#i believe in giant fallen heroes

[snail-noodle]

"my my my... what do we have here?"

you shivered in fear at the gigantic being before you. you and your cookie friends had tried your best to seal the rift in the tree with white lily cookie. however, your actions proved pointless. white lily cookie's powers were still too weak and your time had run out. you all watched in horror at the towering cookie grinning down from above.

"it's been so long since we've seen new faces! we were starting to get bored being by ourselves in here..." shadow milk cookie smirked as he took a look at each cookie standing before him. when his eyes had reached you, his gaze stayed far more longer on you than the others. you trembled from his piercing stare, a small whimper escaping from your lips as you backed away and hid yourself behind pure vanilla cookie.

shadow milk cookie chortled at the pathetic display. "Oh, how I have missed the faces of fear from you cookies! Never gets old!" now that the rift had opened big enough for him to pass through, shadow milk cookie stepped out of the silver tree that had kept him and the others imprisoned for so long. the smaller cookies screamed in terror as they scrambled to get out of his way. every footstep he took practically shook the earthbread beneath their feet.

"pure vanilla cookie!" fear clouded your mind as you tugged your leader's arm in desperation. "what are we going to do?!" anxiety gripped your heart when he hesitated to think of a solution. one of the most powerful beings in all of cookiekind has just been unleashed and is ready to bring chaos to the world once more. just how on earthbread will any cookie be able to stop such beasts?

before pure vanilla cookie could even think of an answer, you cried out in alarm as you were suddenly lifted into the air. the other cookies screamed your name as you watched their forms grow smaller and smaller. you gasped as you were face to face with the grinning jester.

"what a cute little cookie you are." he eagerly examined you as if he were a child that had been given a new toy, turning you this way and that. "it's been ages since i had a little pet to dote on. you'll make a fine addition to my collection!" your mind raced as you tried to understand what you have just heard. a collection? a pet to dote on? what on-?!

your thoughts were interrupted as you heard a snap of... fingers? confused, you found yourself locked inside some sort of bird cage; the bars were thick enough to keep you from escaping. shadow milk cookie cooed as he watched you attempt to break free. "no-!" you tugged and pulled at the bars keeping you in.

"no! y-you can't keep me in here! Please!" you cried out to him in desperation. shadow milk cookie only giggled and shook his head, "ah, ah, ah! you're staying right by my side, my little cookie." you shuddered in fear as he began to summon his powers once more. shadows seeped out from your surroundings and from his body. multiple cold blue eyes stared at you and the cookies still down below.

"now, my dear..." with a clap of his hands, monsters of every kind stepped out from the shadows, ready to obey their master. with a manic grin, shadow milk cookie spread his arms out in grandeur to the cookies below. with a perfect view from above, you could only watch in horror as your friends were surrounded at every side by monsters of different sizes.

"let the show begin!"

[iniziare]

Re-tag drop: Yelan

[butchvamp]

i finished the game last night, here are my unpolished thoughts about the final act and what i liked & didn't like. this is very long and probably incoherent lol

what i liked:

the whole final battle was awesome, i loved the combat, and i really enjoyed the huge cutscenes of everyone fighting together. i had been really disappointed earlier about the lack of a battle scene at weisshaupt a la ostagar in origins, and this definitely made up for it

i liked the suicide mission and actually getting to assign people their roles in the battle

i LOVED Solas's betrayal, that whole section in the fade prison with the statues was one of the strongest scenes in the game, i think the entire relationship between Rook and Solas is really well developed. as the player, we know Solas is manipulating them, but i think they did a good job making it so it's still believable for Rook to fall for his tricks, especially with the Blood of Arlathan quest before this. (also it's very obvious Solas is Weekes' favorite, wish they would have just stuck to him and not all that other dogshit...lol)

i liked the idea of Varric's role here, but not the execution. i'll come back to this lmao

the giant dread wolf and archdemon fight was cool as fuck. no notes. that's just classic rule of cool, baby

also i had Davrin in my party while fighting alongside Solas and i really enjoyed his banter with him and how hard he laid into Solas's ass. it was very satisfying. yippee go Davrin!

okay. now. what i didn't like (sorry not going to bother with bullet points, it's going to be longer down here lol):

while i liked the suicide mission structure, i hated how the game all but told you who to assign where. there were no stakes at all, there was no way to get it wrong unless you did so intentionally.

this also brings me to. The Choice. between Davrin and Harding. i understand the need for a "fallen hero" here, it ties into the entire theme of regret with Solas as we see in the fade prison, it was necessary for Rook to be the person "at fault" (aka directly make the choice that ends with someone getting killed) but this choice was dogshit. it also was really fucking stupid to see Harding climb up and stand atop a giant stone pillar, and then NOT use her stone magic!!! i don't hate the idea of someone dying here, but this was just a series of failed choices over and over again. we should not have pitted returning fan fave Harding against the single Black companion (who comes in late and barely even gets his own story outside of his damn pet)-- it should have been Harding (narratively satisfying, she's been here since the beginning and dies for the fight) or Lucanis (he is literally the guy taking the shot), we also shouldn't have tied all the dwarf lore revelations to a character that can just fucking die at the end, and we shouldn't have had her stand on a giant stone pillar when she has STONE MAGIC!! i knew this choice was coming but her death still caught me off guard cus i was fully expecting her to collapse that stone pillar on her, not use her stupid puny bow 😭

i think this choice is also weakened by the fact that it's THEE only choice. it's obviously an echo of the earlier Treviso and Minrathous choice, which also didn't really seem to affect much outside of potentially losing the corresponding factions (and i think Lucanis's romance gets locked out?) i saved Treviso, so i got the Treviso questline later, and i assume that you get a Minrathous specific questline with the Shadow Dragons if you save the other instead (haven't seen myself tho so i'm not sure, just guessing). but it's very easy to recover the Shadow Dragon's reputation, and the final battle takes place in Minrathous no matter what. the only way for companions to die or the battle to fail is to just straight up ignore quests. you can't lose a faction's support at all unless you intentionally try to do so. i don't even think you can lose companions at all unless you intentionally ignore their quests and place them in the wrong spot. though the game still holds your hand through the battle and basically Tells You who to put where so they survive.

and to be fair. this is true for the suicide mission in mass effect 2, but the thing is, there is so much more dialogue and variations with how you can play your character and interact with the companions and the world than there is in veilguard, it makes it feel like you do have more control over your character and the narrative, even if it's just the illusion of choice.

and then with Solas, it doesn't matter, he always ends up trapped/linked to the Fade, it just changes how he feels. (they also do this with the First Warden. i was excited for a potential variation between punching/not punching, but all it changes is his attitude when you find him later in Davrin's quest) okay.... well. is he going to return again after that post credit scene? and are they really going to write 3 (or 4, with lavellan i guess) different branching personality variations?

i think the powers that be just wanted to get rid of him in a way that would still leave the dragon age setting ultimately unaltered and open for more games in the future. especially given the secret post credits scene. which i also have an issue with. we're going to go from "it was all the Evanuris fault" to Actually, it was this secret third thing and everything we did was for nothing! AGAIN! if they want to make more dragon age games, they can just... start a new story. do they know that. (the fact they're implying Loghain was influenced by some outside force to do what he did at ostagar actually has me livid lol. leave origins alone!!!!)

anyways. now the fade prison. i have two issues, my main one being Varric. i actually started to suspect early on something was up with him, because he just sits in that damn infirmary the entire game, no interactions, barely any dialogue. i think Varric was horribly underutilized in this game, and it results in all of the emotional beats around him falling flat for me. of course, it's emotional for ME, the player, because Varric is a fan fave returning character and one of my own personal favorites. as far as i've seen in game, though... Rook has no relationship with him at all. i think this game would have been vastly improved with short playable origins that showed the two meeting and developing a relationship, and also he really really needed to have more scenes and dialogue in general. he's barely in the second half of the game, literally just sitting all by himself in that damn room, and even when he is in the cutscenes he has one single line that everyone obviously just ignores. it sucked. very disappointing finale for a really beloved character... it could have been so good if it was good....

because i DO love the idea of Solas using him to manipulate Rook (and i really like Varric and Solas's relationship & the way they contrast against each other), and also the idea of how being tricked in that way would actually affect Rook-- what's real, what's not, can they even trust what they're seeing at all anymore? especially when Solas "glitches" between Varric and Lucanis (idk if it's always him or your LI? would be cool if it's your LI, that's what i assumed) after slaying Ghilan'nain-- this could have tied in with the final romance scene. but of course the game doesn't get into any of that at all.

and now issue 2. how the fuck did Solas do that LOL. how did he switch places, how did he get out, how did it take Rook in his place when it was designed for elven gods? where are the other elven gods (did i just miss this explanation? did the other two just kill them in there)? 🤷 when did this place suddenly turn into a prison of regrets? was that Solas's presence influencing it, or did he do that intentionally for Rook? dont know! who cares. moving on...

i romanced Lucanis, and i was really disappointed with his romance. the final scene was sweet, but.... i think particularly with Lucanis you can tell so much of his story and arc ended up on the cutting room floor, it feels disjointed and as if we're missing pieces, and you can feel it in his romance, too. i also really didnt understand the "keep flirting (not a lock in) or end it now" choices that didnt feel like they did anything at all. why was i given like 3 different times to break up with him when we weren't even dating yet lmao. the romance was a bummer, of course i love the setting and the story but i go into these games expecting strong romance along with it and i was really banking on that being the highlight in this mess of a game but. alas

this also segues me back into the whole "trapped in the Fade prison" section. why was there no reunion with both your LI and everyone else? apparently Rook was in there for WEEKS!!! they hardly communicate this and Rook just reappears and jumps straight back into leading the team, no tears or questions asked about how they found them, how they got out, what everyone was thinking while they were gone... we also get a deus ex machina knife, how convenient that they did all that while i was gone and no explanation is given as to how it could possibly fool Solas, just trust us bro! 💆 i feel like trying to craft our own copy of the knife should have been something actively happening in the background throughout the entire game, and it gets finished while Rook is in the Fade. but this truly came out of nowhere lol

again i think it's obvious things were cut and rewritten and maybe this was the result of a frantic scramble to come up with something that would work, and i'll be generous and blame it on that, i guess...

when we finally get to the final confrontation with Solas, i was very excited, because again i feel like Rook and Solas's relationship is the best in the game, Solas's writing is consistent and strong, i knew this scene had to be good.... and i guess it was? but it felt so unsatisfying. i chose to fight him (my Rook would do anything to get him to shut up) and i was hoping for. an actual fight. you can do it with Mythal earlier in the game, and we already saw his giant wolf form, i was so excited. and then. no<3

okay! sure. we beat him with the power of friendship (not surprised and not even making fun of it here, it makes sense narratively, i knew some version of this was coming after the whole comparing Rook versus Solas bit in the Fade) but come onnnnn i wanted to fight the giant wolf.... sigh. i did check out the other endings as well, and it's clear the redemption ending is the "true" ending and also the best written one imo.

overall. this was a bad dragon age game. i had a lot of fun playing it though, so it's not a bad game game. the gameplay loop never got boring, i never got tired exploring or doubling back, i loved the maps, i loved the combat, and i did love the companions. but the writing is atrocious and racist. this is a horrible dragon age game. i don't know where i fall on recommending this. again, i've had a lot of fun playing and dissecting it, but i dont know that i could recommend this to dragon age fans. this would have been way more successful as a completely different fantasy game. the changes to the lore, disregarding the majority of the games that came before it, the horrible depictions of returning characters (the inquisitor and isabela were the worst offenders for me) the setting and characters feeling watered down and incomplete, the complete lack of the classic "grey morality" shtick (even if it's not always been implemented well)... idk man. bummer! it's obvious there was a cohesive vision at one point, i do think this game is a casualty of the current state of the gaming industry (i was honestly surprised it was functional on launch. not shade at bioware just in general that is rare to see now) we know EA thrashed bioware throughout development, and bioware made a lot of really bad choices, too (the racism is absolutely their doing, they made that choice back in inquisition). but we can see, particularly in the artbook, that there were good ideas & an intention to actually tie everything together and give this story the finale it deserved... but it all got lost along the way in a very ugly, chaotic development. and the game really suffers for it.

[some-messed-up-writing-for-you]

A strange eldritch monster of the abyss just visited my dreams and called me a "CREATURE".

I have never been happier and more flattered. 🤭

I need to go immortalize this thing in art, lemme write up a description:

It was a massive giant, crawling out some dark pit. It might've been a bit goopy? The shadows dripping off of it. Its face was a long round snout with equally long ears sitting at the top of its head. It crawled on its belly to me. It seemed wounded and exhausted by its eons of existence. And yet, it was very pleased to see me. Like it was waiting for me.

When it opened its mouth, it looked as though all the teeth had fallen out of its gums, and yet its lips/face was shaped like razor sharp fangs.

Its eyes were, of course, two empty pools of darkness. Actually empty sockets/holes, I believe.

When it spoke to me there was no voice and yet at the same time there was??

As it was talking, it moved its right hand forward, growing extra fingers to have just enough so it could spell the word "CREATURE" with them. There was no sound of bones breaking, just smooth movement as the fingers took on the shapes of the letters.

During this dream I was also roaming some other word?? Of darkness?? For some mission??

Particularly, I was trapped in a labyrinth with super tall hedges as walls. At the end of the dream, I did end up becoming one of the shadowy creatures (Hell yeah!!!).

And I was infiltrating some building with superheroes in it? I think it was some kind of hero school thing.

And then my cat woke me up from my nap... (Noooo.....)

AND NOW THIS LITTLE SHIT IS COMPLAINING ABOUT THE FOOD I GAVE HIM CAUSE HE WANTS OTHER FOOD???

I was experiencing gender euphoria in there and you had to wake me up just to whine??😭😭

[averagemrfox]

2 for the ask game for each member of team RWBY!!!!!

Alright I’m home from work and have had time to think

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

First of all this goes for every single one of them and my individual answers might overlap with this we’ll see. I love how much they’ve all grown and persevered! They’ve been through so fucking much both together as a team and separately and have come out on the other side of it. They were kids!! They made bunk beds and had food fights and were starting to figure out the types of people they wanted to be and then got thrust into Remnant’s Worst Divorce™️ and throughout all of it have only grown closer as a team (not friends family!!) and still have hope that they can make the world a better place (Keep moving forward!!!) (They all need therapy tho fr)

Ruby: she’s perfect just the way she is!! This is supposed to be about the canon things I love about these character but god do I want Ruby to see herself as an individual separate from Summer. I think she’s getting there after her talk with the blacksmith. She’s just so accepting of people without hesitation. Penny is a robot? Don’t care new best friend. Little is a talking mouse? Don’t care new best friend pt 2. I’m sure there’s other examples but she’s always so ready to just let people be who they are and I wish she’d give herself that same grace

She’s also just a giant fucking nerd. About weapons about comics about video games

Weiss: 🗣️🗣️I DONT KNOW WHO YOU THINK YOU ARE BUT LET ME TELL YOU WHO I AM. I AM THE GRANDDAUGHTER OF A HERO AND THE CHILD OF A VILLAIN. I AM A CITIZEN OF A FALLEN KINGDOM AND AN HEIR TO NOTHING. I WILL NOT BE DEFINED BY MY NAME BECAUSE I WILL BE THE ONE TO DEFINE IT. I AM WEISS SCHNEE AND I AM A HUNTRESS🗣️🗣️

Also I love that she’s canonically a fairly well known (at least in atlas) singer. Now I’m not sure she’d do that by choice based on what we saw in v4 but it’s super cool that that This Life is Mine is canon to remnant because of that. Also Jacques made her sing and she was like alright bet and then roasted him in song on stage in front of all those people and we don’t talk about that enough I think

Blake: I say that’s my baby and I’m really proud

Blake tells Sun she joined the white fang 5 years ago in v2. She was TWELVE she was a BABY!! If I had to give Blake a word the way she gives others a word it would be conviction. She never gives up on what she believes in. And she does her best to support others in doing the same, in v7 she tried to encourage ironwood and in v9 she tried to encourage Ruby poor girl got shut down both times but she tried!!

I also love how Blake is canonically a good artist and would like to see more of that. crwby show us a drawing Blake made of Yang

These:

Yang: this girl can fit so much love in her god. She goes to any and every length to protect the people she loves even if it’s to her own detriment (which someone really needs to have a conversation with her about) the Yellow Trailer tells us straight away that there’s more to her than meets the eye and yet there are people who fell into that trap anyway and criticize her character for “not being fun anymore” as if that isn’t the point!!

She’s so confident and cocky until a pretty girl Blake flirts with her I love the disaster lesbian representation.

She punched god in the tiddies!!! And she’d do it again I bet! Maybe we’ll see her punch one or both of the Brothers next I’d like that

This:

[signed-sapphire]

The Fallen Star ✨

A Wish rewrite

Asha redesign 💜

Hehe hi Anny sorry I’m basically stealing your reimagining format… let me know if you want me to change it

Anyways hi! Inspired by so many amazing Wish reimaginers (yes that’s a word shut up), mainly @gracebethartacc/@gracebeth3604 and the aforementioned @annymation, I decided to post my own rewrite! This being the character details.

Now, unlike the prior AU Ashas, my Asha acts less like a Cinderella and more of a… Kusco. If you catch my drift.

But don’t worry! Our girl is going to go through some major character development!

But first… let’s get to meet her!

(Ignore the shit quality this is the only art I have of her atm since I don’t have my ipad with me… will update with better photos later)

Princess Asha Arabella Arman is the heir to the throne of Rosas, the kingdom of wishes

It was founded by none other than her adopted father, Magnus Arman

She was raised by Magnus and Amaya for the past 8 years, and has been coddled quite a bit

All three of the Armans lost their homes to to the evil Stars, so Asha is against everything to do with Star magic

Just like the movie, Asha is 17 years old, and can’t wait until she turns 18 and can wish to become a great magician like her papa

No matter how hard she tries, wish magic doesn’t work for Asha, something she finds extremely frustrating

When this happens, she has a tendency to lash out and snap at people

Many servants have been fired for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but they understand

At least, the older generation does

Stars destroyed their homelands with their greedy magic, and Asha just wants to be as great as her parents

Though… they do think she could be nicer about it

Asha’s parents are always quick to come to her rescue and smooth things out after her temper blows up, rehiring staff and gently reprimanding Asha

They’re not the best parents but like they adopted her when she was 9, they don’t know how to deal with kids

Still, they love Asha as their own

Gonna get more into the king and queen of Rosas in part ii, back to Asha!

Becaude her parents are such great heroes, Asha feels very strongly that the citizens of Rosas should be treating them as if they are the most grand royalty ever

And as their daughter, she should be awarded some of the same privileges

Except none of the teenagers her age seem to like hanging around her, always calling her snobby and self-centered

Excuse me? She was not self centered! Asha just believed her kingdom deserved the best, and their rulers even better! Obviously!

Personality traits

Stubborn

Loyal (to those she deems worthy)

Spoiled

A bit naïve

Insecure but covers it up with WAY too much confidence

Bad liar. Will be important later on.

^But SUPER good at pulling out her “I’m your princess I’m better than the air you breathe” face when needed

Never seems to take her duties seriously… think Rise!Leo if you can

Backstory

So my rewrite’s epilogue is posted already, but imma put her angst here too anyways~

Stars used to help people fulfill their own wishes, until one day they got lazy and started simply granting them instead

This method messed with the system and drove the Stars crazy, mad with power, and they started destroying kingdoms to get more magic

Little Asha’s village was unfortunately one of the victims

Sakina and Tomás barely had time to react before the glowing streaks of light crashed through their roof

Screams echoed through the chaos, and giant hands made of twilight ink scooped up villagers

Tomás and Sakina grabbed their little girl and huddled over her protectively as another blast of scorching light exploded through their roof

When the dust settled, and the harsh glow had faded away, there was only one sound left in the village

The sobbing of a 9-year-old girl, crying and begging for her parents to wake up

That’s when Magnus came across Asha, and took her under his wing

He could fight away Stars, so Asha stuck with him

It took a WHILE for her to learn that Magnus wasn’t going to harm her, but hey, Magnus had her back through it all

After he and Amaya founded Rosas, Asha was reassured that she would never have to see a Star destroy everything she loved ever. Again.

Oh, Asha, if only you weren’t the protagonist of your story

Design

BEFORE I DO ANYTHING I WANT TO GIVE A HUGE SHOUTOUT TO @mythartist21 BECAUSE THEY DESIGNED BASICALLY THE WHOLE LOOK FOR ASHA AND CIELO GIVE THEM A ROUND OF APPLAUSE AND GO CHECK THEM OUT

*Ahem* So I did a bit of a deep dive into Asha’s design in the “pilot” over here BUT for her fully updated design today, notes below (a lot of it copy-pasted from here)

Asha’s concept art was inspired by Moroccan and Amazigh fashion, so @mythartist21 added a bunch of inspiration from that in her design

Our girl has her hair accessories back!

I gave her fuller lips and a longer nose bc we only had Jasmine for the nose rep in Disney Princesses, and she’s Afro-Hispanic! Show off her black features!

I also darkened her skin bc… I get that people from North Africa can have lighter skin, heck, Pepa from Encanto showed good rep for the lighter skinned Colombians! But like… we only have one other black princess. Let’s show off that skin color diversity

She also has wider shoulders, a bigger chest, neck, and waist, bc she’s not white but also WOMEN WITH MUSCLES>>>

Asha isn’t super jacked but she does have muscle defining and I want to write in a scene where she has no sleeves on so we can appreciate her arms

RatLD had Namaari’s back and my bisexual ass needs some more women to simp for

Eyeshadow as a reference to Elsa but also I felt she needed some color on her face. Miiiight change it later on when I add in her hair beads but for now she has eyeshadow

Gonna keep the many Rosas symbols bc she’s the princess of the kingdom, what do you expect?

Also she just looks older in general (even though she’s still seventeen like canon!Asha) which I think lends itself to her royal status idk

+ technically more realistic proportions which ig can be a callback to the times when animators did rotoscoping?

Dimples. Bc they’re fantastic

I TRIED to draw Asha with her fine braids, but people were complaining that canon!Asha looked too much like Isabella Madrigal, and with TFS!Asha having darker skin + longer nose structure + more haughty personality? Yeah, I gave Asha back some body in her hair

Idk I tried to make them look like the braids from this concept art ⬆️ (imagine they’re like this… I did the art at like 3am okay)

I HC that Asha’s canon outfit is her younger self’s outfit, down to the detailed braids done lovingly by Sakina

But after the incident with the stars…

Let’s just say Amaya tries her best, and Asha appreciates it

I also finally modeled our girl a crown! Based off of Amaya’s weird ass canon one, and the tiara look of the early Disney Princesses

Gotta make one for Maggie too…

[thenewfuture]

Soooo, what are your thoughts on the latest episode of Despair Time?

Okay, got my affairs in order to talk about this. Despair Time returns after an over 1 year hiatus. Let’s see what we got.

We finally figured out what Charles meant by fucked after all this time. The murder itself could have took place at 7:30 am, not pm. Meaning that why speculation or cloyed perceived previously goes out the window as none of that matters anymore. And that’s what this episode is, the crew realizing they’ve hit a wall and have to chip around it.

There are some good characters moments here and there as they get understand my frustrated at this, but overall, and I am not docking the DRDT Dev at all with this and mean this in the nicest way possible, this entire episode…….was a waste of time. A majority of his episode are spent characters arguing and nagging at each other for mistakes and but were still nowhere close to what actually happened. It makes matters worse when Charles has to chime in and go, “Hey! Can we get back on track, please?! We’re wasting time!” I feel like a lot of scenes could have been cut to make the trial flow better, but hey, I’m not going to backseat ^^;

Now onto the a certain a blue-haired fallen star. David. Now a week ago or so, you’ll recall that I spoke to Suicune saying that I thought David is indeed the bastard he says he is.

Turns out…..I was wrong…

I’ve also mentioned before how I personally think that Xander should have still been alive just so he could see his “beloved hero” turn out to be this giant piece of scum and dirt, and how he doesn’t care about anyone or anything.

….I was wrong…

From how David goes on about Xander, his motivations, his ideals, everything about him up until this point. He cares. David cares. Something pierced his whole edgy persona. David….isn’t the bastard I thought he was.

……Huh… Adding onto this…

Now I’m not saying that David is entirely right here, or some misunderstood soft boy like the canon fandom will make you believe with Nagito and Kokichi. But I was under the belief, I’m sure like many people…that David was empty and had nothing to care for. But look at him now. Talking about something more important to everyone than a bunch of strangers… Does he have that? What is it if that’s the case? How low is he willing to go for this, if at all?

…What goes on in your head, David? I don’t understand you….but it compels me… You intrigue me…I have to know more…

Anyways, after all that. Alibis are questioned and we’re getting nowhere until the cliffhanger of the episode which is….

I’ve had a feeling that Levi’s secret could have been something like that given from what’s left and this confirms it. Of course, this also crosses him off as a suspect because if he were the killer, there would be no way he’d just reveal this outright to everyone.

So who do I think the killer is….I have no idea :/

Like I said, there was nothing truly learned about the case this episode aside from only a few minor things, the Dev was right; we have a loooooong way to go for this trial. It’s just getting started. But, that’s what next week’s all about! Tune in next time when in the next episode, we’ll get-

….Professor Teruko…. Well alright then!

-Mod

[aimportantdragoncollector]

I give you the title "The Dragon's Quest" for the Three Weeks of Trioholders' game!

Dragons my beloved!

As a baby dragon, Yoichi dreamed of being a knight and going on quests. However All for One always told Yoichi that dragons weren't allowed to be the heroes of stories, and besides, Yoichi was the runt of the litter and too weak to leave his cave. After he grew up Yoichi finally learned how to turn himself into a human and snuck out to become a knight. However his magic isn't very strong so he still has to hide his scaly tail.

Yoichi finds knights Second and Third and begs them to let him come along on their quests even if he has to be their servant. Both of them are shocked at how naive Yoichi seems. They take him along partly to look after him.

Second is a prince in disguise and Third is his betrothed, going on one last quest before Second gets crowned as king. Absolutely everyone knows this except Yoichi.

Third warms to Yoichi first and agrees to let him be a squire. Second acts annoyed but secretly likes Yoichi. When the trio is sent after a giant, Yoichi surprises them by negotiating with the giant and striking a truce with the town instead of killing anyone. Both of them are impressed. They agree to knight Yoichi.

All for One followed after his brother in secret to protect him (cough to sabotage him.) He's not happy to find his dear little brother getting along with two humans--and even more shocked that Yoichi seems to have fallen in love with the fools. All for One interrupts Yoichi's knighting ceremony by setting fire to the castle and revealing Yoichi's tail, framing him for the crime.

Second and Third refuse to believe it despite heavy pressure and investigate to prove Yoichi's innocence. Yoichi gets granted the title of Royal Dragon Knight and marries both Second and Third. All for One doesn't get an invitation to the wedding for being a douchebag.

(Reminder that all of these are free to use in my Three Weeks of Trioholders event.)

[triforce-of-mischief]

A Wild Beedle Appears

Summary: Slate and Loft encounter a familiar face on the road to Hateno.

Word count: 540

AO3

AU belongs to @ezdotjpg/@bonus-links, go check them out!

Reblogs > Likes!

The sun was low as Slate led Loft through the Dueling Peaks, and sunset had fallen by the time the stable came into view. Slate was a little more blunt than usual as he spoke with the stablehands, hoping to board the horses and continue the trek as fast as possible.

“Uh, Link? You might need to help him dismount,” Peony said, and Slate turned to see Loft still sitting on his horse. The stranger chuckled nervously when he noticed Slate’s quizzical stare.

“I’m fine! Should be just like a loftwing, just- give me a second,” Loft said.

Slate shrugged and handed Murderer’s reins to Rensa. The two shared a secret eyeroll as they heard Loft struggle to dismount, culminating in a painful-sounding thud.

Loft brought Apple over to stand beside Slate, giving the horse a final pat before Rensa took their mounts away. The resident stable dog wandered over and the stranger gladly switched his attention to the new animal.

“Is that who I think it is?”

Slate groaned, recognizing the voice immediately. Of course the merchant just happened to be at this stable. He could’ve sworn that he had seen that giant backpack on the opposite side of the Floria Bridge…

“It is you! Hi, Link! Who’s your new friend?”

Slate sighed and whirled around, resigning himself to another conversation. ‘Hi, Beedle.’

Loft suddenly lost interest in the dog rolling at his feet. “Wait, what?” He blinked and rubbed his eyes like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “You know a Beedle too?”

“Not just any Beedle! I’m the only Beedle to ever roam the land!” the merchant bragged, then stopped in his tracks as he finally got a good look at the stranger’s face. He clapped his hands and shouted, “OHHHH! Two Links in one place! I didn’t expect to see you again, Sky Hero!”

Slate glanced at Loft, who for his part looked just as confused as Slate was.

“You know me?” Loft asked.

“I know you, you know me!” Beedle confirmed. “It’s been a long time, but some faces can’t be forgotten.”

Loft muttered, “How in the ever-loving-”

‘This has been a fun…’ Slate’s hands stalled as he found the right word, ‘reunion, but we really need to get going. I’d like to reach Hateno by morning.’

“Are you sure you don’t need to buy anything for the road?” Beedle tried, but Slate waved him away.

‘Come on, we’re leaving.’

“I still have a lot of questions,” Loft protested.

“And I won’t give you the answers!” Beedle said with a grin. “I know better than to interfere with you hero-types. Go do what you need to. You know where to find me!”

Ignoring how the word hero made his skin crawl, Slate simply pointed at the road and started walking. Loft gave Beedle one last suspicious glare before falling beside Slate.

“How is that even possible?” the stranger mused aloud.

Slate gave him a wry glance. ‘That’s what you’re focused on?”

“In this moment, yeah. That was weird. Really weird.”

‘Beedle’s a weird guy. Try not to think about it too hard.’

They left the stable and the odd merchant behind, silence falling over them as the moon rose over Blatchery Plain.

[olivine-gal]

Spider-Man keeps fighting the same one or two dozen guys, so I came up with a bunch of new villains - info under the cut!

The Red Dragon - human-reptile hybrid from the same technology as the Lizard, albeit retaining his full intelligence and sadism. Mob boss, breathes fire

Blink - failed attempt at recreating the Spot, short-range unstable teleportation ("blink of an eye") and quantum duplication

Cityscaper - guerilla artist who has fallen out of touch with the common people and into madness, constructing elaborate death-traps and bizarre and hazardous pieces

Runt - diminutive mob enforcer with an absurd level of strength and durability, mostly limited by his lack of ambition and preference to dick around

Centipede - genetic engineer betrayed by her employers and made into a guinea pig, turning her into a stretchy, boneless mutant with nothing to lose. Fluctuates between anti-hero and anti-villain

Blue Blood - police officer mad about Spidey being "soft on crime" and uncooperative to cops, turned himself into a human tank with advanced SWAT gear. NYPD refuses to condone his vigilante massacres

Troubleshooter - an "invisible man", specializes in doing tasks for supervillains quickly, quietly, and efficiently. Frequently the only sane man amongst a cast of colorful criminals

Gasbag - a "gas" addition to the solid-liquid-plasma triad of Sandman, Hydro Man, and Molten Man. Transformed into a permanent vapor state by particle shenanigans

Dynamite - mad bomber, does bombings for hire or because she likes it. Cyclops goggle helps magnify for fine construction

Sightline - sniper hit-man with bionic eyes that enhance his vision in every practical way. Deeply disrupts Spidey's typical pattern of fighting in open-air

Bunker - giant fishman created by chemical waste poured into the East River and mutating wildlife. Probably eats people

Acid Bath - mercenary for hire specialized in chemical warfare. Acid sprays, flamethrowers, nitroglycerin explosives, etc

Spookum - looks like a big burly guy in a bedsheet ghost costume. Definitely something much worse. Shows up during lunar eclipses, blue moons, and other nights when the world is a little less real

Moon Man - astronaut given a corrupted neutral training implant filled to the brim with science-fiction. Believes himself to be stranded on an alien planet and with only his advanced spacesuit for protection

Miss Appear - paparazzi reporter with the ability to turn invisible. Technically not doing anything illegal, more of a nuisance for Peter Parker the reporter

Roach Woman - a woman who is also a cockroach. Keeps trying to take over the city with elaborate roach plots, really needs more human friends

Mummy Joe - bonded with a super-adhesive medical tape, able to lash it out and manipulate like a collection of tentacles.

Checkmate - up-and-coming criminal with the ambition of becoming Spidey's new arch-enemy for the fame. Fleet of chess-themed androids

The Corporate Raider - anarcho-capitalist and self-proclaimed defender of the rich and wealthy everywhere. Terrorizes unions, strikes, and whistleblowers with extreme prejudice

Memento - psychologist assigned to work with alien technology wound up a little too close. Now essentially a nervous system with legs, fond of psychically manipulating Spidey and other characters

Gnat - all the proportional abilities of a gnat, at the scale of a gnat. Scarily competent in espionage and heist assistance

Snot - artificial human created to experiment with disease symptoms and treatment, now turned into a walking super-spreader. Can also shoot globs and webs of mucus

The King of New York - fuckboy, self-proclaimed king of New York, and with a set of Superman-like powers only matched in intensity by his stupidity.

Shutterbug - at first a photographer paying supervillains to commit crimes to create exclusive reports for him, later becoming a professional spy for hire.

[themindarchive]

The Wolf and the Spider. (My Tav's Parents Headcannon)

As i got into my 30's i grew tired of the two big tropes that happen a lot with adventuring heroes in stories: either they die or are toxic/abusive in some way or another.

So instead i have begun to give my Protags loving and supportive families that are often just as badass and mighty as the protag themselves.

So after hearing the song below:

I now head cannon my Tav's parent's relationship like Stoic and Valka's and the above is their song.

Rhu is a physically vast and very talkative Lythari elven druid with a heart just as big as his size and wisdom even greater. He is the Chieftain and pack Alpha of a caravan made up of people who have no where else to go, caring for and nurturing those under his care.

Andromeda is a small but just as mighty stoic drow woman who is an intense protector and a force of nature only calmed by Rhu's embrace and calm demeanor. She is often in charge of those that protect the caravan from the dangers of living a mobile life.

Rhu and Andromeda met while she was still living in Menzoberanzan as part of a noble house that all but ignored her in favor of her elder sisters. Luckily for her, she was a woman who valued her solitude and often took to the dangers of the Underdark than engage in the violent politics of the city. She quickly became an intensely skilled ranger that was "gifted" Rhu as an animal companion as a joke by one of her elder sisters.

Joke was on them when the large pale Dire wolf turned into a very ruggedly handsome and large Lythari elven man.

Rhu noticed immediately how different she was compared to her people, especially in the ways she treated him as an equal.

So when her eldest sister began a murderous campaign to take solo control of the house, he offered to teach her how to become a wolf like him so they could escape to the surface.

Surprised by the large man's kindness, despite how he had been treated by her people, she agreed and just as her sister's blades began to turn in her direction, the two of them escaped to the surface in the form of wolves making it near impossible for her sister to track them.

Over the years, Rhu's intentional nature, honesty, kindness and compassion drew her in, and the day she realized she craved his presence more than her solitude...

She knew she had fallen.

Their marriage occurred shortly after and she became with child not long after that.

The pregnancy was a complete surprise to her since she had been made to believe that a child hood illness had sterilized her but she was no less excited at the news.

However, as her belly began to grow, her mind couldn't help but wander back to her birthplace and the horrific treatment her birth father had endured that ultimately killed him.

She began to become anxious and fearful, terrified that if she had a son, he would suffer the same fate.

Luckily, Rhu understood and took the time to remind her where they were and how they lived. He showed her the other male children of his home caravan and how they lived and played without fear, just as equal in the eyes of his people as the woman and girls.

So when the time came she was ready.

That day was a day that nearly took both mother and if it wasn't for their chief healers skill and did end up rendering her unable to have any more but the moment they handed her son to her it ceased to matter.

Once she held her son for the first time, seeing his pale grey skin and the dark violet eyes her father once had, it hit her like a giant's club.

She had a son who would live free and safe, far away from the horrors that she watched her father endure.

And she broke down, crying tears of relief and joy.

The early years of motherhood were a struggle for her, the nurturing and caring nature her husband had in abundance wasn't something that came naturally to her.

But as Razzikel got older, she recognized her own solitary and autonomous nature in her son and began training him in the ways of rangers, something that bonded the two of them.

The day Razzikel reached adulthood, according to most short lived races, was a day of pride and celebration.

Their stoic son with the size and heart as big as his father and the might and protective nature of his mother, hugged them both before he took his first long journey from them, called by Mielikki herself to the hunt.

They watched as he disappeared into the tree's, waving one last time before the forest devoured his form in it's depths.

A few month's later he would return with stories and new supplies, staying with them as the caravan traveled until he was called again, over and over.

But eventually, despite their best effort, her sister would find her again. And send her on a 15 year search for her son, forcing her to leave Rhu behind until she finds him, singing her and Rhu's song to a young druid who had saved him and shared the same big heart that had made her fall in love with his father.

The apple not falling far form the tree.

[silverynight]

So, a little angst idea, but it's super fluffy at the end, for BkDk!

Now, we all know UA is a bajillion times better than Aldera, but that doesn't mean some assholes don't get through! So, a male 2nd or 3rd year hero course student, who, for some reason, just hates Izuku's entire existence. (Probably because he treats all the course students nicely, regardless, and this asshole is quirkiest and has a giant ego).

So, as a very cruel joke, he asks Izuku out, and Izuku, who already has self esteem issues and image issues, (thanks Aldera), enthusiastically accepts! Izuku gets all nicely dressed up, (he asked for help), and while Bakugou pretends he doesn't care, he cares a lot, (and is very sad, cause he thinks he's lost his chance). So Izuku, all nicely dressed up, is waiting by the UA gates, at exactly 12 PM, patiently waiting...

It hits 2. He's still excited, and he just brushes it off as the guy maybe getting nervous himself. Maybe he couldn't decide on his outfit, either.

Then it's 5. Izuku is less excited. He...doesn't feel like this if this is going good. But, he brushes it off. This is the 1st date, he doesn't know the guy well. Maybe he has anxiety and he's just hyping himself up! Maybe asking was easy, but executing is more nerve-wrecking for the guy. (Yes, Izuku is just that nice and forgiving).

It's near the curfew now, about 9:30. Izuku decides to text him. He replies, while laughing, knowing exactly who is texting him, telling him he can't believe he waited near the gate like an idiot. That Izuku was too plain and ugly, and he wouldn't and didn't mean anything he said, and would never date him. Izuku, whose tears have built up, but not have quite fallen, just silently heads back into UA grounds and to the dorms. As everyone asks how it went, you know, being supportive, because Izuku, said boy just chokes up, starts crying and runs to his room. Everyone is shocked, since the upper class man seemed nice?

Katsuki, who knows how to handle a sad Izuku, silently makes his way up to the boy's room as everyone else flounces and panics on how to cheer their friend up. When he gets there, he hears the saddest song Izuku owns, (you can decide what that is), playing really loud, but he can still hear him crying. Katsuki checks the door, and thankfully it's unlocked, so he lets himself inside, (but he locks the door this time), turns the music down, so Izuku can hear him, and just. Lays next to the green haired boy and asks if he wants to talk about it.

Izuku can't really speak, still sobbing, but more quietly, and just hands Katsuki the phone. Said boy reads the texts and he is very, very livid, but he stays calm, and tells Izuku that he is the nicest, cutest and caring person he has ever met. That the upperclassmen is completely wrong, and anyone would be very lucky to have him as a significant other. Izuku thankfully calms down, knowing Katsuki never says things he doesn't mean, and just. Passes out from exhaustion. Bakugou stays with him the rest of the night.

The next day, when classes start up, Bakugou is suddenly sent to the principal's office for beating up, (successfully), that said upperclassmen. Aizawa and Nedzu are disappointed...at first. Then Bakugou tells them what the boy did as a joke, and he only has a week of detention, and no house arrest. The upperclassmen is on thin fucking ice, has to take lessons on how to be a decent fucking human being and is on house arrest for a month! :3

Izuku smiles gratefully at Katsuki when he returns to class, and that, Bakugou thinks, is totally worth the hell week of detentions he's earned, (Aizawa decided that he can run the hell course that whole week, with some breaks).

I support Katsuki's rights and wrongs! (That guy deserved it!)

[judaismandsuch]

A Brilliant Biblical Commentary that I can't Believe

Now, as many of you may know Humanity/ Man is Created twice in Breishit (Genisis) the First time in Breishit 1:27: "And G-d created man in His image....male and female He Created them."

The Second time in Breishit 2:7, and finished in 2:22: "...[G-d] formed man from the dust of the earth.....and Man became a living being." "[HaShem] fashioned the rib He took from man into a woman." (obv a bunch of stuff happens between verse 7 and 22).

Now important notes: 1)There is a lot of established commentary on all of this, but that means there is too much to succinctly summaries other views, so if you are curious about the established interpretations for all this look it up yourself. 2) All the garden of Eden stuff is a cohesive story in chapter 2-3, not mentioned at all in relation to the first creation.

Anyways there is a lot of explanation and reconciiation of these verses, as it is troubling the HaShem would describe the creation of humanity twice, and the stories be very different. There are answers, brilliant ones, bad ones, etc. But I believe I am the first to have this response.

So... it is indeed troubling, until you look a few chapters later, specifically chapter 6.

Now between chapter 2 and 6 a bunch of stuff happens: The garden of Eden, Cain and Abel. Cain taking a wife. The First city builder, the first smiths, the first tent dwellers (more accuaretly the specific ancestor of those, but w/e). The descendents of Cain and Seth, the subtle decrease in life span, etc.

Now aside from the general "Wow this is bullshit, it human civilization didn't progress in that manner." or "Humanity never had a lifespan that long!" Bad faith arguments, you run into an issue.

Who the fuck are they marrying? Hell, it's implied that there are other humans around when Cain kills Abel, where did those guys come from?

Again, loads of commentary but here we are going to my tying all this together:

Chapter 6: The Children of G-d and the Nephilim. 6:2: "The children of G-d saw how beautiful the daughters of Man (or humanity) were, and took wives from among those that pleased them." 6:4:"It was then that the Nephilim (lit. the fallen) appeared on earth when the children of G-d cohabited with the daughters of Man who bore them offspring, they were the Heroes of Old, Men of Great renown."

Now, this has it's own issues, mainly: What the fuck? Who are the children of G-d? Who are the fallen (Nephilim)? And who the hell are the Heroes of Old?

Again, loads of answers for all that already. (BTW, in Numbers/Bamidbar 13:33 Nephilim are mentioned again. by the spies, who use the word to mean 'giant', since that is a quotation of a human speaking, whereas this is not, I can safely ignore "Nephilim means giant" in my exegesis).

Now my commentary (though clever you, you may have already put it together!)

We already have fallen children of G-d mentioned: Adam and Eve. Them getting kicked out of the Garden of Eden can definitely be considered 'Falling'.

And if we consider that there were two separate 'Humans' those in the Garden (Adam and Eve), and those outside from chapter one, we get the answer to who Cain and Seth are marrying.

And then, from Adam's line we get a list of Great Humans: The City Builder, The Smith, The Musician. They could definitely be considered the heroes of old.

Are there issues with this explanation? A couple, none (scripturally) too challenging. Is this explanation original? As far as I know: Yes. But that may just mean my research is garbage.

But the biggest problem with this explanation?

It DEMANDS a fully literal acceptance of that portion of Breishit. If HaShem intended for it to be metaphorical, or a pat explanation b/c creation wasn't important, why would there be an interlock of the two stories?

There wouldn't be.

And I am NOT a (full) biblical literalist. (I do believe that one has to be within a small margin of error a biblical literalist from Avraham to the end of the Torah for Judaism to have validity).

So I have this beautiful, pat, explanation that I can't believe.

Terribly Annoying.

[voiceoffenrisulfr]

Becoming Spider-Man - Chapter Fourteen

Peter Parker Wakes Up

𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 -> Peter Parker & Tony Stark (IronDad)

𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘 -> In which Peter comes home, and Tony makes a choice.

𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓 -> 2097

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 -> (T) Implied Major Character Death

𝐀/𝐍 -> I'm so sorry </3 There are two versions of the next chapter (15) though, in a pick-your-own-ending style, depending on if you want to cry or not. Check it out below, or on AO3 here! Cute divider by @/sweetmelodygraphics!

<- Previous Chapter (13/16) Sad Ending (15/16) -> Happy Ending (16/16) ->

I swung through the portal Doctor Strange had opened, retracting my helmet to survey the battlefield before me, unable to hide the slight smile that tugged at my lips.

We have another chance.

There were portals opening everywhere, all different sizes, with allies of every kind flowing onto the scorched battlefield. I turned my head slightly as Doctor Strange stepped forward, tipping his head toward his friend.

“Is that everyone?” he clarified, his voice optimistic, yet clipped. His fellow sorcerer’s face creased in shocked confusion, the magic circles by his hands flickering minutely. “What, you wanted more?”

My eyes flicked to my left at a resounding crunch, watching the giant form of Ant-Man plow through rubble I distantly recognised as my beloved Compound, now reduced to shattered remnants. His clasped hand lowered, heroes spilling from his fingertips, the ground shaking beneath my feet as the impressive bulk of the Hulk hit the dust. The crowd around me stilled, waiting with bated breath for the signal to go to war, flocking in behind the straightened form of Captain America. “Avengers!” His voice rang out clear across the near-silence, hand extended, Thor’s faithful hammer finding his palm with a resonant thud. I bounced on the ball of my feet, exhilarated, buoyed by a vengeance so close at hand.

“Assemble.”

The command was quiet, but the roar was deafening, body after body pushing forward. Thanos’ sword pointed toward the oncoming masses as I threw myself forward, watching with distant disbelief as Scott punched a familiar, bulky ship from the air, writhing with a life-like quality I’d seen only once before. All around me was a vaguely organised chaos, explosions, bullets and pieces of bodies flying thick and fast. After ducking and weaving, throwing a few of the enemies high into the air, I leapt onto a fallen slab of concrete, surveying the battlefield before me.

“No!” I roared, shooting out my web with furious precision, the fibres wrapping around the arm of a monstrous creature towering over the recently-tossed, ragdoll but familiar figure of Iron Man. He jerked to the ground under my tether, a wordless shriek escaping him as Ant-Man’s enormous foot descended upon his helpless form. I darted between the colossal legs, landing before my mentor, my beloved guardian – my father – retracting my helmet as I tugged him to his feet. “Hey! Holy cow. You will not believe what’s been going on. Do you remember when we were in space? And I got all dusty? I must have passed out, because I woke up, and you were gone. But Doctor Strange was there,” I garbled, my words tripping over themselves in my enthusiasm, as I gestured wildly off to my side, “right? He was like “It’s been five years. Come on, they need us”. And then he started doing the yellow sparkly thing that he does all the time-” I began to wave my hands in demonstration as Tony simply watched me wordlessly, a shocked, soft smile on his face.

“He did? Oh, God,” he added under his breath, falling forward into me, the solid bulk of his suit making me sway back on my heels.

“Th-this is nice,” I stammered, confused, but content to stand wrapped in his arms for a heartbeat. He squeezed me hard, and I closed my eyes, tipping my head against his softly.

We fell back into the battle seamlessly, fighting near one another, Tony’s eyes constantly flicking to me despite the urgency. My eyes zeroed in on T’Challa, the unmistakable glint of the Infinity Gauntlet catching my gaze. “I got it!” I hollered, my webs latching onto the shiny surface, drawing the creation against my body uneasily as the masses converged upon me.

Tony met my eye through the glowing slits of his suit, and nodded once. I nodded in return, squaring my shoulders. “Activate Instant Kill!” I bellowed, letting my body be jostled by the robotic legs bursting from my spine, impaling the creatures circling. They climbed stubbornly over the fallen bodies, getting closer and closer.

“I got this, I got this… Okay, I don’t got this! Somebody, help!” I yelped as the mass threatened to overwhelm me, the daylight rapidly shrinking between the flailing limbs.

“Hey, Queens, heads up!”

Captain America’s voice sounded over my earpiece, and I blindly fired my web into the sky, hoping against hope that I’d hit my target, letting out a euphoric holler as I was dragged along behind the hammer hurtling through the air. A bolt of blue light falling from the sky cut short my flight, and I gasped as I began to fall before jerking to a halt, skimming the ground.

“Hang on. I got you, kid.”

I winced at the name but glanced up gratefully, watching an unfamiliarly familiar suit as it launched me higher, landing gracelessly on the back of a flying horse.

What has my life become? I wondered silently as I slipped into place behind the silver-clad woman, the Gauntlet still hooked carefully over one of my robotic legs. “Hey! Nice to meet you- Oh my God!” I was cut off by the rapid dive of the Pegasus, the creature artfully dodging the further shots of white-hot light until I found myself once more flung through the air, the Gauntlet leaving its place of safety and arcing away from me. My fingers strained toward the falling object, tucking it clumsily against my chest as I plummeted toward the Earth.

But Tony had made my suit well. The legs wrapped around me, cushioning my fall, and I came to a bumpy, but mercifully uninjured, halt, the speed of my skid sending dirt spraying ahead of me. Scrambling to my feet, I started off at a sprint – directly into the path of another falling bolt.

The air rushed from my lungs as I hit the ground once more, the legs shattering beneath me on impact as the Gauntlet spilled from my grasp. I yelped, arms wrapping over my head defensively as further blasts rained down around me. I lay in disbelief, reluctantly peering between my limbs as the shots stopped exploding the earth around me, instead raising to the sky, firing furiously at the clouds. I was distantly aware of the voices echoing over the comms, but the bright light illuminating the grey sky, streaking toward us rather than away, drew all of my attention. One of the ships high over the water exploded as the meteorological object moved seamlessly through it, curving back around for another shot that sent the extra-terrestrial craft plowing to the water with a shockwave strong enough to blast back my hair.

A woman dropped to the earth before me, looming over the crater where I lay cowering, arms wrapped possessively around the Gauntlet. “… Hi, I’m Peter Parker,” I squeaked out, conventionally polite despite my terror.

She looked down at me, an unmistakable air of authority on her face, accompanied by a playful smile. “Hey, Peter Parker. You got something for me?”

I grunted as I got to my feet, head turning unconsciously to seek out Tony amidst the chaos. “I… Don’t know how you’re going to get through all that,” I finished lamely, trying to act for all the world like my main concern – my only concern – wasn’t the wellbeing of my guardian. She reached out to take the Gauntlet from me as the Scarlet Witch landed beside her, closely followed by a Wakandan warrior and the Pegasus lady.

“Don’t worry,” Wanda assured me with a gentle smile.

“She’s got help,” the Wakandan warrior added, facing the onslaught. Further women closed in, leaving me stood behind as they barrelled forward, endlessly impressive.

I returned to the onslaught as best I could, catching the last of the opponents left in their wake until I was floored by a huge wave of power, sending me sprawling in the dirt once more. Fighting my way to my feet, depleted body struggling, I focused on the fight before me, closing in on Thanos as he hurtled Avengers away. Even the flying woman found herself in the dust, and my steps faltered as Thanos slammed the Gauntlet onto his hand, orange lightning streaking up his arm, a roar echoing from his gritted teeth. Before I could blink she was back, falling to her knees as she gripped the glove, close enough now to see her hair flop over her face as she strained desperately. Her hands forced the fingers open, entirely impervious to the huge purple head colliding with hers as she rose, forcing the titan to his own knees. His free fingers found the knuckles of the Gauntlet, prising the glowing purple stone from the glove and palming it in his other hand before launching her bodily from him. I slowed to a halt on the perimeter of the fight, watching helplessly as the sprawled Tony made eye contact with Doctor Strange, who was still straining to hold back a tide of floodwater. The wizard raised a single finger – an unknown indicator, and Tony panted for breath, his face an indecipherable mask.

My gaze flicked back to Thanos at a flash of light, lightning once more working around his arm as the stone was replaced, surrounding his limbs.

“No,” I whispered under my breath, taking a step closer as Mr. Stark lunged forward, grasping the Gauntlet in his hands. The two tussled briefly, before a backhand sent my guardian rolling in the dirt once more. I whimpered, trembling fingers raising to my throat as I fought for breath, the destructor’s arm raising for a final time.

“I am inevitable.” His baritone voice was quiet but clear as he brought his fingertips together, snapping together with a resounding, metallic thunk.

And then…

Nothing happened.

My gaze moved back to my mentor, who had gotten to his knees, one hand raised purposefully, unmistakable dots of colour flickering in the red metal. His head tipped back as the power flowed, an animatronic whirring sounding, but it wasn’t loud enough to drown out his grunts of pain, bringing tears to the corner of my eyes. He met the gaze of the stunned titan steadily, something akin to shock evident on his own face.

“And I…” Tony murmured, his voice low and clear, “Am… Iron man.”

His gaze held that of Thanos, unwavering and sure, as he brought his fingers together in a blinding flash of white light.

The earth trembled beneath my feet as the remaining enemies faded to dust, powdery shards hitting their targets harmlessly. I looked about myself in shock, entirely dumbfounded at the disintegration around me. The titan watched the devastation silently, sinking to a seat in his disbelief and grief, still panting from his fight as his own body began to crumble.

I let out a short, sharp laugh of shock, turning to my mentor with a broad grin, the expression fading from my face as I saw him stumble to a sitting position, breathing heavily.

“No.”

I found myself swinging through the air before I’d even registered the movement, landing a few paces away, panting lightly but entirely oblivious to the unrecognised pain in my body. “Mr. Stark?” I hesitated before moving forward quickly, dropping to my knees before my fallen guardian, the tears now flowing freely. “Hey- Mr. Stark? Can you hear me? It’s Peter.” My voice cracked, and I sobbed, feeling the muscles of my face tremble in my grief. “Hey. We won, Mr. Stark- We won, Tony. We won. You did it, Dad. You did it.” I clenched my jaw as my eyes screwed up, curling myself against his body as he blinked blankly. “I’m sorry, Dad.”

His weak hand found the back of my head, and I raised my gaze, briefly hopeful as his eyes met mine. “Hey, son.”

I swallowed around another sob, fighting the vomit threatening to rise in my throat at the grief overwhelming me. “Friday?”

“Life functions critical,” Friday’s melodious voice replied quietly. Tony offered me a weak, reassuring smile, and I put my hand on his cheek.

“Tony… Dad, look at me.” His eyes met mine once more, fighting to maintain focus, and I smiled back. “It’s okay. I’m gonna be okay. You don’t have to be Iron Man anymore. You can rest now. I… I love you, Dad.”

His smile froze as the arc reactor in his chest flickered, a single, solitary tear cutting a trail through the grime encrusted into his cheek.

I howled as his hand left my hair, dropping my head into his lap as I screamed, throat tearing, soul shredding, heart breaking.

[adrift-in-thyme]

Day 4: Knife to the Throat (Warriors, Wind, & Time)

Ao3 link

Cw for blood and injury

——————————

In the wake of the battle, it’s quiet. Too quiet.

Warriors lets his eyes roam the surrounding trees, looking for a slight movement, a flash of color—anything to signify that this fight isn’t truly over. But as far as he can see there’s nothing.

The monsters have vanished as swiftly as they came.

Twilight steps over the fallen body of a moblin, forehead creased in a frown.

“Did they just run off?”

“Guess so,” Legend replies. “Cowards.”

Warriors shakes his head. “It’s strange. Monsters of this sort don’t back off easily.”

“But these monsters aren’t the usual sort,” Four says. “This isn’t the first time they’ve acted abnormally.”

“Good point,” Warriors agrees. After all, the way they attacked was so sudden, so fierce, that he finds it hard to believe they would willingly retreat. They must have some sort of scheme up their sleeves.

…which only makes the situation weirder. Seldom has he witnessed strategic prowess in monsters. Still, first time for everything he guesses.

“Stay on guard, watch your backs. We never know what they might be planning.”

“Yeah, speaking of that,” Wild pipes up, “anyone know where the Old Man is?”

Legend shrugs. “Oh yeah, he’s right over there.”

He jabs a thumb to his left and Warriors turns in that direction. But the space is empty. The veteran pales considerably.

“He was right here just a second ago! I swear!”

Any other time Warriors would tease him for misplacing the giant of a man. But his sense of humor has been buried by the uncomfortable feeling now wedged in his gut.

“We could do a quick sweep of the area,” Sky suggests. “He must be around here somewhere.”

Warriors nods, stiffly. “Let’s split into twos. Sailor, you're with me.”

They pair up wordlessly, their faces set in expressions of varying degrees of fear. Time never disappears without warning, especially not during battle. The implications of it make Warriors vaguely ill.

Wind casts a glance up at him as he reaches his side, and the Captain tries for a reassuring grin. It comes out looking more like a grimace.

“If no one’s found him in an hour, we’ll meet back here to regroup,” Twilight says, and if Warriors hadn’t spent an inordinate amount of time with the man, he would miss the slight tremble in his voice.

Sky places a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’ll find him.”

The Rancher dips his head in a nod of thanks, then turns on his heel and plunges off into the trees.

“Guess he’s taking the north,” Legend says, drily. “Me and Roolie’ll go south, then.”

Sky and Four head east. Warriors watches until their backs have disappeared into the foliage, some part of him hoping Time will show up in the clearing, laughing about his newest prank. But he doesn’t, and after a few moments, he pats Wind on the back and turns westward.

The forest remains strangely silent and almost tense, as though waiting for something to happen. It presses down on Warriors, draining his energy, and squeezing the air from his lungs.

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Wind pipes up from beside him. When Warriors looks down at him he sends him a small grin. “Time’s tough. Whatever happened to him, he can handle it.”

Warriors ruffles his hair, fondly. “You’re right, Sailor.”

But even as he says it, the fear within him grows. He’s seen the way Wind looks at Time, heard their conversations. When Wind sees Time, he sees a legend. When Warriors sees him, he sees a terrified little boy, hiding behind his collection of masks.

Time bleeds like they all do, and that terrifies him.

But he tries his best to remain calm even as the minutes tick by and there’s still no sign of the older man. It’s a losing battle, however. Even Wind is far quieter than usual, and, despite his encouraging words, Warriors can tell how worried the young hero is.

Then, they enter a small clearing, and the tension hanging heavy over them both shatters.

Time wavers not two feet away, bloody and pale, held up solely by the claws tearing into his shoulder. He raises his head when the heroes step forward, expression going dark.

“Ah, we were wondering when you’d show up,” the Shadow hisses. “Your friend here thought he was being smart, leading me away from all of you. But I told him it was hopeless.”

He brings his sword up and holds it to Time’s neck. “Heroes are just too courageous to leave someone they care for to die.”

Wind steps forward, fists clenched. “Let him go!”

“You heard him,” Warriors growls. He unsheathes his sword and points it at the monster. “Release him, now.”

The Shadow curls his lips in a domineering snarl. He presses his weapon even harder against Time’s neck, drawing blood.

“Take another step,” he purrs, “and he dies.”

Warriors’ gaze flicks to Time and he meets it.

“Captain, Sailor, you need to run,” he says, voice gravelly and hardly audible.

From here, Warriors can’t tell how severely he’s injured but he can tell the situation isn’t good. It can be fixed, though. A fairy, a potion, and he’ll be good as new. But if the Shadow moves that sword just a bit more…

Anger sprouts up within him, propelled by terror and protective instinct. He’s no stranger to this sort of strong emotion, no stranger to how badly it can impair judgment. Now, however, in this moment, it only emboldens him.

That’s his little brother over there, in the clutches of a beast. That’s his little brother and he won’t let him die.

There’s a deku nut on the ground beside his foot, perhaps fallen from Time’s pouch. He scoops it up, tosses it once in his hand, and catches it. There is an ease to his movements that he doesn't feel. And when the Shadow tightens his grip, eliciting a hiss of pain from Time, he tenses further.

“We’re not gonna leave you!” Wind is saying now, voice brimming with fiery determination. “We’re heroes, remember? We don’t run when people need our help.”

“He’s right,” Warriors agrees. “We never run.”

And with that, he reels back and sends the nut flying.

He wastes no time in rushing forward and Wind is right on his heels, sword drawn and at the ready. A scream issues from the fog and he quickens his pace, panic sprouting within him. But when the smoke clears, the Shadow is already gone. Time kneels in the place where he once was, the beast’s weapon on the ground before him.

For a terrible moment, Warriors is certain he’s injured even worse than he first thought. Then, he mumbles, “That was too easy,” and Warriors’ knees go weak with relief.

He sheathes his sword and ducks beneath Time’s arm, supporting him as he struggles to get up.

“Only you would call a near-death experience ‘easy.’”

Time slumps against him with a small groan. “Well, I suppose I do owe you, boys, a thank you.”

Wind runs over to help, and Warriors shifts to allow him to take some of the weight.

“Nah, you don’t have to thank us,” the sailor says, grinning from ear to ear. “We’re just glad you’re okay!”

A grin of his own lifts Warrior’s lips as they begin to move forward. “Yeah, we definitely are.”

[twoidiotwriters1]

Copycat: Genesis —(Marvel Fem!Oc)

A/N: There is something about this man's eyes is impossible to not fall for him -Danny

Words: 1,205

Phase Six Masterlist

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

Listen to: ‘Quiver’ -by Lonas

viii: As Bad As It Gets

It was time to say goodbye to her life in that universe. She had no friends except the people at the welfare, all significantly older. Parker's friends, few and busy, never had the opportunity to meet her, he felt like they'd never believe she was a real person.

She didn't go out with him to patrol, which made the New Yorkers curious. Who on earth was that mysterious hero patrolling with Spider-man? She had Spider-man's powers, but also some others they'd never seen before— one day she was gone, had she died in a secret mission?

Cat had a kick of watching the conspiracy shows that talked about her, she was called an android, then a faux projection Spider-man would carry around to scare off large groups of lawbreakers— and then her old-time favorite (made by the one and only J.J. Jameson) she was a mercenary Spider-man hired after he'd released her from a Russian prison.

She'd fallen asleep on the couch when Parker entered down the skylight. Cat sat up, it wasn't normal for him to be so noisy when he came back from patrolling, he'd always been quiet so he didn't scare her and made her think an intruder was there to murder her.

"Bug?" She asked out loud.

She heard Parker groan in reply. Cat leaped out of the couch and opened the bathroom door hurriedly: Parker's suit had a red stain on its side. He was holding his wound tightly but he was too dizzy to get up.

"Jesus..." Cat held her breath. "What happened?"

"Tiny guy but boy did he have a killer aim..."

She pull up the upper part of his suit and stared at the bullet wound. "If he had a killer aim, why are you still alive?"

He pushed himself towards the bathtub. "If he'd had deathly aim I wouldn't be here. Dude was decent, he saw a chance and took it..." he groaned. "My god, I'm in pain..."

She pressed her hands against the wound in spite of her disgust. "You're lucky the bullet just took a bit of muscle and skin... that's gonna leave an ugly scar, though..."

"Can you put me back together so I can go to sleep?" His head fell back against the edge of the tub. "I don't scar easily, don't worry about it..."

"What about these?" She vaguely pointed at the thin scars across his chest.

"A giant lizard gave me those— one of a kind," with Cat's help he took off the top part of his suit. "A bullet's nothing to worry 'bout."

She went back to the sink listing under her breath all the things she needed, she put it on top of the toilet's lid. "So how come your senses didn't warn you about the gun?"

"More than one person was pointing at me, so I took a wild guess and—" Parker hissed when she started to clean his wound. "I failed."

"My Peter wouldn't have failed," she joked.

"Go stuff your mouth with cotton."

Cat grinned. "Hang tight, handsome. This will hurt." The young woman did her best to stop the bleeding, once that was under control, she began to stitch his skin back together. Parker started to doze off. "Hey, hey!" She slapped his face lightly. "Don't do that."

"I'm sorry, you're just such a great nurse I'm getting sleepily..."

"Of course I'm a good nurse! I'm a trained agent, I can do without my tech from time to time, you know?" She scoffed. "But I think the blood loss is the real problem..."

"I'll rest my eyes... while you finish down there..." he leaned back.

She put pressure on his injury, but Parker didn't wince. She'd numbed that part of his body before stitching. "C'mon, Webster, stay with me..."

Cat wondered if he'd been injured internally— if he'd been hit on the head, or something she couldn't see without E.D.I.T.H. or M.O.U.S.E., and that's when she panicked. She looked around, going to the kitchen felt like a whole street away if she couldn't see him. When she finished with the bandage she grabbed him and carried him out toward the bed. "I feel like a damsel in distress," he muttered against her.

"You're the madman," she corrected moodily, placing him on the mattress as carefully as possible. "What were you doing with those guys?"

"I was looking for intel."

"Intel?"

"We need to figure out those defense satellites, right?" He mumbled, one hand pressing his bandage. Cat slapped his hand away. "But things went south fast..."

"Why didn't you tell me?" She demanded.

"Can I get some sugar now, please?" His head fell on the pillow. "Remember I lost blood?"

"Don't lay down!" She pulled him back up and against the headboard. Cat went to the kitchen and grabbed an apple juice from the fridge. She stabbed the small box with one of her claws to widen the opening so he could drink from it easier. "Don't finish it all at once, you'll throw up," she warned him.

Parker stared at the box and drank a little, she kept an eye on his wound. The mutant then glanced at her bloody hands. The sight made her shiver, she didn't want to imagine what would happen to him if something like that were to happen once she was gone. Parker looked at her guilty expression.

"I didn't want to put you at risk," he said hoarsely. "You keep saying how it's a relief to leave all the persecution behind, I didn't want you to go through it again."

Her gaze softened. "I rather being at risk than wake up to you bleeding out in the bathroom."

The young man stared at her hands, he held one of them and examined the blood on her fingers in detail. "I'm sorry, I know you hate the smell."

"I've had blood on my hands before," she moved away from him. "At least this time I was trying to save a life, instead of taking it..."

His eyes were fixed on her, lips pressed together in a pout. "I wish you didn't have to live like that..."

"What makes you think I have to and not that I want to?"

Parker grabbed her hand again and guided it to his chest. She'd never paid attention to the scars there, but at that moment they stood out on his skin like an encrypted message she was eager to decipher.

"D'you think I wanted to get hurt?"

Cat felt a heartbeat but she wasn't able to tell whose it was. "I think you wanted to do the right thing."

"That's what I think about your scars too."

His hand moved from hers and stopped at the crease of her elbow, caressing it. Cat was unable to push him away this time, worse yet, she couldn't move either. She stared at his scars more intently, her fingers following the lines. She pressed on them lightly. Parker breathed in sharply through his nose, she could hear his heart doubling its pace.

"Do you really have to go?" He asked weakly, it sounded like he'd held back those words for too long. "Do you want to?"

She thought of the scars Kurt certainly had gained after the hell he'd gone through, the ones Peter and Kate would get if they tried to fight Kraven, if they could even walk away in one piece. Cat moved her hand away.

"You're making it harder to figure it out."

Next Chapter—>

Taglist.

@mikaelsonwhxrebae​​​​ @ieatpanicattacksforlunch​​​​​​​​​ @jesuswasnotawhiteman​​​​​​​​​ @siriuslysirius1107​​​​​​​​​ @greengarsstuff​​​​​​​​​ @itsyagirl01 @23victoria​​​​​​​​​ @espressopatronum454​​​​​​​​​​ @jkthinkstoomuch