#go out into the world little post... be free......

[23xfgg]

YANDERE! BATFAM x DRUG USER/SOBER! READER

(Ch. 1)

(Ch. 2)

Ch. 3 <-

An // Sup my little omegas 😼 yes. You (🫵) are my little omegas *growls*. Your alpha is here to give you chapter 3 of this *gestures to the tumbler post* story make sure you say thank you alpha in the comments 😼😼😼🐺🐺🐺

the tag list is also closed!!!! (That’s a lie)

ALSO SORRY IF I DONT RESPOND TO COMMENTS YOUR APLHA OVERTHINKS THEIR RESPONSE TO THE POINT THEY DO NOT RESPOND AT ALL THINKING IT SOUNDS FAKE BUT I WILL LIKE TO SAY THANK YOU FOR ALL THE KIND WORDS I LUV YOU GUYS I WILL COVER YOU WILTH MY ALPHA SCENT FRRRR🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷

With the Bat family 😱

They are constantly busy with their lives. Whether it’s them ensuring that their night lives as Gothams and Blüdhaven’s vigilantes aren’t exposed to the world or their regular civilian lives, keeping up appearances. But still with all that they are able to make time for the people in their lives. They just don’t want to make time for you.

Over these past few months they noticed small changes with your personality and appearance. Your makeup is darker, you always have rings on and your preferred shoes have a platform to them.

Your personality, once chasing after their affection and attention you are now just constantly locked in your room and if you are in a common area like the living room and they enter you make quick work of leaving and avoiding any type of communication/ commotion that cold of happened.

The first one of the brothers that noticed your change was Damian. He noticed the way you no longer lash out to the degrading comments he makes about you or your mom. Your eyes look dull during his ‘Damian insulting your very existence’ time, like you are thinking of other things than focusing on the words spewing out of his mouth. Which you do, you are mentally calculating how much of your personal stash you have left before you run out and probably have to buy more or go raid one of your stashes around Gotham. Depending on how much cash you have left. You couldn’t care less about what he is saying and just want to leave.

It took him by surprise (which he didn't show) when you just walked past him like he wasn't there and just walked out of the manor. He wonder at where heading off to but he didn't ponder long. There is an important mission he needs to focus on currently and that takes importance over whatever you are going to do.

Alfred was the first one officially to notice the change with you. He was with you often when you were younger. He treated you like you were his daughter that he cared for (not the one he abandoned for the Wayne family). So it hurts him when he saw you becoming more closed off and secretive. You even started lying to him about your activities. Whenever you were asked where you were leaving to you give him short answers like “Out.” or you just completely lie to him and say you are going to the movies. It hurts him when you lie but he isn’t going to push for the truth but rather leave his door open so you can tell him out your own free will.

He decided not to alert the change in your behaviour to the rest of the family because he knew that they would dismiss it as they don’t see an actual problem even though there is a problem arising.

Penis (Dick) was next to see a change but it was dismissed as soon as he noticed. You walked out of your room the same time he was talking to Tim about visiting some fast food chain that opened up recently. He saw you and had a brief memory of you asking if the he can hang out with you sometime. His excuse at the time was obviously “Sorry little birdie but next time for sure.” But next time never came. With the sudden recollection of that request from years ago he spewed another apology and gave an empty promise about hanging out together. You just rolled your eyes and returned back into your room thinking that the vodka you have in your wardrobe sounds much better than heading to the kitchen for actual hydration.

He brushed off your lack of response as you just accepting the ‘change of plans’ and finding something else to do (there was no plans to begin with but he didn’t know that nor remembered).

When Duke joined the manor, you were already extremely closed off and kept to your self so he just took it as normal. He only knew that this wasn’t how you acted before through Alfred reminiscing on how he use to bake cupcakes with you when you were younger.

He was curious about what caused the whole personality switch but knew you wouldn’t talk about it so he left it at that. Mostly because he doesn’t exactly know how you will react to him suddenly bombarding you with questions.

You only had less than a handful of interactions with Cass. Mostly because you were weirded out by the fact she can read people’s body language so well and you didn’t want anyone to know about your extra activities. So you may have came off a little cold but speed walking out of a room every time they are just about to enter and never realign making eye contact with them. Your reaction towards her probs made you look guilty but you didn’t care you just focused on avoiding them and keeping yourself to…yourself.

It’s the same with Steph. You constantly try to avoid her coming off as cold and distance but you don’t really care. You don’t even clearly remember when she came into the manor. You just woke up one day still high and saw a purple blob with a blonde top and just continued with your raid on the snack cupboard in the kitchen making sure to not take any snacks that belong to the other residents. And that was probably the last time you were willingly in a room with one of them albeit it was because of your hunger.

Bruce, Barbra, Tim and Jason didn’t really care. They barely notice the change with you and when the did they only dismissed it as a rebellious teenager phase that you will probably grow out of (AN// you will probably die before that happens. I am totally not foreshadowing….or am I wehheheeh) with due time. Never really focusing on your lack of presence in the room or in the over all manor. They all had better stuff to do. Bruce has to deal with being Batman, protecting Gotham, Brucie Wayne and his family. Barbra has her work as oracle cut out for her. Tim is a CEO at like seventeen. Having to manage that along with being Red Robin, and the hero teams he is apart of and being basically a computer whizz why bother even considering that he may notice you. And lets face it Jason has his own stuff with his unsolved anger with Bruce, being a crime lord/anti hero known as red hood, if he was going to actually notice you he wouldn’t care either way.

They will all see the changes but they never care…

An // RAHHHHH you can tell where I started to give up….tsk tsk

I do want to clarify that some members like Duke and Cass didn’t really join until after your personality switch so they have little idea to what you were like before hand while others just don’t care. Steph probably thinks that you are a raging bitch because you practically ignored her when she first met you. You probably didn’t even register her voice was aimed towards you because you were just trying to figure out when did the grimace get a blonde ponytail.. sorry Steph I love purple :p

The next chapter will come after a hiatus due to university work so I will probably not start anything until I am done with this semester and I’m finally on holiday

Tag list is in fact not closed I’m a liar but I will in fact close it when the next chapter drops y’all

So if you want to join these special omegas…just comment

taglist sorry to anyone who’s tag did not work and if I forgot you pls tell me in the comments: @welpthisisboring @vanessa-boo @shycreatorreview @jsprien213 @1abi @cxcilla @moon0goddess @sadeem575 @galaxypurplerose @zeros-rot @visualchu @lostsomewhereinthegarden @waterberryss @burningkittenprince @91-kya @scoutyyy @haileybugulug

Bye bye my little omegas…your alpha is going to miss use and your pheromones *AWOOO*🐺🐺🐺👋👋👋

[writingwisterias]

can i have a steamy public sex with leon like maybe a gym communal bathroom makeout fic pls ☝️🤓

I'll do you one better because I had this in my mind anyway....

Leon Kennedy x AFAB!Fem!Reader

Warnings: MDNI, SMUT, Public Sex, Masturbation, Facials, Shower sex, Degradation kink, Light Praise Kink, Little to no Plot,

Sorry it's short...bigger things soon once I have a free moment

If Leon was going to punish you like this everyday then what's the point in being his good girl. His hair was disheveled, his hands gripping at the tiles of the shower as the steam fell around him. Your skin was pruning at this point, your fingertips sticking to the wet skin of your thighs where they laid. You watched him, the post work out evident in the tightness of his muscles, the veins in his arms and hands prominent as he worked his cock in front of you.

You weren't to touch...only look. After all to him it was your fault he couldn't finished the last rep that he had planned to do, your squats had caught too much attention from others. The legging he had asked you to not wear cupped your ass perfectly and caught the attention he knew it would.

"Leon please...let me help" you begged, his glistening tip looked too tempting. His saltiness being washed away by the water before you got a taste. Water flicked from his blond strands as he shook his head, his grunts muffled as he bit his arm.

Of course he couldn't wait until you got home, instead he dragged you into the men's shower room his erection prominent in the grey sweats he wore today. His mind filled only with the thought of shutting you up with cock in your mouth.

However, the plans quickly changed when he watched you smile as you knealt before him. Your mouth open eagerly awaiting his length.

"I told you to be quiet" he whispered harshly, his body pressing you further into the cubicle as the locker room door swung open. You bit you lip to mute the whine that threatened to leave, your core throbbing between your legs needy and demanding your attention that he strictly forbid. Maybe you could inch your hand towards the inner thigh, pressing your pruned fingers against the puffy nerve.

"Don't even think about it" he grunted again, his eyes now open boring into you. Leon's pubiles were wide, darkened with lust at the sight of the water falling over you. Your lashes wet as they blinked innocently at him - your breasts perked and ready for attention.

You were being so perfect like this despite his words. His perfect little whore as you waited for his cum patiently, or so he thought. As his eyes shut once more, focusing on controlling his moans, yours drifted to the forbidden area. Working quickly to ease the ache and build the release you were desperate to have.

Leon could feel it building, his balls tightening as it grew closer. His hips began to subtly thrust into his hand which moved with ease along the veins of his cock thanks to the water. His mushroomed tip now producing a eager stream of pre cum for you. As he whimpered the only sign you got that he was close you opened your mouth, your tounge becoming the perfect landing pad for his load.

"You're such a fucking whore you had to wind me up like this...just wanted to be fucked where everyone can hear you"

His words added to the throbbing need, your lustful brain slowly becoming fuzzy as watched him. Your eyes darting all over the place as if you were trying to commit the moment to memory. For you to use it later as you shut your eyes and relieved the ache that he thought was being ignored.

"My workouts are important. I save the world with his body...and you're just so selfish you can't even handle a few hours without claiming it"

"Leon plea-"

You didn't even get to finish your beg for relief as it was slienced with his low moan and pulsing of his cock. The translucent streams falling over your face like he was splattering paint on a masterpiece. You looked beautiful like this, marked in the gym with the stickiness of his need.

Leon's chest heaved as he calmed himself down, his cock tapping against your lips with the last remaining drops.

He whimpered as you sucked against the sensitive tip, allowing the water to wash away the evidence of himself on your face whilst you cleaned him off. He groaned as he watch you grin, following your movements as your head lowered to your core where your fingers remained tucked away in-between the heat of your thighs.

Your heart dropped when you looked back up at him. His unamused look glaring back at you. With a nervous chuckle you stood, his body pressing yours into the cold tile earning a hiss and jolt from you.

"You better wash up quick" he threatened his cock already pulsing at the ideas about the night you were in for.

[offtorivendell]

Elain used Truth-Teller to kill the nameless King of Hybern

Disclaimer: as usual, these are just my thoughts, they make no claim of being canon. I also want to reiterate that saying Nesta (and Cassian) "helped" to kill the king in no way diminishes their self sacrificing bravery. This isn't a diss.

Spoilers: ACOTAR, CC and TOG series to date.

TW: canon violence.

This post shouldn't need to exist but, just like when Bloomsbury confirmed that Elain tended towards introversion in their post ACOSF Archeron sister quiz, parts of this fandom are struggling to listen to the series' publisher when they say that Elain did, in fact, kill the king of Hybern.

To clarify, I've always maintained that Elain wouldn't have been able to assassinate Hybern if Nesta and Cassian hadn't completely distracted him - they were brave and self sacrificing, and they 1000% helped the kill happen! - but without Elain, and whatever it was that she did to get from their war camp to the middle of the battlefield in time to "step out of a shadow" and stab the OT's Big Bad through the neck, Nesta and Cassian would be dead. Feyre and Rhys would be dead. The rest of the High Lords gone as well, and their world changed for good. And as @merymoonbeam (I think) said years ago now, without Elain killing Hybern, Rhys wouldn't have been alive to assist Aelin in returning to Erilea in KOA, so her actions saved more than one world as we know it.

Now, for the scene in question:

Nesta did not move from where she shielded Cassian’s body. The king raised his hand, power whirling like a dark galaxy in his palm. I knew they’d both die the moment that power hit them. Anything, I begged the Cauldron. Anything— The king’s hand began to drop. And then halted. A choking noise came out of him. For a moment, I thought the Cauldron had answered my pleas. But as a black blade broke through the king’s throat, spraying blood, I realized someone else had. Elain stepped out of a shadow behind him, and rammed Truth-Teller to the hilt through the back of the king’s neck as she snarled in his ear, “Don’t you touch my sister.” - ACOWAR, chapter 74

The Cauldron purred in Elain’s presence as the King of Hybern slumped to his knees, clawing at the knife jutting through his throat. Elain backed away a step. Choking, blood dribbling from his lips, the king gaped at Nesta. My sister lunged to her feet. Not to go to Elain. But to the king. Nesta wrapped her hand around Truth-Teller’s obsidian hilt. And slowly, as if savoring every bit of effort it took … Nesta began to twist the blade. Not a rotation of the blade itself—but a rotation into his neck. Elain rushed to Cassian, but the warrior was panting—smiling grimly and panting—as Nesta twisted and twisted the blade into the king’s neck. Severing flesh and bone and tendon. Nesta looked down at the king before she made the final pass, his hands still trying to rise, to claw the blade free. And in Nesta’s eyes … it was the same look, the same gleam that she’d had that day in Hybern. When she pointed her finger at him in a death-promise. She smiled a little—as if she remembered, too. And then she pushed the blade, like a worker heaving the spoke of a mighty, grinding wheel. The king’s eyes flared—then his head tumbled off his shoulders. - ACOWAR, chapter 75

Isn't it interesting that the Hebrew meaning of Elain's name is "my god has answered me," when she was able to answer Feyre's pleas to the Cauldron? I think so.

Didn't Nesta decapitate the king?

Sure, nobody I know disputes that! I don't think it could have been done even before Azriel very specifically said that Nesta had done so (but no more), when they told Bryce about the king's death when she visited in HOFAS. But - to me - it is absolutely crystal clear from the above passage that if anyone did the leg work, it was Elain. If anyone's timing had to be precise, it was Elain. If anyone fucked up and didn't play their part to perfection, it was Elain's role that was most critical. Nesta was bait (which she did very well!), but Elain was the trap that sprang from the shadows, dagger flashing.

Elain was the Knife in the Dark. She set up a slow death for the King of Hybern, which was very Anneith of her, by the way; Nesta just sped it up.

But the king would have recovered!

The wound to Hybern's neck was not a light - or even moderate - gash.

It was a full depth stabbing from a brutal hunting knife, so deep there was an exit wound out the other side. He had fallen to his knees, he was choking on his own blood, he was down. Thanks to Elain. Given the location of the wound, and the implicit reference to a severed carotid artery in the text (the spraying blood), there is also the possibility of neurological damage to the king's spinal cord, up to and including internal decapitation (though, as he appeared to retain the use of his arms til the very end, even when his head was literally hanging on by a thread, I'm not sure how much thought SJM gave the science beyond "blood spraying, choking, collapsing = obviously catastrophic vascular wound, and fair enough, really - who thought we'd be here after Feyre, Lucien and Rhys all credited Elain before ACOSF came along and we heard the story from people who didn't get it directly from the source).

But even with the (I thought) violent severity of the king's injuries after Elain had "just stabbed him," people have decided that the king would simply have recovered.

Yes, the King of Hybern was an incredibly powerful faerie - some might say too powerful - but we knew from the start that Truth-Teller was special (I had wondered for years if it was secretly a Made blade before we finally got confirmation through CC, and I know I'm not the only one); Azriel himself told Elain that it would "always strike true," and Feyre (read: SJM) described it as "devouring" the sunlight when Elain accepted it from Azriel. And who has consistently been likened to the sun? Elain. Does it not seem reasonable, then, to suggest that Truth-Teller - which has since helped Bryce kill Vesperus, an Asteri/Daglan held in the bowels of the Prison, not to mention Rigelus and his crew - may have some additional bonus to its wounds, such that they are harder to recover from, or even impossible? Why are people acting like Elain simply stabbed him with a steak knife, ignoring the parallel between Nessian and Elriel? She clearly upgraded from the fork she armed herself with in ACOMAF.

I could obviously be wrong, but I truly don't think that SJM intended for us to think that the King of Hybern would have simply recovered from Elain's stab wound without input from a powerful healer at minimum. Azriel's Truth-Teller is no ordinary blade, and Elain (and Nesta, of course) is no ordinary faerie - a little more on this in a bit.

Back to Bloomsbury's ACOTAR bracket:

"Redacted."

Sounds familiar, no?

Of course, given Feyre, Rhys and Lucien¹ have all named Elain as the one who killed the King of Hybern, not to mention Azriel very specifically telling Bryce that Nesta "beheaded" him - after all, why not say "killed" if that's what he means? - it's mind blowing that this is a debate only because Nesta herself claimed the kill (in a scene that read a little odd, but I digress).

¹ Yes, I know that Elain credited Nesta with the kill, but there are any number of reasons as to why she may have done so that do not negate the majority effort that she put into killing the King of Hybern. For starters, Elain doesn't trust Lucien at this point (yet, I'm sure they'll talk in her book and come to some sort of understanding, whatever it may be in the end); having just experienced a violent, bloody battle, she may not feel ready to claim the action herself (which, again, doesn't mean that Nesta did more than she actually did); and - possibly the biggest reason - would be that Elain holds a very specific arsenal of skills, one about which we still don't have the complete picture, so it would be prudent to keep the extent of her involvements and skills to herself (from Lucien here, from Emerie and Gwyn in ACOSF, and from Bryce in HOFAS). I am a "luck and rage = Elain" truther til proven wrong by SJM lol, sorry.

Elain fell into step beside me, peering at Lucien. He noticed it. “I heard you made the killing blow,” he said. Elain studied the trees ahead. “Nesta did. I just stabbed him.” - ACOWAR, chapter 78

I saw how it ate away at Feyre. I still soothed her after she awoke, frantic, from nightmares about that day in Hybern when her sisters had been Made against their will. Nightmares about the moment when Cassian was near death and Nesta was sprawled over him, shielding him from that killing blow, and Elain—Elain—had taken up Azriel’s dagger and killed the King of Hybern instead. - ACOFAS, chapter 2

I've already talked about the following quote in a couple of posts (here and here), where I suggest that Elain not only killed the man, but purified² the monster inhabiting him as well. The parallels between Elain's likely life (or rebirth?) powers from the Cauldron - the Bowl of Life and Death - with Yrene's pure, healing life (which Erawan described as an executioner to a Valg), not to mention Truth-Teller appearing to charge itself with sunlight before Elain used it to stab the king... there's a lot there that, when considered together, is incredibly suss.

² I've spoken about this with @wingedblooms before, but what if Elain killed the monster within, and Nesta made it impossible for the king's corpse to reanimate by beheading him? I suspect there is a reason that "Life and Death" were involved here, especially as "The Bowl" watched on, but again, this doesn't negate the majority share of effort/skill that Elain used to orchestrate and carry out the king's death.

Yrene’s power was life itself. Pure, undiluted life. It nearly brought Dorian to his knees as it met with his own. As he handed over his power to her, willingly and gladly, Erawan prostrate before them. Impaled. The demon king screamed. - KOA, chapter 113

The use of "redacted" by Bloomsbury, however, seemed so intentional - I know @psychologynerd, @elrieldreamer and others have also discussed it (here and here) - that it stood out to me as odd, and reminded me of the rest of that scene from KOA (below), when Dorian and Yrene together killed Erawan (a Valg king).

The King of Hybern was never given a name like any of Prythian's rulers (the High Lords), despite his importance to the plot. I know I'm not the first to suggest that this was significant - and now I'm wondering about the Lady of Autumn possibly paralleling Sartaq's sister Duva, I'm sorry 😩 - but for ages it has struck me as interesting that his namelessness parallels another king from elsewhere in the Maasverse: the King of Adarlan.

The king who was possessed by a Valg for much of his life, who only remembered his name when he passed it onto his son as an act of defiance. Knowing this last, could the Lady of Autumn's redacted name be "Lucia"?

Erawan thrashed, his power rising only to strike against an impenetrable wall of light. And yet Dorian found himself saying, “His name.” Yrene, focused upon the task before her, didn’t so much as glance his way. But Erawan, through his screaming, met Dorian’s stare. The hatred in the demon king’s eyes was enough to devour the world. But Dorian said, “My father’s name.” His voice did not waver. “You took it.” He hadn’t realized that he wanted it. Needed it, so badly. A pathetic, spineless man, Erawan seethed. As you are— “Tell me his name. Give it back.” Erawan laughed through his screaming. No. “Give it back.” Yrene looked to him now, doubt in her eyes. Her magic paused—just for a heartbeat. Erawan leapt, his power erupting. Dorian blasted it back, and lunged for the demon king. For Damaris. Erawan’s shriek threatened to crack the castle stones as Dorian shoved the blade deeper. Twisted it. Sent their power funneling down through it. “Tell me his name,” he panted through his teeth. Yrene, clinging to his other hand, murmured her warning. Dorian barely heard it. Erawan only laughed again, choking as their power seared him. “Does it matter?” Yrene asked softly. Yes. He didn’t know why, but it did. His father had been wiped from the Afterworld, from every realm of existence, but he could still have his name given back to him. If only to repay the debt. If only so Dorian might grant the man some shred of peace. Erawan’s power surged for them again. Dorian and Yrene shoved it back. Now. It had to be now. “Tell me his name,” Dorian snarled. Erawan smiled up at him. No. “Dorian,” Yrene warned. Sweat slid down her face. She couldn’t hold him for much longer. And to risk her— Dorian sent their power rippling down the blade. Damaris’s hilt glowed. “Tell me—” It is your own. Erawan’s eyes widened as the words came out of him. As Damaris drew it from him. But Dorian did not marvel at the sword’s power. His father’s name … Dorian. I took his name, Erawan spat, writhing as the words flowed from his tongue under Damaris’s power. I wiped it away from existence. Yet he only remembered it once. Only once. The first time he beheld you. Tears slid down Dorian’s face at that unbearable truth. - KOA, chapter 113

As I have previously stated (here and here), and reiterated above, I think there is plenty of evidence to suggest that Elain is the true - or main - Kingslayer in the sense of who did the most to ensure the king's death, but I also think that the King of Hybern may have been possessed by Something/Someone; could this be another hint? That the kings of Hybern and Adarlan both had names that were, hypothetically for one of them and canonically for the other, redacted from their respective worlds by parasitic creatures with delusions of grandeur who had taken their bodies as hosts? Is this further evidence that Elain killed the hypothetical Valg prince infecting the King of Hybern, while simultaneously taking down the unfortunate host?

Once again, SJM - we need answers!

Thank you so much for reading!

[dinoandguitar]

"Do you know how loved you are?"

New parents! JeonWonwoo x Afab!Reader

Genre: Pure fluff! (Everyone gets a bit emotional)

Warnings: Mentions of pregnancy, childbirth. The setting is in a hospital. Reader has just given birth.

Summary: Wonwoo holds his newborn baby boy for the first time.

A/N : This is also based off a request after I posted the S.Coups ver. Hope you enjoy it :) My requests are open, please feel free to ask away 🫶🏾

Masterlist

The room is dim, quiet, and cradled in that golden hour calm where everything slows down. You’re asleep, finally, curled on your side, face slack with exhaustion, one hand still loosely clutching the edge of the hospital blanket. And in the chair pulled close to your bed, Wonwoo holds your newborn son for the very first time.

He can’t stop staring. At the tiny rise and fall of the baby’s chest. The faint little creases in his eyelids. The way his lips pout slightly, like he’s already deep in baby dreams.

Wonwoo’s heart feels like it might just split in two. From joy, from awe, from overwhelming love. His fingers gently trace along the baby’s tiny arm, and he breathes out, voice barely audible as he begins to hum.

It’s quiet at first - hesitant, like he’s not sure he remembers the melody right. But then it melts into something soft and sure. A lullaby. One his mom used to hum to him when he was little.

It sounds different now. Sweeter. Full of weight.

The baby doesn’t wake, but his tiny fingers curl instinctively around the edge of Wonwoo’s shirt.

Wonwoo swallows thickly and chuckles under his breath, voice low as he shifts him closer. He glances toward you. You’re still sleeping. Peaceful. Safe. And then he looks back down at his son.

“Do you know how loved you are?” he asks softly, as if the baby could understand. “Even before you were born, you were everything.” He pauses, brushing his thumb over the baby’s cheek.

"Your mother," he says, voice catching a little, “is the bravest person I know. She gave everything to bring you into the world. Every heartbeat, every breath, every ounce of strength she had-all for you.” He’s quiet for a moment, rocking ever so slightly.

“She’s not just your mom,” he says. “She’s my whole world too.”

Then, almost like he feels your eyes flutter open behind him, he turns- and there you are. Awake. Sleepy-eyed and drowsy, but watching him. Watching them. Wonwoo stills, heart lurching, and when your gaze meets his, he can’t help it, the tears rise instantly.

“Hey,” you whisper, voice hoarse and soft.

He shifts so you can see the baby more clearly in his arms, but his eyes are locked on you.

“Hi Baby,” he whispers back, voice thick. “You okay?”

You nod slowly, and then your gaze drops to the baby. “He’s perfect.”

“He is,” Wonwoo says, then looks back at you. His jaw works like he’s trying to keep himself together- but the moment cracks open.

“You did that,” he breathes, emotion pouring from every word. “You brought him here. You survived for him. For us.” You blink rapidly, your lips parting.

But he keeps going, voice soft and raw. “I watched you fight through everything and still somehow smile at me when you were barely holding on. You gave him life. And you gave me a family.” He leans forward, hand reaching out to take yours, grounding himself in you.

“I’m so in love with you,” he whispers. “More than I ever thought possible. And I’m so thankful for you. For this. For everything.”

You bite your lip, tears spilling freely now. Wonwoo squeezes your hand gently.

“I promise,” he says, looking between you and the baby with so much love it aches, “I’m going to take care of both of you. Every day. For the rest of my life.”

And as the baby stirs lightly in his arms, Wonwoo bends his head, humming the lullaby again, this time with you watching, your heart bursting.

You lean your head onto his shoulder, eyes fluttering closed again. And between his humming, the warmth of your hand in his, and the weight of your baby boy asleep against his chest — Wonwoo knows he’ll remember this moment for the rest of his life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N : Hope you guys like it! Sidenote but GAH I MISS HIM BRING HIM BACK RN 😔

My requests are open :)

[poorsallystitches]

A newbie's guide to The Lost Tomb franchise/Dao Mu Bi Ji/The Graverobber's Chronicles

I have seen people all over the internet asking questions on posts about DMBJ such as, where to start, what it is, and who are those cutie pies? You may have seen images similar to this

I, as someone who has watched a lot of the franchise and read at least half of the books (which if you knew how many there were, that would be impressive), I want to take a moment, or many, to explain to anyone who wants the answer to these questions. This will take a while, I cannot shut up, especially about them.

Spoiler free!

Now, first things first, what is Lost Tomb/DMBJ/Graverobber's Chronicles?

Lost Tomb is a Chinese Franchise comprised of a multitude of dramas and movies over the course of a decade that were all made by different people and actors to tell the story written in the novel series, The Graverobber's Chronicles, or its original Chinese title Dao Mu Bi Ji, written by Nan Pai San Shu.

This means that popular characters people will refer to will have many different faces. Such as all of these being Wu Xie

You may recognize any of those actors if you watch popular Cdramas, 1st Zhu Yilong who plays Shen Wei in Guardian, 2nd Zeng Shunxi who plays Xiao Bao in Mysterious Lotus Casebook, and 3rd Hou Minghao who was recently in Fangs of Fortune as Zhu Yan.

But, what is it about?

Lost Tomb as a franchise is loosely about a man named Wu Xie who is the last in a family line of graverobbers, but he himself has been kept out of the loop by the family. He has had his grandfather's journal since he passed away, which makes him take an interest in the family business. This leads him to force his uncle to let him tag along with him on tomb raiding adventures.

I feel it is important to tell people what they may encounter just in case they have sensitivities, so this franchise as a whole contains supernatural themes of ghosts, zombies, gods, etc. There will be blood, BUGS, and some body horror in a lighter portion, if you have any questions about specifics feel free to ask.

Now, let's skip to who those cutie pies are before telling you about the options for where to start.

The characters you may have seen around that got you interested may be

Wu Xie, the main character who is played a little differently in every iteration of the story but mainly think of a man with a high level of intelligence, but the worst luck in the world and some bitchy attitude (said with love) and you'll have him. You saw some of the most popular actors to play him up top.

Zhang Qiling/Xiao Ge (young master)/Menyouping (Poker-face), one of the main characters who is the strong, emo, silent, tatted sweety of the story. He is mysterious on purpose; you're not meant to know much about him at any given time. Him and Wu Xie are very close and with the next character, they form what is widely known in book, show, and fandom as the Iron Triangle. Just meaning the three are a package deal and won't be separated.

Wang Pangzi, the chubby, stylish, tough, bitchier than Wu Xie, lovable bastard. His name actually translates to Fatty, so that is what you will see everyone call him. It's not mean, just accurate. Pretty much everyone has real names and nicknames they go by. Remember, they are doing something illegal.

It's less likely, but you may have seen my personal favorite boys Hei Xiazi or Hei Yanjing (black glasses or black blind, you'll see why) and Xie Yuchen or Xiao Hua (little flower). They are the black/pink dynamic of the century for me. Hei Xiazi is a merc for hire and Xiao Hua is Wu Xie's cousin who has become the patriarch of his family at a young age.

Now, last question that people ask the most, where do I start?

There is no right or wrong answer, you can start chronologically with Mystic Nine, release order with Lost Tomb 2015, a mixture of both, leave out the ones you aren't interested in (*cough* Time Raiders movie), or just jump in in the middle. Each adaptation is aware of the fact that people will not have seen the others, and they will try to speed run the story to you, which can confuse people, but if you just want to experience the story with familiar faces, it won't be too bad.

To share my experience. I started with the Lost Tomb 2015, continued with Lost Tomb 2 2019, skipped Explore with the Note 2021 because I didn't vibe with it, Ultimate Note, started the prequels with Mystic Nine, which is a prequel with our character's ancestors, watched The Hei Xiazi and Xie Yuchen movie, started Reunion, watched a prequel movie and just started reading the books. I was never super confused because I had the set-up of the first 2 to build upon.

If you are a completionist like me and want to read the novels go to Merebear's blog. She is phenomenal and she has translated pretty much everything for your reading pleasure and laid it all out in an easy-to-follow way. I cannot give her enough gratitude. I absolutely adore her and all of her efforts as well as all her helpers along the way.

Now just a little gay propaganda about Lost Tomb franchise. The novels and shows are not canonically gay, but I mean... they are giving something.

[lxvsiick]

O U R

PART 25 | cat boy (written)

☁️ . . . ⇢ ˗ˏˋ i forgot everything but your face ࿐ྂ

“Cheok paraseo, gogina sseuneun geon ttak jukgiboda shireunde…”

Taesan mumbled the lyrics under his breath as he wandered aimlessly through campus, his Music Theory lecture still echoing faintly in his mind. His thoughts meandered until something — or rather, someone — snapped him out of his daze.

A familiar silhouette just ahead made his heart stutter.

A smile tugged at his lips as he recognized the figure. Without thinking twice, he pulled his headphones down around his neck and quickened his pace, his long strides effortlessly closing the distance.

“Y/n!” he called out.

She turned at the sound of her name, her eyes widening in surprise before her face lit up with a smile.

“Taesan, hi!” she greeted, cheeks tinged with a soft pink. She gave a small wave with her free hand, the other gripping the handle of a bulky art case.

“Where are you headed?” he asked, nodding toward the case she carried.

“The art studio,” she replied with a warm grin.

Before she could say another word, Taesan gently slid the case out of her grasp.

“Wait—what are you—?”

“I’ll come with you,” he beamed, already walking beside her like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Y/n blinked, then let out a quiet giggle. “Okay then.”

They walked side by side, wrapped in a comfortable silence. Every now and then, Taesan snuck glances at her, heart fluttering at how the sunlight caught in her hair, or how her nose crinkled just slightly when she smiled to herself.

Y/n noticed, of course. His not-so-subtle glances were like little sparks, and she couldn’t keep the small, amused smile from forming on her lips. Her cheeks stayed warm, not just from the sun.

Taesan finally broke the silence. “Hey, Y/n.”

She looked up at him, curious. “Yeah?”

He rubbed the back of his neck, his fingers fidgeting. “I saw your post about Mrs. Han, and Sunoo commented that you’re going to ‘disappear for a month’ or something. Is that true?”

Y/n laughed, the sound bright and effortless. “Sunoo’s just being dramatic, as usual.”

She looked up at him as they walked. “When I’ve got a ton of assignments and a big project, I sort of... go ghost. I focus on work and barely leave my house. I check my phone sometimes, but I don’t really text back unless it’s urgent.”

Taesan nodded slowly. “So… you’re not going to vanish off the face of the earth?”

Y/n shook her head, smiling. “Of course not. Besides, if you want to talk to me, you’ve got my number. And my socials. I might not reply instantly, but I’ll definitely reply.”

Taesan blinked. “W-wait, I can text you?”

She tilted her head, a teasing smile creeping onto her lips. “I mean you have my number, don’t you? What, were you planning to just look at it and never use it?”

His ears turned bright red. “N-no! I just didn’t wanna... bother you or anything.”

Y/n nudged him with her shoulder playfully. “You wouldn’t be bothering me. In fact, I’d be kinda disappointed if you didn’t.”

Taesan choked on his breath, heart stuttering again.

By the time they reached the studio, Taesan was sure he could hear his pulse louder than his footsteps. He followed Y/n inside, taking in the cozy chaos of the room filled with art supplies, unfinished projects, and sun-dappled windows.

“You can put my case over there,” Y/n said, pointing to a long table tucked in the corner. She flicked the lights on and began unpacking her laptop and sketchbooks.

Taesan obediently carried the case over, setting it down carefully before turning to find her already seated, flipping through her sketchpad. He stood awkwardly, unsure if he should leave or linger.

He kinda looked like this: 🧍🏻‍♂️.

Y/n noticed. She glanced at him over her shoulder and patted the empty seat beside her. “You’re not just gonna stand there, are you? Come sit.”

Taesan looked around, then pointed to himself. “Me?”

Y/n snorted. “No, the ghost behind you. Yes, you, dummy.”

Taesan’s ears turned scarlet as he dropped his bag and slid into the seat beside her. Idiot, he thought to himself.

He watched in quiet awe as Y/n pulled out her sketches and plans. Her art was raw but beautiful, expressive in ways words couldn’t be. He found himself leaning closer, eyes wide.

“You’re insanely talented,” he said, genuinely impressed.

Y/n blushed. “Ah, I’m really not…”

“I’m serious!” he said, holding up one of her sketches. “This? This is a masterpiece. And it’s just a sketch!”

Y/n ducked her head, cheeks glowing. “Thank you.”

They fell into a rhythm—Y/n sketching, Taesan pulling out his laptop to tweak a song idea. Every now and then, Taesan tossed out a cheeky comment just to make her laugh or fluster her, and Y/n threw a few playful remarks right back. Their energy was magnetic, the kind of spark that didn’t need words to be understood.

It felt... natural. Like this was how it had always been. Like this was how it was supposed to be.

Suddenly, the studio door creaked open. Both of them turned.

Sungho stepped in with his own art case, freezing in the doorway when he saw the two of them.

His surprised expression melted into a knowing smirk.

“Hey, guys,” he said, closing the door behind him.

“Hey, Sungho hyung,” Taesan greeted, raising a brow suspiciously.

“Don’t mind me,” Sungho said casually, walking to a table on the opposite side. “Just here to work. I’ll be very quiet and won’t disturb the cute couple—uh, I mean, friends—over there.”

Y/n let out a short laugh, glancing at Taesan with an amused shrug before going back to her sketchbook, her cheeks burning.

Taesan rolled his eyes but didn’t miss the growing smirk on Sungho’s face. The older boy discreetly pulled out his phone and, with a not-so-sneaky snap, took a picture of them sitting close together.

Oh yeah. He was definitely sending that to the group chat.

☁️ . . . ⇢ ˗ˏˋ i forgot everything but your face ࿐ྂ

PART 24 | PART 26

MASTERLIST

TAGLIST [CLOSED]:

@tkooooop @ktzuki @dalliesque @cherrytaesan @crispy-kirby @onedoorland @chnhnyu @nujeskz @txjuns @prettiann @imuziawi @lynnimini @woorcve @swanyvess @ksywoo @heyitzmeg @f4irynono @m1dn1ghtv1olet @pinklemonade34 @livibbu @egojo1st @ilikelikingtoes @httpnhoon @kazemiya @endtostartbreathin @soobinskii @lovelookhard @zynz0 @rikkimura @jsyasubak @sol3chu @shenrickyistheloml @j4d @mydearyeseo @mwahvvis @thealchemy89 @minfolio @saiichai @ihruaz @luvkwh @riizenextdoor @imnotsureokay @bee-the-loser @jeongmie04 @dylanobr1ens @banana-milky @xoxo-sincerely-me @doofus-s @khannythursdaystar @tami1992x @haruharua @slowlylefttyphoon @koocreampie @yuyita-rosier

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, lxvsiick, 2025

[h0ll0wt0wn]

The Following takes place some time during those that don't see it

Lazari is not in this.

Good luck

Through Hollow Heart and Crimson eyes

Through crumpled lungs and fading lies

The trees will tower, the shadow will follow

And all it grants is a chance to wallow

You know that you can never stop

If you ever do, it will snatch you up

But the dark was always a quiet plane

If it caught you here, could you bear the pain?

But I promise you that up ahead

A house, a hill, a tower, a bed

A talk, a teacher, a comrade, a friend

Not the end of the forest, but a dim lit den

I promise you not a life without fear

Nor a cure to yourself or the dream you hold dear

but a moment in time where the branches can clear

Let's wander together

Keep Going. I'm Here.

______________________________________________________________

ENTRY RED: WHERE IN THE WORLD

A Hollowtown/Redredhat crossover comic

Likely canon to neither story

unless...

Redredhat by @vluisasantiago

It's always 8 pages...

______________________________________________________________

So for those of you who only follow me for creepypasta content and stuffs you might be confused. Uhhhh Redredhat is my like second favorite Slenderverse series (First being Marble Hornets) of all time. It has been a massive inspiration to me and was a big part of how I was able to stay motivated to create Hollowtown.

Sometimes there's art out there that makes other artists wanna just like... create. So I was super hyped in that one entry where she got to feature all the... actually just watch Redredhat the whole thing is on youtube for free

And that inspired me to wanna create a crossover with hollowtown. I know that I do more creepypasta than Slenderverse but like... we both share custody over slenderman... yeah? I can do this... totally

I really really really really wanted to.

I dipped into a few crossovers before with my Laziverse posts and Hollows Obscured

@frutigerangel and @arkstray WATCH REDREDHAT IT'S SUPER GOOD I SWEAR

but seeing as Redredhat is part of the all inviting slenderverse, a barely cohesive multiverse of creativity, I wanted to try creating a more... plausible type of crossover between the two since it could potentially be canon. it's be a little weird to see a drawn version of Carmen interacting with a little demon girl or... Jeffrey

So I decided to feature an OC in this story. One that is very VERY important to the grand of Lazari's story, so people who only follow me for Lazari and creepypasta don't go passing this one up. This is one of the more important things I made regarding Hollowtown

This was also me testing the waters for how I want Hollowtown to look. You could technically call this the first entry in the series.

Think of this like a sneak peak as to what the full series will be like. The obscure creepypasta and slenderverse references, the visuals, the formatting, the art style, the themes, the tidbit of worldbuilding,

Despite not having Lazari in this, this is by far the most Hollowtown thing I've posted so far

And that's important

because Hollowtown won't just be an IEPFB reboot

that's just the keel of this massive behemoth of a story

It's going to include elements from all manner of creepypasta, slenderverse, and even some analog horror in this.

Hollowtown is coming soon guys. The first entries should be out no later than June 30th

[raileurta]

Been thinking about your unicron dad posts lately and this AU came to mind so I thought I’d share

Human!sparkeater AU

The spark is the only organic/ organic adjacent “organ” a cybertronian has

This would explain why life would pop up on earth, all of these organic lifeforms are offshoots of his spark.

This has been going on for so long that they don’t “take” any aspect of his spark anymore, they’ve completely separated by now

However, this means that organic life forms can eat a spark. Anything from a little ant to a human could hypothetically try to eat it

This would also tie into unicrons whole world eater thing as they would be able to incorporate cybertronians into the circle of life against their will

No clue how a spark would taste but honestly it’s hilarious to think that it’s somehow the most delicious and juicy thing known in the universe. Miko wouldn’t even bother trying to resist, but the other tfp humans would definitely have to hold back if they ever saw one unprotected for whatever reason

I could definitely see one of the autobots casually saying something like “haven’t seen (random decepticon) around for a while” as raph or someone would be trying their hardest to keep Miko quiet

I bet unicron would be so proud at creating a world of sparkeaters, he’d want to sic them on the universe so badly and has to deal with the autobots earning his little scraplets sympathy and unintentionally causing them to resist/ignore their whole sparkeating capabilities

Firstly, peak ask. 🙌 This is a really interesting idea.

Secondly, I like to imagine sparks are an essential part of terran’s diet or more specifically a human one. The reason they have such a short life span compared to their robot cousins is that humans die from a sort of spark deficiency. Like one might get sick or die if they didn't consume all the necessary nutrients. A Cybertronian spark is essentially for humans to thrive and for them to pupate into their true form.

Here's a rough sketch of what I imagine it looks like:

If any animal could eat a spark, picture a group of morally questionable transformers getting tons of hungry animals then just letting them run free in the Nemesis. The absolute carnage that would ensue would be legendary.

As for what a spark might taste like? Hmm it definitely would be very juicy. I imagine it has the consistency of something like hard ice cream with a semi-thick outer shell that's made of apples that's also somehow flaky. The taste would be ✨electric ✨ to say the least but also be sweet but not too sweet. Really thinking about it I can also see the core being thick and gooey.

Damn, I want to eat a spark now. 🤤

I feel like the first bot Miko would eat is Hardshell. There's not a lot of situations I can think of where Miko could reasonably get access to a spark before this. Plus it's just more dramatic.

After Miko had shot down Hardshell instead of dying he's just severely injured with his spark casing completely broken and the spark just out in the open. The girl flies over to (dinner) the insecticon, then gets out of the ship to finish the job. However, when she climbs up onto his chassis getting close to his spark she's hit with an overwhelming wave of HUNGER. Then poor Wheeljack has to watch on in abject terror as his pseudo-daughter eats a bot’s being alive right in front of him. Of course afterwards Miko evolves in an extremely bloody and gory way into her true form.

After experiencing the most traumatic event in his entire very long life and blowing up those insecticons he heads back to base where he has to awkwardly explain what had happened.

Or in a different scenario; Miko didn't evolve and just got a lot stronger. She needs to eat more sparks to truly evolve. Wheeljack doesn't say anything about this to the Autobots as he doesn't want anything bad to happen to Miko and he really doesn't want to cross her. Of course if I did some fanfic writing magic Miko could eat a spark before the end of season one so Unicron can praise Miko. That would be funny.

I can imagine he also has his own versions of primes; but instead of them being all serious and virtuous they're loud, chaotic, all over the place generally, and a bit of murder goblins.

Unicorn wants his little parasites to ravage the universe in their wake but they got bonked in the head with the morality stick. He would be sooooo pissed about this. So for now he will think of a plan to “fix’ this and encourage the resident insane girly to cause problems.

Beta read by @a-non-ymouswriter expect for the art text because I forgot.

[totallynottinsel]

Hey! I saw you were open to Bagginshield fic recs :) kind of an odd request here, but could you please do one where Bilbo+Thorin are on a journey (any, doesn't have to be the Erebor journey if you don't want it to be (: ) and they come across a little hurt abandoned human girl and then they take care of her for the rest of the journey and maybe even adopt her (nothing NSFW pls). If you don't feel up to it, don't feel pressured! Thank you!!

Love this! I'm starting to write with my own Bagginshield oc daughter so this is perfect timing

I hope I did alr, it's hard to speedrun bonding and relationships and have it be short form but I tried 😭

"We've gotten more letters reporting unknown sightings," Said Balin, holding a few handfuls of paper. "Stolen food, clothes.. they're worried it's another Orc pack on the rise."

"Too civilized to be an Orc." Thorin shook his head; since the slow reconstruction of Dale over the past months, the people had been calling aid upon the mountain once again to tell of missing goods. More and more had disappeared and it did not sit well with the folk hoping to make the ruined city home. Some feared the Orcs after what had transpired in the Battle, while others sought it to be them turning on one another for the lack of needs to survive. The last thing they wanted was for the Men of Dale to war between themselves.

"Could it be an animal? I used to get quite a bit of pesky rodents in Bag End. Always ate away my garden.." Bilbo grumbled at the thought of those cheeky mice who came out in the summer to feast.

"Suppose it could. But I doubt there's any left alive to cause this much 'o ruckus." Balin assured. "It might help calm the people if we take a trip down there, just to let them see it's no danger. Would be a good chance to see how Bard is fairing too."

"Let's get to it then," Thorin looked to Bilbo who gave a nod. Things were running smoothly enough in the mountain to leave for the day---at least till Fili and Kili get bored, which they eventually would once they realized Thorin had left, and that meant free run of the whole place.

The three of them took off on pony-back soon after, welcomed by the fresh spring breeze and little song birds that flew to nest on the rock beds. Bilbo smiled fondly at the scenery; he was still getting used to living in Erebor, it was quite different from the comforts of the Shire he'd grown so used to. This trip was also his first official on sight day as a consort, the title he'd gained after he and Thorin tied the knot---which was extremely nerve racking in itself. Being a kings 'right hand man', as he liked to put it, was going to take some getting used to as well. Thorin was always there to quell his worries. And having Balin was a plus.

They soon arrived at the front of Dale, hopping off their ponies and tending them to a post, they were greeted by Bard. "Good to see you, my friends. I hate to say it, but I've been stumped over this so-called thief we have on our hands. I'm starting to believe it's some sort of elaborate joke."

"Well, we're lucky to have the world's greatest burglar at our side, wouldn't you say lad?" Balin gave Bilbo a kind pat on the shoulder. Who better to get inside the mind of a suspected thief than one themselves?

Though Bilbo seemed to think a bit different. "Ah, me?" So that's what he was here for---just to be thrown in as bait! He supposed he couldn't blame them, he was quite good at the whole sneaking thing. At least this time he'd be faced with a rat or less rather than a dragon, or a possible orc... a really odd orc, if that was the case. "Right, I see how it is. You're coming with me." He pointed a finger towards Thorin.

"Wouldn't have thought otherwise." Thorin unsheathed his sword; Bard led them to the areas of notice, and as they walked the streets spoke to the locals who had witnessed this disappearance of goods firsthand. Most of them gave very different answers that really brought them to no conclusions, though Balin did stay behind to try and get some useful information on it from an older lady giving him the eyes.

Bilbo was searching for---quite literal---bread crumbs of a trail down an unsuspecting alley. At the most he'd gotten a scare from what looked to be a raggedy bird that came out from a pile of nasty orc remains. He doubted that was the culprit. The hypothetical trail seemed to run dry till he was spooked again by a scamper from behind, turning a quick shoulder to just catch a glimpse of something small running into a crack in the wall. "A-ha!" He hurried down the opposite end to grab Thorin's attention, who had been taken by the old lady as well. "I've got something---I saw it go into a hole in the wall, or... er, just come look."

"What did it look like?" Asked Thorin as they traveled back.

"I don't know, I only saw a little."

Thorin made some sound of acknowledgement and stepped forward into the alley, sword drawn and pointed near the cracked hole, unaware of what would jump out of it. Before he got too close Bilbo saw a door they could make way into, and they took that route instead. Inside the old house was a collection of burned furniture, broken floor boards and windows and ceilings, and not to mention the dried puddles of blood. Nothing seemed to be occupying the space for quite some time, and the mystery culprit was nowhere. They were just about to leave before suddenly a lengthy shard of glass was thrown at Thorin, who swung out of its way and pushed aside the large crate it came behind from.

It all happened so quick Bilbo barely had time to think till he saw what the tip of Thorin's blade was pointed towards; a child. "Wait! Wait," He grabbed the dwarf's arm and inched him back. "It's a child!"

"I see that," Thorin's sword found its way back to his hip, as he somewhat curiously raised a brow at the sight before them. Around the room there were piles of tattered clothes and fresh and rotten food galore. "Seems we've found are thief." The girl was clearly human, but scrawny and small, she must've been no older than seven or eight. Mud covered her cheek and her redish-orange curls were torn in every which way. She coward away from them.

"Oh, for goodness sake, Thorin! You're giving the poor girl a fright!" Bilbo swatted at him to back away further. "She's not a thief, she's just... trying to survive." He tentatively approached the girl, who tried to hide. "Ah---don't run! It's alright. We're not going to hurt you." He raised his hands to show he wasn't armed, lowering down to her level. "We just want to help, that's all." The girl was still hesitant, but listening. "My name is Bilbo Baggins. And there's Thorin---he's really not as scary as he looks. What's your name?"

The girl only looked at them silently for awhile, until she started to draw something in the dirt.

"Elli," Bilbo repeated the message she scribbled. "That's a very nice name you have there. Where, er... are your parents? Your family?"

Elli drew another, and this time it was in the shape of what looked to be a dragon. Smaug. She must have lost them in the attack on Laketown. "Oh. I... I see." He nodded Thorin towards the drawing, and though the dwarf looked away, the guilt was clear in his eyes. "Would you like to come with us?" Well, that got Thorin's attention back rather quick.

"With us?"

"Yes!"

"She belongs here with her own kind." Thorin crossed his arms over his chest.

"Hm, let's see; how long have I been living in the mountain now? I'm not a dwarf, am I?" Bilbo quipped, waiting for an answer, but Thorin was rightfully bested once again. "Exactly." He went back to Elli, who pointed to the messy pile of food. "Oh, yes, you're hungry. Right---you can come with us and we'll get you something to eat. A warm bath? How does that sound?"

She slowly nodded. She let Bilbo help her forward and followed them back to the ponies, which she was weary of.

"My, and who's this?" Asked Balin.

"Elli, she needs our help. She... lost her family, so I think it's only right we do something." Said Bilbo. The girl was hiding behind him for cover.

"That's mighty kind of you. There's been too many children who've seen death in these past months. I'll see to it if anyone in town knows of her." Said Bard.

And with that, they returned to the mountain with a new addition. She had fallen asleep on the ride back, probably exhausted. Lucky for them Bombur had been experimenting in the kitchen, and some fresh made hearty egg sandwiches were on the table. The smell enticed half the company inside. "Back already?" Kili mumbled with a load of bread in his mouth.

"We... found something." Said Thorin, and everyone gave him a stare.

"Could you be more specific?" Bofur was the first to ask, but Thorin just sighed, and out from behind him came Bilbo, and behind Bilbo came Elli. She clung to his leg. Every dwarf either gasped or hollered loudly.

"Now keep your heads down, lads! This poor girl's been through the ringer, so don't go giving her more trouble." Balin's stern call kept them all shut, besides Dwalin who scoffed as if it was funny.

"This is Elli, Elli---this is... uh, everyone. Almost. They're nice too, once you get to know them." Bilbo took her gently by the hand and led her to a chair, offering her a sandwich which she ate enthusiastically. "Her family was taken by Smaug's last attack."

"She's human, then?" Perked Fili, giving the girl a friendly wave, and her lips nearly curled upward. "Is she gonna stay?"

"Oh! Is she?" Kili was already up. "I've always wanted a---"

"She's just staying till she's been properly fed and taken care of." Thorin intervened with that strangely bitter tone of his. He did say he would work on being far less pessimistic, but that was easier said than done.

"However long she's staying, all that matters is that we get her feeling better." Bilbo handed her another sandwich after she finished the first, as well as some water she gulped down. Kili and Fili offered themselves to get a special guest room ready for her, and Bombur was getting more food ready as they spoke. Ori even went to find some new clothes for her that Dori could fit to her size better. They were a good bunch, as always.

After she'd had a cozy bath to herself and a new set of clothes that were still a bit too large, she was looking to be on the brighter side. At least a little. She slept well enough, but it was the next afternoon where she finally spoke.

"You look funny for a dwarf."

"I---what?" Bilbo turned to face her as she sat looking at some book Ori had given her. "I'm not a dwarf, I'm a hobbit."

"Hob...?" She seemed confused.

"Yes, hobbit. Very different from a dwarf."

"How?"

Bilbo wasn't exactly sure how to describe the many and obvious differences between the two if she'd never heard of a hobbit till then. "Uh, we just... are."

"Why are your feet so big?"

"I was born that way? All hobbit's look like me. Well, not really, but similar enough." He shrugged.

"Oh." She gave a slow nod, even if she thought it was weird. "Will the dragon come back?"

Bilbo's heart pained hearing that. "No, no. He's dead. He's gone forever." Elli let him sit next to her on the floor. "I saw it. And you're safe here, I promise."

She nodded again. "Do all hob-is live here?"

"Hobbit. But no, I used to live quite a ways from here. A place called the Shire; it has very wonderful trees and gardens and all sorts of things."

"Why don't you live there anymore?"

She was full of questions he wasn't expecting. "Ah, well... " How was he supposed to explain all that to a seven year old? "You remember Thorin from yesterday, right?"

"He's not nice."

"Er, he's just... anyways! He hired me to help him and his company find something. I did, and... I enjoy it here, so I decided to stay. To put it simply."

"What did you find?" She tilted her head curiously.

"Some blasted old rock." The Arkenstone really did no favors for anyone. At the very least it was gone. Elli gave him a look that read her thinking of her little interaction with Thorin even worse; he's mean, and he collects rocks? What's up with that?

That did change however on the coming day, when she found herself alone with the dwarf after Bilbo had left to help a kitchen disaster that occurred, and gave the duties of babysitter to Thorin.

"Are you a hobbit or a dwarf?"

Not expecting any conversation to happen, Thorin had closed his eyes to rest, but was almost immediately shook awake. "What?" That caught him by surprise.

"Are you a hobbit or a---"

"Dwarf." He'd become a bit rusty when it came to dealing with young children after his nephews grew older. "Why do you ask?"

Elli shrugged. She asked a few more random questions regarding his appearance or why he collected rocks, which absolutely confused him, but there was one thing she asked that shifted the room. "Will I see my Ma and Da again when I die?"

Thorin wasn't all too sure himself of that; he did not know if Mahal would truly take their spirits to a peaceful place after death, or perhaps he gave you the choice yourself. Or perhaps none at all. In any case, humans and dwarves had different beliefs in what spirits guided you forward, so what her thought of the after days would be like was unlike his own. "What do you think?"

"I think I will."

The sadness of her eyes reminded him of Fili and Kili when their father passed, of himself. "I've lost my Mother and Father. To the dragon, and to another beast I couldn't control."

"Were you sad?" Asked Elli.

"Yes," He nodded. "Some days I still am."

They weren't so weary of each other after that.

And finally it came to a day where all the anguish had caught up to her. She had suddenly burst out in tears, and without word clung to Thorin's leg like a lifeline. He did his best to soothe her aches and Bilbo offered her a kind hug she returned. They both felt and agreed they could not imagine leaving her off somewhere or with someone else; it was hard not to grow fond of her, and she deserved a home to rest in. She equally reminded both of themselves at some point in their lives. Fili and Kili were very pleased to be getting a 'sister' of sorts they could spend their time with, even if she found them a bit too loud or strange. They were all beginning to be quite an interesting family.

[trippingontheescalator]

So, a post of mine has recently blown up, and I just want to say: it is 100% possible to both write a marauders era fic that is historically accurate and still be as gay and trans and nonbinary as anything that could possibly be written today. All of these things existed back then, people might have struggled to express it verbally without the terminology we have now, and they might have used to terms that were perfectly acceptable in times past but are now discouraged (example, transsexual vs transgender), but people of all kinds still existed. In fact, many of those people wrote books in the past, expressing a wide variety genders and sexualities.

You want some gay guys who get a happy ending (no "bury your gays" trope here!), try Maurice by E. M. Forster. Yeah, that E. M. Forster, of A Passage to India and A Room with a View fame. Originally written in 1913, it wasn't actually published until 1971 after Forster's death. It's about a rich aristocrat getting dicked down by his rugged gamekeeper.

You want some lesbians? Try Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown, published in 1973. Yeah, that Rita Mae Brown, who writes that series of cozy old lady cat mysteries like The Purrfect Murder and Murder, She Meowed. Wrote a semi-autobiographical coming of age novel about the 70s lesbian scene where her main character is just eating up that delicious rubyfruit.

You want some trans men? Try Metamorphoses by Ovid. Published 8 AD. Yep, some Roman guy was writing about trans men in year. fucking. 8. The particular poem in question is "Iphis and Ianthe" and Iphis is a man with a vagina, which is kind of problem because he's supposed to marry the beautiful Ianthe in the morning and Ianthe does not know about this vagina situation. So, Iphis prays to Isis, and the goddess Isis is like, "yeah, I can fix that" and gives him a dick.

If you want trans women... well, there's Myra Beckinridge and the sequel Myron by Gore Vidal, published in 1968 and 1974 respectively. But honestly it's kind of a fucked up and weird book, but then again Gore Vidal was a kind of fucked up bisexual himself with some terrible opinions. Look, not every one of these is going to age well. Myra Beckinridge was an important work that did a lot to subvert gender and sex norms. I would recommend reading a synopsis first to prepare for anything that might be triggering thought.

Fanfiction for a lot of people is a way to relax and enjoy a happier, brighter world, and if that's you then all the power to you. I sincerely hope you find the best fics out there to suit your needs. Not everyone likes historical realism, and not everyone wants to read about the uncomfortable realities of the past, and that is fine. I do. I like reading it, and I will close any fic that doesn't even try to attempt to remember the marauders era is set in the 70s. That's just my particular taste.

There's a paragraph in the novel The Female Man by Joanna Russ (1975 lesbian novel) where the author says farewell to her book and states:

"Live merrily, little daughter-book, even if I can't and we can't; recite yourself to all who will listen; stay hopeful and wise. Wash your face and take your place without a fuss in the Library of Congress, for all books end up there eventually, both little and big. Do not complain when at last you become quaint and old-fashioned, when you grow as outworn as the crinolines of a generation ago and are classed with Spicy Western Stories, Elsie Dinsmore, and The Son of the Sheik; do not mutter angrily to yourself when young persons read you to hrooch and hrch and guffaw, wondering what the dickens you were all about. Do not get glum when you are no longer understood, little book. Do not curse your fate. Do not reach up from readers' laps and punch the readers' noses.

Rejoice, little book!

For on that day, we will be free."

And Russ is stating that it is a good thing when books and movies become outdated and are seen as politically incorrect, like Myra Beckinridge, because this means that society has evolved. We know better now, or at least we know more than we did when it was written. And we are continuously striving to do better and be better and more accepting. Anyway, I don't know where I'm going with this except that I want more gay historically accurate 1970s snape fics, and I'm not going to apologize for that.

[akatsukiky]

some things i liked from dr season 3 part 1 and some stuff that disappointed me

spoilers down below

the animation was phenomenal! pixal and zane reuniting was lovely! stabbing me in the heart with That Part Of Zane's Theme was heartwrenching! sora and arin's bond being further fleshed out was heartwarming! jay was great in his appearances, i adored that they brought back his glider

also lowkey the way they defeated thunderwing reminded me of the end of the metru nui bionicles movie when the toa metru defeated makuta teridax. i also like that arin's whole mess with ras didn't get resolved, it keeps it realistic, and i like the sora is going too

however i do take some slight issue with how zane lowkey became helpless/dead weight after his remodel? like he did help here and there but he got brushed off so much in every fight. and the total lack of cole throughout the season; i kept asking myself- sooooo they're gonna get cole now right? did they just forget about him?? LMFAO

also jay's hair is totally ugly sorry (i say this with nothing but love for him in my heart, he's still my favorite ninja)

while i don't hate how they find out about the prismatic steel, i do feel like it's a slight waste to have THE BLACKSMITH SIBLINGS not use their own knowledge or go to their parents to learn through established methods and not with book ex machina (however i do understand that to new viewers who only know dr, roby's book might feel more reasonable/established? however it feels very irritating as someone who watched since the pilot because THAT is kai and nya's family's expertise)

i feel like elemental powers are still very under utilized in this season? just in general since they started relying on physical weapons (since around the post movie era started) it feels like they use their elemental powers as a plan b more often than not. i just wish they would go back to using them alongside physical combat in creative ways that aren't just 'blast of this guy's respective color'

and, while this isn't a particularly new thing, i once again am mourning the tornado of creation. they used it like twice and never again, rest in peace my funny rainbow master builder tornado

i am disappointed to see that morro didn't get to interact with any of the ninja who knew him and that he wasn't even mentioned by name? like lloyd was Right There, i wish some time could have been dedicated to that interaction. i'm also disappointed that morro just got slurped up by thunderwing- like ok. bye i guess. otherwise i do like how they portrayed and utilized him and extremely glad they didn't undo his redemption from day of the departed!

the season generally did fall back into the general ninjago formula: try to get the magic weapons/artifacts scattered across the world (golden weapons, fang blades, oni masks, prismatic blades), fail and the enemy obtains them to do what they want with them (escape the underworld, awaken the devourer, revive garmadon, free thunderwing), lloyd loses his powers temporarily (or permanently in the case of his golden power rip). i don't have anything against it and i don't see i as a positive nor a negative; maybe it's a little tired now after so many seasons??

however, all in all, good season, i enjoyed it greatly :)

[m-s-justice]

once again posting meta. I wanna munch on the cycle. have lunch with me. TL;DR I think the Cycle is fundamentally flawed and fails as a narrative tool.

so like. is it necessary? I know that sounds stupid but let me yap. So, to rephrase "is it necessary?" to a more specific "what does it do for the narrative?" it pays off origins (and DE, to some extent) like obviously it's a loop we saw their statues. and we have hindsight. but what does it actually do?

Read More because this is LOOOOOOOONG I'm not exaggerating ↓

Time loops are stagnancy. Cycles usually entail a sort of inevitability that's born out of either immutable fate or one's own actions. In very interesting stories, it's usually both. It's usually a device that forcefully makes the character that's looping Go Through Stuff. Sometimes it's recognizing the fault in your actions, giving the character a new zest for life, sometimes it's a "man wouldn't it be fucked up if you were in a loop" but most of the time it's metaphorical for something!

what purpose does the Cycle serve? what is the Cycle saying or doing or representing?

fuuuuck if I know!

Let's see what actions put the bo3 cast into the loop!

They drink the blood of the mobsters to avoid getting wiped from existence by Monty. Richtofen planned this specifically, so to some extent the loop is intentional.

but like. why is that necessary? why is that the mechanism by which they preserve themselves? why would Monty ever consider wiping them if he's omniscient (to a degree) and knows it's a time loop because by definition them being in the past has Already Happened. But let's go a step further. Why Loop At All?

it complicates more than it preserves because the circumstances of the loop are not perfect. They Change things that cannot be undone by Monty simply moving them back through time and space to set up their future - past journey.

Do the kids in the house cease to exist once revelations is over? And "dimensional fracture" can only really be done once since they are entire universes with histories even if they diverge, they retroactively have always existed. The "shattering" cannot be a sort of "shatter-verse" where the off shoot parallel dimensions exist only as shards and reflections of the Original Timeline, because the universes existed before that as infinite worlds seeded with different potential via the Summoning Key by the uh I forgot it's name so I'll Elden Ring it up and call it the One Great from which all things originate. So the dimensional fractures were created the very first time Ultimis Richtofen was killed and then retroactively Always Existed and will thus continue to until... Nikolai Agarthans on his Device until he Elaborate Murder-Suicide

So like ok tangent over about that but what I'm getting at here is that the sequence of events that happen are Continuous and Circuitous. They have Already Happened, are currently Happening, and will Happen in the Future. Sofia getting sent to Revelations and dying with Maxis happens. But why would she reappear again if in the past, she's already been sent away by your past selves? Is she part of the loop? I wouldn't think so because she's not Primis. Why does Samantha cry out for help if she already knows she's never leaving the House because Revelations has happened billions of times and will happen billions more? and if Samantha is "reset" so to speak, that makes no fucking sense. Her Entry into the House is entirely unrelated to the Loop. She's put there by Ultimis Maxis and stays there until Revelations//AO. Her time there is strictly linear from her perspective. but if that's the case, why does everything get reset? I doubt it's Monty doing that because... that's not really what he does?

Monty is an interesting critter. He is essentially God, particularly the Christian one as the text itself alludes to. All powerful, omniscient, yet abides by the concept of "free will" and so he's marked by passive action. Nudges, influences, little hidden messages sneaked in to give you a clue, his presence implied on maps by a red scarf as opposed to the Shadow Man who boldly and bodily appears whenever he's able to. As seen with Primis, any direct action he takes must be subtle. unnoticeable. Hence why he loops them, so that it "works out perfectly". He wouldn't just upturn all of the fractures because wouldn't that impede on the people's inside of them? their "free will"? their existences are just as real as their originators. Monty wouldn't interfere with it by virtue of his own self imposed limitations.

but like ok whatever shut up justice and get to the point. Is the loop necessary?

I don't think so. It muddies the plot. And I'm fine with time loops as a concept, I am a Homestuck fan, but this one feels... sloppy. The small ones that happen, like Richtofen giving blood to his past self, that feels fine because it's a perfect loop. His own future seeds his past and vice versa. Nothing else is affected, other than the consequences of the loop that are his friends now knowing looping is possible and that he's now in possession of the blood.

But ok ok so what? it's a bit of a sloppy narrative but that's the point. the Loop sucks. that's why bo4 is about breaking it. because ending the loop is the other half of the narrative. Looping is a set piece, a set up, an instrument meant to push the narrative, breaking it, or just escaping it, is the narrative payoff, the completion of the arc.

so how does the loop break? A random guy that our crew has never once talked to nor even know exists manages to break his own, very literally rewriting fate.

Wow that is fucking ass. And not just because of the retcon of MotD, which I am very depressed about, but narratively speaking? for our protagonists? it sucks. they didn't do it, the breaking of the loop just happens to them. Richtofen doesn't sacrifice himself and cements, at least this version of himself, as the selfless, "nicest one", but because he's forced to do it by fate. It's not his choice, he was backed into a corner. it's either die one time and everyone else escapes or everyone dies infinitely. easy option.

but even from a Watsonian perspective, it fails. BotD is a "trap" to kill Richtofen? Well, in the LITERAL SAME MAP another Richtofen shows up and replaces him. Like... why is that even allowed? Why would the Warden or the Shadow Man just allow popsicle Richtofen to stay there? if you wanted to kill him, then just turn off the pod. that makes it so he, inevitably, dies there since all past Richtofens will eventually become that Future Richtofen via Revelations which is now no longer a viable path, then you kill the sole current one via the dark mechanism. boom. Edward dead, just like you wanted.

it's just so shit. It doesn't push the themes, it doesn't make any sense for people who interact with the loop, and breaking it was via the most contrived asspull imaginable that doesn't even have the guts to give the consequences of the map any weight.

I love this story and it's characters but I will never pretend that it's a masterpiece, or even well written. Does anyone want to share what Primis was doing while Richtofen was looping for years? Does anyone want to talk about why Monty is evil and somehow corrupted by the Dark Aether despite never interacting with it? Or how Samantha's Aether powers persisted in BO4 despite being "purified" by Monty and being allowed into the New Universe because of said purity? or why Richtofen had to collect his child self's soul, but it was apparently okay to collect the adult versions of Ultimis even though we know both Dempsey and that version of Takeo were experimented on by 115 and were thereby equally "tainted"? Why was Victis looping in Die Rise?

yet again I stand alone, gazing through my bleak window, painted in drops of falling rain. "No one understands", I murmur. I am left with the silence with my musings with the only response being that of the singing water playing a melody on the glass.

[the-soul-detectives]

Posting all my fics here!

(Spoilers for Attack and Guilt)

A Party

The party downstairs was loud and chaotic, guests mingled and Alistair entertained with air magic. The door muffled the noise from the party, and behind that door was the makar himself, Callum Hunt. He was with the Rajavi prodigy, AKA his girlfriend, Tamara Rajavi.

They sat next to each other on Call's floor, hands laced together, earphones in one ear each. They were the only ones not downstairs. The couple were just in the small room, in their own little world, own little bubble of calm. Call then leaned his head onto Tamara's shoulder, his eyes slowly drooping. Tamara's hand instinctively went to the side of his head to stabilize him.

The makar felt her soft hand touch his face, softly caressing. That made the edges of his lips softly twitch, a gentle smile then appearing. His free arm reaches out to grab her waist, pulling her onto his lap. Tamara sighs, but it was more of acceptance rather than exasperation. She pulls his head onto her chest, her hands softly tugging and playing with his hair. They stayed there, no words exchanged, but their actions said enough about them.

Attack

Call stared at Tamara from across the battle field, the infamous silver mask covering his face. Miri was clutched in his hands, the weapon once representing his mother, now representing the child Alistair should've killed in the first place. Maybe, just maybe, if his father had just let him die in the cold and unforgiving cave, this wouldn't have happened. Too late now. It was too late to correct past mistakes. Or was it truly a mistake? Call wondered. Maybe it was right now to the Magisterium, but who cared? They were the ones to take him away from his father anyway. They were the reason his mother wasn't alive. Because of that stupid war.

"Call..." Tamara whispered under her breath, heart devastated. This wasn't the boy she knew. This wasn't the boy who intentionally tried to fail the Iron Trials because he father said so. This wasn't the boy that constantly whined about going to a magic school. This wasn't the boy that she had shared countless of nights with. No, this was a different person standing in front of her. One that had fully embraced being the thing he swore he wouldn't be. This wasn't Callum Hunt anymore—Was it ever? — This was Constantine Madden, back in the flesh.

He raised his arm and muttered a single word. A word that he promised never to utter as a command.

"Attack"

The Magical Café

"WHAT?!" Callum exclaimed, exasperated as hell. Tamara sat to his left, mouth wide open, looking almost offended. Aaron, who was in the kitchen meanwhile, looked slightly excited.

"Yes. We are serious. This is a new form of punishment we shall give to misbehaving students. And you three," Rufus glanced and his apprentices "Just happened to have a punishment pending due to that... Stunt you held in the refectory a few days back." His stance was firm, his voice was steady. He was certain with his decision.

So that's how the apprentices of Master Rufus ended up here, in the creatively named "The Magical Café". They were going to work as punishment. As bariatas. To the new café. Tamara and Call looked about ready to make the floor collapse. Aaron meanwhile was smiling sympathetically

"Cmon guys. It isn't THAT bad" He patted his friends backs. "It's just working as baristas. You make coffee and serve them. What could go wrong?"

"Aaron, you just jinxed us." Call pointed out, his eyes narrowing at his best friend. "Plus, this means that we have to talk to other people." he grumbled stubbornly. He wasn't a fan of people.

After a few moments of silent life questioning, Tamara sighed, grabbing her apron and tying it behind her back. "Well, if we're gonna do this, we better do this right. Master Rufus said that we'd get another shift if our services were rated a 7 below." A collective shudder went through the three of them.

Eventually, with a begrudging pout, Call grumbled something about "Elementals being easier to deal with than customers" and called divs on making the coffee. Probably for the best. Aaron was in charge of serving the drinks to customers since he was the least clumsy and he loved people. Tamara took the cashier since she knew soxial cues and how to deal with people since... Rich family requires a lot of socializing.

First hour in. It was manageable. A few students. Elementals (somehow? Neither of them knew why). And a few masters. Nothing too irritating. Until 11am. When a flood of people came in. What. The. Hell. It wasn't lunch rush yet?!

The trio stared at the growing line. Then to each other. Then back to the growing line. With a synced sigh, Call rolled up his sleeves, Tamara put on her most polite face, and Aaron rolled his shoulders. Today was gonna be busy.

Call worked efficiently, hands busy while he stared at the orders on the tablet. His hand-eye coordination was surprisingly good for a guy like him. He worked on the coffees as quickly as he could and put them on the counter for Aaron to serve. Aaron was surprisingly good at his job. He greeted customers and initiated a bit of small talk. Considering he was THE makar.. Yea, that would definitely help their reviews. Tamara was amazing at her job. She kept a polite smile and a cheerful voice. Call wondered how the hell could she do it. If it were him, he'd be drained after the first five customers.

Eventually... It was over. It was finally lunch break for them. The lunch rush was over. Tamara put up the "On break" sign and sat down with Call and Aaron at one of the booths. Rufus came in to check on his apprentices, who were snacking on some lichen and bologna sandwiches. With a chuckle, the master approached the wistful trio.

"So, how was your day so far?" He asked in a dry yet teasing tone. Aaron was the first to answer.

"It was... Fine." Though, the weary and tired look on his face said otherwise. Tamara opened her mouth next.

"It was exhausting. I never wanna do this again" She slumped on the table, braids a mess. Call untied her braids and brushed out her hair as he answered himself.

"It was hell on earth. I got burnt by hot coffee several times." He grumbled bitterly. Almost as bitter as pure coffee. "I couldn't heal it because those damn orders kept coming. I am a single teenager here!" The makar rolled his eyes while rebraiding Tamara's hair.

Rufus chuckled and sat next to Aaron then patted his back. "You're doing a great job so far. I only hear positive things about you three from the customers. So far." The underlying threat wasn't lost on the three apprentices.

"Anyhow. I must get going" He stood up and dusted off his deep purple robes. "There are still many matters to attend to. I expect to hear these stunning reviews till your shift has ended" Then he walks out.

Call, Aaron, and Tamara looked at each other, then laughed. Yea, they could only hope those shiny reviews would stay

Guilt

17 days, 6 hours, 25 minutes, and 45 seconds. Aaron has been keeping count. How could he not? He couldn't keep the moment out of his mind. The moment where Tamara lunged at him and Call was hit with the Alkahest. The blast of light was burned into his head. The guilt was too much. He had locked himself in his room. He couldn't even bear to go to the funeral. To see his best friends eyes, now forever closed. Doomed to death.

Tamara stared at the ceiling, her eyes tired and red rimmed from the amount of tears she's shed. She had been having trouble sleeping at night due to the guilt. Seeing Call in his suit made it worse. Seeing him in that coffin, knowing that she could've saved him. Could've saved both of them. But... Fate had other plans. Sometimes, she thinks about the what ifs. The constsnt what ifs. What if she had saved Call instead of Aaron? Would he be mad? It kept her up at night. Her parents visited a lot, even gave her some pills to help with insomnia. She never took them. How could she sleep peacefully now that one of her best friends was dead?

Jasper sat on the floor of his room. He didn't really know what to think. His frenemy was dead. Maybe it was for the better. He was the Enemy of death, wasn't he? Everyone wanted that guy dead. He should be non chalant about it. He was thw literal start of all his misfortune. Starting from when he took his spot as Rufus' apprentice during the Iron Trials. But why... Why did he feel so empty? Like, something was missing. He attended the funeral. He saw Call in the coffin. He was given the proper burial of a makar. That was good at least. He shouldn't have cried. He wasn't even that close to Call. Yea, he spent a few nights at his place. Yea, he knew his secret. Yea, Call trusted him with said secret. But they weren't that close. At least, that's what he always told himself. So he could stop the tears that fell. It always failed.

Rufus sat on his desk, hands clasped together tightly. An assembly member was talking from across him, but he couldn't hear them. All he could hear were the panicked yells of his students. The words "Call is dead." rang in ears. Callum Hunt was dead. His student. The strange pick of this. The one that didn't quite fit in. He remembers the Iron Trials. Seeing that strange boy enter with his forner student. Seeing his attmepts to fail. He was the first one to get a negative score in the history of the Iron Trials. He couldn't have ever imagined all that... Could led up to this. And maybe, jusr maybe, if he didn't pivk Callum in the first place and stripped him of his magic... This wouldn't happen. He wouldn't be laying in a coffin, 6 feet deep.

Alistair was wracked with guilt. His tears wouldn't —couldn't—stop. Thid was all in his fault. He let Call go with them in the first place. His instincts were right all along. His son... Oh his poor son... The light of his life. The only reason he kept on going after Sarah's death... Sarah's death... She died while holding baby Callum. Holding the little life they created together. And carved behind her, on thst ice wall... KILL THE CHILD. He didn't have the heart to do so. So he didn't.. But now, he was reaping what he should've sown years ago.

Sarah

White. Soft. Bright. Those were the words Call would describe the place he was in right now. He doesn't remember much before this. But maybe he will later. But for now... He sat up. Feeling the fluff beneath his hands. It was just... A bright white expanse. Where was he?

He stoods up and looked around. Nothin. Just pure nothing. Eventually, he decided to walk, mindlessly roaming around until he found some sort of sign of life. A soft sigh escaped his lips. Yknow... Despite the endless, void-like expanse... It was kinda peaceful here. He definitely felt... Lighter. Way lighter than he ever had in his life. It made him wanna stop and just sink into the delicate, cloud like floor. It was ethereal here, he wasn't gonna deny that. Suddenly, a burst of color surrounds him. Butterflies. They were swarming him.

Usually, he would freak the hell out. Like, whwre did these little guys come from? But now... He just made him smile and giggle... It was kinda ticklish. So soft. So gentle. A black one came to him. His stuck his finger out and he let it sit there. It had black wing, and a bright orange edge around it. It was bolder than its other, pastel friends. Suddenly... They all fly away. Except the one on his finger.

The black butterfly then flew to... Someone else? It made Call exhale. Finally, another person. The woman had long black hair, a white dress, and a white sunhat. Geez, ethereal much? But honestly, Call couldn't bring himself to say that. His insides started to feel all... Fuzzy. And warm. Like he finally found the meaning of life in this woman.

She turned around, her silver eyes meeting his. Suddenly, his throat tightened. He swallowed a breath, his hands fidgeting nervously. She was kinda pretty...

This was his mom, wasn't it? He didn't know what bought him to that conclusion... But he met it. He shyly raised his hand for a handshake.

"Uh... Hi. I'm Call" His mom chuckled and leaned down to shake his hand. "Nice to meet you, Callum. I see your dad has raised you well." Call shuffled at the comment. Where was his dad? And why was Sarah here? Those questions started in his mind, then easily faded away. Like those questions didn't matter. Maybe it didn't.

Sarah then pulled him in, arms wrapping around her son. "My little army boy... You've done well. I'm so proud of the person who became" Warm. Soft. Call immediately melted, arms hugging her back as well. Maybe... Maybe he was better off here. Peaceful, with his mom. And maybe... That was enough.

Tags : @icantrememberwhoiwaslastdecember @theenemyod @thishumanformislimiting

[demigod-shenanigans]

Exactly!!! Like they’re trying so hard to make sure their kid (and every other demigod they meet, I’m kind of obsessed with adult Waystation Valgrace specifically based on the concept that they help anyone who comes by and get them exactly what they need for whatever stupid quest they can’t get out of asking for absolutely nothing in return) grow up in a world that is kinder and better than the one that shaped them into who they were.

And obviously there are things they can’t fix, that are too big to be fixed in their lifetime, and I think that’s something they (especially Jason who grew up being told he was basically destined to do great things and lead and save everyone around him) need to come to terms with, before it kills them a second time. Or, like, a fourth time in Jason’s case since he has so many fakeout/temporary almost-deaths, but who’s counting?

If I ever get around to writing more stuff where Sofía is a little older, I’m gonna be playing around a lot with the whole improving Camp Jupiter thing. We’ll see how it goes.

So, the thing about someone else infodumping at me is that it brings me joy. I love hearing/seeing people ramble about stuff they’re passionate about, even if I have no context for it. I’m reading that stuff grinning because I’m learning new things and the person who wrote it clearly had so much fun doing it. Best feeling in the universe.

However. When I start rambling at people, I feel like I’m the most annoying person on the planet and need to shut up. It’s a feeling I’ve had for a very long time that I have yet to figure out how to combat.

Anyway, enough about that. I’ll try to make my anxiety voice shut up about it for the moment. I love talking fankid stuff.

-Please please please write or ramble about Socrates, I have had him for one paragraph and would love more input. I feel like Leo is the only cat person in his main friend group (Piper had a dog so she absolutely is a dog person, Jason just screams dog person, also counting Reyna here since they’re friends post-ToA and she should have gotten to be friends with Jason again and she’s obviously also a dog person since she has two of them). Anyway, Jason would probably cave immediately if Leo said he wanted a cat. Even more so if their kid also wanted a cat. I know this in my heart. Is Socrates from a shelter? Is he a stray one of them started feeding who just stuck around? Did Isabella just decide she wanted a pet one day and Socrates was the one she picked out?

-Oooh Isabella getting a blessing from her godly granddad is a really cool concept. I kinda love the idea of tiny Isabella who doesn’t know her godly parent just going to Vulcan’s Temple on temple hill instead when she needs something, taking along a really pitiful little crafts thing to gift/“sacrifice” to him (maybe like an ancestry thing came up in school and she was sad over not having any alive mortal grandparents to talk to and Hephaestus is the next best thing since Jupiter is… a whole Problem). And, well, she did try, and she’s not technically related to him and that wasn’t even the right aspect of his to pray to since Leo is a Greek demigod, but Vulcan/Hephaestus does do the granddad thing of putting her equivalent of a shoddy crayon drawing on the fridge and because he doesn’t know how to thank her the normal way so she ends up with the blessing (anyway please feel free to ignore the concept if you don’t like it, it’s just a silly little thought I had and I thought I’d share it)

-LMAO Leo would be so obnoxious about that oh my god. Just brings it up at every opportunity. I’m now also imagining them being at the hospital (maybe Jason got concussed again idk) and Leo is anxious and keeps making jokes about how technically he’s also a doctor

-Yeah I’m not surprised her relationship with Zeus/Jupiter isn’t great. There is something to be said about how he’s got a lot of kids in the myths and his cabin being one of the ones least intended to host any actual children.

-Speaking of, I may have asked this before, but since technically the whole “there shouldn’t be any big three kids”-ban has been done since the end of pjo, does Isabella have any Jupiter/Zeus kid aunts and uncles aside from Thalia? If so, what’s their relationship like? (I have a lot of feelings about the concept of Jason seeing his younger half-siblings struggle with the same kind of pressure he was under and wanting really desperately to be a good big brother/stable supportive adult in their lives because he never got to have that when he was their age)

-Oh I love the submarine concept that’s so fun.

-I would also love to hear more about that Hermes kid, if you’d like to share? I have a couple more next gen kids I could yap about in return that I haven’t posted about yet.

-“I’ll build the Go-Karts” I’m dying oh my god. He’s trying so hard and it’s so sweet and also so devastating (I’m also NOT thinking about how Leo himself probably didn’t have a proper birthday celebration between the ages of 8 and, like, 17. Nope. Not thinking about it)

-I wish I was better at writing Hazel because her friendship with Leo (outside of the weird unnecessary love triangle stuff) is genuinely really sweet. I love the thought of them having someone to talk about that to since it’s obviously an experience basically no one else outside of them really gets.

-Yeah, I love exploring the whole “kid who sees this person as just Their Parent” vs “camp who’s made them into a mythical hero figure”-theme. Also using the mischaracterizations as something people who’ve never met them think is conceptually hilarious and something that would probably actually happen.

-Well now I’m thinking about the concept of the awful film adaptations being a project by a demigod (possibly an Apollo kid? Or maybe a child of one of the Muses?) put together to immortalize Percy and Annabeth’s Epic Adventures, except they never even met Percy and Annabeth and just based it on stuff they heard at some point. Or maybe they asked one of the Hermes kids for help, who just kept making shit up because they thought it was funny.

-And yeah, you’re absolutely right that the way stories change over time is absolutely fascinating. I wish I had something more elaborate to say about that but I do find it super interesting.

-I also absolutely will be checking that YouTube channel out when I have some time, that sounds really really cool!

-Poor Olympia. Can you imagine what it would be like standing in the middle of a fandom discussion with a bunch of incorrect people who are all talking about your parents? Especially as a grandkid of the wisdom goddess? Good lord 😭😭😭

-And yeah obviously any child of the seven would probably have that problem to a certain degree, but obviously Percy and Annabeth are the main heroes of CHB and have been since before the rest of the seven came around. And especially with her likely being the first legacy to ever visit CHB, since that wasn’t really a thing for Greek demigods in pjo… yeah, that would be stressful as hell.

-I love Finley’s chosen name being more powerful <3

-That’s a really interesting point about combining last names thinking it might benefit the kids. It also makes me wonder if some couples trying to figure out which one of their last names because they’ve had shit luck and don’t want to pass that on to their kids. (I feel like that’s something Leo might get in his head about because it was his mom’s name who he loved but who also died young and is his name and he’s convinced he’s cursed anyway. But also Jason loves Leo and loves Leo’s name and will gladly let the Grace name fade into oblivion because he’s got absolutely zero positive connections to it)

-I also love making people (Jason, also Reyna, to name some examples) take their partner’s name when they get married to place the family they chose over the family they were born into. The name you choose for yourself being more important than the one you were given goes super well with found family narratives and I love it for that, among other reasons

-I love hearing about Olympia. Kinda makes me want to talk about the Percabeth kids from Sofíaverse.

-Found family!!! Also I’m worried about whatever is up with the godly side of Isabella’s family since it does Not sound like the reveal will go over well from the way you talk about it

This song is so Married Valgrace. And ik I’d say that about every single song including the Kahoot Lobby Music but this one is especially the vibe

LMAO you're so real for the Kahoot Lobby Music thing, if I'm fixated on something everything is about that something now. Sorry to the books I'm reading and shows I'm watching you are now all AUs of this one thing I like

Anyway you're so right and you should say it (and also the ending of the song made me sob, oh my god? Evil?)

I also feel a very strong need to retaliate now /Ih) so may I suggest I Wanna Grow Old With You as a married Valgrace song?

[inkdemonapologist]

My BatDR Take That Used To Be Hot But I Left It Out On The Windowsill To Cool So You Should Be Able to Eat It Now Without Burning Your Tongue

its not actually that hot, is what im saying

Anyway my BatDR hot take is that BatDR's story is not fundamentally worse than BatIM with one exception; an exception that, for BatIM, covers a multitude of sins:

BatIM has a theme.

I can't presume the intentions of the creators, but if I had to write an essay on the themes in BatIM, it wouldn't be hard to pick one out: the cost of obsession, or even just, the ruin Joey brought on the studio. In the very first chapter, Henry asks "Joey, what were you doing?" and every single thing in the rest of the game revolves around that central question: what WAS Joey doing? Each audiolog is a snippet of the studio's path to this messed up state; each character you meet is someone ruined by Joey. The major antagonists echo Joey's flaws -- obsession with Bendy as more than a cartoon, obsession with perfection, obsession with fame and greatness and legacy -- but even without that, they're also each a picture of how the lives of people caught in the path of Joey's dream were ruined by it. Bertrum, for example, doesn't match the concept of rubberhose cartoons, but as yet another person screwed over by Joey, he fits the central question of the story, so he feels like he belongs here. Ultimately, in a narrative sense, the Ink Demon isn't the story's monster -- Joey is; the Ink Demon is just the consequence of his reckless ambition.

But what's the theme or central question of BatDR?

You can... try to pick out a theme. There's some promising options, because it feels like the story WANTED a theme, stating its emotional intentions more overtly -- "there's always a choice" to leave the darkness and chose hope; family and the struggle of living in a heavy legacy's shadow; or even just good old mewtwo-brand The Circumstance's Of One's Birth Are Irrelevant, It Is What You Do With The Gift Of Life That Determines Who You Are.

I think, even WITH the clumsy execution of Joey's "arc" and Audrey's lack of real choices, any of those could work about as well as BatIM. But unlike BatIM, the majority of the game doesn't tie in. Joey's tour can be considered relevant -- a picture of the family legacy and the "darkness" that Audrey doesn't yet know she's inheriting -- but like, the audiologs and hints and environment of BatDR are mostly teasing the question of What Is Gent Up To, and the takeover of Gent is detached from Audrey's choices, her family, her legacy, and Gent never really becomes a relevant threat to those things in this game. The Cult of Amok and the Ghost Train have nothing to do with any of these ideas. It might've been neat if Audrey had ever considered, "Did my father really drive all these people insane?", a hint of actually having to wonder about the darkness in her past. Even Wilson only barely brushes against these concepts; he doesn't like Joey and he also is trying to escape his family's heavy legacy, but it doesn't really reflect on his actions and we don't find that last part out until he's about to be dead.

There's also the question Wilson poses of "real" people versus ink creations, and what counts as valid "life." It would be an interesting theme with a lot to build off of in this setting, it ties into Wilson more as Wilson seems to represent the opinion that Inky Things Aren't Really Alive, which could've tied to Audrey (as an ink-person who has yet to accept that part of herself) and maybe given Wilson a reason to think it's fine to sacrifice her, it could've even tied to Gent (who don't even seem to value human life) -- but after Wilson asks the question, it doesn't tie into the direction things go. He smooshes a little Bendy, we see hints of his disregard for Betty, and then everyone continues with their plan to destroy the Ink Demon without any further moral quandaries about inky life.

The thing is, when you compare an element like, say, audiologs, there's a lot of differences you can point to -- but I don't actually think Lacie Benton's audiolog is notably better, taken on its own, than Grace Conway's or Kitty Thompson's, and yet tons of people were intrigued enough to flesh out Lacie. None of them are big plot points or compelling characters on their own; Lacie and Grace both give us a little note on what it's like working in the Studio, and Kitty shares a little bit on how Gent's expansion is affecting people. But when Lacie talks about Bertrum trying to make a creepy animatronic, that ties back into Joey's ill-fated schemes that are the point of the whole story. The question we're asking through the whole game is "what happened here?" so the fandom is interested in who Lacie is and what her life was like and extrapolates a whole person out of a couple sentences. But that's not the question in BatDR -- what has Wilson done to the Cycle and the Demon? Why? Who is Audrey really, and why is she here? Telling us new things about the Studio's fate seems strangely irrelevant to those questions, just an attempt to create a Mystery To Speculate On like the previous game did... but what question you're asking and how it fits into your story's main theme, like, matters. I absolutely believe that one clock animator guy would've been in EVERYONE'S crew if he'd been introduced in BatIM, but the context makes a difference; fleshing him out feels less relevant here.

The explanations of how and why Wilson did everything he did are baffling and handwavey, but in and of itself that's not a worse problem than anything else in the franchise -- I STILL don't understand why the Ink Machine needs pipes in the walls or even how it works, there's no good reason for Sammy to believe the Ink Demon will "set him free," most of Alice's motives don't make sense, etc etc etc. But the thing is that in BatDR, the wibbly bit is the closest thing to a central question we have! Wilson, what were you doing? The theme doesn't really explore or connect to that question, so the explanations that are finally tossed our way feel lacking in a way that BatIM's handwaved elements don't. There's a lot about Joey's motivation in BatIM that we can't know, but the heart of it resonates -- Joey wanted something, he was willing to exploit people to get it, and he became obsessed and prioritised that dream at any cost. We'll weather a thousand logistical inconsistencies if it's got heart.

But all of that said.... to be honest, I don't think Lacie overtly fits that theme anyway. Even, like, Sammy is iffy -- we don't really know what happened to him, only that he didn't used to be made of ink and worship Bendy, and now he does. We assume Joey's nonsense had something to do with what happened to him (though the books later assert his influence was indirect at best), because when there's a pattern, we can fill in the blank. So many fan creators found a place for Lacie, Grant, and Shawn in the cycle as butcher clones or lost ones, so many people imagined that Wally must be the Boris we meet, because that would've fit the pattern, the idea that the point of what we're seeing is the downfall of the studio. It's not actually that BatIM did a great job tying everything together -- it's that BatIM gave us a compelling idea and that was all it took to make everything else SEEM like it could find a place to fit. This is what I mean when I say BatIM's theme covers a multitude of sins. There's a LOT of characters in BatIM that don't make sense. There's a lot of inconsistencies and things that just sort of happen without any real reason. Characters don't really have "arcs" so much as different states they happen to be in at different times. But because there's a central question and the story doesn't wander away from it, our pattern-loving human brains will slot in all the pieces and do all the work to make the story feel at least somewhat coherent.

The things that happened in BatDR aren't a whole lot less coherent than BatIM imo, they just don't tie into a bigger theme or any of the questions the story's asking, making "how do they fit into all this" feel irrelevant, making it easier to forget entire sections and harder to get invested in audiolog characters. I think a lot of the other criticisms people have for BatDR's story are very valid, but I also suspect that if BatDR had a more successful theme/central question, then a lot of its flaws would be easier to overlook -- just like BatIM.

[tierras]

hii everyone 🥀🪽 i wanted to share that i will be traveling to cairo at the end of november and will be meeting with displaced Palestinian families. til then, i will be fundraising for these families in hopes of providing funds for them to pay for their rent, clothing, food, medical expenses, and any other needs.

to meet my goal, i am also planning on having a couple raffles throughout the next two months so stay tuned <3

update 9/14: enter my first raffle! [closed, prize claimed]

update 10/6: enter my second raffle [closed, prize claimed]

update 10/26: enter my last raffle [closed, prize claimed]

but for now, please reblog/share and donate to my campaign