felt this draft made it seem way too much like Rinko's life revolved around Gojo when it doesn't. So, having her sit around and count the days just felt cheap.

There was no way Rinko would have sat by while her kids were fighting for their lives like this. And there was no way, after the realizations and the growth she'd gone through, that she would crumble like this and allow herself to sink into things like this.

But on top of that, there was no way that Rinko would be able to just welcome Gojo back as her fuck buddy without her heart completely breaking in half after all the loss that she'd experienced at this point.

Personally, this would have ended up feeling far to emotionally detached from all the trauma and loss that the two of them have gone through, and it would have negated any positive character development we'd had up until then as well.

The more I've read this back over to write this lil commentary, the more I fall in love with how Something Important turned out. Because it genuinely felt like the perfect reunion for these two after everything that had happened.

If I remember correctly, I wrote this way back before I wrote I Say "Sayonara." Soooo, that should tell you something about how much had changed 🙃

Also, you'll notice a few small details that I snuck into other installments once I realized that this one was going to have to be scrapped.

One of them being the joke about Gojo's legs being too long for her to wear his pants, which I included in Fragmented Reality instead.

SO. There's that. A small look behind the curtain of one of the original drafts that was completely scrapped in favor of something much better 😂😂

Did I MAKE ANY SENSE?? I FEEL LIKE I DIDN'T BUT HOPEFULLY I DID 🫠🫠

ALSO, I will include a fun lil extra blurb that I was never able to include anywhere, and that made me sad because I found it hilarious:

They lay there comfortably for a few minutes, focusing on each other’s breathing.

“Yoshinobu!” she suddenly gasped out, causing Gojo to scowl down at her when she tried to shove him away. “Hime! I was supposed to meet them-”

“They already knew you weren’t going to make it,” he cut her off, swatting her hands and putting them back into his hair. “I told them I’d update you and get back to them.”

“Oh,” she breathed, settling back once more.

He lifted his head back up to look her in the eye, his gaze serious.

“And don’t you ever yell Gakuganji’s name after I’ve just cum inside you,” he deadpanned, pulling a breathless laugh from her. “I mean it, Rinko. That’s enough to make my dick shrink forever.”

“I’m sorry!” she gasped, the weight in her chest lifting with each giggle.

[littlemissmanga]

One Last Order

It's been a while since I got into writing at all, let alone fanfics. But I had this thought last night and it's been bugging me since. I hope someone enjoys this. I know I enjoyed writing it :)

Pairing: CT-7567/Captain Rex x Reader (g/n, no physical descriptions, no use of y/n)

Mood: Angst/hurt. Post Order 66

Warnings: None really unless you're sensitive to bittersweet stories. SFW but mentions of intimacy with no details.

WC: 900 words

Summary: It was the hardest decision he'd ever made. But Rex was determined to see it through. He lost everything else. He couldn't bear to lose you, too. And so, he gives you the one order you hate the most ... the one he hopes in vain you'll follow.

Part 2

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It was for the best. He knew it. He couldn’t bear to contemplate the alternative.

Your home planet was on the edges of the Mid-Rim, far from any hyperspace lanes. You’d be able to resign — as a nat-born who had been assigned to the 501st for logistical support, you’d technically fulfilled your obligations to the army when the war ended.

The Empire wouldn’t waste its resources on retaining you. You’d be able to slip off its radar and quietly build a new life.

But with him … you’d never know peace. There’d be a target on your back. And he’d be the one painting it on, tainting your life with his.

“I … I couldn’t save my brothers. Please. Please let me keep you safe. Let me go.”

The pain etched into your eyes almost broke him. The tears you’d been so stalwart in holding back finally broke free, cascading down the lovely curve of your cheeks.

That he was the one hurting you twisted his gut, sending bile rising up to his throat.

But better a broken heart now than a life forever in danger, he thought, letting his own reasoning drown out your passioned rebuttal.  

He never expected, never even thought he could experience anything like what he did with you. He was a soldier. A damn good one at that. He led his men with pride in service of the Republic, in service of freedom and peace. Fighting beside his brothers gave him a purpose he never questioned.

You shattered that certainty the first time he caught sight of your wry smile.

You stood toe to toe with General Skywalker, matching his stubbornness and determination when convinced you were right. Your ability and skill in your field — and your dedication to ensuring the troopers of his legion were as prepared and supported as possible no matter the mission — never failed to impress him, even long after he knew to expect it.

But that first smile. Watching you laugh in the mess with his brothers, holding your own against Fives’ incessant badgering, brightening Kix’s ever-gruff expression, calming and welcoming the newest shinies warmed him from the inside out. You never saw them as just clones. You treated them as comrades. As men. You gave them a soft place to land after facing another day of harsh reality.

It drew him to you, needing with increasing desperation to have that smile trained on him.

And when it finally did, when your eyes began softening at the sight of him, that warmth ignited into an inferno that radiated from his very core. He was shocked he didn’t burn you.

On the contrary, you only came closer, eventually curling around him in his small bunk, creating a bubble of warmth and light so precious that he’d almost forget you were on a ship in the dark, cold void of space.

He’d never betray his brothers, his mission. But you revealed a new way of living. Of loving. In your arms, he found solace after battle — a refuge he never wanted to leave but one that gave him the strength to each time he was recalled to battle. In your bed, he found a new purpose, a pleasure he would chase at every opportunity just to see you come undone for him.

And it soothed him, knowing with each step he took on the ground, you were back at command, tracking him, watching out for him.

So, no. He never wanted to leave your side. Without the GAR, without the 501st, his general or commander, he could dedicate the rest of his life to you. And, stars, did he want to. Every cell in his manufactured body wanted to take you into his arms and keep you there forever, giving you his heart, his very soul if you asked.

But it was too selfish.

For now, the Empire thought he was dead. That wouldn’t last forever. He may not be a captain anymore, but he was still a soldier. And he would fight against the Empire that stole everything from him. He would gladly give his last breath to free the brothers still trapped in its maw and the civilians caught under its boot.  

It was a dangerous path; one he knew he had to take. But you would not be coming with him.

With one last sigh, he stepped in closer to you, his gloved hand gently caressing your cheek and wiping away a tear, only for it to be replaced immediately. Your eyes slid shut as you clenched your jaw, hardening your soft face and causing the corner of his own mouth to twitch up for just a moment.

You never were graceful when you lost a fight.

“I love you, ner karta. So, so much.” His words were barely a whisper, too scared that anything louder would shatter your threadbare resignation … and his. His lips were even gentler, barely pressing against the delicate skin of your forehead.

“Be safe. Be happy.” One last order from your Captain. He didn’t believe in any deity, but he prayed to every one he’d ever heard of and to the Force itself you’d obey.

Then, he hardened himself. With an abrupt turn, he left your warmth behind as he forced each step, letting his mind drift as his feet carried him further and further away from his heart.     

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It's so funny, I usually prefer reading fluffy, comforting fics/ficlets or slow burn but with happy endings. But this just demanded my attention lol.

Part 2 is now done! It is spicy - or citrusy, for my fellow Tumblr veterans - reunion with Rebels!Rex.

[veryimportantsparkles]

Okay!!! I drew this last night but it was right before bed so I waited to post it so I'd have time to write. This is a tentative design, I'm probably going to restructure that...vest? At least a little bit. Meet Dillia. Technically she's been on the blog once before, when I was working on my Johto trainer outfit...from when I would have been like TWELVE. Today's my birthday by the way, I just turned THIRTY-FIVE.

Dillia was from my original Silver version. I still have the cartridge, but the battery died at some point years ago. When Heart Gold and Soul Silver came out, I was at a point in my life where I couldn't afford to buy new games all the time, so I skipped them. For years after I was buttmad that I have a big gap in my Pokemon experience. From HGSS up until I suppose SwSh, I wasn't buying the new stuff. I'm a lot more financially stable now, but in the meanwhile all the prices on used games had been rocketing up. Well, last year Josh the Boyfriend got me a reasonably-priced legitimate copy of Soul Silver off an ebay listing he had been watching. I had to prep the file with my usual habits (get to the name rater and nickname everything, designate a world sacrifice etc) and wanted to clear out some of my gen 3 backlog (beat leaf green three times, lol, then sapphire, alpha sapphire, and emerald) before starting a new file. I have started a new file!

I had to reset like 14 times for a female Totodile, but it was important to me that I get Dillia back. When I got her the first time, I had no idea that female starters were rare. Totodiles have always simply been female to me. She's almost as beloved as Tortoise, a lifelong companion that has been with me since I was very young. I've waited so long to revive her, it's a shame. I don't have full designs for her gijinka forms yet, but I had done a rough sketch a few years ago.

Using Tortoise's timeline sketch as a guide, Dillia should have Totodile, Croconaw, and Feraligatr forms for her original game, then after death and rebirth in the new game. I think what I want to do is give her very tame clothes in her old life (stuff I would've worn in 2001, 90s thrift store jackets and basic jeans), and punkier stuff for her new life.

I still have a lot of other art to do (champion art for the Alpha Sapphire guys, and the Emerald guys, and...my entire webcomic Laserwing...and other things...) but I wanted to get the basic idea of Dillia out to commemorate her return.

Hopefully she'll help me remember a bunch of other Silver Pokemon that have been lost to the haze of time!

[underwater-i-will-go]

and btw, even as a rival fan myself (chelsea will once again not even qualify for the ucl this year because we're 12 on the table so let me have this discussion), seeing people post shit like "pope would've saved both of these no problem" does my head in. you cannot solely blame a loss on a keeper. we could all shout about dúbravka not being on pope's level now, but mind that he wasn't fully fit himself last night, and that this was his only ucl appearance anyway. pope played the rest and they still lost twice to bvb with him in net and drew another two times. bollocks that. can't blame dúbravka here even when i'd like to. he's actually a decent keeper.

also technically a lot of this comes down to the wrong ref decision made in the 96th minute of psg away. how mad is that. newcastle would've won that comfortably, 3 points instead of 1. now it's not even europa league. also dortmund not being able to win psg AT HOME when newcastle would've beaten them with their b team. this club is good for absolutely nothing. i rest my case.

[sobeksewerrat]

☆~~Elvina The Cock-Kicker~~☆

prolly gonna update or change this later (updated: 25/5/24 [d/m/y])

Uh, hello! Name's Elvina (I also go by AnDrew/AnDrea! And Argo aswell, but you need permission from me to use that one), but you can call me whatever lol

(There is also Eara'as, but who cares-)

Update on 24/2/24: Fuck it I am naming myself Adam too. Yes, after the guy from Hazbin. Sue me. It is one of my favourite names now.

-> لو انت بتكلم عربي و عايز تكلمني بيه ممكن تقلي ربيع او مروان برده!!

I'm an amateur artist and writer; currently trying to graduate as soon as humanly possible (and high school has been kicking my ass)

My tagline is "kinda bored ngl"; seriously it's been in the bio of every social media account I have ever owned since 2019 at some point or another it's actually insane, WHY AM I SO BORED?!?

this intro post pretty much only looks good with the "Vampire" theme, if you don't have that, then it sucks to suck, i guess.

BEFORE YOU INTERACT!!

☆I have a full Rules post but these are some others not included in that or TL;DRs.

-> I block very liberally, but I never just randomly block a mutual (unless it is a joke like in the freakblr war or they did sth horrible). I have severe anxiety so I tend to just block anybody who I feel is aggressive (intentionally or otherwise) or weirds me out.

-> I have a really broken sense of humour and I post a lot about inside jokes and stuff with my mutuals. I know I can't stop you, but if we're not mutuals or you're not involved in whatever inside joke I am talking about please dni with the posts. Once a joke of mine blew up and I deleted the original post and made my friends delete their rbs so people would stop seeing it.

-> I tend to forget to tag TWs properly. If I forget to tag sth, please inform me!!

Fandoms:

Special Interest (persumably): The Music Freaks

Hyperfixations: Ace Attorney, Luca(2021), The Stanley Parable, Story Thieves, Scott Pilgrim , Hazbin Hotel , Avatar: The Last Airbender

Danganronpa V3 [yes, V3 specifically.I don't interact with the fandom much]

Mark and Friends/The World of Mr.Plant

The Disastrous Life of Saiki K

Blue's Story (Victaton)

Big Hero 6

DDLC

Diary of A Wimpy Kid (mainly the Dysfunctional Perspective fancomic)

Al Kabeer (not a fandom technically but who cares)

Sonic

Jackson's Diary

Aurora (red osp)

Riordanverse (including KC and MCGA)

Unfamiliar (Lavendertowne)

FNAF

Omori

Helluva Boss

Obey Me!

Ramshackle

Buncha other stuff that I am too lazy to name (might edit as i post about them)

Fandom Stuff to Tag Me In!!

My Kins!!

Random Bullshit:

Egyptian

fav colour is red

Professional Faggot since 2018 (legally)

Aro/Ace (achillean)

Agender / Aboy (transmasc, pronouns: he/him)

Basically just your local pathetic trans boy with mommy AND daddy issues (the whole package!)

INFP

Born in spooky month, loves spooky month

OCD, ADHD, self-diagnosed Autism

Biochemistry nerd. I didn't mean to be one but there was just something very intruiging about toxicology. Blame Lavendertowne.

Massive multi-shipper (also i like crackships, A LOT)

Coffee, vimto and soda addict (blame cockitchy ouma)

Fav. fictional chr. of all time: ✨Manfred von Karma✨(PW:AA)

Drew and Milly kinnie (TMF)

I am Drew irl, all I say about him is canon, I even run the rp blog, don't question me

✨✨✨LEADER OF THE ANTI-DARK REUNION✨✨✨

Menace to society, according to all of my irl friends, and just people who know me (just ask my freakblr mutuals, they'll tell you).

Minor, obv.

Never truly grew out of my Gacha phase

Other Blogs

Tags

Artfol: sobeksewerrat (not super active there lol)

Wattpad: ElvinaHS

AO3: sobeksewerrat

pronouns

Have a great day/ night!!

Your favourite god,

Sober Skewart 🐊🍻

[apartments4rent]

Apartments For Rent: TEN-YEAR RETROSPECTIVE

Ooooohhhh man, this… This is fucking me way up, big time… I don’t even know where to begin with this… I should definitely be using this free time I have today doing my homework, you know, the thing with a hard deadline? That was technically due yesterday?? Well, how about instead of that, I take a walk down memory lane…

Do you remember the 21st night of September? 

Picture this: It’s 2013. It is your sophomore year of high school. You have more friends than you ever have in your life and they are all so wonderful to you (this wouldn’t always be the case and they all wouldn’t stick around but you didn't know that yet). One of you proposes the question: If you were a monster, what would you be? A witch. A vampire. A werewolf. A mermaid. A ghost. A selkie. A dullahan. (You had to look those last two up.) You are so inspired by this that you want to make a story for these ideas to live in. You create a fantasy. Where all your best friends get to live together under one roof. A slice of a life you know you’ll never have. It’s actually the 20th night of September that you created the tumblr blog where most of what comes out of this will live (your first post says “why do i do this to myself”) but it is the 21st night that your creations get their names. Their genders don’t all stay the same but their cores haven’t really changed. “a very dramatic/theatrical witch who loves animals and sass master. a bubbly and happy mermaid who gets really scary when u cross her. a passive, nerdy vampire who isnt so out spoken. a moody selkie who loves to learn and lost her seal skin. a strong beautiful fairy girl who doesnt take shit from no one but is v nice to her friends. a ghost girl from the 1920s who is forgetful and not really confident but really likes her new friends.” You put a disclaimer at the bottom of the post, clarifying that these descriptions shouldn’t be taken as a description of your friends but separate characters entirely. This is also the birth of Marvin, the human man created to navigate this world of chaos, not based on anyone you know in real life. The straight man in this goofball circus. Your Original Character. (Who, you now realize, was designed as the boring main male character in the harem anime.) This was the genesis. And you would never know peace in your life ever since. 

And then what happened?

Bro, so much. A lot can happen in 10 years. You develop the characters further. You make a small town for them to live in (even though you’ve never even been to a small town in your life). You make (bad) art. You make sims because you hate the way you draw but you need a physical version of them to exist outside your head, as you see them. You apparently make a rule where no one outside of your little group is supposed to know about these characters (because you “had an experience” and “don’t wanna repeat it”). You make Alternate Universes for these Alternate Universe selves to populate, again and again. (As of right now, your “AU of an AU” list stands at 26 but there are probably more dumb ones not yet counted on the doc you made.) You try to make a one-shot comic collaboration with all your friends but no one seems to agree on how it should go so nothing but a script and panel formatting ends up getting made. (You know that your script was worse with many unnecessary details but you were bad at killing your darlings and stubborn about your ideas being the best. You’ll learn eventually.) You love and appreciate all the things your friends make for this story you start to feel full ownership of. (You haven’t noticed yet how much of a control freak you are.) Their writing and art give you life, especially considering they are doing The Most while you mostly just come up with ideas. The setting goes from apartment building to boarding house and back again before a year has passed. The first anniversary is a blast! You actually wrote something! And drew something you were proud of! Others wrote and drew and it was great. (How would you know it would never be like this again?) 

And the years go by and by… 

After the first year, you decided you wanted to make a dating sim with these silly characters because you just loved them so much. You shipped the characters (not realizing that your friends did it as a way to express they had crushes on each other, conveniently shipping your self-insert with the only man/only character not based on a friend.) There were still a lot of headcanons being made and posts being shared. But noticeably less and less. Then the second anniversary hit. Not much fanfare. After the second year, more characters started popping up based on more friends you make. Some of the friends that were there in the beginning weren’t anymore and you try not to think about it. After all, these characters aren’t your friends, they are separate and distinct from them. So it’s still OK to play with them, right? (The answer must be yes; ten years later you still do.) Then the third anniversary happens, with 4 posts between them. It was understandable. That was your senior year of high school. Everyone was getting ready to go their separate ways. You were moving clear across the country. Your friend group was getting smaller still and this big shake-up would prove who would stick around to still be a part of this thing and who would remain a memory for you to look back on in ten years. 2017, though, was a big year for the blog. You were unemployed and not yet going to college so you had A LOT of free time on your hands. It was probably the most number of posts you made since the first year of the blog. It was magic. Then you got a job. There have been 16 posts in the last 6 years. 2019 had none. 2020 and 2021 had one each. They were all made by you. There has certainly been less activity on the blog but that doesn’t mean these kids have been lying dormant all this time. You haven’t stopped thinking about them since they first popped up into your head. In 2019, you rewrote the story you had written for one of those anniversaries; the first chronological beat. (You haven’t read it since then; You have no idea if it’s good or not.)  In 2020, you attempted to write the actual story (like fr fr) for NaNoWriMo -- you didn’t get very far but it’s the thought that counts? 2021 was a quiet year as far as actual writing goes - as was 2022 - but trust that your brain definitely didn’t forget about them. 

The Retro part of the Spective 

Alright, enough second-person POV. 

Ten years.

Ten years. 

Talk about hard pills to swallow (thanks FOB). 

I’ve had this “story”, these characters, banging around in my head for ten years and what do I have to show for it? A couple thousand words and a blog full of half-thought ideas? Around this time last year, I was excited about this anniversary. I made a new Twitter for it (before that died) and was planning on actually publishing something to do this story justice… and I chickened out. I convinced myself, once again, that I wasn’t ready. That other things were more important, they took precedence. Do I have even that much to prove I was right? No, I don’t because I really haven’t changed all that much in ten years, if you can believe it. I know, a real shocker. (I still like all the same things I liked back in high school for crying out fucking loud!) I wanted to reach out to the people I used to do this with, to see if they still wanted to be part of it. (I’m sure that wouldn’tve been at all hard, I wonder why I didn’t follow through?) I wanted to have something so I would be able to say, “I did it.” So that maybe, I could finally move on. But that’s the thing, isn’t it… I don’t want to move on. I’m stuck in this arrested development because I refuse to change, to give up any past part of myself. Because if I don’t have that, I don’t know who I am. 

So now what? What’s all this for? One big, sad diary entry reflecting on the parts of myself that I already know very well? 

Honestly, I don’t know. I was hoping I could come to some sort of conclusion by writing this but as it turns out, it only made me want to cry. 

I wanted this to end on a good note.

I spent all day writing this, I can’t end it like this.

So let’s instead talk about all the things that have changed about these goofballs over the years:

Mystic Cove is a city in a Northern California town. It started out in Florida, it almost ended up as a mountain town. I also briefly considered straight up placing it in San Diego because there are some nice, beautiful, old-ass buildings downtown that juxtapose the cold, sleek skyrises in such a way that I thought about writing something about being lonely in a city and finding your own family. 

Vast Acres has been an apartment building, a boarding house, Mediterranean Revival, Victorian, Queen Anne, even briefly considered a Bed and Breakfast. All I know is it has to be the place where this family gets together. At one point under the ownership and operation of Marvin’s dad Alejandro, it is now bequeathed to Marvin by a mysterious, freshly dead uncle/great uncle. 

Marvin is a wholeass person to me, in that he’s not completely knowable to even me anymore. Marvin is probably the person in Mystic Cove I know the BEST and that like doesn’t mean anything to me. Like yeah, I’ve written pages and pages and answered so many pointless questions about him but… I don’t know how else to describe him other than, “He’s an enigma.” The most significant thing about him that’s changed is I’m considering undeading his mom? Just because I feel like we’ve had enough dead mom media and it’s not something I can speak to truthfully. Briefly considered making her a runaway mom? But we’re still thinking about it. I think her name is Lily? 

Mel’s name went from Melinda to Melody because I decided Melinda was a weird name? And Mel likes music so I thought I would be clever. She went from “Marv’s sister” and side character to basically co-lead. Mel was even almost briefly considered as the real main character for a time when I thought to lean into its roots as a product of a high schooler’s imagination and go full YA coming-of-age adventure. It was actually the subject of my 2020 NaNo attempt. I decided against it because I loved Marv too much to push him to “supporting character” and if there’s something about me that’s developed, it’s that I don’t much care for YA books anymore. 

Amber is unsurprisingly my favorite because I’m a Leo. I think I finally decided on a backstory for her that I like and she’s not white anymore? Like, not fully anyway lmao. Before she was like, from someplace in England with like Spanish parents so like tan? But now we’ve decided that she’s from colonized Mexico and her father is a white devil. :) I’ll let you figure that one out. Over these ten years, I’ve grappled with the fact that an immortal is almost impossible to understand. I’ve gone back and forth on whether her immortality is on purpose or by accident or a curse or what. Honestly, I’m still thinking about it, I don’t know for sure what I’ll end up picking. Right now though, it is an involuntary immortality with her life being tied to her sister’s (yes, the cat). Details are fuzzy. I’d have to finish the main story first but if I were to make a spin-off, I would make a prequel story about Amber’s life because it is QUITE eventful. 

Lucas is a man now lmao. And so is Will. And they r gay. For each other. But that’s been that way from the beginning lol. I think Luc’s story had to do with self-worth and Will… Will didn’t have much going on in my mind. My instinct was to make him a himbo but Will has always been very smart in my head so I don’t think that will work? Dude’s beefy asf and mad respectful so perfect man tbh? No notes. 

Jenny’s been my way to try to break down the trope “Born Sexy Yesterday” because that’s just the kinda guy I am. No, but fr I think I was making a very infantilized version of Jenny initially and that’s why I shipped her with Mel in so many AUs?? I’m not against skewing Jenny younger to make that ship viable in canon but I don’t know if that’s the story I want to tell. I don’t think Jenny ever had a goal beyond “Get to the surface” which she gets when she makes her appearance in the story so?? Where do we go from here? Things to think about…

Rohen was fat (like a proper seal should be) before they lost their skin on the beach to some snot-nosed kid and became depressed. When they start healing on their depression journey, they start to gain weight again and it's a good thing. :) 

Everyone else I haven’t mentioned yet hasn’t changed much (ie. I haven’t thought about them much). It’s not that I have favorites (even though I just said that I did), it’s just that I basically go down a list whenever I think about these guys, and, due to my short attention span, I never make it all the way down the list. AND honestly, it’s probably for the best because looking back… there were WAAAY too many characters to keep track of ngl… Like it’s a slice-of-life thing, I know. Not every character has to be involved in every storyline but like… At some point, you have to draw a line at, “How many named characters with their own plotlines can I insert into this story?” YKWIM? Especially because at one point there was a whole roster of other people who lived in the apartment building when there were like 20 units. That was (rightly) reduced back down to just the core cast. 

You can pry Jonesy from my cold, dead hands, tho. He’s perfect. He can stay.

This post took me literally all day. 

I’m tired.

I don’t really expect anyone to read all this but if you are not me and you made it to the bottom, congratulations! You now know me on a much deeper level! :) I hope I can convince myself to buckle down and write, straight up. Maybe NaNo this year? No promises. I’m trying to apply for university this year and living situation issues might take precedence but such is life, right? 

Thank you.

I love you all.

For giving me this gift.

Even if you never intended to give it fully to me.

It’s mine now, bitches. >:) 

Here’s to 10 years! And many (but hopefully not too many) more…

Cheers. 🥂🍾

❤️

[chaotic-goodsir]

Tried to make a playlist of songs I think January 1998 AU Owen would actually know and like, and yeah, I overthought this one far too much 😅 Song list, lyrics and some headcanons below the cut.

I'm working on one of these for Curt too which I'll post soon!

If driving fast cars you like, if low bars you like

*

1. Anything Goes - Cole Porter

If old hymns you like, if bare limbs you like

If Mae West you like or me undressed you like 

Why, nobody will oppose

One of the first musical songs Owen remembers hearing. Also a song about breaking taboos and changing times which gained more meaning as he got older.

2. There's No Business Like Show Business - Annie Get Your Gun

Yesterday they told you you would not go far

That night you open and there you are

Next day on your dressing room they've hung a star

Let's go on with the show

The first time Owen set foot in a theatre, aged about 10, he decided he wanted to become a actor, but expectations got in the way. After he started working for MI6 this song became a sort of private joke to him, since some of the lyrics could also apply to spying and later working for Chimera.)

3. You Call Everybody Darling - Andrews Sisters

You call everybody darling

And everybody calls you darling too

You don't mean what you're saying

It's just a game you're playing

But you'll find someone else can play the game as well as you

Curt once joked that this song reminds him of Owen, and now Owen is sentimental about it.

4. I Get a Kick Out of You - Frank Sinatra

Practically everything leaves me totally cold

The only exception I know is the case

When I'm out on a quiet spree 

Fighting vainly the old ennui 

And I suddenly turn and see your fabulous face 

Song for Curt, which Curt also likes.

5. Black Coffee - Sarah Vaughan

I'm feelin' mighty lonesome

Haven't slept a wink

I walk the floor and watch the door 

And in between I drink

Song for playing while smoking alone and miserable in a hotel room at 3am before/after a mission, even if the lyrics are technically about being a housewife.

6. Love You Didn't Do Right By Me - Rosemary Clooney

Love, you didn't do right by me

You planned a romance that just hadn't a chance 

And I'm through

Song for playing while smoking alone and miserable after the only person you've ever let yourself fall in love with abandons you.

6. I Could Have Danced All Night - Ella Fitzgerald

I'll never know what made it so exciting 

Why all at once my heart took flight 

I only know when he began to dance with me 

I could have danced, danced, danced all night

From the first musical Owen managed to see on Broadway and the first one he saw with Curt, some time in the 50s. This version of the song is from album they bought in 1963 for Ms Mega.

7. My Funny Valentine - Sarah Vaughan

Is your figure less than Greek?

Is your mouth a little weak?

When you open it to speak, are you smart?

But don't change a hair for me

Not if you care for me

Song for Curt, which Curt does not like.

8. America - Simon & Garfunkel

She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy

I said, "Be careful, his bowtie is really a camera"

"Toss me a cigarette, I think there's one in my raincoat"

"We smoked the last one an hour ago"

Song for Curt and being able to travel again (Owen spent a large part of the 60s in either the safehouse or a high security A.S.S facility) and being an expat in the US.

9. Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles 

Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name

Nobody came

Father McKenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave 

No one was saved

Curt insists that Owen should like the Beatles because he's British. Owen does not like the Beatles. With the exception of this song, which he has complicated feelings about - he's always been curious about people and their lives, and it's one of the things that drew him to spying. And acting. And Chimera.

10. Cabaret - Cabaret

Life is a Cabaret, old chum

It's only a Cabaret, old chum 

And I love a Cabaret.

One of Owen's favourite broadway songs.

10. Waterloo - ABBA

Waterloo, I was defeated you won the war

Waterloo, promise to love you forevermore

Waterloo, couldn't escape if I wanted to

Waterloo, knowing my fate is to be with you

Owen will not admit to anyone that he likes this song, but Curt knows he loves it.

11. Wuthering Heights - Kate Bush

How could you leave me 

When I needed to possess you? 

I hated you, I loved you, too 

Curt makes fun of Owen for liking this song because it's dramatic and angsty and 'classic books are boring.' Owen thinks that Curt just doesn't appreciate intellectual art, or pay attention to lyrics.

12. This Charming Man - The Smiths

Why pamper life's complexity 

When the leather runs smooth 

On the passenger seat? 

I would go out tonight but I haven't got a stitch to wear 

This man said, "It's gruesome that someone so handsome should care" 

Song for Curt, first overheard playing in the cafe Curt and Owen like to visit.

13. Tom's Diner - Suzanne Vega

Oh, this rain it will continue 

Through the morning as I'm listening 

I am thinking of your voice

And of the midnight picnic once upon a time 

Before the rain began 

I finish up my coffee and it's time to catch the train

1980-90s song that reminds 1980s-90s Owen of being 1950s Owen.

14. Non, je ne regrette rien - Edith Piaf

Non, je ne regrette rien

Car ma vie 

Car mes joies 

Aujourd'hui 

Ça commence avec toi

Owen once asked Curt to make sure this is played at his funeral. Curt laughed at him for being cliché and pretentious, but he's written it down somewhere to make sure he doesn't forget.