#i always imagine the show appearances but using the game timeline because too many good things were made post 2003

[ilovetommymiller]

thinking abt modern day Tommy and Maria meeting at a college party

[4-horsemen-of-the-riordanverse]

Why The Percy Jackson Adaptation Should Be Animated

We can have Heroes of Olympus/Trials of Apollo/Magnus Chase series

Percy shows up in four of Rick’s five (at this time) mythology series, those four series have eighteen books spanning six years

Even if Disney could crank out say three in two years, that’s still twelve years, the actors playing Percy, and Annabeth, and Grover, and Thalia, and Clarisse, and many more will be in their twenties when all the books are covered and that’s on a sped up timeline that is unlikely to work in reality

The reality is, we probably won’t get a Heroes of Olympus television series and we definitely won’t get a Trials of Apollo or Magnus Chase series, which is sad as many favorite characters won’t be seen

Grover, Thalia Chiron, and the Gods won’t age

Yes, technically Grover does age, so that title is a bit of a misnomer, but he ages slower than the others, either the whole he’s actually twenty-eight, but satyrs age slower will need to be axed, or he will have to be played by an adult so that he doesn’t age, which will look strange since he’s suppose to look fourteen/fifteen for the entire series

Grover is only a small problem though, how are they going to deal with Artemis or Hestia, both of whom are portrayed as very young ages, the twelve year old playing Artemis will be fourteen, minimum (though, if we want good cgi, she’ll be more likely around sixteen) by the time the show reaches The Last Olympian

Plus, Thalia is suppose to stop aging at fifteen, again, I suppose an adult could play her, it isn’t unheard of for adults to play fifteen/sixteen year olds, but unless they get an actor with a serious baby face, she’ll stand out amongst the children and teens playing the other characters

It’ll be bearable to watch in ten years

Cgi is improving everyday, which is great....until you watch something that’s more that a few years old, when we have newer and better cgi, the monsters and action of Percy Jackson is going to look....well we’ll remember that it looked good once

That is, if they pay attention to details, skimming over detail, especially when making living things with cgi, you risk falling into the uncanny valley (I’m most of us have seen at least a clip of Lion King 2019), if something is off, we will notice, even if we can’t place why

We can have it sooner

Animation for animated series are easier to make than animation for live action series, they don’t have to worry about matching the lighting and shadows because they get to choose the lighting and shadows, no need to worry how the actors are interacting with the animated monster (ex. the Percy actor bumps into Mrs. O’Leary, then goes to pet her, but moves his hand too far forward and now that has to be accounted for)

The battles will probably cause the most delays, anyone watch Game of Thrones? remember how long the final season took to get out? that was because of the major battles spanning multiple episodes, which is exactly what The Last Olympian will be

They wouldn’t have to use child actors

This isn’t a bash on child actors, there are some good ones out there, what I’m concerned about is the children’s well being

Ever read or watch an interview from an ex child actor, especially Disney child actors, it’s brutal and takes a toll on their mental health, there’s even instances where the child doesn’t want to act, their parents are forcing them to

If on the extremely rare chance someone from the Percy Jackson crew is reading this please: let the kids play when they aren’t filming, don’t make them feel guilty for eating, shield them from the inevitable criticism that always comes with an adaption, take care of them, very few people do these things and kids get messed up from that

It’ll be easier to relate to the characters

Acting just doesn’t doesn’t have the same feel as animation, especially when the actors are new to acting

Acting is obvious, we ignore that it is because that’s how you watch live action, but rarely will it ever not feel like people repeating back lines they memorized, that the expressions are calculated and filmed 20 times over to get it right

Animation doesn’t have that, characters feel real, not like they’re acting because they aren’t, making it a lot easier to relate to them

None of the fight scenes will have to be cut

These are children playing these characters, obviously fights scenes are going to be cut and the ones kept are going to be simplified, these kids will probably have limited fighting experience and even if they don’t, they can’t hire children to play stunt doubles for safety reasons, so they won’t do anything too risky

Just imagine the fight scene between Ares and Percy in The Lightning Thief, they’ll probably hire a bigger guy to play Ares, comparing that to tiny Percy, the battle is probably going to look more like a dance number with every movement scripted as to keep Percy’s actor safe

It supports social distancing

Social distancing is still important and animation is easier to do social distanced

We could see every part of camp, not just the parts they built sets of

Camp is big and fantastical and probably will be barely shown, that’s a lot of set to build, so they probably won’t see it all

The big house, interior of the Poseidon, Athena, and Hermes cabins, and the mess hall will most likely be made, but the lava wall? the forge? doubtful

It’s easier to replace actors

Like I mentioned before, there are 18 books if they were willing to make them all, even if /magnus Chase and Kane Chronicles were made along side instead of in between, a lot of actors, especially child actors, don’t want to be stuck playing a character for that long

while no one shows up in ever book, some characters get dropped and brought back, which when being adapted causes actors to be replaced, the actor playing Will in The Last Olympian will probably not be the actor playing Will in Blood of Olympus (that is, if they even make Heroes of Olympus)

They won’t have to sacrifice the small details

Wouldn’t it be cool to have a Nico and Bianca cameo in the Lotus scene? won’t happen, what about characters slowly getting more scars after each battle to symbolize the trauma half-bloods carry with them? Luke will probably be the only character with a scar, see a background character that resembles minor characters like Drew or Kayla or Castor and Pollux? that’s not going to happen

Small details that make the story will be tossed to the side, mostly because it isn’t feasible in live action, I think the Lotus scene is the best example, seeing Nico and Bianca there in the background would be so cool, but they don’t age in the Lotus hotel, and it’ll take probably 14 to 18 months to make a season, let’s say 14 months for now, that’s over two years between their cameo and they’re actual appearance, a very obvious difference when discussing 10 and 12 year olds

All in all, this is just in my opinion and preference

Will I still watch if it’s live action, of course, it’s Percy Jackson

It won’t be as good as something animated and I’m sad I’ll never see some of my favorite characters on the big screen, but at least we’ll be getting a decent adaptation

[beelspillowpet]

A Lesson in Love - A “Character Analysis” on Asmodeus

I had to come for the tracks, wigs, and weaves of bitches when Pomade dropped because I saw people talking shit about my boy. This was a milestone “project” or “reward” I guess?

I hit 400 followers today while I was out running errands!!! Thank you guys SO SO MUCH for the love and support! I can’t WAIT to produce more content for everyone!!!

Below the cut there WILL BE talk of season 3, as well as some talk of chapter 16. There’s a healthy amount of theorizing on his personality as well, I hope you don’t mind! This came out more like a plea to get people to change their minds about how Asmo really is, rather than a comprehensive essay of sorts. So here we go!

There’s something we apparently still need to talk about in this fanbase. The unrealistic idea of Asmodeus being a sex freak, and an unreliable person in general despite there being little proof of it. We need to set a few things straight about Asmo moving forward.

December 25th rolled around and Asmo’s audio drama and song were released. I take it everyone enjoyed both parts, as well as I did. My timeline both on twitter and tumblr were filled with Asmodeus content, as well as the other brothers and such. But I mostly got Asmo content. However, in peeks and cracks, if I looked hard enough, I still saw people who absolutely loathed Asmo or who were indifferent to him. Keep in mind; I think it’s okay. You don’t have to like everyone.

I’ve only joined the fanbase in September, but even I could tell some of these takes were old fashioned. I downloaded the game on October 17th, a very important anniversary for me, while I 

was still in bed in the morning. I blazed through the entire story of season 1 and now I am stuck in season 2, specifically in Chapter 24. I obviously don’t have every card of Asmodeus with his Devilgrams, but I have been analyzing his character over the past few days for this.

So needless to say, I have a considerable amount of information on him, as well as personal thoughts that may help some learn to love him. Or at the very least, from spreading a negative idea of him around as if it were true. Enough that should help clear his name, so to speak.

Let’s look at his title; Avatar of Lust. Now naturally the thoughts that come to your head are sex and other sexual bits. So I can understand how some people would come to the conclusion that he’s just a sex freak. But if you look under the surface of his title, like I’m sure you’ve had to for your own personal favorites (*cough* Lucifer, Belphie, and Satan ESPECIALLY) you would discover that Asmodeus is more than just about sex. In fact, sex takes up very little of his pass time, if you were to believe it!

In recent chapters, as I’ve been told, Asmodeus doesn’t really get around much anyways:

Granted, this was said while in Celestia, but I imagine not much has changed for him since his fall, as well as his brothers.

Not really comfortable being with just anyone, huh…? Sounds like someone who doesn’t have sex so warily often as you’d think!

Being lustful can come in many shapes and forms. It can be merely in appearance, which Asmo is not afraid of doing. He’s very comfortable about skinship and it’s very apparent in how he dresses and acts that he wants you to adore his body. To worship it! Maybe not sexually, but aesthetically! Being lustful can mean just thinking about sex or sexual scenarios often, which if you take a peek at Asmo’s chat’s either with you or his brothers, is very apparent too.

Personally, I believe that people would assume he is not good in a relationship because he would have a “cheating problem”. I don’t think Asmo is a monster, just like I don’t think any of the brothers are monsters. They may be demons (technically fallen angels) now but they used to be angels too. Their falling out with their Father doesn’t mean they’ve completely abandoned morality, it was a rebellion for Lilith’s right to live. Not for them to sin as they pleased. For all we know they might have been fine in Heaven otherwise! (with the exception of Lucifer.)

A monster knows right from wrong and chooses evil anyways. An ignorant person doesn’t know right from wrong. Asmodeus is not a monster, nor is he ignorant.

When Asmo genuinely loves you, I think he would take steps to calm down that side of him, if it were to exist. Lust is fairly limited, but it is a part of love to some extent. LOVE is vastly different. Love has many languages, and they aren’t all spoken either. For me, personally, I found that Lucifer’s love language can be either very direct, or roundabout so as to not let it go to your head, for an example. Asmo is just far more direct about his care for you.

I feel as though Asmo gets a lot of crap constantly for his presumed nature and because we don’t get to see much else of him at first, especially in season 1, his impression on us sort of stays. With most of the fanbase either somewhat new to the game or somewhere lost in the sea of the difficulty curve that is season 2, we can only assume based on what we’ve seen, and what others have headcanoned about him.

Let’s break and talk about Satan for a moment; this is going somewhere.

I’m led to believe that Satan can control his sin fairly well. He’s easy to get irritated, sure, but he isn’t as much of a walking ball of rage as I suspected. I would argue that, aside from Leviathan, Satan can handle his sin the best out of the brothers. But again, we’re forgetting about Asmo. The Avatar of “Lust”. Like I’ve shown before, he doesn’t really sleep around a lot, according to anon.

At worst, Asmo being flirty is through text and he’s not actively trying to sleep with you. It can be interpreted that way, but for me personally, it comes down to having a friend that is very up close and in your personal space.

(I myself am one of these types of people. Having ADHD, my social cues are always sort of off, and I’ve struggled with coping with it for years. With my best friend, we have seen each other naked countless times and have slept in the same bed as well. We were never romantic with each other. We were just very comfortable being close and personal with each other.)

I’d like to point out also that Asmo isn’t even there for most of season 1 too. Which can give you the idea that maybe he just was out sleeping around a lot, but to me he probably just went out partying a lot. You don’t get known that fast for sleeping around. Maybe in 5,000 years, sure, but I’d imagine being a party boy, as his Devilgram “Guided by Desire” suggests.

So the idea that Asmo isn’t in the house a lot because he’s out having sex all the time isn’t true is it? He’s probably just out partying, which can LEAD to sex with someone sure, but again, Asmo doesn’t feel comfortable doing that, now does he?

I feel like of all the boys, Asmo is the one who radiates with everyone else the most. Most people will never realize how surreal it is that Asmo is faking it until he makes it. He doesn’t always think he’s beautiful, or that he’s worth all the love he’s striving and straining to get. Something that is extremely relatable for a lot of people with self-worth issues. Asmo is just like that, but instead being sarcastic and self-deprecating, he simply works to make himself look as beautiful as possible, so that in his eyes, his beauty matches the affection he gets.

Which is why, when he falls in love with you, it’s strange. You are constantly telling him he’s nice and pretty, but you aren’t lusting after him. You’re just being nice. It may just be me, but when people are overly nice just for the sake of being nice, I’m very attracted to that. That is Asmo, to some extent. The fact that he reflects the insecurities and habits of others so clearly may make others uncomfortable, but that brutal honesty veiled behind insecurity is what a lot of people with self-image issues deal with.

Now for me to share my favorite personal idea for Asmo that completely changed how I saw him in season 1 onwards; Asmodeus is an empath. Now let me explain:

First, what is an Empath?

The term empath comes from empathy, which is the ability to understand the experiences and feelings of others outside of your own perspective. Seems simple, right? Everyone can do this to some extent. However, what makes you an empath is the fact that empaths genuinely feel the same pain as you do. So much so your experience becomes a very personal part of their own. They are capable of being able to feel other people’s emotions without them speaking, or even showing signs of it through their body language.

This would explain, for me personally, why there’s so little of him in season 1. The intensity of what goes on in the house, his sensitive soft-spoken mannerisms, the only time he truly gets mad is when he’s childishly arguing with Mammon? Asmo is afraid of true conflict, he’s afraid of violence and negative emotions. Let’s face it; everyone is indifferent or hates you at the start of the game.

While this changes fairly quickly, all the intense feelings come to a head in chapter 16. All those negative emotions swirling around, of course Asmo isn’t going to want to be in the house when it’s that intense. The attic didn’t just disappear completely, too. Belphie was still in the attic hating humans. That negative emotion could be affecting Asmo and he didn’t know why, so he could have been out of the house more.

Where Asmo can feel the emotions of others, it may mostly be the negative ones because they fill him with anxiety and panic if it persists. Which can be helpful in making him so urgent to want to make others smile and feel better, right?

Imagine being intimate with Asmodeus, and suddenly you aren’t in the mood for it anymore but don’t want to make things awkward. He could pick up on it in an instant and wouldn’t get mad because he understands how you feel completely.

Now to close this out about something that genuinely hurts me; Asmodeus is a narcissist.

I mean, the wiki says that he is, but personally? No, no he isn’t. Since when is loving yourself a bad thing? Sure he may go a bit far sometimes, but people with self-image issues need to go a little harder than the rest to make sure they're getting the love they need.

(Talking about myself AGAIN, but I do this a lot. At random, I will look up in my own mirror in front of my desk that I sit in front of all day and tell myself I am a cute bitch. I am VERY VERY cute and anyone would be lucky to have someone as drop dead gorgeous as myself. I say that a few times a day. In reality, I am very insecure about my looks. I do believe I’m cute, but sometimes it’s hard to say it. Which is why I force myself. Why wouldn’t Asmo do the same?)

Talking yourself up to be as beautiful as a sex god is no easy task, but Asmo isn’t the Avatar of “Lust” for no reason. When an insecure girl talks up her beauty, it’s her being strong and independent. When Asmo does it, its narcissism… it doesn’t really seem fair, now does it? Maybe he’s just an insecure person who needs to tell himself ALL THE TIME that he’s beautiful. That if he stares at his reflection long enough, he may see it too.

(Also, Simeon literally calls him out on being insecure. Insecure people tend to try and overcompensate where they feel they’re lacking.)

”Asmodeus is hinted to be insecure and seeking for love and attention. When Simeon was asked about what he thought of Asmodeus, he says that Asmodeus is still trying to fulfill the role of the angel he used to be; an angel that was adored and loved by many. Asmodeus laughs at Simeon's remark and brushes it off by saying that he is only jealous.” - A section from said Asmodeus Wiki.

People can choose to love or hate Asmo, obviously. Making things up about his character without having anything but speculation and having that dictate how he acts is plain silly. This entire “essay” if you can call it that, comes from the heart. I love Asmo as a character, and in the beginning he did make me uncomfortable, I didn’t like him that much. But I learned to look past that and figure out why he acts the way he does. Something didn’t sit right with me about him for a while, and it was that air of insecurity that I didn’t see at first.

All I can really ask for, is giving Asmo another chance as a character. He’s not as wild and wacky as Mammon, or as cool and sexy as Lucifer, or as edgy and precious as Belphie, but he matters in this story too. He fell from grace with his brothers for Lilith. Give him another chance, and let him show you that he is the Avatar of Love.

[jadelotusflower]

It’s Cold in that Fridge: The Case of Nakari Kelen

Since The Case of Mara Jade has been doing the rounds again, I’ve finally gone back to this post that has been sitting in my drafts for literally years. So let’s honour this absolute badass who deserved better:

Once upon a time, the Star Wars universe was but six films (and a tv series) in the story of the Skywalker family. But beyond George Lucas’ story was an absolute boatload of books, comics, games, and other materials that made up the Expanded Universe. When Disney purchased Lucasfilm and the rights to the Star Wars saga, everything in this universe was decanonised and deemed “Legends” - some aspects of this universe were retained or re-purposed, others sit in Disney’s figurative vault and will likely never see the light of day (and seeing how the ST turned out, maybe that’s for the best).

But this transition between Legends canon and Disney canon was not so simple, because the nature of publishing meant that there were novels approved during the time of Legends canon that would be released in the time of Disney canon. In particular, there had been the planned trilogy “Empire and Rebellion”, set between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, with each novel from the perspective of one of The Big Three.  

Razor’s Edge (Leia) and Honor Among Thieves (Han) were released prior to the Great Canon Split of 2014.  But while the Luke-centric novel had been planned, it was not due to be released until well after the Split. So Heir to the Jedi (so called as an homage to the Legends progenitor Heir to the Empire) became one of the first books of the Disney canon.

What does this background have to do with Nakari Kelen?  Perhaps nothing, but I do wonder how the writing process was affected by the shift from Legends to Disney - was the novel a relic of the old EU with any reference the LFL storygroup didn’t like excised during editing, or was it a trendsetter for the new EU, a Sign of Things to Come?  

The most salient point being, of course, that Nakari Kelen - like so many love interests before her - was not allowed to go along her merry way at the conclusion of the novel, but was shoved into the fridge.

If there was one constant of the Legends EU, it was that Luke Skywalker’s love interests couldn’t catch a break. Mara Jade naturally lasted the longest relationship-wise, with almost twenty years of marriage to Luke before some bright spark decided she had to go (as per the aforementioned case study). But before Mara there was Jem, Shira Brie, and Gaeriel Captison (who came close to escaping the curse), and in the Legacy of the Force series they brought back sole survivors Akanah and Callista, only to kill them off for good too (and rather brutally, if I may add).

So perhaps when Kevin Hearne began writing HttJ within the confines of the Legends continuity, he was merely sticking to the status quo, or perhaps once subsumed by Disney they needed to make sure Luke's slate was clean (so to speak).  And I can’t put all the blame on Hearne since I don’t know whether it was his idea, or LFL mandated - but regardless it was a poor decision.

The root cause of fridging, imo, is limited imagination.  How best to cause your male protagonist pain if not kill off someone they love, or at least have strong feelings for? The answer is of course, easily. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The Luke Skywalker of HttJ is fresh from his victory in ANH, a lieutenant in the Rebellion: young, not dumb, and full of...

Nakari Kalen is an absolute Queen a civilian volunteer and crack-shot sniper who loans her ship Desert Jewel to the Alliance. Luke is immediately attracted to her, they bond over a mutual love of fast ships and leaving behind desert home planets, and engage in the inexpert flirting of two nineteen year olds while also risking their lives several times over.

I want to make it clear: I actually really like this book. It's a breezy read, almost serialised as The Early Adventures of Luke Skywalker, and is ofttimes genuinely funny. And credit where it’s due to Hearne, many of of the supporting roles in the novel are female. Other than Nakari, there's Soonta, the Rodian who gives Luke her uncle’s lightsaber, Sakhet the Kupohan spy, and the Givin cryptographer/math genius Drusil Bephorin. In a genre where male characters are often the default for these kind of roles, it was nice to see, but makes the regressive fridging of Nakari even more egregious.

Luke and Nakari make a good team fighting brain-sucking monsters and Imperials, but more importantly they have fun together - she encourages him to work on his Force skills, and he successfully moves objects with his mind for the first time (leading to Nakari adorably dub him "a little noddle scooter"). It's a very sweet, if brief, relationship, and a respite from the danger of the mission. They spend the night together (leaving the reader to decide exactly what happened behind closed doors), and share a kiss before splitting up to try and escape bounty hunters. No prizes for guessing what happens to Nakari immediately after she received the Skywalker Kiss of Death.

I assume there were two motivating factors for why Hearne and/or LFL couldn't let Nakari live:

1. If she survived, fans would wonder why she doesn't appear in ESB/subsequent material.

I recall this bandied about on forums back at the time of the book's release, and to that I say - so what? Fans are always going to wonder, and try to paper over the gaps in canon, to make up their own headcanons to explain any any perceived inconsistencies. It's certainly no reason to kill someone off.

It is in fact possible for two young people to have a romance that just fizzles, or doesn’t work out for whatever reason - it should not require great maneuvering or explanation. If Nakari doesn’t show up in the next book in the timeline, what about it? The reader is smart enough to assume she and Luke broke up, decided to just remain friends, whatever. But it seems that the only way for a female character to exit stage left is for her to die, which is bullshit.

And actually, there's no reason why she couldn't have shown up again. ESB and RoTJ cover a month and a few days, respectively, of Luke's life - just because there was no mention of Nakari doesn't mean she didn't exist at that time, whether or not she and Luke were an item. She could have made an appearance in a subsequent novel, or Rebels, or the comics - she could have become a recurring character, showing up when the Rebellion needed her, or - heaven forbid - even have her own comic/book/show! Her existence in Star Wars canon didn't need to begin and end with Luke Skywalker, merely to service his plotline and backstory and abandoning the richness of her own.

No, the only reason Nakari had to die was to facilitate this:

It was a blow to the gut, realizing what that sudden absence meant. I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, but I had felt Nakari's life snuffed out through the Force, and into that void where she had shone anger rushed in - anger, and a cold sense of raw power and invincibility...I took a step to join in the hunt but stopped, breathing heavily, unaccountably sweating even though I felt so cold inside and the power of the Force roiled within me... I shook with emotion and power, and none of it felt the way the Force had before...I saw what kind of space it was , a black hole that would always be hungry no matter how much I fed it. I might never feel warm again if I didn't get myself under control.

Luke feels the dark side and is tempted by the boost of power it offers him, but immediately identifies it as dangerous and unnatural. I can understand why Hearne wanted to include this - it is a book of firsts after all: Luke's first solo mission, his first time using telekenisis, and ending with story with his first experience of the dark side makes sense. But it wasn't necessary, which leads to:

2. How to push Luke to touch the dark side without killing someone he has romantic feelings for?

Also, obviously, shite of the bull (or nerf, if you prefer). Even if this brush with the dark side was absolutely necessary for the novel's climax, there's any number of ways it could be achieved. At this point, Luke is fresh from losing important people in his life - Owen and Beru, Ben, and Biggs - lumping another death on top of that a narrative trick for Luke to react not only to losing Nakari, but the others as well. But it's cheap, the first card in the deck, and why not show a bit of imagination? Luke is young and inexperienced enough at this point that any number of things could be the catalyst - the whole book he's struggling with his growing powers, why not try and reach too far in the firefight with the bounty hunters, his anger and frustration with himself in not doing enough trigger the dark side temptation? It would work thematically and doesn't involve a fridging that ultimately has very little payoff.

Because Nakari is killed less than ten pages from the end of the book - afterwards Luke grieves, but ultimately chooses to honour her memory and be grateful for what he learned with her, recommitting to becoming a Jedi. It's all very surface level, and once again a female character's death facilitates a male character's development. Was it so imperative that Luke lost someone he cared about as part of this story? Sure, this was a time of galactic civil war, and it's far from unrealistic that these stories have a high body count, but who to make collateral damage remains an authorial choice, and in this case Nakari Kelen was (a) a female character of color, (b) a love interest of the protagonist - not just of this book, but the entire Original Trilogy.

I don't know to what extent (if any) race had to play in the decision. I'm sure there was a segment of the fandom absolutely livid that Luke Skywalker kissed (and maybe had sex with) a black woman. Was her death LFL hedging its bets, or demonstrative of the general lack of attention/respect they show their characters of colour?

In any case this was a chance to stand out from the old EU and it's fridge full of Luke's dead girlfriends, but instead they chose to introduce and kill off Nakari for the sole purpose of Luke's manpain and character development, and that's gross.

And then there's this:

A grisly yet reliable fact about custom bounty hunter ships is that you can always count on them to have body bags stashed somewhere for the easy transport of their kills. They often have built-in refrigerated storage, too.

NAKARI IS KILLED AND LITERALLY STORED IN THE FUCKING FRIDGE I COULDN'T BELIEVE WHAT I WAS READING.

I really hope this was unintentional on Hearne's part, because yikes. He was halfway there, this book was full of interesting female characters who had agency - Drusil in particular was a delight with her super math and inability to understand human interaction. Nakari was full of life and fun - capable but relatable, showing a different side of the Rebellion and those that suffered under the Empire's rule. Fridging her in her first appearance is considerably more vile, because it reduces her to a footnote of Luke's story, a plot device to Help Him Grow, rather than a springboard to tell more of her own story.

Because Nakari was a compelling character ripe for spinoff potential. I would absolutely have read or watched her continued adventures, juggling missions for her father's Biolabs company and trying to aid the Rebellion, shooting her slug rifle and cracking wise, maybe even finding a way to amplify her mother's song Vader's Many Prosthetic Parts to really stick it to the Empire, or try and free the political prisoners on Kessel.

The old EU was made great by allies and enemies of Our Heroes showing up again to help or hinder them, and/or branching out into their own material. We fell in love with them, and followed their stories even as they diverged from the main saga, eager to read more about their lives.

Nakari Kelen never got that chance. In many ways, she exemplified what Disney Star Wars was to become: an exercise in wasted potential.

[rocking-space-dragon]

Burning Flags, Burning Bridges

So...I may have been inspired by chatting with friends and decided to write a short fundy-centric fic centering around what Philza said to him after the house arrest. Will I write more like this in future? Probably! Will it probably be angsty? Most likely! I hope you enjoy!

I’m gonna put the first page in this and the rest under a read-more so I don’t clog up timelines!

2313 Words/10k Characters Characters Involved : Fundy, Ghostbur, Philza.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

 It was a cold, wet day In Lmanburg; the rain came down heavily, thick sheets that crashed down onto the wooden floors of the city and the deep pools of water beneath and around the city proper; creating a drumming, echoing ambience that seemed to isolate the two of them as they stood; the Fox, soaked through with hat and coat, damp fur and wetter clothes; though for all of the cold that the weather bestowed, it couldn’t compare to the ice that seemed to have bloomed in his chest.

The words cut through Fundy like a knife as his gaze met that of the figure standing in the doorway, one hand resting on the frame. A steel monitor was wrapped around one ankle, and they both knew that if he took another step forward it'd go off and he'd be in trouble. Philza was the one who was trapped, so why was it that Fundy felt like he couldn't move, trapped in the cold embrace of the man in the doorway, a gaze leagues apart from the warmth behind his eyes that he remembered from their days fishing and hanging out. That cold seemed to spread from his chest until it wrapped around his bones, keeping him locked in place.

 The words brought back bad memories; often said in joke or incredulities by his friends, he’d only heard this kind of inflection once before – after his appearance in Pogtopia. He still remembered it vividly; the way Wilbur had cast his eyes towards him, looking down at him with contempt, with pain written across his face and spitting the words towards him, accusatory and harsh. He’d explained himself then and Wilbur’s face had softened, a laugh breaking across his features as he turned excitedly back towards Tommy and Quackity, but the eyes that met his whenever Wilbur turned back towards him were as cold as ever. It was those same eyes that were fixed on Fundy now; like father, like son. The kind of gaze that made him feel small, made him feel weak, no matter how many weapons hung by his side or how much armour he had in his inventory.

He swallowed for a moment, before forcing a smile across his face, gesturing towards Philza once more "W-Well, I figured that we could hang out! I know you're stuck at home because of the…” He gestured vaguely towards the bracelet before continuing “so maybe we could... Play some board games, or you could show me some of the old photos you have of Wilbur and Tommy, or we could work on the basement or-!"

 "No."

The word felt like a punch to the gut and Fundy's voice died in his throat, his lips going dry as he opened his mouth to talk, going to say something before Philza's voice cut into him once more, stealing the voice from his throat "How dare you. You broke into my home and demanded that I give up my oldest and most trusted friend, then when I told you I wouldn’t, you threatened me, ransacked my house, imprisoned me in my own home and then mocked me. You stood outside of my home, mocking me, before running off with the Compass that Techno trusted me with, to hunt him down.” Philza’s grip tightened on the doorframe and Fundy could swear that he could hear the wood beginning to crack beneath the grip of the man; the cold in his eyes was gone now, replaced with a fire that crackled in his throat and lit every word that he spat towards the fox. “And then- AND THEN. You drag him from his home, where he’d been living in peaceful retirement, under the pretence of a trial, only to try and execute him in front of me, when I couldn’t do anything but watch.” Fundy could feel his fur standing on end, even as damp as it was, but he couldn’t move an inch away from the man who’d locked him in place much like they’d trapped Techno days before. All he could do was stand there as Phil continued. “Allow me to be very clear with you, Fundy. If Techno had died in that cage, none of you would have lived to regret it.” His wings flare up behind him, obscuring the light coming from the house behind him before folding behind his back once more as he turns around, glancing back towards the rain-drenched fox standing out on the wooden platform “The last thing I want to do is kill another son of mine, but It seems like this city hasn’t given me a choice.” He turns, back facing him, pulling his hat down low “Because you’re already dead to me.”

 The sound of the door slamming shut echoed out around the city, leaving Fundy alone, clutching at his jacket, gaze turned down towards the ground, eyes squeezed shut and teeth clenched tightly as the rain helped to mask the fresh dampness on his face. After a moment, he turns, walking away from the house, every step echoing out on the wooden floor; it was only after he was far enough away from the house that he broke into a sprint, running along the wooden path leading away from the city, then away from the path itself, kicking up damp leaves behind him as he goes sprinting into the woods until his legs give out and he collapses back against a tree, pulling his knees to his chest and curling up into a ball. Once more, his mind turns back to the man who’d just slammed a door in his face; his grandfather, who’d been so kind and gentle with him; who’d taught him how to fish, who’d taken him in when he lost his home, who’d been there when nobody else was – and what had he done? He’d done the same thing he always did – he went along with the orders of someone in power and ended up pushing away his family because of it. Before it was Wilbur and Schlatt – pushing away his father and burning down the flag under Schlatt’s orders, and now it was Philza – following Tubbo’s orders and burning the bridge he had with his grandfather too. If there was one thing he was good at it was lighting fires, but those same flames, he found, always came back to turn the things he cared about to ash.

 “Oh, hello Fundy! Are you alright?” He’s jolted out of his thoughts by the sound of a voice, echoing and faint – he knows who it belongs to even before he raises his eyes to meet the empty, white eyes of the ghost hovering in front of him, a smile on his face as he tilts his head to the side and floats down into a sitting position beside Fundy, looking out at the rain still coming down in sheets as he sighs “I was coming to see L��manburg, but the rain started coming down before I could get there, so I had to run to this forest so I didn’t melt! What’re you doing here?” He turns to the fox, but Fundy turns away from the figure who used to be his father, staying silent as Ghostbur’s smile turns into a frown and he floats around till he’s in front of the Fox once more, lightly hovering in the air “Oh no! You seem upset, Fundy – here, have some blue, it’ll help suck away the sadness!” he smiles, rummaging about in his pocket and throwing some of that strange blue ectoplasm out towards Fundy, who let it land in his lap.

There’s a pause for a moment as ghostbur floats, looking around nervously before Fundy sighs, taking the blue and looking at it, letting it stain his paws before clenching his fists around it and throwing it into the forest, causing the spectre to gasp “Oh no! If you do that, it won’t-“

“Forget it!” Fundy snapped, catching the ghost off-guard, who seemed to recoil for a second from the outburst; he watches as Fundy uncurls, letting the back of his head hit the tree and looking up into the branches of the tree, drops of rain making their way through to drip down onto his face. He sighs heavily, closing his eyes before lowering his head once more to meet that empty gaze “Of course, you would show up now.” He laughs, sharp and devoid of humour, hitting the tree lightly “Wilbur was never around when I needed him, and yet, and yet YOU somehow seem to ALWAYS know when to show up!” the laughing continues, as Fundy’s voice cracks and breaks until he’s sobbing audibly, face buried in his arms so he can’t see the ghost reaching out towards him for a moment before pulling back. “Why? Why can’t I stop fucking up like this? It feels like everyone I try and get close to, I end up either pushing away or losing entirely! All I ever wanted to do was…” His voice drops, turning and looking up at the ghost with tears running down his face and drawing in a shaky breath “All I ever wanted to do was make him proud, y’know? I wanted to hear him say, just once, that he was proud of me.”

So engrossed is Fundy in his own sorrow that he doesn’t notice the effect that his words have on Ghostbur; how every mention of Wilbur makes him flinch and recoil somewhat, and how the mention of wanting to make him proud causes the ghost to bring a hand to the wound in his chest, slowly trailing over it as he looks away and Fundy squeezes his eyes shut to try and stop the tears running down his face.

So deep is the fox in his bittersweet grief, that he doesn’t realise that he’s been pulled into Ghostbur’s lap until it’s already happened, his hat removed and set to the side as the spectral figure rests his chin between the fox’s ears, atop his head, arms wrapped around him and brought together in front of him; it’s a moment before he speaks, looking out into the woods “Alivebur…sounds like he was a terrible father. Everything that I’ve heard of him sounds like he was a terrible person, so I can’t imagine he was a good dad, either. But…if that’s the case, why do I have good memories as your dad?” the question hangs in the air, and he continues “Does that mean I wasn’t always an awful dad?”

The only sound that follows is the impact of rain coming down on the leaves and the rustling of the wind rushing through the forest, before Fundy breaks the silence “…You didn’t used to be bad. I still have…good memories, of growing up with you, in L’manburg, it’s just…things went wrong somewhere along the way” he turns his gaze up, looking at the dark grey sky above through the leaves “Sometime – I wonder, y’know? How things could be if you were still around. If Tubbo wasn’t president, if Tommy wasn’t exiled. If you- if Alivebur…had been here when I needed him most instead of just leaving me to deal with everything by myself.” Wilbur rubs his arm sheepishly, looking up too “I…don’t know. People didn’t seem to like Alivebur much, but…everyone still followed him. It seems like all people have to talk about is how much he ruined everything, but If he was really that bad…how come I have good memories at all?” When there’s no answer the spectral figure sighs, running a paw through Fundy’s fur absentmindedly, a slow, steady brush, a gesture that brings them both immediately back to a simpler time – a time when the two of them could sit in the forests surrounding Lmanburg, before they were destroyed, looking out over their home, just a father and his son. Ghostbur wasn’t sure when Fundy fell asleep, he just knew that the next time he looked down, he saw his – Alivebur’s – son, laying against his chest, eyes closed and breathing steadily. A smile crosses faintly across his face as he gazes down at the sleeping fox, brushing through his fur again gently “My little champion…you’ve been so brave, and so strong…” He shifts, looking down at his faintly see-through hands and then at the fox still resting against him, rummaging about in his pocket for something he’d stolen from Philza; a single golden Idol, emerald eyes set into it’s face that seemed to be looking back at him. It felt cold to the touch, even for him, as he tossed it from hand to hand slowly, thinking. It seemed, to him, that as much as everyone liked Ghostbur… …People Needed Alivebur. People needed Wilbur. Tommy needed a brother. Philza needed a son, L’manburg needed a president, and Fundy…Fundy needed a dad.

  As he slept, Fundy dreamed. He dreamed of years back, wandering through the forest with Wilbur, walking around L’manburg together, that warm, friendly voice calling him ‘His little champion’ as he stands, side by side in uniform with his father. He dreams of the revolution, of fighting together – of growing up and into the clothes that he wore today; before those dreams turn sour, and he can hear the laughing bleating in his ears from the long-dead tyrant, snapping awake with a gasp. A soft bleat fills his ears as he wakes up, glancing up to see the fluffy blue wool of friend surrounding him, being happily used as a makeshift pillow as they munch casually on some grass. Ghostbur is nowhere to be seen, the sun shining down faintly as the fox rests in the grass underneath the tree.

In his lap rests a damp, well-worn, entirely solid black beanie, slowly drying in the warmth of the midday sun.

[crazynekochan]

Dangan Persona AU

Palace #7

Ruled by Makoto Naegi.

Captive is Mukuro Ikusaba (held captive in cell; will be executed for her crimes in the alternate reality if not rescued in time; picked very much the worst day to dress as Junko).

Shadow manifests as Makoto but wearing a creepy long black cloak, like he is the judge, jury and executioner (which he is), who turns into a 4-armed angel, one wielding a shield, the other a huge revolver (like truth bullets), and the 2nd pair holding up the weight of the world’s hope on his shoulders as a shining globe that seems to get heavier as the battle progresses. It’s also immune to Curse skills, which is rather unfortunate because that’s what everyone was betting on it having since Lincoln (and therefore Makoto)’s weak to Curse skills.

Palace is Hope’s Peak as ala the first game but much more pastel, with the walls instead draped in soft silk, light shining down in jarring contrast to the giant metal plates over the windows. It gives everyone the creeps, especially when the 2nd half starts with much more blood and gore appearing on the pristine sheets and floors.

As a little peep to the next palace, this is also where they get a glimpse of a Shadow Nagito. The original had gotten curious and just barely went a bit into the Metaverse. He managed to get out right away, but not before causing his shadow to be spotted tending to a strange memorial garden of class 78 before vanishing.

Finally after frankly too many puzzles, they arrive at the midway point of Mukuro’s show trial at a near exact replica of the red door to the trial grounds. They open up and find the elevator, but what is much more relevant is the metric fuckton of Junko photos and Monokuma memorabilia all over the room, almost all of them horrifically destroyed in rage, aimed at the faces in particular. Since Mukuro was dressed as Junko the day she got abducted (Junko had a scheduling issue and made Mukuro dress as her for class, even though no one else really bought it), this makes everyone rightfully very nervous and reluctantly head down, despite the sick feelings roiling in everyone’s stomachs, because they’re not gonna like this. And nope, they didn’t like it at all.

They came out to see the trial already underway, 2 large stands loaded with masked figures to the sides of the room and a high circle of 15 podiums surrounding Mukuro, chained into a kneeling position as the Judges gazed down upon her. The party looks up to see them, and finds something rather strange. On one side are 9 funerary portraits on raised poles, with the 6 judges in black robes in front of them, all focused on Mukuro. The Judges are cognitive versions of the DR1 survivors, all looking much worse for wear (cognitive Hiro looks exhausted, cognitive Hina is silently sobbing with a funerary portrait of Sakura in her hands, even cognitive Kyoko looks like she was in mourning), with Shadow Makoto in the center as the chief Justice. It’s right at the ending of the trial, and Mukuro is declared guilty for conspiracy to end the world, to the disgust and horror of the crowd.

Mukuro tries to argue, saying that this must be a mistake, they have the wrong person. Shadow Makoto tells her that no, they know full well who she is, Mukuro Ikusaba (full name, no honorifics). He continues, telling her, in no uncertain terms, all of the crimes he knows of from the alternate timeline committed by the Ultimate Despair. “And to prevent that from occurring, we must tear the despair out, root and stem. Junko would be nothing without her little cronies, after all. What better way to end this right now than by her dearest sister’s death, leaving her powerless?” Then the Shadow has her trapped inside of a cage and sent down to the dungeons to await her execution, before the party can help her.

The rest of the palace works in a similar way to the first half, but everything goes into straight up horror movie territory. Like they were creeped out before, but now it was fucking all sorts of terrifying. It’s pretty much an amalgamation of all of Makoto from the other timeline’s trauma and survivors guilt from the first game. This part of the palace also has a bunches of minibosses that they have to fight through in the second half because holy crap, those things are fucking horrific. The minibosses are all the souls lost to the killing school life and it is very much not pretty. Sayaka covered in blood impaled with knives; Leon tied to a pole, pummeled to a pulp, chucking bloody baseballs; Chihiro with his head bashed in, using a mess of cables and screens to interact with the world; Mondo as a hellish biker that seems to be melting; Taka the terrifying sergeant with his head bleeding; Hifumi with his head bashed in as well, using his horrific Junji Ito-style magical girl drawings for attacks; a thing so burnt and smashed up that they could only identify her as Celeste because of the twin drills; Sakura as a silent warrior, constantly coughing up poison and blood. Even a makeshift “Mukuro”, hardly able to move from all the spears through her body. Holy crap, did that freak everyone out and make them very glad when they next saw their friends again at dinner because they’re alive!

The time limit this time is because Shadow Makoto, while being a twisted mess of repressed anger, sadness, and misery, is also fundamentally a good person and doesn’t want to kill Mukuro before she had even done anything, even though he knows that she’s guilty as sin of conspiring to destroy the world and everything in it (in the canon timeline). That’s actually where the party comes in, because by the time they clear the palace, the Shadow had finally decided that it was now or never and he needed to do this now. When they rush in to stop him, that’s when the boss fight starts.

The fight is genuinely hard as hell and the Shadow isn’t holding back. The attacks are all similar to the various minigames from DR1, just with a Persona flair. Makoto’s providing as much support as he can without being able to control his own persona, with the Shadow lashing out every time that Makoto offers his emotional support. Eventually, they notice that the giant ball of hope is getting heavier to the point of nearly crushing Makoto, who’s holding up the globe like Atlas holding the sky. His Shadow’s about ready to cry, begging the others to stop as Makoto encourages them all to keeping fighting and to not give up now. The battle only stops when they finally get Makoto to confess that he’s not always the bright ball of sunshine that they think he is and that even he needs help sometimes. With that resolved, the shadow returns to being Makoto’s persona, now instead of Lincoln, he is Logos (basically the closest to Jesus as I can get without making an even bigger mess in the MegaTen universe)

[Holy shit, I feel like I wrote a whole novel here! I’m ending this here, good night!}

---

Mod: The design for Makot's shadow is so flipping awesome. It’s so fitting for Makoto considering that he’s the main speaker during the class trials (cause MC and all) and this is literally a trial his shadow is holding, with the shields and revolver in each hand. Though my favourite is him holding up the worlds hope like Atlas with the sky, cause it’s still my favourite part of his character development that he admits in the DR3 anime that he’s sometimes really overwhelmed with always having to be positive as the Ultimate Hope but still keeps it up for ever (and as entertaining the anime was, it was one of the only good things it did story wise, but that’s a different topic altogether...)

The palace must be so disturbing for the party, cause up until now every palace was basically a fantasy place representing something of the person’s life/personality. But now they are in a twisted and later on gory version of their own school, and still don’t know anything of the past timeline. But things are starting to get unravelled now. Though most disturbing must be the memorial garden for their very much alive friends. The fact that the survivors, who were not among the memorial photos, are the judges who look like they experiences something very awful and traumatic. Not to mention the tons of destroyed Junko photos

That the minibosses are the victims in an all horror like fashion, where I’m imagining something along the lines of DR3 anime with Makoto’s despair hallucination, must be so brutal cause these are literally the “corpses” of their friends that are attacking them, who are in this timeline alive and happy

I can only imagine how hard it must have been for everyone to see how Makoto’s shadow actually is, which is basically being overwhelmed with all the support he has to give all the time. Cause everyone does lean a lot on Makoto (not that leaning on people is bad, but there is a limit how much one person can handle, even for Makoto)

[kiraofthewind]

The 88 sapienti species of the Pentagonal Dominion

No, I’m not here to describe all eighty-eight lol. Actually, my plan is to write short bios about each of them and post maybe four or so at random intervals? Depends on how long it would take to write them up, it could be weekly or just whenever I finish. In the future, I’d love to have artwork of all 88, but of course that takes a lot of time and money lol.

Currently, I have art of specific characters of the following species. An asterisk means that species is represented in at least one character I have art of:

A note on my invented word ‘sapienti.’ Some might be asking “Erika, why don’t you just call them sapient?” I do, quite often in fact. However, when I was writing my books, I found that ‘sapient’ didn’t always do what I wanted it to do. ‘Sapienti’ is essentially my fantasy-world’s version of the word ‘human.’ If a characters stumbles across the bones of a person, they would refer to the bones as “sapienti bones” meaning “the bones of a sapienti person.” Imagine instead if they’d referred to them as “sapient bones.” That makes it sound like the bones themselves are alive and chatting with you!

So how did a world manage to get eighty-eight different species of people living in it? Time travel, son. The world is only 1450 years old anyway. Ain’t no evolving from a single-celled organism in that amount of time!

Many of the sapienti species evolved over billions of years in timelines that the Time Spirit left alone to just let nature take its course. These are usually the more “human-looking” species. Ones with opposable thumbs or which can otherwise use tools.

Some species were made sapient by the blessing of a Mind God. Wynnles came from lions. Yosoe came from goats. All the insect-based species came from, well, insects lol. In the Pentagonal Dominion timeline I write about, there were actually only 87 sapienti species to begin with. The Domovye (singular: Domovoi) were animals. They would be yoked together and trained to dig deep underground, uncovering metals for their sapienti masters. This was seen as no different than yoking oxen to plow a field, or dogs to a sleigh, or a horse to a carriage. The Domovye turned sapient overnight by the blessing of Lucognidus. His purpose in doing so was to punish Ulinor, whose dictator refused to accept the (at the time) new Spiritism religion. Ulinor was the primary civilization that used Domovye as working animals. The Ulese lived underground and needed the Domovye to keep their city functional. But the Ulese abhorred slavery, so when the Domovye became sapient, they could no longer be forced to work.

Many of the species are capable of interbreeding, largely thanks to Life elemental magic. Biologically, without magic, most of them would not work. Their chromosomes would be incompatible or the sperm wouldn’t be able to merge with the egg. Life element magic just “makes it work, damn it.” It will fuck around with genetics until it creates something that can exist. I made this chart a while ago when I was playing a game with some people to create demigods:

It shows how some interbreeding works, but it was within the context of a certain time and place. For instance, the Morenzi can interbreed with any of the others that aren’t in colored boxes, but they currently live in the Quarantined Plane, so none of their hybrids currently exist. It also says Odonata cannot interbreed, but the entire point of Calinthe is that she’s the first and only Odonata hybrid.

The Pentagonal Dominionists use specific language to describe sapienti based on the number of limbs they have. A human might be described as a biped-bibrach (two legged and two armed). A few sapienti look a lot like humans, including the Olivians, Ulese, Umi, Omi, Yetrians, and Myralese. In these cases, the things that make them non-human are deeper than their appearances. Olivians will bond strongly to whoever they first have sex with. Ulese have advanced intelligence. Umi and Omi can control certain internal functions which are automatic and uncontrollable in humans. Yetrians can eat things that a human’s stomach would reject. Myralese are Ice elementals and can survive in frozen environments.

Note that I use ‘nullped’ for species without legs (Domovye, second-stage Orochijin, Poltergeists, Mizura). There is a single monoped species: the Collembola. They have a leg and a tail. They mostly get around by hopping on their tail, but their single leg helps to balance them.

Yet some of these species are so weird and nonhuman that describing them is… difficult. I still don’t have art of Päivi, who is fairly prominent in MoKaM, because I tremble at the idea of trying to describe her to an artist. xD

Many of my species are aquatic, too! Or at least *can* live and breathe underwater if they choose. Aquatic/water-breaking species include: Anemone, Daga, Ephemeropteran, Flora, Foma, Hemipteran, Kraken, Mizura, Phasmida (they can transform into other species, so a Phasmida wouldn’t drown likely because they could transform into someone else), Piniko, Poltergeist, Rubaiyan, Selachi, Sin-Derion, Thysanura, Tsuru, Vodyanoi, Zullia.

Wings are another common feature. Everything that has ‘pteran’ at the end of its name has wings. Other winged species include the Winyans, Pellas, Tsuru, Noklopae, Subrikae, and Nilians.

A few species are extinct in the time period the Merchants novels take place in. The Tellia and Pokki were exterminated by demons when the demons were first created and wanted to take over their homeland. The Mujin went extinct when the Death God Sawyer lost control of his powers in a fit of despair.

A few of these species are also so few in number that a person could go their whole life without meeting one. These include: Odonata, Iur, Mabera, and Phasmida. Technically Phasmida change into other species, so their true numbers are unknown. A Phasmida might live a lifetime in the body of another species and never tell their neighbors that they’re actually a Phasmida. The only one who has made her identity known is Mira, the Chancellor of Aloutia. Because Phasmida only age in the bodies they are currently using, they are effectively immortal. Mira has been the Chancellor since the founding of the Aloutian Empire. She has existed in the Pentagonal Dominion since its beginning. She is actually over 50,000 years old because she’s the Time Spirit’s toy, and she keeps getting put in alternate timelines.

In-world, people might refer to the sapienti species by other numbers. Some will say 87 because they’re excluding the Morenzi, who are unknown to everyone on Aloutia, Cosmo, Ophidia, and the Makai. Some will say 84 because they’re also excluding the three extinct species.

Some species have body parts that naturally produce elementrons, but they can only be used for specific types of ‘magic’ e.g. the Sin-Derion have teeth enchanted to shoot Death elemental beams. Wynnles have electric tails. Yosoe have electric horns. Most winged species have Wind elementrons to allow them to fly because otherwise their bodies would be too heavy/awkward for flight. Daga shells are gold, but enchanted to float on water. Sounites have fire for hair. It’s a whole lotta fun to design all these people!

One thing I want to be clear on, though: no species are monoliths. No species is ‘pure good’ or ‘pure evil.’ They don’t all belong to the same country or culture. They don’t all believe in the same principles, dress the same, speak the same languages, or worship their Gods in the same manner. Sometimes when I talk about my species, I may talk about the culture in which *most* of them belong. *Most* Wynnles live on the Wynndalic Plains of Cosmo’s Starsine planet, where they engage in ritual hunting, have strict sexual practices, and speak their own language which few other species speak. But… obvious not all Wynnles are that way. Amiere, Liesle, and their children are Wynnles, but they live on Aloutia, buy their meat at a market or fish it out of Deep Sea, eat a lot of tropical fruits, and speak a sort of pseudo-French patois most commonly spoken by Flora and Ebonoirs. All sapienti have individual, rational minds (some can connect to a ‘hive mind’, but they *still* retain their individuality, should they choose) and can come to their own conclusions about morality and society.

[varricmancer]

Intertwined | 1

*** Cross-posted on AO3 *** 

Pairing: Farkas x F!OC

Summary: A child of Mara was a soul blessed and bound to its mate for all eternity. Elizabeth Williams is summoned to Mara as a lost soul, only she's from modern America and her mate is somewhere in the wilds of Skyrim.

A/N: Yes, I know I have other works that need to be finished, but I couldn't get this idea out of my head. So here we go. I'll probably change the summary eventually, because right now it sounds cringy and childish, but I really wanted to get this out.I LOVE Elder scrolls and I've been playing the games since I was little, reading everything I could get my hands on, play ESO regularly even. I'm not saying I'm an expert, because I am SO not ( I have a horrible memory ), but I'm saying that I'll try not to mess up the world too much. If there are things that I can't figure out in ES lore, I'll probably fill it in with Norse lore so be warned ahead of time.I hope you enjoy this story. I LOVE Farkas and I wanted to start my first venture into writing ES with him. In my head this is going to be a huge series with different couples as soulmates. Vilkas is going to get his story after I finish this one ;)

***

When she had gone to bed that night, nothing about her day had been different from any other.  

She’d come home from her shift at the restaurant where she’d been working for ten years feeling like her back and feet were going to fall off. She’d taken a long soak in the tub as she thought about her job and how much of a dick her boss was for not giving her the raise he’d promised - or the interview for the sous chef position. She’d bet her life savings he was going to offer it to the incredibly annoying fake blonde Commis Chef they’d hired just last year, only because she kissed his ass and sent him flirty smiles all the time. Probably more, who knows.

After her bath she’d eaten a fast and easy dinner of kimchi fried rice using leftover rice and bacon, with two whole eggs because she deserved it.

Then she’d gone to bed with some crime show on in the background that she hadn’t even paid attention to and had fallen asleep quickly due to exhaustion. She'd been too tired to even think about playing one of her games.

And now - now she was currently experiencing one of the weirdest dreams she’d ever had in her life. Maybe it was her mind trying to cope with stress or just the result of eating bacon before bed.

It wasn’t so much the setting that was odd. It was actually really pleasant. A vast meadow filled with plants and wonderful smelling flowers that she’d never seen before. Butterflies flit through the air around her and all the colors were so vividly amped up they were practically glowing. Little creatures that she didn’t recognize would often peer around a bush or run along her path, watching her curiously. How odd that none of them seemed very afraid.

She followed a little stone pathway, simply strolling along as she admired her surroundings. When she’d read The Secret Garden as a girl, she’d often pictured a place like this. Calm and beautiful. Of course, she’d always added elaborate stone kitchens because even in her imagination she had to be cooking something.

Suddenly, strange balls of golden light began to appear and float around her. But somehow, she wasn’t worried or afraid. They felt...familiar, almost.

“You have finally arrived. Welcome, Elizabeth.”

She turned towards the voice, finding a strange-looking but strikingly beautiful woman standing near a large statue. She almost looked like someone cosplaying or attending a ren fair with her medieval clothes. She kind of reminded her of an older version of the Princess from Braveheart, actually. She was smiling down at her in an almost motherly fashion and Elizabeth thought for a moment that she should find it weird how tall the woman seemed to be. Nearly nine feet at least. That was weird, right? And was she...glowing?

“Where am I?”

“In my home. I am Mara and I called you here to correct a wrong.”

The only Mara she knew was from a video game. “A wrong?”

The woman gestured towards the golden orbs that continued flying around them both slowly like they were happy to be in her presence.

“These are the souls of my children waiting for their turn to return to their beloved. While many decide to simply live one lifetime and then rest their souls in the realm of their choosing, there many still that are bonded to another and choose to live again with each other.”

“Soulmates. Yeah, I’ve heard the concept in fanfics and cheesy television. What does that have to do with me?” Elizabeth rolled her eyes, playing along somewhat. Of course, if this had been real she would probably be scared off her ass right now, but since this was a dream she could be as sassy as she wanted.

The woman merely folded her hands together and graced her with a patient smile, making her feel like as ass.

“You are one of those bonded souls. However, I believe that either someone disrupted your cycle or stole you from me completely because you were not only in the wrong timeline but in the wrong realm as well.”

Elizabeth’s heart ached with longing. A soulmate...for her?

Even her dreams mocked how lonely she was.

The woman turned and waved her hand and suddenly a big orange...thingy...appeared. Kinda looked like a certain eye. Her dream was pulling out all the stops today, huh? She hadn’t even watched Lord Of The Rings in years. She guessed it also kinda looked like an Oblivion gate from her Elder Scrolls games.

“I have opened the door for you to return to your mate. I am sorry that it took so long. You must have been lonely.”

Elizabeth swallowed thickly, thinking back on all of her wasted years with the wrong people. On her mom. On her brother that she couldn’t find.

“Yeah.”

Somehow the woman suddenly seemed to become smaller, although still towering over her. She leaned down and pressed a light kiss to Elizabeth’s forehead before guiding her gently towards the door. It looked more like a gate to hell than something that would lead to anything good.

“Go forth, child of Mara, and be reunited with your love.”

Elizabeth Williams exhaled shakily and stepped through the blazing door before she realized the woman had never even told her how to find her soulmate or what his name was.

Good thing this was only a dream.

***

[purplesurveys]

1278

Social Media Survey

[joybucket]

What is your favorite social media site?  Either Twitter or YouTube, though I never use YouTube as a social media site per se so I guess this round goes to Twitter.

Do you use...

facebook? myspace? twitter? snapchat? instagram? youtube? pinterest? bzoink? another site with message boards? tumblr? deviantart? xanga?

Facebook

Do you get on Facebook every day?  Yeah pretty much all throughout the day. I used to never use it, like never ever; but back in college all announcements were coursed through Facebook so I was technically required to be on it regularly, and it was from there that I began to see memes and start to be more active. I’m a shitposter more than anything though and I rarely ever post stuff of my own. How many FB friends do you have?  I have 679 at the moment but I want to get rid of like 500 of them; it’s just such a long list to go through so I never get to proceed with my unfriending spree lol.

Have you ever been on a deleting spree?  HAHA I just mentioned that. I’ve always wanted to, but like I said 679 is already such an exhaustive list for me, and that’s considering I only started touching my Facebook in like 2019. I can’t imagine people who started Facebook in like 2009 and have 4000 friends aka most people I know.

Have you blocked a lot of haters?  I don’t have haters; at least I’m not aware of any that I have. Not that it’s something I care about at this point.

Do you get bullied online a lot?  No, but that’s also because I don’t really open the channels for people to send in hate. I don’t have Q&A handles like Curious Cat and I never pick out that option in Instagram where people can send in questions.

What's your favorite Facebook app?  Oh I never use Facebook for their apps. Are those still even a thing...? Anyway, I mainly go there to be on the hunt for stupid memes I can reshare or to watch videos that are either funny or informative.

Are you a fan of selfies?  I don’t mind if other people do it, but I think I’m honestly bad at selfies so I almost never take them. I’ve never figured out my angles or what filters look ok on me.

Has anyone ever called the police on you because they didn't like your status?  No but I have had my posts reported because they were deemed ‘offensive.’ Which is weird because my posts that have been taken down are those that speak out against disgusting men, which says a lot about Facebook runs their shit more than anything else.

Are you in any facebook groups?  I’m in nearly a hundred groups, both private i.e. for school purposes, and public.

Are you the admin of any groups?  Nah. Too much time and effort needed out of me.

Do you report abuse to group admins whenever you see it?  Yes. I report the post then leave the group.

What could make Facebook better?  They could put more effort into detecting and banning troll farms.

What year did you start using Facebook?  I made an account in 2012 because of a high school class that required us to upload this specific video-format homework onto Facebook (which in hindsight is such an insensitive homework considering that was nearly a decade ago when the Philippines was still severely behind in internet connection speeds?? Ugh). But I didn’t start actively using my account until around two years ago.

What is your current profile picture of?  Myself, posing in front of the sunflowers in school during the recent graduation season.

Did you like the old Myspace better than Facebook?  I was never a regular user of Myspace, so...

Pinterest

What are some of your favorite boards?  I’ve never had a clue what the purpose of Pinterest was. I mean I have an account...but I’ve also never gotten the hang of it?? so I never touch it hahaha.

Have you ever done a craft you saw on Pinterest?  Well no, because I’m terrible at arts and crafts anyway.

Do you have a Dream Wedding board? If so, what's on it?  No.

If you have a Dream House board, what does your dream house look like?  Ok fine this one I did start hahahah but I don’t even remember what I added on there anymore. I’m sure it was filled with modern-style houses with minimalist interior design.

Do you wish they'd bring the "like" button back?  I’m not even aware of this option.

Do you have a Bucket List board?  Not aware of this either.

Which do you like better: Just Girly Things or And That's Who I Am? The second one sounds less childish. < Same, and it sounds like it covers more.

Do you have a board for tattoos you like? If so, what are some of your faves?  No. The only one I ever made was the house one, then Pinterest quickly became boring from there when I realized there wasn’t much else I could do besides making mood boards.

Do you have a "Random" or "Miscellaneous" board?  No.

Have you ever reached the maximum number of boards?  No.

Do you have any secret boards?  No.

Have you ever had a Pin deleted because of copyright laws?  No.

Do you have a Color board? No.

Do you have an About Me board? If so, what's on it? No.

YouTube

Do you have a YouTube channel? If so, what is it?  Technically I do but I only have it so I can tailor video suggestions to my interests and so that I can like videos and subscribe to channels I like.

What kind of things do you post on YouTube?  I’ve never posted any video on there, not even private ones. I’m also not the type to comment.

What do you like to watch on YouTube?  These days YouTube serves as a stress reliever for me, which is to say I would typically go for humorous BTS-related compilations because there are sooooo many hilarious channels that make these great videos haha. Occasionally I’d go back to channels or series that I used to frequent, like Good Mythical Morning, Buzzfeed’s Worth It and Unsolved, Try Guys, Watcher, etc. 

Are you subscribed to any channels?  To so many.

Do you watch any vlogs? If so, what ones are your favorite?  Hm probably Jiwoo’s, though her channel is called Mejiwoo. I find her content calming and conversational and basically fun to binge-watch when I’m not looking for anything super super particular to watch.

If you have a channel, how many subscribers do you have?  0. I’m just a lurker.

Will you subscribe to my channel? (msg me if you want a link!)  Only if it’s really fit to my interests, I guess.

Do you watch music videos?  Rarely; not a fan of MVs in particular. I only really ever put an exception for BTS.

Have you ever watched a TV show on youtube?  Well no since their copyright team works hard and works fast lol. I do watch entire video game walkthroughs from time to time.

Have you ever worked out to exercise videos on youtube?  No, I can’t care less about working out tbh.

Have you watched Amanda Todd's famous video?  No. I’m scared that it might be too upsetting or triggering for me.

Have you ever looked up how to do something on YouTube?  Not really, I prefer looking up articles that can teach me step by step in words.

Do you get a lot of hate comments on youtube?  No, I’ve never posted anything on there.

How long have you been a youtuber?  Never been.

Instagram

Do you post on Instagram a lot?  I do 1-3 Instagram stories in a week, I would say. As for posts, I only have 4 in total and I don’t really feel the pressure to add more. I just post when I feel the want to.

Have you ever posted a poll on instagram?  Nah, I’m not too sure if anyone would participate so I’ve never tried. If you don't have an iPhone, do you wish you could use Instagram?  I’m pretty sure other operating systems can also use Instagram...

Do you have any followers?  Around 50, I think.

Do you like Instagram filters? I’ll use them sometimes to make my stories appear prettier.

Twitter

Do you think twitter is stupid? Hehe show me at least one person who doesn’t think so. < Coming from someone who regularly uses Twitter, agree. It is crazy stupid but stupid is what I’m there for. Which is honestly not always such a bad thing to me - I like that people are more themselves, more stripped-down, vulnerable on Twitter. People always seem to want to show off their best selves on Facebook and Instagram, so I’m actually kind of grateful that there is at least one social media out there where people can just be their clumsy, goofy selves.

How often do you tweet?  Probably a maximum of five a day. Nowadays I’m on there mostly to just scroll through my timelines.

Do you get on twitter every day?  Yes, both on my personal and fan account.

Bzoink

Do you make a lot of surveys?  I never make them but I try to take them as often as I can.

Do you take a lot of surveys?  Haha sorry, was one step ahead of you. Yeah, I do.

Do you post in the message boards?  Nah. I dunno if I’m even permitted to check the message boards on Bzoink considering I don’t have an account.

What types of surveys are your favorite?  Categorized surveys like this one or countdown ones can be fun, but at the end of the day I like sticking to the classic random survey.

Do you have friends on here?  Not on Bzoink, but here on Tumblr yes! There’s a number of people here I like keeping up with :)

Do you post all your secrets on here?  Again, not on Bzoink; but yep I share pretty much everything here.

What type of survey do you think I should make next?  Anything but basic/about me-themed ones that will ask for my name and eye color and weight.

Do you read peoples' answers to your surveys?  I’ve never made a survey.

Do you think you are good at making surveys? 

Do you try to make unique surveys?

What type of surveys do you want to see more of?

Random

This or That

Scattergories

Have You Ever

Are you like me?

About You

Personal, Deep Questions

Girly

Music shuffle

Would You Rather

Do you have this in your bedroom?

Long

Short

All About Your Crush

Fashion

Make-up

School

Music

Your health

Your friends

Confessions

Girl Confessions - how different is this from just confessions? Hahaha

R-Rated

Controversial topics

Myspace

Did you have a myspace when you were in high school?  I started an account in like 4th grade when Myspace was ~big, but I didn’t find it fun and everyone my age was on Friendster anyway, so I was largely inactive.

Do you use myspace now?  No. Is it still even around? I have no clue.

Do you miss bulletins? I didn’t get to join in on the fun so there’s nothing to miss.

Did you like customizing your profile with the old myspace?  Not attributed to Myspace but I did have a lot of fun customizing my Multiply and Tumblr accounts back in the day. That was a period where I really got to learn and play around with HTML :)

Did you have music on your profile?  Not on Myspace again but I did on Multiply! I had a cute little playlist that played the songs immediately as soon as you landed on my page hahaha.

Did you learn HTML when you used Myspace?  Tumblr, yeah. I believe the skills are still there but I’ll definitely be a bit rusty.

Did you have a customized cursor?  Oh, no. Wasn’t a fan of those as I found them a bit tacky.

Did you use glitter graphics?  Also found those tacky haha no, I never used those.

Do you remember posting glitter graphics on friends' pages?  Nope.

Did you make "dolls"?  I don’t recall ever making those.

Did you use photo captions?  Not sure what this is referring to so let’s just say no.

Did you have a photo slideshow on your profile?  Hmmm nope, I don’t think so.

Xanga

Did you have a Xanga account back in the day?  No. It wasn’t big here so I had never heard of it until I started taking surveys on here and heard people mentioning Xanga, actually.

Do you have a xanga account now?  No.

Did you post photos and quotes on your xanga page?  I never had any.

Snapchat

Do you use snapchat?  I did; I was superrrrr active on there for a time. It kind of just got old at one point, though, and my feed got more and more dead until I too just left my account dormant altogether.

What is your favorite filter?  There were a lot of cute ones on there that helped me be more confident with taking selfies but my favorites have to be the dog and flower crown ones.

Tumblr

Do you understand Tumblr?  I had a better handle of it when I ran a fan account that required me to be more active; but now that I really just go on here to take surveys I just use the basic functions and nothing more. But yeah, I understand just enough to get by.

Do you use Tumblr?  Yeah. Even on the days I don’t post surveys, I regularly go on here to keep up with friends I like keeping up with like Elisabeth, Lane, Steph, Lina, Julie :)

Other

What forum sites did you use to love that aren't around anymore?  There was one message board I frequented for this girly/tween magazine I used to collect, but I won’t share the name.

Are there any other great social media sites that you recommend?  I think this survey was able to cover all the main ones I use.

Do you use a photo editing site? If so, what?  I use apps instead of sites to edit my photos.

Do you ever use BeFunky.com?  Nope.

Do you use a video editing site? If so, what?  Nah, I rarely have to edit videos in a super intricate, detailed way. Apple’s video editing features suffice for me.

Have you ever downloaded fonts?  Very occasionally since it’s never necessary.

Have you ever used photobucket to upload an image?  No but I remember going on there back in the day to look for images. I never uploaded any, though.

Do you use iTunes?  Not anymore. I have an account on Spotify now.

Do you listen to music on Pandora?  No, never used it.

[obsidianfr3sk]

Beginnings and Endings (Part 1)

@renegadesnet event 2: august of anarchy 

↪ [The Artino Brothers] 

Summary: In the beginning, it was just the two of them: David and Alec, the Artino Brothers. Then, they brought anarchy into the world. Now, David is not sure if there would be enough of themselves by the end of it. "Don't call me Alec anymore. Now I am Ace. Ace Anarchy."

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25686343/chapters/62363560

This is my contribution to August of Anarchy. It will be a two-part fic about the relationship between Ace and his brother from David’s POV. We have little information about how their relationship actually was, so I had a lot of fun coming up with headcanons and that kinda stuff.

Thanks so much to @dawniebb and @healing-winston-pratt for the timeline they did that helped me with the creation of this fic. I actually also used it for my other fic, The Origins, but I didn’t remembered you guys did it and I just had the image saved on my phone lol (I can credit you for that if you want me to, there’s no problem with that!) Son las mejores <3

The start of the beginning

Age of anarchy Year 0

His fingers felt hotter and hotter with each golden thread they held. A light coat of sweat ran all over his body, but he wasn't sure if it was because he was nervous or because they didn't have air conditioning and it was midsummer.

It wasn’t like he had no reason to be nervous. He had never used his powers for something so important.

Alec watched every movement and noticed every breath. His dark eyes were slightly closed and his lips were pursed. David had the same face.

"Am I doing something wrong?" he whispered.

"You are doing a good job," Alec said. "Why?"

"Because you haven't stopped watching every move I make and—"

"Don't worry, it's not personal—" he pursed his lips more "—I'm always watching."

David rolled his eyes. "You're lurking."

Alec picked up a dry cloth on the splintered coffee table and rubbed it across his brother’s forehead. David thanked him.

"That's not true," Alec replied, "I just enjoy staring at people from the shadows. It is a healthy hobby ”

"I'm sure it isn't."

But hey, what did David know about healthy hobbies? All he had done in those last months was accompany his brother to work during the day and watch television until late at night. Those were his hobbies. And he wasn't even sure if the first one counted as one.

David had been expelled from his school more than six months ago after the principal found out that he was a prodigy. According to her, that was not the reason for his expulsion. It was that he had lied and it was illegal to lie about your status as a prodigy for profit.

"So you do accept schools for prodigies have a lower educational level than schools for non-prodigies?" Alec asked the principal with a defiant attitude.

When Alec tried to enroll him in another school, he discovered that she had already warned the entire school district about David and no elementary school would be accepting him in the near future. He refused to enroll David in a school for prodigies because he would only fall behind in his studies. Apparently, those schools did not receive half the funds that the other schools received.

"Because they’re for ordinary kids," said David, "and I'm not."

“You are not an ordinary kid, that's true. You are extraordinary. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise."

In the beginning, David had remained positive. It was fun to accompany Alec to work, just like the old days. But the weeks passed and it was increasingly difficult not to miss his friends, his favorite teachers, and the math lessons that he liked so much. How did Alec never get tired of the monotony?

"Look, it's already taking shape," Alec exclaimed.

He was right.

"Do you think it looks like the one in your drawing?" he asked him.

"I don't want to give a verdict until you finish it, but yeah, it's a lot like it."

For David, Alec was a great artist. He was also a good brother and a remarkable student, judging by the diplomas on the walls of their old house. At the time, he had also been a good son, although David could not give proof of it. And neither did their parents.

Seven years ago, their parents had died in an explosion at the offices of the organization they were part of. It was called "Prodigies for the Alliance with the Non-Prodigies". His father preferred to call it "Anarchist Group" because the original name was “fucking dumb”. Over time, David realized that the real reason he called it like that was that he liked to see his wife frown every time he referred to her as "fellow anarchist Bianca."

"We are not anarchists," her mother insisted as she used her powers to levitate her cup of coffee. When she was angry, her blue eyes turned red. "We are—"

"Anarchists" interrupted his father. He turned his spoon into gold and raised an eyebrow.

“It is forbidden to use your powers at the table, Alessandro. And no, we are rebels. ”

"Anarchist rebels!" Alec exclaimed.

"Alec, your cereal, you're going to spill it!"

That was his last memory of them.

The news said it had been an accident with the gas pipes. There were some other theorizing that it had been a dispute between members of the organization.

"After all, so many prodigies in one place cannot be trusted," said a young lady from the newscast. “The prodigies are violent, even with each other. They don’t always know how to con—"

Alec appeared behind him and turned off the television.

"Don't watch that. Those are lies."

They had just returned from the funeral. David had not taken off his coat yet.

"Really?" he asked.

His brother nodded. “It was not an argument or an accident. It was an attack. And I have evidence to prove it. ”

The next day, he took David to the police station. Alec explained to the policemen about the bricks thrown at the windows of their house, about the graffiti that appeared on the porch, and about the death threats, their parents constantly received. He even showed them a box full of evidence, with photos and letters. But the only thing the policemen did was laugh at him and knock both brothers out of the place after Alec had the great idea of using his powers against them. That definitely hadn't helped their case.

"Mom would have thrown a chair at that idiot officer, too," Alec told him as they drove back to the house.

"I envy you," David mumbled.

"Why?"

"Because you will always have something of hers that I don't," he answered.

"David, look at yourself in a mirror. You are her living portrait. That is something I will never have.”

From then on, he took David everywhere, to the park, to the bank, or to the two jobs he had so they could pay the bills. David asked who would take care of him when Alec left for college in the fall.

"I won’t be going to college," he replied. "I already have other plans."

After so long, David finally found out about his brother's plans. He knew every last detail. They had spent sleepless nights talking about it and wondering what their parents would think. David was convinced that his father would be delighted, but he wasn't quite sure about his mother’s reaction. Alec assured him she would understand.

They had already tried everything. It was time for someone to do something for real. And that someone, was going to be Alec.

Finally, the helmet materialized in front of them. It was made of the most precious gold of all and identical to how David had imagined it.

Alec closed his eyes and held out his hand. The helmet began to levitate and slowly settled over his head. The sun streaming through the window revealed tiny golden particles floating around him. When Alec opened his eyes again, he appeared more fierce than ever. However, David was not afraid; he was amazed at his work.

"Perfect," Alec whispered. "It feels perfect. Nice job."

"Thank you…"

Alec stood up and headed for the door. "Well, I guess it’s showtime."

David jumped up and hurried to put on his shoes to catch up. Alec was about to leave when he realized what his younger brother was doing.

"No, David, you stay," he ordered.

"What? Why?" he asked indignantly.

“It is not an appropriate show for eleven-year-olds."

"But-"

"David."

Alec had not inherited his mother's eyes, but he had definitely inherited that horrible look that could intimidate even the bravest of humans.

David backed away, feeling pathetic and childish. The fact he was wearing one shoe and had a yogurt stain on his shirt didn't make him look more mature. He sat down on the floor and hid his face between his legs.

Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry.

"But who's going to take care of me?" he mumbled.

His older brother rolled his eyes as he approached him. “You are old enough to be alone for a couple of hours. Or days. "

"Days?!" 

He had never been alone for more than five minutes when Alec went to the store across the street. It was too much responsibility, how would he be able to handle it?

Then, Alec lifted him off the ground. David gasped. His brother had never been able to do that with such ease, but he had no time to be amazed, because judging by his expression, Alec was not looking happy at all.

“David, listen. This is not a game."

"I know," he replied, doing his best to imitate his mother's frown.

"I know you know it," Alec said. He hadn't intimidated him. “But I want to be sure that you understand the magnitude of what I'm about to do. It will be a massive change in the way the world is controlled. ”

David crossed his arms and looked away. Alec gently returned him to the ground and ruffled his hair, slightly chuckling. David couldn't help but smile. Just a little though. He didn't want his brother to think he agreed with the decision he had made.

There was no point arguing with him. The more time his brother spent there, the longer the beginning of the end would be delayed.

Immediately, he mentally corrected himself. Alec had said not to call it the beginning of the end. What he was going to do was not the end of anything; it was the start of the beginning.

"What do I do while you’re gone?" he asked, without turning to see him.

Alec put his hands on his shoulders. "Stay here as long as you can. Secure all doors and windows and don't go out unless it’s absolutely— ”

Somebody knocked on the door. Alec and David held their breath for the ten seconds that person stood outside their apartment. A couple of letters slipped under the door and the person left. 

David wanted to go pick up the mail, but his brother's grip grew stronger.

"Don't stop to help anyone, David," Alec went on. "As long as I'm not there, you're the only one who can protect you. Do you understand? No one else matters, no one else will help you. Only you can help yourself." He took him by the chin to make him look him in the eye. "Understood, David?"

He had never seen his brother have such a severe expression. Alec had never spoken so seriously to him and had never forced him to look at him. For a second, David thought that it was the helmet that made his brother seem more frightening. But it couldn’t be that.

After all, the world was about to change. It made sense that Alec changed too.

Would David change?

"Understood, Alec," he replied.

"Don't call me Alec anymore." He released his chin and smiled at him. “Now I am Ace. Ace Anarchy. ”

"Ace Anarchy," David repeated. He let the name finish to visualize inside his head. "I like how it sounds."

Alec ruffled his hair once more. "I knew you would like it, my little nightmare."

[sweetmemories2606]

Answers (Gruvia/Gajevy Fanfic) Chapter 2

Originally this was my prompt for Gruvia Week 2020 day 3: perverse, but as it often happens, the story decided to become multi-chapter. 

Here's the basic info to jog everyone's memory:

Title: Answers

Pairings: Gruvia, Gajevy (from ch 3), may include other ships as well

Summary: Everyone has secrets, but some are deadlier than others. Gray didn't imagine Juvia was hiding anything, until she was taken by the Magic Council for questioning.

Timeline: Grand Magic Games

Warnings: Major plot twist and incoming angst. 😏

Word Count: around 2000 words per chapter

Link: Ch 1 Ch 2

I hope you'll enjoy!

                                   ----------------------

                                 Chapter 2: Suspicion

"They sent you to infiltrate Fiore in case the invasion failed, didn't they?"

Standing up, Juvia glared at the two agents. "I refuse to stay here and listen to you make such accusations without evidence."

Doranbolt reached for the handcuffs before using his teleportation magic. Appearing behind her, he quickly placed them around her wrists.

Juvia gasped upon realising that they prevented her from using magic. Not good.

Returning to his seat at the table, Doranbolt gave her a determined look. "You're not going anywhere until we have the truth."

"If you give us useful information, we might consider not arresting you." Lahar said.

Juvia struggled against the cuffs, but it was pointless. "I don't trust either of you."

Doranbolt sighed. "Look, I'm giving you a chance to do the right thing here."

"The right thing." She rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Why do people always use that term?"

"If you don't cooperate..." Lahar threatened.

"You'll arrest me, I know." Juvia shrugged.

"But before that..." Doranbolt lifted a glowing hand. "I'll use my magic to see through your memories."

Juvia considered this for a moment, quickly coming to the conclusion that it wouldn't be the worst case scenario. After all, it's not like they would find anything useful there either.

"Go ahead." She shrugged, and the two agents seemed confused. "You won't find what you're looking for."

"Alright, then." Doranbolt pressed his hand against her forehead and closed his eyes.

                                   ----------------------

                                    At the infirmary

Gray was met with cheers and congratulations from his comrades once he re-entered the infirmary.

"Well done, Gray." Makarov was the first to congratulate him.

"It was about time." Cana rolled her eyes.

"You're a real man." Elfman yelled.

"I'm so happy for you!" Mirajane swooned.

"Wait a second..." Gajeel was the first to notice. "Where's Juvia?"

The mood instantly changed as people became confused, worried and honestly a little afraid.

"Gray?" Erza asked, leaving Natsu's side since she had been comforting him and taking a step towards the ice mage.

"She's gone." He answered and his mind replayed the weird moment from before in an attempt to understand it.

"Gone where?" Gajeel asked, his tone even more concerned.

"I don't know." Gray answered, sincerely. "She told me not to worry, but I can't help it."

"I'm confused." Natsu affirmed. "Did you guys get together or not?"

Everyone looked at the ice mage in expectation. "That's not really any of your business, flame brain." Gray snapped, a slight blush colouring his cheeks.

"Please." Cana scoffed. "If you wanted to keep it a secret, then you shouldn't have been so obvious."

Before he could protest, Makarov stepped in. "Gray, I understand you are a private person, but we just want you to be happy."

"And if being with Juvia is what makes you happy, we want help to make that happen." Levy continued.

"Speak for yourself." Gajeel muttered, glaring at the ice mage.

"I appreciate you wanting to help." Gray said after a few silent moments. "But I think it's up to me and Juvia now."

"And where is Juvia?" Makarov asked, looking worried. "Why isn't she with you?"

"She was taken by the Magic Council." The former revealed, ensuing shocked gasps and screams.

"But why?" Levy asked what all were thinking.

Defeated, Gray slumped into a chair. "I have no idea."

                                   ----------------------

                                   Outside Crocus

"I still can't believe she hurt Lucy like that." Meredy was still in disbelief over what they had witnessed earlier.

"It seems the Sabertooth guild doesn't care about humanity." Jellal stated pensively.

"Do you think they could be the evil we've been sensing?" Ultear suggested.

"Can't be." He immediately responded, shaking his head. "They were all in their stand yesterday when I saw the figure."

"They could've used an illusion like Raven Tail." Ultear wisely pointed out.

Meredy was thoughtful for a moment. "I don't think we should spend much time considering this."

"We've got bigger issues to think about." Jellal said, glancing at the crystal ball in her hands which showed the still image of Juvia walking away from Gray, following Doranbolt and Lahar.

They had been aiming to check up on Lucy, but once the image of the couple outside the infirmary appeared, Meredy insisted they watched this interaction. They knew why she was interested in the couple and couldn't deny their own curiosity.

Watching Gray try to confess was amusing and when they finally kissed the trio smiled in delight. However, the beautiful moment was soon ruined by the two Magic Council agents.

"Why do you think they want to talk to Juvia?" Meredy wondered.

"I don't know." Jellal frowned, worried and suspicious.

"It's not really our business." Ultear pointed out, making the image disappear from the ball.

"It could be, if she's involved in something dangerous." He told her.

"You don't think she is, do you?" Meredy's eyes widened, her disbelief clear.

Jellal and Ultear shared a look before he sighed. "I've always sensed that she had a connection to Zeref."

"Me too." The time mage admitted.

"But…" Meredy didn't want to believe it. She refused to. "She can't…"

"I remember meeting her when we were members of the Council, while she was still in Phantom Lord." Ultear mused. "There was a certain...energy to her which now that I think about it is similar to Zeref's."

"I didn't feel that." Meredy said, now conflicted.

"This without mentioning the fact that her file is nearly empty." Jellal remembered. "I always thought that was the fault of the orphanage where she grew up, but it could be something else."

"Well, whatever she's hiding, we should figure it out before someone gets hurt because of it." Ultear affirmed.

                                   ----------------------

                                       In Alvarez

"I still think that you should have killed her on Tenrou Island." Dimaria stated as the Spriggan 12 met with Emperor Spriggan to discuss the matter of Juvia Lockser.

"Why?" Irene questioned. "The girl is hardly a threat."

"You said the same about her father." Larcade observed.

"And she was right." Zeref spoke, silencing their argument. "Or are you forgetting that Daniel was the one who allowed us to dispose of the Council members that posed a threat to the Empire?"

"Yet why are we letting them live?" Larcade motioned towards the image of Doranbolt and Lahar that was shown on a screen.

"For now." The Emperor said. "But we didn't arrange this meeting to discuss them."

"No, we did not." Irene said as everyone became serious.

"We should focus on our latest mission to infiltrate Fairy Tail." Invel reminded them.

Dimaria voiced her opinion. "I still believe this is rather risky."

"I agree." Ajeel piped in. "Trusting a mere servant to gain us access to their inside information…"

"Well, if any of us went there they'd be easily suspicious." Brandish pointed out, looking bored as usual.

"Besides, we can't forget that our spy has a deep connection to one of their core members." August finally spoke.

"That is precisely why I chose them." Zeref stated with a knowing smile. "It's always easier for people to trust someone they think they know."

                                   ----------------------

                                   Inside the castle

"Are you sure that was the right call?" Doranbolt asked while organising the files.

"I don't know." Lahar let out a defeated sigh. "But we established that she's not a threat."

"That doesn't mean we can trust her, though." The former concluded, closing the now empty drawer on the desk.

"Of course not." The latter shook his head. "We'll keep a close eye on her and if she does anything suspicious, we can arrest her."

"Don't you think it would be better to take her now instead of waiting?" Doranbolt suggested.

As expected, Lahar disagreed. "We do not have enough evidence to arrest her now."

The former sighed. "Sometimes I hate having to do things the right way."

                                   ----------------------

                           Outside the Mercurious

Juvia left the palace feeling uncertain and unsafe. Even though she hadn't said anything incriminating nor did her memories reveal the truth, she felt like Doranbolt and Lahar remained suspicious.

She was grateful that they had let her go, though. The thought of being arrested and sent to ERA was terrifying, even more so when everything was finally falling into place.

Thinking back to her moment with Gray, she couldn't help but to smile. He had been so sweet, trying to tell her he felt the same and then politely asking if he could kiss her.

Juvia hadn't expected him to be such a gentleman, but it was a welcome surprise. She could only imagine how he would act if they did get together. At least she hoped this would be the outcome of the conversation they were meant to have later.

What if it isn't? She stopped in her tracks, suddenly overwhelmed by fear. Strange how she was more afraid of losing him than being sent to prison.

Another terrifying thought came. What if he finds out about Alvarez? What will I tell him?

Juvia sighed as she resumed walking along the palace gardens. She really needed to start figuring out what to tell him and everyone else about the interrogation. There must be a way to dissuade them from asking too many questions she couldn't answer.

She was about to start brainstorming when suddenly she felt a familiar presence. Stopping again, she looked ahead and sure enough there was a hooded figure not far ahead.

There was a moment of silence as Juvia stared at the figure, unsure what to do. Then, they suddenly removed their hood, revealing a familiar head of blonde hair and big brown eyes. It was Lucy.

[rewritingthefictional]

monet | colby brock

Summary: colby never looked at you as anything other than a best friend until all his friends started talking about how cute you were

Appearances: Sam Golbach, Katrina Stuart, Jake Webber, Aaron Doh, Corey Scherer, Kevin Langue, Aryia

A/N: this is my first colby brock imagine, well my first time in general at writing an imagine. i hope you guys like it. let me know what you think, or don’t, totally up to you. i am open to receiving requests but i can’t promise it’ll be done right away. anyway, enjoy, thank you!

Song: based off of See U in the Dark by Honor Society

Timeline/setting: still set in the traphouse

Word Count: 2.3k

Key: [Y/N/N] = Your Nickname

Female!Reader x Colby Brock

Masterlist

You were the best of friends. Like two peas in a pod. It was usually uncommon to see one without the other. Sure he had Sam, but their friendship was different from yours. 

You were his [Y/N]. 

The person he would go to for girl advice. The one he went shopping with because "I know what would really get a girl to fall for you Colbs." 

You were family. Someone Sam and Colby have known forever. Someone who went to their boys night sleepovers because you were the only girl who didn't scream during horror nights. You were the girl that punched Will Fisher in 6th grade because he was making fun of Sam and you just wouldn't let him get away with it. You were one of the guys. 

It was like any other day when you weren't at work. You weren’t really into the whole YouTube thing but you supported anything that Sam and Colby did. When they had decided to move to California you didn't hesitate to jump at the chance to leave with them. You had decided to do it differently though. You transferred colleges, stayed on campus and found your own way around the city. The boys admired you for it, but mostly they just loved that they could keep you around.

You were in the backyard with Aryia, Corey, Sam, Kat, Kevin and Jake. It was a hot day in the summer sun and you liked to take advantage of the fact that Sam and Colby had a pool. It made you jealous sometimes. Your apartment barely had a kitchen and though Colby had asked you plenty of times to come live with them you couldn't deny you loved the feeling of independence in your small home. 

"Colby, are you coming in with me?" you asked as you stood up from the chair.

"I will in a second, I'm kind of comfortable right now," he responded. You rolled your eyes but nodded anyway. You could feel the eyes on you as you pulled off your shirt. 

"I'm offended you didn't ask me [Y/N],” Sam stated but you knew he was joking.

“Didn't think you would want to leave my darling Katrina's side."

“Forget him, I'm joining you,” Katrina stated standing by your side.

“Hey! I'm right here!" Sam yelled causing the rest of the guys to laugh as you and Kat ran off. 

"Honestly Sam, I'm convinced Kat is going to leave you one day for [Y/N]," Jake joked causing another round of laughter to erupt.

"Colby, watch!" you yelled as you ran from the gate to the pool, doing a flip as you jumped into the water. A smile crept onto his face in admiration as you came above the water with a smile on your face.

"Where'd you learn that?" Colby asked.

"YouTube," you responded with a grin before Katrina gained your attention. 

"I can't believe you’re not dating her,” Aryia acknowledged while shaking his head. Colby looked at him in confusion. 

"Date her? Why would I date her?" he asked.

“Look at her, she's drop dead gorgeous," he responded.

“I don't know, I’ve just never seen her that way. She's my best friend."

"Our best friend," Sam corrected.

"I'm with Aryia, I’ve always thought you two would start dating. I mean, you basically are without the other stuff that comes with it,” Aaron commented.

"Man I would date her in a heartbeat, given the opportunity,” Kevin said. Colby wasn't sure why that comment suddenly made him uncomfortable or why he suddenly couldn't take his eyes off of you as you splashed water in Katrina's face.

“You would have to get through me first, I’ve already got her number,” Aryia teased.

"Oh please, none of you have a chance with her," Corey shot at them.

"That’s right brothers, I’ll be the real winner here. I see her more than the two of you,” Jake stated. 

"First of all, none of you are getting with her. She's like a sister to me and I won't allow her to be tainted by you hooligans,” Sam informed them. All the guys began to laugh besides Colby. He couldn't get their words out of his head and suddenly he was looking at you differently. You weren't the same girl he once knew. At once, all these new and different feelings were coming at him. Did he like you? Did he want to date you? And why did his pants suddenly feel tight at the sight of you in bathing suit? He just couldn't stop these sudden waves of emotions. 

You could feel him staring, and turned your head to send a smile and wave his way. He shifted before returning the gesture. You had decided you waited long enough, you just wanted your best friend to go swimming with you. Angrily, you stepped out of the pool and headed to the circle of boys.

“Colby, are you coming in or not?” You asked him. You tried your best puppy dog face causing more unknown feelings to arise inside of him. 

“Um no, I uh, I’m good, actually,” he answered. You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion quickly noticing the look Sam gave Colby. Suddenly you felt awkward and unwelcomed, had he not wanted to you to come over? Did you intrude on their little get together? 

“Right, well, okay,” you softly said before turning back to head to the pool. 

“What the hell was that?” Sam asked Colby when you were out of earshot. 

“What?” Colby questioned. 

“You’ve never said no to her, what’s going on?” 

“Nothing, I just didn’t feel like going into the pool.”

“Well, I do,” Aryia said aloud, standing to pull off his shirt. 

“Me too,” Kevin and Jake repeated simultaneously. The three of them took off running into the pool, making the two girls shriek as water splashed on them. 

Corey turned to Aaron, “Five bucks Aryia takes her out before Jake.” 

“Deal,” Aaron grinned shaking his hand. 

“What about Kevin?” Sam asked. 

“He’s got no game,” Corey joked. 

Colby watched as you jumped on Jake’s back as he proceeded to attack Aryia. With an ache in chest he decided to head into the house, he suddenly didn’t want to watch you around other guys. He didn’t like the idea of another guy having your attention. He was so used to being the main guy in your life and he wanted to keep it that way. 

A few days had passed without a word from Colby. You had no idea what was going on. It was weird. You and Colby had never let so much as a day go by without texting each other. But you had felt the weirdness since that day at the pool and you weren’t even sure if he wanted you to text him. 

With a groan you threw your head onto your pillow. You had the day off from work today, and it was usually spent with Sam and Colby but you didn’t want to cause any awkwardness. When your phone began to ring, you had hoped it was Colby but it only turned out to be Aryia. 

“Hey A, what’s up?” you answered. 

“Hey [Y/N/N], I was just wondering if you wanted to carpool to the party tonight? Ya know, to save the earth and stuff.”

“Party?” 

“There’s a party at the trap house tonight. Colby didn’t tell you?”

“No actually, it must’ve slipped his mind when we spoke, when did he tell you?” you softly asked, you were hurt but you didn’t want to show it. 

“Last night. So whaddya say? Wanna save the environment with me one carpool at a time?” 

“Sure A, sounds like a plan,” you chuckled at his lame attempt to be funny. 

“Perfect! I promised the guys I’d help them set up though so just bring a change of clothes with you. I’ll pick you up in 30 minutes!”

“30 minutes is not enough time to get ready Aryia!”

“You’ll be fine, you can get ready there!” 

“Fine.”

“Toodles!” He parted. You sighed before screaming into your pillow. What was going on with Colby? 

You began to slowly pack a bag for tonight, despite not being in a partying mood. You figured you could show up in jeans and a shirt then change into your favorite black dress, the one that hugged you in all your favorite places. 

Aryia had arrived exactly when he said he would. When you went down to his car, he gave you a kiss on the cheek as he opened the door for you. It took you by surprise, causing you to blush. That was new, Aryia had never been affectionate with you. 

The drive to the trap house was quick, you didn’t live that far from the boys. Making it easier to visit them whenever you wanted. However, this time you wanted to stay as far away as you could. 

As Aryia drove through the gates you noticed Sam, Colby and Jake placing balloons around the house. You watched as a huge grin appeared on Sam’s face at the sight of you. Immediately it eased some of the nerves you had. 

“Well if it isn’t my second favorite girl in the entire world,” Sam said as he approached. You watched as Aryia stepped out of the car to greet Jake and Colby. 

“It’s me she’s here!” You yelled pulling him into a hug. 

“With Aryia I see.” 

“Yeah he offered me a ride and also informed me about the party that I knew absolutely nothing about Mr. Golbach.”

“What? Colby didn’t tell you?”

“No, he didn’t” Sam furrowed his eyebrows but decided not to comment. 

“Where have you been? I haven’t gone this many days without seeing you since your parents took you on vacation.” 

“Oh god, worst week of my life,” you suffered. “I just took a few days to myself.”

“Well don’t do it again, I don’t like when you’re gone for this long.”

“Sir, yes, sir!” You saluted jokingly and he rolled his eyes. 

“Don’t keep her all to yourself Sam,” you heard Jake scold and you turned to see him walking toward you, Colby slowly following behind. 

“Jakey!” You yelled and he groaned. He absolutely hated that name and you loved to tease him with it. He wrapped you into a hug before threatening to kill you over the nickname. 

Next it was Colby. He looked uncomfortable and you weren’t sure if you should open your arms for a hug but he had beaten you to it. With a smile you pulled him in, but today it felt different. It was like Colby was holding on to you for dear life. Like he wanted to remember what it felt to have your body pressed against his. You suddenly felt your face get hot. You weren’t sure why you were blushing, you never had before but this was a different kind of intimacy. 

You and Colby had always been close. You’ve slept in the same bed before, wore his clothes, sometimes cuddled but this was different. You could feel his breath on your neck and you were sure your knees were going to give out on you any given second. When the two of you pulled apart, you were sure your face was as red as a tomato but the two of you didn’t mutter a single word to each other. 

“Well let’s finish setting up so we can get this party started!” Aryia yelled while fist bumping. You laughed and slowly made your way into the house to greet everyone else. 

Before you knew it the house was decorated as best as it could be and people began to arrive. Looking down at your outfit you had decided now was the perfect time to change. You had made your way towards Colby’s room where you left your bag of clothes. You had been in his room so many times you didn’t need to turn on the light just to change into a dress. Besides, you had enough light from the moon to guide you, you would be quick anyway. 

You had only just taken of your shirt and pants when the door swung open. Colby froze in his tracks, the light from the hallway highlighting your features. 

“I'm sorry,I uh, I- I’ll just go,” Colby stuttered. 

“Wait don’t go,” you responded. “I need someone to zip up my dress for me.” You informed him as you put on the dress. You didn’t feel uncomfortable changing in front of him, you had always done it before. 

Colby stepped inside, closing the door behind him, allowing the moon to be the only source of light that surrounds you. 

“We’re okay right?” You asked him as you turned around. 

“Yeah we’re fine. Why?” You could hear his footsteps approaching you. 

“You’ve been avoiding me ever since the pool party and I’m not sure why.” 

He didn’t respond. You could feel his hand grab the zipper, he slowly pulled up the zipper. His finger grazed along your back, as if purposely trying to feel your skin against his own. Your breathing slowed, the moment between you two felt intense. When he reached the top his fingers lingered for a moment before he removed them. Remembering that he never responded to you, you decided to face him. 

“Colby-”

You were interrupted by the feeling of his lips on yours. On instinct you began to kiss back. Your body suddenly craved his and you instantly knew that all along you were meant to be with him. He was your one and only, you weren’t sure why it took you this long to figure it out. 

When he pulled away, he looked at you before tucking a piece of hair behind your hair. 

“My window frames you like a Monet. If tomorrow we go back to being just friends, I'll think about the way you look tonight.” 

“Colby, I don’t want to go back to being friends. I never thought about us as an us until today and now I can’t stop thinking about it.”

“Good,” he responded, crashing his lips against yours again.

[anotherbeingsworld]

The day we met.

Pairing: Bryce Lahela  X F!MC (Casey Valentine) 

Rating: G 

Word count: 1440 

Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters, it all belongs to Pixelberry. 

Author’s note: Hi, this is my first time writing in a while and i have the courage of posting this! So, this is sort of a different version for when MC and Bryce meet. I love their first meet up in the first book, but this is kinda like an alternate timeline-ish! Its full of fluff since i’m a sucker for fluffiness hehe! Also, I want to say thank you to @annekebbphotography​ for her advice that she has given to me before, it really helped! Also, i want to say thank you to @maria-soederberg​ for reading it and helping me with this story! She had helped me a lot and THANK YOU to you both! Go check out their stories tooo! Also, to all the fic writers on tumblr for inspiring me to post this! You guys are awesome for putting your work out there! <3 

______________________________________________________________

It is a beautiful day in Boston, the sun is shining, the birds are singing on this wonderful afternoon. The park was packed with people who was interested in relaxing time. There were those who are walking their dogs, families who are having a picnic and even a group of kids playing on the playground.

And then there’s Casey Valentine, doctor at Edenbrook Hospital, smiling widely at the prospect of the day. She and her friends are on their day-off from the hospital, and their daily routine such as work, and the sound of distress.

She was playing Frisbee with her roommates Sienna, Jackie, Elijah, and including Elijah’s girlfriend Phoebe. They had a rough start, since none of them are professionals. But, after a long tutorial on all social media platforms which approximately took an hour before all of them to got the idea of how to play Frisbee. The more they play, the better they get.

‘Casey, go long!’ Sienna shout as she released the Frisbee in her way. Casey was determined to catch it, but eventually ended up falling and bumping into someone.

‘Ouch!’ She squealed as her body crashes into the person opposite her. The mystery person stood up, and picks up the Frisbee which had flown a few steps away ahead of her.

He offered his arm to help Casey up, as an apology for running into her. Casey took his hand, and ended up frozen on the spot. His brown eyes, hypnotizing her for a moment that felt like an eternity, his hair was a bold choice, which she didn’t mind at all and his body was something that should be framed into a museum or even being placed into an art gallery.

After it felt like an eternity, Casey was pulled back into reality as her friends ran to check on her. Sienna immediately placed her hand on her wrist to check her pulse, along with the stranger who is looking at her in a concern demeanour.

‘Casey! Are you alright?’ Sienna asked her.

She rubbed her elbow, and nod to her. Casey accept his offer, and gets up with the help of Bryce after being in a wild imagination about this attractive man in front of her.

‘I’m going to say sorry, but now I am not sorry because it led me to the presence of a beautiful girl.’ The man said whilst flirting with her.

She felt her cheeks burn at his comment, she gazes towards Sienna and Jackie who are giggling at the whole scene. She felt her blush increasing as Sienna whispered something into Jackie’s ear that made them both smile. You could compare the smile with children who got free passes to Disneyland. There would be no difference.

‘My name’s Bryce and I think, I should let you go back to the game.’ He flashed a smile and was about to leave when Sienna called.

‘Bryce, let’s play Frisbee together! We’re dividing into teams of two, you should join us.’ Sienna said to him, making him instantly nod at the suggestion.

‘Good, now Casey c’mon!’ Sienna dragged her arm as they made their way back to Elijah and Phoebe who are in a deep conversation with each other.

‘We’re doing this two versus two; Me and Sienna, Elijah and Phoebe, Bryce and Casey! No questions!’ Jackie announced as they get into position.

Casey nervously made her way to Bryce who’s grinning at her presence, she smiled back but cannot contain her blush to appear when she is around him. Soon, the game commence and the teams play furiously. Jackie’s new profound focus, along with Elijah’s intellect skills caused Casey to feel a bit nervous. Bryce seems to notice and immediately placed his hands into hers, giving her a piece of comfort to ease her nerves. And it helped Casey to play perfectly with Bryce which lead to the fact that they won many games.

Both Bryce and Casey cheered for their victory, and Casey immediately pulled Bryce into a tight hug without realizing what she has done. When the adrenaline ebbs away they suddenly realise in what situation they are and instantly pull away with blushes on their cheeks. Sienna and Jackie both giggle at the ‘incident’ which causes Casey to hide her face in her hands.

 After a dozen of rematches, the sun is finally settling down. Which makes them end the game with the winners being Elijah and Phoebe. They decided to celebrate the victory with a date that was due for a long time. Sienna and Jackie said their goodbyes to Bryce as they headed back to the apartment leaving Casey and Bryce alone at the park as the sun is setting down.

‘You wanna stay for a while, I have a sweet spot to watch the sunset.’ He offered. She didn’t hesitate and nods, not wanting her day with Bryce to end yet. They took a small hike to a secluded hilltop which is a few miles away from the park.

After a few minutes of hiking, they arrived at the top of the hill and Casey is speechless. The view is amazing, they can see everything from up here. They even arrived on time to see the beautiful sunset, letting the sky changes its colours. 

 Both of them sat quietly with each other, admiring  the beauty of nature. Casey suddenly felt exhausted and her head started to feel heavy, so without her really noticing, her head falls onto his shoulder. But then she quickly stood up, and apologized. Bryce just shook his head, pulled her back next to her and offered his shoulder as they sit and watch the beautiful sunset. They both collecting back their energy after the game of Frisbee.

 The night became darker every second, as Bryce walked her home. They stop in front of the apartment and nobody moved. A voice inside of her screamed to not let him go yet, but she’ll be selfish wouldn’t she?

Casey took a deep breath as she stared into Bryce’s eyes as his eyes wanders over her body. Both of them knew that they don’t want it to end, but some things have to end somehow.

‘I guess this is it’

‘Unfortunately’ she muttered under her breath.

‘Hey, I had a lot of fun today. I never knew bumping into someone would turn this day into an adventure.’ Bryce said happily.

Casey smiled at his comment, ‘I had fun too, and thank you for showing me the spot. It’s truly a wonder.’

‘I’d like to do that again sometime, if you want. If you insist-‘ Bryce was stopped by Casey placing a sweet kiss on his cheek

He smiled and they decided to trade numbers with each other, and another sneaky kiss from Bryce before they parted ways. Casey is now laying on her bed, smiling at the events that occurred today. Little did she know, Bryce was doing the same thing.

The next day, she woke up bright and early to get to her shift at the hospital. A walk to the hospital was a breeze as Casey spared all the details to Sienna about her ‘date’ with Bryce the other day.

The day was filled with a busy shift for all the senior residents, interns and surgeons. An accident at the Grand Bridge occurred causing the hospital to be busier than usual but the good news, they were no deaths involved. Casey stepped out of the busy ER, and decided to get to her lunch break. She was distracted by thinking about the cure for Mr Razier’s disease, which ended up making her bump into someone once again.

She immediately apologize for her clumsiness, but instead she froze. It was him, Bryce. He was making his way to her direction as he bumped into her. He was wearing a pair of green scrubs. He looks different in his working attire but in a good way. Casey immediately stood up offering her arm to Bryce as he took it.

‘I wished for this moment to a shooting star last night, and I cant believe it vame true’ Bryce said as he winked at her.

She blushed and said, ‘I didn’t know you work here, and we always happen to be bumping into each other.’

‘Well, I wouldn’t mind seeing your beautiful face once more.’ As he said that, she felt her spine shiver at those words. She took a deep breath, and faces him.

‘I’m having lunch, you want to join me?’ 

‘Well, never say no to free stuff right? Loser buys the other one lunch!’ Bryce said before sprinting forward leaving Casey to catch up from behind.

‘I’m coming for you Bryce!’ She let out a giggle before catching up to him. 

Maybe this year is gonna be fun after all.  

THE END.

 Authors note #2: I hope you all enjoy it! Its been a while since I write, I apologize for any language mistakes since English is not my first language. Dont forget to like and reblog, it helps with to ease the nerves (*insert monkey covering its eyes emoji*), and thank you for reading! <3 

[onigirimsby]

Royal!AU Akaashi x Reader? Also, I'm the anon who sent in the idea! I hope this is enough information. (:

Hi! Thanks for the idea! I’m so sorry this took so long :) I got distracted lol Anyway, I couldn’t decide what kind of royal au so i said why not 3 diff ones? hahahaha I hope it’s okay that it’s fem!reader

I feel like a proper royal au has GOT to be multichapter tho! You need room for the development, and the pining! 🥰

Royal AU Headcanons (akaashi x fem!reader)

The appeal of AUs is the idea that no matter the universe, they will find each other; no matter the timeline, they will fall in love.

Medieval Royal AU

You are a young princess, and Akaashi is your brother’s best friend. 

He’s a duke’s only son who likes to play knight, and his family has been loyal to yours for as long as history can remember.

On this particular day, your brother yells out Akaashi’s name and you can’t help but lean outside your window.

There he is, on the palace grounds, looking lean and strong and majestic upon his horse. You want nothing more than to run down to meet him.

You can’t help admiring the way he dismounts his horse.

As soon as you think that, he looks up, as if he’s heard you (impossible). He smiles and waves while your brother chats absentmindedly.

You blush and wave back, glad he can’t see you very well from that distance. Your brother playfully punches him on the shoulder when he realizes what’s happening.

As soon as they’re looking away, you retreat back to your room and beg your lady-in-waiting to let you finish your embroidery later. It takes a lot of pleading and promising but she finally relents.

You run as fast as your heavy skirts allow and the palace staff have to pretend they’re not witnessing something so scandalous.

“Akaashi!” As soon as he hears you calling, he whips around, smiling as you approach him all flushed and with your hair messy from the exertion.

“Your Highness” He bows and you remind him he can call you by your name.

In a moment, a servant arrives with your favorite horse saddled and ready. Akaashi helps you onto the animal. His grip on your waist is respectful, though he lingers a beat too long that even your brother notices.

When you straddle the horse instead of riding side-saddle, Akaashi blushes, and you wonder why, since you’ve always ridden that way when it was just with family and very close friends.

Your brother sets a comfortable pace as the three of you ride, but it’s not long before it turns into a race.

You win, of course, and you’re not surprised when Akaashi follows in second, not too far behind. You dismount, and watch him ride into the secluded hollow that was the finish line.

As soon as Akaashi dismounts, you pull him close to you.

“Your Highness, it’s not proper.” He says, though he’s smiling as he presses a kiss to your lips.

“Akaashi, you’re going to have to stop calling me that.” You say, reluctantly pulling away from the kiss. “People are going to assume my fiance has forgotten my name,” you kiss him again, and this time his arms wrap around your waist as he pushes the two of you deeper into the shrubbery. “Besides, that’s not how you address a duke’s wife.”

“Oh, forgive me, your grace,” Akaashi corrects himself as he smiles into your kiss.

Ancient East Asian Royal AU

Your household is in a flurry as Akaashi unexpectedly visits your sprawling mansion. He’s young, but experienced in battle, and rumored to become the Emperor who will unite your nation. Or at least, that was his goal.

And you were the daughter of a nobleman who’d gained renown for being especially clever and wise.

When you reached marrying age, the expected suitors arrived, that much was normal. What no one expected was how difficult it would be to woo you, and how much of a prize you really were.

For starters, you’ve refused to show your face, despite rumors that you were beautiful, and you’d insisted on conversation and strategy games as the methods through which you’d pick your groom.

Another oddity was how you attracted suitors in the first place. Why would a well-respected, wealthy man work so hard, only to be rejected by someone they’d never seen. Sure, you were a nobleman’s daughter, but there were many of those in the country.

You were rumored to be beautiful, yes, but what really drew them was the challenge of outwitting you when no one else had. What had them coming back was the shame in being outwitted by a woman time and time again.

This is what had the young future-Emperor visiting your home. Akaashi knew if he were to unite his people, he needed a wise Empress to rule by his side.

When you welcome Akaashi into the room he kneels in front of your shrouded dais, and your glad he can’t see how nervous you are. You aren’t prepared for him. If he weren’t the future Emperor, he would’ve had to ask permission to visit, or announce his intention. And you had never expected to attract his attention in the first place.

Akaashi admits he isn’t especially eager to marry, let alone someone he’s never met, but he tells you he only wants someone wise and capable to rule by his side. He’s humble, and obviously cares for his people, and you guard your heart. You’ve fallen for those tricks before.

So, you give him his first riddle, and though it takes him days to solve it, in the days between, he visits you, still, just to talk.

The second puzzle is a task. It’s an impossible task, of course, unless he happens to listen to the advice of a lowly maid who has no right to talk to royalty.

The “maid” is always you in disguise. You want to see how your suitors treat those they don’t seek to impress.

To your surprise, Akaashi listens to the “maid”, and is thankful when the advice proves useful.

It goes on like this for an entire year; longer than any other suitor’s attempt. 

He takes his time solving your riddles and puzzles, and you do your best to determine what kind of person he is. And all that time, he never once asks for your hand in marriage.

On the weeks he is absent to tend to his duties, you find yourself missing him. And upon his return, you’re excited to talk to him again.

He returns one day looking tired and bedraggled. He apologizes for his appearance and says he’s preparing for battle, one harder and more dangerous than any he’s faced before. And finally, he asks for your hand. If he survives - if he wins - he could not imagine anyone more capable to rule by his side.

To his surprise, you push aside the curtain of your dais so he can see who you really are.

“Let that be the final task, then.” You tell him. “Come back to me, win the battle, and I’ll be your bride.”

Modern Royal AU

You didn’t think you’d actually end up in the same class as the Crown Prince.

Of course, you knew he was entering the same university, since it was all over the news. You just didn’t think...

You try your best to act normal around him, because lord knows it must be weird enough being a prince. And you try not to get too annoyed when random people try to get pictures of him as he’s entering and leaving class.

You cringe at the thought of accidentally ending up in one of those pictures. Not that anyone would recognize you.

Your luck runs out when you end up working on a major project together.

How were you supposed to do your best and get a good grade when you were so intimidated by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Akaashi the Pretty or whatever?

And when he asks if you can work in his apartment (for obvious privacy reasons), you don’t expect a whole penthouse.

For what it’s worth, Akaashi does seem a bit shy about the opulence, and you do your best not to stare.

When you end up on the cover of a magazine (Scandal: Prince brings home mystery woman), Akaashi immediately apologizes and gets “his people” to take everything down.

You almost feel bad for him (after all, it was really just a blurry shot of your back), but you’re sort of terrified. It was a creepy invasion of privacy.

The next time you work on the project, you decide to book a study room in the university library.

The room feels too large and quiet, since they’re usually for larger study groups, and it’s awkward.

So, you babble to fill the silence and tell him it’s okay, and you feel worse for him. Until you realize how inappropriate that is, and apologize profusely. But you’re surprised to find him smiling.

Things warm up between the two of you after that. He’s a perfectly nice and well-adjusted person after all, and your a breath of fresh air from his formal and constrained life as a prince.

You’re surprised that you’re a little sad when you have to turn in the project, because that means no more convenient excuse to hangout.

That is, until Akaashi bashfully asks you out.

And he’s shy and scared because he knows his life is high-stakes, and it’s anything but casual, so he’s even more surprised when you say “yes”.

[maxparkhurst]

How did you create your characters? What was your process?

TMI Tuesday:  How did you create your characters? What was your process?

// <offers out a chair> You’re going to want to sit for this. It’s going to be a LONG story. For those who’re looking for a short answer: I’m actually in the middle of creating these two. Edits and tweaks are always being made to make them appear real and true. And it’s thanks to everyone on here and in-game that they’ve progressed so much. 

Now for the long version. 

<buckles seat belt> 

Evolving as an Author:

Maxinora and Augustine Parkhurst are a culmination of ideas inspired by a myriad of things. The process of creating them isn’t linear. It has a lot of pit falls, unexpected twists and turns, and a ton of hills. To understand how we got the current versions of these two, we need to go back a couple years ago. 

It’s the summer of 2012. In efforts to get me off of his account, my Dad gifted me my own. This was when I made my first ever serious roleplay character- a hunter named Evelon Holmwood. Well, at the time I spelled it like Evavllyn but...Yeah. We’re going to gloss over that fact. Now, Eve was my pride and joy for the last several years. I played this character nonstop, refusing to play or write about anyone else. In retrospect, I used this character more as therapy than anything of creative merit. 

Eve’s story was basic at best. But I got better with story-telling the older I got. Unfortunately, her story got so convoluted that I had hard time salvaging anything from it. Now, you’re probably asking: How does this relate to Max? Fear not. I’m getting there. It was around this existential crisis that a mutual friend of my boyfriend and I convinced us to leave WoW and hop on SWTOR. My boyfriend was more than eager to make the switch but I was skeptical. Leaving WoW meant leaving Eve. And was I ready for that? 

He assured me I was and helped me make a character on SWTOR. This was the first iteration of Max. A bounty hunter from Nar’Shadda named Maxinora Fenrik. My intentions was to make her a lowkey copy of Eve. At this time, I wasn’t very confident in my writing abilities and liked to stay in my lane. But, the more I roleplayed this character the more she took on a life of her own. She evolved past Eve and exceeded my expectations. Playing a new character bolstered my confidence and while I no longer play SWTOR -due to OOC reasons- I still have fond memories with this character. I enjoyed this character so much that I reused several components of her design when making Max. Some which include her name and being blind in one eye. 

I flipped between the MMOs when Legion dropped. Expenses started to pile up and between the two subscriptions I didn’t have the time to play both. In the end, WoW won my affection and I made a Blood Elf because I had friends on Horde Side. Rorien Hawkthorne was her name. A drunk artist and master assassin. She’d be the second iteration of Max. She had an older sister complex, an affinity for being melancholy, and it was my first experience with playing a character who could kept secrets- or tried to at least. Another new character under the belt and I was feeling a little more confident in my story telling abilities. I’d probably would’ve kept playing that character if not for OOC drama happening in a guild I was in. The fallout had me jump back to the Alliance where I indulged in creature comforts. It was back to Eve. 

Tumblr made an entrance in my life around then as I ventured forth with a refreshed look on my hunter. I salvaged what I could and made a half-decent story. A lot of her misadventures are still posted up on her blog @evelonholmwood​ On the side I made the third iteration of Max. A fire mage and blacksmith combo by the name of Rowan Celwick with her younger brother Thomas Celwick.  They were just two orphaned kids trying to make a life in Stormwind. Rowan was an arcane drop-out and blacksmith wannabe and Thomas...Was...Well? Thomas? A glorified side-piece? A way to garner pity for Rowan. I didn’t place a lot of emphasis on them or their characters. My main focus was Eve. But these two would be the underlying foundation of Max and Auggie’s characters. 

I eventually took a hiatus from WoW and focused on more personal writing. The details are boring so I’ll gloss over it by saying that creating a character completely from scratch was the final push in the right direction for me. Fast forward several months to a year aaaaaand BOOM! Pandemic. 

Writing is an escape for me. It’s one of my best coping mechanisms during trying times. And when nothing else works, I over indulge in some Warcraft. So, I resubbed. There was hesitance when re-entering the RP scene. I didn’t leave Eve’s story off on an convenient note. For lack of better phrasing, I wrote myself into a hole I couldn’t get out of. So, with the help of my boyfriend, I decided it was time to give Eve her happy ending and shelf her for good. 

Which put me in a dilemma! Who was I going to RP? Well, you remember the Celwicks? They became my newest project. 

The Creative Process: 

I knew the Celwick story was weak and read much like a middle-school fanfiction. Revising was a must. But there were integral pieces to their story which I enjoyed: 

Familial Sacrifice 

Juxtaposing concepts

Intertwined Fates

These were themes I could work with and evolve. Keeping these in mind, I started to deconstruct the Celwick story line. They were no longer Gilnean but Kul’tiran. This prompted a name change from Celwick to Parkhurst. And I won’t lie, I like the sound of Parkhurst better than Celwick. Thomas became Augustine and Rowan became Maxinora (Mainly because I actually HAD the name Maxinora and not Rowan). The little changes got me hyped for the characters. 

Next, I started to trim away the unnecessary details that bogged down the narrative. Things that either didn’t fit or made the timeline too convoluted were replaced. Pyromancy was a great example. The age I wanted Max to be wouldn’t yield to her understanding of Pyromancy. At least, not to the level I WANTED it to be. SO, I turned it into lament’s magic. Alchemy. (I also always wanted to play an alchemist since watching FMA) 

A girl with two professions seemed excessive as well. I had to look at why I wanted her to be both an Alchemist and a Blacksmith. The answer was simple. I just liked the juxtaposition of an intelligent woman being rough and tumble. Which made me ask: Was Blacksmithing necessary to achieve that imagine? The answer was no. To pay respect to her previous iteration, I made their parents blacksmiths. It also let me keep themes of fire in her concept. The change in profession brought on a change in her appearance. I made her a little more slender to fit with the alchemist appeal. 

Max’s aesthetic was brought on by my previous characters.  Rorien inspired more internal facets of Max while Fenrik inspired outward appearances. Max’s auburn was strictly a decision made on the fact that I had one too many character’s with black hair. There wasn’t any other reason for it. 

Designing Max was easy. The real challenge was with Augustine. Up until that point, all I had to go on for his character was Tommy Celwick and...Well. There wasn’t a lot there. He wasn’t much more than a poorly used trope and I considered doing away with him all together. But I realized that I REALLY liked the trope and I liked what he did for Max’s character.  So, I buckled down and made myself think through all the reasons why Thomas Celwick -AKA Augustine Parkhust- needed to exist. 

I decided that I needed him in order to present themes in Max’s story. He was the foil to her character. Cynic older sister? Meet optimistic brother. He also appealed to not only the three themes listed above, but also the newest one I wanted to explore: two sides of the same coin. Max and Augustine are simultaneously the same, having similar traumas, and yet different. If for nothing else, Augustine could help propel Max in the right direction. Be her moral compass, you know? With a bit of half-assing here and there, I managed to get a decent character out of Augustine. Took the cliche nerdy brother idea, physical design and all, and ran with it. Shortly after I  made their Tumblr account. In no way did I expect this BOY to take on a life of his own. Like, Auggie knocked on my brain’s door and was like, “Yeah. No. I’m not a side character. Give me my own story...” 

Which will bring me into my final point! 

The Characters Write Their Own Story: 

I’ve never been able to sit down and plan a story. My mind doesn’t work in such a structured fashion. It wanders and explores. When I’m creating, I’m watching. Watching the scenes play out before my eyes as these characters take what I’ve given them and grow into something almost independent of me. The basic pieces of Max and Auggie’s back story, along with character design, were purposeful. Yes. But everything that came after was THEM.

It’s cliche, I know, but I can’t describe this experience any other way. These two grew outside of my influence and now dominate a space in my brain. They talk, work, and interact without me. I mean...Not REALLY. But...It feels like that. It feels I’m watching through a keyhole and just recording what I see as their story plays out. 

I guess a better analogy is me being the director. I’m watching the movie in the stands as two actors improv. On good days, I’m in control and rework scenes until I’m satisfied with the results. Try this. Move here. Say this. On bad days, I don’t see anything. My actors went home. The lights are off. Show’s cancelled for the day. These days make me sad...But they’re worth it because on the BEST days...The best days Max and Auggie run the whole show, and I am watching through the keyhole as their story unfolds little by little. 

It’s truly magical. 

The last part of their creation was the voice. Character voice, for me, is like building muscle. You need to work out. Start small and work your way up in weight. Every little piece I wrote made their voices stronger; and that’s including asks and threads. Interacting with other characters helped to flesh them out as people. And while it was hard and intimidating at first, it’s started to become easier. 

Wrap-Up

My method is messy and untrained. I don’t claim to have any secrets. My knowledge of writing is mediocre at best. But I’m having fun. And that’s were the real magic of any character comes in. Fun. Because if you aren’t writing about something that sparks your soul- either with love, happiness, hatred, etc- then it’s nothing more than a forced, hollow husk. Writing is meant to evoke emotion. At least in mind. And want to express complex emotions and share them. In a perfect world? My characters -any of my characters- resonates with someone. They become the escape someone needed. That’s the ultimate goal. 

It’s thanks to all of you that Max and Auggie have come this far. It’s from their interactions with others that they’ve managed to evolve into something incredible- especially Augustine. He just kept shining brighter and brighter until I felt obligated to make him an in-game character. So, you all are just as much a part in the creative process as me. Thank you! 

And a special thanks to my boyfriend for always being a sound board for my rambling ass <3 

THANK YOU FOR THE ASK, ANON! Sorry I posted an essay...<3 

[color-ns]

So I made an undertale fanfic, with my own characters, and my own story. There will be other characters and AUs that I didn’t make, but this is completely original. And I am SO nervous. I am definitely not a professional, and I’m probably really bad, but I wrote 3 chapters and I’m extremely nervous but also exited to show them. Also I’m sorry but I don’t know when to stop a chapter so I’m sorry in advance because the chapters are really short.

Thank you @zu-is-here for saying I shouldn’t be scared to post them on my own blog, and giving me the courage to do so! Thanks!

Anyway let’s get to it! Welcome to the story of wormhole!

P.S: this is 13+, and even tho tumblr is also 13+ please don’t be mad at me if it’s too heavy for you, because I’m not responsible for exposing kids to things they shouldn’t be exposed to. Thank you and I hope you enjoy this!

**********

prologue



Once a hundred million timelines a glitch appears, a being will be born with no soul. It’s a forgotten one, and usually it doesn’t even affect the timeline at all. But this time, THIS time, it did more then affect the timeline.

It created a wormhole.

Chapter 1: it’s a life I swear

Before you read this, remember, these things can happen to you too, and thoughts like these are common! I’m just living my life, like a normal person, and I’m normal! I do have some problems, but everyone has problems, so it’s normal and I’m normal. oh also don’t tell anyone you read this. Thank you!

I’ve been dreaming.

It’s kind of new, because dreams are something I don’t really like so I never do it.

I hear it’s very uncomfortable too. People wake up from them and can’t go back to sleep, they can be scary, or weird and only on special occasions they can be nice.

So I never do it. If it hurts so many people, nobody should do it, and I shouldn’t either. so why people do it anyway? But I think it’s rude to ask.

I started dreaming. And I can’t stop. I thought I would be scared but I wasn’t. It wasn’t what I expected too. It’s all white. And voices. SO MANY VOICES. It’s horrifying. But I don’t feel horrified. Why is that? I should shouldn’t I?

it started to really affect me, I think. I’ve started to hear the voices even when I’m not sleeping. At first it was just before I fell asleep, so I thought I was dreaming that I’m hearing them awake. But then i started to hear them when I was alone and completely awake.

at first it was distant, but then became louder. It was more like people yelling then whispering. No, more like loud whispers.

I told this to my brother, and he was surprised, saying “you never had dreams before! Maybe you’re getting better!”

...He didn’t tell me everything he felt. The way he acted, his movements and facial expressions reveals everything. He thinks that I never talk about myself, and he’s happy I’m talking about what’s going on with me. He’s also worried about my condition so “me getting better” is an improvement at every way.

But he’s right. I think? It sounds right. No, I heard that’s wrong. Still, is it wrong? what am I thinking? it’s wrong, he’s wrong, I’m wrong, I should just listen.

.....

Maybe I shouldn’t talk about this with other people. I won’t inform the doctor. yeah. Sounds right.

I want a job. My brother works, other people work, and I’m old enough to work as well. But I’d like a workplace that I can be alone in. Maybe I can be a sentry. My brother works at the royal guard, so with this job he can keep an eye on me so I won’t get into trouble. Is that wrong? No that’s right. I’m right. I’ll ask him the next time I get the chance.

I’m a sentry? Is that right? Yes that’s right. The leader of the royal guard told me “if a human comes here, kill it and do it like you’re life depends on it.” Is that right? It sounds... bad. What am I thinking? I’m overthinking everything too much lately. it sounds completely right. Why wouldn’t it? It IS right.

I heard the royal guards fight for many different reasons. I think- no, I know my reason is I need human souls. I.... know why? I have more reasons, I just don’t know what they are yet.

Anyways, what she said is completely right. All humans should die. And it doesn’t matter what it takes, I’ll kill every human that comes down here. Even if I die in the process.

... I think I’ll keep these thoughts to myself. And the voices of course, don’t yell!

I’m starting my first shift tomorrow. Everything is falling into place.

Chapter 2: WHAT IS HAPPENING?!

My dreams are always so happy. It’s weird that everyone I know dreams of bad things but everything I dream about is always so beautiful. But how can you not like the silence? How can anyone dislike the blank never ending white? How can you not adore the voices that whisper so loud? How can people wake up from a dream like that? It’s always so interesting. And everyone is so kind. Maybe I’m just the only one that likes these kind of things. No, wait my brother said thinking about me being different from others is bad- WHO CARES ABOUT WHAT MY “BROTHER” SAYS?! I’LL THINK WHAT I WANT! I HAVE A MIND OF MY OWN!

.....

I apologise, WE have a mind of our own.

I don’t like people. They can be loud, annoying and they all smile, all the time. Why can’t everyone just whisper? It’s way better. Actually, they can do what they want. Just don’t do it with me.

...does that make me different?

.....

In some way, I hope so.

Now that I have all of this time to ourselves, I like to look around. I found out there is a door at the end of town. And if I’m correct, it’s probably the end of the underground as well. Will a human come through here?

I should guard it with my life. no human will survive.

I need magic. My brother always told me to start small, but I don’t care what he says because everything he says is wrong. to kill a human I have to be the strongest. I have to learn to summon a weapon. One that will succeed. I’ll train near the door from now on.

I did it. It took 2 weeks of training but I finally made my very own weapon. it’s beautiful. It’s long, sharp, and perfect for a good stab between the ribs. Also it has the most accuracy. I like holding it. Throwing it. Swinging it. Spinning it. Cutting with it. Cutting trees, cutting the snow, cutting the ground, cutting stone, cutting wood, and sometimes myself. It hurts, but seeing it cutting things is enough pleasure to endure the pain. i can’t wait to see it cut through human bodys. Just imagining the experience is making me smile.

..... what’s wrong with me? I hope that a human comes quickly so this feeling will go

Away. I like it too much.

The door opened. Too much yelling. STOP.

I killed it. I have a soul. The sound of the knife.... it was VERY satisfying.

I think, I’m supposed to absorb it. I didn’t think about it that much. I just took it and-

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO! ITS BURNING! EVERYTHING BURNING! I HAVE TO GET TO THE WHITE-

Oh. That’s better. So calm. Quiet. Alone. It’s ok. I’m ok. We’re ok.

Chapter 3: nothing.

I don’t see anything. I don’t hear anything. I can’t taste, or smell. Except myself. Now that I think about it, the only real thing here is me.

Even my shadow hates the voices. that’s probably why it left us. How low did I get? Did the pain do this? Did I do this? Did the voices do this? Did the soul do this? Was it the human or myself? How did I get here and why? Why am I here? Why am I in the middle of nowhere? Aren’t I supposed to be everywhere? And how did I get to the middle? Is there even sides or ends?

I don’t think I like the white anymore. It hurts. It’s so loud I can’t get up. It’s so loud my body screams back. I feel my eye sockets exploded. Everything hurts. It hurts so much, even the voices scream in agony. It hurts so much, this place is in pain too.

I feel like every part of my body is breaking itself and fixing itself together, just to break again. It’s endless. I’m just cutting myself, the pain will go away eventually right? but it doesn’t. It never does. It’s endless. It’s repeating. It’s a circle. It’s burning. It hurts.

Why does the white hurt me? I’ve done nothing but love it with all my heart. I’ve been only good to you. Why are you treating me this way? I’ve adored your silence, your hunger, your emptiness. Every minute I’ve known you I only loved you, and I never forget you. Yet you hurt me with no mercy. Have you no feeling for me? No love? No friendship? Not even trust? I ran to you when I needed help. Why are you pushing me away? I trusted you. As beautiful as you are, I’ll never trust you again. Goodbye.

Let. Me. OUT. Do not play games with me. If you hate me that much then you might as well let me leave. I’ll kill you. I’ll destroy you for hurting me. I’ll destroy you for hurting the voices.

...

BE SCARED!! REACT! DO ANYTHING!! LET ME OUT! Please... let this pain go away....

Why are you torturing me like this? Do you like seeing me get hurt? Is that why you brought me here? To trap me and see me go insane from pain? Well let me tell you. I’m already insane. I doesn’t even matter. There was already something wrong with me. So you can let me free. You can stop the pain.

No.... stop... you’re killing them.... no no no no no.... please....

It’s getting quieter. I’ve never hated the quiet more in my life. I’ve never hated something like you more in my life. You killed every single one of them. The last told me to run somewhere safe. They cared for me. They told me right and wrong. They helped me in difficult times. When I was hurting. When I was scared. When I needed help they came. You. You stood and watched. You said nothing. You did nothing. You just look pretty. I don’t know why I even liked you in the first place. You just hurt. You monster. Imposter. Traitor. Heartless creature. Killer. You’re horrible. Every part. Even your beauty is pure evil. I hate you. When I escape I hope I never see you again.

I feel sick. I’m going to throw up. I can’t. My head hurts. More then usual. Everything is spinning. I just want so sleep..... to stop the pain..... sleep.... I shouldn’t.... I... sleepy....

I woke up. How long was I sleeping? Ugh. I don’t feel real anymore. I think I changed. Did YOU change me? Wait. There is something- No, someone here. With me. Who are you? Wait, you were here the whole time? you didn’t realize.... you are actually here.... did you sleep? Did the pain awaken you? Who are you? What are you?-

Stop it with the questions. I’ll answer them all. Slow down first.

...

You’re the human aren’t you.

You’re real. You’re here. I killed you. But you’re still alive. Thank you. I was so alone. I don’t care what brought you here anymore. You came. I’ll be forever grateful for this. I’ll do whatever you want! If you don’t leave again. I’ll give you my life. My power. By body to control. My mind. You can have it all! Just don’t leave me alone. Please. It’s all I’m asking for. I’m begging you. Plea-

I said stop.

...

I’m sorry. It’s too quiet. I don’t like it.

Honestly, me either. Let get out of here.

I can’t, we’re trapped-

Didn’t you just told me you’ll do anything for me? Then I say we leave this awful place. come on! Let’s go!

Ok. I’ll try. But only for you. One, too-

It’s spinning! THIS WAS A BAD IDEA- ugh.

Let’s never try this again. I feel sick.

I’m.... I’m free. I can hear. I can see. I can smell. I can taste. IM OUT! YES! THANK YOU, THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Ok ok I get it, stop yelling, we don’t know where we are!

I doesn’t matter! I’m free! I’m alive! And I’ve never been happier! Anywhere is the best place in the world as long as it’s not there! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

But you!... I... ugh. your welcome. I hope you feel better.

Better! BETTER! This is the best day of my life! I can’t even explain this feeling! It’s freedom! Real! Not broken, not a dream, no pain! My soul is breathing in relief! My body isn’t burning endlessly! My pain is healed! And colors! Black! Blue! Green! Gray! Brown! Red! It’s beautiful! It’s hugging me, saying how they missed me! I’ll never leave them again! So warm! So cold! So much of everything!

Wait. Did you say red? Where?

Oh red! So bold! So loud! Such a pretty color!

Yes, but where did you see it last?

Oh, but it’s right here! See, behind that tree! Oh trees! I’ve missed you! So insignificant! So useless! But so colorful! Green! Brown! Gold!

Hey! Don’t lose focus! you... what IS your name?

Right! the red! Where was it again?

answer my question!

But it doesn’t matter. My name has no meaning to the world, and I have no need for one.

You don’t have a name?

People called me “sans”. I don’t like that name. It doesn’t fit me at all.

Then what SHOULD I call you then?

.....

Wormhole. I take all the happiness around me without mercy. Usually I never even intend it.

It does fit better then “sans”. Well done.

..... thank you.

Oh. Blood.

Yes. As you mentioned red, I suspected it was blood. gross.

It is gross.

Yes- huh?

What wrong?

You change your mind completely! You thought blood was beautiful, and the moment I said it was gross you agreed! Like you thought that from the very start! Why?

Well it’s just right. You said it. You think that way. You think it’s right. Then it is isn’t it? I was wrong, and now I’m right.

Wormhole, that’s not- huh. Then, what if I told you all humans are evil and will try to kill you the moment they see you?

Then it’s true. Do you think that way? Is it right?

I see. First of all, yes it is true. Also I’m not a human. second of all, I’m your best friend. You will trust no one else except me and the ones I trust. You will do as I say no matter what. I love you and you love me. Do not forget that, no matter what I do. Got it?

Sure best friend. Also, what is YOUR name?

It’s cha- I mean, my name is... um..... real. I’m real. Nice to meet you, um, new best friend.

Of course real! It is very nice to meet you!

Wormhole, listen to me. You feel tired, not physically. You want me to take over your body for an hour. You CAN do this. This will not affect our soul and mind in any way. You just give me the control for an hour.

Right. Let’s do this.

...

It worked. Heh. This will surely be amusing. Welcome to my world little puppet.

*********

There you have it! I know it’s very short.... but I prefer story’s with less detail and a lot more happening. I already in the middle of chapter 4, so you’ll have it as soon as I finish it. Thank you so much for reading!