#especially after hearing ark

[wife-of-all-dilfs]

bioluminescence | b. blake

masterlist

summary: season one — you thought all bellamy blake wanted was sex and other women, but when you sneak outside of the camp walls at night, bioluminescent plants are not the only shocking discovery you make, and not everyone is happy about it.

warnings: fluff, swearing, jealousy, mention of sexual themes, (L/N) use, roma

pairing: bellamy blake x reader

word count: 4.1k

Sleep was a rare luxury after you and the other Ark prisoners were sent to Earth, especially since you were all crowded in a small camp surrounding the drop ship. Teenage hormones, anger, violence, and trauma were not a great combination for peace. So, it was either crying, fistfights, or the incessant moans of couples who couldn't keep it in their pants for more than five minutes that usually kept you awake at night.

You were certain it was Bellamy Blake and his two model-looking female companions who were often to blame for that last subject. Although to everyone in the camp, it was very obvious that their relationship was solely physical, neither Roma nor Bree seemed to appreciate when other women talked, interacted with, or even sat near him. Clarke was a heavy target because of her co-leadership with Bellamy. And so were you.

You were within the inner circle, the informal 'Earth council'. You were also handy with a rifle and knowledgeable in tracking, so it wasn't exactly surprising whenever Bellamy took you with him on various missions and hunts. Sometimes though, he would bring you with him even if the task wasn't within your skillset—those were the times you were left feeling a little confused.

Nevertheless, a small friendship sprung from it. You weren't best buddies, but you weren't opposed to each other's company either. That was a big no-no to Roma and Bree and they frequently expressed that fact through passive-aggressive tactics.

This night was no different from others. Thankfully, it was the never-ending fistfights that kept you awake instead of other's carnal endeavours. You opened the flap of your tent and stepped out into the crisp air; autumn was definitely approaching. Hugging your jacket closer to your body, you looked around the camp, unsure of where to wait out the commotion. Everywhere was taken, so you decided a brief walk in the woods wouldn't hurt. Well, you hoped it wouldn't. At least if the Grounders killed you, you would finally get some undisturbed rest.

As you made your way over to one of the fence-wall openings, you ran smack-bang into a barely dressed girl with long brown hair. Roma.

"Watch where you're going, bitch," she spat, scrutinising your appearance from top to bottom.

Ignoring her lovely remark, you eyed her jeans and the way her upper half was only covered by a grey sports bra. "Aren't you cold?"

"Not now I'm not." She smirked, eyes flickering to Bellamy's tent.

You grimaced. I so didn't need to know that.

Right on cue, Bellamy emerged from his tent, fully clothed. He scanned the surroundings before his hardened gaze briefly landed on Roma and then settled on you; it was impossible to miss the way his face softened when your eyes met. Strange.

"Jealous?" she asked, regaining your attention.

"Unlikely."

You brushed past her, though she made an effort to forcefully knock your shoulder and spit another curse at you. Classy.

Bellamy took a step toward you. "Hey—"

But you simply moved past him, continuing toward the wall and saying, "A real gem you've got yourself there."

At least Bree was all bark and no bite.

You could hear him sigh as the distance between you both grew.

Truth be told, you were a little jealous. An unfortunate truth but still a truth all the same. You knew you were beginning to feel something deeper for Bellamy and it was becoming difficult listening to other girls brag about their nights with him. Not like you would ever tell him though—he wasn't a relationship type of guy and as far as you could tell, his feelings for you were platonic.

Never mind. You could settle for his friendship... for now.

You had made it outside the camp walls. At first, you planned on circling the fence for a while, but when your eyes caught on something glowing from the opposite side of a tree, you strayed from your path. Rounding the tree's trunk, you found a glowing neon-pink flower; the species of which you were unsure, but it was beautiful. Then, in your peripheral vision, there was something else lighting up your vision, something blue this time. There was another flower just a few trees away.

And again, you walked over to the strange plant, only to find yourself now on a journey that kept leading to more and more glowing flowers the deeper into the woods you trekked. They were almost everywhere and at this point, you were practically running with an excited grin on your face. In the near distance, numerous radiant colours lit up an area covered by a thick cluster of trees. You wove yourself through branches and leaves, pushing your way into the bright section of the woods.

Once you emerged from the trees, amazement morphed into your expression. You had stepped into a small meadow filled with glowing flowers of various colours that covered the forest floor. There were countless species, but they all shared the same mesmerising radiance. Much to your disbelief, there were even electric blue luminous butterflies that concealed the tree trunks and fluttered in the air.

"Bioluminescence," you whispered to yourself.

It was so beautiful, you could have cried.

Maybe you should just leave the camp and build a hut here. It would certainly beat living with the others.

As you moved further into the small clearing, the butterflies flew closer around you. Holding out an arm, one butterfly tentatively circled your hand before landing in your palm. You laughed in amazement, watching as the small creature curiously crawled across your hand and ticked your skin. Okay, that settled it—you were definitely a Disney princess.

The sound of branches snapping and leaves rustling suddenly pulled you from your amazement; it was coming from where you had entered the clearing. You reached down to your belt only to find the knife holster on it empty. Of course, you didn't bring your knife. You had left the camp's safety and didn't even think to bring a weapon. So stupid.

Before you could reprimand yourself any further, a tall figure emerged from the tree line. The tight dark blue shirt was an easy identifier as to who the figure was. And so were those deep brown eyes.

It was Bellamy. "Woah."

You let out a sigh of relief, feeling your tensed body relax again.

His gaze swept across the vivid tree-encompassed meadow, sharing the same wonderous expression you once had. The overpowering glow from the butterflies turned his tanned skin a light blue, defining the contours of his face and arm muscles. He sort of looked otherworldly.

"What are you doing out here?" you asked.

The incident before you left camp quickly returned to mind and it was evident in the slight irritation etched on your face. He didn't need to respond for you to realise that he had followed you. Great. His little girlfriends were going to have a field day tomorrow if they saw him come after you.

Bellamy's eyes found yours, taking note of your negative reaction. His steps were cautious as he began walking towards you. "I could ask you the same thing."

He stopped in front of you, peering down through a few stray strands of dark brown hair whilst wearing his infamous lazy smirk. No wonder girls were always fawning over him; he was gorgeous, and he damn well knew it too. Even you were falling into the very same trap. Unlike them, though, it was the moments you shared with him when you were alone that conjured your attraction to him. Sure, he was easy on the eyes, but you had also learnt that he was surprisingly a decent human being. More than decent actually, despite how he presented himself to others.

He treated you with respect—a lot more than many others had ever done. You had learnt to trust each other, communicate effectively, and work as a team. Sometimes, you would even find yourselves discussing things that you both intended to keep within till the day you died, things that felt too intimate to share with anyone else.

No matter how much you hated it, you couldn't help but develop feelings for him. Even when it seemed he was preoccupied with other women.

Bellamy eyed you, waiting for the snarky retort he knew you were putting together.

You sighed and turned around, crouching on the floor to inspect one of the neon-pink flowers. "Shouldn't you be teaching Roma and Bree gun handling safety in your tent right now?"

That line was dangerously close to sounding like jealousy and you knew it. You bit your tongue because Lord knows you were most likely to expose your feelings for Bellamy through word vomit.

If only you had been facing him to witness the shame washing through his eyes.

"Funny," he said. "But no. I've got more important things to do."

"Like what? Making sure your best hunting partner doesn't get killed by glowing plants?" you joked, glancing over your shoulder to see his reaction.

It wasn't a grin or smirk like you expected. Not even a little chuckle. Instead, he simply stared at you with this intense look in his eye; it was almost sad but also like he was trying to communicate something to you telepathically.

"Something like that," he murmured.

After those words left his mouth, something about the atmosphere shifted. You suddenly felt overwhelmed with emotion and his soul-piercing stare was not helping. There wasn't a wide selection of movies on the Ark, but you had watched them all, including all the romance movies. The only thing you could compare Bellamy's gaze to was Mr. Darcy's in Pride and Prejudice. Reluctance. Longing. It was all there. Had you been completely wrong about his feelings for you? Or were you just imagining it?

The likelihood of Bellamy sharing your same feelings seemed impossible, so you chalked it up to your wishful imagination.

You stood back up, facing him but avoiding making eye contact. "Well, I—uh," you stammered. "I'm not going back. Not yet."

"I didn't come here to take you back."

That made your gaze meet his.

Why did you come then, Bellamy? you thought.

He side-stepped you and you turned to see him wandering deeper into the meadow. He began observing each and every beauty and oddity the small sanctuary held, touching the petals of every flower with a delicateness you had never witnessed before. Soon enough, you felt compelled to join him.

The two of you must have spent an hour in that meadow, inspecting each species of flora, hovering your fingertips through the glowing cusp of each plant as if you could feel its light on your skin, laughing together when a butterfly landed on the tip of your nose. Sometimes you caught Bellamy watching whenever your face lit up with excitement as you discovered something new. He never really looked at what you had found; he just looked at you, but you were too overjoyed to even contemplate why.

You felt like you had entered a dream, protected from the outside world where there were Grounders, war, and bitchy brown-haired girls. Everything real was forgotten, even your unrequited feelings for Bellamy. You just enjoyed his company in this dream and pretended it would last forever.

Somehow, you had both ended up lying on the forest floor side-by-side, surrounded by flowers as you stared up at the starry night sky through the tree crowns. It wasn't as cold as before; you guessed it was because of Bellamy's close proximity to you. One of his hands was behind his head, the other on his stomach. His warmth was radiating off his skin and onto your own.

You could have fallen asleep if you closed your eyes. Probably not the most logical idea though.

Bellamy's quiet, yet deep voice disrupted the silence. "It's just a distraction, you know?"

"Hm?"

"Those girls," he clarified, and you watched as his words turned to mist, carrying into the black sky. "If I focus too much on the fact that I have to control an entire camp of teenagers, fight a war against the Grounders, while taking care of Octavia and y—" he cut himself off, closing his eyes with a sigh. "I just feel like I start to lose myself."

Your focus shifted from the sky to him. Even he didn't seem to be looking at the sky anymore, despite his gaze still being pointed straight upward. He looked lost in his own thoughts. Serious and sombre—much different compared to how they had been just a short while ago.

"Well," you began softly. "We can't have that. You already seem a little rough around the edges, Blake."

A grin slowly formed across his lips and he shook his head. He turned his head to the side, looking down at your smiling expression from where he lay. The weightiness from before had melted from his demeanour. Because of a little distraction.

You had thought those two girls he spent most nights with were there purely for his own physical needs or because his attraction to them was greater than his self-control. Never had you contemplated the fact that it might have been because he was mentally struggling with the hardships of being a leader. Of course, how could you have? He had never told you before now.

Your brows furrowed. "Why tell me?"

The muscles in his jaw clenched and the grin fell from his lips. A sense of seriousness returned but this time it was less heavy. It seemed more like a weight was lifting from his shoulders. Like a declaration. Like a long-awaited confession.

You felt something warm brush against your hand; it gently grazed over your knuckles, lighting a fire beneath your skin. In Bellamy's dark eyes, you could see the reflection of his hand caressing your own and your heart leapt to your throat.

"Why do you think?" he murmured, his eyes flickering between your own, urging you to connect the dots instead of making him say it aloud.

Your lips parted and the crease between your eyebrows deepened. 

Every time he picked you first to be his partner on a mission, every deep conversation you shared when no one else was around—they all had a hidden meaning. All the times his hand brushed against yours as you walked in sync side-by-side, the times you caught him staring at you through a one-hundred-person dense crowd, or the way he would step in front of you as if to shield you whenever there was even a hint of danger—it was all because...

"Oh," you whispered.

"Yeah." His eyes flickered between yours before he turned back to the stars. "And I—I understand if you don't feel the same way; I know I haven't given you much reason to. From those girls to the... the radio, and the culling on the Ark. If I could take—"

His sentence was cut short as you leaned over him, pressing your lips to his. You could feel his pulse racing in his lips. Or was it your own? Probably both. Your hair fell to the side and his mouth started to move against your own. He began to rise, moving you up along with him until you were both kissing in a sitting position.

Bellamy's hand moved to cradle your jaw, his lips slow and tender. Everything felt like it had fallen into place, like this was exactly how things were supposed to be, with his lips on yours in the middle of a fairy-tale-like meadow whilst surrounded by a field of glowing flowers and beautiful winged creatures.

The butterflies weren't just circling you now, they were somehow fluttering around in your stomach too and it felt exhilarating.

Unfortunately, the kiss did have to come to an end at some point. Even so, the warm fluttering in your stomach never ceased. Bellamy had pulled away first, his hands gently falling from your jaw and back into his lap. He was looking at you and at first, you were afraid he would get up and leave, or tell you he had changed his mind. But he didn't. A smile crept across his lips—not a self-satisfied smirk or a tantalising grin, but a genuine smile.

Forget the butterflies; your stomach was doing somersaults now. He found your hand once more and interlocked it with his own in your lap. His thumb drew small circles on the side of your palm almost as if he knew you needed a reminder that this moment was really happening.

"That was my first kiss," you admitted.

His smile became a little nervous. "Was it okay?"

Was it okay? This boy was a little clueless if he couldn't tell that you thoroughly enjoyed having his lips on yours. So, you answered him with another soft peck to his lips, then pulled back again to see his reaction. He chuckled, nodding his head to say he understood.

"We can always come out here to practice if you want," he said, this time with a smirk.

You laughed. "I think that's a good idea."

He tucked a lock behind your ear and gently brushed pieces of hair away from your face. You could feel warmth creeping into your cheeks, turning them a rosy pink. Well, it was probably more of a violet hue due to the intense blue glow from the plants and butterflies. Either way, it still revealed how nervous he made you feel.

"It's getting late. We should probably head back and sleep," you said. Bellamy raised an eyebrow, creating his own little innuendo with your words and your eyes widened. "Not together! Alone, I mean. In separate tents. With clothes... on..." you trailed off, realising you were only digging yourself a deeper hole.

You sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose in embarrassment.

He just chuckled and rose to his feet. "Come on, (L/N). Let's go sleep."

You rolled your eyes with a smile as he helped you stand up with him.

For a brief moment, you gave the area one last look, imprinting the memory into your mind. Who could have guessed that when you left the camp walls you would enter a fairy tale of vivid colours and electric butterflies? Or, even more surprising, that Bellamy Blake would later confess his feelings for you? All you had wanted was an escape; instead, you got a dream come true.

Bellamy pressed a hand to your lower back, guiding you with him towards the tree line in comfortable silence.

The walk back to the drop ship was pretty quiet. No more words needed to be said; a conversation that clarified what you two were now could wait for tomorrow when your brains weren't clouded by fatigue and the fresh excitement from confession. Some things hadn't changed though. Bellamy still stole glances at you every now and then, as you did him, earning a nervous smile and blush each time either of you got caught. Your hands alternated from brushing against one another to ever-so-slightly linking pinkies.

Okay, maybe things had changed a little.

You passed each flower that had led you to the meadow and this time, they became less and less as you grew closer to the drop ship. As you came up on the camp walls, the sound of fighting and conversations had died down and was replaced by the faint crackling of dying fires.

Finally, you both stepped through one of the openings and were within the camp. There didn't seem to be anyone awake; with the way the moon was shining down straight overhead, it was clear why. 

Your pinkie fell from Bellamy's and you moved in front of him, taking a few slow steps backwards. "Uh, that's my tent over there," you said, gesturing behind you.

His eyes never left yours as he continued to walk toward you. "Yeah, I know."

"Oh, you know, do you?"

A grin stretched across his lips as he hummed and reached for your waist, pulling you against his body. Your hands wound around his neck, a smile present on your face as he leaned in, his lips mere inches from your own. His lips had just brushed against your own when someone behind you cleared their throat and you both jumped apart.

Bellamy peered beside your head, semi-glaring at the interrupter behind you.

What a surprise it was when you turned around to see Roma, arms crossed—clothes on, thankfully—and looking severely unhappy.

"You have got to be kidding me," she said with a scowl.

Perfect. Great. Absolutely fantastic. Looks like her field day had come early.

No way. You were too tired to deal with this. You gave Bellamy an apologetic glance before attempting to slip away through the gaps between tents. Unfortunately, it wasn't in Roma's best interest to let you off so easily. She caught your wrist and jerked you back toward her.

Bellamy looked like he was about to step in, but you beat him to it.

You tore your wrist from her grasp, words dripping with bitterness as you said, "Never do that again."

For a split second, she looked the slightest bit intimidated, but then quickly covered it up with disdain. Her gaze flickered from you to Bellamy; it was hard to miss the way she straightened her posture and tried to look more presentable for him.

And for a split second of your own, you felt the slightest twinge of fear that Bellamy would change his mind about you and leave with her again. But at that very same moment, he gently grabbed your hand and guided you back to his side, dissipating all your previous worries.

Both you and Roma looked down at your interlocked hands in disbelief.

"Listen, Roma." He sighed, sounding like he was desperately trying to keep his cool. "I think it's best if you and Bree find another tent to sleep in from now on."

Her disbelief turned into pure astonishment. "What? Are you serious?"

Bellamy lightly squeezed your hand.

God, he was putting this girl through the five stages of grief. You almost felt bad. Then you remembered the daily torment she had been putting you through just for existing and the remorse immediately washed away.

"Because of her? She's not even—"

"Choose your next words very carefully," he warned in a dangerously low voice.

Her mouth opened and shut a few times before she realised any insult thrown at you would end badly for her. It's not like Bellamy would hurt her, but he did have power over the camp, so he would probably force her to share a tent with Myles or something. His non-stop babbling would drive her to insanity.

She gave him a defiant look. "What if we don't want to leave?"

"I'll take the tent down and move it somewhere else."

"Then Bree and I will make both your lives a living Hell."

You could hear Bellamy suppress a laugh. "Unlikely," he echoed your previous words.

Roma looked to you as if you could help her case—the audacity. You gave her a sarcastic 'what-can-you-do?' shrug which just enhanced her seething temper. It was obvious that she was getting nowhere and the moment she realised, you swore you could see her ego literally deflating.

She made a short high-pitched noise of frustration and spun around, her hair whipping melodramatically through the air as she practically stomped back to Bellamy's tent. You could hear her call out to the other girl inside, telling her to 'pack her shit' and that they were moving tents. Not long after, the blonde-haired girl emerged from the tent flap holding a bundle of clothes. Roma must have explained to her what happened because they both shot a venomous glare in your direction and then walked off in search of another tent.

You sighed in relief as they disappeared out of sight. You were about to walk back to your own tent, but Bellamy tugged you back to him once more, his arms wrapping around your torso as your hands fell on his chest.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I thought she'd handle it better."

You fiddled with the material of his shirt, half-smiling. "I told you she was a gem."

"Yeah." He chuckled. "My taste of women has been a little... questionable."

Your hands moved up to his shoulders, pulling your body up against his. His fingertips grazed the exposed skin of your waist, sending a wave of goosebumps across your body.

"You should really try breaking that trend."

He had that same intense look in his eye as when you were both in the meadow. This time it didn't hold any sadness or longing, but rather a sense of finality and affection, like his greatest wish had finally come true—that would make two of you. One of his hands moved to cup your cheek, stroking your cheekbone with his thumb as his face grew closer to yours.

The heart thumping in your chest almost gave out as you reflexively leaned further into his warm embrace.

"I already have," he murmured before his soft lips descended upon yours.

And the butterflies returned.

[smallpwbbles]

She didn’t get that sketch book back

Quick fic for my Biolizard shadow au taking place pre Ark incident, just some nice fluff between Maria and Shadow

Feel free to criticise the fuck outta this, haven’t written a fic since I was like 13, did feel nice to write this though, hopefully I can turn write a longer fic for the au like I said I wanted to do

Maria was beginning to get restless, it had been a long week full of tests, resting, recovering and just a general sense of stagnation. The days were beginning to phase into a repetitive cycle and while she could manage with it, she couldn’t say it wasn’t beginning to get boring.

Her studies were just finishing up, she had once again been bested by her least favourite subject, math. Maria was quite smart for her age, a symptom of being a Robotnik no doubt, however math had such a way with turning her brain to mush. She was sick enough as it was, she didn’t need the subject doing away with her mind too.

Her notebook and sticky notes were packed away in a cute little cubby adorably stuck with a tag with her name on it, next to hers was an empty cubby addressed with the name Shadow, it was unfortunate that with the monstrous hedgehogs seemingly unending growth spurts came the ability to not fit almost anywhere on the Ark, apart for his enclosure of course.

Maria put a hand to the unused cubby, she very much missed studying in the classroom with Shadow, but her grandfather did allow for studies to be taught with Shadow in the enclosure when they were both on best behaviour, the old man may be a stickler but was an absolute softie at heart.

Gerald was erasing the algebra on the blackboard with a content smile, Maria could see he was in quite a good mood today which was especially great as the week of tests wasn’t just unfortunate to her. As Shadow was due for many tests to check on the state of his growth, Gerald and his team spent many weeks trying to get it under control right after Shadow had begun to increase in size rapidly.

The scientists had all done their best but to an ailing Shadow, who had to be okay with needles and diagrams shoved in and around him, he was at best irate and at worst, down right hostile. One of the testing scientists was still recovering in the first aid section of the Ark after a particularly vexed Shadow struck out. He was “grounded” after such an incident, which doesn’t mean much when you’re 35 feet and can kill a person with minimal effort, but it meant Maria couldn’t see him at the moment.

That wasn’t gonna stop her from trying.

“Grandfather! Studies were absolutely wonderful today, I feel maths gets easier and easier each time you teach it to me” Maria lied. Her plan was to butter him up, get him in an even better mood, maybe then he would feel lenient enough to let her stay in the enclosure with Shadow.

“It makes me glad to hear that Maria my dear, maths has always been an essential subject matter in the world of education, why I’ve loved maths ever since I was a young tot, you know I solved my first problem when I was just 3 years old-“ Gerald kept on. Oh no, she got him rambling, maybe she could shoot her shot and just ask outright. The last time he rambled it put her right to sleep on her desk, it hurt his feelings but the second she started hearing percentages her brain shut it down.

“May I see Shadow today!?” She hadn’t meant to blurt it out so outright but she felt the ramble was about to edge towards fractions and decimals and she quite had enough of those today

Gerald’s animated ramblings stopped in an instant and he faced his granddaughter who was doing her best to charm him with her childish adorable appeal

He hummed and hawed for a moment before shaking his head “Now Maria I know you miss Shadow very much but he is in trouble at the moment”

A wave of defensiveness washed over Maria as she recounted Shadow was currently punished due to actions he did in a moment of stress and anger, she felt in the same position she would have struck out or at the very least gave that scientist a good old raspberry, she was still proud she taught Shadow that, Gerald didn’t need to know that though.

“Oh but Grandfather, it’s been more than a week, I’m sure Shadow has learned his lesson” Maria begged.

“He growled at one of our scientists who came for a check up this morning, one he particularly likes mind you” he retorted

“I mean it could be a bit of that teenage rebellion you’re always claiming me to have when I’m not happy to see you in the morning” She countered.

“I-“ Gerald stopped himself and put a finger to his lip, honestly he couldn’t dismiss that. As Shadow continued to grow he picked up more behaviours Gerald could attribute to the traditional development of adolescence. It still had him flabbergasted as he recalled Shadow sticking his tongue right at Gerald one time during studies.

“None the matter, I don’t want you getting hurt in there because of the irritation he’s at right now” Gerald commanded. Maria deflated, this definitely wasn’t going out the way she has planned.

“He would never! Shadow absolutely adores us, he wouldn’t hurt us” Maria argued, she trusted this 100%. Although around most people some could say Shadow could be careless, Maria and Gerald were of a select few that Shadow handled with the upmost care and caution. Maria could just about get away with doing anything around Shadow, if not for her sickness she would most definitely use the gigantic hedgehog as a playground.

At quiet times before lights were out, when allowed she would curl up in Shadows large claws, it amazed her how still and gentle he could be, she felt like a glass doll in his hands as she deducted he was so still in fear of jostling her. It saddened her that Shadow was at such a state he felt even the slightest movements would hurt her.

Gerald put a palm to his head, “I know he wouldn’t hurt you on purpose Maria, but Shadow can forget himself sometimes, need I remind you of Steven, who is in the infirmary because of Shadows actions?” He scolded. Maria didn’t have a retort for that, she could defend shadow as much as she liked but it didn’t change that he had indeed hurt someone.

She looked down to her dress skirt and gripped the fabric of it, she knew better than to act like a brat not getting their way but she was getting irate, one more plea, and if no results she would would back down, lest she get into an argument with her grandfather and end up in trouble herself.

“I’ve just felt absolutely restless. I understand he’s in trouble grandfather but he always behaves around me, I could even go in there and get him to apologise! He’s usually nicer after I give him a good talking to” Maria gripped her skirt harder, she was honest about getting him to apologise, she didn’t want him thinking what he had done to that scientist was okay.

Gerald studied her for a moment before letting out a defeated sign, the softie in him had won, he hated seeing Maria as desperate as she was, and she was not wrong. Maria’s presence seemed to greatly improve Shadows mood the most

“Fine, you can see him” Maria almost jumped up in excitement but steeled herself, it didn’t stop her from looking absolutely giddy “but you are not to rile him up in any way, and if I feel you are in danger you are to come out, understand” Gerald instructed.

Maria gave a silly salute, she couldn’t help it knowing her plan came around “loud and clear!”

——————————————————————

He was clearly pouting when she got to the viewing windows of Shadows enclosure, he was lying on his side and had his back to the large reinforced windows, so nobody could see his face. It was cute to Maria, he always did this getting in trouble.

He was also very still, she actually couldn’t tell if he was asleep or not in that position, a second later when he turned his head slightly to notice her presence confirmed he was indeed awake. Shadow had quite the ability to sense the people around him without anyone else knowing they were there. He glared at her before immediately curling in on himself, she had no idea how someone that big could make themselves look smaller but he was managing quite well.

She put her hands to the window, the glare he just gave her hadn’t put her off, he clearly wasn’t as happy to see her as she thought he would be but that was her gigantic, hedgehog, lizard buddy in need and she hadn’t almost got on her knees and begged to see him for nothing.

3 little taps to the glass, Maria did this just to give him a warning whenever she was coming in, in response Shadow seemed to curl further in on himself, he almost looked like a gigantic spiky ball.

Maria made a small trek down a compact set of Stairs to some steel doors that led into the enclosure, there was a code box right next to the doors that needed an input only Maria, Gerald and some trusted scientists knew. Quickly putting in 4 digits, her birthday as predictably done by her grandfather, Maria bounced in excitement as the doors painstakingly opened.

The chamber was quiet and smelled of lavender, Maria had recommended a calming smell might tide over Shadow to act nicer during testing, while it hadn’t, he still very much enjoyed the smell.

Maria encountered the big ball of black and red quills and scales, he was very much still pouting and didn’t seem to want to acknowledge her. She gave a couple pats to what she could assume was his tail but it was quite hard to tell as curled up as he was.

Shadow gave no response to indicate he felt the pats so she grabbed a few quills and gave a small tug, she didn’t want to tug hard as she’d definitely get cut if he bristled his quills in response, yet he still gave no reaction.

Oh he was really having quite the tantrum today. She put her hands to her hips and gave the giant wall of quills a tired look

“Shadow it’s me! Are you not happy to see me?” Maria yelled up at him.

If he was, he gave no reciprocation. It humbled her quite intensely as it was a first for Shadow to completely ignore her.

She looked down at her shoes and decided if he was gonna be the Debbie of downers she would use other means of entertainment. She pulled out her small sketch pad that conveniently fit in her skirt pockets. It was a great source of distraction when she had nothing to do or nobody to talk to.

She walked over to some worn down chairs that were placed carefully far to one end of the enclosure, they were initially placed there for observation of Shadow but it was an overestimated idea as most scientists didn’t have the nerve to be in the same room as Shadow for more than 5 minutes. Maria abused this section of the enclosure to benefit her creative devices and made Shadow the subject of most of her sketches.

It was about 5 minutes into drawing when she had stopped drawing Shadow as doodling a curled up spiky ball hadn’t been as fun as she thought. She looked up from her sketch pad as Shadow began to unfurl, as he stretched out she heard some of his bones crack back into place, bones cracking was already an unnerving sound to her, hearing it at Shadows size was something entirely else so she couldn’t help the look that came on her face.

Shadow stopped his stretching to study her, he smirked at the unsettled face Maria made as it was quite an amusing expression for her to pull, the smirked made her a little irate considering how rudely he was to ignore her just before.

“I see you got tired of pouting” Maria huffed, Shadow simply stuck her tongue at her, she gasped in shock and stook up immediately, absolutely aghast he would use such a move on her of all people, she kind of wish she hadn’t taught him that now.

“That’s absolutely- why I never- you are such a rude-“ she couldn’t make up her mind what to say in response. Shadow sat on his hind legs and looked at her in amusement, to anyone who could have been outside the enclosure, the sight of a young blond girl yelling and scolding the near 40 foot giant beast was bewildering.

“It’s no wonder grandfather didn’t want me to see you, with you acting like such a brat I have half a mind to walk out of here, are you even sorry for what you did?!” Maria furiously turned her back to him and folded her arms, if she looked back she would have seen Shadow flinch at the question. “The scientists are doing the best to help you and you had someone sent into first aid!” She grumbled.

Maria heard some loud shuffling then the room shook for a moment, she steadied herself and looked back to see Shadow had repositioned himself with his back to her. She didn’t know why the sight infuriated her more but it just seemed like he wanted to be insanely difficult today.

She began to march over to him, about to give him a peace of her mind. However when she traversed enough to get a even look at what she assumed would be a unremorseful smug smirk, she was met with a regretful furrowed brow, his red crimson irises met her blue azure ones and he instantly looked away and brought his arms up to hold himself. He wouldn’t look back at her.

Maria began to calm herself, one look at him told her what she knew, of course he felt bad for what he did. She wanted to give herself a right slap for forgetting herself, he obviously found it hard to talk about what happened, she shouldn’t have expected him to be right and ready to talk as soon as she walked through those doors.

She slowly came closer and put a hand to his ankle, that was as much as she could reach at his current sat up stance. He dared a glance down at her tiny form and again looked away, she could feel the giant begin to tremble, she then heard as an unmistakable voice rasped out “…didn’t mean to”.

His voice rumbled throughout her body as her heart wrenched at that statement. She believed it without question, he was gentle and caring, she was tired after the week long tests. Maria could only imagine what it was like for him after being poked and prodded for hours on end.

“I know” she comforted. She really did wish he was at least a little smaller, it was really hard to comfort someone who has a hand as big as your entire body.

She could attempt to climb up his leg but she really didn’t want to risk getting Gerald upset with her if she was to exacerbate her already strained lungs. She motioned at shadow with her hand and got his attention “Shadow your hand please” she gently commanded

He knew what she was asking and took a hand off his person to reach her, only seeing his claws near her had him stop for a moment which Maria noticed. “You would never hurt me” she assured. He gently scooped her up and cupped his other hand to the one holding her.

Shadow brought up a safely secured Maria up to his face in which she at once assaulted him with a full face hug, it surprised him for a moment but he instantly melted into it. She did this when she knew he was even a bit upset. He did find the gesture embarrassing but appreciated it all the same.

Maria nuzzled into his muzzle harder, she’d be finding fur in her dress for ages but she didn’t mind, the priority was Shadow. She was glad he was remorseful, it would have been alarming if she had to explain why it’s wrong to send someone into the infirmary but Shadow seemed to grasp the consequences of the event that transpired.

“You are going to apologise once Steven is out of the infirmary aren’t you?” She left his muzzle alone finally and looked up at him, he seemed embarrassed at such a request but knew he couldn’t argue with something that was the least he could do. He nodded firmly and hoped it would be enough to satisfy Maria.

It definitely was as she once again came full force with a hug to his muzzle, he did wish he could return such a gesture properly but he’d definitely crush the poor girl with such a return, instead he just leaned his face into her arms, she was such a tiny thing to him but the action warmed his heart so immensely he’d almost forgotten why he was mad in the first place.

Maria plopped back into his palm, content with her job as “the Shadow whisperer”, as she had oddly dubbed herself in her mind. She wished she could converse with him about all the events that transpired while he had been “grounded” but it mostly included tests which was the furthest thing she was sure both of them wanted to talk about. In that moment she remembered the little notepad she was doodling in earlier.

Shadow watched as she fought to relieve her pocket of the sketch pad and as she flicked through a few pages of quite nice and detailed drawings of him and a few familiar faces he’d seen on the Ark, his interested peaked as he watched her turn to her recent pages and she chortled, Maria shakily stood up on Shadows surprisingly soft palm and held the sketch pad to Shadow, who’s interested promptly died when he saw a drawing of a spiky ball which had been nicely detailed with an annotate to tell whoever was reading the ball was a “grumpy pouty shadow”.

Maria watched Shadows face fall flat and couldn’t help that roar of laughter that immediately escaped her, this only continued to irritate the humongous hedgehog. He brought over his other hand that didn’t have a laughing Maria in it and swiftly brought it over his palm, Maria yelled out a panicked “NO WAIT-“ as he did so. He didn’t hurt her, he just gave her a quick squish to shut her up. That seemed to do the job as he opened his palms to a silence Maria who had her hair adorably scruffy from the attack “I hate it when you do that, I totally deserved it though” she concluded

He snickered at that and she gave him a quick punch to his pinkie finger

——————————————————————

Maria had lost track of the time she had been in the enclosure after 2 hours. She wasn’t worried she’d been in too long as her Grandfather had cameras in the chamber and would have called her out if he wanted her out.

She had returned to her drawings while she was cradled in Shadows palms. She was absolutely engrossed in her current drawing and hadn’t noticed Shadow wasn’t giving input or feedback on her drawings anymore.

The palm she was in suddenly jerked and she had to grab one of his fingers to keep from losing balance, her sketch pad had fallen to the ground when the motion happened. She looked up when she was steadied and saw Shadow, he seemed to have not noticed what he had done. Honestly he seemed quite out of it, she quickly realised the poor thing was fighting sleep and must have accidentally jerked back to being half awake.

“Shadow” Maria called, his eyes opened fully to address her but immediately went back to being half lidded. “Are you tired? I can leave so you can get some rest” she offered.

He stubbornly shook his head and cupped his other hand under her, normally he would have let her go off when she wanted and went back to doing as he did alone in the enclosure but she was sure it was his sleepy brain not wanting her to leave and he was acting upon that.

“Alright alright, don’t have a fuss I’m not going anywhere, even if I could” he had brought his hand close enough that she could reach a particular spot under his muzzle, she gave it a few scritches and had to steel herself when he began purring, it was an intense and loud sound that she feel sending waves through her entire body but she bared it.

He leaned into it, and began to literally lean his entire body’s forward when the feeling of the scratches began to calm his already tired mind, Maria had to stop and immediately grabbed onto anything she could, which was his ring finger as Shadow fell forward, the enclosure shook from the weight of him falling and Maria waited for the vibrations to die down, she hoped her grandfather was not watching the cameras at that moment as she could of accidentally been hurt, she could hear and feel the vibrations of Shadows quiet snores as it confirmed he has simply fallen asleep.

She hopped off his palm to trek to his face, give him a quick hug. Her mission was to now find her sketch pad, that last drawing she was engrossed with had come along really well and she wanted to show her grandfather how her art skills were coming out. Her face turned grief stricken when she realised her sketch pad had fallen where Shadow lay asleep right now, if he rolled over which she knew he was guaranteed to do, it was completely over for that drawing as well as her entire sketch pad.

Maria inhaled and then exhaled. The stories of the superheroes her grandfather read to her had to go through sacrifice, and right now as the shadow whisperer, she could definitely say she was going through sacrifice right now.

[soap-ify]

simon can't be with you anymore.

cw gn!reader , angst , hurt / no comfort, simon doesn't know what he's doing.

notes streets said that it's angstmas !! didn't know that it existed until recently. anyways, since i'm having the worst week of my life, i'm gonna ruin it for simon too.

maybe simon was being stupid.

he probably was. not that he could think of any other options besides leaving you.

his work was too dangerous, and the next deployment was probably going to be his last. especially after the recent briefing he went to where the captain spoke about the upcoming mission — a highly risky one. in fact, even the most skilled like ‘ghost’ was bound to either get severely injured or just die. probably the latter. especially since he wouldn’t be with the rest of the taskforce 141 in the fucking warzone.

just a sacrifice for the better of the world, yeah? even though a part of him didn’t want to. fuck the world. you meant so much more to him. but he had chosen this job right. he had agreed to the mission.

and after all, he never considered himself deserving of you, deserving of this relationship he had with you. he knew he was somewhat of a distant boyfriend — barely opening up about his own feelings or past. at least he had shown you his face. you didn’t deserve someone as dangerous as him, someone so… damaged.

he didn’t want to die knowing that you’d be waiting home, all sad and lonely. he didn’t want to leave you like that, but at the same time, he didn’t want to stay and just watch this sweet bubble you two were in shatter. in both ways, he had to leave you. he had to somehow make this less painful, to make it easier for you to move on.

god, he was an asshole. he knew he was. he spent the week just distancing himself from you, responding to your words with nods and grunts while barely reciprocating to your affectionate touches. his heart was breaking more and more everyday, noticing the pained look in your eyes.

he couldn’t keep doing this for much longer. eventually, he had to end this, and he did.

“we can’t be together.”

his words hit you like a brick. literally on a random friday evening. not so random now, it seemed.

“what do you mean, si…?” your voice got quieter with each word, uncertainty towards your own state of mind flooding inside you while a lump formed in your throat, restraining you from properly even speaking out. your eyes stared at him in pure confusion and heart, noticing how he was cladded in his uniform, how he wore that damn skull mask balaclava — building up those walls again that you had managed to break so easily with your love.

simon hated this. he didn’t want to see you so confused and defeated. he had to stop himself mentally from doing something irrational. he was doing this for you, for your own good. though hearing you call him ‘si’ seemed to somewhat crack his composure.

“look, we can’t be together. s’too dangerous. too risky for you. you never know when i might die.” soon, but he held himself from saying that. you didn’t need to know about his deployment, not at all.

“w-why so sudden?” your voice cracked as you tried to properly make sense of his words, emotions taking off your being while you tried to hold in the tears that had begun to sting your eyes.

too dangerous, too risky — maybe somewhere in your heart, you had known that a day like this would come. simon riley was too careful about safety, too dedicated to his work while simultaneously being madly in love. suddenly, all of his sudden distant behavior made sense, and you felt somewhat stupid. stupid for, well, everything.

he was the plague that had infected you, and now he needed to leave so you could heal.

but you never thought of him like that. he was your rock, the anchor that held you from slipping away into loneliness that had always somehow stuck with you throughout your life, a sting that only simon could soothe. it was simon who would craddle you in his arks every night, it was simon who would listen to your rambles. it was simon who your heart was so willing to give love to.

and now he was going to leave.

simon had expected you to scream, to somehow target your anger and frustrations at him. he wanted you to yell at him, he deserved it.

but you didn’t. you sniffled, beads of tears beginning to roll down your cheeks as you took a wobbly step back, too exhausted to fight back or anything.

you didn’t blame simon. how could you? even now, you couldn’t find a flaw in him. too in love? maybe.

as silence filled the living room of the apartment you used to share with him, he slowly picked up his duffel bag and sighed, trying to keep his brown eyes cold and unfeeling, to make it look like he didn’t feel remorseful, to hide his heart was threatening to tear out of his own skin.

“i’ll always love you, simon…”

you said after a few seconds, causing his head to turn over to look back at you — your eyes teary and puffy while your cheeks were streaked with tears, his hands aching to wipe them away. your voice was weak, reluctantly defeated. you know that there was no point in stopping him.

i’ll always love you too, he mentally thought, though never said.

"one final kiss...?" simon froze at your request, knowing that if he were to look at your face any longer, he'd actually stay. he sighed and pressed a soft kiss on your forehead before pulling away, brown eyes hardening up.

he gave you a final nod and exited the apartment from the front door, leaving you alone all over again, your heart torn in pieces as you fell down on your knees, shattering into pieces that no one was going to bother picking up now. only simon could, but he was gone.

simon riley had died three months after that, and you never found out. for you, ge had just disappeared, leaving no traces behind.

just a memory that you were afraid you’d forget eventually, forget his touch and his voice, forget his face — just a memory that was going to bury itself no matter how hard you may try.

[teecupangel]

So, got another idea. XD What if we take the Monster Hunter asks and the giant snake asks and combine them? XD Dalamandur!Desmond's here to fuck up Templars and save lives!

And since Dalamandur is so huge and his roar summons meteors, Desmond speaks telephaticly to his ancestor/dream shares with them?

Idk if there's stories of giant snakes or snakes in general in 11th century Syria, so idk how Altaïr would react to having dreams of a mountain sized snake talking to him. XD And the snake is weirdly encouraging and tries to tell him to befriend Kadar and Malik more.

Ezio would probably take these dreams as a symbol of the Devil tempting him or something bad, considering the snake tempting Eve to sin is in the Bible. Especially since the snakes tells him he needs to follow it's advice, otherwise his family will die. XD Desmond just worried, because he slept really long and Ezio looks to be 17 and he has no idea what month it is.

Idk about Ratonhnhaké:ton, this is just a quick idea. XD

Here’s Dalamunder (all images from monsterhunter.fandom.com) for those unfamiliar with how the monster look like.

Okay, first of all.

Dalamunder is so big calling it huge is an understatement XD

So I propose Desmond starts off as a baby snakie during Altaïr’s time. And by baby, we all mean he’s already as big as the average size of an adult healthy snake. He also starts learning how to speak telepathically with Altaïr during this time and it all started when the supposed Ark broke apart during the scuffle (with Altaïr distracted by a voice in his head calling his name) and pops the snake.

… that immediately ate whatever was inside the treasure they were ordered to retrieve (steal).

From there, Desmond begins to grow sorta kinda slowly while sticking close to Altaïr because they tried to keep him in Masyaf and he always just slips away. (Al Mualim tried to touch him and Desmond almost bit him. Al Mualim was lucky Desmond wasn’t that used to his new body yet).

By the time Ezio’s time rolls around, Desmond is now the same size as an adult Dalamunder and has been chilling in the expansive underground ‘city’ of Monteriggioni. Assassins have learned to build their headquarters underground with Desmond paving the way through. He starts telepathically talking to Ezio when Ezio is around 16~17 so we can hammer in Ezio’s Catholic upbringing for as long as we like XD

Ezio lived with the fear that the Devil was tempting him with power and knowledge as well as the fact that he believes he can’t tell anyone about this because they might think of him as a devil spawn. If he had told Giovanni Auditore, he would have learned about how Desmond is considered as an old god or a divine beast. The Templars made the whole ‘the devil is a snake’ thing a bigger impact than in the original timeline because of Desmond.

As for Ratonhnhaké:ton, it really depends on whether we’ll let Edward live or not. If Edward lives, that means that Desmond is a swimming snake that everyone thought was the Leviathan and, Ratonhnhaké:ton learned of him because Desmond starts to whisper to him when he was a kid. It’s the least stressful meeting of the three because Edward is there to tell Ratonhnhaké:ton who Desmond is. If we’re keeping it close to canon as possible, Desmond hibernates in the Grand Temple after eating whatever device was keeping Juno’s data and he awakens because he hears Lee and his men. He eats Lee and telepathically tells Ratonhnhaké:ton that they need to go and save the village because the other squads are on their way. From there, the village believes Desmond is one of the ‘beasts’ that sleeps in the land, having awakened because of the atrocities of the colonists.

[rxsilabeth--er]

Regulus and reader who usually hate each other but one late night after a crappy letter from his mom and half a bottle..drunk confession??

:: You're worth a shot!

Now calling....Author: "Hello? Yes, thank you so much for this request, it was a darling one to write, so much fun and more. Sorry for any mistakes!!"

Now calling....Synopsis: "Hello?....You know being drunk is much better than crying over a letter from a cruel parent...at least's in Regulus's opinion...especially if it helps you gain a certain someone.."

Now calling....Warnings: "Drinking, drunk Reggie has a lot of mood swings, is more emotional and expressive than regular Reggie, Walburga as a whole, abusive relationship with parents...usual marauder's era shit. reader plays quidditch and is a seeker and is a Slytherin. There is a secret room in the tower of Slytherin which Slytherins use for partying...This is horrible, leave me alone"

Regulus had quite a few nerves which can easily be ticked off with even a action or a word..And you supposedly had a talent of easily doing it as if taking in a breath would annoy him.

Supposedly it started with quidditch, how you were called a better Seeker than him and it pissed him off...Not like you ever did hurt him personally, but something seemed to just tick him the wrong way when you were around; he was not only easily angered, but also prone to more accidents, stuttering, zoning out, face turning red like he was having a heart attack, etc.

He's still quite a sight in your eyes, with his pale skin, pretty hair, gorgeous kissable lips, gorgeous smile which come out when he's happy and he shines brighter than the sun..I mean, he could show beauty in things there isn't even any beauty present and that was on thing you liked about him, no matter how much you pretended not to.

Sighing, you softly walked up the Slytherin tower to the higher, grand room, or "the party room" as all the Slytherins refer to it as, mostly it's empty leaving the quidditch days where they party for no reason, even if they win or lose, does not matter a party would be there at times.. And if not, it was usually a relaxing place or a place for manual breakdowns and it had a plague outside which told you if it's occupied or not..

Honestly you hoped it wouldn't be occupied, but just your luck as the plague said "Occupied: Regulus Arcturus Black" as you internally groaned, leaning against the door and sliding down as you lit a cigarette and sighed taking a drag, as you sighed, hearing a lot of screaming, you looked at it in slight worry, was Regulus fighting with someone...But you ignored it, sitting outside, you already weren't on good terms, don't wanna make that worse..

You sat there for a while or for how long you had no idea, but you did finishing around three cigarettes before you sighed and stood up, just what the hell was this idiot doing?! I mean, you literally finished multiple cigarettes, you sighed before knocking on the door, hearing no response you banged loudly,

"Oi! Regulus, you bastard, open this damn door!" you called out in as you heard a soft thud afterwards, but the door didn't open, groaning you pulled your wand, placing it at the knob, "Alohomora." you muttered, as the door shifted open with a soft creek.

Pushing it open, you saw the sight of the ark scene with Regulus laying on the floor surrounded by a few bottles of firewhiskey and a three to four glasses, indicating he wasn't the only here before, others were too, but considering the brains in his group, you figured they already learned to apparate and were out of here.. and on the table beside his head was a the chars of a letter

Seeing you, Regulus piped up as a bright smile came on his face, "Oh my god! Hi!!!" he said usually brightly and sweetly and nicely making you cringe a bit as you confusedly waved, "Hi?" you said as he scrambled up and stumbled towards you, reeking of alcohol, sighing you helped him and laid him down in the bed the place had provided, using your wand to shut the door and locking it,

"Ugh, you stink, dammit." you grumbled, sitting him down as he simply stared at you, mesmerized, "What?!" You asked a bit too roughly, possibly from the annoyance of waiting so long and having him drunk, the whole place reeked and it wasn't fun, whatever it was, apparently you were TOO mean....as suddenly tears began to fill his eyes as he turned over, crossing his arms and huffing softly, "Fucking cunt." he grumbled making you stare at his angrily crying stature in disbelief.

Sighing, you put a hand on his shoulder which he swatted, "Oh my god, okay, I'm sorry!" you said huffing yourself as you seated yourself on a bean bag across from him as he stared at you with tears and arms crossed, cheeks slightly puffed out and red and an angry pout on his lips, it was cute enough to make you kiss it away..but forget those thought! He's your enemy!!

"You fucking cunt, how dare you be better than me?!" he asked pushing your shoulder softly, making you stare at him in disbelief as you relaxed yourself across the somewhat large bean bag and continued to tap your wand on your head,

"because of you, my mother sent me a howler, yelling at me! Even Bellatrix tried to curse me...How dare you be better than me, e a good seeker, have people think of you as better and still be attractive enough for me to makeout with you in the hallways the moment I see you so those idiotic bitches can know to stay away from you, fuck you!" he ranted, huffing and turning away, crossing his arms as you stared at him appalled shock, what....?!

You stared at him before sighing softly, fixing your position to sit sincerely and a bit softly staring ta him, anger softly washing away at his druken self, "..Okay, okay, sorry... Are you saying you're mad at me and in love with me?" you asked in confusion as he nodded,

"Yes, cunt.", "Okay.... :)"

you said giving him a bread smile as he continued to huff and look away, sighing you figured you'd have to make hiim smile again and do something, "Hey, now! Don't get mad...I like you too." you said sighing as he still continued to grumble, but simply stood up and shifted to sit in your lap his arms still crossed and still looking away as you grinned and poked his waist, "hey, you're gonna crush me.", "I don't care, handle it." he hummed simply, sighing as you softly thought of the last thing to make him stop being hissy and angry.

Softly you held his face in a hand, squeezing his cheeks as you kissed and suddenly his tense and stiff manner became more affectionate in a matter of seconds as his hands roamed up your chest and neck before tangling themselves in your hair at your nape, pulling you to press his lips more to your lips, your hands softly holding his waist and squeezing with a grin, guess he did stop being hissy and mad :>

© This writing work belongs to me, rxsilabeth--er, Aurelia, Rosilabeth, Cerine. Reblogging is appreciated, but plagiarizing or copying my works is forbidden, thank you for reading this and if you like this check out my blog!

[winters-mistress]

Cuddle pile

It's cold. It's so fucking cold that Ciri thinks she may honestly ask the gods to take her to the next world, because nothing can be as cold as this. She's got two pairs of leggings on, two pairs of socks, one of Geralt's tunics, her pair of gloves that Eskel had found for her, and she's buried underneath several blankets. Yet, she's so cold. She's so fucking cold.

The door opens, she can hear the squeak of the hinges. Footsteps come towards her, she can tell by the gait that it's Geralt, he's trying to be quiet, but he knows she's awake.

"Ciri?" she peaks out of her cocoon of blankets, one eye blinking up at him. His lip twitches, and he reaches towards her. "Cone here, it's too cold for you to be here alone. Especially with the fire refusing to catch."

She realises that the fireplace and the torches are dead. How many times has somebody came in and tried to warm her, only for the wind to blow it out?

Her thoughts distract her enough that Geralts breath upon her cheeks startle her, but she doesn't jump when his arks finally pick her up, blanket cocoon and all.

She makes a questioning noise, but never says no to Geralt giving her a hug. She's carried like a baby out of her room, out of the wing, down two flights of stairs, down another corridor, a third set of stairs, before they end up at the kitchens.

She makes a confused noise. It can't be breakfast time yet, the keep is pitch black to her puny human eyes.

"Why're we here?" she asks, rubbing her tired eyes.

"It's too cold, even for us. Gotta rest." Geralt says. Ciri blinks at him.

All in all, the witchers are good when it comes to her sleeping. When her nights are plagued with the horrors of her past and future, and she wakes up screaming with wet cheeks, the witchers let her sleep in whenever her rest finally turns peaceful and dark. They allow her afternoon naps after training and chores are done, and send her to bed when she stumbles into the dining hall with dark circles under her eyes. Early nights and late starts aren't punished, and as long as training and chores are completed at some point in the day, the witchers don't particularly care when it happens. Hell, shes been wrapped up like a baby by Lambert of all people when they had determined she needed a sleep.

Which is why it shouldn't be surprising when he turns the last corner and finds five Witchers laying a couple feet away from the cracking fireplace underneath the stew pot. They've got blankets and pillows and furs, and look rather comfortable. Laying all over each other, looking rather like a puppy pile. Even Aiden joins in with the snuggling.

"Pups." Vesemir rumbles when he sees them both. Geralt puts her on the floor, kneeling down next to her.

"Come here, girl, get comfortable. Gonna be making camp here for a couple'a days." Coën clarifies when he sees her confused face. Ciri blinks, but nods. These things make sense, and she's seen all the men here hug, but admittedly, this is the first cuddle pile she's been privy to.

She turns upon her side, feeling Geralt curl behind her, trapping her in with his arms, wrapping her in another blanket. She hums, wrapping her hand over his, before Eskel pulls them both close, and she smiles, closing her eyes, feeling the warmth seep into her.

And tonight, she will sleep sweetly indeed.

[michimonie]

If we continue the topic of Scrooge and his relationship with Daisy, who treats her with respect, he values her relationship with Donald. I remember the comics, I don't remember the title, but the point is, Scrooge think that Donald and Daisy broke up, and he was trying to fix it, but it turned out that he misunderstood, and in the end everything was fine. Anyway, I like the Donald and Daisy couple myself. When they are well written (however, like other characters) and there are a lot of such examples, except DT17 or Fantasia2000 they have so much potential, much wonderful chemistry and romance.

I definitely agree, I know in a lot of the comics (especially older ones) They can be a bit of a an old sitcom couple (not really great together). That being said, I'm still a bit of a Donald and Daisy shipper, if not at least for their loving moments, compatible qualities, and relatable troubles.

Also, that Scrooge story sounds really interesting! It's funny to imagine Scrooge McDuck as a shipper.

Scrooge McDuck holding Donald and Daisy dolls and saying "Now Kiss!"

I can't list a lot of comics examples (don't know a lot off the top of my head), but some of my personal favorite animated versions of them being together are Ducktales 2017,

Daisy: You killed my boyfriend! Donald, from the belly of the titan: Boyfriend? Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy!

a few old animated shorts (though they definitely lean towards the old questionable sitcom vibes a lot...),

and Mickey Shorts (hear me out).

Daisy: Just the two of us? Donald: You got it! Daisy: Oh, Donald. Just what the doctor ordered. Donald, on the phone: Mickey, Daisy and I can't make it tonight.

Donald: I'm sorry, Daisy! I blew it... Daisy: There's no need for an apology, Donald. After all, it is finally just to two of us.

As you mentioned, too, the Fantasia 2000 Noah's ark animation is really cute! I hadn't seen it in so long that I'd forgotten all about it.

Donald and Daisy look at photos of them both together, thinking the other is gone. At the end they are happily reunited.

Another good one is Dreamlight Valley:

Donald wants to do something nice for Daisy, and tries to go as big as he can, but then realizes he might need to dial it back a bit. Daisy mentions how he's amazing, but he needs to be kinder to himself.

While these two definitely can have their issues, it's really nice seeing them show why they're together and how much they care for each other.

If anyone else wants to add some of their favorite moments, feel free to do so!

...Also if anyone happens to know what the name of that comic is, I'd love to read shipper Scrooge, lol.

(Obligatory "I'm still somewhat new to Disney ducks so take my takes with a grain of salt")

[witchofthesouls]

Okay I had an ask about a follow-up on the Truck dad and amnesiac bird son dimensional hoppers pair post, but I couldn't fit as more outright creepy/weird shit our boy do. A lot of hints, though.

Here's a piece on Jack's fondness for big animals and secrets.

Optimus should have known something was afoot with Jack, especially with his most recent line of questions and the new direction his drawings had taken on: a large, black canine in the desert, aerial views of the surrounding landscapes, anatomy of local creatures, and multi-eyed birds with strange trinkets in their beaks.

As much Jack was enamored with the animal companions in this universe’s version of the Ark and its Autobots, Sideswipe’s proletariat cat and Prowl’s turbohound were too busy to keep by the sparkling's side.

Despite the extreme species-swap and his regression to a child state, Jack had taken to his Cybertronian frame well. Enough that oddities could be rationally explained by the loss of creators.

(And if this version of the Autobots took it one way, then Optimus won't correct them, especially with Jack's mimicry with natural birdsong overlapping with newspark noises.)

Jack was generally obedient. He took heed of Optimus’ warnings to remain close to him and not to wander away in a certain distance.

However, Jack was good with words. Quick to find loopholes as well. He may not flick a wing-tip over the established boundaries to chase after whatever curious thing had caught his attention, but more than once Optimus found his charge scurrying out from potholes on the streets, broken entrances beneath buildings, and perched high up on the local greenery or infrastructure to peek at something, like a nest of local fauna.

Jack had said he didn’t leave the ship. And that was true. He hadn’t.

He simply coaxed the wildlife to him instead.

It was a hassle to smooth over the growing trend of murders and conspiracies of blackbirds hounding the nearby towns for cash for their “snackies” of seeds and McDonald's, then they uncovered his newest pet.

Not an abandoned dog, or a raccoon, or a house cat, or a hawk, or a toad, or anything Sparkplug reminiscenced over his son's mudpie days. Not something small, easily managed, and no threat to the human personnel.

Those strange grey-blue optics stared at Optimus so pleadily, arms wrapped carefully around the creature. The mountain lion, nearly full grown and quite docile in Jack’s arms, only grumbled, almost bored by the entire ordeal. It yawned wide, showing off teeth reminiscent of military-frame sets of sharp denta.

Animals, especially predatory and scavenger species, was something else Jack was good with, too. And Optimus had no idea what to make of that…

“Please, papa! I made her a bed and kept the wound clean!"

Oh, yes, Jack ran a neat, little clandestine operation in the back. Taking advantage that few mechs were willing to venture near the Dinobots’ living quarters and his own oddities whenever he sang to blackbirds outside the open entrance, he managed to squeeze himself into a nook between boulders that opened into a hidden cavern where he kept an injured mountain lion.

No one had any idea how Jack managed to keep the animal fed, let alone sneak it past the entrance. Too many eyes in the main halls to drag large carcasses, and living matter didn't do well with subspaces. Optimus could hear Red Alert's jaw cracking from pressure-related stress. No doubt combing through the security systems and finding nothing. Jazz and Prowl would be interested in the holes as well.

That was a large issue, and it needed to be addressed. Preferably away from the public.

“-and I'll love her and walk her and I change her water every day and I know how to feed her because Chickadee taught me how to how-"

"Jack,” Optimus interrupted the deluge of words, his tone gentle yet firm. He crouched down to meet those tearful optics, Jack's wingspan ticked up and down. The mountain lion's ears twitched but it remained at ease. “We can't keep her here. That's a wild animal. She's used to miles of free terrain to roam. Not being enclosed and hidden away on a ship.”

Jack inhaled sharply but said nothing in response. It wasn't childish defiance staring back at Optimus. More like guardian possessiveness: Mineminemine, Jack's entire frame projected, dropping away the usual behavior of staying hidden.

“You and I must return to our universe. We can't bring this one, especially into an environment she has no experience in. It would be cruel to do so. Even if we release her back at our base, everything she knew would be either too different or nonexistent. Remember your exploration of the places you once lived in?”

Jack hiccuped out a warbling noise at the reminder, and Optimus could feel a few mechs’ willpower crumbling away at that sound. He coiled his field around the boy, and Jack immediately latched onto him, anchoring deep as he leveled out the sharp notes and soothed away the hurts.

“We can find a suitable wildlife rehab or a sanctuary.”

"Can we visit her?”

“I’m sure we can find time.”

[vilevenom]

I got some sad news this morning, so I wrote something sad to make me feel better.

Not the best start to the new year but here we are.

Shadow grunted as he sat up, rubbing at his eyes as sun poured in through the window, having forgotten to close the curtains the night before. He sighed as he slouched against the head board, glancing to the empty half of the bed with a slight frown, before turning his gaze towards the calendar tacked up on the wall. The day was circled in red, bringing attention to its importance. Not that he'd ever forget.

Slowly, he dragged himself from the bed and shuffled into the kitchen, stabbing at the buttons of the coffee machine as he shoved a mug under the nozzle. He had hoped that over time he'd figure out how it worked properly, but Sonic was always better with technology than he'd ever be. Eventually, however, the machine sputtered to life and began to pour a cup of coffee, allowing him a minute or two to wander into the bathroom to brush out his quills and brush his teeth. Once satisfied, he headed back to the kitchen, dumping the mug of coffee into a thermos before slipping his gloves and shoes on and heading out the door. With the early hour, he was hoping that the sooner he headed out, the less likely it would be that he would potentially run into any of Sonic's friends.

It wasn't too long of a jaunt to his destination, as it was a familiar path that he'd run on many an occasion by now. He was relatively certain that if he just closed his eyes and let his air shoes go, they'd still take him to the right place. He huffed out a quiet breath as he trekked up the small, grassy hill, only pausing once he was beneath the giant willow tree that called the top of the hill home, taking a long sip from his thermos as he settled himself beneath its boughs. No one else was here yet, nor did it look like they had been, given the lack of the usual decorations that they had a tendency to put up. But this was better. Shadow preferred the quiet.

"It's been quite the year, hasn't it?" Shadow murmured as a breeze shifted the branches above him, sending flower petals dancing through the air. Silence answered him, but that was to be expected. After a few moments he let himself list to the side, his shoulder coming to rest against cold stone. It was a sensation he was fairly certain he'd never get used to, but he was grateful for it. It gave him something to ground himself with. On especially bad days he'd press his whole back to it, just to keep his mind from wandering away, like it did when he stared up at the ARK.

"There's been so much that you've missed. So much that I wish you'd been around for," he continued, staring off into the brilliantly blue sky, the day looking like it was going to be perfect for a party. "You know, I finally figured out how to use the coffee machine?…More or less, anyway. It spits out coffee, so that's all I really need." He chuckled quietly, tapping the bottom of his thermos against the stone gently. "Your friends will be here soon to celebrate. I won't be staying, but you're used to that by now, aren't you?"

Silence continued to reign, the soft sound of birds waking up to the morning the only other noise around. Shadow finished his coffee and turned to the stone he'd been leaning on, brushing his fingers reverently over the words etched into it. He could easily recall arguing with Tails over what it should say, but in the end he was the more articulate and sentimental of them, so he'd ultimately won the argument. They were words he'd long since memorized, but he still let his eyes trace over each letter with a heavy heart.

'Here Lies Sonic the Hedgehog. Brother, Partner, Friend. The Hero of Mobius. May the winds of change never slow you down.'

"Happy birthday, Sonic," Shadow murmured, leaning in to press a short kiss to the top of the grave stone, "I miss you."

With that, he could hear the distant sound of children squealing and loud conversations. Sonic's friends were arriving with their kids in tow to have their annual celebration of life. Shadow had hated the idea of having a party at Sonic's grave at first, but Amy had made a good argument about how Sonic wouldn't want to be mourned with crying. He'd want people to celebrate the life he allowed them all to live.

"I'll see you soon," he murmured, rising from his spot in the grass, red sparks already dancing around his shoes as they powered up, "enjoy the party."

The only evidence of Shadow's visit, as the rowdy group of freedom fighters crested the hill, was a streak of red and gold energy zipping away from the graveyard, and a single sprig of lavender laying across the base of Sonic's grave stone.

[countrymusiclover]

7 - We Can't Just Live by "Whatever the Hell we Want"

Part 8

Star Crossed Enemies

Bellamy dragged me inside the closet empty tent, harshly holding onto my wrist until we were both standing inside the tent where he felt comfortable bickering in my face.  “Why didn't you just tell me the truth from the beginning?” 

“Maybe because it's none of your freaking business.” I snapped back. 

He growled, tightening his grip on my forearm he was still holding onto.  “She’s your sister.  Your twin sister and she has no clue about it.” 

“Yes.  I thought I explained it pretty clearly unless you got dropped on your head a lot when you were a child.” 

Bellamy dug his fingers deeper into my forearm, where I wondered if his goal was to draw blood from my body or something.  “The whole point of me letting you mingle around my camp was to help us survive.  But now I - I don't know how to trust a word you say.” 

“I don’t see you spilling all your deepest darkest secrets to me which means I shouldn't have to do the same thing to you.” 

Bellamy raised a brow warning me.  “Remember who's in charge here, grounder.” 

“Do you want to fight, Blake cause I'll give you a fight.” I took a step closer until our noses were touching one another. 

I didn't care if he said he was the one in charge.  I could easily drop his ass right here and now.  Plus he needed to get some sense knocked into him to realize he didn't get to know everyone's business, especially if he wouldn't share his own past with someone like me.  “I want you to start trusting me, Cassie.” 

“What have you done to earn my trust, hmm.  Why should I care about anything you say?  You've repeatedly thrown me around like shit since we’ve met rather than show me any little bit of humanity or kindness.” 

Bellamy lowered his gaze to the ground briefly, muttering under his breath where I swore I didn't hear him correctly.  “I was the reason mine and Octavia's mother got floated on the Ark.” 

“What? Bellamy, I'm-” 

I wasn’t allowed to finish my sentence before the flap was flung opened by Octavia and the boy who wore goggles on his head entering the tent.  “Jasper and I need to show you something. Where's Clarke?” 

“In the dropship.” Bellamy replied. 

The guy named Jasper ducked outside the tent going to get the blonde.  “I'll go get her.” 

Once my sister and Jasper came back into the tent they showed a knife made of metal that wouldn’t have been one of mine.  “ So, there's a murderer in the camp?”

“There's more than one murderer in this camp. This isn't news. We need to keep it quiet.” Bellamy briefly looked around at the group knowing it was a camp full of prisoners. 

My sister kept a hold of the knife attempting to leave.  “Get out of my way, Bellamy.”

“Clarke, be smart about this. Look at what we've achieved… the wall, the patrols. Like it or not, thinking the Grounders killed Wells is good for us.” 

She snapped back at him.  “Oh, good for you, you mean. What… keep people afraid and they'll work for you? Is that it?”

“Yeah. That's it. But it's good for all of us. Fear of the Grounders is building that wall. And besides, what are you gonna do… just walk out there and ask the killer to step forward? You don't even know whose knife that is.” He glanced down to the blade in her hands. 

She challenged him, holding it up to his eye level, pushing her way out of the tent.  “Oh, really? J.M. John Murphy. The people have a right to know.”

“Cassie.” Bellamy called my name seeing me slip out of the tent following after my sister. 

“You son of a bitch!”

Murphy stumbled backwards when she shoved him harshly and a lot of people who were building the wall paused their work to watch.  “What's your problem?”

My sister held up the knife.  “Recognize this?”

“ It's my knife. Where'd you find it?” He attempted to reach for it but she held it from his grasp. 

She glared at him before I felt someone standing behind me where I looked out the corner of my eye to see Bellamy and his sister behind me.  “Where you dropped it after you killed Wells.”

Murphy didn’t believe what she was saying to him.  “Where I what? The Grounders killed Wells, not me.”

“I know what you did, and you're gonna pay for it.” Clarke got up in his face. 

Murphy shoved her away pointing his finger at me.  “I didn’t kill anyone.  Why don’t you ask the prisoner that’s just walking around our camp like she ain’t a fucking grounder.” 

“I’m helping your people survive, asshole.  The portals, the wall and everything else were my ideas.” I jumped into the conversation not wanting to be blamed for something I didn’t even remotely do. 

Murphy stomped over about to take a swing at me until Bellamy grabbed his wrist getting up in his face.  “If you touch her.  You and me are going to have problems.” 

“He might be right.  Why don’t we float them both?” A black guy asked looking around th room. 

My sister looked back at him.   “That doesn’t seem necessary.” 

“I say we float them both.” The guy ignored her and the crowd started chanting the same words. 

“Float them!” 

Reaching down to my boot for a weapon I remembered Bellamy had my weapons back in his tent.  A few of the stronger guys came over twisting my arms behind my back dragging me behind Murphy until we were at the edge of the camp wall.  “No. No. No, please don’t!” 

“Make sure she can’t escape.” The black guy instructed one of the guys who was wrapping zip ties around my wrist. 

Murphy was put on the same metal box stand as I was.  But he had a gag around his mouth and rope around his neck.  “Bellamy! Please don’t let them do this.” Tears welling in my eyes I struggle to get free of the ties but the rope around my neck wasn’t helping me get out faster. 

My sister shoved Bellamy slightly backwards.  “You can stop this.  They’ll listen to you.” 

“Bellamy! You should do it.  Bellamy.” The black guy started chanting and the crowd followed.  “Bellamy, Bellamy.” 

My sister pointed her finger at his chest.  “I saw you in the woods with Atom.  I know you’re not a killer.  Bellamy, don’t do this.” 

“Bell - amy!” I croaked out seeing him coming forward, eyeing me before he kicked the crate and I gasped sharply feeling my throat get closed tightly by the rope and the crowd cheering yet only for a brief moment.  My eyes closed when my breathing began to return to somewhat normal when I felt my body falling to the ground.  Except what I landed on wasn’t harsh twigs and wet dirt from the rain but muscular arms causing me to use what little energy I had regained to shift my head upward seeing Bellamy staring down at me.  “Bell - you cut mine.” 

Clarke cried in anger while my eyes rolled seeing Murphy still hanging by the rope.  “How could you!” 

“This is on you, princess.  You should’ve kept your mouth shut.” Bellamy shouted back at the blonde still holding me against his chest bridal style.  “Some sister you turned out to be!” 

She stumbled backwards in confusion.  “What?” 

The crowd's cheering turned into shouts when someone came running in giving orders to cut Murphy down.  Two guys took out weapons threatening to hurt the one guy until the young child Bellamy had told me about broke through the madness.  “Murphy didn’t kill Wells.  I - I did!” That was all it took before everyone went silent. 

“Cassie - Cassie, no, no, stay awake for me.” Bellamy shifted his gaze down to me feeling my body going limp in his arms.  My eyes rolled into the back of my head before I passed out.  “Cassie!” 

[coelestiuminfernum]

Ciel Phantomhive's Agency Analysis 1/3

so i recently have been thinking to myself about just what makes o!Ciel such a remarkable character worth rooting for, and how his relationship with Sebastian aids this notion.

despite the fact that Ciel kills people, often times those people are adults who were already dead-set on killing a child (him) and therefore probably not too dissimilar from his captors in his mind.

this perspective likely changes when he discovers Madame Red as Jack the Ripper. this suddenly humanizes the criminals that he's been disposing of for several years.

i want to say that it wasn’t until Noah’s Ark Circus that we start to see him arguably and ACTIVELY make “bad” decisions (killing all of those children in cages, killing Doll, perpetually lying to the circus crew that’s been nothing but nice to him, etc.)

and yet, in the ensuing arcs, he continues to evolve from this point of merciless disposal. we see him begin to spare people. particularly when he offers Snake a position at the manor at the end of book of murder. i think here, we see his guilt manifest itself. this is the one way that he can aid/spare one of the circus troupe members- while simultaneously sparing him from the grisly truth.

i'd argue that the reason why he pushes away prince soma throughout the series, and had distanced himself from macmillan after the weston arc, stems from a similar place. he is under no dissolution that darkness and imminent death follows him, it is interwoven with his fate. so, he tries to spare them by not letting himself get too close.

we also see him undergo some fairly realistic depictions of PTSD. though it’s unlikely a 10-13 year old would actually be able to act that calm, rational, and tactical under his dire circumstances and still be able to maintain this thread of his humanity the majority of the time- that sort of brings a certain charm to him. a certain innocence, almost- despite his murderous, bloody, or cruel actions. i think it makes it feel especially raw and heartbreaking the few times we do see him crack.

the terrible nightmares throughout the series, his breakdown/asthma attack in baron kelvin’s basement. refusing to be touched in flashbacks (even by sebastian) but still asking him to stay until he falls asleep (maybe just to hear someone else's breathing- to feel the presence of another being). his psychosis in the emerald witch arc, how distraught he was when his deceased twin brother showed up 3 years later and had killed his friend- we see that his past does still haunt him.

oh, do we see his guilty conscience.

particularly in the emerald witch arc.

part 2

part 3

[peachyfnaf]

haven't been watching I'm a angst person and character pain is the one thing that interests me but THIS!?! it's just a painful ark and I honestly don't like it.

I'll just stick to aus I like hearing of or my own where I make some characters have a better life then whatever this arc is doing.

OKAY SO. FIRST I NEED TO SPECIFY THAT THE SECOND ASK, THE ANON, WAS SENT BEFORE TODAY'S EPISODES. THAT WAS SENT ON 6/11/13, AND I PLANNED ON ANSWERING IT AFTER TODAY'S EPISODES TO SEE WHETHER OR NOT THEY WERE RIGHT ABOUT THE 'BAD OUTCOME' THING. AND LO AND FUCKING BEHOLD SKDJFHSDFDF

Harper, you are so in the right for just sticking to your au's cause, until canon gets back to a place where I enjoy watching lore videos again, I think I'm gonna do the same.

I love angst. I can't say it enough- I love angst.

...When it's well written, and ends in a way where the characters heal together, or at least grow together.

I don't think I can put into words how OOC I believe almost everyone, but especially Moon, was acting today, and have been acting for the past month or so. I think if the Moon from last December saw this Moon, he'd slap him across the face.

Anon was right, this entire arc was just senseless drama, with no proper exploration into the spiral that can come from extreme grief. Which is genuinely shocking, because the show has attempted those subjects before! Sun spiraling over losing Old Moon? One of my favorite arcs! But for here? We had enough drama with Eclipse being back and Solar dying, but now we've lost Moon and officially lost Bloodmoon, too??!?!?

Oh gee, sorry, didn't realize I was watching the "Sun and Friends Show!" :/

I don't have much to say that won't dissolve into senseless angry yelling (your First ask was much of that from me already lol), but I can list?? The few things I liked from this arc???:

Puppet. I'm somewhat conflicted over them intervening when their whole thing is that they don't want to intervene, but them going off on Monty like that, and crushing Bm like a bug was satisfying as hell to see. You go girl, slay.

Ruin. I think he was really the only one remaining in character. Him still being nice to Earth despite it all was sweet, and him trying to reason with Moon was cool.

Sun. He is gonna be fucking heartbroken once he hears the news, and I hope he can get the real Moon back as soon as possible for the sake of his health. And hopefully Dazzle can hold off on telling him ""their secret"" for a while longer ;w;

And, my #1, Eclipse. His slow but steady redemption is the only thing keeping me going rn. If no one else got me, Eclipse got me.

Now. I'm gonna go rewatch yesterdays vibby game episodes and take a chill pill KJDFHSDF

[smallpwbbles]

What was Sonic's reaction to Shadow in your newest AU? Especially once he hears rumors of it secretly being him.

At first it’s like oh a monster disturbing the peace, we godda deal with that with fighting bam bam but it rly doesn’t take long to see shadow in this au is immediately responding with violence cuz he’s scared and has the memories of the ark sort of fighting to come thru in his mind as Gerald put a sort of block cuz he didn’t want Shadow to remember anything.

After that it’s basically Sonic trying (and failing) to keep shadow safe cuz everyone basically wants to use him and his powers

[sincerely-sofie]

Sofie! Do you have voice claims for the cast of TPiaG? I know that Grovyle and Dusknoir already have “canon” voices (as well as Darkrai if you count the Rise of Darkrai movie), but sometimes people opt for different ones so I was just curious how you pictured them sounding in your head, especially Kip and Twig!😊

Getting this ask was very startling to me, because I’ve actually been working on finding voice claims for TPiaG’s characters for a while now! It’s been a bit of a struggle because unlike most of my projects, TPiaG played out almost entirely in my internal voice in my head. Like, I could hear the characters’ inflections and tones of voice as I wrote them, but when it came to their actual voices, I blanked. This video is full of the current best voice claims I have found for each of the main cast members, but it’s not official, and is likely to change as I find better fits!

Some notes on each of the current voice claims:

Twig’s voice claim is decently accurate in terms of sound, but not energy. The clips I used here are pretty accurate, but only for after the credits of the fanfic, when Twig has more enthusiasm and is embracing her extroversion more. I had a hard time finding clips of Ellie Kemper sounding sufficiently exhausted and downtrodden, or even frustrated, to show how Twig would sound in a wider range of moods.

Grovyle’s voice pairs well with Twig’s, which is something I really wanted with their voice claims! I think he’d have a flatter / lower energy tone of voice in general, but he’d definitely end up going a few octaves higher than usual when Twig does riskier stuff and he freaks out as he tries to chastise her.

Kip’s voice claim choice is the one I’m the least confident about, but Bolin has the perfect energy for him once, like with Twig, the fanfic ends and he’s more comfortable in his own skin.

I imagine Celebi has a bit of a southern twang to her voice, but I couldn’t find a sufficiently cutesy-sounding actress with the proper accent. Ty Lee was definitely a match for Celebi in the cuteness department, though!

Toffee’s voice for Ark is a closer match than a lot of these. A key thing to Ark in my mind is that the slightest change in pitch or intonation goes miles with him, and he has a surprising amount of emotion in a very narrow range. I don’t know if Michael C. Hall’s pitch or resonance works fully for him in my mind, but all around, I like the levelness to this voice and think it’s a decent fit.

Dusknoir’s voice gave me such trouble. Runner-ups for him were Lord Yupa from Nausicaa and the titular character of Porco Rosso, but they both felt slightly off. James Cromwell has a good vibe of being world-weary yet warm, but Dusknoir is a mandatory Brit, and Cromwell is very American.

[minniethemoocherda]

HIIII its me again!!! It took me a while to come here BUT- I am very happy to say that I have finished your fic and O M G IM IN SO MUCH LOVE AAAAAAA-

LOOK I finished it in just one night ONE!!! After start reading where I left it, everything went like upside down oh god (not in a bad way of course) THE ACTION SCENES THE DRAMA *perfection* I want to talk about so much things but probably cant fit everything

I adore your talent you made every character very interesting!!! I'm enjoying VERY much when I see their all interactions, fun times, angsty times and comfort! I never get bored while reading this fic, especially I loved Jazz and Prowl helping each other when they are having an episode its just so delicious *chef kiss* and they are fucking now!!!!

When I was thinking after the battle and mission Ark is fine now but nooo then I just LOCKED IN and read, explosion in medbay and spy action damn was so good but I'm glad they are fine now and that little family moment was so cute "I dont want to feel alone" hit hard ouch

Now now Prowl is jealous go Jazz impress him!! And he did it successfully Prowl is drooling hahaha (your art is so sweet!!!!) last chapter was REALLY lovely, I think I like it when theyre doing activities the chess scene explains hahah now we have music scene! Waaaa but then Op-WHAT WILL HAPPEN NOW AAAA

I hope you didnt mind for I talk too much but your fic is soooo beautiful and lastly

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Wish everyone have happy and healthy new year, *hugs* ✨💞

ANON I AM IN LOVE WITH YOU?!!?!!!

Stop apologising!! I dont care how long it takes you to read it!! I'm just so happy to hear that you're enjoying it so far!! I dont mind you sharing your thoughts at all!! This is what all fanfic authors want to hear!!!

Lol yeah sorry everything does go kinda shit for everyone after the Ark was attacked 😅 But I'm glad you liked the angst and the fight scenes and the drama!!! And the fucking!!!

As well as all the spectrum of little moments cus yeah I wanted to show the sweet times like when they're acting like a big family pr playing chess but also the sad like when they're having mental breakdowns 😅 So I'm glad you're enjoying both lol!!

Haha yeah I couldn't get the Jazz seducing and Prowl drooling scene out of my head so I'm glad you liked the art!!

Also "talent" , "perfection: and "beautiful"?!?!?! I wouldnt say that lol!! But it means a lot that you think so highly of my writing!! And that you never get bored whislt reading it!! Genuinely means a lot to hear that!!

I loved hearing all of your thoughts as you read my fic!! And that you enjoyed not only the ups and downs of Jazz and Prowl's relationship, but also that you found the other characters interesting as well!!

I'm going through a lot of shit in real life rn and hearing your comments has genuinely helped me feel better about everything!! I can't thank you enough for your praise and kindness!!! You are amazing!!! And I hope you have the best 2025!!! 🥰🥰🥰🥰 Xxxxxxx

[catiecat1320]

Sonadowtober Prompt 25: Phobia

I'm so freaking late TvT

Kakorrhaphiophobia: the fear of failure

Direct continuation of Prompt 12: Role Swap, for my Second Chances AU! (Psssst my askbox is open wink wink)(pathetically begging)

Read Below🔽

Shadow gasped for breath as he fell out of Chaos Control, collapsing to his hands and knees. Disoriented, the cold metal beneath him provided little comfort. For a moment, all he could hear was his own rapid heartbeat drumming in his ears, drowning out the world.

Then, a voice. Maria’s voice. “Shadow!”

She dropped to the floor beside him and hugged him tight. “Are you alright?”

Shadow slowly sank into her arms as his surroundings bled back in. The ARK. Just beyond the golden blonde hair in his face, he spotted the others. Knuckles. Robotnik. Tails. All looking at him with waning curiosity in their eyes as they looked at him for someone else.

“...No.”

“Shadow?” Maria loosened her hold to look at him as well. But he didn’t want to be looked at. To be judged. Faulted. Blamed.

It was his fault.

“No.” Shadow’s voice cracked painfully and he couldn’t anymore. Breaking out of the embrace, he did the one thing he could— run.

But they were on a space station. Even as big of a space station as this was, he couldn’t run forever. 

Especially not after what he’d done. Or more accurately, what he didn’t do.

Observation Deck B. The big window called to him, as if to offer a semblance of hope. Unable to resist, Shadow collapsed next to it and raked through the empty space beyond over and over with as much focus as he had, hoping to spot anything.

But his search was fruitless.

“Sonic…”

His voice echoed through the empty room. He hadn’t meant to say it. It felt forbidden; he had no right to speak that name, not after he’d failed its owner. 

He failed.

A sob bubbled up from within and Shadow attempted to choke it down, sucking in far more air than necessary. He couldn’t cry. Who was he to cry over something he himself did? He should… he should be trying to fix this, not crying over it like a child. He—

But he couldn’t get up. How was he supposed to make this right? Sonic was gone. As resilient as he was, atmospheric reentry would certainly… certainly kill him.

Shadow clamped a hand over his mouth as he shook, leaning against the glass for support. He killed someone. 

Not just someone, his inner voice helpfully provided. Sonic. Sonic, who had awoken to a world bent against him, who had been used and abused for his entire existence, who had in the end chosen to save the world despite it all. Sonic, who had every right to live.

If Shadow didn't have a hand on his muzzle he wouldn’t have had the mind to breathe. Who was he to call himself a hero after this? Who was he to walk out of this mess alive while leaving behind those who’ve long suffered?

Every inhale served as a reminder of his continued existence, wrong. Every exhale carried guilt like a tidal wave. Hatred flooded through his body, sharp and cold. Failure echoed in his bones. 

He shouldn’t be breathing. Yet with each breath he took they only came faster.

He shouldn’t be here at all. He should be dead. Someone much more deserving of life in his place.

He shouldn’t be here, not after he’d failed to save the one person who needed it most.

Shadow isn’t sure how long he stayed like that. Pressed against the window, warmth slowly sapped by reinforced glass; tears rolling down his face, absorbed into white gloves; breaths drawn stuttered, uneven, wrong.

He didn’t bother looking up when the metal door slid open, knowing soft footsteps well enough to know who’d entered. He had half a mind to compose himself for her sake, but the other half won that battle.

“...Go away,” he whispered, voice as loud as he could manage to wrangle out of himself. 

Maria sat down beside him instead, movements careful as if she were approaching a stray cat. She took a deep breath before fixing those sky blue eyes of hers onto him. “This… this is about Sonic, isn’t it?”

Shadow’s hand dropped into his lap in defeat, no tears left to cry. He shook his head weakly, but it likely didn’t help his case as much as he wished it to. Seconds ticked by as the two siblings sat in silence, each awaiting more from the other. 

Finally, Maria sighed. “He saved you.”

A fact. Shadow liked facts, but not this one.

He felt that annoying prick in his eyes again. Perhaps there were more tears. Regardless, Shadow swallowed thickly, hoping they wouldn’t show. “He shouldn’t have.”

“Shadow.” She cupped his face so gently it hurt, lifting it to meet her gaze. “Take a deep breath for me. Please?”

He couldn’t deny her that. But he could deny the next words that came out of her sweet mouth.

“Don’t blame yourself. The choice was his.”

“It should’ve never been a choice, much less his.” Shadow reached up to pull those hands off his face, feeling too guilty for touch so soft. He’d prefer to be punched.

“Shadow—”

“No. I failed him, Maria. Him of all people.” He stood up shakily, balling his fists to resist the growing urge to wrap his arms around his middle. “I let him die! He’s dead. You can’t… you can’t possibly…”

“Forgive you?”

He bit back tears. “Don’t.”

He inched closer to the exit, wanting so badly to run away again. Escape to a place where his failure wouldn’t follow. Where guilt wouldn’t cling to him like a ghost. If only such a place existed.

Maria sighed quietly as she watched him, no doubt knowing him well enough not to try to stop him. “I…you. You will have to one day, Shadow… He did what he did for a reason. Think about it. Please.”

The hedgehog squeezed his eyes shut, ears flattening against his head as Sonic’s words floated back to him.

“If not for you, then for the people. You’re their hero, Shadow. They need you.”

Did they? It felt like all he did was play with fire, then burn things down and escape the consequences. The people didn’t need him, he just acted the part they wanted to see.

He shoved those thoughts aside. They need you? 

Okay.

“I… have to tell them what happened.” Shadow mutters, then pauses. Turning around, he gingerly takes Maria’s hands and tries to ignore her concerned gaze digging into his head as he leads them back to the others, prepared to drop news they’d likely already figured out.

He’ll try not to fail again.