#each of which have been rewritten at least three times

[irlnikeiyomiuri]

spins twirls bounces

[sugarlywhispers]

the fall | b.katsuki - prohero!reader goes undercover

☆– warnings; heart breaking ANGST, a bit of comfort, not a happy ending or well, it is, just not the one you expect, vulnerable!Bakugou Katsuki.

☆– a.n; i don’t know how many times i have deleted, rewritten, deleted again and rewritten again this piece lmao i consider it a win the fact that i just finished it xD also, i don't know if this will have a continuation… thou there’s a high chance that it does because i loved the way it ended lol enjoy <3

If Bakugou Katsuki could be properly honest he would openly admit that being a Pro Hero sucked , approximately eight times out of ten. Mostly it wasn't for the times injuries went worse than expected or felt worse as time progressed and the getting old finally settled in the bones. If he could be entirely open about it, the worst part was when a hero had to take undercover work.

Bakugou hates it. He hates it so much, he could quit. And that was a realization that unsettled him, because this was what he had dreamt about since he was a shitty brat kid: kick shitty villains asses from left to right.

But he got to actually accept and admit this particular annoying, and again, shitty fact, his resentment about that specific part of the job, when it was your turn. When you had to go undercover, and so deep into it, that it had been two years… two fucking years, since he got any news about you.

How fucking dared you. He was–is your best friend, right? Then why not send him even a simple 'I'm okay, still alive' message. Not even a quick phone call where he could at least hear your breathing; he would know it's you, because he knew everything about you. Well–not everything as he would like to. But he was your friend, you had confided in him plenty of times, you had been his partner since you were a little brat from UA doing your internship and he was the newbie Hero in charge of you. You have been through good and shit together. Was it too difficult to just let him know you were fine, fucking alive? Were your new surroundings too dangerous for you to not give any signs of life to any of your friends? If it was dangerous, why the fuck haven't him, or Red Riot or even shitty Deku, been sent to help you?!

Bakugou took another deep breath, face laying over the stinky bar table, hand holding a glass of something he couldn't fucking remember Ejirou said it was. Probably a shot of tequila with lemonade, given the strong flavor in his mouth. Fuck, he wished it was something way more stronger, like firewisky or some shit like that.

"Mina was right. You do look like trash," shitty hair smiled, knowingly and even mockingly at him, which infuriated Katsuki more.

"Shut up, ass." He wasn't drunk, but he wished he was. Katsuki couldn't get drunk because he had patrols to run that same night, he was not an irresponsible asshole, no matter what and no matter who.

But he did wish he could drink himself to sleep. He hadn't been sleeping quite well lately– or more like over two fucking years. Katsuki sighs. He knows he is exaggerating. He knows you. You don't need him to worry about you, you can definitely take care of yourself and he has witnessed how capable you are of it plenty of times already. Damn, you once even kicked his ass for being a jerk– he won't admit it, but that was the day he actually started seeing you more than just a friend. Coincidentally, it was three days before you had to go undercover. What a bitch of luck.

"Todoroki said they were going to scout some of us to go look after her," that brought Bakugou's attention back, sitting up straight and looking directly at his best friend's serious expression on his face.

"I'm in."

Kirishima sighs, "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Fuck you. I'm going..." Katsuki begins his protest but Ejirou doesn't let him continue.

"Katsuki!" Both friends look at each other's eyes for a moment without saying anything. Until Kirishima confirms out loud, "You love her."

The blond stays silent, not admitting or denying it, looking at his best friend's eyes that turned completely professional and determining.

"I will go." He presses firmly and with no room open for discussion, which makes Kirishima sigh.

The red head looks down at the glass he is holding with his drink, a cocktail that had a bit of ron and orange juice, as he plays for a moment with his fingers around it. He takes a sip of it, and after he puts the glass back on the table, he looks back at Katsuki's eyes and says, "I'm not here to invite you to go. I'm just being your fucking best friend in letting you know about this."

Bakugou growls looking elsewhere but his best friend, annoyed that he lost the discussion. He knows by Kirishima's stance and words he is not fucking going, and it innervates him.

He really doesn't want to think about it now. He doesn't want to think about you . He doesn't want to worry yet all he does is worry . For you. For your wellbeing. For the situations you probably have gone through, alone. Not with him around to take every blast he could for you. Not with him to kick some sense in that stubborn head of yours, and vice-versa.

Fuck. He worries so fucking much it is already affecting his head, his performance in battles, his everything. Katsuki had even taken more work than he should trying to keep his mind busy to not think about you.

Kirishima knows. He had known all the bullshit Katsuki was building up inside him for a while now. He always knew when something was off with his best friend. So he invited him to have some light drinks so they could talk a bit, even though that is the least thing Bakugou would ever do. Especially about his feelings. However, Kirishima knows. He has always known.

And he was not letting his friend alone to drown in his feelings.

Bakugou looks at his friend when he feels his hand grab his shoulder. The intensity in Ejirou's eyes makes Katsuki's throat tighten.

"I will bring her back."

"I'm-..."

The explosion makes the ground tremble, and it was enough to sober Bakugou and Kirishima up.

They don't hesitate to run out of the bar and towards the place where it came, where also everyone seemed to run away from. It took them less than three minutes to arrive and both of them sigh in relief when they see they aren't the only heroes at the scene, as even Deku was already there in his costume, holding at least four villains under him. Uravity was close, she had at least ten floating in the air with her Quirk, and was setting one by one on the ground again as another hero would catch and restrain them, before guiding them towards the police cars. The scene is pretty much under control, so that makes Katsuki relax a bit.

Ejirou moves to action, offering help wherever he could. Him and Katsuki walk towards Deku, helping him with the four under him that are struggling forcefully.

Deku smiles thankfully to his friends.

"There's the bitch," says the one Ejirou is holding from the back of his shirt.

"She's fucking dead," threatens the one Katsuki is holding, which makes him angrily manhandle the scum.

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Fuck you, hero!"

Katsuki doesn't have time nor the patience for this, so he doesn't care when he pushes the villain inside the car way more forcefully than he should.

Deku comes running to them as the cars take their way, and he says hopefully, "Have you seen Y/N?"

Katsuki's entire being ignites at the mention of your name. The thought of just seeing you again makes something move inside his gut that is annoyingly satisfying.

"She's back?" Katsuki hates how hopeful his own voice sounded.

"Y-yes?" Izuku frowns, "Wait, you didn't know?" He looks at both friends perplexed.

"Know what?" Ejirou asks this time.

Izuku sighs. "This villain group was a big one that settled in America, where Y/N went undercover. They were planning to attack this base intending to rob the machine that scientists were creating that apparently could send someone to the past. This group wanted to go back in time to erase the source of Quirks, so they could control everything."

An unpleasant chill went down Katsuki's back.

"Y/N has been undercover all this time, working and proving herself so she could get in… She even got in the higher ranks so they would trust her and she could fakely guide them here, where there's nothing but a handful of heroes hiding in this abandoned building ready to catch them."

Deku sounds proud, which Katsuki could comprehend. Not that he would admit that out loud. But wait, that means…

"How do you know this?"

"She hasn't been in contact directly with me, Kacchan, but my agency has been in this case since the beginning and there were loops where she could send information. She couldn't be close to anything or anyone from here or she could have been in a huge danger. But one of my sidekicks has also been undercover with her. He was the loop. From what he told us, she climbed very high; with a Quirk like hers, I'm not surprised she was the only strongest in there. I wonder if-..." Deku went on and on with his mumbling in fascination with Quirks.

Katsuki rolls his eyes. He really doesn't have time to listen to him. He wants to find you, so he simply walks away in search of you.

Two years. It had been two years.

He ends up running towards the entrance of the building, looking around, eyes searching desperately for a sight of you. Heroes and villains around made it a bit difficult, coming and going, running and catching.

Until he finally sees you at a distance.

You are standing there, on the side of the scene, watching as every villain gets taken by some hero and put into custody of the police. The wind around is making your hair float to the side. You have dyed its color, which makes Katsuki think that no matter the color, you still look beautiful. You are beautiful, end of sentence.

But the expression on your face isn't the one of a Hero enjoying victory.

The villains were shouting stuff, and it isn't until he actually pays attention to what they are saying that makes him groan in anger. Why? Because they were shouting swears and threats at you.

And you simply stand there, not responding and receiving everything they throw at you. That makes Katsuki frown. You have never been that cold, that quiet against villains. Where was your fire? Your hatred towards those scumbags-good-for-nothing?

But then your head faced forward, in the direction towards where he was standing. Bakugou's entire being is shaking in anticipation, hoping, thriving for this reunion. Then he sees your eyes. Eyes that were colder than ice. Eyes that showed only a glance of how broken your soul was. And it hurts Katsuki's own heart to see you like that.

Your eyes didn't seem to recognize him at first. Like you were seeing a very distant and almost forgotten thought, a memory that had been pushed to the deepest part of your mind and now just watching him made your brain hurt while trying to figure out the memory.

You then realize it's him , your eyebrows shooting up in surprise and you smile slightly. A smile that doesn't reach your eyes. It is the kind of smile that means "cool to see you, but not very happy about it".

Your eyes go back to the scene, smile wiped from your face and the stoic, cold expression back on your whole being.

"It's The Fall," Deku suddenly appeared next to Katsuki, making the blond jump a little, which he faked it like he was just changing the weight of his body from one foot to the other.

"The fucking what?" Katsuki asks, a bit pissed that he got caught off guard.

"The Fall. When heroes go undercover, they have to pretend to be somebody else," Katsuki rolls his eyes exasperated.

"I fucking know what undercover means, Deku."

"You're not listening, Kacchan!" Deku turns to him, looking quite serious. "The Fall happens when the hero has to return, has to stop pretending to be someone else. And then, they find themselves with the question of whether whomever they were pretending to be was their real self or not."

Katsuki gulps. "I didn't-..."

"Of course you didn't, Kacchan. You have always been you. Fight or die. Hell, I even didn't, because I have always only wanted to be a Hero. But not everyone-..."

"Oh fuck," the blond swears, finally realizing. 

You are in a limbo. In trying to remember who you were, who you are and not; what you should do and not. The Fall was winning over you, as you suddenly moved to help a woman that apparently was on your villain team.

Katsuki doesn't waste time. He runs towards you, picking you up by the waist and walking away from the scene, towards the small alley next to the building, as Deku recaptures the other woman.

"Y/N!" He tries to reason with you as you start to kick him, arms and legs swinging in the air to try and catch him, hit him with all your might. "It's me! It's Bakugou! Katsuki!" You are screaming, not stopping to struggle, as he drags you away from everyone that could see.

"LET GO OF ME, YOU FUCKING HERO –..."

You stop every movement and scream as you realize what you just said. He finally gets to circle his arms around your chest, yours trapped under his big ones. Katsuki is breathing heavily. Fuck, he had forgotten how strong you could get.

"Hero," he repeats in your ear as you settle and relax a bit in his arms. Your back pressed to his chest, his arms holding you strongly. "I'm a Hero, Dynamight, Ground Zero," he said, "Great Explosion Murder God," he tries to joke, his throat tight and almost closed with emotions he was trying to hold back –this is not the moment for them–, saying whatever he could to help your memory remember him, "It's me, Y/N, Katsuki … Your 'Tsuki."

Sillence. Only your rapid intakes of breaths are heard between you two. Still, he doesn't dare to let you go. He feels like if he does, you will slip from in between his fingers like liquid, droplets of water impossible to tame or hold back. If he let you go, you are going to fucking disappear, like smoke impossible to catch, and fly very far away from him to never return.

Bakugou Katsuki is not willing to lose you again.

Your body starts to tremble as you sob, as you cry with all your might in Katsuki's arms. And his heart breaks for you.

"Shh , it's okay. I've got you, love. I'm here…" He soothes you, hands and arms holding you tight against his chest as you cry loudly. His hands start to caress the skin of your arms as he kept whispering into your ear.

Your cries are so intense and painful to hear for him, breaking every piece of his heart for you. He can feel your legs giving up, so he kneels with you on the dirty ground, not letting you go from his arms for even a second.

You suddenly turn in his arms, facing him. Yours surround Katsuki's neck and you hug him strongly, " Katsuki," you cry in his neck, and he wishes he was able to physically take the pain you're feeling right now and throw it very far away. Or even if he had the choice to trade it with you, he would. He would carry your pain, your sorrows, your everything, for you.

"I'm here. I'm here," he repeats as you cry, softly caressing your back with his hands.

Katsuki doesn't know how much time you waited there –now sitting on the ground, his back against a wall while you sat all curled up against his chest and in between his legs– but he notices everything is done and over when Deku peeks from a corner, holding his thumb up in sign that probably everyone had gone from the place. The blond nods, and Deku takes that as a sign that he could get close. His movements slow, careful to not startle you, put you still tense in Bakugou's arms when you hear footsteps.

"It's Izuku, love." Katsuki doesn't know where he learnt to be this careful and cozy with people, he thinks it's your fault. You have been the one who taught him so many things, that it actually doesn't surprise him when his big ass hands caress carefully and softly your head, reassuring you on that touch that it's okay to let go of him a bit. "Midoriya Izuku?" He tries his friend's real name, the one name he is sure you would be glad to hear–apart from his. But you simply respond by grabbing Katsuki harder, not letting go. "Hero Deku? Or… shitty Deku," he feels his chest puff in satisfaction when you try to hide your smile against his chest.

"Ha. Ha. Funny Kacchan…" Deku says, sitting on the ground right in front of you. Very different from you, Katsuki can not hide his own smile –not that he would even try to, which makes Deku roll his eyes and also smile. "How are you feeling, Y/N-chan?"

You exhale deeply; the long, tired sigh being answer enough, but you still say, "Like… all of this is a dream. Everything feels… surreal .” You gulp, finally pulling away a bit from Katsuki. He simply let you, hand still caressing your back in confort. “Like I’ll wake up any moment and be laying on the mattress on the floor in that one room apartment I live–used to… live.”

They both notice your slip as you frown and slide a hand through your lock in a clear frustrated sign.

“I don’t know… what’s fact and what’s fake anymore… I…” The tears fill your eyes once again, your hand now grabbing the beginning of your hair. Katsuki immediately grabs your wrist trying to make you let go. “I feel angry and sad… I feel devastated by what happened… But I also feel relief, and– I don’t know what’s the correct way to feel. I don’t fucking know who I am anymore!”

Katsuki hugs you again, rocking from side to side and hushing, whispering that everything is going to be okay.

He feels Izuku’s eyes on him, on both of you. And even if the fucker hasn’t said anything yet, Bakugou knows. FUCK. He fucking knows what his best friend is going to do. So he closes his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. Fighting his own tears back.

But he can’t hold them longer after he opens them and sees Aizawa standing at a distance. Waiting patiently. Katsuki hugs you tighter.

“Y/N-chan…” Izuku says, his gloved hand pressing on your shoulder to get your attention. “You need help. Until everything settles back into you, you need someone that can help you with this. Do we agree?”

You nod, crying and sniffing as you pull away again, and this time is Katsuki’s turn to not want to let you go. His arms grab you stronger for a moment as he hides his face on your neck.

He doesn’t want to let you go. He just got you back. He has so much to say and do and prove. He doesn’t fucking want to let you go again.

Katsuki is in denial, he knows. And he also knows he is the most selfish bastard alive for not wanting to let you go so you can properly heal. But everything he has gone, without you, and now having a little taste of getting you back, whether that be even half of you… FUCK! He definitely sounds like the most egotistic, selfish motherfucker of all.

When he’s about to finally let you go, he feels your hand tangle in the back of his head in his hair. And when his eyes find yours, he sees it. He sees the need you have of him, the sadness, the joy, the kindness, everything… He sees the want, the care, the despair . So many emotions it’s even difficult for him to maintain eye contact.

And he sees it. The love…

“If there's something I haven’t forgotten is how I feel about you. But you don't deserve the me of right now…” He shakes his head in denial, his hands holding your face and cleaning your tears with his thumbs. “I will get better… I will come back for you.”

You smile at him, and a simple action hasn't hurt so much as this. Like someone stabbed him with a knife on his chest, right where his heart is. And he’s left there, bleeding towards his death as you caress his cheek delicately one more time and stand up and walk crying towards your old teacher.

Katsuki knows it is for your health and wellbeing, but who’s going to convince his heart that this isn’t again the last time he sees you? That you will come back, that you will look for him in your return.

He brings his knees towards his chest, arms hugging them and hiding his face there. And Katsuki cries. Like a child.

He feels Izuku’s movement to sit next to him as one of his arms surround his shoulder, and he has never been grateful enough to the nerd for being the fucking best friend he has ever had.

Bakugou Katsuki doesn’t look at you parting, walking away from him. He can’t.

But he wishes he had.

[bonefall]

Favorite rewritten scene from TPB? Any scenes you think would fuck if they were animated? Dont worry why im asking its not important <3

Hmmmm....

Well, BB!TPB is probably the least changed arc to begin with! Better Bones is a project that is basically trying to deliver on the themes I liked in the first 5 books; a flawed society is on the verge of birthing a great monster, a reckoning generations in the making, which can only be saved by the very outcasts their culture seeks to destroy.

So I'm not adding too much to it which isn't just building up the culture some more, adding personality to some background characters (especially mollies), or shoring up cats in ShadowClan.

I've got an old post floating around somewhere about my goals and a basic summary for each book, but here's a MASSIVE ramble about things I plan to add

The three MAJOR cool scenes in here though?

Rusty's Collar

Deerfoot's Sabotauge

Scourge's Collar

Into the Wild: Opening stuff, ThunderClan expansions, Rusty's Collar

For one, DAPPLETAIL has a much bigger role as Firepaw's first teacher. Rusty speaks Townmew; he needs to learn Clanmew.

So I might make the meeting with Graypaw earlier, or just have a bit more of a transitional period where he's "living with a paw in both worlds" before he gets named Firepaw

He also is able to see and take part in some of the Expanded Roles, while still learning Clanmew.

Frostfur is Head of Kitchen Patrol, pregnant, and overworked. Rusty likes her though, he can't always tell what she's saying but he learns she calls him the "Intense Gingerthing (affectionate)" and she's got cool scars

Tigerclaw might be Head of Hunting, or his cousin Willowpelt. Undecided yet; Willowpelt will be taking over after he becomes deputy though.

I forgor who is Construction Head at the moment, probably Mousefur. In any case it's a molly, One-eye has been retired for a long while.

Dappletail is the Educator, naturally, and she hangs out with Ravenpaw and her son Graypaw. Ravenpaw has a habit of telling tall tales.

The adult he's closest to though? Spottedleaf, the Cleric, like a big sister.

IMPORTANT: Rusty's time as a not-apprentice comes to a hard end with his battle against Longtail. Probably because he now understands enough Clanmew to know he's talking shit.

This time though, we're setting up some foreshadowing lads

Unlike other depictions of the collar removal where it's framed like the triumphant moment he enters the Clans, with a beam of sunlight revealing to Bluestar that he is the cat of great prophecy, his collar being snapped off comes with trembling fury and anxiety

He was terrified and angry in that moment! He's been bullied by Longtail, it just came to physical blows, and he was being choked by his collar digging into his throat so he couldn't breathe. When it suddenly SNAPS, he's hacking and coughing, but the whole Clan is cheering at the spectacle, it's like...

He's being told he's just proved himself. The joy of finally getting what he's really wanted, of landing a mark on his bully and being CELEBRATED for it, it starts to wash away the fear and fury.

It's sudden, like whiplash. He's trembling, he's growling, he's smiling. His stomach is rolling and he doesn't know which emotion is turning it.

Then, his collar is buried. He only sees it out of the corner of his eye, Dappletail (someone he likes) digging a little hole and dropping it in. Like getting rid of something dirty. He can't identify the emotion that prickles his heart in that moment, and to his dying day he never learns the word for it.

But it's going to be the same thing he feels, much much later, after the roar of the BloodClan battle has gone quiet and he's staring at the collar he ripped off Scourge. He spared the leader's life and caused the group to retreat... but, looking at that collar, so lovingly studded with trophies not unlike the ivory Clan cats take from boar hunts...

He realizes that it's meaningful. To Scourge. He can't go far enough to admit that his own collar meant something to him... but...

it would be wrong to just discard this. This emotion drives him to eventually approach Scourge and BloodClan again, in the Epilogue, returning the collar as a gift of goodwill and re-opening discussion about Tigerstar's Impossible Deal. These talks open up a new era of peace and trading between Chelford and the White Hart, until TNP brings it to a tragic end.

But anyway!

Ally Expansions + Deerfoot's Sabotage

In an effort to establish that the Clans have unique subcultures, and that the cats within them are unique individuals, BB!TPB needs more positive supporting cast in more than just WindClan.

GATHERINGS NOW HAVE AFTERGATHERINGS. This is like a discreet afterparty, which adult warriors can choose to attend by simply staying behind when their leadership returns home.

Fireheart regularly attends them until the moment he becomes leader.

A few of his friends in other Clans are Aftergathering regulars. Onewhisker, Mosspelt, Wetfoot.

Some others are just occasional visitors. Mistyfoot is brought along by her sis-in-law, Mosspelt, once or twice. Morningflower comes to do some trades.

(at his FIRST aftergathering he gets to meet Carpwhisker and Cinderfur. These two are noted to stop coming when the political tides harden.)

Because this is the Thistle Era, the Aftergathering is much smaller than it will be in a few generations.

They're also still careful to not leak too much information outside of their own Clans, and the ShadowClan cats are even particularly excited at Fireheart's first Aftergathering because it was difficult to regularly attend these while Brokenstar was leader.

DEERFOOT is a MUCH expanded character. Son of Lizardstripe, brother of Runningnose and Tangleburr, Deerfoot is involved in opposing both Brokenstar, and later NIGHTSTAR when he feels he's going against what Deerfoot fought so hard for.

And, most famously and most fatally, he's the head of the TigerClan Rebels.

Much as I like Ravenpaw... he's not getting his cameo at Stonefur's execution. No, I'm not going to be having the HalfClan cats rescued by Graystripe's bad feeling and also Ravenpaw is there. Freeing the prisoners was an action that came from WITHIN TigerClan.

Deerfoot is going to be beseeching Firestar for it. I haven't figured out EXACTLY how yet, but I'm thinking that it's after Darkstripe was exiled (suddenly, Tigerstar no longer has a mole in ThunderClan) and he's able to ask for Firestar's help openly and honestly, and tell him how many cats will need refuge if the plan is successful.

Being leader now, and not JUST a deputy, Firestar has to consider the way it might drag his Clan into conflict with a huge opponent... which Deerfoot assures won't happen, because his forces have a process. Using ochre and onion, they obscure themselves completely. Not a single one's been caught-- besides the ones who were picked up for the "crime" of being HalfClan.

Deerfoot is going to be killed for what he does here, saving so many lives. So he won't pay for the little trick he's going to pull.

While applying Firestar's ochre and onion, just before entering the camp to rescue the HalfClan cats (and finding they've started an execution early-- with Stonefur), Deerfoot draws back to look at his handiwork. Not a single fleck of his bright, unmistakable orange fur is peaking through his disguise.

So he clicks his tongue, "I've missed a spot." With a rub of his paw, the ochre around the ThunderClan leader's eyes is smudged. Just enough that anyone locking with those green eyes would see the fire poking out from beneath.

Later, when Firestar learns of this after Deerfoot's death... he chuckles with equal parts bitterness and admiration. Most of Deerfoot's Rebels had to go right back to living in TigerClan, and knowing Firestar was leading the battle patrol would take suspicion off them... but, knowing his old, lost ally... a bigger part of it was that Deerfoot was hoping that information would reach Tigerstar and BURN into him.

Compassionate and spiteful to the last, that Deerfoot.

Darkest Hour: BloodClan and Scourge's Collar

I think if I was going to rename the individual books, I'd call the last book of BB!TPB "The Moment of Truth."

BloodClan is keeping the way that it's not important until the last book. Aside from an offhanded mention here and there and a run-in with some peons that replace the rats that attack Bluestar, they're not relevant until the moment they're introduced.

I do want to keep how SURPRISING it was to see them suddenly roll up, keep that feeling that they're brutal, unsettling, foreign. When Tigerstar loses his shit on Scourge for not following his order and attempts to kill him, I want to keep how cold, sudden, and BRUTAL that ending was.

But... when Scourge FIRST appears on screen, he looks much different from the Iceheart he will eventually become. He begins to look less "monstrous" and more like a PERSON as Firestar realizes that they're not so different.

Scourge has no pupils at first. His eyes are solid, icy blue.

He also has no mouth when he isn't about to bite, no lip synch when he talks. Like he's just existing ominously onscreen, wind ruffling his spiky, ungroomed fur.

Before the killing of Tigerstar, it's noted that Scourge's speech is odd, and hard to understand. But, you can sort of make out his intent if you listen carefully.

Firestar recognizes that he is speaking Townmew, his own first language.

Tigerstar doesn't really respect him enough to listen, until he barks an order and Scourge tells him, "...My cats move when I command them, and not before."

Like canon, Firestar steps forward to speak with Scourge. Unlike canon, he very intentionally begins speaking Townmew.

ALSO like canon, when Firestar explains Tigerstar's crimes, that he will never honor any bargains he has made, and thus that they can't be trusted, he rolls that Nat20 and Scourge tells him that there will be no battle today as he thinks about this new information.

And, of course, Tigerstar lost his marbles about this. And also his organs

And Scourge is SEETHING. That's his LAST straw. He made a deal and he is NOT being given what he is owed, he tried to gracefully walk away only for Tigerstar to disrespect him for the last time, and he's SICK. AND. TIRED. Of backstabbing, DISHONORABLE CLAN CATS.

And YET. He remains cool. And he tells Firestar directly, "In light of this, I have changed my mind. We will be taking what we are owed. You have three days to leave, or it will come to combat."

Another big change from canon is that no Clan needs to be convinced to fight. It's a battle culture. They were ALWAYS going to win, or die in glorious combat. Running away is not an option in this era-- they believe their eternal reward is up in StarClan.

But Firestar CAN unite them, bring them together to discuss battle plans. And in this first day...

TigerClan is dismantled. Though Leopardstar tries to cling to her newfound leadership of TigerClan; both Shadow and River are clearly tense and demoralized. Anxious and snappish warriors are mulling about the camp.

and STILL, Firestar is dealing with a bunch of cats who are openly disrespecting him.

Even when he reminds them, "YOU brought him to the Forest! Tigerstar's deal was HALF our land and I could pull LionClan out at any time! I'm trying to HELP YOU"

Darkstripe in particular is still here with his little xenophobic jabs. And he is Xenophobic Jabbering.

In spite of the guilt Leopardstar feels, and the resentment that Blackfoot is starting to feel for Tigerstar and the position he's being thrust into, they're still DIFFICULT, not giving Firestar clear answers about if they're going to come talk battle strategies or not.

Firestar can't believe this.

They're really gonna do this. Say that TigerClan can take care of its own problems.

They're just gonna try and hold onto their scraps of pride and charge into battle, NO plan, because they think they're above him.

After ALL OF THIS, EVERYTHING thats happened, the times they've fought and he's won, becoming deputy, even earning the authority of a leader...

They're STILL not taking him seriously.

This prompts Firestar to end up losing it, the "I saw what you did to Stonefur" speech to Blackstar is moved here, addressed to BOTH of them.

But this time, there's even MORE victims. He lists ALL of them, plus the refugees still in his camp.

And they're gonna kill even MORE cats? What? To be the smuggest corpses in the GROUND?

OR MAYBE THE HAPPIEST LITTLE SKULLS ON THEIR STUPID HILL.

It SHUTS them up.

Leopardstar, in particular, clearly haunted by this... her own father, Mudfur, is one of those refugees. And she is staring intently at some of the bones on the hill.

Unfortunately, her remorse will not stick. Distance will make Blackstar more ashamed, but Leopardstar begins to look back with nostalgia.

But FOR NOW? It MATTERS.

Darkstripe comes in with another little comment, and she snaps at him.

Then she turns back on the Bonehill, and says the, "This belongs to a darker time" line.

Firestar also ends up visiting with Barley Sr, Jr, and Ravenpaw. Chatting about reasons why Ravenpaw still doesn't want to come back, even though Tigerstar is gone.

And about BloodClan, as Barley Senior comes from there. Bone is his mother (though due to some timeline things I'm considering her being his sister; and then Hoot and Jumper are littermates OR cousins of Junior.)

Ends up explaining a bit about the history, how it was formed because of Oakstar, the context of the descendant of Oakstar turning on Scourge like that

Plus why Barley Sr left. His time as a solver, the death of Violet Sr, the way BloodClan demands tribute to keep its cats fed.

And while BloodClan has issues... Firestar is realizing... so do the Clans.

Violence, blood feuds, war... xenophobia. He's still seething over that exchange from earlier.

Firestar's anxious over the big fight, and the people he knows he will lose. GOOD people. The battle won't discern the crackerjacks from the jackasses; people he loves will die. He HAS to win. And yet, his feelings towards Scourge feel frustratingly conflicted.

On the second day...

Finally he's getting somewhere with the other four Clans. Everyone's preparing properly, learning how to fight TOGETHER and not just as four separate entities.

But in ShadowClan, he catches POISONS. Runningnose and Blackfoot are planning to go into battle using the same tactics they used against WindClan-- things that won't kill right away, but will cause inevitable infection and kill slowly, and painfully.

And they're showing OTHERS about it, too.

And this UPSETS Firestar

But, AGAIN, he's able to talk to them. They have a point-- if BloodClan is going to use those claw-weapons, they ALSO have an unfair advantage.

Firestar, about to invent Rules of Engagement: "If they weren't going to use them though?"

That's how Firestar ended up in a british back alley. Meeting with BloodClan.

Scourge is cold and polite, as always, makes a comment about him being early.

Firestar tells him about the poisons, how he's seen them be used before, and how they will kill slowly,

Scourge is torn... at first, thinking it might be a lie, but then the shock of what might happen sets in. He asks, "and why would you warn us about this?"

"Because it's the right thing to do. We're fighting for our home and you're fighting for your promise; It should be a fair fight."

"which means you're reigning them in, then?"

Nods, "If you use the claw extenders, they're going to use an unfair advantage of their own"

As they dig deeper into the conversation, Scourge loses his patience.

"Enough. I've heard enough lies from Clan cats, forest fool. You untrustworthy lot NEVER uphold your end of the bargain, you come here to weaken us but we will not be tricked by a dishonorable foe ever again."

It's starting to hit Firestar now. Scourge... is kinda right.

He's RIGHT to be so distrustful of Clan cats. To think they're dishonorable. He's seen them all himself; liars, hypocrites, cowards, all of them allowing EVIL things to be done to innocent cats.

The pause seems to last days, but it's clear to Scourge he's thinking deeply about what he said.

When Firestar looks up he tells him, "I understand. But I am honorable."

Scourge laughs at that. The whole alley does.

But he stands firm. He will uphold HIS end. "And when you come tomorrow, you will see that I've held my people to it."

"Then you're a greater fool than I thought, weakening yourself."

"Tigerstar believed that honor made us weak," he says with defiance, "and you killed him. I buried him. Now he is dead; don't choose to keep his memory alive."

AND ON THE THIRD AND LAST DAY

When they all come to face off at Fourtrees, it is seen, most of BloodClan is not wearing their extenders.

And most of the Clan cats do not have deathberry-red claws.

There are just some. On both sides.

Scourge is not one of them. His claws are his own

Fire and Scourge step foward in the center, their armies behind them.

Scourge quietly points out the irony in a hushed tone, for what he is about to say could have offended either army;

"Two fools, alike in their dignity. Perhaps in another time we would have been Brothers-in-Honor, you and I."

Brother-in-Honor = Townmew term for someone who unites you through a shared, noble cause.

But Firestar is done. He had to say goodbye to many of his cats this morning, he doesn't know who will live and who will die. The Warriors stand behind him, proud and noble, but terrified to their core. He knows this.

This is their HOME. And he is the holy leader of ThunderClan, bearing the fragment of a star within him.

He's lost his patience, and his sympathy. When he responds, it's loud enough for both armies to hear. (Note: Ever so slightly performative)

"Last chance, Scourge! One step further, and you'll meet the full might of the Warrior Clans."

"Two fools," the little cat laments, "One far more foolish than the other!"

He screeches for BloodClan to attack, and like canon, Firestar loses track of Scourge in the torrent of angry cats

Battle otherwise goes very similar to canon. Out of left field, Darkstripe turns on Firestar with deathberry-red claws, furious and embarassed that he took Tigerstar away and prevented them all from fighting with "every advantage"

Graystripe. One-Man Firestar Defense Squad, body checks him and kills him, trembling in disbelief and immediate regret over his brother's body

Whitestorm loses his fight with Bone and falls, bleeding, to the ground

As he dies, he tells Firestar to let go of his grudges. He was wronged, he was hurt, but please don't let that stop him from making the right choice. Longtail should be deputy.

Firestar announces Longtail is his deputy right there.

The apprentices dogpile Bone in revenge, though I also wouldn't mind changing it. In any case, Bone's dead before Willowpelt can even realize her mate is gone

When he finally sees Scourge again, they grapple ferociously until the little cat breaks loose

Trying to avoid the grallocking move that ended Tigerstar in a blow and not knowing Scourge can't do that without his claw extenders, he pulls back and leaves himself wide open for a vicious transverse slash

He's split open from neck to arm, he can feel himself bleeding out

Scourge looks at him with pity but says nothing, flicking his claws like he's wicking the blood from a sword.

Game_Over.png

Firestar's vision fades into flashing stars and bursts into the silver-and-blue lights of StarClan

He sees the faces of everyone who he's lost, everyone he couldn't save. Spottedleaf who died in a raid. Stonefur whose execution came too soon. Pikepaw who refused to take refuge with his mother. That old bastard Deerfoot. Whitestorm whose blood is replaced with fresh stars.

Yellowfang comes forward, threading constellations like stitches through his gash, snipping at him to stop wriggling like a worm. Spottedleaf is also helping in a way he doesn't understand, licking his fur the wrong way and returning his lost blood like a Mi returns warmth to a cold kitten.

He smiles, filled with the wonderful sensation of a Sharing of Stars, until it hits him again that he needs to go back

Hmm.. maybe ill have it so Whitestorm had no last words and he gives them here. "Don't let the grudges of the past ruin the future. Make the choices you know are right."

Bring the theme together; he was talking about Longtail, but Firestar interprets it differently.

And when he wakes up in his body, gash aching but skillfully closed by the best healers he ever knew, he feels like they filled his veins with a lion's blood.

He grins, a mixture of humor and righteous fury. He didn't know Scourge's tricks, but he doesn't know HIS either.

Scourge has his back turned, focused on Onewhisker who's cowering in front of him. Firestar bowls into him, catching him off guard

"You! You died! I killed you!"

"I played dead."

With a second bolt of strength, Scourge tries to turn it around and they tumble, hissing and spitting, but the little cat doesn't get a second chance

He's pinned like prey, one paw holding his head and the other pulling down his shoulder, growling like an animal with its neck exposed for a brutal killing bite

Firestar lunges down and Scourge screeches, a horrible crack of teeth on bone quiets the battlefield

And then a SNAP

The sun glimmers on the bloodstained collar's fangs, one of the teeth cracked by Firestar's jaws, as he throws it behind him

Scourge's face is truly apparent to Firestar for the first time, his icy eyes wide with astonishment

Firestar recites the beautiful words that had once been made hollow by hypocrisy, "A true warrior does NOT need kill to win their battles," but he presses his paw into Scourge's pulse as a warning, "DO they?!"

He lifts his paw, and Scourge calls for BloodClan to retreat

Though the warriors are shocked at first, they saw his collar ripped off and his black fur soaked in his own blood, and understood they were losing

Just as united as any Forest Four following the command of a leader, each warrior disentangled as quickly as possible and streamed out behind their bolting leader

Some warriors ran after them to chase them out, and came back a few minutes later

And just like that, it was over. They were gone.

But, that collar is laying there, in the light of the setting sun. The inner fabric is purple, covered in a layer of red and brown from a mix of fresh and dry blood. Various teeth poke through, which he now realizes are from various predators.

Firestar gazes at it and feels Rusty's heart beating. He has that strange, indescribable feeling again.

It's... just like Clan cat hunting trophies, yes. It's a valuable, meaningful object to Scourge. It's a spoil of war made of spoils of war. That's why it's stirring his chest, surely. There's something... deeper to this item. It shouldn't be discarded; this item needs to be kept safe.

Or, perhaps, returned.

From there, the epilogue is gravy. When Firestar arrives in the alley again, this time flanked by several cats, Scourge is still recovering from his many injuries. He feels like he's been seeing Firestar's face too often-- and then the collar is gently placed on the ground.

Just like Firestar expected, there's an energy that washes over the gathered cats, and even the unreadable Scourge now seems awestruck by the gesture. The collar was something greater than just a collar; though Firestar couldn't remember if he had ever been told what a BloodClan collar represented.

Speaking, again, in Townmew, he explains that Tigerstar made Scourge an Impossible Deal, which the treacherous tyrant never meant to honor in the first place. But he is dead. BloodClan cannot have the territory and the Clan cats have won it fairly-- but what CAN we do for you? What were you seeking?

The answer was so simple that it was almost sickening. That they'd come to blows, and cats had died, over something that could have been worked out so easily. BloodClan had plenty of food from the humans' excess and hunting in the wilderness was not a skill they ever had anyway. What they wanted was materials.

Wood. Flowers and herbs. A chance to walk along the hiking trail and see the giant trees. Maybe the occasional piece of prey they didn't have access to in the town, like squirrels and frogs.

So, for a while. There was peace in the Forest, bringing the Tiger Era to a definitive close and beginning the fruitful, but short-lived Fire Era.

So! Them's the major changes. Take your pick of the scene you think is coolest, personally I've got a thing for Firestar ripping off Scourge's collar.

[sepublic]

I’ve seen Dana say they got news of the shortening before writing Follies at the Coven Day Parade, but I’ve also heard that Knock, Knock, Knockin’ on Hooty’s Door was the first episode they wrote after learning about the shortening. I’m inclined to believe Dana, or perhaps the three prior episodes were already written, but then rewritten in response to the news.

If K3oHD is the threshold, then it’s fitting that so many developments occur for our core trio, like going back to basics. It sets the tone for how the rest of the show is essentially a speedrun of the original plans, with some things still needing to be left out to make room for what’s an abridged version of plans. It’s like the first episode of the new, compact version of TOH the writers had to do; Just as the show’s first episode was about the trio.

This does make me wonder how long it would’ve taken for Lumity to get together, for Harpy Eda to happen, and for King to unlock his roar if it weren’t for the shortening. What was s2e8 supposed to be like, what did the writers initially have in mind? Would it have still followed the same format of the previous season’s eight episode, with three plots for each member of the LEK trio?

As it stands, for how packed and efficient the episode is it still works; People still thought it was normal, same for Eclipse Lake and Yesterday’s Lie. That could point to what Dana said. I guess part of it is that we just see S2A as one batch, so it feels right to assume it was done that way and the shortening only began to take effect with S2B’s first episode, Follies at the Coven Day Parade.

I can see the Raeda breakup flashback still occurring because happening right after the episode we see Raine, and getting further context to Eda and Raine’s dynamic there, feels fitting; A way to add to the tragedy of Raine having to be left behind… Speaking of, knowing the shortening happened right after Eda’s Requiem makes me wonder if the bindings Kikimora placed on Raine were originally meant to have more relevance, but were left as one-note because of the shortening?

Whether it’s ER or K3oHD that it changed, would Raine have been actually brainwashed? Or just outright incapacitated before the writers decided they did not have time to do that AND have Raine return and do things, it’s one or the other. Maybe Darius and Eberwolf were genuine enemies in that episode, and would’ve had an arc during the show’s run of becoming rebels; But since storylines had to be downsized or even removed, this was ‘skipped’ by having it retroactively be the case from the start. And with them, you can at least believe they were always on the same side, whereas an abuser like Alador would have to be addressed because it’s not some one-off misunderstanding.

Man; This being the break, the dividing line, it makes you look differently on either episode on either side of that writing threshold. How they were both changed, one in hindsight and the other in the writing process, to reflect how they’re the transition between different phases of the show. In the end, it’s the same never ending list of questions and What-ifs that will haunt us over TOH, some reasoned inferences and a few confirmations, but ultimately no answers unless we kidnap the writers and make them talk or course.

And even they wouldn’t know fully how the show would’ve turned out in another timeline, because they were still figuring that out and how to fill in and organize the broad strokes when the cancellation arrived and they had to fight for the S3 specials. Because without those the ending would’ve felt very rushed and/or we would’ve missed out on a lot of the buildup and other arcs on the way there, which would also feel extra rushed if not absent. Alas…

Reminds me of how shortly after the cancellations news came, Dana admitted in a 2020 Reddit AMA that writing for S2 was fun, that putting together plot lines was like ‘weaving threads’. Considering how so many things have to come together so efficiently and converge, I can see what she meant. Dana did acknowledge that working within limitations proved to be fun in some ways, and gave the show things it otherwise may not have gotten (such as the Collector); She even planned a separate Choose Your Adventure project based on the audience’s input for her Patreon, before Dana had to cancel it to focus on her career.

[disorganizedkitten]

Yes hi hello, I'd love to hear ur thoughts on the al ghul children

Hi yes hello I'd love to talk about them

I am so weak to assassin children you have no idea so anyway

The Al Ghul Children. Are so freaking TRAGIC and I can never get over them

So you have the baby generation which is Mara and Damian and Athantasia; then the original generation, which is Dusan, Nyssa, and Talia.

Attie straight up doesn't exist in most media but in the game(?) where she does she's Damian baby sister who was kept a secret until he couldn't go back to being with the bats. I think about her all the time. What did she know about Damian growing up? Did she ever want to meet him? How many times did she sit in the middle of the night and wish for her brother to do something unforgivable so he could come back? Or was she glad he was gone? The league canonically pits their kids against each other, did she grow up resenting him? Or, even if she liked the idea of him, did she resent him anyway for being the child who went to Bruce? Did she take up Damian's place in the duels with Mara?

Athantasia isn't used nearly enough for her potential she is blorbo-shaped.

And then Damian! Itty bitty baby boy with a sword and issues. I think so much about how he's naturally soft but he can't be because of circumstance. How many quiet moments were lost to blood, how long did it take for him to learn what a genuine human connection felt like? What if he never did? I've been around humans I love since I was born, and I still sometimes feel absolutely disconnected from them. How much superiority is covering for insecurity? We've seen him make friends, Maps, Colin, Jon, as the three I actually care about, and he likes them. Did he make friends in the league? What happened to them? Or did he just, for lack of a better word, imprint, on other assassins?

In a complete other fandom I'm propagating biting as a love language and Damian has that vibe too.

and MARA

Holy fudge Mara also sends me; being constantly raised not only as a weapon, but being told you're the second best weapon and that maybe you can gain more prestige if you beat your cousin in a deadly duel, except even if you do win you know you will never get the recognition you're trying for because his mother is favored and your father isn't

Were she and Damian ever close, or as close as they could get? Did they plan how to lead the league when they weren't trying to take each others' eyes out, did she ever meet Attie, did she take her anger on Damian out on Attie, is the red streak something she does to hide a lazarus streak or is it natural from her dad? Can she see out of her other eye? Where did she see herself in the league before Damian deserted? Is she close to her teammates in the fist or are they just the prettiest canon fodder Ra's could send?

Is there a part of her that is as relieved to be hunting Damian down as it is angry, because at least fighting him is familiar?

The older three also make me Feel Things but not as much as the kiddos.

Nyssa apparently survived the holocaust? And then Ra's murdered her kids and then repeatedly killed her and dropped her into the pits for... something? I don't remember if I ever learned why that happened, but it did and it's so horrid? Drove her to insanity, surprise surprise. I recommend Misericordia and it's sequel on ao3 if you want to cry over Steph, Damian, Talia, and Nyssa. And then the Nyssa Al Ghul & Tim Drake Tag, if you're feeling adventurous. I don't even know the NAMES of Nyssa's kids and that makes me incredibly sad.

Would they have gotten along with the other three? Would they have taken them and ran? Or would they train them, keeping their bloodline strong, and just quietly know that these are their cousins and they're so proud?

And Talia gets rewritten every other writer but there are so many options when characterizing her and they're so much fun. But also everyone else deals with her so jumping to the next one. I think Talia is also the youngest? Don't quote me on that

Anyway last al ghul I think too much about is Dusan. I can't remember if he's the oldest or the middle child but despite being Ra's' male heir he straight up got sent away because he has albinism? And then he fought his way back into his father's ranks under an alias? He went so far for approval and he's still overlooked, and his kid is considered second rate, even though he's personally considered to be terrifying?

How long did it take him to come back? Why didn't he stay away? Does he ever regret it, now that he's back in the league?

i just. There are lots. and lots. of thoughts about them. And I'm sure there are more al ghuls hiding somewhere for me to lose my everloving mind over but I haven't met them yet

the inherent hate of someone who has everything you think you want battling with the inherent love for someone who has gone through the same horrors you have

[surachibee]

if you’ve been following a lot of my recent stuff, you’ve probably noticed (or maybe you haven’t, idk!) that I’ve been tagging a few art posts as ‘pitverse’. You’ve also probably noticed that I’ve provided no context to these posts what-so-ever! and that sucks! So to explain a bit, I present:

”surachi what the heck is pitverse”

Okay, first. ‘Pitverse’ is a working title. Maybe. It’s cheesy, but I kinda like it because it’s cheesy.

Anyways, if you’ve been following me for a while, you may or may not remember this art where I designed a bunch of pits that were loosely based on the different ending to the original Kid Icarus on the NES. Some took influence from different places (eg. the solider ending heavily drawing inspiration from Kid Icarus: of Myths and Monsters) and some were completely made up (eg. the farm ending’s design). It was fun! And it pretty much started this whole idea to begin with.

I’d draw some stuff here and there for it, but other than that I never really did much with the idea other than ‘oh hey look designs’. That is until it came up again a couple years later when I started to get *really* into oMaM stuff, which led to me coming back to the idea of a weird multiverse thing.

Thanks to a few friends, we talked about it and eventually it became like a four-swords adventure multiverse labyrinth thing. Pandora’s Labyrinth times twelve. So as it is right now, it’s like a hypothetical game where some new *evil big bad* takes a handful of Pits from different universes/timelines and plops them into some pocket dimension of different levels and challenges, and together, they have to find out what the heck going on.

Right now, I think I’m gonna try to keep it to three Pits for simplicity sake. Obviously, Pit from Kid Icarus: Uprising has to be here, that’s our guy. He’s also the protagonist! He’s left relatively unchanged in this AU. This also takes place in a post-game setting, so he’s already fought Hades. This applies to the other guys as well, even if their hypothetical “games” and adventures aren’t actually real (Factor) or heavily rewritten (Myth) here.

Good news is that Uprising Pit can still communicate with Palutena! But he’s the only one out of the bunch that can. (Would’nt that have been nice? Imagine all the work you could get done with THREE Palutenas [haha reference]). In this AU’s logic, Uprising’s world in the pocket-dimension what-ch-ma-have-it space is closer to the one where this takes place, so (Uprising) Palutena is able to establish a decent enough connection to at least communicate, though it’s not the best. The other Pit’s worlds are further away, so communication with their respective realms are off the table. This also causes other problems like occasionally “bugging out” and forgetting stuff since they’re so far from their original worlds. So Uprising Pit got kinda lucky.

Speaking of other Pits, there’s other Pits! Both of them draw inspiration from things previously done/involved in the franchise so they’re not entirely made up, but they do stray pretty far from their source material. Anyway..first, we have Factor! He’s heavily inspired by Factor 5’s rendition of Pit from their “Icarus” project back in 2007-2008 that was turned down. Here, this AU’s interpretation of the idea is a little more in line with the franchise’s overall light-hearted and goofy nature. (In this AU the Pit’s are taken from different points in time, so he would’ve been plucked from the future. I did this so 1. They all could look visually distinct from each other, and 2. the thought of Factor going “oh he doesn’t know about [x] yet” or Uprising Pit insisting Myth to NOT go after the wish seed in the future was funny.)

Next…there’s Myth! He’s based on Kid Icarus: of Myths and Monsters, and besides a few plot points he’s pretty much just a modern take on the character. He was easier to pin down because while the concept of Factor’s story was interesting, being banished from the heavens for some unspecified crime, it’s pretty vague in comparison. With Myth, there’s an entire game with a plot to go off of, even if this AU strays a bit from it.

That’s pretty much the basics of this AU! Just a couple of Pits going on an adventure getting into other-worldly shenanigans. I’m having a ton of fun with it and hopefully I can develop the idea more as I go along. Thanks for reading! There’s some extra footnotes and miscellaneous doodles below.

• This AU follows the idea that oMaM takes place in a different timeline than Kid Icarus: Uprising, hence it not being referenced (at least not on purpose, I’m looking at you aurum track accidentally having the same intro motif) or mentioned. Plus y’know, Sakurai not knowing it existed so there’s that. Might as well rework it into a weird explanation. (coping)

• All of these worlds take place in different timelines, so Factor isn’t an older version of Uprising Pit, nor is Uprising an older version of Myth. They’re all still Pit, and all of them have fought Medusa, but it had different outcomes (somewhat based on the endings) and at that point they diverged from each other. • I’ll probably change the naming of the Pits at some point. While they’re good right now, I’m not sure if I wanna keep Factor named after a company. Might have their names based off the titles of their respective games, so instead of “Factor”, “Myth”, and “Uprising” it’d be “Icarus” (based on the project’s internal name), “Myth”, and “Uprising”.

[darkstarofchaos]

Ten years ago today, I posted Chapter One of my first real Transformers fanfic: a delightful little G1 story in which Megatron finally had Starscream reprogrammed, at the behest of Soundwave. It started out okay, but eventually I found myself getting tangled up in plot threads, and every chapter was increasingly more difficult to write than the one before it. In 2020, I finally decided to do what I'd been tempted to do for a while, and discontinued the story - albeit with a promise of a rewrite.

I started this year hoping I would have the rewritten version finished and ready to start posting for the 10th anniversary. When that became an impossibility, I'd hoped I could finish a shorter prequel that I had lying around in my drafts in time. Unfortunately, that didn't work out either. And now this post is what I'm left with for commemoration.

The first version of the story had a lot of issues in the background. One of the biggest, which might not seem like an issue at all to some, is that I knew the characters better from fanfic than from canon. I was inundated in Starscream redemptions where Megatron was an evil rapist and at least some Autobots became sympathetic the moment they discovered that Starscream was being abused. In fact, one of the earliest ideas for the fic in its conception stages was for Starscream to eventually get help from the Autobots (and, yes, for Megatron to be the main villain. Minus the rapey bits, I had no desire to do that).

The thing is, I love canon, and I love rooting my stories in canon. Even in the early chapters, when I had only seen most episodes once, I was making references to Starscream's Brigade, The Revenge of Bruticus, and of course, Fire in the Sky. After Hook inserted himself as a supporting character, I started planning a retelling of events from The Secret of Omega Supreme. A whole minor plotline involved the Decepticons planning to steal the Matter Duplicator from Cosmic Rust. Taking a bunch of unrelated one-shot episodes, some of which contradict each other irreconcilably, and forcing them to exist in one logical narrative, is one of my favorite things about writing fanfic.

Which is why, the more time I spent with canon, the harder it became to write characterizations that no longer felt right.

Starscream, of course, is an example of this. While I don't regret his portrayal after being reprogrammed, the few scenes beforehand take a fairly flat, if admittedly canon-typical approach. He fights with Megatron, he wants leadership. And there's not much to him beyond that. Canon-compliant in the most soulless way possible. But while my approach to him has changed considerably, he's not the one whose characterization feels the most off to me.

I mentioned that Megatron was originally conceived as the main villain. That plan changed early on, with Soundwave taking the role, but Megatron was still meant to be a major antagonist. I leaned into emotional abuse over violence, but he was still terrible to Starscream. He still had him reprogrammed, and still enjoyed having control over him. He cared a little, in his own way, but he was still abusive and cruel.

Here's the thing. I was not comfortable writing Megatron back then. He was freaking intimidating, and I actively avoided writing his POV for three chapters. Every time he interacted with Starscream, it felt too intimate. And this wasn't an erotic story. It wasn't even (explicitly) gay. But he was just not capable of being in the same scene as Starscream without my wanting to depart the premises. And it took me literal years to get past that.

Turns out the solution was to throw up my hands and let them be gay. Yes, your honor, the evil alien robots have an abusive, mutually destructive relationship. They also care about and trust each other in ways that would make no sense to anyone else.

I don't think I need to explain why this creates an issue with the core premise of my story. Figuring out how to make this work has been. Interesting.

Getting anything ready to post for the anniversary didn't happen. But as I mentioned, there's a short prequel in progress, and I plan to have it out sometime before the end of the year. Y'all can find a little sneak peek under the cut if you're interested.

Megatron turned his gaze to Bruticus. "Once we finish reprogramming Bruticus to obey only me, he will be unstoppable." The look on his face as he surveyed his prize said everything. He didn't care about having Starscream back. All he cared about was his powerful new toy. That was all he ever cared about, and Starscream knew that. It had been made so painfully clear on so many occasions that it hadn't even occurred to him to hope for anything else. So why did it still hurt? Starscream looked at Bruticus as well and wondered if he should even bother saying anything else. It seemed pointless. Besides, Megatron had indirectly told him to get back to work. To do otherwise would only make him mad, and Starscream was tired of people being mad at him. If he returned to Earth, everyone would be mad at him. Mad at his actions against the Decepticons, at his being taken back despite those actions, at… everything. He couldn't think of a single bot who wasn't mad at him right now, unless Megatron had truly decided to forgive and forget. And they would stay mad for a long time, in all likelihood. He already deserved it. But he was about to deserve it a whole lot more. "I should get to it, then," he muttered, sinking back down next to Bruticus' head. He hoped Megatron would take the hint and leave him alone, but the warm weight of a hand on one air intake told him he wasn't going to be that lucky. "I wonder," Megatron said, as though the thought had just occurred to him. "How can I trust you to actually do what you're supposed to?" Doubt? He had been praising Starscream for a successful plan not even ten seconds ago and they were already back to doubt? Maybe Starscream should have expected the crumb of approval to be taken away immediately, but like the realization that all Megatron wanted was to control Bruticus, it hurt. "And who would you assign to the task instead?" Starscream asked bitterly. "Shockwave?" "Still jealous?" Megatron said. His thumb slid along the edge of Starscream's intake. "Have you already forgotten that your jealousy is what got us here in the first place?" Starscream hunched his shoulders, staring at Bruticus' exposed processor without seeing it. He hadn’t forgotten anything. Their argument about Shockwave and his own subsequent attack on Megatron was all he’d been able to think about since being cast out from the Decepticons. And he still didn’t understand why he’d been cast out. They argued all the time, and he’d attacked Megatron on numerous occasions. What made that last fight different? What had he done? His chest throbbed. But it wasn’t just emotional hurt this time, or the anxiety that still threatened to build into panic. This was a phantom pain. A reminder that the last time Megatron got mad at him before all this, he’d torn a hole in Starscream’s chest. Whatever had changed - whatever Starscream had done - it had happened a while ago. “Fine,” he muttered tonelessly. “Let Shockwave do it. Who cares.” He made to stand, but his legs buckled, spilling him back to his knees. He caught himself with trembling arms and shut off his optics, head swimming from the sudden drop. Humiliation prickled over his armor, or maybe it was just neural lines shutting down to conserve energy. At this point, he couldn’t tell. Metal creaked beside him and Megatron’s hand settled on his back, gently rubbing along his spinal strut. “You blasted fool,” Megatron scolded, though without much heat. “When was the last time you even had access to fuel?” Starscream was tempted to comment on the barren nature of most asteroids, such as the one Megatron had seen fit to dump him on. But it would be a waste of energy he didn’t have, so he settled for turning his face away, silently rejecting the false concern.

[icallhimjoey]

I LOVED IT SO DAMN MUCH! <3 thank you for feeding us! Now I’m hungry for more- honestly both of them are hopeless idiots

hungry for more, you say? well... (rewritten 19 nov 2023) Wordcount: 2.9K

Inevitable Sparks

part one - part two - part three - part four - part five

It was undeniable now and it felt a little unfair to him. Almost a little, dared he say it, abandoning.

Pushed to the side, no longer important enough.

It had been sort of gradual, but the realisation hit Wesley like a tonne of bricks when he found he hadn't seen Joe in a month and you had.

And several times, too!

He'd been so annoyed by the two of you being too scared to talk to each other like normal people, like adults, but this seemed infinitely more annoying. Wesley couldn't believe it, but he kind of wished you'd stayed in that stage of texting him rather than each other a little longer.

The second he'd left the group chat he'd made for you, both you and Joe filled his phone in individual text-threads with an assortment of accusations and swearwords.

"WTF WTF WESLEY WTF"

"🖕🏻🖕🏻🖕🏻"

"the biggest wanker i know"

"IDIOT"

"are you fckn serious rn?????"

"and then you just LEAVE?"

"wtf do i say now wes"

"you're such a dickhead 😒 you know that right"

"WTF DO I SAY?!"

Wesley followed up with the unthinkable, and texted each of you screenshots of the other's messages to him. You weren't aware he'd sent yours to Joe, and Joe wasn't aware he'd sent his to you, but at least then you both understood that you had the exact same reaction, and it should've calmed your nerves.

It absolutely hadn't, though, because what were you going to say now?

You'd stared at the empty chat screen of the group chat that now was just you and Joe for entirely too long until you saw that Joe was typing.

But then he'd stopped.

And then he'd started again, and Joe typed for nearly a minute, but no message appeared.

Eventually, you decided you were going to send the first message after reading Wesley's message a million times in which he called you both idiots.

"wesley's the idiot"

You decided that you could bond over your awful friend placing you in this awful spot. And it was perfect, because now Joe could just reply and the seal would be broken.

"hard agree"

And then you'd both taken a screenshot of that, and both individually sent it to Wesley without the other knowing, and it had made Wesley laugh out loud.

Sure.

If the two of you wanted him to be the idiot, he'd gladly fill those shoes for you.

"at least the photo's nice"

You sent it and immediately regretted pointing it out, far too nervous that Joe would take the comment the way you meant it.

"its blurry" Joe replied. "he's an idiot AND a bad photographer"

"we'll make him take a new one, preferably one where we know its being taken so he can get my good side"

"which side is your better one?"Joe didn't immediately go into a shpiel of you both your sides being your good sides like you'd expected. Wasn't that the predictable thing for a guy to say after you made a comment like that? Joe hadn't gone that route, though. It was refreshing and you loved it.

"idk probably the back"

"you're right, you do have a nice backside" Joe flirted.

Made you grin.

"yea? hard agree? 🙃" you flirted back.

"the hardest"

The first time you'd seen Wesley after that, you'd shown Wesley the conversations you and Joe had been having and he looked at it for a second before telling you that Joe'd already let him read all of it.

Oh.

Well, all right then.

You concluded then that perhaps Wesley had been right, and the both of you really were idiots. But it was okay. Was fine.

Wesley liked that you kept the group chat with the title and picture he'd set you up with, but said he didn't need to be kept up to date on absolutely everything the two of you spoke about.

What that didn't mean is that he'd be kept out of the loop entirely... except, that's exactly what you and Joe had done.

So you hadn't let Wesley know about the first time you'd met up for a coffee together and had Joe guess your coffee order which he'd gotten right on his fourth try. You'd pretended to be impressed, and Joe had smiled bashfully as he told you shut up, don't humour me.

You would humour Joe for the rest of his life if it was going to get him to smile like that, no problem.

Next, you hadn't let Wesley know that Joe had invited you over to his flat for lunch in between zoom meetings he had going on a random Saturday. You'd had so much fun that you forgot about the time and Joe had missed an entire interview he was meant to do.

And then after that, Joe hadn't let Wesley know that you sometimes called each other whilst getting ready for bed, just to talk about your day for a bit, and Joe would make sure to at least make you laugh a few times so that, even when you'd had a bad day, you at least got to go to sleep in somewhat of a better mood.

And then, Joe hadn't let Wesley know that he was off on a trip for work for the next couple of days, which Wesley didn't appreciate.

"Tomorrow? In the morning?" Wesley asked Joe over the phone.

"Yea, but I should have time tonight! I'm leaving... I don't even know the time I'm leaving, wait, let me check," Joe tried to open his schedule on his phone and accidentally hung up on Wesley as he did.

Wesley gave Joe a little time to ring back, but when he didn't, Wesley called him back and found the line was busy; Joe was on another call.

"Hey!" Joe could hear your smile through the phone.

"Hey," Joe bashfully replied, unable to hide his own smile from making its way into your ears.

"I've got a huge problem," you started, feigning alarm, but nothing about the way you said it sounded like you were being serious. "And I desperately need your help."

It was the cleverest thing you'd been able to come up with to coax Joe over into your flat again. He'd mentioned he'd be out of the country for a few days soon, and you had decided you wanted to see him once more before he left.

Just the two of you.

Without Wesley also there.

"You do?" Joe chuckled. "What is it?"

"I've just prepared far too much food, there's no way I can eat all of it by myself," you couldn't make it through the sentence without laughing. You were being such an idiot. Joe thought it was adorable.

"Did you? What did you make?"

"Shrimp. Scampi. I've got so much of it, it's honestly– it's a bit mad." your voice dripped with overdone concern.

"Oh no, shrimp overload?" Joe gasped dramatically, matching your tone.

"Shrimp overload." you confirmed, absolutely beaming.

You looked over at the bag of still frozen shrimp on your kitchen counter, and you knew if Joe was going to say he would come over to help you in this faux disaster, you'd have to start cooking them immediately to at least make this playful lie somewhat believable.

"Sounds like–" Joe audibly let a choked laugh escape through his teeth. "Sounds like a serious issue..."

"It really is, I could really use a hand in, let's say, about an hour?"

"Of course," Joe's voice was suddenly impossibly soft and sweet. "I'll be right over."

Made your neck flush.

"My hero," you said, and you both softly giggled before saying your goodbyes and hanging up.

That was when Joe saw he'd received a text from Wesley whilst he'd been talking to you.

"So. Tonight. Dinner?"

"Sorry mate I can't, something came up, I'll see you next week!"

When you buzzed Joe into your building, you left your front door ajar so Joe could make his way in himself whilst you gave your cooking its finishing touches.

"Hello?" Joe called into your flat when he entered, and before you could reply, you heard him take a deep breath after which he whispered "Delicious," on his exhale.

Your whole flat smelled of various herbs, mostly garlic though, and it had Joe's stomach instantly rumbling.

"Nearly done," you turned to see Joe walk in and grinned.

"Hi."

Joe looked like he'd just been milling around his flat all day; fluffy hair that could use a lick of product, comfortable loose-fitting clothing - none of it pulled together properly, but he looked nice anyway.

You panned down to see he'd taken his shoes off by the door and your heart fluttered a little because that meant that one, Joe cared enough not to walk filth into your house and two, he looked extra soft and comfortable now.

Joe was immediately hovering behind you to peer over your shoulder to see onto the cooktop.

"That is a lot of shrimp," Joe commented, "Good thing I came."

You could help but laugh, because looking at your pots and pans now, sure, it could feed a small family of four if they weren't that hungry, but this could also easily feed just the two of you without leaving any leftovers.

"Wait, stand still," Joe suddenly said, and you felt two hands on your lower back tug tenderly at your apron as you froze on the spot.

All of your attention was with Joe's touch now which made your heart somersault. Gave you goosebumps.

Joe untied the knot that was threateningly loose and used delicate touch to tie it again.

Tightly, this time.

You could feel how Joe was close to you, too close for what he was doing, his breath lightly fanning the back of your neck.

When Joe was done, he let his fingers linger and make their way over to the side of your hips, and you could hear Joe's breath hitch as you thought of all the things you wanted him to do to you.

There'd only been accidental touching of knees and hands with the two of you up until now, and all had resulted in blushes and shy smiles and you were done with them.

You wanted more.

Kind of wanted more right now.

"Joe?" you broke the silence after you'd both been standing there like that a little too long, Joe's hands softly touching your hips, and you imagined he'd been staring down at your bum.

Suddenly, Joe loudly cleared his throat.

"Yea?"

He let his hands softly tap your hips before moving them away from you.

"Um, anything I can do to help?"

Your attention shifted back to the food in front of you, and you quickly stirred whatever needed stirring.

"Yes, actually. Could you help set the table?" you pointed at a kitchen cabinet and let Joe get to work as you mentally pulled yourself together.

Steady breathing, you silently guided yourself.

Slow, steady, deep breaths.

Come on.

You could do this.

Except you couldn't. Because when Joe had set the table and you'd placed the pan of shrimp in the middle of it, you were about to take off your apron but learnt quickly that you couldn't.

"Oh, double knot, sorry," Joe said, already sat at the table, when he saw you struggle as you pulled on the fabric and he reached out an arm to help.

It made you grin because you knew this dork had done that on purpose. Didn't doubt it for a second.

You turned, and expected Joe to simply untie the apron for you, but instead, he pulled you closer with an unexpected yank, placing you in between his widely spread legs.

He untied you, far too slowly for it to be normal, tugging harshly and pulling you more into him as he did. When you felt the apron fall to your front, Joe pushed you forward a little by the small of your back and you heard him get up from his seat.

Instinctively, you turned around to face him and Joe's hands found the loop of the apron around your neck, helping you take it off completely.

When he'd raised it over your head, what you should've done was move away from each other, sit down, scoop some shrimp onto both your plates and have dinner together.

Instead, you both stood there, fixed in place, and you knew it was just an apron, but technically, Joe had just undressed you and it made you stop breathing for a second as your eyes found each other.

Joe let the apron drop from his hands onto the floor next to you as he reached an arm around your back, pulling you in closer to him. It startled you, and you leant black slightly, placing both your hands over his upper arms.

Joe got close, leaning forward, and his other hand found the back of your neck to guide your movements.

Yes.

This is what you wanted.

Fuck the food.

You could just eat each other.

You didn't even see what Joe was looking at, because you couldn't stop staring at his mouth.

Those lips.

The sheer look of them made you release a stuttered breath, and it was enough to make Joe dip his head down to meet your lips.

But then.

Just as you were about to let your lips touch in the most feverish of manners, your buzzer went.

Fuck.

It filled the room with a shrill harsh ringing noise, pulling you from your hazy bubble which instantly created space between the two of you. You both released breaths you'd been holding in, and you couldn't help but chuckle slightly as Joe loosened the grip he had on you to let you answer whoever was downstairs trying to get into the building.

"Yes?"

"Delivery." a crackly voice spoke through the old speaker and you were quick to buzz them up.

When you turned back to Joe, he had sat back down and grinned at you, letting a huff of air escape his nostrils in a sad laugh. You slumped your shoulders which sent the same message as you smiled back at him and knitted your eyebrows together.

The moment had been ruined and had now unfortunately floated away from you entirely.

"Get some food onto your plate, I'll be back in a second," you nodded at the pan of steaming shrimp before stepping into your hallway to get the door.

With Joe out of sight, you were able to gather your thoughts a second, and suddenly, you frowned.

Delivery?

You hadn't ordered anything, had you?

A rapid, melodic knock at your door startled you.

Oh no... it couldn't be?

A quick peek through your peephole confirmed your suspicions.

Fuck.

Wesley.

"Shit," you muttered under your breath before you carefully opened your door just enough to peek your head through.

"Hi," you spoke in a loud whisper, your eyes huge with shock.

"Wine delivery," Wesley said loudly, and used a flat hand to push your door open further before stepping around you, into your hallway.

"I've just brought one bottle though, do you have more? Because I'm definitely going to need more," he seemed annoyed and completely ignored what your facial expression was trying to tell him.

"Erm, Wes?" you kept the volume of your voice as low as you could manage it, moving yourself to stand in the middle of your hallway to block Wesley.

But Wesley moved to take off his shoes, ready to spend the evening on your sofa with good wine, good company, bad TV and enough time and space to freely complain about his best friend Joe.

"Did you cook? It smells good in–" words faltered him when he saw them. You followed Wesley's gaze and your eyes landed on Joe's beige wallabees, neatly placed next to the radiator.

Fuck.

Wesley didn't say anything, but looked at you a second with a blank face and then stepped around you to look into your living room.

He was met with the sight of Joe scooping shrimp onto your plate, ladle hovering as Joe'd frozen on the spot the second he'd heard Wesley's voice, feeling caught doing something he wasn't meant to be doing.

"Hey," Joe spoke awkwardly, stretching the word and letting it fade out in volume until the blanket of silence covered the room completely.

For a second Wesley just blinked at Joe, and then back at you until he realised the situation at hand.

"Something came up?" Wesley challenged Joe slightly, not overtly angry, more so startled by what he'd walked in on, but you definitely detected a little annoyance.

"Wes," you started.

"Something did," Joe plainly said, interrupting you as he gestured your way.

Wesley followed Joe's eyes and looked at you just a smidge too long, scanning your face to read your apologetic features before handing you the bottle of wine he'd been holding.

"Enjoy," he said, giving you both a tight polite smile that didn't reach his eyes before turning on his heel and walking out.

-----

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[polyamorousmood]

Hey there, both myself and my friend/love are polyam and I’ve been having some difficulty with one particular aspect of things. My love is very big on community (which I love about them) and like to have all of their loves (myself included) know/get along with each other. The thing is that it often comes off as a “you have to be friends with and care about all of these people”. I’ve discussed it with them on numerous occasions and they’ve basically said that they need everyone to care about and support each other. If that’s not something I can do then I’ll either be less likely to have any time with them or just won’t be welcome in their life. I take great issue with feeling like I’m being forced to be friends/care about people that I don’t think I would really be around/bother with if it wasn’t for our shared love of the one person. I find that a lot of the care that these other people try to extend to me comes off as disingenuous and forced. I’m not entirely sure what to do about things. I’ve been friends with my love for over three years (longer than any of the other people in their life) and I don’t wish to lose them over this.

I've rewritten this a couple times now. I have mixed feelings and I'm having a hard time making them coherent, so bear with me.

Because. Even if it is unfair, do you really expect to change your love's mind on this one? Do you really want to argue to your love that you never want to see all the people they love?

Even if you do convince them they shouldn't ask that of you, how do you expect them to feel about all that? How do YOU think you'll feel about it? What is your partner supposed to tell your metamours after all this time of having them be friends, and suddenly apparently that's negotiable?

I'm not siding with your partner here. Its a complicated issue and I see both sides! Their love for you shouldn't be contingent on your love (platonic) for someone else! That's weird! You can't force a friendship if you genuinely dislike these people anyway, so what do they want you to do, fake it?

But they want a life full of connections, they want the people they care about to get along. That doesn't sound so evil! I think part of it is even pragmatism, in that if you don't get along, you love has to divide their life 3 or 4 or however many different ways, which sounds exhausting and unsatisfying! For everyone! Its basically the same thing as wanting your partner to get along with your family, anyway, right?

So like. Every path I can conceive of for you to tread here:

You can ask for minimums. Maybe they're really only wanting "oh my gosh its your birthday, happy birthday!!" and not "I planned you a surprise party for your birthday!". Maybe you can work out something. Ask specifics about what the minimal acceptable threshold is for your partner.

You can turn him down wholesale. You're not going to be friends with them and they can't make you! You already know what this means.

If your biggest problem really is it feeling forced, you can try to push through that awkward phase. Pick a favorite metamour and schedule a hangout. Bond with them. Be genuine friends with at least a couple so it seems more natural. You both love the same person, so you already have something in common! I'm sure you could find more. Have you given it an honest go?

You can continue to suffer through it without changing anything, I guess.

Or I mean, you could call your partner a coercive asshole and break up with them in dramatic fashion. It'd be cathartic, at least, I suppose. Not very nice though.

There's always the "just be friends" option

You can pick the one that sounds best to you. No judgement if you can't handle befriending your metamours. No judgement to your love if they can't manage having you hate the other most important people in their life.🤷

[flarree]

Rise of the Titans - Introduction Sequence & Tutorial Outline (rewritten)

Nintendo Presents

The Legend of Zelda: Rise of the Titans

[Prologue]

Link starts off in the hall of Zelda's new observatory, located on the Great Plateau. You simply walk through the halls to get to the main room, while looking at the artifacts on display.

Link notices the buzz coming in from his Robbie Radio, press the [D-pad down arrow] to tune into the channel - broadcast to Zelda.

In the main room, Zelda (being the hyper-fixated, autistic princess she is) begins to tell Link of her latest findings watching the stars and studying ancient text.

Zelda looks through the telescope once more, but realizes there are meteors headed for the kingdom.

These meteors do not cause catalytic amounts of damage across the continent, but their arrival has definitely not gone unnoticed.

One meteor crashes into Zelda's Observatory, knocking both Link and Zelda from the shock.

They wake up, with the first face Link sees being one that is unfamiliar…yet, strangely familiar?

This mysterious figure introduces herself as Midna (Prime Celestial of the Twili/Sage of Stars & Shadows) - she is mildly injured from her journey, and apologizes to the two Hylians for her unexpected arrival.

Zelda looks at her skin markings, her garments, her technology, and realizes she has read about her people in ancient textbooks - The Twili - saying no Twili has been seen in thousands of years.

On Link's wrist, a piece of Twili technology, known as a Chain has been placed.

Midna informs him that it is a gift of peace between thrm, and a tool to aid them against the Titans that are coming for their planet.

The three, still scraped up from the impact, help each other out of the damaged Observatory out to the Plateau.

And while the distant Greater Hyrule appeared more or less fine, the Great Plateau was definitely affected.

Chunks of land defying gravity. Spiars of ice and rock that reached great heights. And above all else. The remains of a colossal entity.

[TITLE CARD SEQ.]

Zelda has many questions for what is going on, but for now, Midna seems to have exhausted herself too much to go too much into detail. Simply stating that her people had to seek refuge and help from the corrupt Titans roaming space.

Zelda knows that whatever it is, it is not good. She radios the Sages and Purah to come to the Plateau, hoping to gain some assistance.

The Great Plateaus landscape is completely warped and distorted, which made navigating it difficult.

Midna informs Link how the chain's abilities were not all accessible, and scavenging the Plateau would actually benefit them, by completing the trials in the Dungeons.

Main Quest I: The Collision Course

[Tutorial]

The 5 Dungeons & The 5 Sages

*diclosure: while you are re-introduced to the Sages in the beginning due to narrative purposes, you do not yet have access to their abilities.

Dungeon of Agility [Tulin introduction]

Ability: Dash

This ability allows Link to sprint at superhuman speeds/scale tall, steep surfaces with ease.

Dungeon of Tethering [Sidon introduction]

Ability: Unteather

This ability allows Link to walk through certain obstacles/make certain objects intangible to the material plain.

Dungeon of Warping [Riju introduction]

Ability: Time Distortion

This ability allows Link to decelerate or accelerate the flow of time.

Dungeon of Construction [Yunobo introduction]

Ability: Ultrahand+

Same as Ultrahand ability from TotK, acceptive this allows you to launch objects at enemies at high speed and force.

Challenge Dungeon I (out of 30) [Josha Introduction]

Challenge Dungeons have at least three floors. You can choose to play as either Link or any one of the Sages per dungeon session to greatly enhance their abilities and stats.

Mandatory Miniboss: Kohga & Titan Talus

Kohga, who has been using Zonai technology and Yiga secret techniques to survive in the upper atmosphere, has used the opportunity of the recent meteor shower to return to the surface.

He has seized control of a stone talus corrupted by Titan influence, and he must be defeated.

Once defeated, you can take the Great Plateau's repaired skytram down to the kingdom and make your way to Hyloft - The Capital of Hyrule Kingdom.

[Tutorial Complete]

(1/X)

[theunholyrogue]

if time could stop (REWRITTEN!) (Bay!Leo ending)

tw: angst, cursing

intro.itcs

“Let’s do this.” 

Leonardo looked between his brothers, nodding effortlessly to the ideas that each was throwing out and working to incorporate them all into a well-devised plan that would work. 

Though, he couldn’t shake the thoughts that had lingered in the back of his mind. If he were honest, he wasn’t sure what to expect. Would doing this really bring you back to him? Surely that would mess up something– but then that brought him back to what they were currently doing, which would also mess up something in their time. How would this set their current life whenever they did take down the Shredder and they returned? How different would life become? 

“Leo…” Donatello spoke, drawing the leader from his thoughts.

Leonardo hummed, his spaced out expression now focusing in on his brother. “Sorry.”

“I know you miss them.” So desperately. “But we need you here. With us. Okay?” Michelangelo spoke softly.

“I know. I’m here.” Leonardo replied, though he hadn’t been here in five years. 

Everyday, he seemed to remember that day. Your birthday, for Christ’s sake. He had started running towards you as soon as the Shredder broke through your flesh with his blades, instantly sealing your fate. He had been foolish, and watched the life fade from your body at the very last second. It broke him, physically, mentally, and emotionally. 

You and Leonardo had been so close, so close that he had developed a sort of crush on you– but it was harshly ripped away in the moment that you were gone. He had vowed from that day on that he would stop at nothing to end the Shredder just as he did you, no mercy. With Donatello’s time machine, it suddenly became possible. 

“Two turtles at a time. The machine may act up as soon as the first two go through, but it should phase back to normal afterwards. Don’t send anyone else through until it stops or it could mess up the entire system.” Donatello explained as he and the other three brothers suited up in protective suits and stored their upgraded weapons where they normally kept them.  

“Are you only going back five years? Why not go all the way back to when the Shredder was born and kill him then before he has a chance to do any damage to the world?” Casey asked, which seemed like a plausible thought… At least until Donatello explained. 

“Five years is already disrupting our timeline and might have a big enough butterfly effect. We don’t want to go too far back and risk altering so much that we risk never being born, or civilization not progressing like it should. Especially if we come back and weren’t meant to be here. That would cause a whole bunch of issues. At least five years ago we know that we were supposed to be alive.” 

“That… makes sense,” Casey nodded, taking a seat at the station Donatello had built next to the machine to keep a constant monitoring on their situation. “Our suits have continuous vitals tracking, which you will see on the screen and colored coded to our individual masks. You see our blood pressure, heart rate, temperature, oxygen, and respiration rate. If anything shifts dramatically to an abnormal amount, it will turn bright yellow.”

Casey watched as Donatello explained the station he was sitting at, pointing out everything on the screen. Then he moved over to April’s station. “Here, you’re keeping an eye on the portal and making sure it doesn’t want to mess up while we’re on the other side. If it has a chance of screwing up and not self-fixing, you’ll get an alarm flash on the screen to warn us to get out. Like I said earlier, it will go haywire whenever we step through, but it should auto-correct.” He continued to talk April through what she was seeing on the screen. 

“We have buttons on our suits to press in the case that we have to get back through the portal before it shuts down and we don’t want to get trapped… ya know?” Donatello stated, pointing to the button. “It teleports us back to the portal, do not press it unless we have to.” 

“Okay, are we ready?” Leonardo asked, clearing his mind in that moment. Either he would get you back, or avenge your death, no matter what, the Shredder would not be alive for long. 

“Ready.” The rest of his brothers retorted, followed by April and Casey. 

“Donatello and I will go through first, and once it’s clear, Michelangelo and Raphael will follow suit. Let’s take this bastard down.” Leonardo stated firmly, earning a nod from his brothers. 

Moving to the entrance of the portal, Leonardo and Donatello stood and waited for the swirling mist of purple to engulf the inner ring of the machine, opening the gate of interdimesional travel. They flinched back at first whenever the portal opened up, but stiffened up in their posture and spared each other a glance before giving a small nod. 

“Waiting on you,” April called out from the station, signaling to the two brothers that they could walk through. “Good luck.”

Slowly, they stepped forward and entered the swirling mist. It took a few moments of nauseating visual and motion disturbances before they exited on the other side of the portal, finding themselves in Donatello’s lab that mirrored itself. Stepping out onto the other end of the portal, Donatello looked at his wrist while Leonardo took a moment to regain himself. He glanced around the room before looking to his brother. 

“We just did that. We’re back five years in the past, right?” Leonardo asked. 

“We should be… but these readings aren’t adding up with today… five years ago today,” his brother responded, causing him to furrow his brow bone in confusion. 

“What do you mean by that, Don?” Leonardo asked with a curious expression.

“Well, at this time– the timeline should be off the charts from the chaos from the Shredder… but it’s just as calm. If I’m correct, we…” Donatello slowly stopped talking as his eyes drifted from his watch, to Leonardo, then to something behind his brother.

Leonardo noticed his brother’s change in demeanor and questioned him. “What is it, Don?” 

“Leo?” A familiar voice called out from behind the turtle’s back, causing his eyes to widened and to turn his body without hesitation. 

There, standing a few feet behind him… was you. You, your body, your voice, you everything. You were there, alive and healthy. Leonardo couldn’t believe his eyes as he trailed your body up and down. Was he dreaming?

Stepping forward, his body moved on autopilot as he walked up to you and placed the palm of his hand against your cheek. To feel your flesh once again nearly caused him to falter and he couldn’t resist the urge to engulf you in his arms. 

You were genuinely confused by his actions, as well as why he was suddenly in Donatello’s lab, but you didn’t fight away from his grasp, instead wrapping your arms around him and reciprocating the gesture. Leonardo melted into your hold and felt like breaking down. 

“I’m so sorry. I’m so, so, so sorry,” Leonardo whispered into your ear. 

You laughed in an airy manner before replying, “I don’t know what you are apologizing for… but you know I could never be mad at you. Right?” You asked.

Leonardo’s breath hitched as he broke down. “Yeah, I know. I know all too well, but I still feel guilty.” 

You rubbed his shell, a small gesture of yours that had always seemed to calm him down. It ended up working, his subtle breakdown coming to a halt as he breathed deeply, in and out. 

“I can’t send Mikey or Raph through, the portal isn’t going back to normal, Don,” April came through their connected communication system. 

Donatello was silent as he watched you and his brother, a moment he knew that Leonardo needed. He closed his eyes and took a minute before responding. “Alright, coming back through.”

Leonardo’s grip on your body tightened as Donatello’s word echoed in person and through the comms system. 

You, hearing Donatello from the short distance away, pulled back slightly and pressed your palms against Leonardo’s face. 

“I don’t know what happened, or what’s going on, but whatever you are holding in.. what’s causing this pain, let it go. You mean too much to me, here and there, for you to hold something like this in. Now get going, you and Donnie don’t need to get stuck here… I’m sure.” You stated, a reassuring smile on your features. 

Leonardo nodded, slowly, taking in your words to heart. “I love you so much.” He speaks, his voice hardly above a whisper.

You smile, pressing your lips to his for a short second. “I love you, too, Leo.”

“I’m so sorry, but we gotta go,” Donatello broke the moment, waiting on his brother. 

You pulled back, away from Leonardo. Silently, you nodded towards the portal behind them. “I’ll see you again.” You stated as Leonardo and Donatello slowly moved back through the portal, the swirling mist closing soon after the two returned to the other side. 

Everything was silent before Donatello turned to Leonardo. 

“You okay?”

Leonardo took a moment before nodding. 

“I’ll see them again.”

[huntingofbeasts]

Dev Log Update: Rewrites, Refinements, Rendering

As of current, some insight into the upcoming update. I refuse to release it until I finish all the WIP choices in the prologue, even if the quality is mid. The gaps having been driving me nuts.

I have refined some of the writing in general so it's either not as wordy, or just better in general. This has lead to some portions being obviously more clean than others since I'm doing it branch by branch, but it's being done. Tensing issues still take me out back but I'm utilizing that for narrative purposes in the beginning at least.

I reworked the Stats screen to be less info dump, more mystery, ect. Anything not relevant to the story as a whole is either not added, or just left to a line.

I reworked the plot and dialogue a bit to make more sense, though there's still some portions that are being rewritten since I'm not too happy with it.

Alia has some official art coming soon (done by someone with actual skill and not me~)

Blackout dialogue, my beloved. Aka) no more obnoxious looking [Information Redacted]

Removing the "Three Secret ROs" option. Just because of how things are working. That was silly and very complicated for my dummy self whose trying to write 4 Routes for 3 Routes. Can still flirt tho.

Twine: I actually reorganized it to look better for myself so it's easier to track choice pathways

Gradually learning some quirks with the code, like Stats and carrying choices. I promise the choices have meaning, I just have to plug it in when I master the coding for that, which is currently second fiddle to the content.

Other than the obvious fact I'm plugging the WIP holes, I'm going to ensure the introductions in each Route are plugged before I drop it myself. So as a preview, Acceptance/Wrath both introduce Alia first, and Neutral introduces Akio. The next big update after this drops will include Jin Liang and Lamenta.

If I feel like it, just because of how back and forth they are, I might have a *hint* of Jin Liang for Neutral, but no guarantee.

I gave up on the images since they took up way too many hours trying to fix, I'll get around to it later. Again, content is priority atm. That's the gist folks. It's very slow going due to family matters and just a lack of time. This is a bit of a side project for me, but I'm trying my best lmao

[frankenfossil]

13 books

What’s up readers?! How about a little show and tell? Answer these 13 questions, tag 13 lucky readers and if you’re feeling extra bookish add a shelfie! Let’s Go!

Tagged by @quarkscooljacket

This is perfect because I had an extremely slow start to the year in terms of reading and then SUDDENLY in the last few weeks I got my library card un-blocked and then maxed out my reservations and am now reading a bunch of books!!!!!!!

1) The Last book I read:

Question 7 by Richard Flanagan! I extremely liked it! Very contemplative novel/nonfic/memoir mishmash threading through such things as the way scifi writers & physicists prefigured & led to & failed to prevent the bombing of Hiroshima, his father being a POW in Japan who almost certainly would not have survived (and had him!) if the bombs had not been dropped, the history of Tasmania, his own near drowning while kayaking in the Franklin river, and the way history and memory shapes us and is eternally carried forward with us while also being forgotten/rewritten/impossible to pin down for certain. At least, that's my best go of describing this book.

2) A book I recommend:

This is... so open-ended... if you want to identify native trees in Victoria and nearby areas I would recommend Leon Costerman's Native Trees and Shrubs of South-Eastern Australia lmao. I really like The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker, a historical fiction/urban fantasy book about a golem and a jinni living in immigrant communities in New York in the early 1900s, and also the sequel.

3) A book that I couldn’t put down:

Not a book per se but one of the webcomics I got into relatively recently is What happens next https://whathappensnext.webcomic.ws/ which reminds me a bit of Nevada by Imogen Binnie except if all of the characters were youtubers and/or tumblrinas and either involved in a murder or just big into true crime (in universe, fictional). It's very gripping. Of course now that I'm caught up there's the usual wait for updates but such is life.

I also read The Wicked + the Divine last week, since I'd never previously read the final 2 volumes, and that was good. I'm glad to find out I liked the ending. Comics are always a quick read but nevertheless some are more action-packed and fast paced than others lmao, and I just ripped through these in every spare second.

4) A book I’ve read twice (or more):

Naomi Novik is probably my most read author because I've read most of her books twice or more... So far I've read Spinning Silver & His Majesty's Dragon three times each; those are 2 of my absolute favourites. I've read most of the rest of the Temeraire series 2 or 3 times too but few of them grab me quite as much as the first one, & I read the first Scholomance book twice. I feel like I should reread Uprooted because that's the only one of her books I've not liked (though some of the duller Temeraire books get a bit of a leg-up from being in a series with other books I really like lol); since I only remember vague impressions of it now, which might not be accurate, I would like to see if my feelings have changed, or if not, figure out more specifically what I didn't like about it.

5) A book on my TBR:

Praiseworthy by Alexis Wright also happens to be one of the books I borrowed!! It was mentioned on a podcast along with Question 7 and Search History (currently reading, q12) so that is how I found out about these 3 books and was compelled to reserve them. However, currently I am daunted by how fat it is (700+ pages) so it's just sitting on my bedside table and I am... reading the shorter books first lmao.

I will also leave the blurb copypasted from @quarkscooljacket's answer:

Praiseworthy is an epic set in the north of Australia, told with the richness of language and scale of imagery for which Alexis Wright has become renowned. In a small town dominated by a haze cloud, which heralds both an ecological catastrophe and a gathering of the ancestors, a crazed visionary seeks out donkeys as the solution to the global climate crisis and the economic dependency of the Aboriginal people. His wife seeks solace from his madness in following the dance of butterflies and scouring the internet to find out how she can seek repatriation for her Aboriginal/Chinese family to China. One of their sons, called Aboriginal Sovereignty, is determined to commit suicide. The other, Tommyhawk, wishes his brother dead so that he can pursue his dream of becoming white and powerful. This is a novel which pushes allegory and language to its limits, a cry of outrage against oppression and disadvantage, and a fable for the end of days.

6) A book I’ve put down:

The most recent book I decided I did not want to finish is The Female Man by Joanna Russ. It sounded conceptually cool but I was just finding it way too hard to follow or care about. Too many sections where I couldn't figure out which character/s' perspective it was or whatever. I'm sure there's other books I didn't finish before they became overdue and I had to return them but can't remember, I usually want to finish them eventually. Whether I will get around to it is another matter.

7) A book on my wish list:

I don't normally buy books these days, but nevertheless tempted by A Vast, Pointless Gyration of Radioactive Rocks and Gas in Which You Happen to Occur, edited by the Daniels. It looks extremely interesting and also extremely pretty...

8) A favorite book from childhood:

Hmmmm. I guess I did choose my name from The Wind on Fire trilogy by William Nicholson. Definitely up there among my favourite childhood books.

9) A book you would give to a friend:

Another very open ended one...... this depends so much????? what friend... what occasion... idk... there are books I do kind of want to give people but either I haven't decided or it's supposed to be a surprise and they may see this. although recently I have been incepting Lauren with my impeccable borrowing tastes, reading my library books after me is surely the same thing right??

10) A book of poetry or lyrics that you own

Ismene's Survivable Resistance by Claire Gaskin... she is one of my favourite poets, and I rly like the concept of this book, and I saw her do a reading of some of the poems! However I think my favourite poems by her are ones that are not in this book.

11) A nonfiction book you own:

Hmm... Evolution's Rainbow by Joan Roughgarden is an interesting book published in 2004 about the diversity of sexual and gender variation in the world. The first section is about other animals, and especially about the ways human biologists have imposed ideological frameworks in classifying them; the middle section is about human intersex variation and biology; and the third section is about human cultural sex and gender roles throughout history.

12) What are you currently reading:

Search History by Amy Taylor. About the dating life of a classic mildly messy millennial woman. In this case she goes through the facebook profile of the most recent guy she starts dating and then finds out that his ex girlfriend died, and then goes through the accounts and photos of the ex girlfriend and gets a bit obsessed with her, but has to not let on to the new guy that she has done this deep dive. It's okay! Enjoyable, pretty fast to read, some funny bits and observations and whatnot, but not particularly a stand out read. She is not as much of a freak as I expected she would be when I started reading it, which is both a relief and also a disappointment. So far everyone seems to just be normal mildly flawed people doing overall reasonable things imperfectly, and the conflict is just navigating life's complexity (there's a lot about everyday sexism though). Mostly I just keep thinking how glad I am to not be a heterosexual woman or ever had to attempt online dating/app dating, which are both quite boring and excessively smug things to feel, however, I am simply a bit boring and smug. Anyway I'm only halfway through, I'm expecting/hoping there'll be some twists or something. Maybe about the boyfriend...?

update: was talking to some friends about it this arvo and they said not only that it does get crazier, but ALSO that supposedly it's a modern telling of Rebecca, which I have not read but have now reserved lmao

13) What are you planning on reading next?

I have borrowed all of Delicious in Dungeon and am very excited to start them! Also the next books I have to read for my book clubs are Marlo by Jay Carmichael, which I'd better get onto as it is in less than 2 weeks, and Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H, which was one of the ones I put on the list myself and am very excited to read (I previously started it and got too busy to finish it but was rly enjoying it so keen to get further), but I actually still have over a month for that one since I can't make this month's meeting for that book club.

As for a shelfie... well here is a photo of all the plant reference books in my desk drawer for quick reference while working (though there's really only 4 I use very often, plus the australian standards on the side there):

Tagging (with ZERO pressure or obligation): @thesleepybabesclub @depthchargeforcutie @petricorrosion @andilovethisnovemberlife @dogelectedmayor @aesterea @commander-diomika @auntytim @zinjanthropusboisei @red-thorn

[cheeriecherrymain]

What about reader proposing to Viktor? I’m so bad at requests I’m sorry lol <3

Not me taking two months to get back a request OOPS

I know this was for the five somethings prompts, but my brain is working in headcanon format rn im sorry

Viktor x gn!Reader (SFW)

-Neither you nor Viktor had ever expected to end up in a relationship, much less with each other. You’d met when you were merely students, and had been bitter rivals for years, before you’d drunkenly fallen into bed with one another after some fancy event you’d both been invited to.

-A drunken night during which time you admitted that you really didn’t understand why he hated you so much - didn’t understand what you’d done or how you’d offended him to warrant such a reaction.

-The days following had been awkward, before he’d finally singled you out and apologized for how he’d acted towards you. It would take a couple more years to get the reason behind his actions, but for the time being, you were sated by an apology (though you did also manage to get him to agree to dinner together).

-The rest was history. Your relationship had grown stronger from there; you became a force of nature when working together, constantly encouraging each other to learn and grow. There wasn’t a person at the academy who wasn’t aware of your ingenuity as a team, even if most of the student body had never met either of you.

-Eventually your schooling came to an end, though, and you went your separate ways…

-At least in terms of work.

-Viktor found a temporary job as Professor Heimerdinger’s assistant, and you started your career as a lab technician. Both of you were run dry by the end of every day, falling into your shared bed with groans and quiet complaints. You barely had the energy to tell each other about the kinds of nonsense you had to put up with - impossible tasks and hazing by coworkers, or having to sit and read through dozens of shoddy essays written by the first-years.

-You’re together almost three years by the time he starts a partnership with Jayce - four years when you finally quit your job to join their team - five years when you come into the lab one day, riddled with anxiety.

-Viktor is thankfully out for the afternoon, leaving just you and Jayce to finish up with the experiments you’d had planned. Jayce, though -brilliant as he is- did have a tendency to stray from the checklists you’d always lay out. Typically he’d find little things that you’d missed or not taken into account, or a test would go so awry that the prior plans needed to be scrapped and rewritten. But today?

-Today he was chatty.

-Even worse, he was chatty about you. Asking you why you looked so stressed all of a sudden, why you were fidgety, why you kept digging around in your pockets as if to check for something.

-You cared about him immensely, but sometimes you really hated that he was so observant.

- “You have to promise not to tell Viktor,” you whisper to him, glancing one last time at the door. Jayce nods quickly, and you pull a little box out of your pocket - wrapped in dark leather, small enough to fit in the palm of your hand.

-Jayce’s eyes go wide. “Is that what I think it is?” he asks.

- “Yeah. But!” you cut him off before he can start offering his congratulations, “I still need to ask him.”

-You open the tiny box, and observe the ring. Dark polished steel, without gems and subtle enough to not call attention. It doesn’t look like much at first glance, but up close it’s covered in intricate engravings and beautiful details that you know he’ll appreciate.

- “I made it myself,” you explain, “though getting his ring size was a pain in the ass. I never realized how lightly Viktor sleeps until I tried to wrap a string around him - it took me an entire week, Jayce. A week!”

-You sigh, and shut the box, shoving it back into your pocket. “I just…don’t know how to ask him. I want it to be personal, y’know? Private, intimate. We haven’t really talked about getting married, but…I want to spend the rest of my life with him.”

-Jayce’s eyes go wide, and you continue, “But what if we’re not on the same page? We’ve been together for so long that we can predict each other pretty well, but…I don’t know. I’m just nervous, I guess. It’s not every day that you get to ask your boyfriend to marry you, so it’s not like I’ve had any practice- what are you doing, Jayce?”

-The man in question is very urgently gesturing at you, a multitude of movements that you’re completely unable to comprehend.

- “I believe he’s trying to tell you to stop talking,” an amused voice comes from the doorway. “Granted that I’ve already heard most of your conversation, though, the action is moot.”

-You swivel around in your seat, eyes wide as saucers. You open your mouth to speak, hoping you can save yourself, but not a word comes.

-Jayce dips within a couple seconds, loudly proclaiming that he ‘forgot the thing at the place’ before all but running out of the room. Leaving you and Viktor. Alone.

-The silence stretches on for longer than you’d like, before you’re finally able to say anything.

- “This…isn’t how I wanted things to go,” you grumble, leaning back in your chair to stare at the ceiling. Viktor hums a quiet reply, and you listen to him amble across the room to take a seat in the chair that Jayce had recently vacated.

- “And how did you want it to go?” he asks, his tone carefully neutral.

-You roll your head sideways, breaking your gaze away from the tiles above you to instead stare at your boyfriend. “I don’t know,” you admit. “Maybe dinner at our favourite spot, or a night in together. Something quiet, that was just for us - I wanted to ask you without an audience, or without some grand show, because…because I know you don’t like that kind of thing. Plus, I love the moments we have together. Our quiet mornings and lazy evenings, our sleepless nights in the lab. That’s…what I want, for the rest of our lives.”

-You can feel the blood rushing to your face, threatening to set the tips of your ears on fire. “It’s corny, I know, but- Viktor, are you crying?”

-Much to your dismay, your boyfriend’s eyes have glossed over, and you can see a fat line of tears welling up behind his lashes. You’re upright in half a second, scooting closer to him until you’re able to take his face in your hands.

- “Don’t cry,” you murmur, tenderly wiping the damp tracks off his cheeks. “We don’t have to get married if you don’t want to - as long as I’m with you, it doesn’t matter what-”

- “Ask me,” he interrupts.

-You pause.

- “Ask me,” he says again.

-You swallow thickly, but take a breath. “Viktor,” your voice is soft, “Will you marry me?”

-If his lips on yours in the next moment isn’t enough of an answer, then the breathless little ‘yes’ when you finally pull apart is. You carefully take his hand and slide the ring onto his finger, bringing his knuckles up so you can lay another soft kiss.

-It’s a perfect fit.

[sanguinarysanguinity]

"Fic Writer" Meme

(I'm not just a fic writer, and have adjusted the questions accordingly.)

Tagged by @oldshrewsburyian, thank you!

AO3 Name: sanguinity

Fandoms: Currently, the Hornblower novels and The Flight of the Heron. Previously, Strange Empire, Elementary, and a wide array of niche Holmes fandoms. And in the even more distant past, I mostly did lots of rare-fandom exchanges (Yuletide, Festivids, Kaleidoscope -- oh, how I miss Kaleidoscope!), so that between one thing and another, the long tail of my fandoms list is very long. (There was a long time that I wondered how it was even possible that people managed to have enough works in a single fandom to qualify for a remix exchange, since I had almost exclusively one-offs! But that all has changed now…)

Number of Works: 172. Most of those are fic; a couple dozen are vids; a handful are podfic. I need to go through and sort out my video and podfic hosting again; providers have decayed, morphed, and gone offline since I posted these, and I need to find new hosts for some of them.

Work I spent the most time on: Hornblower's Lost Honour, at approximately three years. (That will be GREATLY eclipsed by Langstroth on Bees if I ever finish it! Which I still intend to do someday!) Longest I spent on a vid was a year, for Something Good (Will Come From That), my multi-Holmes magnum opus.

Works I spent the least time on: Oh, good God, there are so many I whipped out in a day. A Peaceful and Beautiful Spot (FotH), Brandy and Soda (The Seven Per-Cent Solution), and Score: Q to 12 (Elementary) were all single-day works that came out very well. The Sherlock 60s, by dint of being 60 word stories, also all took something like an hour apiece. Also, the whole ceci ne pas une vid collection was made at the pace of a vidlet a day, which usually involved downloading and watching the movie, too.

Longest fic: Hornblower's Lost Honour

Shortest fic: the individual entries in Sixty for Sixty, each being a sixty word story based on one of the sixty canon Sherlock Holmes stories.

Most hits: The Sincerity of Dust (BBC Sherlock)

Most kudos: See previous. It's one of my oldest works, written at the height of a mega-fandom, and it's been wildly popular from the beginning.

Total Word Count: 726,055

Favorite Work of my Own: I feel like you're King Solomon asking me to cut my babies in half! Usually my favorite is whichever one I've reread or rewatched recently. They nearly all mean something special to me, or I wouldn't have put in the work to finish them.

Fic You Want To Rewrite/Expand On: Ugh, all the early stuff needs to be rewritten. I use too many italics, the sentence structures are awkward. I've improved SO MUCH as a writer that I almost flinch to look at them now. But I REFUSE to go back and rewrite them, I am NOT going to get entrapped in that time suck of despair and self-reproach.

As for expansion, there are a number of stories I want to write further installments to: Until Death or England Do Us Part, the Kraken series, the Any Service series, the Psychic Wolves series…

Share a Bit of a WIP or story idea you are planning on:

While visiting Ewen Cameron in the dungeons under Fort Augustus, Keith Windham forgots his pen-knife. Ewen's guards discover it the next morning when he is searched before his departure for Fort William, and via its inscription, it is traced back to Keith. Keith is court-martialed for aiding a prisoner, found guilty, and cashiered. His sword is broken, and his spirit with it.

Several years go by before he learns that the court martial had been rigged against him from the start, and that Major Guthrie had been instrumental in arranging that. With a burning desire to recover his honour, Keith boards a ship for the Highlands, the site of Guthrie's current posting, to demand satisfaction. Upon landing in Inverness, however, he makes a near-fatal miscalculation: he is robbed, stabbed, and left for dead.

When he wakes, he is in an unfamiliar room, with a very worried Ewen Cameron of Ardroy sitting vigil at his bedside…

Tagging @gniew777, @cedarboots, @verecunda, @tgarnsl, @chiropteracupola, @sailorpants, and anyone else who wishes to play!

[cru5h-cascades]

Mat3 Heart of a God Character Bio #3: Triple Feature (Chimi, Rico, and Pichu)

Now, why am I writing all these three's reimagined back stories in one post, you might ask? Well, that's because I'm actually fine with Chimi and Rico's back stories in the OG show. They're pretty good tbh. It's just that I don't quite like Pichu's that much. Bro kinda felt out of place in the show to begin with, at least to me, so a good chunk of this post will have to do with rewriting Pichu's backstory entirely (like I did with Zatz). Just know that these three were forced into the whole rescuing Maya ordeal because their respective villages have problems with each of these heroes and didn't quite consider the prophecy (but they get things right regardless... sort of...) (you'll see what I mean in a bit), so none of these guys really wanna deal with any of this shit. Upon entering the realm of the gods (which is something only these three could do as the chosen mortals of the prothecy), these three approaches of trying to save Maya differ, with Rico not really wanting to fight but ultimately does, Chimi trying to fight on the spot but stopping upon finding out that Maya was the demigoddess of death, and Pichu just being plain agressive, specifically towards Zatz, after being sent to the realm of the gods. Now that that's outta the way, time to get to the main part of this post: Pichu's rewritten backstory.

In this reimagining of Mat3, Pichu was one of the more popular kids in the Golden Mountains village and was typically the one that make other kids heckle Zatz when he was still in the village. There was something Pichu just didn't like about him. Perhaps it was the fact he just looked kinda freaky. Maybe 'cause he deep down he was freaky 'cause he's the son of the then god of bats and a human and Pichu was scared of him because of that. Or maybe it was because deep down, the village girls had a crush on him. Anyways, Pichu was the ringleader of the kids who'd pick on Zatz, which, in turn, made him a target for when Zatz snapped and caused the bat incident in the village that'd lead to the entire community to relocate. During the incident, the bats, under their prince's control, killed and severely injured some of Pichu's friends and put both of his parents into a coma. Pichu, after the incident, was left relitively unscaved, but the trauma from seeing people he loved die at the hands of the local village weirdo still remained.

After the incident, Pichu became more agressive towards people and at one point was forced to live on the outskirts of the barbarians' new village (that was established on the other side of the Golden Mountains). The isolation sort of chilled out Pichu, but then something happened: the events of this reimagining. After reciving news that the kingdom of Teca needed the strongest warriors in the land, the prothecy's chosen ones, Pichu was let back into the village, only for the rulers to send him out to Teca with guards monitoring his behavior. After being sent to Teca to start training for the mission, Pichu's anger came back and he promised himself that instead of saving Maya, he'd just kill her and any god, or demigod in that matter, that he met on the mission.

When in the realm of the gods, Pichu discovers that this entire time Maya has been with Zatz, who, to Pichu, was suprisingly still alive. This fact singlehandedly made Pichu kinda have a mental break and want to kill both the reason why he's on this stupid mission and the reason a bunch of his loved ones are dead or in a coma. But ultimately, Pichu came up short when it came to trying to achieve his goal of regicide, as he was killed by Maya (in her demigoddess of death form) during his encounter with the two.

Other info about the main three:

The chosen mortals can only stay in the realm of the gods for a limited time. Once their time runs out, they'll be instantly transported to the mortal realm.

None of the chosen mortals were given any context about the situation besides "our daughter got kidnapped and is stuck in the realm of the gods please bring her back"

After Pichu's death, the universe sort of rewrote the prophecy 'cause Pichu just didn't have a change of heart and didn't wanna fight alongside Maya, prefering to kill Maya and Zatz instead.

Rico, before meeting Maya and Zatz in the realm of the gods, made some magic traps and stuff so he wouldn't have to fight them head-on, but ultimately after the traps didn't work, he tried to fight them, only to come up short and offer them mercy instead.

Chimi originally sorta stalks Maya and Zatz before starting to attack them while being hidden and eventually revealing herself.

While training before entering the realm of the gods, Chimi, Rico, and Pichu slowly became friends over time and hoped that once they were able to get more fighting experience and take over the Teca throne.

Chimi x Rico still exists in this reimagining 'cause why the hell not I didn't have much of a problem with this in the show so I'll just leave it here.