#got very excited when he got lightning powers instead!

[suzukiblu]

Ko-fi thank-you sentences for @quietellen behind the cut; Billy adopts Conner and it actually goes pretty good!

“. . . okay,” Lynn says slowly, still staring down at Tawky. Billy grins, trying not to make it too big or anything, and barely resists the urge to bounce in excitement. Cool. That’s cool, if Lynn might want to do that. It’d be really fun teaching him how to fly and all that stuff! But even if he doesn’t want to, they’ve still got super-strength and super-senses and whatever else Kryptonians get to work on, so there’ll still be plenty of stuff they can practice together. So they’ll get to hang out either way, Billy figures. Teaching Lynn stuff about his powers and being a superhero and all that seems like a really good way to get to know each other, especially if they patrol together too, so . . . yeah, he’s looking forward to it. 

A little nervous about it, too. But definitely still looking forward to it. 

Billy really wants to be a good dad, that’s all. And he really wants Lynn to get to feel how having a good dad feels. Superman and Batman think he can be a good one, and they’re trusting him with Lynn–and so are Kid Flash’s parents and really the whole rest of the League, and especially Lynn’s trusting him with himself, so . . . 

Yeah. Billy really wants to do this right. 

And he’s going to, he promises himself. Whatever it takes, he’s gonna make sure Lynn gets to have a good dad, and won’t have to doubt that dad is a safe place to go to. 

At least for as long as he can, anyway. 

“Okay!” he says cheerfully, then tilts his head towards the door. “Ready, then?” 

“. . . sure,” Lynn says, and awkwardly shifts his grip on Tawky as he looks around the living room with no apparent goal in mind. Or at least not one Billy can see? But he doesn’t say anything else, so . . . 

“Great!” Billy says, then grabs the shiny metal wallet with Flash’s lightning bolt insignia on it that Batman got him–seriously, Batman is so funny, Billy has no idea why nobody else thinks Batman is funny–and sticks it in his magic slacks before going to get the front door and holding it for Lynn. He’s pretty proud of himself for remembering not to go for the window first, all things considered. “After you!” 

“. . . sure,” Lynn repeats, then even more awkwardly slips out the door, looking uncomfortable. He brings Tawky with him, though, which is nice to see. Billy’s sure Tawky appreciates getting invited along, and he just appreciates that he and Lynn are getting along. 

“Cool,” Billy says as he follows after Lynn. He makes it like six steps down the hall before remembering–right, right, he needs to lock the door when they leave.

. . . also, uh. Also he needs the keys, doesn’t he. 

“Shoot. One sec,” he says, flushing in embarrassment at the belated realization, then cheats just a little with the speed of Mercury to dart back into the apartment and find the keys. He is not used to having keys to forget. Although also Lynn needs his own keys just in case, probably, so . . . well, he guesses they both do? So–both sets of keys, yeah. 

So he has . . . keys now, yeah. 

That’s just so weird a thought, Billy thinks, very briefly tightening his fist around the shiny gold keyring in his hand as he looks down at it. Then he makes himself loosen his grip and grabs Lynn’s keyring too, then darts back out into the hall to actually lock up.

“Sorry,” he says sheepishly. “Not used to living someplace with locks, you know?” 

“No,” Lynn says. 

Well, that’d make sense, Billy thinks. Cadmus probably had nothing but locks, considering Lynn and the sidekicks had to literally fight their way out of it.

“I guess not, yeah,” he says, tucking his keys away and then offering Lynn his own. Lynn stares blankly at them for a moment, then glances up at him instead. Billy tries to look encouraging. “Just in case we get separated or something. Like if I get an emergency call from the League or a supervillain attacks or whatever. You should probably just have them all the time, really? Because, um, again, emergencies and stuff.”

“. . . fine,” Lynn says. He tucks Tawky under his arm and takes the keys, then shoves them deep into his pocket. Billy beams at him, then dials it back a little when he realizes “beaming” might be a little bit of an overreaction just to Lynn taking the keys. Just, well . . . 

This all feels a little more real, he guesses, if Lynn has those. That’s all. It feels weird if he has keys, but Lynn having them . . . 

Yeah. That’s different. Or . . . it makes him feel different, maybe? 

He’s not really sure why, though. 

He and Lynn and Tawky head downstairs together. It’s not a very tall building, but their apartment’s on the top floor, which Billy thinks is pretty cool. More sun for Lynn, he figures, and also a good place to fly out of as quick and sneaky as possible when he’s in a rush. Or when they’re in a rush, if Lynn decides he wants his powers too. Whichever. Or like, both? Both or whichever. 

Maybe a little harder for Tawky to get out of without having to run through the halls and stairwells, though. Hm. They’ll have to figure something out for that, just in case.

[buckys-little-belle]

Henlo! If it's okay, could you make write a fic about Bucky comforting his little during a thunderstorm? A storm was near my house a few days ago and the thunder scared me so bad-- The power didn't go out, but storms usually happen a lot where I live-- thanks <3

Rainy Days

Bucky Barnes x Little!Reader (They/Them Pronouns used/No Pronouns used)

Warnings - Reader is scared of storms, reader eats snacks, talks of loud noises, talks of lightning/flashing lights, descriptions of a thunderstorm, ready is sad and scared, Bucky is sweet and thoughtful!

Notes - I made this headcannons, I hope that's okay! Honestly I've been going through my inbox and drafts and trying to clear them out, but writing full fics is something I have to be in the right mood for. But headcannons? I've been feeling headcannons lately, so do send some headcannon requests in if anyone has some! And please expect very old asks to suddenly resurface in the shape of fics/headcannons written literally years later <3

SFW - Please keep all interactions with this post, and this blog, SFW!

. ☆ . ☾ . ☆ . ☽ . ☆ . ☾ . ☆ . ☽ . ☆ .

You've always been scared of thunderstorms. Rain is nice from time to time, but when the loud booms of thunder begin and lightning strikes, you suddenly begin to feel scared.

It's not rational, you know the thunder can't get you and that if you're inside you're safe from lightning. Yet when the storm begins to get louder and the rain begins to pelt harder, you find yourself curled up wherever you are, stuffie held safely to your chest.

Bucky could tell you'd get antsy whenever rain drops would begin racing on the windows, you'd stare outside seemingly waiting for something to happen.

After the first thunderstorm you two witnessed together Bucky knew he needed to be prepared for the next one. He hated seeing you cry, and how scared you got. He felt helpless and vowed to make sure that didn't happen again.

So now he has a small bin in his closet labeled "Rainy days". Inside are a pair of headphones he bought that block out any noises. It's made chatting between the two of you hard on those rainy days, you yelling because you can't tell just how loud you are, and him doing his best to charades his words. But because it rains so often, you two have had time to practice, and communication comes much easier.

He bought you little stickers to put on the headphones, so that instead of just plain boring black headphones, you have ones decorated by your favourite cartoon characters and fun little stickers of plants and dinosaurs.

He also has special activities for the two of you to do on those days. He wanted something different than the toys you have all the other days. This way you stop feeling dread thinking about thunderstorms, now that feeling is over taken with a subtle excitement for the special glitter crayons in the box, and the really cute stuffed animal named "Rainy" that you get to snuggle with.

Bucky always buys those PDF files on etsy that are colouring pages. For $2 he gets 6-10 fun pages, and he'll print them out for you on his fancy work printer. He finds it easier than buying colouring books because there's no risk of ripping your colouring when you evidently want to rip the page out and put it on the fridge. Plus he finds it over all cheaper, and there are no more tears when you don't like the way you coloured something, sad that you can't do that pretty picture anymore, he just prints out a second one.

Bucky is also a fan of physical media. He has both a DVD and a VCR player. So he has two movies stashed in the box that you really like for those rainy days, and those rainy days only. He doesn't know how, but you've been able to connect your headphones to the Tv, so you can't hear the thunder when you're watching them.

Also snuggles, rainy days mean as many snuggles as you want. Doesn't matter if he's on a work call, doing the laundry, or in the middle of making dinner. If you come up and ask for a hug you end up getting 20 minutes of snuggles and soothing back rubs.

You don't venture outside when it's a thunderstorm, but Bucky has been warming you up to "liking" rainy days by showing you how fun puddles can be.

He buys you a cute raincoat and matching boots, and as long as there's no thunder or lightning, he'll take you outside and splash in the puddles for an hour.

Instead of being terrified of thunderstorms, and hating the days they happen, you've slowly been able to accept that they'll happen sometimes, and you've grown to know your safe, very safe because Bucky is always at your side on those days. Ready to comfort you, ready to play whatever game you want, and ready to jump in puddles when possible.

[dseval]

ArchiveVerse Dream

Welcome ArchiveVerse Dream, I am overall satisfied with the result of this character Intro.

I have also discovered the ideal workflow for these character intros, so I might be able to push more out faster (feeling self achievement right here)

Reaper's will be next, I am still contemplating who to do next. So please tell me if you have any requests, I will surely consider it :)

Ramble ahead, please check out the first ArchiveVerse post to understand most of the things I wrote here (some information in it is already redundant though).

★Info★

Ordenance is an academy for the strong and lawful, they enforce order in the Academy City under the authority of the General Student Council (GSC). The academy itself adopts a triumvirate system, where it is led by three heads. Dream is the First Head of Ordenance and he takes his role very seriously. The second head is Ink, and the temporary third head is Blue.

Nightmare, his twin brother, was previously the First Head of Ordenance. Nightmare is usually the one handling the administration, while Dream follows along. However, after the incident in which Nightmare accidentally almost destroyed Dream's halo (effectively almost murdering him), Nightmare got thrown into Juvie, and Dream is struggling to keep up.

Dream is a literal angel, always so polite and sweet. All students in Ordenance— even out of Ordenance admires and respects him. Dream would put others above himself, and this resulted in him being too busy to practically do anything else for himself.

Quick Facts:

His height is 165 cm.

His powers are fire and lightning. He is very capable of controlling his powers so it doesn't go haywire unlike most students.

He has wings on his waist, the wings are an extension of his halo. Halos disappear when students sleep, so Dream's wings disappear when he sleeps.

His eyelights turn starry whenever he's excited.

As the First Head of Ordenance, Dream holds the most authority in the academy, even more than the Second and Third head.

Is very polite, perhaps he had never even cussed.

Remembers a lot of people and names.

Dream is very popular, almost everyone knows his name and face.

Was always too busy to do anything for himself or to hang out with friends. He always tries his best to make schedule for anyone, though.

His favourite activities when he isn't too busy to do anything are taking a walk in the park, dancing, and archery.

Due to being too busy taking care of the academy, Dream struggles to keep up with news and gossip. He often only heard of a certain news months after it had happened.

He has deep eye bags, which he conceals with makeup.

Always sees the best in others.

Character Relationships:

He doesn't talk or meet with Nightmare that often. It's either something to do with Nightmare's reluctance and Dream being too busy. Even so, it's clear they miss and care about each other. Many people seem to not know they are twins.

He often receives news and updates about his brother from Reaper (who is the Juvenile Containment Supervisor).

Occasionally he hangs out with Cross at the park or at the cafe. They admire each other.

Blue was appointed as temporary Third Head of Ordenance to cover up Nightmare's absence. He often helps Dream with administration matters. Dream is very thankful for his presence and would do anything to return the favour.

He used to be stressed out by Ink's antics, as Ink often broke rules (yet he always gets away from it), mirroring his brother's concerns. But now he seems to find it amusing, letting Blue take care of Ink instead.

Is familiar with the names of the Juvie students due to the updates Reaper sent. Though he only knows how it concerns his brother. Such as Killer, Dust, and Horror calling Nightmare 'Boss' and giving him a headache.

Familiar with Error, as Error often went around causing trouble with Ink. He is unhappy that Error broke rules, but seem to be happy that Ink has a friend that understands him.

He goes to buy makeup monthly. Often bumping into Lust and Red (you guys will see these students later on) at the makeup store. They converse when these encounters happen.

Credits (please tell me if I missed anyone or if there is the typo!):

Dream Sans (and Nightmare Sans) by Jokublog

AU heavily inspired by Blue Archive, art style directly inspired by Mx2j, one of the artists for Blue Archive.

Mentioned characters: Cross Sans(Jakei), Reaper Sans(Renrink), Blue(popcornPr1nce), Ink(Comyet/Mye Bi), Killer(Rahafwabas), Dust(Ask-Dusttale blog), Horror(SourAppleStudios), Error(CrayonQueen/LoverOfPiggies), Lust(NSFWShameCave), Red(Underfella)

[jadeylovesmarvelxo]

Comfort ❤️

Summary; I love thunderstorms but thought it would be nice to write something where Eddie comforts the reader who's scared of thunderstorms.

There's a massive storm while everyone is at school, it's winter and the storm hits during the afternoon instead of night.

Eddie comforts the reader when they find themselves together in an empty classroom.

Warnings; Anxiety attack, mean Eddie, enemies to lovers, fluff, much kissing, comfort. minors dni

I don't give anyone permission to copy, reuse, or repost my work.

❤️

❤️

The biggest storm to hit Hawkins in years happened while you were in class.

It was the usual day, Eddie was your partner and seemed intent on irratating the hell out of you.

That was the thing with him. Half the time he pissed you off, the other half you wanted to kiss him. The latter part was something you kept secret.

You were barely paying attention to what Mrs O'Donnell was saying, mind focused on cheer routines and the way the wind seemed to be increasing by the minute, the howling growing louder, rain battering of the windows.

It was fine, you were fine you tell yourself trying to stay calm. The truth was though you didn't like storms very much, these ones weren't too bad but add thunder and lightning to the mix and you panicked.

The weatherman said to expect thunder and lightning, gale force winds. A big storm was meant to hit tonight but it appears it was arriving earlier than planned.

It seemed to get progressively worse, the sky darker, the lights were flickering on and off and your friends and other students seemed very excited.

All through classes everyone was on edge or anticipating something big happening.

What if the power went out completely, it's not like anyone could go home. It was too dangerous.

What were you going to do at the end of the day? You could hear teachers talking about it, thinking that it was the best for everyone to stay here until the storm calmed down.

You kinda wished you had listened to your gut instinct and just stayed in bed this morning.

"Princess you keep gripping that pencil like that and you're gonna break it" Eddie points out to you and you drop the pencil.

"What's up with you anyway? You break a nail during cheer practice?" he asks with a smug smile on his face and his barb momentarily distracts you from being nervous.

"Bite me, Munson" he's just about to retort but the bell rings signalling lunchtime and you'd rather get as far away from him as possible.

No such luck though. He follows you, gently tugging on your ponytail to get attention and you huff, turning around and glaring at him.

"Are you five years old or something? God, you're such a dick" he shrugs.

"Had to get your attention somehow princess priss, haven't heard you call me an asshole for three hours now, I got worried"

That nickname irritated you but you still feel your heart skip a beat as he moves closer to you, does he feel that spark too?

There's a clap of thunder and you startle, Eddie watches you his eyes full of mirth.

"Asshole" you yell over your shoulder as you walk away, his laughter follows you down the hall.

❤️

Around fifth period the lights went out completely it was already dark being the winter months so there wasn't much light.

Mr Arnolds tried to calm everyone down but it was hard to hear him over the shouting. Shouldn't the school have a backup generator or something.

The lights going out had sent everyone into panic mode. Except for the students who seemed more prepared than the teachers, you had brought a flashlight to school just in case of this happening.

Better to have some sort of plan you reckoned.

Despite that all the worried voices coupled with the storm outside was making your anxiety spike even more.

You find an empty classroom and try to get control of your racing thoughts.

Except you're not alone, as you shine your torch you notice Eddie seems to have had the same idea as you.

"Shouldn't you be in class sweetheart? Keeping people's spirits up with your peppy cheer routine" you snort with laughter.

"Good one Eddie, it take all your time to come up with that zinger?" he smiles back at you, it was weird. Sometimes you think he likes bickering with you, sought you out.

Like you did with him.

Hesitantly you peer out the window and the tree branches slam against the window causing you to jump, thunder rumbles, it's so loud it makes you immediately tense.

"Aww, what's wrong princess? Scared of a little thunder and lightning?" Eddie mocks as he watches you and you turn around ready to snap back when there's a rumble of thunder again, the lightning flashes perilously close to the window.

Fear floods through your body and you look around the room trying to stop yourself from panicking.

Five things you can see... Eddie's smug irritatingly cute face. Your book for your English report, the anxiety in your stomach grows even more, this isn't helping.

"Hey, hey look at me" Eddie kneels down beside you, taking your hand in his, mocking look gone and replaced with concern.

"I hate this" you whimper and he softens as you tighten your grip on his hands.

"Sweetheart, you're safe with me okay? Do you think I would let anything happen to you?" you stifle a smile.

"I irritate you, drive you up the wall" he smiles, all dimples.

"Yeah, no shit but you're sweet when you want to be, smart, beautiful and brave, this is like a dnd quest okay? The knight and his badass princess sheltering from a storm and working together to keep each other calm"

This begins to relax you. "Maybe a little bit different from your usual quests, you pause and your heart skips a beat, you think I'm beautiful?"

He blushes a little bit. "Maybe" You tilt his chin up so he looks at you, his big brown eyes wide.

"Maybe I think you're cute," you tell him and wipe your tears away. He pulls you tight against his body and you rest your head on his chest.

"Talk about anything please, take my mind off this" he obliges and begins to tell you about the movie he watched last night, the songs his band Corroded Coffin performed at the Hideout.

"We had like four drunks princess, think that's a record" This causes you to giggle.

"I'd like to see you perform" he rubs your arm as you flinch when lightning flashes again.

"Shh, just focus on me kay? I'd love to see you at the Hideout princess, can you bring your pom poms?" he teases and you grin.

"It's a date... I mean, shit" Why the hell did you say date? Cringing you play with his guitar pick as his breath hitches.

"I'd like that a lot. It's definitely a date" The storm suddenly seems quieter or maybe it's because Eddie is looking down at you with warmth in his big brown eyes.

"Better?" he probes, stroking your cheek then leaning to kiss you. Nothing else matters as you kiss, you lose yourself in how amazing it feels.

"Think I'm starting to like storms now" you admit but then the thunder starts again and you wince.

"Okay, maybe not"

"Guess I'll have to distract you some more" Eddie smirks and kisses you gently. It turns more intense and the storm rages on all afternoon.

With Eddie kissing you like this though it's easy to forget it just for a little while.

❤️✨

[racheyace]

Lightning Ridge - Part Three

A young Shifter wanders into a town crawling with hunters, Hendrix plans on laying low but when he catches wind of one particular hunter who is after the same Shifter that he’s been tracking himself, his curiosity gets the better of him. Offering to join the man on his quest he can only hope he can track down the dangerous shifter, saving the lives of innocents all the while keeping his secret hidden.

TW: mentions of murder/eating people, giant spiders, some swearing, mentions of death, mentions of drug use, some violence

Approx 3.6k Words

Part One

Part Two

Part Three - Your are here

Part Four

Part Three

“Ah! You bloody bastard, you know you don’t have to actually stab me, fuck!” I hissed as his silver sword once again slashed at my skin, back to my human height we were training once again, this time with the knowledge of my ability. And I have to admit, he looked way too happy every time he got a particularly painful strike in.

“Don’t be such a baby, you wanted to learn, didn’t you?” He chuckled gleefully, mocking me.

“Yeah, well you’re not the one holding back a damned Giant inside of you every time you get slashed!” I growled, growing a few inches involuntarily, my height continued to fluctuate as I focused on my breathing in an effort to remain at a human height.

I’d regained my strength from the night before, but each time the silver cut through my skin was like being injected with a poison I had to fight to stop it from spreading through my body.

We had decided to stop in Armarand for a few days, deciding it was a good idea to get some more close combat practice in given my recent revelation and to prepare properly for the fight ahead of us. Ryder hadn’t stopped giving me shit about lying to him, but at least he hadn’t murdered me in my sleep, I reminded myself to be thankful for the little things.

“Maybe you shouldn’t hold back, probably good for me to brush up on my skills fighting a ‘Giant’.”

My eyes bugged at that, I had been ready to shift in relief, having permission to stop holding back, that is until he suggested we fight at such vastly different statures to one another.

He’d taken down shifters before, he’d told me so, and given his skill and reflexes with the sword the only reason I’d been able to get my hands on him the other night was because I’d taken him by surprise. I didn’t have that advantage on my side this time.

“Shifter.” I clarified, still taken aback by his suggestion. “And I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“You scared Hendrix?” He taunted, flicking his silver sword in the air.

“Yes, as a matter of fact.” I said astounded. “I’ve never fought a hunter before, besides one of us is likely to get hurt.” I reasoned.

He quirked an eyebrow at me. “I can handle myself big guy, come on, show me what you’ve got.”

Sighing heavily, there was no way I could get him to change his mind once he had an idea set, I’d tried and I was finding it harder and harder to say no to him, especially because I had lied to him. So instead of arguing, I focused on shifting, allowing my body to stretch out of its cramped space until I felt like I fit my own body once again.

I looked down at Ryder at my feet, he’d taken a few steps backwards rightfully so, giving me room to grow, smart move for a man who seemed to show no fear.

Staring down at him I was once again reminded of how small humans really were, it really wasn’t very often that I interacted with a human at this size, and I suppressed the sense of power I got from looming over him. The mere thought of using my size against him made me feel uncomfortable and somewhat excited all at the same time, I shook the feeling away and focused.

I blinked my eyes, taking on a defensive stance and noted that Ryder had disappeared.

One moment he was there and then the next it was like he had vanished; I brushed my hands roughly through the trees wondering if he’d climbed them in hopes of jumping me by surprise.

There were no screams of surprise or any indication that I’d knocked him off, so I did a slow sweep of the area, being mindful of where I put my feet, though I doubted Ryder was being as mindful of causing injury. As if on cue the bastard emerged.

“Ahhhh!” Ryder cried out from behind me, he dug his sword into my shoulder, and I yelled in pain, no doubt deafening my attacker. I brought my hand up to my shoulder hoping to get my fingers around the little shit, but he was fast. Using some kind of hook and rope he had managed to dangle himself in the center of my back, right out of my reach.

Thinking quickly, I stepped backward intending to push my back into a nearby tree and knock Ryder off that way. Though as I stepped backwards, I noted he had swung around on his rope, feet planted firmly on my abdomen and was now aiming his sword for my stomach. I leaned heavily on the trees behind me and went to grab Ryder before he could do some serious damage, but once again, he was quick.

He swung at my fingers causing them to retract reflexively and then spun himself around my wrists, I watched on in amazement at how fast he was able to move and how fearless he looked interacting with body parts that were so much larger and stronger than he was.

I flexed my wrists ready to snap the ropes when he gave me a little wink.

He then shot another rope up past my shoulder, I heard it whiz with speed past my ear before it was embedded into a tree behind me, pulling himself and my wrists up and over my head with speed. This caused me to lose my balance, I spun trying to catch myself, but of course my hands were tied, with nothing to break my fall, I braced myself as my face headed for the ground bellow.

I fell to the forest floor face first in the dirt and shrubbery with a loud and embarrassing thud that shook the earth around me, causing any animals and birds nearby to flee immediately.

To add insult to injury he landed heavily on my head, touching the tip of his blade down onto the soft part of my skull, though he didn’t push it through, the silver burned, and I knew if he wanted to, he could end my life right now.

I lay there, mouth full of mud and in complete amazement of him.

This man, a man the size of my finger had taken me down and rendered me helpless in about three moves. I was ten times the size that he was, ten times stronger and yet he fought me and won with a worrying amount of ease.

That sense of power I’d felt over him a moment ago? Yeah, that was long gone. Never again would I underestimate a human, well never again would I underestimate this human.

He jumped down from my head, landing in the dirt before my eyes and smiling proudly at me, hands on his hips in triumph, the jerk seemed very happy with himself.

“Gods it’s been so long since I took down one of you guys, that was great, you okay big guy?” He asked mockingly, I spat the mud from my mouth out at him and he chuckled.

“Care to untie me?” I asked flatly.

He laughed again and I marveled once more at how easily he climbed onto my shoulder and walked with confidence down the length of my spine to where my hands were tied against my back. This man had no fear, I was probably the most dangerous creature he would ever encounter, and he showed no fear.

Once my hands were free, I waited for him to climb down to the ground again before pushing myself up to sit before him, I brushed the dirt from my clothes and inspected the wound to my left shoulder. Only a small cut but the burn from the silver would take a while to heal.

“That was…amazing.” I said, not hiding how thoroughly impressed I was, his cheeks took on a reddish hue and he shrugged.

“It’s my job.” He brushed it off as though it were nothing, it was definitely not nothing to me.

I stared down at him, seeing him in a whole new light, he’d seemed so gruff and stoic but now he practically glowed, he was truly in his element, doing what he loved, and no wonder he loved it. He was so incredibly and dangerously skilled at it.

As much as he tried, he couldn’t wipe the smile from his face and I couldn’t blame him, I’d be just as happy with myself if I took down a being ten times larger than myself.

“Let’s take a break, shall we?” He suggested clearing his throat.

I closed my eyes and focused on shifting once more, down to an average human height and when I opened my eyes, I was looking up at Ryder who was holding out hand for me to help me up from my sitting position.

I accepted his offer gratefully, and now standing eye to eye with him once more I looked him over from a whole new perspective. It was so hard to make out facial features when you were so much larger, but it didn’t escape my notice that Ryder was exceptionally handsome.

His hazel eyes seemed to change hues nearly all the time and that fascinated me to no end, I wondered if my own blue eyes ever changed colour in that kind of way.

“Quit staring at me like that.” He groused. “Come on, let’s go get a drink, I think we’ve earned it.”

I blinked and shook my thoughts away from my head, he’s going to think you’re a real freak now, good job Hendrix, you bloody idiot.

We sat down in the local tavern, it was only us and two other patrons at the bar, the other two men kept to themselves with their faces buried in their drinks.

“You said once, you didn’t have any family.” Ryder said taking a swig of his whiskey.

The last twenty-four hours had been filled with questions about shifters, what triggers the shifting, what I need to do to shift on command, and I’d happily answered them, seeing no point in lying to him anymore. He’d not asked anything personal up until this point.

This statement, though it felt like a question, struck me in a different way, I hadn’t felt I was lying when I said I had no family, because the truth was that I didn’t, not anymore anyway.

“I don’t.” I reiterated.

“You also said you had to leave your family when you first turned.” He continued to push; he knew he’d struck a chord.

“I also said that I was cast out.” I countered grumpily.

He held his hands up in surrender. “Hey, I’m just trying to understand why you never went back, from what I can see, you ARE able to control your ability enough that you wouldn’t be putting anyone in danger.”

“That’s not the way they’d see it.” I muttered bitterly into my own drink.

“How can you be sure?” He wasn’t going to let it go, why did he have to be this way? Couldn’t he just be happy with what he did know and take my word at face value. Why was he pushing so hard about this? It wasn’t like I’d ever have the opportunity of seeing my family ever again anyway. His pushing seemed to have the intended effect because I slammed my drink down and glared at him.

“Because! It was my own family that wanted me beheaded!” I snapped. “The mayor granted me pardon on the proviso that I never come back. It was my ‘family’ that wanted me dead.” I seethed; it wasn’t something I wanted to be reminded of, it definitely wasn’t something I wanted to have a light conversation about.

There was silence between us and then I felt his heavy hand grip my good shoulder.

“I’m sorry Hendrix.” He said earnestly and I melted. “I only wondered if after all this is over that it might be a good thing to reconnect with your family again, I didn’t realize, and I’m sorry for that.”

I glanced up at him, meeting his concerned gaze, only yesterday when he’d found out what I really was, he’d looked at me the same way my mother and father had the night I turned. The horror, the disgust, the anger.

Somehow Ryder wasn’t looking at me like that anymore, and it did make me wonder if my own family’s view of me could change. But I still wasn’t about to go through the pain of finding out, just to be thrown away again.

His apology proved that I couldn’t stay mad at him though, and besides it wasn’t really him I was mad at anyway, I’d been holding onto that anger for a long time. He had just found the button that unlocked it, that was all.

“Thanks.” I said finally, to which he gave me a sympathetic smile and motioned for the bartender to pour us another round.

“Oh uh, I shouldn’t really have more than two…” I awkwardly pushed the glass toward Ryder, I knew my limit. I could handle my alcohol just fine, but it became increasingly more difficult to hold my human form when I’d had more than two drinks. Two drinks was safe.

“I guess we’ll take a bottle to go then.” Ryder said, handing the bartender some cash, grasping the almost full bottle of whiskey and heading for the door.

“What?” I asked, quickly standing and rushing to the door, I planted a hand on the handle holding it closed in front of him, demanding an explanation.

“You’re worried about endangering the people here, right? You’re worried that if you have too much to drink, you’ll lose control? So, let’s go somewhere where you don’t have to worry about that, loosen up a bit.”

He pushed past me, and I stood there slack jawed for a moment before following.

“I’m not just worried about the people here Ryder, I’m worried about hurting you too!” I exclaimed at his back; he kept up his pace heading for the clearing in the forest where we had been doing our training.

“I can handle myself.” He said simply and I fought hard for a way to argue that point but, seeing as he had literally beaten my gigantic ass to a pulp only hours before, I couldn’t think of a sound enough argument.

“That’s not the point.” I grumbled, but he paid me no mind and instead got to work building a fire.

The fire I was grateful for, winter was only a few weeks away and the chill in the evenings were already creeping in. I was still dubious of him though and his intentions with bringing our drinks out here, it was like he wanted to keep on testing my limits, perhaps he did.

He sat down in the dirt and stoked the fire, he then turned and looked at me expectantly, patting the ground beside him. I sighed and prayed to the Gods to give me strength, because for some reason I seemed to have none when it came to this particular human.

He handed me the bottle and I took a long swig from it before handing it back to him. The whiskey warmed my throat and settled pleasantly in my stomach, taking the edge off of the stress of the last few days and the uncertainty that was awaiting us.

“You know, you’re not like any Gia- I mean shifter I’ve ever met before.” He said thoughtfully, I wondered if that was a compliment for a moment before I realized he probably hadn’t ever given any other shifter an opportunity to defend themselves let alone talk to them as though they were real people.

“I don’t imagine you’ve ever given a shifter an opportunity to talk to you.” I said somewhat defensively of my own kind.

“You’re probably right, I’m not really sure what I can do to make that right, but I know I’ll be more mindful around rumors of Giants in the future.” He promised.

I nodded, I supposed that was all he could do, I watched as he stared into the fire, that familiar look of guilt and shame crossing his features, a feeling I knew well. I’d done things I regretted, I’d hurt people in the past sometimes by accident but a few times intentionally and you can’t ever take that back. I know how that weighs on a man’s shoulders.

“So, there was this one time.” Ryder began, filling the silence.

“I was hunting a werewolf. Now, they do normally travel in packs so this one had me curious as to why he was alone, but I suspected he might have been freshly turned. Anyway, a number of people in the neighboring village had been killed so I was employed to take up the job.” Ryder spoke lightheartedly, clearly trying to change the mood.

I smirked ruefully seeing right through him and nodded along as he continued his story.

“So, what they thought had been a werewolf was actually just a homeless old man who’d stumbled upon some funky mushrooms, he’d been eating them for days and hallucinating that a village full of dwarves were trying to kill him! He assured me the only people he’d killed were dwarves!” He laughed and I decided I liked the sound, slapping his leg and wiping his eye he continued to chuckle at the memory.

“So, what did you do?” I asked, smiling, and laughing quietly alongside him.

“Once I convinced the old man that I wasn’t an angel sent to destroy him for his sins, I took the mushrooms from him. I told the mayor about what I found but he didn’t believe me, just told the townsfolk to lock their doors at night. He was a real jerk that one.” He laughed again. “So instead of hunting a werewolf I had a few days off doing mushrooms with a crazy old man, who turned out to be just lovely by the way.”

I burst out laughing, unable to help myself as I tried to picture the image that Ryder had painted. We both took another generous helping of whiskey and continued to share in our laughter.

“What about you Hendrix? Got any stories to share?” He looked at me hopefully.

“Uh.” I chuckled nervously, thinking quickly. “I mistook a mermaid for a fish once, her scream damn near left me deaf for a week, mind you I had literally been about to eat her.”

Ryder looked at me keeping his expression as straight as he could, but he couldn’t hold it for long before he broke out laughing again.

“What! I was hungry! I thought I’d found a big fish!”

He slapped me on the back then, his laughter growing louder as he struggled to keep his composure. His cheeks were flushed from the alcohol and laughing, and the warmth of the fire gave him a soft glow.

I fought back my own blush, watching him, he was so happy, I had made him happy, I couldn’t think of any time in the past where I’d actually made someone happy let alone made them laugh.

My body tingled and I quickly shot up a few feet without warning, my legs brushing the fire. “Shit!” I gasped, crawling backwards frantically on the ground, putting as much space as I could between myself and Ryder.

“I’m sorry!” I exclaimed, eyes closed, I didn’t want to see the fear, the rejection from him, not when I felt we were finally building a trust between each other.

Why did this need to happen at the worst possible time, my chest filled with shame and disgust with myself, so uncontrollable, so unpredictable, no matter how hard I tried, I would always be dangerous.

A tear escaped my eye and I felt it drift down my cheek as my body expanded again against my will. Stupid body! Why can’t you just do what your told for once!

I felt a small hand brush against my cheek, it wiped at the tear that had escaped and then rested on my jaw.

“Hey, you’re okay Hendrix, your safe.” His voice was a whisper, but he had stayed.

I opened my eyes, I estimated I had grown about twenty feet, though that didn’t seem to deter Ryder, he stood before me his arms reaching up to hold my large stupid head with his smaller stronger ones.

“I told you that you didn’t need to be afraid to shift, I know you won’t hurt me, you need to trust yourself Hendrix.”

I took a shuddering breath; how could he be so calm about this? The tingling sensation wracked through my body again and though I tried I couldn’t hold it; I continued to expand and felt his hand grow smaller against my skin. As I grew, he stood beside my head, his hand never left my face as though trying to give me the strength to just let it all out.

Once I’d reached my full height, I let out a sigh of relief before turning my head to look at him, my nose bumped into his chest and my cheeks burned with embarrassment as he stumbled backward.

“Woah there big guy, at least take me out to dinner first.” He joked, pushing his hands on my nose and raising his eyebrows playfully at me, I let out a small laugh which finally did make him take a step back, but that was probably more because of the breath I’d let out which pushed him backwards.

“Your breath smells of whiskey.” He coughed and I cringed, finding no way to hide my embarrassment, he just smiled waving it off. “Good thing I like whiskey.”

Part Four

[avelera]

So I really thought the plot of S2 of Good Omens was going to include a beat where either Crowley went back to being an angel or Aziraphale accidentally Fell, and I wanted to walk through some of the moments I thought were leading to such a Side-Swap between Aziraphale and Crowley, in part because some of them revolve around mysteries that still haven't been fully explained:

When Crowley went out to the street and had his lightning strike "freakout", I truly thought that was maybe a hint that he had flipped sides (accidentally?) back to being an angel

One reason being the "tiny miracle" he and Aziraphale perform later. Why did it fail so dramatically that it set off the klaxon alarms in Heaven?

One theory I had was that Crowley had already reverted back to being an angel, without realizing, so their miracles didn't cancel each other out. Instead, two heavenly miracles occurred which, combined, created that huge outpouring of power visible from Heaven.

The other theory I had was that the miracle to disguise Gabriel was a tiny, quiet miracle, that it totally worked as intended. The alert Heaven got was Crowley's lightning strike, which was also on the same street, right next to Aziraphale's shop. I thought there'd be a twist around that location confusion, and we'd learn that the power outpouring was from Crowley becoming an angel again. Sadly, no dice on that front (the timing didn't quite work either, and I did enjoy the smash cut to their "quiet" miracle not being so quiet)

Note: We still don't have clarity on why their "tiny miracle" failed so spectacularly!

In the second episode we had so many scenes of Aziraphale questioning his faith in God. Of treading the line. Of lying. Of doing all this behavior that felt just a sneeze away from him Falling.

We have that famous book-based line where Crowley wonders aloud if they got it wrong the whole time, wouldn't it be funny if he did the right thing and Aziraphale did the wrong one? Aziraphale doesn't think that possibility is funny at all, but there are so many small indications and subtle hints that Aziraphale acts in a demonic manner and Crowley in an angelic one.

Note: We still don't have a resolution as to whether Aziraphale's questioning of God will lead to anything. Could be an S3 thing.

Not just in the Resurrectionist plotline where Aziraphale truly does not understand how his nitpicking over the corpse sale led not just to Elspeth and Morag possibly starving, but it directly led to Morag's death. All for the want of a corpse they couldn't even return? Aziraphale's actions were wall to wall evil in that episode. In contract, Crowley not only does favors for Aziraphale this season, he explicitly does not ask for repayment for them. They are truly selfless acts. This is in addition to saving the goats and Job's children.

The thing is, I just couldn't tell if those moments of Angelic Crowley and Demonic Aziraphale were plot points or simple character quirks along the lines of "Just enough of a bastard to be worth knowing" - were we just being reminded that these two are both gray? It felt like Crowley did too much good and Aziraphale did too much evil for it to be a quirk rather than a plot point, but then... it wasn't a plot point. Like at all. There was no Falling this season.

When we saw Crowley in Heaven, I really wondered if the fact he could hack into Muriel's files wasn't just a poor password but because Crowley had already, accidentally, Redeemed himself or Risen or whatever you want to call it. I wondered if it was a Clue.

Note: We never got answers as to why or how Crowley was able to hack through Muriel's system. Probably it's been left for S3 but at the very least we got new questions raised around Crowley's power level as an angel and what his power level is currently.

(On that note, did the Gabriel statue ever fucking matter? What was the point of that whole thing? Just a weird statue, that was all??)

When Aziraphale took off his halo, I was excited for the possibility that THIS was it, THIS was when he would reject his angelic nature SOMEHOW, perhaps by necessity to save the shop and Nina and Maggie. Instead it was just... a weapon??? Somehow?? I thought he was doing the same thing as proverbially ripping off his own wings.

Basically, I wanted an ending where Crowley and Aziraphale kiss an reunite and realize they really are so important to one another, they've connected, they've inspired each other, they've changed each other... all at the absolute worst possible moment. If either had Fallen or Risen first, they could have been on the same side, instead I wanted to see them figuratively or literally torn in opposite directions into a Heaven/Hell that they loathe but can't escape because technically, all that you need to do is trust or distrust God in order to Fall or Rise, and it can't be easily or quickly faked, because it's about faith and it took them millennia to find or lose their faith, they can't just go "Whoops, never mind, actually I don't trust/I do trust God after all!" just to get out of it.

Frick I just really wanted to see Angelic Crowley and Demonic Aziraphale absolutely fucking miserable at their situation just as yet another Apocalypse kicks off, so they have to navigate that and the fact they're totally out of their depth in their new lives and they miss each other desperately.

Maybe I'm just too much of a angst muffin but damn, there were so few stakes, so little that was lost or threatened this season. Literally, Aziraphale could turn around right now and do the silly apology dance and really, it would all be a wash, Crowley would take him back in a second. They're not in peril, nothing was truly lost, they're barely separated at this point what with Aziraphale's new status there's really no reason he couldn't even visit Crowley. Barely anything has changed - Crowley always knew that Aziraphale was faithful to Heaven, he just has a promotion now that technically gives him more latitude to call the shots, which could easily mean a lot of time spent on Earth with Crowley too.

*Sigh* I'd probably be less bothered if I didn't feel like there were signs everywhere that some sort of Fall/Rise was coming, unwillingly, for one of them. Maybe it'll still happen in S3! Who knows!

[toytle]

Hi! I love your art style it's like. Breathtaking. And your hcs on barry are some of my favourites of all time?

What do you think of "The Ballad of Barry Allen by Jim's Big Ego as an analysis of Barry's character?

are you asking or are you telling me 🤨 lol THANK YOU i put all my headcanon power into him <3

for the ballad, i love their song stress, and this isn’t bad at all as far as fansongs go. but there’s a reason i don’t include it in my barry playlist, and it’s ultimately bc it doesn’t fit my narrative haha

the song was made in 2003 and i haven’t read many comics before then, so idk how well it aligns w barry’s characterization prior to flashpoint, but i’m basing my playlist off post-flashpoint, so that’s where a lot of the differences will lie

for starters, the song only includes one half of barry’s relationship to his superspeed, and it’s important to me that a barry interpretation includes both sides of that coin. instead, it’s playing on the idea of the dark side of the hero fantasy, an inherently optimistic genre. which, fair, being a superhero sounds like a nightmare, but that angle is less novel to me when that’s the extent of the analysis (and i’m a little over the whole “i hate being a superhero” storyline in general, personally). the song is basically abt how much it would suck to have superspeed bc the world slows to a crawl and you’re left behind bc no one else can keep up w you. and it’s true, that is a very real setback! especially for someone like barry who’s already prone to self-isolation and time management issues! but what does the song actually have to say abt him as a character?

the thing is, barry isn’t a “i wish i wasn’t a hero” kind of guy. he’s a “could i be so strong [to give up the flash]? or do i love the thrill of these powers too much?” kind of guy. he’s a “knowing what i know now… if i could go back in time… maybe i would’ve been somewhere else the day lightning struck my lab and electrified those chemicals, ready and willing to forfeit a life of dodging deathtraps and battling villains… who am i kidding? there’s no going back. no do-overs. like everyone else, superheroes can only follow the path destiny has laid out for them, whatever lies ahead.” kind of guy. yes, barry is caged by his superspeed, but it would be misleading to not present it first and foremost as the very thing that frees him. it’s a double-edged sword that gives him purpose, and that freedom in obligation is what motivates him to keep going. as a wise man once said, “all you can do is go forward.” (“thanks.” “superman is pretty smart isn’t he.” “hm.”)

i think the real kicker for me was this lyric: “i’ve got time to think about the past… how my life was so exciting before i got this way.” my sincerest apologies to mr. allen, but he does not feel complete to me without his mother’s death or his father’s false imprisonment. this backstory contextualizes everything for me. his life was NOT exciting before his superspeed, it was lonely and full of escapism, either in his sci-fi/comics or his dedication to finding justice. i am of the belief that barry didn’t truly start living until he got his superspeed, over 2 decades of waiting around before he rly understood freedom and what it meant to live for himself. i get what they’re trying to do here, but this is what i mean when i say it feels like the song characterizes barry around the concept of his speed rather than how barry’s speed defines him as a person

ik i can’t expect a 4min song to include every aspect of a character’s timeline/development/nuance (esp before some of that even existed lol), but my issue isn’t that it doesn’t cover enough ground—it’s not bad that they had a theme and stuck by it, i actually love the lyrics from a speedster perspective. my issue is that i don’t think this is a good framing for barry’s character as a whole. for all his regrets and suffering, barry is optimistic to the point of denial. choosing this to be The theme to represent barry just. doesn’t feel like barry to me. it’s more like barry is the placeholder subject as an excuse to sing abt superspeed

if this was somehow less overtly a “BARRY ALLEN FANSONG” and maybe more metaphorical or even non-fandom, then it would be a dif situation and i might have dif opinions. at the end of the day, this has more to do w my pickiness than the quality of the song, and the fact that it even exists is so exciting for me as a barry allen enjoyer first, human second. but if you’re going to call smth a character study, i Will be getting my hopes up

[animebw]

Man, what a shitty way to end the season.

Well, that's Superstar Season 2 finished. And for whatever reason, the thought I keep coming back to is this one line from Bojack Horseman where he calls himself "A xerox of a xerox of a xerox." When something is copied over and over again, each new copy gets a little duller, a little vaguer, a little less certain of what it used to be in the first place. Love Live has been going on for over a decade now, with new installments almost every year. It is no longer the firework bursting spectacularly in open air; it's the leftover ash from that fireworks as it descends of the sky, still vainly trying to shine just as brightly as before.

And it feels tired.

For all the wonderful energy of Superstar, all the gorgeous art direction and animation and direction, it feels so, so tired.

There are absolutely things I like about this season. Even things I love. Keke and Sumire's episode alone prevents me from calling this a bad season of Love Live. Not to mention how wonderful Shiki and Mei are. But every new iteration of this series feels like more and more of its magic is draining away. School Idol Project was nothing short of a miracle, a lightning-in-a-bottle conflagration of optimistic euphoria that made me believe in the power of idols like nothing had ever done before. But Sunshine struggled all throughout its run to match up to that miracle, and it only really managed to do so when its movie finale came around. Nijigasaki swung for the fences to try something fresh and interesting, but all it resulted in was a crushingly hollow disaster. And even with Superstar bringing back SIP's director, Jukki Hanada in the writer's chair, it only ever feels like it's playing the hits without justifying its own existence. It has no idea how to make this new self, this new chance, a worthy contender to stand on the same stage as its ancestors. And if even the best creative team to ever work on Love Live can't figure out how to keep Love Live from stagnating... then what hope is there for anyone else?

Truthfully, part of me wonders if Hanada is just tired of it all. He's been writing original scripts for this franchise for over a decade, and even with someone else handling Nijigasaki, there are still very few gaps between the entries he has a hand in. That's a long time to write the same kind of story, trapped in the same kind of formula, no doubt with countless corporate mandates to prioritize lest he "tarnish" the pristine image of idols with anything too dangerous or exciting. As much as I love Hanada's work, I can't help but think that sounds like the most soul-crushing cycle to be stuck in. And if you think that's just me projecting, well... do you remember that other original music anime Hanada just came out with? The one that's all about angst and punk spirit and shouting in defiance of society's norms? A series that, in contrast to Superstar, feels truly electric and explosive and bursting with the undeniable spirit of something born of passion too powerful to contain? Where one of the co-protagonists' backstory is her old band was forced to rebrand with specifically idol aesthetics to stay marketable in a world with little place for the scrappy, raw, unapologetic honesty of the rock music they started out with?

Yeah, suffice to say, I wouldn't be surprised if Hanada saved all his best ideas and creative passion for the start of something new and special instead of spending it all on his third rodeo at a steady paycheck.

So where does Superstar go from here? I honestly don't know. We've got a third season coming up just this October- a first for this franchise- so there's no telling what to expect. Personally, I hope it leans fully into that cartoon-world magical-girl energy I talked about before; the more it can stake its own identity, the better chance it will have to justify itself when all is said and done. But more than anything, I wonder how long it will be before Love Live just... stops being special entirely. Until the magic is truly all used up and the horrific emptiness of Nijigasaki becomes the rule rather than the exception. Until this series that truly made me believe in something starts to leave me feeling just as hollow about idols as I was before I picked it up.

And that is far too tragic a fate for me to accept.

The first Love Live was special. It will always be special. And I think Sunshine was, eventually, able to earn its place by SIP's side. But Muse themselves knew that sometimes, the only way to be special is to put everything you have into a single beautiful moment and leave everything else behind when you're done. I'll still watch Superstar season 3, and hopefully it's good, but after that? It might be time for me to leave this franchise behind. The memories of this series at its best will always matter more then endless failed attempts to measure up to that high bar. Cherish the magic we've made, and don't let time and exhaustion steal that away from you.

To those who found me through my Love Live posting, thank you for being here. I hope you enjoyed my thoughts, positive and negative alike, and I hope you stick around as my journey through anime's history continues. I will always celebrate Love Live for what its best efforts mean to me; whatever the future holds, that will never change. I can only hope whatever comes next for these creators will be just as singular and special. But Superstar season 2, for all its charms, is getting no higher score than 5.5/10 from me. The dream is coming to an end soon; and I, for one, am ready to wake up and see what new sights await in the light of day.

Speaking of, I think I have another poll to make...

[spacetimeaccordionfolder]

It's so interesting to look at the new page (2.0.3) as compared to chapters 14 and 15. We know that Alinua is trying not to level city blocks and to keep people safe, and Shrike sees her restraint as cowardice. It's like someone not acting in their full power offends her.

The positioning of the characters here versus in 1.15.9 and 1.15.12 (group shots, with 1.15.12 panel 3 being the closest line up of characters to Shrike's flaskback on 2.0.3, but very different stances) is very interesting. On 2.0.3, we've got edgy loner Falst (I saw a comment on the page how this reflects Shrike's view of ferin which was interesting), Erin looking like he would unironically do the haughty noble lady laugh (also those eyebrows what), many others have pointed out how different Alinua's stance here is- it's designed to reflect the "hanger-on" and "coward" that Shrike sees, just a scared elf, and big buff angry Tess, with the lightning scar, muscles, and serious face on display. In the sequence from 1.15.9 to 1.15.12, things are different. We see Alinua, Falst, and Tess making a plan, and deciding to throw subtlety out the window. Falst and Tess, while ready to fight to buy Alinua time, soften and smile when Erin appears. Alinua does not have the same panicked expression as Shrike remembers, instead quickly enacting the plan- we see on 1.15.10 that she's already started growing vines. Erin looks less smug and more serious. He isn't smiling, but instead cutting to the heart of the matter ("Are you done pretending this is about the law?").

Comparing more with 1.14.11-15, the sequence in which Shrike first interacts with Alinua and Falst. In 1.14.11, Alinua used the melon seeds to keep the hunters off Tess, even with Falst trying to convince her to leave, and seeing the apparent danger. Alinua looks a bit panicked between 1.14.12 and 1.14.14, but nothing like Shrike remembers. In these pages, the hunters notice the two, Falst gets shot with the arrow, and the two are almost arrested. The arrests get averted when Alinua (panels 8 and 10 on 1.14.14) goes all glowy green eyes and, using the melon seeds from earlier, makes a wall of plants, entangling some of the hunters (just barely missing Shrike) and allowing the trio to escape. First- very cool epic magic. Second, comparing 1.14.14 and 15 with page 13 makes it look like Shrike wasn't too far from Alinua. The plant wall barely missed her. All Shrike says to that is that "the elf" is a "heavier hitter than [she] expected."

And yet. Yet 2.0.3, Shrike calls Alinua a coward for seemingly not biting back while being chased. As the audience, know that, had Erin not intervened in ch. 15, Shrike would have seen more of Alinua's abilities. With the destruction of the prison, and Zuurith rebuilding with Vash's words in mind, Shrike's whole world and way of life has changed, leaving her with "a new victory to want," as Trusk puts it. If Shrike tries to fight Alinua on her own, to not let this new power walk away, then she will likely see just how much the area of Zuurith was holding Alinua back (people in buildings that could be hurt, rules restraining everything, no good dirt). Shrike's character is both fascinating and irritating all at once. She has seen the bad of Zuurith, been in the arena, and found a way to make a profit. As she says on 1.15.7, "My dream is to win. And I have. I played their game and now they let me do whatever I want." On 1.15.19, when Trusk asks why she isn't pursuing, she says that arresting a foreign dignitary isn't fun before admitting that the city makes her tired. Potentially, after the events of the past chapters, (a night in comic time), Shrike is trying to wrestle with her world being torn open. So she follows the person who broke it, with the line "and here I thought I knew what winning looked like."

I am very excited for this potential confrontation. I am also excited to see how Shrike handles her changing world view.

[hana-akari]

Sasuke and Sakura face off in an intense and emotional battle. The setting is a dense forest, with towering trees casting shadows on the ground. The air is thick with tension, each knowing the other's strengths and weaknesses.

Sasuke, with his Sharingan activated, moves swiftly, his eyes tracking Sakura's every movement. He uses his lightning-based Chidori to create powerful, precise attacks, aiming to overwhelm Sakura with his speed and raw power. His agility and mastery of ninjutsu make him a formidable opponent, darting in and out of the shadows with lethal intent.

He narrowly dodges one of his old teammate's devastating punches and uses the opening to launch a flurry of attacks. Each strike is precise and calculated, designed to wear down her defenses. Eventually, Sakura falls to the ground, but before she can react, Sasuke is already upon her. He pins her down with his knee. Instead of going in for the kill, Sasuke goes for something else--Sakura's pants. Wrestling them down to the woman's knees, the Uchiha then pushes down his own pants, his rock, hard erection springing free, the head red and leaking pre-cum. "I win this..." Sasuke grits in Sakura's ear before thrusting inside her, groaning as her wet, tight insides hug him like an old friend. Looks like he wasn't the only one turned on by this fight between old friends.

He fucks her hard and fast, focused more on his own pleasure than the pinkette's underneath him; groaning and grunting with every hammer into her.

But, before Sasuke can cum--maybe Sakura too--claiming her as his own like a rutting mutt and impregnate her with his heir, Sakura wakes up.

Send my muse a wet dream and they will rate it on how they wake up: 4. Very aroused/Almost orgasmed. @reddawnmultimuse

This was something she missed. The thrill of a fight. A fight with her life on the line. Sasuke’s red eyes made her heart hammer with excitement. He was so focused on beating her. Sakura never once stopped to question why they were fighting or what got her in this situation. There was such a thrilled grin on her face each time she dodged him.

Sakura always did wonder how she measured up against him. After all those years of training and work.

Despite Sasuke’s speed and his Sharingan, Sakura was doing an amazing job holding her own. In her mind, her life was on the line. It was either him or her, and she wasn’t going to bow out so easy! Embarrassingly, she was getting worked up in a much different way from the fight. She wasn’t sure what was the biggest turn on for her. The fact that her life was on the line or the fact she was facing off against /Sasuke./ Call her insane but despite everything he’s done to her, she still has feelings for him. Even now, when she looked into those focused, red eyes, she felt weak against him. He could easily have her wrapped around his finger. 

And that weakness is what allowed Sasuke to manage to throw her to the ground. One of his Chidori attacks nearly made contact with her, causing her to stumble back and then hit the ground. Quickly, Sakura tried to recover, rolling onto her stomach to push herself back up but his knee forced her back against the ground. 

This was it–

This was how she dies–

At least it was by someone she loved–

Sakura closed her eyes, waiting for the final blow but was startled when his hands roughly tore down her pants and panties. Exposing how embarrassingly wet she was, “W-what!” Her eyes flew open, face going red as she looked over her shoulder, seeing him pull out his large, hard cock. This… This was not the direction she was expecting things to go. Her body certainly wasn’t complaining. Feeling a rush of heat going through her seeing how hard he was for her. 

“O-oh fuck–!!”

A cry left her. Sasuke didn’t hesitate to slam himself into her. It felt just so real. Her tight insides stretched around him while also squeezing down on him. Her hands pulled at the grass under her. 

Sasuke fucked her so roughly. Rougher than anyone has ever done before. Her very core shook with each thrust. Sakura could tell he didn’t care about her pleasure, only focusing on claiming her. It felt amazing to be so roughly used. He forced out so many pleasured sounds from her. Her insides twisted as her orgasm built inside her. She could tell he was getting close too by the way his cock twitched inside her. Was he going to cum inside her? Fuck, she’s going to get pregnant! And it turned her on so much!

Sasuke grunted, just about ready to cum, and suddenly the dream was over. Sakura woke up alone and in bed. Sweating, and trembling. She was JUST at the cusp of orgasm before it was yanked away. Leaving her so frustrated and needy,

“FUCK!!” 

Sakura loudly cursed, now pissed off it was all just a dream. She’s already been sexually frustrated lately, and now it was WORSE!! And it was ALL Sasuke’s fault!

“Stupid fucking attractive Uchiha!” She threw one of her pillows at the wall and rolled over. Her panties were so wet it left a wet spot on her sheets. Every inch of her was begging to get off after a dream like that. Sakura cursed again. Time to hit the toys…

[acewithapaintbrush]

My entry for week three of @wdtajn for the prompt crossover and also for @empty-cryptid cause they wrote a super cute Encanto/One Piece crossover and I was like ohhhhhhhhh I wanna write Bruno and Luffy interacting too! So yeah, without you this wouldn't exist. Enjoy.

👒👒👒👒👒👒👒👒👒👒

"Wahoooo! Sugoi ne! It's like Arabasta in here!" 

The boy with the strawhat turns in a circle, his head tilted back so far that his hat almost falls off. He's got his hands up and shielding his eyes even though there is no sun in Bruno's room that could blind him. 

Bruno thought that he would grow annoyed quickly with the overly excited visitor, but he's actually enjoying himself. This Luffy has a childlike wonder to him that is contagious.

When he'd arrived in a flash of light in the middle of their family breakfast (literally falling onto their table with a bone breaking crash) it had only taken him one second to find his bearings and greet them all with a cheeky "Yo!" and a bright smile. Not even Isabela threatening him with her spiky vines or Pepa gathering a cloud with lightning above her head had fazed him too much. He'd simply gushed and ah'd and said something about devil fruits and how Pepa's power was just like Nami's weapon and since his Nami is the strongest navigator ever Pepa must be super cool and strong too, right? 

Needless to say, Pepa had been ready to adopt him just minutes after meeting him. 

Surprisingly enough he hadn't been especially impressed with Luisa holding the table threateningly over his head. The reason for that became abundantly clear when he offered to help tidy up and lifted a nearby table with nothing but one arm. These noodle arms hide a lot of muscles, apparently. 

After a lot of back and forth to get the whole story out of him (pirates and devil fruits and rubber powers and a legendary treasure, oh my!) Abuela's hospitality and Luffy's obvious lack of ill intentions (he'd let Antonio use his rubber arms as a swing during the entire conversation without batting an eye) had won out and he'd been allowed to wait in Casita for his friends. 

Bruno has been tasked with keeping an eye on him during the day, much to the consternation of all the kids who wanted to play with the newcomer but were instead sent into town to take care of their chores first. The journey to Bruno's room took forever because not just the youngest Madrigals have taken a liking to their surprise visitor, but Casita as well, letting the boy use her stairs as a slide over and over again. 

"I don't know what that means." Bruno admits. He watches as Luffy plops down and starts gathering sand around himself. He must be as old as Isa and Dolores and at first sight he doesn't really act it. But Bruno can also see the sinewy muscles in his arms as he gathers the sand or the way his gaze took everything in before entering this room, as if assessing his surroundings for threats. It was a fleeting moment and Bruno only noticed because he was watching the boy so intently. There is something about this boy (man?) that makes you take notice, that makes you straighten your spine and tighten your fists. 

It's like watching a tiger play. A big cat, cute one moment but ready to rip your throat out at the slightest sign of danger in the next, and don't you dare forget about that. 

Agustin and Felix had snorted into their coffee when Luffy had declared himself the captain, but Bruno has no trouble believing it. 

No trouble at all. 

Bruno sits down and continues watching as Luffy builds a sandcastle. Or a goose. It's hard to tell. 

Some of his rats have come over to investigate and instead of shooing them away or being disgusted, Luffy only blinks at them for a second before including them in his play, setting them on little hills and smoothing down some sand so it becomes a slide. 

Any lingering apprehension Bruno might have had about the guy disappears. 

"You are very… calm about all of this." he starts slowly. "It must be scary, trapped in another world?" 

"Nah." Luffy is distracted by two rats angrily squeaking at each other over the slide. He just adds another. "My Nakama saw the whole thing. I'm sure they have already caught the devil fruit user and are figuring out how to reverse this."

"You have a lot of faith in them." 

"Sure I do! They are the best!" 

"Would you tell me about them?" 

Luffy lights up so much, Bruno fears he's going blind. 

And then he talks about all of them. How they met and who they are and their dreams and ambitions and why they are the greatest people in the whole wide world and how he would be lost without them and that he's so happy they decided to follow him. He talks about every single one of them with so much love and appreciation that it's hard not to fall a little bit in love with this crew just by his descriptions alone. 

It's also not hard to imagine why they all follow this boy to hell and back either. 

And then he talks about this One Piece and his dream to become the king of the pirates. It should put Bruno off (pirates are the bad guys, right?) but instead he grows excited. He is a storyteller at heart and this makes for an amazing story. 

He finds himself once again explaining that there are no devil fruits here, just their magical candle and how it came to be. Luffy nods along with stars in his eyes. 

When Bruno tells him what his gift is, Luffy almost bounces off the walls in excitement. 

"The future???? Honto ni??? That's so cool!" 

"Oh. Well." Bruno chuckles, a little bit flustered by the open admiration. It's been a long time since someone other than his family has called him cool. "I could show you. I mean. Maybe show you when your friends get here? Or maybe how you find the One Piece?" 

How, because "if" never even crossed Bruno's mind. 

Of course Luffy is gonna find it. 

Luffy's "No!" is a bit more forceful than Bruno expected, but before he can shrink back or register any hurt, Luffy grins at him  and clasps his hands around his crossed ankles. One of the rats has curled up on top of his hat for a nap. "No way! I don't wanna know how we'll find the One Piece. That would take all the fun out of it. I don't wanna go on a boring adventure!" 

"Fair enough." Bruno says and shrugs. 

Yeah. There is nothing worse than a boring adventure. 

Good thing there is rarely a boring day in the life of the Madrigals. 

"But hey! Can you look where we'll find Sanji's favorite cooking spoon? Someone… Not me! Definitely not me! But someone lost it when they were playing sword fighting with Usopp. As a good captain it's my duty to find it before Sanji notices and hits that person. Not 'cause it was me! 'Cause it wasn't! Okay?" 

Bruno just laughs. 

[clxckwork-sun-n-moon]

dumps a couple stars in your inbox ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ want director's commentary!

gimme so cries the wolf - and i do actually have a part specifically, namely the lil talk between eclipse and monty that ranger ends up eavesdropping on, oh and actually also also eclipse's thought process encountering the other demonic animatronics - he brought the broken animatronics in, safe, n seemed quiet about it iirc. but also yeah any bits u wanna talk about too i want lore gimme

(and, technically cheating bc theres no fic for old forest gods but. spare old gods crumb? something about the lore you're really excited about? honestly curious about how/ if/ when the bet reveal happens, can imagine y/n feeling rather betrayed, hurt, whole lotta drama, or alternatively thats what sun and moon (and eclipse? since he comes in later) expect but y/n just does their damnedest not to wheeze laugh bc of all the people to woo in that town they picked the aro one. great job guys everyone hit the showers. but here too anything ill take everything gimme pleaaaseeee)

ok so I'm gonna split this ask into two because hooooooo there's gonna be BIG responses here, so this post is gonna be for SCtW and I'm gonna make another for Old Forest Gods AU

god the lil talk between Eclipse and Montague, when Eclipse opens up more about his struggle between wanting to stay vs. their original intent to leave once separated from Sun and Moon. I spent like 2 months working on that conversation. it was like I was physically fighting Eclipse's emotional repression. one of the biggest challenges I've really experienced with Eclipse is that they develop like. lightning fast, in terms of personality.

the reader has to remember that when he and Monty are having this conversation, Eclipse has only been ALIVE for what. 2 weeks? maybe 3? his WHOLE EXISTENCE has been the barest fraction of a regular human. mix that in with the fact that he has scattered memories from Sun and Moon, and demonic instincts, and yeah. sometimes I've needed to take steps back and observe this myself. is this too fast? is this too slow? one of Eclipse's biggest struggles is he literally doesn't have words to express a lot of their emotions, because he hasn't learned them yet, which was an important part of the conversation that was overheard. he physically has to pick through describing these feelings, hoping that Montague can give a better explanation (because the 200 year old grimm can provide more insight apparently)

but yeah. at the end of the day, Eclipse is limited in experience and understanding. it makes him narrow-sighted unfortunately, and struggling with trying to talk about emotions with Montague vs spending so much time taking all those emotions and cramming them in a tiny jar when interacting with ranger!Y/N? not a healthy combination. certainly not a useful one for a writer who is desperately trying to figure out how their characters are supposed to be interacting on the page

the broken animatronics too, ogh. as far as everyone thinks, all the other animatronics have been in the same boat as Sun/Moon - there was a soul in there, it mixed with a demonic presence, and then instead of getting free like Eclipse, they got stuck in the animatronic and turned feral. Eclipse mourns that, in a way. he brings the animatronics remains in as a small act of respect. he believes these meant something or someone like him existed, if only for a few seconds.

for some more lore:

yes as you may have noticed there, Montague is well over 200 years old. the church he originally protected was de-consecrated and demolished about 50 years ago due to severe weather damage, and rebuilt over the graveyard. with shifting cultures, Montague was called a hellhound and barghest in his various sightings, resulting in his temperance shifting accordingly (great power in names)

in chapter 1 I put a direct quote from Castlevania because it was very funny and doubled as the first hint that Eclipse had memories from Sun and Moon's time in the daycare

ranger!Y/N put salt around their bedroom doorframe on Montague's advice, and needs to spend half an hour 'refilling' it once every two months by scraping salt in using sandpaper

I started hinting at Eclipse's 'lightning breath' in chapter 3, making it a solid 6 chapter lead-up to it finally appearing in chapter 9. well worth it in my opinion~

(response for old forest gods AU is HERE)

[riddlerosehearts]

bg3 playthrough thoughts!! i'm still basically just doing sidequests, but they've been interesting and it feels like a lot of important stuff has happened even if it isn't part of the main story.

i... ran into gortash's parents at the cobbler shop while wandering around? i had no idea that would happen. i also got an option to use illithid powers on the mother, but did not do it because my tav is someone who has been adamantly refusing to use the powers this entire time. may have to keep that in mind for another playthrough!

OMG I FOUND THE INSTRUMENT STORE!! got excited about that because elenion lost their lyre when they got taken by mind flayers and they've been trying to find a new one this entire time. i'm still annoyed that volo didn't stock one even though he stocked like every other instrument. also omg if you're a bard you get special dialogue with the shopkeeper!

i brought both karlach and shadowheart to the graveyard, specifically because i knew in advance that they had things they'd comment on if you did. so i got to see karlach speak to her parents. :( i also put some flowers outside their graves, and a night orchid at the grave of the guy shadowheart mourned for.

YESSSS THE PARTY HIT LEVEL 11. after suddenly getting attacked by a bunch of sahuagin on the beach lol but i'm not complaining! i can't wait to use otto's irresistible dance in every battle from now on.

...i had used up a lot of spell slots and such from various quests so i went to take a long rest. and it was nice to finally rest, except for the fact that lae'zel got kidnapped! i actually knew that someone was going to get kidnapped, but i didn't know when it would happen and i don't know how the game determines who it is either--though, storywise, for my tav, i really like that it ended up being lae'zel. also, orin made it look like lae'zel was trying to kill yenna, and now i wonder what would've happened if someone else had been taken instead?

it's a good thing saving orin's victim isn't time sensitive LOL because i have sooo much stuff left. and storywise it feels wrong to be going around completing a bunch of random sidequests and helping out the rest of the companions while lae'zel is in trouble, but in terms of gameplay it feels like dealing with orin and gortash should be some of the last things you do! so i'm just going to say we need to take our time to come up with a plan and lae'zel is strong enough to handle herself until we get there.

looking for minsc now--i know i said before that i wasn't very attached to jaheira, but she gets better the more i see of her LMAO. i mean, she approves of being sarcastic with nine-fingers and saying "just exploring the local sewer life" when asked what you're doing in the guildhall! maybe on my next playthrough i'll try to use her a bit more.

i'm sure there was a more reasonable and normal way to get past the vault puzzle than by literally throwing water all over the buttons and short circuiting the contraption with lightning magic. but would a reasonable and normal method have been as FUN as short circuiting the contraption? i doubt it.

MAN i wish there was a way to speed up the combat specifically when it's the enemy's turn, at least. fights with a large number of characters involved, like this one i just did at the counting house, can just get painful to sit through when it isn't my party's turn to move. especially since with this particular battle i messed up and got party wiped once and there's a lot of enemies AND a lot of bank employees helping out MISSING EVERY ATTACK and it's just ajksgshgdh. i'm so glad to be done with that now.

got jumpscared by astarion's siblings appearing at camp! after that i tried to continue the mystic carrion quest (which i started as part of the free the artist quest) and realized it was leading me down the sewers, which is also where we need to be to find minsc, so to the sewers we go. i found a woman there who had been lured by a vampire--wonder if astarion would've had any reaction to that if we brought him along.

i now have the single most important companion of them all--boo! okay, and minsc is here too. i talked to him a bit back at camp and he's really funny, actually. now i actually wanna try using him a bit and seeing if he has any funny reactions to things around the city.

also, i finished the free the artist quest and oh my god it was unbelievably annoying just to navigate the house. and the massive detour you have to take to deal with mystic carrion... well, that was actually interesting, but was it all worth the reward you get in the end? nope! maybe in the future my characters won't stumble across the zhentarim hideout and just won't know oskar exists...

[loafbud-wc]

How do the clans work in your universe? I mean, it seems more humanized/anime-esque (not that it's a bad thing!) and I'm curious

I've been meaning to write out how the Clans are in my AU but never got around to, so I'm happy that you asked this!!

SO UUUUH-- THIS RESPONSE IS GONNA BE VERY VERY WORDY

Warriors AU: A Superhero society of cats!

Each cat is born with their own superpower with a unique title that is said to be StarClan-given; not every superpower is unique tho, since multiple cats can have similar powers (e.g. lightning, super speed). So if two cats had the same superpower (e.g. fire power) the titles for their superpower will be different (like "Fire Blaster" & "Rage Flame"). For the powers regarding The Three, I'll talk more about them later on!

The ranks in this AU go like this:

Kits -> Kits

Apprentice -> Intern

Warrior -> Hero

Medicine Cats -> Medics

Deputy -> #2 Hero

Leader -> #1 Hero OR Superhero

Elder -> Retiree

(this AU is heavily inspired off of My Hero Academia btw!)

Some examples of Heroes & their powers: Longtail's Tailwhip / Lionheart's Mighty Roar / Sunbeam's Sunburst

Instead of being known as "warrior" cats they refer to themselves as "hero" cats, and the Clan cats live in more of a superhero society. Most often rivalry amongst Clans are about which Clan is the most heroic, etc

All the cats in the AU have humanlike capabilities/knowledge, like operate machines & occasionally walk on two legs

The Three (aka Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Dovewing)

Every Clanborn cat has superpowers in this AU, so what does that make The Three (who have StarClan-given powers in canon)???

In this AU, The Three still have their powers like in the books. But the difference with them is that they are known as The Superstars!! They can take their superpowers and reach it to maximum heights by briefly evolving into a Superstar Form! <- I'LL MAKE A SEPARATE POST ABOUT THIS CONCEPT LATER

When Firestar got revealed to be the Fourth cat in the prophecy, his Superstar Form is literally just him going Super Saiyan mode LOL!!!

By the end of the Great Battle, they've fulfilled the prophecy and can no longer take on their Superstar Forms. Just like in the books, they also lose their own superpowers altogether in this AU.

BloodClan in the AU!

I'M HONESTLY SUPER EXCITED TO TALK MORE ABOUT MY AU BLOODCLAN,,,,, UHH SORRY THIS ASK RESONSE IS LONG ALREADY LOL!!!!

BloodClan in this AU are a squad of punks that reside in Radioscream City, an abandoned city that was once sprawled & bustling with many people. All-over town are cardboard forts and LOOOTS graffiti. The members in BloodClan are referred to as grunts; their vibes have inspirations taken from Pokemon rival teams, specifically Team Yell!!!! Much like Team Yell, BloodClan grunts are HUUUGE FANS of Scourge & also have like,, posters they draw fanart on to show support for him. Even after Scourge is gone, BloodClan basically lives on as a Scourge fanbase haha

BloodClan cats do have superpowers, but they all share the same kind: Graffiti Saliva, where their saliva has become toxic paint they use to graffiti anywhere they go (i created this concept years before pokemon came up with grafaiai who's literally just my bloodclan concept- im p sure the concepts used elsewhere too but man lol)

A VERY TL;DR (NOT REALLY) BLOODCLAN LORE: growing up, Scourge (as Tiny) grew up being obsessed with video games, vampires & loved dark-colored aesthetics & graffiti-styled stuff (got it from one of their owner's kid who he liked to watch while they're gaming). When he ran away to Radioscream City after the Tigerclaw incident, it was overrun with cats without a name for themselves.

When Tiny called himself Scourge, he created BloodClan out of the stray cats & introduced them to graffiti painting. His otaku, vampire-loving side never changed & he references video games in life a lot. Scourge'd also say something like "LAWL" or "WE ARE TEH HAWTNESS o3o" or "GET REKT". After Scourge obtained Graffiti Saliva, he found a discarded painting mask that he wears 24/7.

I NEED TO MAKE A SEPARATE BLOODCLAN LORE INFO DUMP POST SOMETIME LATER ON, IDK WHEN

PHEW ALRIGHT THAT'S ALL I CAN THINK OF WITHOUT MAKING THIS ANY WORDIER THAN IT ALERADY IS HAHA

I'll talk more about my interpretation of warrior cats in the future as different posts so I can go more in-depth + draw pics for those!

[monterraverde]

VS. Red at the Ossuary

This place was full of absolutely intoxicated people battling their souls out in the most aggressive display of power she’d ever seen. Brought here by a Duskull, she wasn’t expecting a battle that felt like her life was on the line. Several of the ones shes had this day made her more bored then anything, smaller time trainers that she battled specifically to see who bought who a drink.

They’re Kantonian trainers, so they weren’t the WORST trainers she’s ever faced, but they had her craving more- and thats when Red finally tapped her on the shoulder and drew her back to the stadium.

Pleasantly buzzed, she eagerly accepted, and the next thing she knew, sparks were flying in a way that made her heart race like never before.

Gremlins out first, time to go.

She’s locked in a strategy with her team by now, Gremlins not meant to exist on the battlefield for very long, he’s there to set up a Tailwind, maybe inflict some poison, and then get out. Red leads with Pikachu, though, and Gremlin CACKLES as the mouse calls the rain and cracks the sky, its like a miniature hurricane in the Ossuary now, and the Gliscor takes full advantage of his ability to glide and fly through thunderstorms with nary a care in the world. He sees Pikachu come flying to throw him into submission, and instead grabs the mouse and rolls backwards with the momentum, dropping him with a hard toss to the ground, chasing him down and striking him with his tail several times before sinking his fangs into the Pikachus neck, and now that he’s grounded, striking with a powerful Earthquake while he’s got him pinned. Its quick work, and then they’re called back.

One down.

Next, Fafnír and Blastoise, a very clear disadvantage, but Fafnír is completely undaunted, feeling a strong connection with the ghostly terrain and roaring with a fierce and unusual look in his eye. Blastoise smashes his shell, and the two titans are now almost evenly matched in speed and strength, clashing with fang and claw before Fafnír tanks a Hydro pump, dropping rocks on Blastoise in a Rock Slide and causing him to flinch before rushing in to tackle the turtle to the ground with a high powered Crunch. It’s quick work, and now theres a Sandstorm and a Tailwind up, the tides are in their favor.

Two down.

Kamina and Charizard now, the little moles got a ton of speed behind him between the Tailwind and Sandstorm, but its not nearly enough for the tiny mole to take on the gargantuan dragon. He’s slapped, shoved and bathed in flame, dropping where he stood, the speed not even close enough to matter.

Adniels out next against Baba, Reds Venusaur, the usually gentle frog finding herself on the wrong end of Adniel in a delighted battle high frenzy. Her powders seem to do nothing while the winds heavily blowing. The dragon and his trainer are in almost perfect sync, their movements mirroring one another as they both roll to the side, and Rika calls for Iron head, Adniel barrleing right into Baba in a strong headbutt to destabilize her before she’s Dragon Clawed in a powerful uppercut and sent toppling. The Garchomp lets out a roar of triumph- He’d finally gotten a win against this team, and he couldn’t be more excited.

Three down-

She’s never felt this in sync with her team before.

The Don hits the field in a flurry of scarlet lightning, Roadblock his opponent, and neither trainer wastes any time, Rika practically roaring and calling for Close combat. The Snorlax puts up an incredible resilience as he grabs Dons tusks, but the primal energy pumping through Dons veins manages to let him overpower the giant, almost burying him in a Headlong Rush.

Four-

Thats a Win-

Bappy comes out against Lapras regardless- They could stop now and it would be fine, but one last battle- and The Clodsire gets a lucky Toxic off as Lapras lashes out with an Ice beam, and it HURTS, but he shrugs it off, protecting another Ice beam before digging his barbs into Lapras’ skin and finishing the job.

The dust settles as the Clodsire stands victorious on the field, and Rika can be seen counting on her fingers over and over again in sheer disbelief.

5 to 1.

She beat him 5 to 1.

She clenches her fist, tears stinging the edge of her vision- Not out of sadness, but out of absolutely unbridled joy and pride. Her team did so incredibly well, and she genuinely couldn’t believe that just happened… She’s only brought back to reality when the match is finally called by the referee, and Red suddenly scoops her up in a tight hug, to which she laughs and wraps both arms around his head, pressing their foreheads together.

[You did it, that was incredible.]

“You did great too, thank you, I can’t believe that just happened…!!”

[mountphoenixrp]

We have a new citizen in Mount Phoenix:

          Choo Taavi, a 24 year old son of Huracan.           He is a baker at Black Forest Bakery.

FC NAME/GROUP: Kang Yeosang / AteezC HARACTER NAME: Choo Taavi AGE/DATE OF BIRTH: 15 June 1999 / 24 PLACE OF BIRTH: Mérida, Yucatan, Mexico OCCUPATION: Baker at Black Forest Bakery HEIGHT: 173cm / 5'8" WEIGHT: 63kg / 138lbs DEFINING FEATURES:

Birthmark: spreading from the corner of his left eye to above his cheek, reddish in color. https://www.pinterest.ch/pin/3448137207536261/

Ears piercings: one on the left, two on the right.

Scars: lightning strike scar alongside his right leg, from hip to foot. - Tattoo: a delicate snake on his left foot in honor of his father. https://pin.it/3dVQJca

Fashion: often wears androgynous clothes, loves makeup (especially if it has ✨glitters✨).

Others: Taavi has a lisp and a slight hands tremor (especially when he’s nervous).

PERSONALITY: Taavi is sweeter than the desserts he carefully crafts, there’s not a bad bone in his body. Altruistic, he always makes sure to help others, to the extent of his possibilities. He tends to prefer solitude but he can be a loyal friend, someone on who people can count. He’s also a great confident, ready to listen to others and sharing advices when necessary. However, he will never try to impose his beliefs or opinions.

He does have problems to express his emotions, the fear to trigger his powers and cause catastrophes stronger than his wants and needs to be more open with his feelings. He can get very emotional when he allows himself to ‘let go’ and will prefer to withdrawn than putting others in danger. He wish he could learn how to control his powers better.

His mother would say that Taavi is innocent but he’s also quite naive and would easily let people take advantage of him. He’s too nice and the world can be a bit too rough for him sometimes. Taavi believes that staying away from others  instead of opening  to them is the solution, so no one and nothing can hurt him.

Concerning his divine heritage, Taavi is extremely respectful of it. He bears no hate or resentment towards his father Huracan and would even be happy to meet him. He’s alway willing to learn more about the Mayan mythology and thinks that being in Mount Phoenix could truly help him to find the balance he desperately needs.

HISTORY: TW for mention of child’s death.

Taavi was born in Mérida, Mexico, where his mother Hana was an exchange student. After the birth of her son, the young woman had to find a way to support them. She started to work as a waitress, allowing her to continue her studies. She then met the restaurant’s chef, Francisco Flores, a widower with a daughter slightly older than Taavi, Luna. One year later, they were married.

The two children immediately got along, forming a close bond. As they grew up, they started to consider each other as real brother and sister. Always together, they shared everything, from secrets to snacks. The small blended family lived a truly happy life for a few years, Hana finishing her studies and finding an History AP position at the university.

Soon, Taavi’s powers started to manifest. Soft rain showers when he was happy, lightning when he was excited and small storms when he was upset. His mother decided it was time to tell him the truth about his father. The boy was quite interested in his heritage and showed great respect for it, though he still loved and considered Francisco like his true dad.

However, the small boy wasn’t able to control his powers yet. It took a dramatic turn when, once that he was playing with his sister, his joy was too intense, provoking violent lightnings. The children were hit, giving Taavi’s his scar but Luna unfortunately didn’t survive her wounds. Unable to forgive and forget, Francisco filed for divorce and disappeared from their life.

Taavi started to withdrawn, becoming a quiet, solitary child. He did his best to keep his emotions in check, not wanting to provoke other accidents and kill more people. Seeing her child so inconsolable and now reserved, Hana decided to bring him back to her hometown, Seogwipo on Jeju Island, where they went to live with her brother Seo-Jun.

The child began to open a bit more, enjoying the seaside life, learning to use his powers with the help of a local chaman. He also got interested into his uncle’s bakery, often helping him after school or during the holidays. After finishing compulsory schooling, the now teenager boy started his baker apprenticeship, soon showing a true talent for it.

Once graduated, Taavi decided to travel overseas (Japan, France, USA) to perfect his skills and learn new techniques and recipes. Upon his return a couple years later, the young man first heard about Mount Phoenix from his mother. Together, they decided he would move there to look for Huracan and perhaps learn how to master his powers better.

Arriving in Incheon, Taavi met another young demigod, Saengdao, and the two of them bonded while looking for the bridge. Reassured by the presence of a new friend, he was ready to start a new life in what he hoped to be a more accepting place for him.

PANTHEON: Mayan CHILD OF: Huracan, God of Wind and Storms POWERS:

Lightning manipulation.

Rain generation.

Storm manipulation (weakens him). His powers can sometimes be triggered by his emotions if they are too intense.

STRENGTHS:

Sweet and caring. Altruistic.

Generous (e.g. he will never let someone go hungry if they can’t afford something from the bakery).

Creative.

Multilingual: Korean, Spanish, English, a bit of French (mostly related to cooking/baking), some Maya (Yucatec and K'iche’) notions.

Practice archery (it helps him to control his hands tremor).

WEAKNESSES:

Withdrawn. He’s afraid to ‘let go’ and fully express his emotions.

Naive. He trusts others too easily and can be taken advantage of.

Can take things too personally.