#god I hope I spelled that right this time typing it on mobile makes me NERVOUS

[shortqueershakespeare]

Shout out to Hozier for articulating the concept of untranslatable words better than I’ve ever heard when he said it’s like moving a melody from a piano to a violin, it doesn’t sound the same, it doesn’t do the same thing to you

Man that shit just summarised a lot of my emotions about being bilingual in a way I’ve never been able to properly explain

[wolffwish]

More Than Just A Short Time

Warnings: Distressed reader, miscarriage, mentions of anxiety, panic attack, soft!Toto x reader,

A/N: Personal experience used here, so please be understanding. 2022 was the worst year of my life, losing a baby and my fiancé within 3 months of eachother. I’ve been wanting to write something for months, to try and help me cope with my emotions. This hasn’t been spell checked, I literally have finished it and pressed post. So please bear with me if there’s any mistakes or it’s not that great, or sonically cohesive. It’s literally a coping mechanism. I’ve also tried to incorporate Taylor Swift’s “Bigger Than The Whole Sky” as that song has bought me a lot of comfort. Thank you so much for reading and I hope soft Toto brings you comfort if you need it ♥️ my inbox is open to anyone if you need to talk about anything.

It’s been a long 5 days without Toto, and your physical health was declining by the hour. Your period was the heaviest it had ever been, but you didn’t want to tell Toto, because everyone has periods and usually, they’re nothing to worry about.

Toto knew you were struggling physically, and had been the ever-supporting husband that you could’ve dreamed of. Virtually working instead of heading into the office, skipping races and rescheduling meetings or holding them online— to the point where he’d be sitting on the bed with his laptop perched on his lap on Zoom with people at Brackley, with you sleeping next to him and him not taking his hand off of your head once, constantly stroking it to ease your pain.

He was away in Bahrain for first race of the season and it was the longest amount of time he’d been for a few months. You hadn’t been feeling that great in the lead up to him leaving, a bit run down and not your usual self, extremely tired and incredibly nauseous. You just assumed it was your birth control playing up again.

It was Sunday. Race day. You were feeling rough, and after yesterday’s ordeal in the ER followed by a strict instruction for bed rest and preferably someone with you, all you wanted to do was curl up on the couch, watch the race and wait for your man to come home.

You hadn’t been contacting him much over the past 4 days, mainly just good morning and good night texts, as you knew he was going to be flat out busy with media, meetings and all the other stuff that goes with the job he’d worked so hard for.

11am. You heard your phone ping, with his specific text tone and notification lighting up your screen.

💬 1 New Message: Toto🐺♥️ — Liebling, I have a free half hour. Can you talk? We need to talk.

“We need to talk”? You read it three times, making sure you were reading it right. Need? Panic sets in. Usually, when anybody receives a message of “We need to talk.”, ending abruptly with a full stop, that’s never a good sign, right? Right.

Before you could even start typing, he was ringing. Accidentally, you pressed the green answer button, steadily putting the phone to your ear.

“Hello?” - your voice broke as you awaited his response.

🐺 “Schatzi? Is that you?”

“What do you mean, is it me? You rang my mobile?”

🐺 “Oh. Thank god. I had a missed call from the hospital, they left a message asking me how you were after yesterday. I didn’t— what happened yesterday, I didn’t know you wen—“

“Oh my god, are you kidding?! They rang you?”

Anger that started in your stomach was slowly making its way up your body, flushing your red cheeks and making your hands grip the phone tighter. You were checked into the ER yesterday after having what you thought was a 3 day long, heavy and extremely painful period. You had to call the ambulance because you were bleeding so heavily you couldn’t control anything, and started to feel dizzy and weak. With nobody around, and Toto working, you had nobody to call.

🐺 “Come on baby, talk to me. Why did you visit the ER?”

You paused. You didn’t know what to say to him, but neither did you want to lie. You knew as soon as the ER nurse asked if you’d had any morning sickness or previous experiences of dark red heavy periods that this wasn’t just a period. You were having a miscarriage, not even knowing you were pregnant.

🐺 “Liebling? Whatever it is, you can tell me. It doesn’t matter that I’m here, ok? You are my priority, just let me in.”

“I can’t tell you over the phone, Toto. I’m sorry. Just concentrate on the race, and I’ll see you later. I love y—“

🐺 “No Schatzi, baby please, I can’t concentrate unless you tell me what’s going on.”

You knew that he wasn’t going to give in. Tears started filling your eyes and the pit of your stomach started knotting. Emotions got the better of you, your breathing started to get shorter and faster, even though you were trying to disguise every bit of it, so you didn’t make him panic even more. But you just couldn’t do it. You fell apart. You needed him, now more than ever.

“I’m sorry, Toto. I didn’t know. You know I’m on birth control, it was just a heavy period, and then the nurses started asking all these questions about morning sickness and the colour of it and they rigged me up to the machine and started doing all these scans and I was really scared and I didn’t know what to do and then they kept apologising to me and I was in such a state I didn’t know what they were talking about until they— until they said it wasn’t a heavy period, and I’d lost—“

That was it. Uncontrollable tears streamed from your eyes as you relived the worst day of your life all over again, for the millionth time. Hysteria creeping in and your adrenaline winning, you began to shake. You’d been reliving every second of it since you got home, and it took a lot of persuasion for you to the nurses to let you home on your own. But they all knew your situation, they all knew Toto and who he was, so they made an exception. You didn’t think they’d call him.

🐺 “Oh my go—, baby, I’m so sorry. Shit. I should’ve been there, I knew you weren’t right when I left, but I had no idea it could be this—“

“Don’t apologise Toto please, it’s not your fault, I just, I can’t wait to see you later. Please try and just do the race and I’ll be here when you get home.”

🐺 “I don’t care about the race Schatz, baby. I’m coming home now. I’m walking to Rosa right now, she’ll get me on the next flight darling. Hold tight for me, ok?”

You didn’t want to ruin his day like this, especially the first race, but you were done fighting with yourself.

“Ok.” - through tears streaming and sniffles of your nose to try and control your breathing, a simple ‘ok’ was the last thing you said to Toto before dropping the phone on the bed. You’d almost been in denial about the whole thing, and saying it all out loud made it more real. You pulled your legs to your chest, your body still screaming in pain from miscarrying, back pains so intense you feel like your spine is on fire and a headache strong enough to make you squint at any view of light.

You could hear the television in the background, the race build up had started and you began watching it hoping it would distract you from everything that was happening in your head at that very moment.

The grid walk started, and Martin Brundle was desperately searching around for Toto to ask him where he thinks the two Mercs’ we’re going to finish today’s race. He eventually came across Shov, who was ready for an interview.

MB: “I was hoping to talk to your boss, any idea where I can find him?”

AS: “He’s had to rush off, personal matter, so won’t be able to watch the race today, but I can answer any questions you may have - just not with as much Austrian flare as he does!” he tried to laugh and distract from the situation- but you knew social media was about to blow up.

A few hours passed, and the sheer emotional state you were in made you fall asleep at some point during the race. You woke up as the podium ceremony started, that damn Dutch national anthem again. You flicked over the channels and started watching some random nature show about birds. Anything but that damn podium.

Anxiously waiting for Toto to arrive, you kept drifting off to sleep, losing track of the time, until you heard a key in the door and footsteps running up the stairs.

“Schatzi, where are you baby? I’m ho—“

The bedroom door swung open and there he was, still dressed in his white button down shirt and black trousers, so damn handsome. Your man was home.

“Toto, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Tears streaming, you sat up on the bed, trying to adjust your body to a position you weren’t in pain.

“Baby, it’s okay. Come here, little one.” Toto softly sat down in front of you, cupping your face in both hands and softly brushing the tears on your cheeks away with the pad of his thumbs. “I’m so sorry, baby. I’m so sorry.” He brought his lips up to your forehead, pressing the most gentle kiss just above your left eyebrow, muffling the words “Let go baby, I’m here now. Just let it all out.”

The reassuring words from Toto meant every single emotion waved over you like a tsunami, and you fell apart in his arms. The tears came streaming down your face as you leant forward into him. You adjusted your body so you were sitting side aways on his lap, legs resting on the bed and head resting in his shoulder. His arms wrapped around you like he was protecting the world, his gentle touches making you feel safer than you’d ever felt.

“Let’s get you into bed properly, baby, get you more comfortable.” Without hesitation, Toto stood up with you in his arms as he gently walked around the bed, making sure not to walk into any furniture or make any sudden movements. He slowly leant down, to lay you on his side of the bed. He grabbed a blanket, took his shirt and trousers off, walked round to the other side of the bed and got in with you.

“Are you comfortable? Do you need to move?” He asked as you started rolling over as he got into the bed beside you.

“I can’t get comfy, it’s so frustrating, everything hurts and I can’t move without feeling like I’m making a mess everywhere, it’s horrible.”

“Hey hey baby, it’s okay, don’t cry. It doesn’t matter if there’s mess, we can clean it up, okay? Come here, lay here.” He perched himself up on the headboard, his bare chest gleaming in the night light that was the only light on in the room. The smell of him just felt like home. Lightly tapping his torso, he helped you lay your head on his chest, right on his heart. You moved your arm over his toned tummy, slightly tapping your fingers over the grooves of his muscles.

“There we go baby, you just lay there and relax now. It’s okay, I’ve got you my girl.”

A few minutes of silence passed as Toto gently run his fingers through your hair, up and down your back and over your shoulder.

“Toto?”

“Yes, baby? What is it?”

“We’re never gonna meet her.”

You didn’t know if it was a girl or a boy, but your initial thought was it was a girl. You don’t know why. It’d been playing on your mind all day whenever you caught yourself thinking about what would’ve been, what could’ve been and what should’ve been.

A deep breath came from the pits of his stomach as he saw your heart break in front of him.

“I know darling, I know. But look…” he pointed out towards the night sky, a sky full of stars. A sky so beautiful, that you would’ve thought you’d made it up.

“She’s up there. She knows you’re looking at her. Hey, she’s that really bright one, look” he points to a specific star, that is, quite literally, the brightest one in the sky. “She’s bigger than the whole sky, isn’t she?” he looks down at you, as you’d cocked your head to see the star he was talking about. Making eye contact, one side of his mouth turned into a slight smile, as he leant down to kiss you on the lips. “I love you, little one.”

You kissed him back, finally feeling like a weight had been lifted off of your shoulders now he was home.

“I love you too, Papi.”

He smiled down at you again, bringing his hand up to the side of your face and gently guiding your head to lay on his chest. You heard him snuffle, and felt a teardrop on hairline where your hair meets your forehead.

“Toto?” You looked up at him, tears in his eyes as he looked out of the window.

He responded immediately. “It’s okay, baby. I’m okay, I’m just so sorry I wasn’t here.”

“Don’t be sorry, I’m sorry for not telling you when it happened. I just didn’t want to pull you away from work and—“

“Baby listen to me. You are my world, ok? Nothing is more important than you. I would sail the seven oceans to be with you in a heartbeat. Don’t ever think anything is more important than you, Schatz. I love you so much it hurts.”

He looked down at you again, kissing the top of your head and stroking your hair. “You can rest now, baby. Daddy’s got you.”

You closed your eyes and felt your entire body relax into the indentation of his body, and sunk into the bed with him. The soft strokes of his hands over your arms, hair and back brought you more comfort than you’d ever felt before, and the sound of his slow controlled breathing meant your breathing started syncing with his. You both drifted off to sleep, holding each other close. His arms wrapped around you, you laying on his chest.

This was home. He was home. He is your home.

——

[everysongineverykey]

I'M DONE. HERE. TAKE THESE CHAPTER 2 THOUGHTS AND RUN, BABY.

so i'll try to go in order here. uhhhh... there's a LOT i have to say. first: toriel giggling sprite my beloved

on that note, ALL THE NEW SUSIE SPRITES MY BELOVEDS

NOELLE YOU'RE SO GAY. I THINK THIS IS PROBABLY JUST BECAUSE I TOLD HER TO IN CHAPTER ONE BUT SHE GAVE SUSIE THE LUNCHBOX FULL OF CHALK!! I LOVE ITTTT

ralsei's, uh... kinda sus. the whole "recruiting" thing REALLY sketches me out. and he looks kinda... smug, all the time, like he knows what's going on.

LANCER JOINED! ROUXLS JOINED EVEN THOUGH NO ONE WANTED THAT! STARWALKER JOINED, TO EVERYONE'S JOY!

LIBRARY PORTALLLL

so before i entered the city there was that pre-city area? that looked very much like the city? except it had different music? and i thought they'd cut welcome to the city and i was SEVERELY disappointed. but then they didn't! just something i wanted to mention

NOELLE!!

throughout this game i went from despising berdly to feeling bad for him to not really liking him again, but not hating him as much as before. he'd better stay the fuck away from susie though

the queen is the best villain. she's the kind you love to hate! she's literally so funny AND her boss battle is actually tough (rip to the king but he just. wasn't a formidable enemy at all lol)

THE GANG CHARLIE BROWN DANCING TO WIN A FIGHT! SUSIE GAINING THE POWER TO ACT THROUGH SHEER FORCE OF WILL! SUSIE FORCING RALSEI TO LEARN TO ACT EVEN THOUGH HE DIDN'T WANT TO! THAT ENTIRE BATTLE WAS AMAZING! THE "BATTLE WON" END DANCING SEQUENCE! GOING INSANE GOING INSANE

the puzzles in this chapter were genuinely really impressive! i especially loved the word search puzzles and the ice-ee undertale word search reference💙

that being said. the mouse puzzles were SO fucking infuriating. i caused poor noelle a LOT of grief with those and i feel bad.

SPEAKING OF NOELLE!! the scene where she and kris are walking through the puzzle, the one that spells "december", and she's talking about when they were kids, how she loved sneaking out? beautiful. the cinnamon tography <3 also i guessed dess's full name was december a while ago and while i guess it was obvious, it's nice to have that confirmed!

also, i love that susie and ralsei are real friends in this chapter! he taught her a healing spell!!

ugh. fucking berdly. so smug and pretentious. i love queen's desire to be as far away from him as possible though

i also like his backstory. it gives his behavior, even if it's still annoying, at least some context. i get the feeling of feeling like if you're not smart, people will forget about you, and that's scary.

ALSO ALSO. GAMER BERDLY. LITERALLY EVERYTHING ABOUT THAT IS PERFECT. "I THOUGHT YOU WERE A GAMER!" "i only play mobile games, berdly." "NOOOOOO!" like i ADORE that

anyways. time for me to talk about the only thing that matters in this world: suselle. i mean, did the gays win in this chapter or DID THE GAYS WIN IN THIS CHAPTER?? THEY RODE A HEART-COVERED FERRIS WHEEL AND HAD A HEARTFELT, TENSION-FILLED CONVERSATION!

"did you ever wonder why the real susie never picked on you? well, maybe it's because... when you were both new to class, you lent her one of your pencils, like... maybe a dumb one with candy canes on it or something, and... even though it didn't actually taste like candy, she... remembered your smile." okay god thanks toby it's not like i needed my heart or anything

SERIOUSLY. TOBY "i'm gonna give the gays everything they want" FOX IS BACK WITH ANOTHER BANGER LADS

QUEEN'S BOSS BATTLE! ACTUALLY TOUGH, UNLIKE KING'S! AND GIGA QUEEN! I'M GOING INSANE THAT WAS SO SICK AND SO HARD

the way my heart BROKE when lancer turned to stone good god thank GOD our boy's okay

AND ROUXLS KAARD IN HIS PIRATE DUCK!! WITH HIS LITTLE HAT! DEMANDING THE QUEEN MAKE HIM BUTLER SUPREMETH! I LOVE HIM MORE THAN LIFE ITSELF

also!! kris and ralsei's little moment on the swan boat💙 i wasn't a kralsei shipper before but uh... that may be starting to change

it's hard because ralsei's still suspicious but at the same time i love him and want him to be happy. i don't know how to feel

also, if darkners outside of their dark worlds turn to stone after a while, why didn't ralsei? that's, uhhh... VERY sus. very weird. mr fox i need ANSWERS

WE FINALLY HAVE A WAY TO SAVE AFTER WE'VE FINISHED MOST OF THE EPILOGUE LADS. REJOICE!!

seriously the thing that peeved me about ch1 was that the last save point was on the battle stage and if i wanted to play the epilogue again, i had to. do that entire battle all over. BUT NOW THAT'S BEEN FIXED!!

UNDYNE AND ALPHYS HAVE MET UNDYNE AND ALPHYS HAVE MET THIS IS NOT A DRILL UNDYNE GAVE HER A BOX OF CANDIES EVERYBODY SHUT UP THEY'RE IN LOVE ALL IS RIGHT WITH THE WORLD

ALSO! NEAR THE BEGINNING! I FORGOT TO MENTION THE LITTLE WHITE DOG DOING DONUTS IN A TOY RACE CAR AND BACKING UP TRAFFIC! THANK YOU LITTLE WHITE DOG!

on that note: "looks like a car. this one has a man in it. he waves at you happily." AND THEN THE MAN'S GONE??? HEY TOBY???

ALSO. THE SEGMENT WHERE THE ANNOYING DOG HELPS US FIND THE KEY THROUGH THE POWER OF WANTON DESTRUCTION. THE BEST PLOT DEVICE!

TORIEL TEACHING SUSIE TO MAKE PIE STOP ITTTTT

and yes yes i KNOW kris slashed toriel's tires. that was extremely troubling. but THEY MADE PIE TOGETHER!!

"leave the chalk alone, kris" TORIEL!!

sans and toriel making egg puns and asgore running in and going "don't forget me, your eggs-husband!" is the FUNNIEST sitcom moment type thing ever. GOD.

on the other hand sans let me meet your brother god dammit i'll kill you

METTATONNNNNNN

RUDY... "who got you these flowers?" "is it weird for a married man to get flowers?" "so your wife did?" "oh, no! kris's dad did!" "...not even gonna try to understand this..." TOBY STOP ITTTT YOU'RE GIVING THE ASGORUDY SHIPPERS FALSE HOPE. YOU KNOW YOU'RE JUST GONNA KILL RUDY. YOU'RE JUST RUBBING SALT IN THE WOUND!

NUBERT! MY MAN!

seeing kris repeatedly they-themmed by multiple characters makes me so happy <3 poor kid... "college summer vacation when" "you opened the door with your eyes closed. you saw nothing" kris....

KRIS...

fucking. BLACK FOG STORM IN THE LIVING ROOM KRIS STOP IT. HOW'RE THEY GONNA REVEAL THIS WAS INNOCENT? THE KNIFE IN CHAPTER ONE WAS EASY BUT HOW WILL THEY EXPLAIN THIS

the staticy tv appearing in the dark and a toothy smile slowly fading into view in the center and lingering there ominously for far too long >>>>>>> every hollywood horror movie ever god. GOD

snowy and monster kid checking out the red door. implying there's something in there. something that kris knows about. knowing we won't get any more deltarune content for 5+ years does NOT fill me with determination

also. gaster's symbolic theme being mus_smile. and the final image in the game being a smile. god. gaster's COMING lads.

onionsan hears a song at night... a familiar song... memory, perhaps? or maybe a certain... four-note arpeggio that's hidden in a sound test room in undertale? who knows? guess we'll just have to wait for chapters 3/4/5.

this concludes my ramblings for now, but don't get it twisted- this is FAR from the last post i'll make about ch2. this whole chapter was absolutely amazing! brilliant! showstopping!! i'm genuinely soooo super impressed and excited for the chapter 3/4/5 bundle!!!

[caitybug]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR FAVOURITE PURPLE QUEEN @thehoneyedhufflepuff ! @krisrix and I love you so much and wanted to give you a fun snowbaz shenanigan where there’s confused feelings, magic gone awry, and, of course, lots and lots of purple 💜💜.

Baz is going to kill me. He’s going to rip my esophagus from my throat and drain me dry. 

I didn’t think this would happen.

I only—

I thought—

I guess I didn’t think, technically. I just went off a bit.

And now I’m staring at Baz’s shirt. The one he’s supposed to wear on his fucking date tonight.

(Date.) (I didn’t think Baz dated.)

I just assumed Baz was the type who everyone wanted (look, even I can admit he’s fit), but who was elusive and hard to get.

His shirt was purple. A lovely lavender shade that would have looked all too good against his skin. It’d be a light shade in comparison to his dark hair that would hit right above the collar of the shirt.

(Would he button all the way up?) (Surely not.) (He’d probably let at least his collar bone show—lead whoever he’s dating on. Keep them wanting more.)

I’ve only really seen Baz in his uniform. So seeing him pull this out of his wardrobe has made my mind do flips. 

When I asked what he was doing he just sneered at me. “Going on a date, Snow.”

I blinked at him as he walked out of our room. (Probably to drain rats before his date.)

Is he going on a date with another vampire? Or is this a situation where he takes his meal out before sucking it dry? 

I was supposed to have lunch with Agatha today. But that can’t happen any more. (Not now. Not since I fucked everything up.)

I think, briefly, that he won’t notice.

(Simon, you turned his purple shirt white. He’ll notice.)

It’d still look lovely on him.

(Prat.)

I pace the area between our beds, trying to think of a solution.

Could call for Penny.

(No, not enough time. He could be back at any moment.)

Is there a spell?

I frown. We’ve not been taught color changing spells. (Though didn’t Penny change her hair colour once?) (I think that was an accident too.)

I huff and sit on my bed, letting my head rest in my hands, letting my fingers twist the curls that fall off my forehead. 

My magic just calmed down, but I can already start to feel it come to the surface again as my stress levels rise.

I didn’t mean to do it. I guess I was focusing on the shirt a bit too much. About the date. About what the date was possibly covering up. 

A date.

What kind of person would Baz go on a date with?

I bet she’s bloody perfect. 

Dark hair, same intense eyebrows. Just as posh and put together as he is.

I try to remind myself that it’s not a date. That it’s most likely a plot. A way to cover up a meeting with the Old Families.

(Yeah. That’s got to be it.)

I stand back up and walk to his clothes, thinking they’ll give me answers. (They won’t.) (I’ve already sized them up at this point. Given them a good solid shaking down.) 

They’ve not given any clues yet. No matter how much fear I strike in every pleat and stitch. 

I lay his clothes down again, pondering my next move. 

I could leave? Act like I have no clue.

(He’d never buy it.)

Knowing Baz, he’d hunt me down. Maybe bring me along on this date and make her watch as he tore me apart, limb from limb.

I hear the faint sounds of footsteps coming up the stairs. I hope, briefly, that it’s someone else. That I’ll hear them stop before reaching the final few steps to our room.

(They don’t, though.)

“Fuck,” I murmer. “Please god turn purple,” I say helplessly to his shirt. It stays a stark white, mocking me. (If shirts could have eyebrows, I swear…)

I hear the footsteps reach our door and my heart rate spikes, making the next sentence come out of my mouth dripped in desperation and magic. “Just be purple!”

The door opens; my eyes are shut tight, prepared for what’s about to come to me.

“What the fuck did you do, Snow?” he seethes.

I grimace, my entire face scrunching up on itself at his reaction. (Knew he’d notice.)

I turn around to face the music, to own up to turning his purple shirt white, but when I open my eyes- I can’t speak.

Not because I literally can’t speak.

I’m just, quite actually, speechless. 

Baz’s hair. His uniform, his lips- his hands.

They’re all various shades of purple.

He stomps up to me, grabbing the front of my shirt and practically spitting in my face. “I repeat, Snow. What the fuck did you do?”

My hands are up in defence, trying to let him see reason. (What’s the reason? There’s no logic to get me out of this situation. I’m fucking done for.)

“I—er—well,” I stammer. I feel a bead of sweat going down my forehead. 

Baz’s eyebrows are a dark shade of purple, matching his hair. They’re downturned, making a crease in the middle of his forehead as he waits for me to spit it out.

“Use your words, Snow,” he says, letting go of my shirt and crossing his arms. 

I think, briefly, that I dislike the purple his eyes now have. That I prefer the grey, even when he’s angry.

It’s calming- like a grey sky on a lazy rainy day. Or the color of ocean waves. A soft grey and slight blue mixed together.

He scoffs, realizing I’ve nothing to say to explain myself, walking over to the bed to look at his clothes.

I take a look at the bed, expecting to see relief at the fact that I managed to turn his shirt back to its original colour.

Instead it sits, the only non-purple item in the room. A stark white in contrast to everything else.

I blink twice, trying to see if maybe it’s just a very light purple.

(It’s not.)

Fuck.

“I, er��” I take a step closer to him, think better of it, and back away again. “I hope your date likes the colour purple?”

“Even if he does, I can’t be seen like this.” He walks to his wardrobe and pulls something out of a box on the bottom shelf. (Huh—haven’t seen that before.)

When he turns around he’s got his mobile in his hands.

“You can’t have—”

“If you try to tell me what I can and can’t have while we are currently standing here completely purple because of your fuckup I will throw you into the moat.” He looks down at his phone and starts typing as he walks to the bathroom.

I think, for a moment, I just got through the worst of it- but before he slams the door shut he shouts “You had better fix this by the time I get out, because if I have to cancel a date and any chance of having my normal complexion back- you’ll beg for death.”

The door slams shut, echoing loudly in my ears.

I let out a deep exhale.

He’s cancelling the date. 

That alone seems to help my chest uncoil for some reason. Just knowing that instead of going out with someone else who will probably only aid in my downfall—he’ll be here. Under my watchful eye instead.

I lay down on my blankets and stare up at our now purple ceiling.

I hear the shower run. (Maybe Baz thinks he can wash the purple away.)

I close my eyes, letting myself ease into relaxation. To calm down for a minute before trying to problem solve.

But then it hits me, and I jolt up out of my bed and to the bathroom door.

I knock once.

Twice.

And bang three more times.

“Wait, Baz—did you say he?” 

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #146: Medusa (Lancer)

Today on Fate and Phantasms, we’re making the mini-dusa, Medusa Lancer. In this build, Medusa is an Eldritch Knight Fighter, and only that. Sadly Flesh to Stone is a little to high-level to get, but we’ll make it work.

Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!

Next up: The closest thing we’re getting to a Tiamat build.

Race and Background

Having been kicked out of godhood by Athena, Medusa is the ultimate Hermit, giving her Religion proficiency. We’ll also switch things up and give her Acrobatics proficiency for sick anime flips while fighting.

Like her sisters, she’s also a Yuan-Ti, giving her +1 Intelligence and +2 Strength, thanks to Tasha’s. She also gets Darkvision,  Innate Spellcasting for the Poison Spray cantrip and unlimited uses of Animal Friendship on snakes. At third level you can also cast Suggestion once per long rest. All these spells use charisma to cast. You have Magic Resistance and Poison Immunity as well, the former giving you advantage on saves against magic, and the latter making you completely immune to poison damage and the poisoned condition.

It’s a shame you aren’t Small, but no race is perfect.

Ability Scores

Even if you’re wearing armor it doesn’t cover much, so make sure your Dexterity is pretty high. After that is Strength, which actually becomes your highest stat after racial bonuses if you’re using the standard array, because you’re swinging around a giant scythe and you aren’t a monk. Third is Intelligence, you know more than you let on and that’s the stat your eyes are attached to. Your Constitution isn’t amazing, but it’ll be plenty. Your Wisdom is kind of low, but we’re dumping Charisma. You just are not a people person, and you’re easily bribed with sweets.

Levels

1. First level fighters get a Fighting Style, and Thrown Weapon Fighting makes your scythe and chains a little more deadly, adding 2 to its damage rolls. Drawing the weapon can also be done in the same action you attack with it. You also get a Second Wind, letting you heal yourself as a bonus action. Your goddess core might protect you, but it’s important to pace yourself too.

You also get proficiency in Strength and Constitution saves, as well as two fighter skills. You’ve been on your own for a bit, so Survival is a good pick, and your character arc starts with you not being a fan of humanity, so I bet your Intimidation rolls will get a workout.

2. Second level fighters get an Action Surge, letting you slap an extra action onto your turn once per short rest. Copying an anime is always hard to do in D&D, but this’ll make it a bit easier at least.

3. As an Eldritch Knight, you get a Weapon Bond, letting you summon a weapon to your hand as a bonus action. You also can’t be disarmed while you’re conscious, but you’ll be throwing that thing around so much it probably won’t do much.

The big draw of the E. Knight, however, is the Spells you can cast with your Intelligence. Most of the spells you get will be abjuration or evocation, but that doesn’t stop you from getting Booming Blade and Mold Earth as cantrips. The former makes your scythe a bit scarier, and the latter is one of the few things proving your legitimacy as an earth goddess. You also get Mage Armor, because let’s be honest that outfit doesn’t count, Snare for some quick and dirty immobilization, and Longstrider to make yourself a little more mobile.

4. Speaking of mobility, use your first Ability Score Improvement to grab the Mobile feat, making you 10′ faster per round and making it so you can ignore attacks of opportunity from creatures you’ve tried to hit this turn.

You also learn the spell Protection from Evil and Good, making it harder for the gods to continue to ruin your life. Gods: not even once.

5. Your Extra Attack lets you attack twice per action, or four times with your action surge. Chains aren’t that deadly a weapon, it’s more about the quantity over quality.

6. Use this ASI to bump up your Intelligence for stronger spells. Trust me, you’ll want them.

7. Seventh level eldritch knights learn War Magic. If you use your action to cast a cantrip, you can then use your bonus action to hit somebody. How nice of them. You also learn the first of the two “none of the spells from 2nd level really work for you so we’re taking things that could reasonably be construed as Not Magic” spells, Enhance Ability, which lets you try a bit harder to gain advantage on one kind of ability score check. If you pick one of the physical scores, you also get a little bonus for your troubles.

8. Use this ASI to bump up your Strength for stronger scything. You also learn the one good 2nd level spell, Hold Person, forcing a wisdom saving throw (DC 8+proficiency + int modifier) on a humanoid, or they become paralyzed for the duration of the spell, up to a minute. They get to remake the save each round, but we’ll get a way to deal with that in a bit.

9. Before that though, you’re going to be Indomitable, letting you re-roll a failed save once per long rest! Your wisdom save’s looking a little weak, but we’ll patch it up in a bit.

10. Tenth level eldritch knights get an Eldritch Strike, giving creatures you hit disadvantage on saves against your spells for the next round. That means hitting people makes your hold person work better, and hold person makes your hitting people work better. It’s symbiosis.

Your war magic is so powerful it almost makes True Strike not useless, and you also get the second NOTSF2LRWFYSWTTTCRBCANM spell, Arcane Lock. It’s a lock, just pretend you’re carrying a lock around for some reason.

11. I hope the Extra Attacks aren’t getting too repetitive yet, because you’re getting another one this level! Now you can attack three times an action, or six times a turn with action surge.

You also learn the spell Thought Shield, because I was so tired of second level’s nonsense I turned to the UA to pad this out. For eight hours, one creature you touch can’t have their mind read, and it has advantage on saves that would determine if it’s lying. If people could figure you out, you wouldn’t be a god.

12. Twelfth level fighters get another ASI, and this one is making us Resilient, giving you +1 Wisdom and proficiency with wisdom saves. Actually getting magic cast on you is for plebians.

13. Your second use of Indomitable per long rest isn’t that flashy, but what is flashy is getting to use third level spells, like Intellect Fortress! For up to an hour, the creature you target has resistance to psychic damage, and gets advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saves. You already have advantage on most of those saves thanks to magic resistance, but now you can pass that onto a chosen champion as well. You could also use that third level slot for hold person, to hold two people at once.

14. Let’s make your magic even stronger with another ASI going right into Intelligence. That should make your eyes almost inescapable! You also learn the spell Haste, doubling your movement speed, adding 2 to your AC, and giving you most of an extra action each turn for the duration of the spell. You have to take a bit of a nap the turn after it ends, but the fight should be over by then.

15. Fifteenth level eldritch knights get an Arcane Charge when you use your Action Surge, letting you anime teleport behind someone immediately before or after your second action, to make sure the enemy knows it’s “nothing personnel, kid”. 

16. Use this ASI to round up your Dexterity and Wisdom for better saves and a higher AC. You also learn Counterspell, because your scythe is literally sharp enough to cut magic. I’m sure Medea isn’t jealous at all.

17. Seventeenth level fighters get an extra use of Action Surge and Indomitable. Not much else to say about this level. You’re just you, but better.

18. Your last eldritch knight goody continues the trend of “you, but better” with Improved War Magic, letting you attack as a bonus action after casting any sort of spell. Hit some people, action surge, cast hold person on them while they’re weak, then hit them again for more fun.

19. Use your last ASI for more Constitution for better concentration and more HP. You also learn the spell Stoneskin for even more defense, giving you resistance to physical damage types.

20. Your last level gives you yet another Extra Attack, giving you four attacks per action or eight with action surge. You also get your last spell, Protection from Energy, which can give you resistance to one type of damage: acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder, for up to an hour.

Pros:

Normally hold person’s “save every turn” weakness would be an issue, but thanks to eldritch strike you can use it effectively for crowd control. Hit people, freeze them in place, then hit them some more!

You’re also pretty mobile, with 40-50 feet of movement and teleportation making it hard to pin you down for retaliation.

On top of all of that, you’re strongly resistant against magic, with ways to cheat spell saves and reduce damage even further with Protection from Energy.

Cons:

Using daggers, scythes, and whips to represent your chained weapons is fine and all, but it does mean all your attacks only do 1d4 damage. Even paralyzing your enemies for guaranteed crits isn’t going to make you scary.

Eldritch Knight spell slots only go up to level 4, so you won’t be able to cast Flesh to Stone. Maybe the big you can do it...

Your mobility spells, Hold Person, and protection spells all use concentration, so you’ll only be able to do one of those at a time.

[thatblondeperson]

TimSteph, taking care of chronic injuries!

Hey look, another ask that got buried! Sorry friend!!!! 

This is all preboot, RR/Batgirl era.

Ok so Tim is super extra imo when it comes to treating any kind of sickness, injury, ANYTHING. He’s the type of guy who will go to CVS and buy out the entire “cold + flu” aisle as soon a Steph gets a runny nose. He absolutely drowns her in cough drops and tissues. I can see him being extremely attentive as well. Like bringing blankets and pillows around the clock, happy to carry her from point A to point B, almost insisting to do so on occasion, and just sitting with her for as long as she desires/needs company. He absolutely pays no mind to germs. Steph can cuddle all she wants.

Steph is similar but less extra. She’s got some more classic home remedies that Tim doesn’t have. She absolutely would baby the hell out of him if he got sick though, and probably more often than not she has to put her foot down on him trying to patrol even if he’s completely out of it and burning up. Tim has a hard time relaxing, but eventually the time is used for him to catch up on sleep. Tim getting sick is like a mini-hibernation. I can see Alfred stepping in occasionally if they were both sick because Tim’s an absolute mess, and Steph can only do so much before she gets wiped out. They’re hopeless and completely out of service if they’re both ill at the same time. Error 404: Dorks not found. 

Chronic injuries are a constant process. Steph obviously has a ton just from Black Mask alone. I’m sure she gets aches and pains on the regular due to the severity of the torture she experience. Power drills would leave some lasting abdominal pain for sure. Hell, I wonder if it makes cramps worse for her? It could in all honestly. She may need serious pain meds during that time of the month which are of course always kept on hand. On top of that, the physical trauma definitely left endless mental trauma. No question about it. Not to mention that time she got lightly shot in the head. I say lightly because I forgot this was a thing because they don’t really address it again. I imagine that would cause occasional headaches/migraines, and I’m sure Tim likes to run a scan every now and again to make sure there isn’t any lasting damage. And of course, we return to the medicine cabinet for more pain pills. (Thank you @incoherentbabblings for reminding me of the gunshot.)

I headcanon that both of them get nightmares on almost the regular. They’ve both got it set that if one of them is in the middle of a bad nightmare, the other just holds them close, doing whatever they can to soothe them until the calmness sets back in. The nightmares get more spaced out some time after they move in together because I think the constant safeness of having someone beside them every night would eventually help them both sleep through the night better. It is hard to get back to sleep though. Both of them have been put through the ringer, they’ve both seen death of loved ones up close and personal, and I imagine a lot of what they’ve experienced is still very vivid and intense for them.

Tim’s got his own fair share of recurring pain. The boy doesn’t have a spleen and tbh I don’t know how he’s not getting sick more frequently. But extra precautions need to be taken to keep him from getting infections when he gets any kid of open wound, thank GOD Steph is a nurse. Tim has to be kept pretty healthy though if at all possible, which brings us back to my previous headcanon about him not caring about germs when Steph is sick? Yeah, not his smartest move, but Tim’s an idiot and forgets that he’s fragile. 

Both of them have regular joint issues. They’ve dislocated enough things for just about everything to make awful clicking sounds now and again. Steph doesn’t have as much regular muscle pain, she’s far more flexible than Tim is so she stays pretty loose and limber, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have to work at it every day. Steph does yoga as a part of her routine. She gets Tim to join sometimes but he’s not very good at keeping up with it. He’s flexible too but not to her level, and he locks up easier if he’s had an especially tough night. They both try to put the time in to exercise when they can, spotting each other, keeping a routine going, because given how much they both get beaten and battered on the daily, if they don’t keep up with muscle pain, it’ll just get worse. On bad days when the pain makes any mobility difficult, massages ensue. They’ve got at least 15 ice packs in the freezer at all times, and a stack of heating pads in the medicine cabinet. And if all else fails, a nice hot bubble bath never hurts. With Epsom salts and everything. Steph likes to add a touch of lavender oil.

Immediate injuries they’re both very good at treating. Steph obviously has more technical knowhow, and she is the most medically trained of all the Batfam members, but Tim is detail oriented and good at focusing when he needs to so he can keep up just fine. They’re both good at stitches and general wound treatment, but Steph is better at consistent treatment. Tim will absolutely forget to switch out his bandages or clean things because his brain is soup and he cannot be bothered to think about injuries when he’s too busy with 50 other things on the constant. He needs to slow down. We get right back into “more prone to infections” again. Alas. Idiot. 

They both have their fair share of mental health issues, though Tim’s tend to be more intense. Steph has her ways of managing her own mental state but Tim gets stuck often. He falls into some pretty deep depression spells, and his anxiety acts up fairly frequently. Steph has started teaching him how to meditate, but also has a list of distractions and special remedies that she can utilize if need be. Movies and tea are a good base line, though Tim’s mind gets very far away sometimes and it’s hard to pull him back out. Like he almost wants to wallow in his sadness. Often she just tries to ground him as best she can so he doesn’t get so lost that he can’t come back. Steph likes to make sure that he isn’t always using patrol as a crutch for when he’s feeling upset or tense. It’s hard to sway him away from more pain when he lets himself get so close to the edge. It breaks her heart, sometimes she feels helpless.

Steph has anxiety as well, and some psychosomatic tics from her past abuse. She needs a lot of reassurance and gentleness when her mind starts racing. She’s still prone to trust issues, even now when she’s surrounded herself with stable people. She’s been let down and she fears losing her steady ground sometimes. Tim, let’s face it, hasn’t been the most reliable in the past, but I firmly believe that with some growing up he’d step up to the plate and try to be a solid home base for her to the best of his abilities. He’s not going anywhere anytime soon. He’s very good at being gentle. That’s canon as fuck. I will die on the hill that Tim is as delicate with Steph as one would be with a priceless porcelain heirloom. Fight me, the boy would never intentionally try to physically or mentally hurt her. He tries so hard to reassure her but I thinks he feels a little helpless sometimes too. Some of her trust issues are his fault, and he can’t just snap his fingers and reverse his mistakes. He tries his best, but there will always be scars. 

All in all, I think they’re both very tender and caring with one another. They’re both beyond broken sometimes, and they are a mess and a half. But they know each other, they know each others pain and sadness and I think once they got back together they’d settle very easily into a care routine. Both of them are carrying the weight of countless consequences and mistakes and hardship on their shoulders. Pain is just a side affect that comes with carrying so much baggage, but it’s a little easier to manage when they have each other for support. I do think some of it would get easier over time, and my wish for them is that they can move somewhere just outside the city, maybe by a lake. Far enough away that things are quiet, but not so far that they would completely leave the hero gig behind. I agree with the consensus that neither of them could fully quit. Tim would just sink into the background, but Steph would be out there in the field for many years. Justas long as they have somewhere safe and comfortable to return to, I think they’ll both be just fine. Plus smooches are the best fallback medicine for all ailments and we all know that they never run out of those. 😘💋

THANK YOU FOR THIS ASK! More than half of this was not anything to do with chronic injuries but fuck it. We’ve tapped into the hurt/comfort section of my brain and there is a lot of material there to work with. Idk when you sent this in but I hope it wasn’t too long ago. I hope this answered more questions than you ever intended to ask. 💜❤

[keep-it-i-resign]

Fic Writer Asks

tagged by the lovely @vampcoffeegyrl23 I am soooo sorry this has taken over a week! I promise I was just busy away from my computer and using mobile is not the way to go about answering these! 😅

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

6 on AO3 and 6 on ffn.net. I haven't used the ffn.net account in years, i.e 2013 (and therefore my user name isn't even the same) so those 6 stories are different from my AO3 ones. I don't post most of what I write and now that I'm in my mid-20s with a few published papers behind me - I'm much more confident in my ability to write a cohesive and interesting story so expect more posted!

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

17,425 words which isn't bad for only 6 fics with two of those stories having additional chapters coming soon.

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

On AO3? Just 1, which is The Flash and by extension Stargate SG-1 for the crossover I did for Snowells Week this year. Counting ffn.net that's 3 more with Castle, Doctor Who, and Firefly. Over my lifetime of writing fic for myself? I think only 7 more. Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Sanctuary, Harry Potter, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: TNG, and Left 4 Dead. Left 4 Dead isn't much of a fanfic but I did use the zombie types as place holders in an original story until I developed my own.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

I'll Be Waiting (The Flash - Caitlin/Harry)

Well... This is Awkward (The Flash - Caitlin/Harry, Frost/Nash, Caitlin/Nash, and Frost/Harry)

Rewind Time (The Flash - Caitlin/Harry)

Through the Gate (The Flash/Stargate SG-1 - Caitlin/Eowells)

Harvest Season (The Flash - Caitlin/Harry)

5. What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

I don't write angst much and I haven't posted many stories yet but of the ones posted I guess "I'll Be Waiting" is the angstiest.

6. What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

"Well...This is Awkward" has a pretty happy ending with everyone alive and together. Or maybe "Twilight of the Gods" because ReverseSnow/ReverseFrost happens and there is hope of bringing everything lost back and balance the universe again. I guess it depends on your definition of what constitutes as a happy ending. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

7. Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you've written?

I've only written one - The Flash/Stargate SG-1 crossover. I don't normally think about crossovers just because the shows I watch are so vastly different they can't really work or they are already in the same universe with the canon crossovers. I'm also not always a fan of reading them because they can get chaotic quick and characterization takes a dive in order to fit characters into other universes/situations. I admire anyone who can write it well though!

As a side note: I did have a thought about a Snowells into the Arkham universe fic just because I have been replaying the Batman Arkham video games which I might give a shot at.

8. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

👀I wrote one smutty story years ago and it's terrible because I was young and naïve. I haven't tried recently but I'm not opposed to giving it a shot now. I have a few ideas on a prompt list I have for Snowells already so it's really a matter of when will I get to it!

9. Do you respond to comments. why or why not?

I do when I can! I like to get feedback from my readers and having an open dialogue of what they liked or disliked is important for me! I want to know what my audience enjoyed and what to improve on! Responding to them also shows them I saw that they said and appreciate what they had to say! 🥰

10. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Surprisingly - no, even on my old and terribly written stuff. I'm perfectly open to criticism but hate? If you don't like it, you don't like it but others might. Why spend the time spreading negativity when the world has enough of it?

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

As far as I know - no.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No but given enough time I could probably translate mine. It would be grammatically atrocious because I rarely translate from English into any of the languages I know. It's normally the other way around! I'd definitely need a Beta who is fluent to correct my mistakes.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No but it's definitely something I'd try! I co-wrote an original story with a few friends of mine years ago in high school and enjoyed it. I like the idea of getting to talk and bounce ideas off of someone who enjoys the same fandoms and character as me! I haven't really done that since I grew apart from one of my friends from high school who I did that with.

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

What kind of question is this? Do people actually have an ultimate ship? Is that even possible? I have ships from several fandoms and sometimes multiple ships within a fandom. Most of the time I have a main ship from a fandom but that doesn't mean I discount any of the other ones that I or others enjoy as well. I'll throw out a few that I still got out and read for in order of what I read most often (either new stuff or re-reads) to what I read occasionally, at least according to my AO3 favorite tags.

Snowells (all variations) - The Flash

Jack O'Neill/Sam Carter - Stargate SG-1

Helen Magnus/Nikola Tesla - Sanctuary

Harry/Hermione - Harry Potter

William Murdoch/Julia Ogden - Murdoch Mysteries

Phil/ Melinda - Agents of SHIELD

Kathryn Janeway/Tom Paris - Star Trek: Voyager

Kate Fleming/Steve Arnott - Line of Duty

I will occasionally go check what kind of fics the fandom writes when I start a show just out of curiosity. Sometimes you can tell if there is fandom hate between ships by doing so and I know to steer clear, especially if I ship a lesser ship/non-canon ship. Also - the number of canon-divergence or rewrites will tell you if the shows writers start being ridiculous *cough* The Flash *cough* and whether it's worth getting attached at all.

15. What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

Hoo boy. I have a drive full of them. Most of which aren't even close to being posted. My biggest one right now is a complete re-write of The Flash dealing with a what if scenario of Earth-1 Tess Morgan being pregnant the night that Thawne kills them both and he chooses to birth the kid rather than let it die with her. It's set a few years earlier (so 18/19 years stuck in the past rather than the original 15 that the show has it) so the kid isn't Jesse but it changes how season 1 plays out and definitely how season 2 plays out when Harry finds out about the kid while dealing with the Jesse/Zoom issue. Plus it's Snowells too and I want to deal with Barry's mistakes and the consequences of them better than the show did since the show just kind of brushes them off? For some reason? I wanted things to have a little more consequence because some of the mistakes made are egregious and then they acted like it never happened which bothers me. It's a beast of a project and I'm - unfortunately- a perfectionist and a completionist. I'm thinking an episode per chapter rewrite but right now it's in bits and pieces and a lot of notes on how episodes would play out differently with an added character and dynamic.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue and scene positioning. I can write out the dialogue for a story quickly with the bare bones of the scene and movements playing out. After that, it takes me ages to expand the scene and fill in the bits between speaking lines because I can see the piece play out in my head and putting that to paper accurately and engagingly without being overwhelming is a multi-layered process.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Some of this is normal, you know, like grammar and spelling. My brain moves faster than I type so words or bit of phrases end up missing and I later have to fix it. I'm also a Southerner who grew up watching a ton of British shows so a lot of the way I phrase things isn't commonly used anywhere. I have to spend a lot of time double checking things like that. I think my biggest one is not knowing how to end stories satisfactorily. I haven't posted many fics because it's hard to post them when you don't know how to wrap everything up.

18. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

It depends on whether it's an established part of a character or story and whether or not I'm comfortable with the language. Like with Sherloque - it's established he'll say something in French and then repeat it in English. I took 3 years of French so I'm comfortable writing it and it fits the character and situation. But take Cisco, we know he speaks Spanish, but it's never really shown in the show. So fics that I've read where he breaks into Spanish can be distracting as we've never seen him do it - even in dire circumstances. I also never took Spanish in school and I only know rudimentary pieces (I took Mandarin and Latin instead), so I'm unlikely to use it in any fic I write unless the circumstances warrant it (say - Cisco is talking to a grandparent or a meta struggling with English).

But again, it depends on the situation, what we know of the character, and how comfortable I am with the language enough to get it correct and in character. Any fic writer who can get the situation and character down while using a secondary language, and not make it distracting deserves applause!

19. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Hit me with a hard one why don't you? 🤣 I think it was Stargate SG-1 or maybe it was Stargate Atlantis. You're asking me to think back over a decade and a half ago to when I started reading and writing fic at the tender age of 7 or 8. I'm fairly certain it was one of those two fandoms and it might've been a crossover. I do remember writing part of it on an old Gateway computer running Windows '98 with a glass monitor that was mine and my sisters. The other half was written on an electric type-writer that I owned because this was before laptops were widely available and affordable.

20. What's your favorite fic you've written?

It's a tie between "Twilight of the Gods" and "I'll Be Waiting". "Twilight of the Gods" because I got to show off a few of my degrees (History and Classics, I couldn't shoehorn in my others but they are science related and that doesn't quite fit that story). "I'll Be Waiting" is a favorite because it's a big middle finger to whoever / collective group wrote The Flash season 7. I'm still pissed off at how the Wells plotline was dealt with and let's not get started on the whole Chillblaine/Kramer/Forces as kids of WA plots (ewwwwwww 🤢). I'd need a whole new post to talk about how tired I am of the WA kids showing up (because screw how that'll effect the timeline, right?) and the reliance on the future to drive what decisions are made (because, again, screw how bad that would be for the timeline - it's not like we have seen how much that effects things before right?) 😒

Phew.....That was longer than I expected, honestly, but a lot of fun!

Tagging whoever wants to talk about their works because you are all wonderful people who should get a chance to share!

[iamfallinforeverything]

First Love (3/4)

Sorry that it took me so long, but the past few days were actually more stressful than I thought. Anyway, here it is finally. Hope you like it 🤗 Also there is def going to be a fourth part. I wanted to finish this little series with this part then it would have taken me even longer to finish that part and I didn’t wanted that 

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 

Fandom: The Vampire Diaries, The Originals (Kol Mikaelson) 

Summary: The rest of the Mikaelson family learn about your little problem with leaving the property.

Words: + 1.9k (I missed 2k by just a few words 😒)

Warnings: swearing, i can’t think of anything else tbh 

Last Time: 

I didn't really remember how I got into the room either. All I knew was that Elijah had helped me. And after that, it was all just a blur. Damn alcohol.

And please, don’t ask me where the stupid blanket went that Elijah put around my shoulders because I don’t have a fucking clue.  

***

When I woke up, my head was pounding. I've rarely had such a headache. But I knew exactly what helped to relieve a headache. Hopefully there would be something like what I needed.

Exhausted, I stretched and looked around. Slowly the memories of yesterday came back. So my mood sank somewhere in the area of the earth's core. I had absolutely no desire for what was coming to me in the near future. Ha, especially how should I explain to my parents that I was stuck here? Hopefully someone of my ancestors had already done so. I don't know how, but maybe I got lucky.

Why were my ancestors such assholes anyway? I hadn't done anything bad to them. Yeah okay, except for asking for help and maybe I had been a little bit naughty and ungrateful once or twice for the life I had. But who hadn't sometimes?

Defeanded I finally got up. I had no choice anyway and I needed something for the headache. Besides, if I ever wanted to be free again, I had to find a way to turn the Mikaelson siblings back into humans. And somehow I would have to convince Niklaus that being human wasn't as bad as he thought.

Surprisingly, I even wore yesterday's dress. It had just changed back to its original color. My father's spells didn't last very long. In the trunk of my car there should theoretically still be my suitcase. Maybe I could bring it here with a simple bringing spell.

A small gust of wind opened all doors for the transport and a few minutes later my suitcase was in front of me. So my car was open again. Thank God. It wouldn't help me though.

Quickly I changed my dress for my favourite trousers and top, slipped into some socks and put on my favourite shoes.  I combed my hair once and breathed deeply.

At some point I had to get out of this room anyway. It's best if I just get it over.

One last time I went through my hair and made my way out. I immediately heard voices from downstairs and made my way there. I had to get through it now.

Carefully I went to the room where the voices came from. Immediately everyone became quiet when they saw me. Everyone was there, even Kol. Somehow my heart became heavy when I saw his smile disappear when he looked at me, but I just pushed that feeling aside. Right now I had far worse problems than understanding this strange situation with Kol.

"What does the little witch still want here?" Niklaus asked and pointed at me with a downward hand gesture.

"She can't leave.", Elijah replied and smiled at me friendly. At least someone.

"Pardon?"

"My ancestors bound me to this property. I can't leave until I've fulfilled my promise.", I explained.

"Oh, wonderful." mumbled Finn, rolled his eyes and sighed. "I'm off. Your problem."  

I rolled with my eyes. Finn was definitely someone who was extremely annoying. I'd like to turn that jerk back into a human being. Maybe then he wouldn't be such an asshole anymore.

"So now we get to entertain the little witch and help her destroy our lives?" Niklaus asked and looked at his brothers.

"She's stuck here. Either way, she's not getting out of here. We can help her find a way back out. We owe it to her.", Elijah replied.

"You and your stupid honor feeling Elijah.", Niklaus rolled his eyes. Kol was completely silent and looked apathetic to the floor.

Silently I looked back and forth between the brothers. They were wildly arguing. As if I had chosen to be stuck here. I could think of at least a thousand things I would rather do than rot here on this property. Let's be realistic. Finding the cure for vampirism was very unrealistc. How many witches had tried and failed before me? Why should I of all people be able to find such a cure?

At some point I just turned around, annoyed, and left the three of them behind. I didn't care. So I need to help myself. I left the building and wandered around in the garden. Maybe I should call my parents first before I did anything else.

I looked for a quiet place and got my cell phone from my pocket. That would be fun for sure. I sat down in the grass and dialed my mother's contact. With trembling hands I held my cell phone to my ear.

"Y/N?", my mother answered the phone.

"Mommy.", I started crying as soon as I heard her voice.

"What happened?"

"I'm stuck here. Our ancestors tied me to the property and I am too weak to break the spell. I can't leave, mom.", I cried.

"Why? What happened Y/N?"

And then I told her about yesterday. About Esther and the Mikaelson siblings. About my promise and about Maila.

"Oh Y/N... "You've really screwed yourself, my love.", was the first thing my mother said.

I laughed and wiped the tears from my cheeks.

"I know.", I replied.

"Good. I'll talk to our circle now and get back to you, okay? Don't be afraid, you are strong. You can stand up to them if you have to."

"I know, Mom. But I just want to go home."

"I know, honey, I know. I'll help you. We can do this."

"Thanks, Mom."

"See you later. Call you soon."

"See you later, Mom.”

She hung up and I took my phone from my ear and put it next to me. I took a deep breath and wiped my face. Only I could shit like that.

***

A little time passed and I was still bound to the Mikaelson property. And I hadn't really gotten any further with that either.

I had the spell that Esther cast back then. I knew what she had used and what she had bound the spell to, but it didn't really help me.

I didn't have an antidote or a removal spell.

Elijah helped me where he could. He would get me ingredients, talk to other witches, update my parents. I had made friends with him and he was the only one I trusted here. I had not seen Finn since he left on my first day here, which I was very happy about. Klaus avoided me and with Rebekah I had already made the one or other girls evening. I got along well with her, but I could not really trust her that much. She was too loyal to Klaus for that.

And Kol was a whole other situation. I could still feel this weird bond between us. It was like our souls were bound together in ways that made no sense. Why would a witch's soul be sired to a vampire's? Who would do such a thing?   Besides, soul spells were terribly complicated and hard spells. They always involved a great sacrifice. Who would willingly make that sacrifice? It was stupid. Anyone who cast a soul spell was just terribly stupid.

But today was my father's birthday and I was still stuck here. I couldn't be there and they couldn't get to me. I was bound to the property and my family was kept away. They couldn't even come close. I couldn't even see them through the barrier. Fortunately, there were other ways to see my family's faces. It was already dark and I was standing outside in the garden, one of my favorite places here. I held my mobile phone up to my face. My parents smiled into their camera and showed me everyone. It was nice to see everyone, but I just wanted to go home even more.

There had to be another way. My ancestors were little beasts, but they weren't thtat cruel. There was a loophole, there always was. I just had to find it.

After my parents and I hung up, I wandered around the garden a bit, helped some sick plants and just enjoying the fresh air.

But some time later I spotted Kol. He was standing in front of a flowerbed with an old type of flower. They were my favourite flowers and I often stood in front of the field myself.

I don't know what it was, but something drew me to him. I had a strong need to be near him.

Carefully I walked towards him and just stood next to him. That was enough for me, even if it did not calm this annoying desire.

Kol sighed when I came to stand next to him. He could feel it as well as I did.

"You are so different from her.", Kol sighed without looking at me. I knew immediately that he meant Maila.

"What do you mean?", I asked.

"You look like her. Everything about you looks like her, but your personality, what makes you who you are, is so different. She was quiet, withdrawn, good. But she could also rebel, stand up for what she felt was right, fight for what she loved."

I could do that too. Kol just hadn't seen it yet because he always avoided me.

"And you are so different. I can't describe it, but your whole personality is different."

"Is that bad?"

"No. It's just...", he didn't finish, instead he turned away from me and ran a few steps towards the house.

I could feel the soul spell right away. My heart immediately grew heavy and contracted in pain.

"Stupid soul spell.", I gasped and put my hand on my chest, right where my heart was sitting.

I looked at Kol. He had a posture similar to mine. Once you gave in, it was hard to take your distance again.

"You feel that too?", Kol asked and turned to me. Just the fact that he looked at me made my heart lighten again.

"Yes. I'm pretty sure it's a soul spell. Someone has bound our souls together so we can find each other again in every life."

"In every life?"

"There is more than just this Kol.", I smiled at him.

He just sighed and came one step closer. My heart became a little lighter again.

"There was nothing like this enchantment between Maila and me. It never felt that way between us. So why is it between the two of us like that?", Kol became angry.

His whole look and nature changed. He stood up straight, stuck out his chest and pulled his eyebrows together.

"I don't know. Soul spells require great sacrifice. Not many practice these spells."

And then it looked like a light was switched on. Like someone had found the last missing piece of the puzzle

"Of course.", he muttered and shook his head.

His posture loosened again. I relaxed, as well.

And then he just disappeared. Fucking vampire speed. But this time my heart didn't hurt. Kol had a different intention this time with his disappearance.

I waited a moment for him to return. He didn't come back.

Sighing, I turned around and looked into the field of flowers in front of me. No flower was like the other and that is why I loved this kind of flower so much. Every flower was different, unique, but somehow they were similar.

I wonder what kind of "enlightenment" Kol had before he left. I would probably never learn about it anyway.

But who the hell would link our souls together? Who would bind us together? Especially why?

And then it clicked for me as well and I wanted to kick my own ass. That I didn't think of it before.

[iamartemisday]

Pepperony Week Day One- 5+1 Things

A/N: So I posted this last night, but I was informed that one of my tags wasn’t spelled correctly. Somehow, in my attempts to fix it, I managed to erase the entire post. That’s what I get for trying to fix it on mobile. >>

So here we go one more time. Hope you enjoy!

**

5 times Tony didn't realize he was in love with Pepper, and 1 time he did.

When Tony made a random low-level administrative assistant his new PA, it was mostly for the novelty.

Here was a woman confident enough to break into his office and tell him to his face that he was wrong. Observant enough to catch a mistake not even he, the guy who built a working robot before his balls dropped, had spotted.

Plus, she was a former model. In magazines and everything. Whoever said models were dumb could go eat their ignorant words with some ketchup on top.

Virginia Potts, newly baptized as Pepper, spent her first day on the job familiarizing herself with her new responsibilities, organizing the photos on her desk, and signing a truly immense amount of paperwork. Seriously, Tony had to talk to Obidiah about switching to digital. What kind of futurist was he killing all those defenseless trees?

Given his track record with PAs, he expected Ms. Potts to last a month, maybe two. Not a crack against her, but he was a handful and he knew it. When she inevitably quit, he'd have a generous severance package and a glowing reference ready for her. Now it was just a matter of how long before his partying, all-night science binges, and frequent overnight guests of the female variety wore her down.

Three months later, she was in his office while he slept off a hangover, notes in hand as she briefed him on the upcoming board meeting.

"Mr. Daniels in HR needs to talk to you about calculating this year's Christmas bonuses. Mrs. Prowitt in accounting just had a baby and you need to send out your personal congratulations-"

"Potts…"

"You still have paperwork to sign for the merger with Rushcorp-"

"Potts, please…"

"And R&D has taken issue with the blueprints you gave them for the new missile prototype. They're saying the flight system isn't feasible with our current technology. You might want to have a word with them."

"Potts! I'm dying!"

He struggled to lift his head and look into her eyes with all the pain in his formerly inebriated soul. As usual, she was unsympathetic.

"This is why I told you not to go out partying on a Tuesday night," she said.

"As if you never partied on a Tuesday."

"No, Mr. Stark, I didn't. I waited for the weekend." She started for the door. "I'll get you some water and ginger ale. You'll be ready to go by noon."

"I could also not go."

"That's true, but you will" Her phone rang and she ignored Tony's moaning to answer it. "Hello? Oh, yes Mr. Daniels, I was just about to call you… yes, he will be ready in time for the meeting. I just confirmed it with him."

She left and Tony whimpered in agony. This must be what abandoned kittens on the side of the road felt like.

"I thought I hired an assistant," he mumbled. "Instead I got a new mom."

He almost immediately cringed at the idea. Potts was not at all like his mother. She wasn't even a really strict big sister.

No, she was something else. Something he couldn't pinpoint.

Boy, did he hate not knowing the answer.

**

"Potts, we should go out sometime."

Surprisingly, he wasn't drunk. In fact, he'd been sober for the last six days while they negotiated a contract with a new satellite company. That was a personal best for him and he deserved some recognition, dammit.

"We are out," she said, and indeed they were in the lounge at the Plaza hotel waiting for their drinks to arrive.

"I mean on a date," Tony said. "You know, with dinner and dancing and no business deals. Just the two of us."

Pepper sighed like this wasn't the first time he'd asked. And, to be fair, it wasn't. "Mr. Stark, you know why we can't date."

"Do I? Remind me real quick."

She rolled her eyes. "First of all, it's against company policy. Even if I didn't work directly under you, we're still in the same department and fraternization among employees never works out well. Second, dating your PA would reflect badly on us with the press. Finally, maintaining a professional environment in the workplace is crucial to overall productivity and good financial health."

Tony whistled. "Lot of big words there. You've done your homework, Potts."

"I have to," she said, but couldn't hide a slight smile. "If I don't, who will?"

"Good point." Tony leaned back with his hands under his hand. "It's funny, though. I didn't hear anything in there about you not wanting to date me."

Pepper opened her mouth, but none of her pre-established responses to his flirting came forth. Instead, she blushed heavily and turned away to tap on her phone.

Tony chuckled to himself. She was kind of cute when she was flustered.

Not that she wasn't always cute, but…

**

Even though Pepper wouldn't date him (and all jokes aside he did begrudgingly see her point), that didn't mean she wouldn't date at all.

Five years had passed since the pepper spray incident. There had been a few guys in that time, or so he assumed. He was too busy keeping track of his own one night stands to pay attention to Pepper's.

One day, out of the blue, she asked to leave work two hours early. The last time she did that was three years ago.

"Hitting the town, Potts?" He meant it as a joke, but also not. Tony wasn't a genius for nothing and he'd noticed the changes in her make-up and the unfamiliar perfume lingering in the air.

Pepper cleared her throat. "As a matter of fact, yes. I'm going on a date tonight and I need to get my hair done."

He wanted to say her hair was perfect the way it was because it was perfect and whoever this guy was probably didn't even notice. He also wanted to say he needed her to stay late because they had some extra paperwork to go through. Surely he had something buried in one of his desk drawers for her to look at.

"Oh, that's nice," he said, leaning back in his big plush chair. "Didn't know you were seeing someone."

"We're casual at the moment."

"Just looking for a midnight ride, huh?"

Pepper glared at him, but it wasn't her offended face. More like her 'I think you're funny but I'm not going to say it because that will just fuel your ego so I'm going to pretend to be offended' face. He'd become an expert in differentiating between the two.

"I'll be sure to have all my tasks done before I leave," she said.

"As if you need to tell me," Tony snorted. He read some papers while Pepper went to her office. Fifteen minutes later, he was still on the same paragraph and needed to stretch his legs. "So… what's his name?"

Pepper glanced at him, then went back to typing. "Craig."

Craig and Pepper… Crepper?

God no...

"What's he do?" Tony fought to keep his posture loose. "Let me guess. He's a genius billionaire in charge of his own company-"

"He's an investment banker."

"Fun. Where are you going?"

"To dinner and maybe a movie."

"You know what you're going to see?"

"We'll decide when we get there." The intercom beeped and Pepper pressed the button to silence it. "Looks like your two-thirty is here."

Tony barely paid attention during his appointment with… whoever this guy was. Something something missile guidance revamping something. His eyes always trailed back to Pepper behind a wall of glass. When she left for the night, he hung around for half an hour before going home. It was just too quiet without her.

A few months later, Pepper asked for another early day.

"Sure thing," Tony said, chewing on his bottom lip. "Got a hot date with Craig?"

"No, just dinner with my parents. It's my mom's birthday tomorrow," she explained. "Actually, Craig and I decided to just be friends. I think he's seeing someone else now."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

Tony tried his best not to grin as he said it, but he was grinning for the whole rest of the day.

**

After Tony completed renovations of his Malibu home, he started doing more work from home. This meant Pepper had to come over more often than not. Aside from a requisite 'want to see the master bedroom' quip, Tony had allowed her space in his massive home. She had an office and a guest room complete with a private balcony for when she wanted to work outside.

Being as she was, most of their private time centered around business. Making deals, planning meetings, arranging his schedule, and lots of other fun and exciting activities. On weekdays, she arrived promptly in the morning and left before sundown. Unless it was quarterly report time or they were on the verge of closing a huge deal, she never deviated from this schedule.

So it was strange when he left the basement one night at midnight after five hours working on his new convertible to find Pepper asleep on the couch.

Her tablet and some papers were on the floor where she'd dropped them. One arm was tucked under her head, no pillows in sight. She'd taken her shoes off, and while Tony was no foot fetishist, her new pedicure was lovely.

She sighed and shifted in her sleep as Tony gently squeezed a throw pillow under her head and draped a blanket over her. He would've carried her to the guest room, but Pepper was typically a light sleeper and putting her in an awkward position might mean she wouldn't come over as much.

He gathered her things and stacked them neatly on the coffee table. Hopefully, those pages were in the correct order, but if they weren't, she'd have them right in under a second.

Tony stepped back to watch her chest rise and fall. Her face was so peaceful. Not like the cool serenity she used to calmly destroy brown-nosing idiots at meetings. It was like he was finally seeing Pepper in her natural state of being.

He liked it.

But of course, he liked it. He liked her.

And maybe he shouldn't be staring at her while she slept. That was kind of creepy.

**

He was never going to see Pepper again.

'No,' he told himself, 'don't do that. Stay positive. Stay positive.'

The problem with staying positive is that it's hard to do when you're running through the desert with no food or water and you've just escaped captivity and watched the man you spent three months forming an emotional bond with die before your eyes.

Suffice to say, this was not Tony's day.

He'd only briefly considered what would happen if the escape was successful. Best case scenario, he got himself and Yinsen out and they found a village less than a mile away with friendly locals who had food and a satellite phone handy. With both of those things now off the table, Tony stumbled through the sand, careful not to run too fast and waste energy. If he had to guess, the temperature was roughly a thousand degrees Fahrenheit. He'd probably sweated another five pounds off.

The one good thing about being lost in the desert was it gave him time to think. About all his mistakes and all his missteps. All the things he never realized he should've done.

He should've told Rhodey how much their friendship meant to him. Tony had been a pain in his ass since college and yet Rhodes never abandoned him.

He should've told his father he loved him. Twenty years he spent ignoring and pushing away that one simple truth, and now he couldn't avoid it. Howard Stark was an asshole, but so was Tony Stark. Like father, like son as they say.

He should've told Pepper… God, the things he should've told Pepper. Listing them would kill hours of time while the elements slowly killed him. He should've told her how important she was, not just to Stark Industries, but to him. How much he appreciated everything she did for him. How happy he was to see her every morning. How thankful he was that she didn't quit after two months and take that severance package. How much better she deserved than to be in his shadow. How much he truly cared about her from the bottom of his heart.

How much he…

God, this heat was unbearable. Couldn't even think straight.

When he saw her again after hours in an air-conditioned plane, being fed jello packets and wanting nothing more than a hunk of real meat, none of what he should've said came to mind.

"Your eyes are red. A few tears for your long lost boss?"

It would have to do.

**

It should've been another quiet post-return evening in.

Tony didn't feel like flying that night, otherwise, he'd be out on the town already. The plan was to watch cheesy sci-fi movies and laugh at all the mistakes until he fell asleep. Now he was trapped in his own body, eyes unable to close, mouth unable to open. He stared up at a monster wearing a familiar face as he literally ripped his heart out.

"Oh Tony, this is your ninth symphony," Obidiah said, among other bullshit villain monologue crap Tony couldn't hear over his own internal screaming. "This is your legacy. A new generation of weapons with this at its heart."

'Fuck you,' Tony wanted so badly to say. 'Fuck you, you lying son of a bitch. Fuck you fuck you fuck you-'

"Too bad you had to involve Pepper in this. I would've preferred that she'd live."

Someone once said there were five or six profound moments in everyone's life. Tony didn't know who that someone was or if he didn't just make that whole thing up in his head. Whatever the case, this was one of those moments.

Never before had he wanted so badly to kill someone. Not just kill them, but make them suffer the worst sort of torment. He wanted to rip Stane apart with his bare hands, destroy him from the inside out. Make him regret even thinking about threatening Pepper.

He focused all his strength on his legs, making his toes wiggle. The ringing in his ears was fading, but not fast enough.

'You can do this,' said the voice of Pepper in his ears. 'You can do this.'

His fingers twitched and he slowly clenched a fist.

He wouldn't lose one more person he loved.

[etherealwaifgoddess]

To Give Him The World, Chpt.5

Main Characters: Thor x Ellie (original female character)

Summary: Ellie takes Thor on a walk into town for coffee and a little sightseeing. If you haven’t read the first four chapters you can catch up HERE!

Warnings/ Content: as usual- fluff and Thor getting frustrated with himself but Ellie helps him through it. Brief mention of PTSD and depression. Personal head cannon - I like to think that Bruce would have pulled Thor aside after Endgame and been like “Buddy, this isn’t just about being sad. You can get help. PTSD is real. Depression is real. Gods aren’t excluded from suffering.”  #brucebannerisagoodbro

Word Count: 2.9k

Author’s Note: Hello lovelies! It’s been a loooong week. I’m so happy it’s Friday because I’m planning on scrubbing through the rest of this fic tomorrow morning while sipping my coffee and pretending the outside world doesn’t exist. For now, enjoy chapter five. We’re over halfway through ya’ll!  XOXO - Ash

To Give Him The World, Chapter Five

Ellie led the way to New Asgard’s only coffee shop. It was situated at the edge of the main shopping street with patio seating outside under the blue and white awning. It was bright and cheery inside with walls of books and a whole section of teas and coffees to buy and make at home. Thor looked around eagerly, having never been inside before. Ellie let him look around a minute while she headed for the counter, desperately ready for her morning coffee. 

A young man with short cropped hair and rich brown skin stood behind the counter. He waved as she approached, “Morning Ellie! Your usual?”

“Hey Marcus. Yes, a big one today, I need it.” Ellie told him.

“I bet you do…. I see that guy you brought in with you. Hel-lo tall, chubby, and handsome. So is the dry spell over then?” Marcus quirked an eyebrow at her suggestively and she couldn’t suppress a giggle. She had befriended the overly dramatic barista when the shop opened four years ago and she started coming in daily for her coffee fix. Marcus had the morning shift on the weekdays, and sometimes on weekends they would find time to hang out. He was always up for some girl talk and his own dating life was much more exciting than Ellie’s so she got to live vicariously through him and his escapades to find his very own prince charming. 

Ellie blushed and couldn’t bring herself to possibly embarrass Thor by talking about him. “Be nice, he’s an old friend. I’m not sure about anything more just yet.”

Marcus shrugged, “Says the girl in yesterday’s clothes.”

“Marcus!” Ellie picked up a biscotti out of the counter top bin and threw it at him. 

Marcus laughed as he dodged it and walked over to the espresso bar to start on Ellie’s vanilla latte.

Thor had heard the commotion and walked over to join Ellie at the counter. He stared intently at the board reading through the options. “There are so many things.” he said almost to himself. Thor was starting to fluster, not knowing what most of the items on the menu were and becoming frustrated that he was inept at something as simple as finding the right type of coffee. He wished for a beer, he wouldn’t have to worry about anything if he just had a few beers. 

“Why don’t you get what I’m having and if you want to try something new next time, Marcus can go through the different types with us. I don’t know what half of this crap is.” Ellie offered.

“Okay, whatever you’re having is fine.”

“Marcus,” Ellie called over to him, “Make that two.”

“Not a problem, doll face. Gimme one sec.” 

Thor looked from Marcus to Ellie curiously.

“He’s a good friend. I come in daily for my caffeine fix and his dating life gossip.” 

Thor nodded, “Hello, Ellie’s friend.” He called out.

“Hello Ellie’s other friend.” Marcus called back cheerily. He took a minute to glance over and get a good look at the new man in his friend’s life, but his jaw dropped when he saw it was Thor. Marcus fumbled with the frothing milk pitcher, splashing a little on his hand with a curse. “I’m so sorry. I meant no disrespect your majesty.” Marcus tried to back peddle. 

Thor shook his head, “None taken. Any friend of Ellie’s is a friend of mine. It’s great to meet you. Please, call me Thor.” Thor extended his hand warmly which Marcus scrambled over to shake. Thor shook the smaller man’s hand heartily and Ellie had to bite her lip from laughing as Marcus’ whole body was swayed by the shake. 

Marcus was still wide eyed but managed to speak, “I’m Marcus. Can I get you something to drink?”

Thor nodded, ”Well, Marcus, I’m going to have whatever Ellie ordered.”

“Oh, right. Sorry. It should be almost done.” Marcus scrambled back to the espresso bar to finish the drink. He shot Ellie a quick text while he waited for the last two shots of espresso to pour. “Details girl. You owe me details.” He typed. 

Ellie’s phone chimed in her pocket and she pulled it out to check. She laughed when she read the message. “Later. Promise.” She sent back. 

Thor looked inquisitively at Ellie’s phone. “Everyone seems to be obsessed with those mobile devices. I don’t understand it.”

“They keep people connected.” Ellie explained, “It’s much easier to send a quick morning hello, or just something you found funny by text than call and have a whole conversation. Think about it, if you wanted to talk to Valkyrie to catch up, what would you do?”

“Hit myself in the face. It’s what she’d end up doing anyway.”

“Thor!” Ellie giggled and smacked his arm, “Be serious.”

“Alright. I would call her from my house phone. Or I would walk down to find her in town.”

“Okay, perfect. So, you would only walk to town once a day, right? You wouldn’t make trips down and back just because you thought of something else. You wouldn’t call her several times a day with small things.”

“No, I’d wait.”

“Exactly. With cell phones we stay connected all the time. You could tell her right away when you think of something instead of waiting until your next trip into town and possibly forgetting it.” 

“Hmm.” Thor took a minute to ponder her words, “It could be useful. But I don’t know if anyone needs me interrupting their day that much.” he says with a self depreciating chuckle. 

“I go back to work on Monday and I wouldn’t mind having my day interrupted by hearing from you.” 

Thor felt a blush spreading across his cheeks and ducked his head to look at the floor. He was saved by the return of Marcus with two lattes in hand. “Here you go. It was good seeing you Ellie, and nice meeting you, your magis…. Thor.” Marcus feels weird calling their king by his first name but doesn’t want to make an even larger faux paux by refusing to respect his wishes. 

Thor shoots Marcus a grateful smile for catching himself and pulls Ellie’s hand into his as they exit the shop. The streets are busy for a Friday morning and Thor’s hand squeezes Ellie’s a little tighter when people recognize him and say hello. He’s anxious but holding on and Ellie is so proud he’s managing. One overeager older gentleman stops them and begins giving Thor a piece of his mind for abdicating the throne to a non royal woman. Thor shifts uncomfortably, trying to come up with a polite response and squeezing Ellie’s hand for dear life. 

Ellie decides she’s heard enough chauvinistic rambling and steps in. “Wouldn’t you say being present is extremely important to governing a community?”

The old man’s eyes narrowed in on Ellie, unsure where she was going, “Well yes, of course.” he conceded.

“Good, we agree then. You can’t lead people if you’re not there and Thor has been part of the Avengers for almost a decade. He could be called away at a moment’s notice. He has been called away so much within that time that he’s been away more than he’s been here. Valkyrie hasn’t left since she returned and has no other obligations to pull her away. Clearly Thor made the right choice in leaving Asgard under her care.” 

The old man stared at Ellie like he wanted to argue but needed to restrategize first. Ellie didn’t give him a chance. “But thank you so much for stopping to say hello. We must be off. I hope you have a lovely weekend.” Ellie pulled Thor along with her, refusing to look back and enjoy what was probably a hilarious expression on the man’s face. 

Thor was stunned at how easily Ellie shut the man down and was staring at her, baffled, as they moved briskly down the sidewalk. Ellie looked up to see Thor’s face and gave him a little shrug, “Sorry if I overstepped. That guy was relentless and you seemed to be really uncomfortable.”

“You didn’t.” he assured her, “And I was. That man is exactly why I stay home.”

“Oh darling, no. Don’t let him get to you. We’re going to have a lovely morning out. I’m with you and nobody is going to upset you as long as I’m here.” Ellie promised him. 

Thor smiled down at her, amused by her determination. Remembering the cup in his hand, he asked, “I rather like this drink. What was it called?”

“Vanilla latte. I get one every morning from there.” 

“I might have to start. It’s like coffee but better.”

Ellie chuckled at his description. “It’s mostly milk and sugar but it has espresso which is kind of like really strong coffee.”

Thor nods, thinking for a moment, “And the cafe is open every day?”

“Yes, every day. Though Marcus is only there on weekday mornings. The weekend morning girl is Rachel.” 

“You really do go everyday.” 

“Of course! I can’t make this at home and it’s typically my breakfast.” 

“This is your breakfast?”

“Yeah, mostly. I never seem to remember to prep anything or bring it along even when I do.” 

Thor frowns, “You need more than that for a morning meal.” 

“I survive just fine, Thor. And look, we’re here.” Ellie pointed to the gates of the community garden. 

It was a beautiful area dedicated to nature and fenced off from the town surrounding it. The paths throughout the space were lined with smooth river rocks in varying sizes and low lying flowering plants. It managed to be whimsical and elegant all at the same time. You wouldn’t be surprised to stumble across either a wedding event or a faery tea party while you walked the paths. It was one of Ellie’s favorite places in New Asgard, she loved the smell of the green earth there and the calmness it brought her. Thor watched her face as she stopped every so often to admire the plants, sometimes bending down to lovingly run her fingers across soft leaves. Thor thought it was very well done and was impressed with Valkyrie’s planning. 

“Have you been here before?” Ellie asked him as she noticed he wasn’t as engrossed as she was. 

Thor shook his head, “No, but Valkyrie had talked to me about her plans years ago. It’s lovely.” 

“It really is. I come here a lot, especially if I’m stressed. There’s something soothing about being here.” 

“That’s nice you have a place to go. That’s how I feel about my rock.”

“Your rock?”

“Yes, the rock on the cliff at the edge of my backyard. You can sit on it to watch the sea. There’s nothing more relaxing than sitting there.” 

“Huh. I’d like to see that. Maybe we can do that next. I’ve shown you my favorite peaceful place, it’s only fair I get to see yours.” 

Thor was pleased he’d been able to contribute to their day and he grinned at Ellie who was already off, rubbing her fingers through a stretch of tall grasses. They walked through the labyrinth-like trails hand in hand, exploring each new turn as they came to it. Thor found a bench to park himself on for a bit and a trash can for their paper cups in the area around the large decorative fountain. He was happy to sit and people watch as Ellie backtracked a bit to try and see where the one narrow offshoot led to. She had a feeling it was a shortcut to the new children’s garden but wanted to explore. Ellie hadn’t wanted to try and have Thor navigate through the small area but when he announced he was ready to sit a moment she took the opportunity to go back. 

Thor sat happily people watching for almost fifteen minutes while Ellie explored. He loved sitting outside in the sun and realized he hadn’t done it in quite some time. As much as he enjoyed being outside in his yard, and especially sitting on his rock, it had been increasingly harder to get out of bed to the living room, let alone go outside. Thor knew it was depression and PTSD but it didn’t make him feel any better about it. He’d talked with Banner about it at length before he returned to New Asgard. There were medications he could try but being Aesir it was unlikely they would work so they ruled them out. Bruce had sent him emails on things he could do to help manage both issues but after a little while things started landsliding back to the way they were before Bruce and Rocket had found him in the cottage with Korg and Miek. 

Ellie found Thor right where she’d left him, deep in thought. “Hey,” she said sitting down next to him, “I was right, it was the children’s garden. It has a Very Hungry Caterpillar theme. Look.” Ellie held her phone out to him and flipped through the photos she’d taken of the area.

Thor was starting to like the idea of cell phones. “Thank you for taking those. It’s a charming little area.” 

“It is. So how was your rest? Ready to keep moving?” 

“Yes, I think we should. We’re almost done, right?” 

Ellie nodded, “Yeah, we’re about three quarters of the way through. Or we can take a quick route right out if you’re ready. We’ve already been here over an hour.”

“You love it here, we can keep going. But I will pay for a ride to get us home afterwards.”

“No, it’s okay. I come here so much, I don’t mind. Let’s call a car now and get you home. I need to pop over to my apartment at some point today though. My clothes are pretty gross at this point.”

Thor hadn’t even realized Ellie was still wearing yesterday’s clothes. The same clothes she had spent the whole day cleaning in. “Ellie, how inconsiderate of me. I didn’t even think of it. Is your place on the way back?  We can stop there first.”

“No, it’s okay. It’s a few more minutes in the opposite direction. Don’t worry about it, I’ll go later” 

“We can still go. You shouldn’t have to be uncomfortable any longer than you have been.”

“You sure you’re up to it?” 

“Absolutely. I’d like to see where you live.”

“Okay, thank you. And don’t get too excited. My place is pretty boring, just a little apartment over on Oak Street. Let me call for a car so we can head out.” Ellie pulled out her phone and made the call. They had ten minutes which was plenty for them to get back to the entrance. She took Thor’s hand again and showed him the most direct route out from where they were. There was a straight route out from almost anywhere in the gardens if you knew where to look. It was a safety measure but one that was most often used by frazzled parents with overtired children who were ready to be done with their outing. 

The car was early and they were walking out of the gates as it pulled up. Thor opened and closed Ellie’s door for her before dashing around to his side. Ellie gave the driver her address and they arrived at her little apartment barely five minutes later. It was an old stone house that had been subdivided into three apartments, one on each floor. Ellie had the bottom floor and she loved having the large backyard right outside her kitchen door. The car agreed to wait while they ran inside for a few minutes to gather her things and Thor followed Ellie into her home. It was nothing special, just a basic collection of rooms with cream colored walls and pale oak wood floors. Thor would have expected it to be more homey and wondered why Ellie hadn’t decorated. It could have been a show home for all the blandness. 

“Did you just move in?” Thor called to Ellie who was in the bedroom changing. 

“No, I’ve been here since we arrived. It was a great catch getting a bottom floor apartment.” she called back.

Thor was even more perplexed and was about to ask about the lack of personal items when Ellie popped out in her new outfit. “Oh, wow.” Thor had to consciously keep his jaw up when he saw her. Ellie had changed into a pair of soft looking leggings and a long cable knit sweater with a neckline large enough that it exposed her left shoulder. Thor thought she looked absolutely edible and fought the urge to go kiss her senseless.

Ellie laughed at his reaction. “So I’m all set. Unless you think I should pack a bag.” 

“Pack a bag?” Thor parroted back confused, his mind distracted by how soft her pale, creamy skin looked against the dark green of her sweater.

“Yes, Thor, if I’m staying over again I need to bring a few things. I didn’t want to pressure you or presume anything but you said you slept better with me there and I don’t have any plans this weekend.” 

That caught Thor’s attention. “Yes! Please do. Pack a bag. Several bags. I’d love it if you stayed the weekend.” 

Ellie laughed again, “Okay, give me one more minute to pack.” She raced back to her bedroom to gather up two sets of clothes, her toiletries, and set of lace underwear just in case. She was hurrying back to Thor in the living room before he’d gotten a chance to get his wits about him. 

“Come on, let’s go.” she herded him out the door and back into the waiting car. 

Tag list lovelies: @thorfanficwriter @lancsnerd @avengers-fixation

[smilesthroughfandoms]

Every Single Star vs. the Forces of Evil episode in one sentence or less

I’ll probably post a more in depth-review later this week, as I have opinions literally no one wants to hear but I will proclaim anyway, and then I’ll probably also due a revision of my ‘Past Queens Connection to Star’ post from way back in season 2. Cause that needs an update.

Anyway, enjoy!

Star Comes to Earth: Princess Cinnamon Roll that Could Kill you comes to earth and meets Misunderstood Safe Kid.

Party With a Pony: Spoopy Wardens hunt for the glitter pony while Star gets ice for Marco’s sweaty back.

Matchmaker: In which we learn it was probably a bad idea to give Star the wand in the first place.

School Spirit: Star misunderstands football and Marco tries to get Ferguson to blow his whistle not in that way.

Monster Arm: “Not my bowels! I love my bowels!”

The Other Exchange Student: Star is jealous of the meatball man from Bakersfieldville.

Cheer Up Star: “It’s supposed to be ironic!”

Quest Buy: Very accurate depiction of what it is like to work in retail.

Diaz Family Vacation: Both Marco and Star see new sides of their dads but that’s not necessarily a good thing

Brittney’s Party: Star and Marco party on a bus that Ludo hijacks

Mewberty: Star gets horny and snares boys in her web but not in that way

Pixtopia: Marco messed up and Alfonso marries Ferguson’s rebound

Lobster Claws: “… You can’t eat children.” “Really? Not even the annoying ones?”

Sleep Spell: “Camera Phooone!”

Blood Moon Ball: We’re suppose to ship them now, right?

Fortune Cookies: Love is never the answer kids

Freeze Day: Father Time offers Star and Marco some mud before riding away on his wheel-mobile pulled by giant time-hamsters I am not making this up.

Royal Pain: King Santa Claus destroy mini-golf

St. Olga’s Reform School for Wayward Princesses: Princess Prison sure is a nightma–OH MY GOD ARE THOSE CLUBS?!

Mewnipendence Day: No wonder monsters hate Mewmans so much.

The Banagic Wand: Star still doesn’t get Earth and like all of us, Marco is always hungry.

Interdemensional Field Trip: Miss Skullnick fears the “Big Change” while Marco sends Jackie cat memes

Marco Grows a Beard: Ludo is out, Toffee is in, and Marco will probbaly be terrified of beards forever

Storm the Castle: “SURPRISE!”

My New Wand!: DIP DOOOWN

Ludo in the Wild: Wait, since when did Ludo become badass?

Mr. Candle Cares: “Star and I have recently become smooch buddies… On the lips.”

Red Belt: Marco searches for a meaning in life and Star searches for hammer.

Star on Wheels: *epic remix of Marco saying Star is in trouble*

Fetch: Marco can’t open juice and Star runs away from her problems and sending thank you cards

Star vs. Echo Creek: Star gets high and destroys a police car

Wand to Wand: Both Ludo and Star are terrible at magic also major ship tease

Starstruck: Star and her idol Sailor Super Saiyan destroy a park and Marco is 100002% done with this shit

Camping Trip: King Butterfly has a mid-life crisis and tries to control an eagle

Starsitting: They’re gonna be great parents some day.

On the Job: Buff Dad is best dad and buff babies are adorable

Goblin Dogs: “You might think this line is long, but listen to my goblin song!~”

By the Book: Ludo and Star still suck at magic and Glossaryck is a bigger troll than Alex Hirsch

Game of Flags: And I thought my family was dysfunctional...

Girls’ Day Out: Janna is back and is still awesome btw

Sleepover: “TRUTH! STAR HAS A CRUSH ON MA–” *cue fandom freakout*

Gift of the Card: R.I.P.  Rasticore Chaosus Disastorvayne… He couldn’ get his fucking chainsaw to work

Friendenemies: Star becomes one with Christmas tree while Tom and Marco go on a date and sing a romantic pop ballad.

Is Mystery: Meatfork is apparently a family name and Ludo is really starting to freak me out tbh

Hungry Larry: “He’s still hungry…”

Spider with a Top Hat: He tries and he is awesome and that’s all that matters

Into the Wand: SPAAAAADESS!!!

Pizza Thing: Marco is OCD about mushroom and Pony Head buys skinny jeans

Page Turner: Moon, how did you miss Toffee in the orb he was right there!

Naysaya: Marco is a mood in this episode

Bon Bon the Birthday Clown: Honestly my favorite episode overall

Raid the Cave: Glossaryck is the true neutral asshole.

Trickstar: Weird Al is a treasure and I’ll mes up anyone who makes Marco cry!

Baby: Aw, look at the little deadly baby, I love her!

Running With Scissors: Marco gets a new edition to his shipping harem and she is so cute!

Mathmagic: Why did the chicken cross the road?

The Bounce Lounge: Marco is definitely the mom friend.

Crystal Clear: The Chancellor guy is amazing and Rhombulus just needs a hug and wAS THAT ECLIPSA IN THE BACKGROUND?

The Hard Way: “SURPRISE!” 2.0

Heinous: Oh, so that’s how Marco got all that money.

All Belts Are Off: This is the negative side of “Pro-tag teen hangs out with older adult figure” trope done splendidly

Collateral Damage: Marco how do you not know what a possum is?

Just Friends: I’m fine! *blows up sign to prove just how fine I am*

Face the Music: This song is actually a banger

Star Crushed: Looking back, I’m starting to think the writing peaked at this episode....

BATTLE FOR MEWNI EDITION!!!!!

Return to Mewni: This is… just an exposition filler. Not much else to say….

Moon the Undaunted: B4! B4! B4 B4 B4 B4 B4 B4 B4 B4 B4 B4!

Book Be Gone: Seriously, did Glossy take trolling lessons from Alex Hirsch this is hilarious!

Marco and the King: This is the  “Pro-tag teen hangs out with older adult figure” done slightly better

Puddle Defender: Aw, look at the little buff babies, they’re getting so big!

King Ludo: The mime stole the show.

Toffee: Yeah, I think the writing peaked somewhere around here...

Scent of Hoodie: Huh, so Ponyhead can be written as likeable, who would’ve thought?

Rest in Pudding: The colors are not doing the censors any favor here, huh?

Club Snubbed: I literally yelled “Phrasing!” whenever they dropped the title

Stranger Danger: Is she the new antagonist of the series? I can’t tell

Demoncism: Tom is a wonderful baby boy and Ponyhead is written as likeable, part 2!

Sophmore Slump: *sobbing* Jackie deserved better, dang it!

Lint Catcher: I’m starting to wonder if there is any competant authority figure in Mewni

Trial by Squire: I think the writers were all like” You think these guys will ship anyone with Marco?” and decided to test that theory.

Princess Turdina: I got more lore out of this episode than I thought I would.

Starfari: Welp, she makes me uncomfortable.

Sweet Dreams: *Sailor Moon-ing intensifies*

Lava Lake Beack: Proof that this fandom will ship anyone with Marco at the slightest inclanation

Death Peck: Rich Pigeon is my new favorite birb and Ponyhead is written as likeable for the third time

Ponymonium: Well, it was nice while it lasted.

Night Life: The writers made so many new ships they had to get rid of an old one!

Deep Dive: “Chicken butt”

Monster Bash: Well, that explains the cheekmarks.

Stump Day: I think they just made an episode based around a picture from that bookcover.

Holiday Special: *insert every cheesy Christmas/Holiday episode trope here*

The Bog Beast of Boggabah: The title is fun to say and the episode is average at best.

Total Eclipsa the Moon: Seriously, I’m supposed to think she’s an ultimate villain.

Butterfly Trap: In which we are all Sean, don’t lie we were all him at the end

Ludo, Where Art Thou?: Dennis is best brother, hands down.

Is Another Mystery: *sniff* I got more emotional over this episode than anyone else did and I’m not sure how I feel about that

Marco Jr.: I… I just… Why? What’s the point?

Skooled!: Epic advertisment fakeout combined with wonderful character development and lore with a shock ending makes a 8/10 episode.

Booth Buddies: Old Man McGucket ships Starco, proceed to react accordingly

Bam Ui Pati!: Ponyhead is kinda likeable in this episod–nevermind she’s back.

Tough Love: Oh man, it’s happening! It’s happening guys here we go!

Divide: We are going to war everybody–And they’re all dead. That was quick.

Conquer: They should have paid Alex HIrsch to voice Glossaryck at this point, it’d be more in character for him.

Butterfly Follies: Proof that someone will always complain about politics no matter what.

Escape from the Pie Folk: Is anyone else disturbed by the fact that he kinda resembles Eclipsa more than Festivia?

Moon Remembers: I was expecting a freakout but was pleasantly surprised

Swim Suit: I’m starting to get a bad feeling about Rhombulus

Ransomgram: Why is everyone in this dimesnion hot?!

Lake House Fever: She’s a good mom

Yada Yada Berries: They missed an opportunity to have a Seinfeld actor guest-star, just saying

Down by the River: I’m glad that she can relax

The Ponyhead Show!: And Ponyhead is offically no longer likeable, can someone toss her into an abyss please?

Surviving the Spiderbites: SpiderSlime is canon proceed to react accordingly

Out of Buisness: How did this place go out of buisness???

Kelly's World: Man, they’re really setting these non-Starco ships up to fail, huh?

Curse of the Blood Moon: Pfft, yeah, sure, Starco won’t be canon at all!

Princess Quasar Caterpillar and the Magic Bell: I think Ludo has the most consistent character arc out of the entire show’s history.

Ghost of Butterfly Castle: Moon, Star is your daughter and Star supports Eclipsa, why would you not tell her?

Cornball: This episode has a heartwarming lesson that I hope more people come to realize

Meteora's Lesson: I’ll take any Toffee scenes I can get

The Knight Shift: I honestly don’t remember what happened n this episode

Queen-Napped: Seriously, can someone please dropkick Ponyhead into an abyss?

Junkin' Janna: The JanTom interaction I’ve been waiting for

A Spell with No Name: These types of episodes stopped being charming awhile ago

A Boy and His DC-700XE: I think Tomco has more ground to stand-on then Starco at this point

The Monster and The Queen: Don Panchito voices Globgor! There’s hope for this show yet!

Cornonation: They’re the best couple/parents/anything around!

Doop-Doop: I honestly think Rick just put Morty through some flux-capacitor or something

Britta's Tacos: Hey, remember these people that we suddenly brought back? No? Me neither!

Beach Day: This feels like a Season 1 episode and it’s nice

Gone Baby Gone: I want a TV show aout them now! Disney, please!

Sad Teen Hotline: Mr. Diaz is way to invested in Star’s love life.

Jannanigans: Hello last minute Janna character development!

Mama Star: So that’s how Mewni came to be--and I don’t care anymore

Ready, Aim, Fire!: Let’s get that finale ball rolling people!

The Right Way: Ok, that spell is actually pretty badass.

Here to Help: There, Starco’s finally canon will you guys just shut up now!

Pizza Party: Moon you idiot you ruined everything!

The Tavern at the End of the Multiverse: Toffee was right all along... I think we all knew that in some way

Cleaved: I expect nothing substanial and that’s what I got

[tarotmum13]

Add a touch of Magick to your Day!

We can all use some extra positivity in our lives, can’t we?

Well, what if I were to tell you there is a simple way to add a bit of zing to your day? And it is SO EASY, you’ll be wondering why you weren’t doing this all along…

I am talking about Magick Spells…

Yes! You heard me – Magick! (With an added “k” to distinguish it from stage-magic, the illusions and tricks meant to baffle and confuse us) – And no, you do not have to be a Witch/Pagan/Wiccan/Druid to turn your hand to this kind of Enchantments – It really just boils down to “Spelling” everyday items with INTENT.

You can put a Spell on just about anything you can think of:

You write every appointment down in your diary, but then forget to look at it? Spell your diary with a remembrance spell! You want to feel confident going in to that meeting at work? Spell your lipstick or the coffee in your travel-cup! You want to snack a little less throughout the day? Spell your sandwich to sustain you longer! There really is no limit to the amount of Magick you can surround yourself with.

“How do I do this?”, you ask? Well, you just need to start charging your daily necessities (or luxuries) with the firm, focussed Intention that they WILL have added Magickal properties and benefits. And it is not complicated: hold the item in your hand and think about what you want it to do. Try and formulate things in a CLEAR, ACTIVE, POSITIVE manner (just C.A.P. it ).

For instance, when charging your lipstick (or chapstick, if like me you don’t wear a lot of make-up), hold it in your hands – focus, and say: “I feel confident!” (rather than “Maybe this can make me feel more confident” or “I would like to feel less insecure”). You have basically just spoken an Incantation! An Incantation is any word or series of words spoken with the INTENT of doing Magick. Now, every time you put on that lipstick, you will be reminded of this – Believing is key!

If you are Spelling items for Loved ones rather than for yourself, you would of course refer to them as “you” when placing your intent. You could Enchant your child’s bicycle-helmet, for instance. Say: “You are safe”, then also repeat that to them whenever you are strapping on their helmet to re-affirm your Incantation. Or bewitch the bedding in your hamster’s cage when you are cleaning it with a “You are happy and Healthy” Spell!

That is really all you need to do – if you send these positive affirmations out there, The Universe/Spirit/God/Your Higher Self (or whatever you place your Trust in) WILL receive them, confirm them and radiate them back to you amplified. You basically reap what you sow, attract what you release.

If you want to give your Spelled object an extra little boost, you can leave it with a crystal overnight to enhance it’s vibrations and cleanse it’s energy. A clear quartz or selenite, rose quartz or amethyst are generally good choices. You can choose a more specific crystal for your intended use if you like. I will be posting a simple colour-coded system for choosing the right crystal very soon! It makes sense to Spell your items according to their normal use. It feels logical to Intend your lipstick to make you feel confident, as it was already intended to make you feel better about yourself. If you want to Spell your pillow in to making you feel less hungry, that might be a tad more difficult!

Some things lend themselves exceptionally well to being Spelled, as they have magickal properties already!

Like tea, for instance – the making of tea is a ritual in itself and you can easily stir in some added Magick. You can focus on your intent whilst you are getting your cup ready and the water is boiling, as you pour the water on to the tea, imagine it steaming with your added energy and belief – stir the tea clockwise as you speak your incantation: “I feel calm” or ” My stomach settles” or “We bond over this cup of tea” – whatever you wish.

If you are so inclined, feel free to embellish your Incantation! You could say something like: “As I stir this honeyed-tea, all good things will come to me!” or “Blessed be my daily Tea, may it soothe and nourish me”. Be creative! This is some good old Kitchen-Witch Magick right here!

Tea has the added benefit of you being able to choose the type of tea that will enhance your Spell (chamomile, mint, hibiscus,…). If you are going to make your tea at the office, you can spell your teabag beforehand – you can even write your Spell-word on the label (or draw a Sigil)!Salt (often used to cast protective circles or in purification rituals)  is another magickal ingredient that makes a perfect vehicle for a Spell, along with herbs, spices and oils or things like sugar or honey. All these ingredients absorb psychic energy very well and so are great conduits for your Magickal Intent!

There are also Actions that are perfect for Spell-work: Knitting, crochet or macramé are all about Knot-Magick. Knit your love and affection in to every stitch of that scarf you are making! Writing is a powerful tool, so Spell your pen and paper and you can infuse your essay/project/letter with positive intent.

Sweeping the house is a wonderful opportunity to sweep out old, stagnant, negative energy. So Spell that broom, Witches!!

Lighting a candle or incence is a great way to fill your home with light, warmth and positive vibes. Taking a bath is an unmistakable cleansing ritual. Don’t forget to put a Spell on your bath-salt! Or you can even add some of your Spelled chamomile-tea bags to the water.

Cooking a meal to nourish yourself or your family is the best Magick of all! Sprinkle in the love, pour in the understanding, stir through the support,…

Making preserves is a fantastic opportunity to fill those jars with happiness-jam and canned contentment-peaches, so you will have a supply when you need it the most. Those of you who read the cards, like I do, will already know how important setting the right Intention is to get the desired result! We do this every time we are preparing to lay out a Spread or even pull just one card to reflect on our day. It really is essential to become more aware of how our Intentions, moods and feelings impact on the everyday items we use or the chores we complete. Our energy rubs off on everything we touch, use and create.

Imagine you are preparing your lunchbox and flask of tea in the morning… if you are grumbling away about how badly you slept, how tired you are and how much you do NOT want to go in to work today, then at lunchtime you will be eating bad-mood-sandwiches and drinking bitter resentment-tea! You are basically consuming all that negative energy you were exhaling this morning…

Now be honest, wouldn’t you rather be biting in to a feel-good-sandwich and wash it down with some positivi-tea? I know I would! And I am not even going to apologise for that very obvious and cheesy pun…

So PLEASE people, BE MINDFULL and spread that Love on thick, my friends! Now, I know we spoke about using POSITIVE language for your Incantations ( I do, I will, I am, I can), but I can think of one or two situations where “I DON’T” might actually be helpful. Spelling your cigarettes with “I don’t need this cigarette”, for example, would certainly be beneficial to both your health and your bank account!

I would like to leave you with a list of items you can enchant and bewitch:

Your lipstick/chapstick/lipgloss/lipbalm – your shampoo, shower-gel, soap, scrub, bathsalts etc. – your diary, wallet, mobile phone, housekeys, pen, notebook,… – your tea, coffee, water, …. – your meals, snacks, sandwiches – your herbs and spices, honey, preserves,… – your pet’s food, water and bedding – your candles, incense, sage,… – your medicines and ointments – your child’s pacifier, milk, favourite stuffed toy or blanket – your bed and pillow – your sweeping brush, cleaning products, washing-up liquid… – there must be 1001 other things you can charm! See if you can think of some more…

Go on! Give it a try and add some Magick to your life!!!

Xxx

(This is a post I wrote last summer on Wordpress and forgot to post here! Hope you enjoy it!)

[poppyknitt]

Forgiveness- A JSE Egos Fanfic: Thanksgiving Special

Recap: Over the last few months, Anti has attacked a few times, but was subdued on his own birthday by Marvin, whose mind had been corrupted by his overuse of dark magic, which is kind of like black magic, but much, much worse, and much, much more controlling of the mind if used to a certain, varyinge extent. Chase, who is no longer stuck as a ghost due to Marvin’s recklessness prior to their “victory”, and now fully functional, seems to have managed to save his kids and ex-wife Stacy from her new boyfriend, who was seemingly very controlling and even a bit abusive of them, whilst still being a ghost. Jackieboyman proposed to his girlfriend of two years, Ava, and seems to be very near quitting the superhero gig, so as to not put his fiancé at risk anymore, but also, so he can be a good father, as she’s apparently pregnant with his son. After celebrating their anniversay on a beautiful cruise ship, Jackie managed to come back to shore within enough time to join the remaining egos, and Seán himself, for Jameson’s birthday! Henrik is still recovering from the wounds he recieved in the battle that took place on Anti’s birthday, but he is thankfully healed enough to be back on the job!

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

Warning- Long chapter! I would put a keep reading thing, but I’m on mobile, and you can’t do that on Tumblr Mobile, sadly! (*cough* TUMBLR DEVS, FIX THIS, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! *cough*) Also, if you are triggered by any amount of cursing, or the mention of severe, temporarily disabling injuries, I suggest you skip to like, the last two paragraphs. Which may be hard, because apparently there’s almost 100 paragraphs in this fic.

[November 15th]

Marvin opened his eyes, and panicked, as he noticed that he wasn’t in his body anymore. He could see himself, but... it was like his body had gone into temporary stasis. He took a moment to himself, trying to recall the events that lead up to this... Ah, yes! That’s right...

He’d started playing around with the occasional black or dark magic spell about a year back, but had used them so little for the first few months that it barely affected his mental state. As time went on, however, he came to realize that soon enough, simply just using the same old magic spells on Anti as he’d always used wasn’t going to do jack shit to help defend his brothers. So, even though he didn’t want to break the promise he’d made to Jackie and Seán, he started full-on dabbling in dark and black magic, convincing himself it was the only way to keep them safe.

But then, in September... Jackie was brutally struck down by Anti, and Marvin had been lucky enough to pinpoint his location just in time to save his life, and trick Anti into thinking that he was dead. That moment... That was the moment it all took a turn for the worst. The next thing he’d known, his mind was entirely consumed by the darkness he’d slowly been inflicting on himself by using dark magic in the first place, and, by the time october came around, he’d been kicked out of his body, in the sense that he’d lost control of himself, and was being piloted by the aforementioned darkness. He’d been forced to watch in horror as his body tore his brothers down, one by one, until only Seán and Henrik remained untouched by his corruptive new abilities. Each time he attacked one of them, he’d been screaming for them, calling their names out desperately, trying to tell them he wasn’t in control. But... None of them even heard him in the first place... All they could hear in those moments was the evil momologues that his body was spewing.

He slowly started loosing himself in his recollecting trance, his mental state spiraling downwards as he slowly merged into self-deprecation and self-hate type thoughts; the kind he’d only ever read about before he started dabbling in the arts. It wasn’t until he heard a faint, staticy voice calling his name out that he snapped back to reality.

“Mavvy? Mavvy can hear?! Mavvy, say something!” Robbie’s voice called to him.

“Robbie?! Are you here with me?! How are you contacting me-?!” He exclaimed in confusion.

“It work! Mavvy! Calm! Can tell you have many question, but Mavvy not need fear; Will explain!” Robbie’s slightly raspy voice told him. It sounded like the zombie was... overjoyed to hear from him? But... Didn’t he remember the outburst..? Did... Did he not care?

“... Well..?” His voice shimmered hopefully, but it was muffled by the anticipation and fear that hung heavily on his soul.

“Henry left ghost communicator on table! Thought maybe I could contact Mavvy with gadget! Was worried would not work, but very glad it did!” Robbie exclaimed happily.

“... He left what now?”

“Ghost communicator! Jamie and me use ghost communicator for speak to Jackie and Chase when Mavvy was being mean!” He could almost hear the overjoyed grin Robbie must’ve had plastered on his face, “Mavvy come to park, yes? Want speak in person!”

“Uh... Listen, um, Robs... I’m... Sorta not in control of myself anymore, if that makes any sense..? I, uh, may or may not have been kicked out about a month ago... ‘ve no clue what happened between the fight with Anti and today, honestly... I... sorta blacked out. Jackie’s last words to me were pretty painful...”

“Oh! Understand! Is okay! Will just find you instead! Ghost communicator also locate ghost!” Robbie beamed.

“... That’s not a good idea, Robs... Look, just... Give me a few days. I’ll need time to do what I plan to do, but if it works out well, I... Things should be back to normal soon, okay..?” Marvin said softly, his heart heavy in his chest, as he knew it wasn’t true. His brothers... they... they’d never forgive him for what he did...

Yeah, that’s right... yǫu’ll͠ ǹever ҉be ͡fo̵r̛gi̵v͞eń,҉ ̷M̸a̡r̢v͢iņ. ̧Y͟o͘u’r͏e ͜all ̛al̡o͠n̵e͠.͜.͠. ̨I̢ń ͜f͟act̴, I͟ ̸bet҉ ͟th̢at͞ ̸t̢h͢i͢s̴ w͏h͏o̷l͢e̕ thi͝n̛g ̡is ̨all͞ à ͝ĺi̛e̷. R͡obb̧ie ͢d͠o͜e͞sn’͡t̶ w̸a̷nt͠ to t҉al̡ķ.͝ He̷ ̛w͢a̡n͢ts ̸t̶ó lu҉re͘ ̛you int̸o a̸ ̵t̛rap.͡.̨.̵ Y̛ou c̴a͏n̛’͞t t̨r͟ust t́hem̛ ̷a̴ny͟m̀o̡re..͝.̨

He clenched his teeth as the thought came to mind. He had no clue why these thoughts were even there, but they’d been plaguing him since he came to. He couldn’t pin the voice in it, either. The sound was far to glitched and distorted to have any meaningful, recognizable pitch. God, he hated not knowing what was going on.

“Okeh! Will wait! Is fine! Mavvy is okay, yes? Mavvy remembering PMA?” Robbie’s last question almost made Marvin choke in surprise. Okay, yeah, sure, Robbie was probably the most positive of their group, but..? He’d never outright stated such a thing before, so it did happen to take him by surprise.

“H-heh... U-uh... Y.. Yep! I’m... I’m doing fine, Robs... Talk to ya later, ‘kay?”

“M’keh! Hope Mavvy plan work!”

~~~~

“R҉ìs̴e ̵a͟n̨d ͟shi͝ne,̷ m͏y̡ friend.͜ ͢Y̷ou͞’̵v͞e ̧been ̷as͜lee̶p ҉for f̕ar̵ ͞toó ͘lo̵n̢g..͠..͞” A figure stood over the limp, frozen body that belonged to this world’s Anti, the only visible features on its face being a sadistic grin, and its eyes, which held a faint red and green glow. A faint green light began to radiate around Initiative, and he coughed faintly as he slowly got up, and tilted his head to glare at the newcomer.

“Giv̢e me҉ ͢o͠n̴e ̢goo͢d̢ ̶rea͢son ̡n̡o̕t̷ tò t̀ęa̶r̸ y͡o͝u͠r gu̡t̨ś ͡oưt͡ r͏ight̵ ḩe͏re ͜and͟ n̵ow̕, ͏jus̷t fo̢r͠ tr̶essp̨as̷s͡ing ̡i͜n͞ ̕m͜y҉ wo̡rld͠!”

~~~~

[November 22nd]

Marvin managed to return to his body, and gasped desperately for air as soon as he regained control, as though he had been holding his breath the entire time he’d been out of control. He looked around wildly, his emotions and anxieties returning all at once, as his ability to feel, which had been lessened without the help of his body’s input, suddenly rammed back to his mind’s registry all at once. His eyes were wide, as he slowly got a grip of the surrounding world. He... Was this his pocket dimension?! God, he hoped so. Otherwise, he must’ve chosen a really stupid place to pass out for about a month in. Just as he started calming down, he sensed the atmosphere in the mostly pale-gold dimension change to something more sinister, and something inside of him screamed for him to run.

A shrill bout of distorted, maniacal laughter errupted from behind him, accompanied by fast footsteps, which were evidently getting closer, and he took that as his cue to get the hell out of there. As he ran, he noticed a rift in the dimension in the distance, and bolted straight for it, as a knife flew past him, inches away from skimming his flesh. He shot some offensive spells towards the demon he knew was following him, though, he didn’t really pay any attention to what the spells were. He took note that the rift was very clearly shrinking in size, albeit at a slow pace, and sped up a bit.

No͟w’̢s̡ y͟ou̷r ̸chan̕ce,͞ Ma͡rv̡in! Use̢ ̀ơn̢e̕ ̵of͠ the ͘i͠n̸p̀ri̵sonm̧e͞nt ̛spells ̸o͜n͡ ͞him ҉w̨hi̛l̷e͘ ͞he’s d̡o̕wń.҉ ͞Yo҉u wo͏n’̶t ̴ge̷t ́aņo̶the̡r ̢c͟ha̸n̶ce̴ to͢ ͠kȩep̛ h́im ̸con̢t͘ain͢e̛d!

There it was again! Couldn’t that damned voice’s owner just leave him alone?! He wasn’t stupid, he knew they were trying to sabotage him!

No͘w, ̀nơw,̨ Ma̧r̴vi̷n.͏.̸. Th͟e͟r͜e’̵s͘ ņo n͜e҉ed ̶to͠ ̶b̕è so̴ ŗųd̀e. I͞’͝m ̴on͢ĺy ̸try͡ìng͝ ͝to̶ help.

... Shit, they can read his thoughts? Agh, nevermind that! He knew he had to get somewhere less open, and that’s all that mattered!

He got to the rift, and without even so much as a thought about what he was doing, he jumped through, just as it sealed itself. He realized he’d closed his eyes as he went through, and opened them after a few moments of hesitation. When he did, however, he regretted it, because he found that he was in some sort of interdimensional void, falling head-first towards an unseen point, as random objects and such seemed to float around him. He swiftly went over all the spells he knew, searching desperately for one that would bring him home. When he got to the one he’d usually used to travel between his pocket dimension and the real world, he took a deep breath, and cast it so that he would fall straight into the portal.

He set the coordinates to a secluded area in the woodlands of one of the parks he sometimes visited when clearing his head, and grinned to himself when he saw the portal open up. Within no time, he shot through it, and realized he had accidentally set it to drop him directly onto the ground.

He yelped in pain when he slammed into the earth nearly headfirst with a sickening thud, his hearing briefly getting taken over by a shrill ringing sound. His head was spinning painfully, and he figured he’d probably need to get medical attention soon, since he at least had a concussion. He shakily stood up after a few moments of battling his instincts, which screamed for him to stay where he was, as his vision swirled and spun, while he staggered to keep himself standing. He knew it was a long shot now that he was back in his body, but he figured if he tried to contact Robbie through the locator again, he could possibly direct the zombie to his approximate location. He stumbled over to a tree, clutching his chest with one hand, and grabbing onto the tree for support with the other, or, at least, he tried to. He cursed under his breath as pain shot through his arm, and he figured he must’ve landed on it wrong, so, instead of agitating it further, he just leaned against the tree.

“R.. Robbie... C-Can you hear me..?” He wheezed, despite the pain that seared through his chest as he spoke. His vision was blurring again, so, he turned a little, and slid to the ground, sitting with his back propped up against the tree.

A few minutes passed, and he started loosing hope, until finally, he heard, “Mavvy! Did plan work?”

“Y-.. Yeah.. I think I’m... Injured badly, though.” He said, a few weakened coughs interrupting his speech.

“Injury?! Where Mavvy?! Will bring Henry, no worry!” Robbie was clearly very worried.

“Wh- No-! No. No Henrik. Jus- Just come alone, okay? Get- Get JJ to send an ambulance to the park, alright?”

“Why? Henry still mad?”

“Mos.. Most likely, y..yeah.” God, it hurt to admit that.

“Okeh then! Will tell Jamie, then come find Mavvy!”

“Thank you for understanding, Robs.”

“Is not hard!”

After that, everything sort of blurred together, and everything seemed to slow down, as his ears began ringing again. He knew he was close to passing out, but if he had any control over it, he wasn’t going to pass out until he knew he was safe.

S̀e̛e̴ w̸h̴a̸t̕ h͢àp͜p̀e̡ns w̛h͠en̕ ́you̷ ḑon’͝t̸ li͏s͡ten͡? ̧Th͡i͟s̨ ̴who͟l̸e̡ ͏s͝itu͞a̸ti͏o̷ǹ ͜co͟ul҉d h́av̴e b͡e̛e̢n ͢a̕voiḑed ̸i̸f y̛o͞u͟ h͝ad͝ ju͟s͠t҉ list҉ene̴d͢ ̷to̶ ͝me when̕ ͢I̶ ̵t͝o̢ld ̧y͝o̸u ̵t̢o ͘ųśe̴ ̷the͡ i̧np͡ris̵o͠nm͠e̷n̡t̡ spells.̧

He barely even registered the thought in his broken state, as his mind spun wildly, to the point that he couldn’t even tell whether he was thinking or not.

Just as he thought Robbie was never going to come to his aid, he heard the zombie yelling his name. In no time, he was by his side, and with JJ’s help, he pulled Marvin to his feet, and the two of them carried him for a bit. He could hear sirens at some point, and as his vision, which still spun, slowly started to fade, he was placed on a stretcher. The ringing in his ears was so loud by now that the voices of the EMTs and his youngest brothers were muffled beyond recognition.

After that, everything went black, and he woke up surrounded by darkness.

“O͘h de͝a͢r...̷ ͏loo҉ks̕ lik͠e̡ ̀y͡ơu̴r ̵m̴ista̡k̵e̶s҉ ̧en͝ded up ̴p͞utt̴ing͟ y҉ou ͜i͜n͞ a͏ ba͟d ̕s҉i̶t̛uat͢i͏o̧n̸ ̕y͏e҉t a͏gain... I̛t҉’s͟ ͠à ͜shame͡,̴ r̡ea͠l͟l̢y.̧ ̶To ͡t͝h̢ink ̢t̶his ̨co̷u̢ld͢’ve ̶a̛ll͜ ̶b҉èe͘n avoidèd̵ ̡if͝ ̶yo͝u̵’͜d́ ͏júst ļist͘e͢nèd͢ t͡ò ̵m͟e.͘” The voice was all around him now. He looked around, and found a large “screen” was behind him. On it, he could see a human’s face, however, their eyes were impossible to make out. From what he could see, however, it was a face much like his, and by effect, the rest of the egos’.

“What the hell do you want from me? Who are you?” He snapped, glaring boldly at the screen, his eyes seeming to glow dimly in the darkness with agitation.

“A͜h,̛ ̵ah͠,̶ ah, ̧M̧ar̛vi͟n.̡ ̡Ḑo͡n’͠t ̷you ͠thi͟nk ̀y̶o̧u’r͜e̶ ͘ge̡t͠ti͘ng ̶a̕ b͏it ̨too̴ ̴f̕iesty͝? ̕Y̕ou͡ s҉h͡ou͘ld n͘èver ̸q̀uestiòn͘ t̀ho̸s̶e ̨who̴ ̀aŕe onlý ̧tr̸yi͢n̵g ͠t͡o͡ ̷hèl҉p. I͘ thou͡g̛h̀t͏ ͝you’̕d̡ ͘kn̢o̕w tha̴t̵ by͏ ͘n͟o̕w͠.͝”

Ouch.

“Just answer the damn questions!” He spat, having to restrain himself from breaking the screen in front of him. They seemed to consider it, however, a distant, muffled voice calling his name interrupted.

“O͡h͝,̕ d͡o ̕ỳou ̴h҉ea̵r ͏t͟haţ? I ̧t͞h̡ink̸ you̧r̢ f͏rien҉dś are͡ ̡ge̛ţt͝i͞n̢g ̷des͝per̨a̴t̛e͝ to͟ se̸e y͝oư o͡kay̕.҉.͜.͝ I͟ h̢àd b̛e̸s̛t b̕e͟ ́l̕ea͏ving,҉ t͘he҉n͘.̧”

“Hey! Wait, no! I’m not done with y-!” He began to protest, but the screen shut off before he could finish, leaving him in total darkness, and still pretty freakin’ pissed.

~~~~

Henrik watched skeptically from the doorway as Robbie repeatedly called out to Marvin, who was unconscious, and in a hopsital bed. The magician had apparently provided no explanation for his substantial amount of injuries, but if he had to take a guess, it was probably a result of him failing to properly place one of his interdimensional portals so that he didn’t slam into the ground at a ridiculously high speed. Last time it’d happened, though, he’d slammed into the roof of the Egos’ house from about three feet up. Given the amount of bone fractures in comparison to scrapes, it’s probably safe to say that he learned something from that little incident, though.

A few minutes went by, and Marvin finally stirred. Henrik tensed, preparing to see the corrupt, violent magician he’d seen only a month ago, but shockingly, his eyes held a much softer, more human look than they had before. One thing was certain, though- Marvin wasn’t at his full strength, even without his injuries. In the back of his head, he started to wonder if perhaps, Marvin had actually managed to undo the damage he’d done to his sanity.

“Mavvy!” Robbie cheered happily, instantly jumping to gently hug his brother.

The magician hesitantly returned the gesture with the one arm that was actually functional, trembling a small bit as he did so, “Wh...? Oh, hey Robs... Where’s JJ..?”

“Jamie outside hospital! Will go get him! Henry keep Mavvy company, yes?” Robbie looked at him when he mentioned his name. Henrik blinked uncertainly for a second, and rolled his eyes.

“... Sure, why not.” He said, taking note that Marvin looked hurt by the harsh tone in his voice. Robbie grinned, let go of Marvin, and darted out of the room.

Marvin looked elsewhere as soon as Robbie was gone, nervously holding his broken arm with his functional one. Henrik sighed, and walked over to the bedside, staring disapprovingly at the idiot he’d thought had left for good.

“You better have a damn good explanation for the panic you caused, Magician.” His voice dripped with annoyance and a slight drop of hatred; He clearly still hadn’t forgiven him, and had no reason to hide it.

“... I.. Not... Not really... After Jackie and Seán left me alone in Anti’s void, I... I sorta went to my pocket dimension, and my mind just... blacked out for almost a month... After that, I woke up, regained control of myself, and.. well... Found out the hard way that someone freed Anti, and showed him how to access my pocket dimension.”

“That does not explain the broken bones, you dummkopf!”

“... I... may or may not have... jumped through a rift without thinking..?” He laughed nervously.

Henrik facepalmed, pinching the bridge of his nose, and shook his head, “Why am I not surprised?”

“...” A few minutes of awkward silence passed.

“Mavvy! Mavvy still awake?” Robbie practically bounced into the room, breaking the awkward silence. Marvin waved shyly, clearly relieved to see them back.

“Ah! So it is true! You’re in stable condition again. Thank heavens.” Jameson signed, smiling happily.

Marvin appearred to attempt a nod, but stopped, and responded instead, “... ‘S good to see you, too, Jamie.”

“Is everything alright, Marvin?”

“... Y-Yeah. Just... thinking. That’s all..” Henrik could tell he wasn’t telling the entire truth, but he didn’t say anything. He just narrowed his eyes suspiciously at him, since this was a bad time to get worked up over this type of thing, and stress out Marvin further.

~~~~

Ļo̢o͟k at y̢oú.͏.͝.̕ ̸The̢y̸ ͜hav̨e ͞y̵o̡u r͝i̢gh͠t̵ ͢wh͟er͠e ҉t͟h́ey̴ ͟w̨a̢n͡t͏ yo̕ư.͞.̨. ͠We̶akeņe̵d̴, ͠a͜nd ͠eńti̴r҉e͡ly̶ a҉t͡ ̛t̨hei͏r̨ m͞e͢r͝cỳ.̶.. ̧T͠h͏ey̴ c͞oùld̸ wa̢l͏k r̡igh̕t ͟ųp̨ ̢ţo͏ ̷yo̶ú ̵and ̕s̀nap̧ ͞you̸r̀ ͢néck at an͟y̷ mo̧me̸n̷t̢.̀ ͞N͡o̡t̛h̕i̕ng’҉s st͠op͞pi̢ng͜ ҉them̛ fr̢om dòi̡ng̷ it̛.

He internally cringed, knowing full well that it was true. If they wanted to, they could easily kill him right here and now. They could go to Seán or Jackie and get them to help hide the evidence. And the worst part about that was that regardless of who they asked, the answer would, without a doubt, be yes. They all hated him now. And he couldn’t blame anyone but himself for it, either. Henrik narrowed his eyes at him, and he knew he could tell there was something off with him. He felt his heart sinking hopelessly for what seemed like ages, until Henrik finally turned tail and left the room. Robbie came back to the chair by the bedside, and JJ joined him, sitting in the chair next to Robbie’s.

He silently took in a deep breath, trying to prepare himself to say what they were all probably thinking, “... Well, now’s your chance.”

“What?”

“There’s no one else here to see or stop you. You want revenge, right?” He refused to look anywhere but down. Robbie was speechless, staring at him with a look that was some cross between upset, concerned, and confused.

Jameson’s face was filled with worry as he frantically signed, “Marvin, what ever made you think such a thing?!”

“Oh, come on, JJ! I hurt you guys! I.. I accidentally kicked Chase out of his body! I... betrayed you. All of you... And... The worst part is? I didn’t even regret it... Actually, a part of me... enjoyed it..” He trailed off, as tears began threatening to spill from his tear ducts.

“Marvin, listen to yourself! You clearly regret it now! That’s saying something. Besides, I’ve already forgiven you. I know you did not do what you did out of malice; you thought you were doing what was right.”

“Yeah! Forgave Mavvy when he try to heal Henry.” Robbie commented, grinning childishly again, though, there was a more serious, determined glint in his eyes this time.

“... You... wh-why...? I’m... I turned myself into a monster..! Why... How can you forgive me so easily..?” He choked out, as the first tear finally managed to fall.

“Because you’re our brother... And, well, we weren’t mad in the first place..” JJ smiled sympathetically.

Marvin held back a grunt of slightly pained surprise as Robbie practically glomped him, and soon, JJ joined the hug, too. He let out a shaky laugh, which easily could’ve been a sob, as the rest of the tears that were built up began to fall silently.

~~~~

Henrik sat outside the hospital room, his head in his hands, as he listened to the conversation going on in there. God, how could he have been such a dick to Marvin?! It was obvious that he’d gone almost completely back to normal since he last saw him! His mental condition had obviously not fared well after the events that transpired the last time they saw one another, and he just had to go and shove his pain down his throat, didn’t he? Probably didn’t help that he was completely helpless in the condition that he was in. Oh, how he wished he could take it all back, go in there, and hug Marvin until he stopped crying...

——————————————————

Next chapter

Oops, ran out of room! Sorry for the long chapter! I had to try and stretch the writing of this one out as long as I could, so I would end up finishing on Thanksgiving. Of course, I sorta forgot Thanksgiving was next thursday, not tomorrow... Oops..? Anyways, I didn’t get to actually finish this in the way I wanted to. Tumblr’s being picky about the amount of paragraphs, so I kinda had to remove a few things. But god damn, this fic was a total emotional ride to write! Between working Marvin into a more 3-Dimensional, lovable character with a lot of sadness in his poor ol’ heart, and writing the last two scenes, my heart died a million deaths for this one. Thankfully, though, I seem to be unable to cry when I’m not alone, so no tears were shed over the character development!

@antis-loyal-puppet , @chaoticcrimsonrose , @tiny-septic-puppet , @septic-dr-schneep

[simpcitybaby]

Spells Galore

Prompt: “I’m going to need you to put pants on before you say anything else.”

A/N: This was a request! If you ever want to request things, go ahead. I wrote this on mobile so it probably sucks and I also didn’t proofread so there’s that.

Carlos x Reader (I tried to make it gender neutral)

Warnings: A bit sexual towards the end

Mal loved using her spell book, it was obvious to everyone who crossed paths with her. Sometimes she used it for good and sometimes she used it for bad but she mostly used it for her amusement. Casting minor spells on her friends was an often occurrence, mostly spells were put on Carlos. He was always the victim because Mal knew that he’d be okay with it, the kid was a total sweetheart or a bit of a pushover either one works. Carlos had a massive crush on you, (Y/F/N). Obviously you were as oblivious as oblivious gets and you thought that Carlos just acted flirty towards everyone. You weren’t one of those people who thought, “He could have anyone in the school so why would it be me?” You prided yourself on the fact that you didn’t let a boy determine your self worth. (A/N: never let a boy determine your self worth cause all of you guys are amazing.) However, you were completely smitten with the white-haired boy and you spent most of your free time with him. Today, you were meeting up at his dorm room and then taking Dude for a walk. On your way to Carlos’s room you ran into Jay, “Hey (Y/N)! You headed to see Carlos?” He wiggled his eyebrows as he smirked, seeming suspicious. “Yes actually. We’re going to hang out for a bit.” He nodded slowly before finishing with a quick, “Enjoy yourself!” You stared at him as he ran down the corridor with a little kick in his step. ‘That was weird’ you thought as you approached the door and knocked. “I’m coming! Hold on a second.” Shuffling and banging could be heard as things were getting put away, the boy never being prepared for company. You took this time for a quick once over of yourself, making sure that everything looked good. You smoothed out your Greek styled dress that resembled your mother’s, Megara. Your dress was the prettiest shade of (F/C) that matched perfectly with your skin tone. You weren’t necessarily a demigod but you did have heightened abilities in the arts. You could sing, dance, act, draw, you name it. In fact, that’s how you met Carlos. It was the VKs first day at Auradon and the two of you kinda ran into each other. Well then again, he ran into your locker door while you were getting your script for the school musical. ~ Flashback ~ Why were there so many books in this locker? Rummaging was what you were currently doing, in search of your script for the school’s musical. You huffed, this action blowing a strand of hair out of your face. Why were they still giving out textbooks when the internet was accessible? You were pulled out of your thoughts when your locker swung back at you and a pair of feet knocked you off of yours. A boy with white hair was lying on the ground and rubbing his forehead. He had a red, white, and black leather outfit on with a freckled face. He was gorgeous to say the least but he obviously wasn’t from Auradon. “Are you okay? You hit the locker pretty hard.” His eyes turned to slits as he glared at you, “I’m fine. I’ve always been fine and I’ll always be fine.” You furrowed your eyebrows as you stood up, lending him a hand. “I see that you can handle yourself. My name is (Y/F/N) and I’d be more than happy to help you around if you need it.” His mouth was agape as you continued, “I’m usually in the auditorium and if I’m not there I’m probably in the library. Maybe I’ll be lucky enough to see you around.” You picked your script up before closing your locker and heading down to rehearsal. Once you were out of sight Carlos half smiled and he went to find you later that day. When he did find you he quickly apologized for his behavior when the two of you first met. He explained how moving from the Isle to Auradon was a big change and he’s never been around good people. He told you how he thought that everyone here was going to be stuck up but that you changed his mind since you were so nice to him. “Oh yeah, also my name is Carlos De Vil and I really hope that we can start over.” You smiled and that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. ~End of flashback ~ The door swung wide open and revealed Dude as well as the ever so charming Carlos. Something was off though and you couldn’t quite put your finger on it. The room was clean and it had nothing to do with the room. “Your outfit looks really nice today, (Y/N).” That’s when you realized that Carlos was wearing a solid (F/C) jacket with gold detailing. He wore solid black jeans and he resembled you as a whole. “Look at you! You look completely different but like good different.” He smiled at your compliment and laughed to himself. He knew that (F/C) was your favorite color and you had gold details on your dress so he incorporated it into his outfit that Evie created. Carlos chose to dress like this because it made the two of you look like a couple and you thought the same, obviously not minding. “I missed you, y'know.” You made your way over to him and wrapped your arms around his neck while his hands found your waist. “Did you now?” You could hear the smirk in his voice as you rested your forehead against his. His lips made their way towards yours at an agonizing pace. Right before his lips touched yours you whispered, “Let’s take Dude for a walk.” You pulled back and lead Dude out of the door leaving Carlos hot and bothered. It’s not that you didn’t want to kiss him, you were nervous. His intentions weren’t clear and you didn’t want to get your feelings hurt if he didn’t like you back. You were sure that he wasn’t the type to lead a person on but you can never be too safe. Your mom taught you a lot about judgement and boys, to which she made sure to notify you of the time that she gave her soul to Hades for her former boyfriend only to have him leave her. Right as you were about to turn the corner you were pulled back by your waist. “You should’ve waited for me.” Carlos growled and made you blush. “I’ll be sure to wait for you tomorrow.” “We’re doing this tomorrow?” He tilted his head “If you want to…” You trailed off before you began walking again with Carlos in tow. His childish demeanor returned as he stuttered out, “Of course I want to!” You grabbed his hand, dragging him with you. “Let’s go before Dude pees on the carpet.” The two of you walked around and talked about school, food, cars, Dude, and relationships. “So what are you looking for in a boyfriend, (Y/N)?” Carlos looked at the ground as a faint blush arose. Unknown to you, Mal and Ben were overhearing your conversation which fueled the gears in Mal’s mind to start turning. “Well… I like boys who are sweet but will stick up for me when I need it, but I’m also independent so I don’t need him to handle things 24/7. I admire someone who likes the simple things in life and doesn’t try too hard. I especially like boys with white hair and big brown eyes. Overall, I’d just be happy with a boy who loved me for me.” Carlos perked up a bit when he heard you talk about the white hair and brown eyes, two things that he had going for him. The kid was hopelessly in love but he was too afraid to ask you out. He thought that you could find someone better than him, a prince that could sweep you off of you feet. He feared that a God or Goddess would come down and strike him for your love. You had a handful of people on different universes pining after you to which you paid no mind because you wanted Carlos. The conversation flowed back and forth the whole way to your dorm. “I like going on walks with you, maybe we should make this a daily thing.” He hummed in agreeance as he rested his head on your shoulder, squeezing you as tight as he could. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” With that, you disappeared into your room. On the walk back to his dorm, Carlos ran into Mal. “Hey Carlos! I just made this smoothie and I was wondering if you could give it a try.” Carlos smiled before graciously taking the smoothie that was laced with veritaserum. Mal conjured it up using her spell book and it would make Carlos uncontrollably spill out the truth about his feelings for (Y/N). “This is really good Mal! I love strawberry banana!” A surge of electricity went through his body before he said, “Y'know Mal, I’ve never really told anyone this before but you’re really pretty. I have my eyes on (Y/N) though.” She smirked before snatching the smoothie back, saying a quick thanks, and retiring to her room. It was the next day and Carlos was acting funny. He was uncontrollably telling everyone the truth and he would forget that he just did it right after. You went to his room around the same time as yesterday and knocked on his door. Carlos opened his door within seconds and said, “(Y/N), I’ve been meaning to tell you this for the longest time.” You grabbed both of his hands, urging him to continue. He pulled his hands out of your hold and announced, “I’m in love with you and I want to fuck you, there” he pointed to his bed, “there” pointing to his desk, “and there” and then he pointed to the bookshelf in the back of the room. “I used to steal things when I was back on the isle but I gave that up when I came here. I’d gladly steal your heart if you’d let me. Before giving you a warning his fingers hooked into the belt loops of his pants and he began sliding them off, leaving him in only his boxer briefs. Let me tell you, boxer briefs outline everything. “Shit!” Your hands immediately covered your eyes as you turned to face the door. “I’m going to need you to put your pants back on before you say anything else!” “What? Why are my pants down?” He immediately pulled them back up and began apologizing. His half naked figure was fresh in your mind and you wouldn’t complain if you saw it more often. “Give me some time to recover because you just said that you’d fuck me in various places of the room, confessed your love for me, and then proceeded to pull your pants down and if I’m honest, I’m kinda shaken up.” You blushed as he took your hands away from your eyes. “I meant what I said y'know.” He stared into your eyes while talking. “About you wanting to fuck me on the bed, desk, and bookshelf?” He blushed and let out a chuckle, “Well yes but I’m a teenage boy, (Y/N). I was also talking about the part where I said that I loved you.” You smiled your award winning smile that Carlos loved before hooking your fingers into his belt loops and pulling him close, no space being left between your bodies. “I love you too. I also wouldn’t mind the sex part but maybe after we date for awhile, yeah?” He nodded his head so fast that it made you kinda nauseous. “So what you’re saying is that you’ll be mine?” You bit your bottom lip and neared his before whispering, “If only you’ll be mine.” Before you could pull away like you did the previous day, he smashed his lips onto yours in a hungry manner. A bit into the kiss he started to kiss you softer and with more passion. You slid your tongue on his bottom lip and deepened the kiss while your tongues battled for dominance. You groped his butt to mess with him and he smirked into the kiss. Both of his hands cupped your butt and pulled you into him which made you let out a soft moan. “How about you take a seat on the bed and we can discuss the handbook. Lon- OH SHIT CARLOS WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Jay’s eyes widened as Lonnie’s hand covered her smile and giggles. “My eyes! My innocent eyes!” Carlos pulled away before teasing, “What do you know about innocence, Jay?” You and Lonnie shared a smirk and then laughed in unison when Jay said, “Oh shit, you right dude. You got me there.” Mal, Ben, Evie, and Doug ran into the room a bit out of breath at that. “We heard screaming!” Ben breathed out before he was met with the sound of snickers. “Well it looks like the spell worked.” Mal whispered under her breath but Carlos caught it. “You spelled me?” A nod was sent his way when she responded with, “Yup. You’re really fun to mess with. At least this spell benefitted you unlike the other ones.” He quickly agreed and pulled you closer, kissing the side of your head. You were on top of the world because you had it all. Your friend group was amazing and reliable, Carlos liked you back and now you’re dating, school is good, and life is just great. Who knew that a boy revealing his undying love and lust for someone would score him a partner. ~ Fin ~

[shirlleycoyle]

‘The Circle’ App Is Obviously Fake

It is increasingly rare to hear someone enthusiastically profess their love for a social media app. In the age of mass digital surveillance and brazen data profiteering, even a base level of trust can seem naive.

But on Netflix’s U.S. adaptation of the global reality show phenomenon The Circle, the titular application seems to perpetually amaze and delight its users. “Yo Circle, you are the shit!” one player exclaims in the first episode, a level of customer satisfaction that would make any UX designer weak. For a program that frequently features absurdist competitions involving cake decoration or hashtag generation, the “app” is the most glaringly inane part of an otherwise charmingly creepy show.

The premise of The Circle is simple, if strange: contestants are housed in discrete units within one apartment building, ostensibly living down the hall from each other while never meeting in person. Players instead communicate solely through a voice-activated app called The Circle, where they can update profiles with photos, relationship statuses, and insightful bios (“GOD knows my heart BUT the Devil knows my vocabulary!”).

The show allows players to “catfish” each other with fake names and photos, flirt with abandon, and otherwise manipulate fellow Circle users to claw their way to the top of the social food chain. In the process, the show attempts to raise questions brought on in a Web 2.0 world—What does digital authenticity look like? How do we understand nuance, humor, or sexual advances (eggplant emojis, of course) in the absence of in-person communication? And, perhaps most crucially, what is the proper length of a hashtag?

But unfortunately, whatever conclusions The Circle might draw about digital interactions are overshadowed by a spherically-shaped elephant in the room: the app is distractingly fake. It isn’t really the app’s interface—its generic icons and soft gradient backgrounds are ugly, sure, but no worse than your average B-round startup. What really grates at the very reality of this reality show is the basic believability of its central voice-recognition app.

Image: Netflix

LIke any B-round startup worth its weight in Soylent, The Circle’s developers Joi Palloi published a series of Medium articles outlining its strategy when building the application for the UK iteration of the show. Tellingly, the third proposed installment, “technical details behind the platform and the app,” is nowhere to be found. The first two posts detail the choices Joi Palloi made in developing the app’s interface, as well as designing a mobile app that accompanied the UK version of the show.

In the blogs, Joi Palloi outlined its approach to design—“we focused on creating a bespoke, secure application that felt very familiar to contestants and viewers, reflecting the conventions of social media experiences”—as well as third-party partnerships they used when building much of the technical functionality of the mobile app. Any discussion of the seemingly advanced voice recognition technology is conspicuously absent. In the first post, however, Joi Palloi hints at some off-screen TV magic: “We made sure that players could intuitively understand how to interact with the Circle while, behind the scenes, producers had access to robust functionality to allow them to manage players’ interactions.”

In case that wasn’t enough of a tip off that the show’s “artificial intelligence” is heavily augmented, The Circle’s creator Tim Harcourt told Vulture in a recent interview: “what we actually have is, when you talk to the Circle, there’s a producer who’s transcribing what you say. Instantly, that gets pushed to the next room. So there is some humanity in the app, and that’s a couple of producers whose job it is to take dictation from the players.” On the show, however, the players seem entirely bought in to The Circle’s innovative voice recognition technology.

Joi Palloi and Netflix did not respond to a request for comment.

To state the obvious: yes, reality shows are artifice. Storylines are concocted by producers, who feed it to the players, who are later edited for maximum drama in post-production. That’s why we love them! But for a competition that has been called “dystopic” and has garnered countless comparisons to shows like Black Mirror, basic technological plausibility is kind of the point. But instead, The Circle expects its “users” and viewers to suspend disbelief. In episode one, a contestant, Alana, asks, “Circle, can I see the photo of me with literally what I’m wearing right now?” Circle, observant and subservient, instantaneously pulls up a photo of Alana in the polka dot dress she is wearing. “Do we have emojis?” another contestant asks, mostly to herself, later in the episode. Without hesitation, Circle pulls up a list of emojis, then seemingly selects the perfect reaction face based on the prompt of “Can we put a wink or a side smile?”

What? Hasn’t the reliability of consumer-facing voice AI become its own punchline? Haven’t we given up on Siri’s ability to spell our names right, search for information on the internet, or even simply transcribe what we’re saying? We’re supposed to just sit there and believe that Circle can understand one character’s demand to “Take me to [the photo album] ‘GYM LIFE BRAH,’” or correctly add a crying-face emoji after another requests “that emoji that’s like ‘wahhh?"

Image: Netflix

Hoping to confirm that my cynicism was justified, I reached out to Eric Hall Schwartz, a reporter for the voice AI-centric tech blog VoiceBot.ai. But much to my dismay, he thinks that a decent chunk of Circle’s supposed intelligence is in the realm of plausibility. “The ability of AI to understand inflection and emotion is imperfect, but it's improving all the time.” However, he adds, “the tricky part is mostly that everyone speaks differently, so there's no generic way of programming.” The biases that plagues machine learning algorithms in other fields also impact voice AI as well—research shows that even the best speech recognition algorithms are significantly less accurate for women and people with regional dialects.

On a show with cast members hailing from regions as disparate as the Bronx and Dallas, it’s nearly impossible that an app like Circle would immediately be able to, for example, add implied periods and question marks based on vocal inflections immediately “out of the box.” And, judging by the various initial interactions players had with the circle (Alana tries to tap the mounted TV screen, to no avail), it seems unlikely that they had the prior trainings necessary for the app to understand that Joey pretty much always speaks in all caps.

As for the voice-based emoji dictation? According to Schwartz, “It's something that is possible but it's not something you can do with Siri automatically. If you're dictating a message through the iPhone and you say ‘heart emoji,’ it will literally type the words ‘heart emoji.’”

The image recognition based on vague descriptions was the least plausible (“there's certainly no prominent photo album searching at that level”), but gave Schwartz the most pause: “Someone could ask their device to pull up photos of you wearing certain outfits; they might be on your Facebook or pulling them from live camera feeds. The benign ways it's used in the show doesn't eliminate potential for misuse.”

Perhaps that’s the actual threat of The Circle: it almost certainly is centered on an app controlled by production assistants listening to commands off camera, a reminder that even the best Google AI is most likely repackaged human labor, but it normalizes the idea that a voice assistant knows everything about you. Even if voice-to-emoji technology isn’t perfected for another year or so, The Circle is already priming viewers for a world in which AI’s familiarity with our image and our voice is so assumed it becomes ingrained. In calling it a dystopia, we’ve accepted that The Circle is already some vision of some future. As long as future Siri gets my name right on the first try, I guess I’m okay with that.

‘The Circle’ App Is Obviously Fake syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

[cryamore]

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS AND DEVELOPMENT UPDATE ROUNDUP

We’ve gotten a number of questions from our Discord members in the past month and it’s time to share them with everyone along with our answers.

See what a handful of our backers have been asking Rob, Aivi, surasshu, and me after the jump.

Kishou asks the following questions:

Can you change Esmy's appearance? Like, with armor sprites?

Sadly, given how Cryamore’s sprites are designed, it’s too taxing to make armor sprites for Esmy as we’d have to make armor sprites for a lot of unique animations, idle, running, hit, ground cast, mid cast, high cast, Vanish animations, Boulder Dash animations, etc. and then multiply that with 3 or 5 directions each.

The most we can offer for visual customization are palette swaps.

Featured above are palettes for default, Braxton, Bliss, “Dewritos”, and Black & Blue

I just want to see Esmy in something revealing like a swimsuit

Rob can probably arrange that in another artwork. I could sprite Esmy in a swimsuit but I don’t think we have any scenarios written down that feature her in one.

Of course, we could always write one in...

I'm not sure if this is asked before but is there a love interest in mind for Esmy?

Esmy’s too focused on her work and studying cryamore to notice anyone that may have feelings for her.

Right?

There's no "right" or "wrong" way to clear the game right? Like, surely some spells solve puzzles but there will be proficiency in not just weapon choices but spells in fighting too?

We’ve done our best to make sure your offensive/defensive ability and weapon loadouts will always be viable so whether you like playing ranged weapons with hard hitting close combat abilities, using mobility enhancing abilities with melee weapons or whatever playstyle tickles your fancy, we’ve spent a lot of time ensuring we got everything balanced and fun enough so there won’t be an absolute god tier and worst tier loadout.

Phosphatide asks:

About story flow: with games now searching for the perfect balance between "linear progression" and "open world freedom" to avoid blatant in-game walls preventing the possibility of sequence-breaking exploration or aimless wandering with no sense of urgency... what was your goal for Cryamore?

Alan: Honestly, I personally wanted full-on freedom to go explore some of the hardest areas of the game and risk the chance of getting wrecked, but we had to corrall things a bit to ensure you stay within the story bounds. Rob being the lead on this has final say on direction.

Rob: I wanted to instill a sense of survival in the game and make sure that the abilities are a big focal point for both puzzles and combat so we were able to block off certain areas of the world the way Metroidvanias would; give you a hint at what might be ahead, but you're blocked by something that needs a new ability

Alan: There's still freedom to be had but you can only go so far before you either hit a roadblock which needs an ability or sometimes story progression (you need clearance to explore south of the island)

So yeah, the goal was to give some freedom but not too much and I'm hoping we managed to achieve it with the world design I've done and with enough usage of the puzzle solving abilities we've made.

Tomar asks:

Curiosity here. Do you guys do art asset sharing through your VC system, or do you use something simpler like dropbox/google drive?

We’ve mostly used Dropbox all throughout to share asset files.

Above are the four folders we have set for Cryamore. Backgrounds has Rob and me contributing to it, Illustrations has Rob, me, and JC and Juby’s contributions, Inspiration Music has Aivi and surasshu’s work (a lot of unheard of to the public music WIP files) and Sprite-Animations has my work.

Once something like music, animation or an environment asset is set, Rob or I transfer it to Unity, apply any settings necessary (import and display settings for 2DToolkit, audio settings for Master Audio, etc.) and then upload it to the SVN so the file and all its settings will exist for anyone on the team with a Unity key and access to the Cryamore SVN.

Do you use freecamp for like kanban/task management stuff?

When we had more people in our team, we used OpenOffice and then switched to Freedcamp to keep track of tasks and bugs. Now that it’s just Rob and me, and Aivi and surasshu on sound and music, we mostly just keep a personal to-do list.

Xaelon asks:

I have no idea if this is possible with how the game is built, but something you could add to promote replay after the base game is completed would be a "randomizer mode" that shuffles various things into different places.

We could probably apply that to enemy spawns and some cryam deposits but the environment layouts though aren't as flexible sadly as we don’t use tilesets and the collision bounds of the environments aren’t generated by object due to a lot of irregular organic shapes.

We definitely have considered implementing a NG+ option though, maybe with levels and certain abilities intact on the next play but with more mobs and other difficulty boosts. 

shadowreaper5 asks:

Do skills with timers (like the buff to breathe underwater) have a visual representation of the time left?

To a certain extent, yes. Esmy’s going to have a breath meter over her head while underwater without the Oxy Barrier ability.

We initially wanted to just have a blue fill over Esmy’s status portrait (which changes to her holding her breath) while underwater but so it’s easier to keep track of, she’ll have a meter above her head when she isn’t using Oxy Barrier underwater.

While we do have spells with durations, some of them won’t have a meter and rely on visual cues: a timed magma mine will blink when it's about to explode, time paradox clones should blink when they're about to fade, and shadow cloak should fade back to full visibility upon ending. As it is though, we will mention the duration of spells in their info box at the menu.

Tarquinn2049 asks:

Ok. This question is a bit on the other end amd might make me sound like a jerk due to timing. But does it support 4k? And if so is it by pixel doubling? I can totally play it at 1080p if hardware scaling will ultimately look better.

Our native resolution is 720p which we’ll be upscaling to 1080p. We won’t be able to provide 4K support as working primarily in 2D where our target resolution is 720p would require us to rework the assets in a larger size so as not to lose crispness of lines and pixels on a larger resolution.

Rob:  The game looks freaking good on a 50-70 inch, though haha! I for one can't wait to playtest a lot on console (devkit).

DEVELOPMENT UPDATES

Unity editor-wise, Rob has been working on optimizing the code further. The sorting order of the game was archaic and clunky, so Rob decided to squish it down to a simpler and more effective form that relies on Sorting Order that Unity didn’t have early on during our development. We instead relied on Z index which required a lot of fiddling around with when setting objects up.

You can see in that test room video that the “Order in Layer” is changing value. Back then it would be the Z in the Position attributes and we’d have to manually set the value beforehand to make sure things appeared behind or in front of objects right.

Rob also implemented full analog movement instead of just the D-pad, this allows for more control, though it’ll need a bit of tweaking as it currently looks like Esmy’s skating along the ground like she’s about to break it down and provide everyone with boosted shields.

There’s been polish going on in multiple fronts on the graphical end as animations and environment assets get fixed.

Above is the fist weapons, we initially were going to go with brass knuckles but decided that it wouldn’t be that noticeable on the sprite unless we made it large but I wanted to make sure you wouldn’t miss the weapons so I designed these gauntlets that shows a bit of the transition from steamtech to cryamtech and also offers a more interesting silhouette while also making a bit more sense as a viable weapon against dangerous monsters.

The fists primary function work as a mashable combo. One press of the attack button does a jab, two presses in quick succession performs a jab and punch, three does a jab, punch, uppercut combo. It’s quick but it doesn’t have that much range or width in its melee attack range.

The second function is the parry which allows you to negate any damage if timed right. Rob’s in charge of securing the timing for all these as he’s the one in Unity and more well-versed with the parrying system this was inspired from (Street Fighter 3) so I trust he’ll make sure it’s balanced. We wanted to make the fists fun to use but even better if you master it and hopefully it’ll show.

The crossbow also underwent an animation rework during its polish phase. The old animation was too focused on being realistic that it didn’t look interesting (i.e. it looked too slow) and the crossbow already has it tough in being interesting when up against the pistols. So far everyone feels it looks much snappier now while still keeping to the timing of the old animation.

What differentiates the crossbow from the pistol is that Esmy can hold her shot and slowly strafe while doing so, only firing when you let go of the attack button. The crossbow also has different types of bolt quivers that you can equip. Currently we’re playing around with piercing properties and stagger/slowing/knockback properties.

We’re also looking into displaying the ammo/bolt count below Esmy everytime she fires so the player can easily keep track of their shots (we’ve been running on infinite ammo all this time just to get a feel of the weapon first before applying a limit). 

The rapier’s animations will still need the pixel pass but its roughs are ready.

You’ll notice two phases in the rapier animation. The basic thrust and the secondary backdash. These are the primary and secondary functions of the weapon. One allows you to dash forward with a piercing strike and another for quick evasion, making the rapier a weapon all about mobility (which could be handy for speedrunning too).

The Ghilcrest buildings are undergoing their design polish as well. You’ve all seen the Cryatisium and Esmy’s Home and now the Inventorium and the Cafe are joining them in polished goodness.

The overworld environments have also been undergoing its rework. More unique object assets have been made and its design is now following the Overworld map that I completed.

Worry not about the above image. Though we do have Brax (and some other characters) following you at some points in the game, it’s not a dangerous escort mission where you’ll have to struggle to keep your companion alive, the Berribuns were added on the map just for this screenshot (they ignore Brax and only go for Esmy).

I’ve tried to incorporate hints of the past steamtech throughout areas of Noka Island that the settlers covered, some machines like the one on the screenshot above were retrofitted to use cryam instead of steam (I did receive comments on how the smoke blobs look more like rocks so I’ll probably change it to wispy smoke).

The HUD has also undergone a visual polish to make it look more bronze plated to go with the early post steampunk-ish feel.

I’ll be continuously working on more animations and environment asset polish all throughout while Rob cleans up code, works on other background assets or lays said assets out in the Unity editor.

ART SPOTLIGHT

Every now and then, Rob (and sometimes I) take a breather and make some art (which will all eventually end up in the artbook) so here’s some of the choice pieces as of late.

Rob made something that could be wallpaper material once he cleans it up in a higher res, it’s an array of Bliss in a custom outfit.

Another wallpaper-ish piece from Rob with Deseret, Bliss, and Sorbet looking all tough and showing what I’ll just assume to be Ghilcrest gang signs... despite it being a small community.

Here's a more realistic pin-up style Bliss that Rob also made.

Rob also pays tribute to Atlus’ Persona and Shin Megami Tensei series by rendering Esmy in Shigenori Soejima’s style.

I did the same and tried making a Shigenori Soejima tribute using his soft paint style commonly present in Stella Deus and some Persona art. I chose to represent Team Bliss.

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT 

We’ve also got a few new submissions of fanart from the community that we’re proud to share with everyone. We’re grateful to have all your support and enjoy seeing everyone’s renditions of the Cryamore cast.

@Cliffist pays tribute to the fab queen, Bliss because clearly, she’s supposed to be the star.

@boss_ruru also decides to rep Team Bliss with this lovely piece of Ms. Barson in one of her many alternate outfits.

But it’s not all Bliss as MellowMarz aka @HeartlessHat provides a pistol toting pixel-art Esmy.

I’ll be working on the pixel art and animation featurette next. I had to hold it off since I needed to prep this first.

It should give an idea of what the update will cover.

I hope you enjoyed this update and all the news! Thanks for taking time to read through these.

- CM Alan

P.S. I also managed to secure one of the previous builds we made and will be preparing a guide to go with it for the backers on Discord.