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xamag-draws · 1 year ago

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BBR thoughts 2024

Since I mentioned that I finally dusted off an old project of mine and was ruminating on how I'd remake it, I thought I'd elaborate a little, now that I've solidified some concepts. For funsies

This is gonna be a bit of a long and unfocused one, but I don't share my personal thoughts here often, especially the stuff about my projects I always marinate in. And for once it's something that people have existing context for, so hey why not

So for anyone who hasn't been following me for a gajillion years, The Black Brick Road of OZ was a webcomic that I posted around 2013-2015, back when I was in highschool going on college (which is kinda crazy to think about). It was sort of a darker twist on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, although I definitely leaned a lot more into dark humor more than anything in those first few chapters

I don't think it's available to read anywhere anymore, and I know people have been asking me about it. So here's the full proper archive of BBR, as full as it can be with deceased Flash

I totally used it as an excuse to shamelessly and self-indulgently experiment. It had interactive pages and GIFs and was wayyy too overproduced for what I could handle or what was necessary, but I did have great fun making it while it lasted

Unfortunately, that excess and the fact that I've changed too much as a person by the time I was in college is what ultimately killed it. The direction I wanted to go in was practically unrecognizable from the original idea started back in 2011, so there were many old hold-ups that I felt ruined it

At the time I kinda wished I could start/rewrite it all over, but considering that I pretty much had the entire script done at that point, it felt like a pointless sisyphean task. So I just put it on a shelf and didn't look back for about 8 years, because I didn't know what else to do

Now to be fair, the nature of my art has always been iterative and cyclical; when I feel like my creative juices have run dry I prefer to leave a project to marinate and move on to something else; cycle through other old things and bring in new skills and perspectives into the mix when I'm ready again. Not very productive, but it is what makes me happy to work on my OCs; I'm doomed to hit a wall with them eventually and I need some time to be able to find a new direction

So that said, I'm glad that BBR was left to marinate for that long. I don't think I was prepared, emotionally or intellectually, to tackle it again until now. The Wizard of Oz book (and the entire series of them, really) has always been near and dear to my heart, but there's a lot of context around it that I'm only unpacking now that I'm older

I think I always inherently feel negatively about the stuff I've made in the past, like its faults always jump out to me more than the positives, especially the more time passes. I've never liked that, and I do really appreciate the kind things people have to say about BBR to this day. The fact that it still can be recognized and remembered is very sweet

When I left it, I already found it "kinda cringe", and that feeling only deepened with years. When I took my first look back at it, asking the question "how would I rewrite it now?", at first I took a very cynical approach, as in "everything would have to be torn down"

But the more I sat on it, the more I found that I still see some merit and charm in the ideas I was putting out; I just didn't know how to execute them at the time (not to pretend that I know what I'm doing now, but I certainly know more at least). Turns out a lot of my old concepts could be changed substantially with just a few small tweaks. So I'd say that's a nicer way to think about my previous work

If you haven't seen yet, I posted a first draft of my new designs for some of the characters (the main group, the Goods and the Wickeds). Definitely subject to change, but more or less how I see them now

I'm just playing with these concepts; by no means would I attempt to remake BBR right this moment. Call it a pipe dream among my other ones. But just for fun, this is the direction I'd like to take:

Nowadays I'd probably make it a visual novel, with more emphasis on the visual part than the novel because I'm no English prose writer by any means. It'd still let me play a little with the interactivity while helping cut some corners on the drawing part (only some, I imagine I'd go hog wild anyway)

I've always intended for some events inspired by the sequel books to take place in BBR's past. Stuff like Jinjur's revolt or Ozma's rule preceeds the main events here. So I think it would be fun to follow the past of a few key characters alongside the main story. One chapter focusing on the present quest to see the Wizard, then one focusing on the past events (that are maybe reflective thematically); rinse and repeat

I'm also sticking a little closer to the original text in some regards. Not everything that I enjoy from the books would be translated here, it's still just a very loose fantasy on the material; but I'd like to be closer in spirit at least

I like mature, wise and powerful Glinda, I like kind and vulnerable Tin Man, I like the Wizard being a pathetic yet loveable liar, so I'm sprinkling in more of that for example

I'd like to keep some whimsy, but make it more grounded and a bit more serious to be coherent in tone. I think the original TWWOOZ book was a more realistic fantasy in some ways, even for the standards of the time; I like its simple but vivid tactile descriptions and details like bringing attention that Dorothy needed to eat and sleep

I find it funny that Baum specifically was averse to making his books scary or unpleasant, finding that unnecessary for telling a compelling kids story, but they still can get pretty dark and disturbing, at least for our modern sensibilities. Let's just say that I intend to use the Evoldo and Chopfyt storylines for my purposes. In that way, I feel like a "darker" Wizard of Oz retelling can still mostly be tonally in line with the original and balance it with enough heart and occasional humor

I slowly grew to appreciate the quaint old-timey quality of the original series, as well. The first book is both timeless and very much a product of the 1900s. Originally I tried to give it a little modern or at least anachronistic spin, but it was moreso because it's what I knew best, so these days I'd rather intentionally lean into the time period. Still not fully historically accurate by any means, but at least directly acknowledging the influence

The events of the story span across 40 years of these characters' lives, so I'm drawing inspiration from the entire so-called La Belle Epoque: the time period around 1880s-1920s. Basically I'm cooking, and my soup is old Victorian fashion morphing into Edwardian fashion and slowly inching towards flappers

Some new Dolly outfits

Lots of crazy things, political changes and innovations were happening at the turn of the century, which I think is noted and reflected by Baum in the books as well; the character of Tik-Tok might not blow any minds now, but he was one of the first robot characters in literature at that point; and don't even get me started on Jinjur, etc. Plenty of really interesting stuff one could lightly ponder in an Oz adaptation these days

Aesthetically, art nouveau has always been a big artistic influence for me, and it'd definitely be its time to shine here. John R. Neill's illustrations of the Oz books often keep me company as well. Nouveau architecture in particular fits that fairytale whimsy extremely well imo

I'd allow myself a little bit of art deco here and there, but ultimately its intimidating geometrical splendor is an antithetical to the flowery nature of nouveau and I associate it with a completely different era. Definitely fitting some characters like my Wicked Witch of the West, but shouldn't be overused

One of my main problems with the original BBR was that eventually I lost track of what it was even about; and the original ending felt too mean and unfulfilling to be worth it. Now I'd like to stick to the theme of home and family as my main theme, but in a different, more bittersweet way than in the book

An interesting connection I made is that a lot of my aforementioned older key characters (the Witches, Jinjur, the Nome King, etc) all came from the same reformatory as kids, that's how they know each other. In my recent research I learned that in those reformatories it was usually frowned upon to release the children back to the families, which were seen as the original corrupting influence regardless of the circumstance. The reformatory did everything in its power to cut that connection and make itself the only family those wayward kids were supposed to know and love. That's an unexpected tie into the theme of home that I'd like to explore as well

So yeah that's the current state of it. I have a bunch of outfit concepts I'm slowly cooking, although I'm now sure whether I'd post them... But I do miss these funny guys, and I'm glad some people still do as well :)

#my art #xam rambles #the black brick road of oz #long post #ohsees tag

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penguin--nipples · 5 months ago

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truly nothing has affected me the way that reading the wicked years this past week is affecting me I have a million disorganized thoughts and I'm only partway through son of a witch:

Glinda and Elphaba's relationship is so much more fleshed out in the books than it is in the musical - the yearning and the pining and Elphaba showing up at the cloister of St glinda over and over again

Elphaba has two soulmates and that affects me deeply what do you mean someone who feels like they could never be loved has two soulmates

Why the fuck did Gregory include a line about Fiyero shitting his guts out right before dying?? Did the guy at the bar poison him?? Did the guy at the bar purposefully show him the bears being killed/hurt and then poison him?

Elphaba and her son both being bisexual disasters is actually my favorite thing

Elphaba and Fiyeros deaths both occur somewhat 'offscreen' and there is no evidence of their bodies

BOQ in the book is such a loveable character I despised him in the musical

Glinda is absolutely bat shit but also some kind of intuitive genius, the way she sees Fiyero after a decade and immediately deduces he's fucking somebody and minutes later says something along the lines of "send my love to elphie". And the way she interacts with Liir for the first time is also absolutely insane, but she also instinctively knows by the end of her conversation with him that he is Elphaba's son

Why is Nanny immortal? And how did Chistery learn to talk so well with her as the only human around?

As much as I hated watching Liir get bullied I loved the chapters at kiamo ko with sarima/her sisters and Nanny randomly showing up to terrorize the group, nothing like a found family of mostly women

I understand the queer reading of Elphaba's character obviously, but I don't understand why people think she is intersex. The book literally states "Only after a second and third rub was it clear that the child was indeed feminine. Perhaps in labor some bit of organic effluvia had become caught and quickly dried in the cloven place." - I always read this more as an acknowledgement of what Sarima explains later on as hot and cold anger and Elphaba having both. I feel like this is more of a trans allegory or that Elphaba has elements of being male and female (2 Spirit?)/a dissolution of gender, than her being intersex. and yet this rumour persists among discussion posts and boards, making it feel like a real life propaganda trail for the book since I've seen it said in the context of "woahhh the book is so much freakier than the movie omg". Although I guess it could be androgen insensitivity syndrome as well

What the FUCK is Yackle? She is described as the opposite of a guardian angel but idk what that means

Did gelphie fuck or not I'm so confused, they "spent a night together" and I see people saying they canonically had sex and maybe it's the nature of the book enjoying switching perspectives every time something interesting happened but I feel like they didn't? Or it's something I haven't read yet?

I feel like Liir becomes an audience surrogate when he goes into Southstairs guided by Shell - this is genuinely how it felt reading the books sometimes, he saw Shell be sketchy multiple times before putting it together like 'wait are you having sex with them???' which is basically me every time Gregory implied a sex scene subtly, making me not super sure if it happened or not

#son of a witch #the wicked years #the life and times of the wicked witch of the west #wicked #elphaba thropp #liir thropp #glinda upland #galinda upland #fiyero

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topazadine · 9 months ago

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Things that immediately turn me off a fiction book

I'm pretty picky with what I read, because the time I spend reading is time that I could spend writing. I generally know if I will like a book within the first chapter, and I feel no shame in giving up if I'm not vibing with it.

And no, I don't believe in the "oooh read further it warms up" because does it? Does it really? Do I want to waste time finding out?

Frankly, at this point in life, I read more nonfiction than fiction because there's just so. many. bad. books. that are getting published. Worse than fanfictions.

Anyway, here are the things that make me give up. Maybe hearing this will help you as you write your own masterpiece.

Too Many Proper Nouns

Three characters maximum in the first chapter or two. Do not throw dozens of people at me. I will get confused and give up. Let me get to know the main character, by themself or with a few of their closest companions, before you make me remember everyone else. And go deep with those characters! I want someone to stick with!

You can reference other characters, to create a sense of a deeper world, but do not go all-in on them. Make it clear that they are just there to provide a bit of context, and we don't have to remember them yet. We should only be meeting three characters maximum.

Throwing Us Immediately Into a Dramatic Action Point

This is controversial I know, but I hate when something immediately starts with a battle. I don't care if any of these people live or die. I don't know them. I haven't grown attached to any of them.

Even just a page or two to get to know them first will help. You can have them gearing up for a battle, thinking about what's going to happen, maybe talking to their friends, maybe checking their armor, whatever feels natural for them. But do not just start with stabbing people! I don't care about them yet!

Too Many Details

Many this is just me, but I simply do not care about every piece of armor your character is wearing. I don't need to hear a play-by-play of every single color of every single thing because I don't care. Pick out a few specific things for me to focus on and that's it. Stop overloading me with colors and patterns and armor styles.

Yes, yes, you've done your research on historically accurate gear. That's great. It would be good for a movie. But if I have to look up different armor pieces every five seconds, I am glossing over it and moving on. I don't care. I'm here for the story. If I wanted an infodump about medieval armor, I would simply pick up a nonfiction book (and maybe I will).

White Space Syndrome

Tell me what the overall scene looks like instead of all these hyperspecific details of certain objects, like carts or emblems or whatever. I want to know where I am!!

Don't just say "a forest." Tell me what kind of forest. Tell me if it's a young forest or an old snarly forest or a swampy forest or a cold alpine forest.

Don't just say "a castle." Tell me if it's a bustling castle or a gloomy castle or a rundown castle.

Don't just say "on the sea." Cold sea? Tropical sea? Far far away from land or is land in sight? These are the things I want!

Too Much Backstory

For the love of god do not explain the entire history of this culture in the first chapter. The first chapter is for getting to know the characters we're going to be following. You can introduce those things slowly and carefully as the story unfolds.

I get that fiction writers are delighted by all the worldbuilding (or research, in historical fiction) they have done. But the reader does not care right away. They need to get invested before all those little specifics matter at all. My eyes glaze over and I give up because I don't want to have to remember all of that all at once. It's like you just threw a college textbook at my face.

Plus, if you're doing third-person limited, you have to remember that the character is not going to be thinking all of that! They won't say all of that either! Because they know all of that!

Even a general on the brink of a major battle is not going to go "yes, this all dates back to when we took Iuanfutila back in 181, when the brave Iuanfutilans protested the rule of our Yawwbaawnwhryr leaders ...." They are focused on the present moment, and they may discuss the backstory later. Tell us what we need to know now because that is what the character would be thinking too.

"Oh, but Topazadine, how will the readers understand the context if I don't tell them??"

There's a battle. Two groups are at war. Or something was stolen. Or two people are fighting. Whatever. We understand those things. We can get the basic gist of how things are going to play out by just showing us these things happening. Then, as we have gotten a feel for the characters, you can tell us more about the context.

If you walk into a store that's being held up by an armed robber, do you give a shit about his backstory, or do you only care once that person has been arrested and you have to testify? I think we know the answer. You're not going "ohhh why is he doing this??" at first. You're going "HOLY SHIT THERE'S A GUN WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN NOW???" and then you'll care about the other stuff later.

Too Much Play-by-Play

I also do not need a play by play of a fight scene. I need to know the general movements, and then the overall atmosphere. I want to feel what the character feels rather than feel like I'm watching a football game.

Your reader will fill in the gaps if you give them enough information, but when you overload them with every single action, they're now trying to keep track of what went where instead of how this moment is supposed to feel. And now the action and drama has gone out of the writing because it's become a manual of fighting techniques.

Pointless Dumb Conversations

"Oh, could you turn around for me? I want privacy."

"Sure, of course, I'm a respectable man." Manfred knew that a lady-in-waiting would be unsettled by the presence of a strange man, so he wanted to be respectful.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Oh my god no one cares!!! No one!! We don't need this exchange. Cut it. This is stupid. Unless something is actually happening or something is meaningful about them saying this, shut up.

How to Not Write a Horrible First Chapter That Makes People Ragequit

Can you tell I'm mad today? I started and stopped three different books because they were all so bad.

Three characters max in the first chapter, with deep discussion of each. (One or two is better.) General appearance, demeanor, profession, whatever.

Restrain the urge to infodump! Dribble it out over the chapter!

Give the setting more attention than random little details that ultimately do not matter. I don't need to know the pattern of the curtains on the horsecart that's about to be burnt. Don't care.

Do not give a play by play of every single action that a character takes because it's boring and no one cares.

In media res is great but do NOT start with a big climactic intense battle or fight or whatever because we don't know these characters and don't know who to root for (or why we should care).

Your character is not going to give us a history lesson in why this conflict is happening. Do not do it yourself either. Give us just enough to get intrigued and no more. Think how your characters would think and what they would prioritize in discussions.

If a conversation is just pleasantries and has no purpose, drop it, we don't care.

#spicy writer opinions #writing #writing advice #story writing #novel writing #creative writing #creative inspiration #writers block #fiction writer #fiction writing #fantasy writing #original fiction #writblr #writeblr #writerscommunity #I'm becoming Cerie .... no no no

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munnmolads · 5 days ago

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What did Rafayel receive in the Nest? Part 2 - Analysis and Theory

This is a second part to my ramblings about the Nest meeting Rafayel had in Chapter 8. I'll be discussing more in the point of view what if that meeting wasn't related to Long Lost Treasures and it would have been critical to Land of Secret Flames? Spoilers for the main story in Under Deepspace and Prologue to Tomorrow, especially Land of Secret Flames.

If you haven't read the first part of this theory, I'm going more thoroughly about the meeting itself and and Long Lost Treasures in it, but it's not entirely necessary to read that if you're curious about the different point of view and are familar with the story.

What if the box had the disk Rafayel sent to Hunters Association?

Another theory I have for the box is that it contained the disk that Rafayel sent to the Hunter's Association with MC's name on the package. Andrew tells about the disk in more detail, telling it had a microchip inserted inside to forcefully induce energy fluctuations and only Ever has the technology to make something like this. It's also mentioned that the device can't be activated remotely.

Rafayel isn't even disputing the fact that he sent the package and only leaves a vague statement behind about maybe that will bring MC closer to the truth she's seeking. I wonder if it's a reference to Chapter 8 to what he said in the Nest as he left MC to be captured?

If we look back to the box, it could hold a "palm sized disk". The box isn't a perfect square, it's flatter height wise which could indicate a disk shape inside. The Nest guy's details - or the lack of them is interesting, his hand is very low-detail compared the usual detail in hands for his game, but the ring is quite detailed. Maybe it's not related, but it's really striking in this context that I am kind of willing to think that it might be the method how the fluctuations are controlled.

I'm just going to put this out here because I am bit unsure about this, but I feel Rafayel might have tried to distract MC's attention to the jewelry to see if she reacts to the fluctuations. He sees that it worked, and then tries to get her mind off it again after that.

After the banguet starts, MC confirms that the jewelry didn't have any fluctuations on it. These tremors aren't explained in another way, not yet atleast. I don't think there would be any reason for the Ever people use it right here and now.

Later when MC and Rafayel eavesdrop the Ever people and end up confronting them by Rafayel's iniative, suddenly there is a huge burst of metaflux and a wanderer appears. But oh how convenient timing this is for Rafayel....

Those Ever people didn't seem to plan to use the device - it sounded more like they wanted to infiltrate in and steal something rather than inject a wanderer in there. I have a feeling that Rafayel's confrontation here was to actually interrupt them not spilling their actual business in Jewel Reef, and give himself an opening to use the device right there so MC suspects they used the device instead.

We hear in the last chapter of Land of Secret Flames that the people from Ever are in the blue hole. This would seem like that the device was accidentally found when the Ever people drowned, and Ever can't really do anything about the device since they weren't on a legimate business in the banguet either. MC also seems to be a bit disappointed by the fact she can't question the people who were involved now.

Why would Rafayel get something like this?

First we have to think about Rafayel's motivations. Ever is the biggest enemy he has, and even how resourceful he is, he can't take them down on his own and he knows this. We also know that Ever is kind of Google of our own time right now, they are bigger and more influental than probably many of Linkon citizens realise. I think Rafayel's motivation is to obviously to protect MC, but also, slowly and surely expose Ever and it's dubiousness steasily so people and groups like Hunter's Asscociation would take more actions against them.

During Land of Secret Flames he demonstrated how the device works to MC and sent it to the Hunter's Association under her name for investigation. He also managed to link Ever to it successfully without making the connection him handling the device. However as we learn in the later chapters of Prologue to Tomorrow, Ever is already trying to launch their products to the market.

Of course we have to remember Rafayel's branch isn't the only one that demonstrated this issue with Ever, but if we assume that Land of Secret Flames could work as it's own story, Rafayel did manage to get the Hunter's Association's attention to Ever.

And why did he send the package under MC's name?

One thing that has been puzzling me over 6 months is that why Rafayel sent the package under MC's name? Why he didn't put his name? Or give the device to MC to hand it over to the Hunter's Association?

This is just speculation from me, but as I mentioned before, I fully believe his aim is to protect MC. He still is ranked at 6th on Ever's execution list, and has a bounty on his head. It's dangerous for MC to be linked to that kind of man and if Ever would know she is snooping into their business, it would put more of a target to her head. Rafayel keeping MC as much as possible in the dark about Ever could be a way to keep her protected from his burdens while he tries to feed the information to her more indirectly from more official sources, like inside her Association.

In addition trying to keep distance between her, him and Ever, I feel maybe he didn't want MC to have the device on her hands for too long so she could investigate it further and realise how the device worked, and how short range it has. Sending the package in behalf of her keep his name off the entire ordeal without her ever seeing the disk and package herself.

Another interesting point is that Rafayel seems to want to keep his distance to the Hunter's Association - he's not really interacting with any of them otherwise or even met (that I remember of) MC's colleagues. It could be just a coincidence and writers staying away from it since he doesn't have that much connections there yet, or it could be that he's not really trusting the Association fully either.

After the conversation about Ever's product launch, Jenna kind of shuts the conversation and the possibility to investigate Ever further, and directd the conversation towards the Aether cores.

It could be that I'm looking too into it at the moment and I don't want to get too into Jenna being bit suspicious during the story, but it could be that Rafayel might have predicted this outcome that the Hunter's Association is not going to investigate Ever further, not yet atleast, so he didn't want to risk his safety by contacting the Association himself.

I know this theory is bit out there, but I like thinking about the story in different perspectives and even if they wouldn't be true, it's fun to think about. I'm really curious if we will get any new story content soon, because I'm dyyyiiinggg to know more about the lore. Maybe soon....

#love and deepspace #lads rafayel #love and deepspace rafayel #rafayel #lnds rafayel #lads theories #lads lore

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strawberrypinky · 4 months ago

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fic recs - best of 2024 ✨🍓

With 2024 drawing to a close, I have decided to do a "best of 2024" fic rec list. I already did a round of recommendations in May of this year and I loved the positivity I was able to spread by sharing a few kind words about some fics that I have read and loved.

2024 was year of immense personal growth and changes for me (though I suspect 2025 will be equally... challenging) and I haven't read as many fics as I usually would have. However, I still came across quite a few wonderful ones, so without further ado here's my best of for 2024!

This is also me making up for the fact that I don't ever comment on fics. Sorry to the authors of the mentioned fics - I'm usually very awkward, but I promise I loved your fics. Otherwise they wouldn't have ended up on here

Baldur's Gate 3 Arguably the fandom I participated in the most this year after getting the game in January of 2024. I think precious little fandom content has stayed with me as intensely as anything Baldur's Gate, and I am so so appreciative of all the wonderful people I have met through this game. I wish I would've had more time for the amazing content people created (and continue to create!) for this game, alas, here's my top fanfiction for 2024:

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dealbreaker [A!Astarion x Tav] - @goodgirlgonebard

❦ Plot: "Dealbreaker" explores the dynamic between Willow (Tav) and an ascended Astarion, as they try to navigate their feelings for one another post breakup and post-brain, both with wishes and desires of their own, such as marriage, children and the possibility of an eternity together. ❦ strawberry's thoughts: I’ve only ascended Astarion once (purely for the plot, of course), and I firmly believe it’s his bad ending. That said, when it comes to fan fiction, I absolutely devour the dynamics between an Ascended Astarion and Tav/Durge, because the toxic complexity of their relationship is endlessly fascinating. Dealbreaker does an exceptional job of capturing the push and pull that defines both Astarion and Willow, even though it portrays A!Astarion in a somewhat softer light. It works perfectly within the context of the story, thanks in part to how delightfully idiotic Willow and Astarion can be when it comes to their own feelings. The blend of drama, fluff, and angst is just right, and I absolutely adore watching them navigate their way through it all together. There's also a song rec at the start of each chapter and Ms Ambs has taste 🤌🏻 Definitely my favourite BG3/Astarion read of the year!

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Sonnet of the Lone Cardinal [A!Astarion x Durge] - @brain-rot-central

❦ Plot: After becoming the first ever Vampire Ascendant, Astarion begins to forge a new path for himself. Months after the defeat of the Netherbrain he returns to his former lovers life and the two grapple with the changed dynamics of their former relationship. ❦ strawberry's thoughts: "Sonnet of the Lone Cardinal" delves into a darker exploration of the relationship between Ascended Astarion and a redeemed Dark Urge, yet it remains utterly captivating. The crafted narrative feels both believable and seamless, drawing you into Durge's deeply personal fears as she becomes entangled once again in Astarion's life. The portrayal of her anxiety is so vivid that it transfers to you as a reader. The tension between them feels palpable to you - a sort of nightmare fuel that has you anticipating something bad is going to happen at the next second and you somehow know it will. I'm very curious to see this continue, because it's so beautifully fucked up. ❦ Note: This fic contains dark content.

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The Last of the Silverboughs [Halsin & Tav, Astarion/Tav] - Stillmaurauding (AO3)

❦ Plot: Halsin, burdened by the weight of his past, encounteres Lythra, a young Drow woman whose nature leaves him utterly perplexed. Meanwhile she is relentless in her efforts to break free from her own trouble history in Menzoberranzan and the two forge an unlikely bond as they navigate a the journey to Baldur's Gate. ❦ strawberry's thoughts: Considering Halsin's character in the game, I understand why there’s minimal exploration of him as a father figure in storytelling, apart from scenarios involving Tav or Durge making him one. That said, he fits beautifully into the role of a quasi-father to Lythra throughout this narrative. The story delves into some very dark themes, but I’ve truly appreciated the nuanced approach to trauma, especially through Lythra’s character. The progression of the relationships, as well as the tensions within the group, feel very natural and there is enough intrigue with every chapter to make you want to continue. I hope the author eventually picks this up again. I'm also fairly certain they are on tumblr, however, I haven't been able to find them. If anyone knows their handle, let me know. I'd love to give credit where it's due :) ❦ Note: This fic contains dark content.

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O, Fortuna [Raphael/Dark Urge] - @gufu-vire

❦ Plot: Post the events of BG3, a redeemed Dark Urge and Raphael renegotiate terms to fulfil a contract sworn upon during the crisis of the Absolute. An adventure fraught with tension, frustration, conflict, and more as the reader partners up with the devil you love to hate ❦ strawberry's thoughts: Most biased spot on this list, especially if you've been following me for a while. I do not read Raphael fics, because while I understand the appeal, he's simply not my guy. However, I've been here for "O, Fortuna" since it was still in early development and Gufu said she hasn't got another longfic/slowburn in her, and thus it's ending up on here. It's definitely the longest fic on this list and quite an emotional journey, but I promise it's worth it. ❦ Note: This fic contains dark content, specifically towards the end.

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In Another Life, I Knew You [Astarion/Tav] - spaced_egg (AO3)

❦ Plot: After 200 years of believing him to be dead, Tav is once again faced with her ex-fiancé Astarion, who has little recollection of his life before Cazador. Now having to navigate tadpoles, the end of the world and feelings of both the past and the present, Tav and Astarion journey through Faerûn together. ❦ strawberry's thoughts: When I first read the summary of the fic I was quickly intrigued, because the concept of Tav and Astarion having known each other before he became a vampire offers up so many possibilites and adds layers of depth I really appreciate. "In Another Life, I knew You" does a wonderful job of expanding on their past and focussing on their present situation and as a reader you find yourself easily engrossed into the story. The dynamic between the two of them is written in a very believable way and I dearly hope the author is going to continue the story in 2025.

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Judgement by the Hounds [Gortash/Dark Urge] - @septembersummer

❦ Plot: A look into the relationship of The Dark Urge (Seren) and Gortash, from their first meeting up to their shared end. "The rise and fall of the worst situationship of all time" indeed. ❦ strawberry's thoughts: "Judgement by the Hounds" is getting a place in my fic recs for a second time, because it is quite possibly the best portrayal of Durgetash ever. It's basically canon to me at this point, because of how realistic their relationship is depicted (as in, realistic for them). I went through all fives stages of grief reading that story, and I so desperately kept hoping for a happy ending, even if Durgetash are the last people to deserve it. 10/10 fic - there's literally nothing else I can say.

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Miscellaneous One Shots/Short stories (Includes the ones I already recommended in May bc let's spread some love): legacy with no memory by @discordsmuse on AO3 - Gortash x The Dark Urge The Weight of A Promise by @sserpente on tumblr [Part 2 is equally good!] - Gortash x Tav/OC kiddo. by @avocado-writing on tumblr. - Gortash & OC to have and to hold by @littlejuicebox on tumblr. - Astarion x Tav choices. by @deadtired-highkeyenergetic on tumblr - Astarion x Tav how to win a custody battle in one easy step. by alltears on AO3 - Astarion x Tav Dangerous by NaeveTheWizard on AO3 - Astarion x The Dark Urge

The Ascendant Takes A Bride by @deadly-diminuendo on tumblr - Astarion x OC lilac and gold by @sorceresssundries on tumblr - Halsin x Tav Until We Wake, also by sorceresssundries on tumblr - Gale x Tav pygmalion's folly by AutopsyGarlands on AO3 - Gortash x Tav The Dark Prince by @reverieblondie on tumblr - Rolan x Tav For Old Times' Sake by @sserpente on tumblr - Gortash x Tav Ma'am by @kimberbohwrites on tumblr/AO3 - Rolan x Tav To Care Enough by @locallegume on tumblr - Astarion x Tav colors of the wind by al9ayf on AO3 - Halsin x Tav To Sever the Thread by anotheropti on AO3 - Shadowheart x Tav

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Honourable Mentions: Honourable mentions go out to several artists whose work I have throughly enjoyed throughout the year!

@starrforge - Incredible Halsin x Tav artwork! @lirotation - My favourite Astarionx Tav artwork, including amazing comics! @shellytheleo - Utterly beautiful Bloodweave content @heyitsjaki - THE BEST COMICS. I love how Gale suffers. Immaculate. @infernaldaydreams - Added to the BG3 category for the amazing Durgetash art, but damn if the DA art isn't immaculate as well.

Hogwarts Legacy I left behind Hogwarts Legacy at the start of the year, however one fic has still managed to secure a spot on my best of 2024 list:

merry and bright [Sebastian Sallow x M!MC] - @heyitszev

❦ Plot: Years after having left his magical hometown of Feldcroft, now streamer Sebastian Sallow returns home for the holidays to celebrate his sisters' nuptials. He expects a short visit, until he meets Charlie, Feldcroft's baker and potions master, and realises what he's been missing all along. ❦ strawberry's thoughts: I am a sucker for Hallmark movies - the cliches and predictability are something I eat up time and time again. So when the wonderfully talented Zev decided to write a hallmark fic with a gay couple at its center, I knew I would eat it up. "merry and bright" is perfect in taking itself serious enough yet also allowing for the typical hilarity and easygoing nature of Hallmark movies. The main characters are adoringly clueless yet charmingly witty and I cannot get enough of the dynamics between all of them.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Having not played the first three DA games, I know precious little about the universe as a whole. I have several opinions on the game/plot itself, but the community has created some incredible content that deserves to be honoured and appreciated!

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Rookie [Viago de Riva & F!Rook, Lucanis Dellamorte/F!Rook] - @marcell-arts

❦ Plot: Rook (or "Rookie") de Riva navigates growing up as a Fledgling of House de Riva as a former slave, before eventually becoming the Hero of the Veilguard. ❦ strawberry's thoughts: Confession time: there’s nothing I love more than a good 'found family' dynamic, especially when it includes a reluctant father/brother figure. That trope alone is usually enough to win me over. I stumbled upon this fic late one night when it had about 15 chapters. Safe to say, I didn’t get much sleep because I was hooked from the very first chapter. The writing is absolutely phenomenal, with pitch-perfect pacing (seriously, it’s masterful) and just the right blend of detail, headcanons, and canon divergence. It manages to stay true to the game while carving out its own identity, and the dynamic between Rook and Viago is equal parts heartwarming and hilarious - ultimate tsundere/reluctant dad meets the kid he practically scooped out of a dumpster energy. Additionally, the relationships Rook forms before teaming up with Varric add so much depth and dimension to her as an original character; they really make her feel alive. This is hands-down one of the best fics I’ve read all year, and I still can’t believe it’s the author’s first.

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Misdirection [Emmerich Volkarin/F!Rook] - @jainydoe (AO3)

❦ Plot [AU Setting]: Working for the FBI, being a Professor and a single dad has left Emmerich celibate for years, but the return of his estranged ex wife renders him desperate enough to sign up for a Sugar Dating Website, through which he meets the disaster that is Rook, a broke college student equally as desperate as him. ❦ strawberry's thoughts: The prose of this fic is absolutely fantastic, but what really gets me is the humour. Rook is such a disaster that I can't help but laugh every five seconds and yet "Misdirection" manages to be serious enough that it never comes across as silly or irritating. Emmerich's characterisation, specifically the struggle between his hopeless romanticism and hurt, is written beautifully illustrative and I'm endlessly curious to see where the entire fic will eventually lead.

That's it for my 2024 fic recs! I will definitely be doing this again in 2025, because it brings me a lot of joy to uplift so many fantastic creators and their work. I would love to know what everyone else's "best of" fics were this year, so feel free to drop some wonderful recommendations! Let's create positive and loving spaces for each other, especially in times like these.

For now, Merry Christmas to those celebrating!

Much love xx

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iwoulddieforher · 21 days ago

Text

She Doesn't Get Out Much | Casey Novak x Alex Cabot | Part 2

To read the summary and the previous works, check this post here.

This chapter summary: Casey gets the support she needs- it's tough to accept help, though. Mild warning for discussions of substance abuse disorders/exercise dependency issues, but it's all in the context of healing from them.

[2]

“If you don't start eating,” the notorious, cutthroat judge said, “I’m going to start spoon-feeding you as if you're one of my kids.”

Casey Novak pressed her lips into a thin line and gave her mentor turned friend a pointed stare, which Mary Clark didn't even flinch under- rather, she flexed her eyebrows and provided her with a patronizing smile.

The redhead sighed, raising the soup to her mouth and blowing on it briefly before slipping the spoon into her mouth, tilting it back, and swallowing.

It was a dense mixture of broth, vegetables and chicken, well seasoned and proportioned but the flavor of it still weighed heavy on her tongue. She supposed it had been a while since she had eaten something indulgent like this was. It felt uncomfortable, but Mary had directed her to do so, and Casey wasn't in the habit of disobeying the elder woman.

“Good,” Mary commented, “Now, tell me how the job has been. I haven't seen you in a couple weeks, and in white collar you used to ask me to dinner at least twice a month- what's been going on?”

“You’re very direct,” Casey muttered under her breath, emerald eyes flickering to the side, “Most people would have the decency to wait until the person they invited out begins that type of conversation.”

“You don't become a judge and then half-way decent defense attorney by dancing around the point, dear,” came the easy reply, and Casey shot her another look that very clearly rejected the notion the other woman was only a ‘half-way decent’ attorney. Casey thought Mary Clark might be the most admirable person she knew.

They were both sitting comfortably in a small up-scale restaurant, a staple of Mary’s collection of small esteemed yet hideaway locations for when she wanted to drag her protege out for a meal. It used to happen very frequently, called on by either one- Mary would send Casey an invitation if she decided too much time had passed since she’d seen her, and Casey would call on her when she needed advice or otherwise some form of solace.

With her parents in a different state, it felt odd to admit, but Clark had filed seamlessly into her life as her emergency contact. It felt natural, having Mary tuck her under her wing, offering the wise experience decades of being at the forefront of law had provided her, and the emotional support she had needed. Even now, when Casey had gone to the prosecution and Mary parted to the defense, she felt more comfortable sharing her mind with her than perhaps anyone else. She wasn't entirely sure why she had so stubbornly been avoiding her.

“It’s been a bad couple months,” Casey replied vaguely, stirring her spoon idly and watching the liquid ripple under the ministration, “I haven't … had time for leisure.”

“You’ve been working yourself to the bone,” Mary commented wryly. “What is it, Casey? You’ve picked some kind of poison. You can tell me. Drinking? Drugs? Sex?”

“No-!” Casey snapped in an astonished and indignant huff, taken aback by Mary’s forwardness, although part of her wasn't particularly surprised by it. Mary did not make it a habit to beat around the bush, and it was obvious Casey wasn't doing as well as she could be, so of course Clark would be aggressive in her attempt to help her. It was familiar, though, the way Mary engaged with her, even if it still did make her a bit flustered to hear possible abuses said so brazenly. It took a lot to fluster someone as forward as Novak, so that was certainly saying something.

“I’m not addicted to anything,” Casey denied fervently, and honestly, because she wasn't. “I haven't taken anything I’m not supposed to, and I haven't been sleeping around, if that was the implication.”

“Sex addiction doesn't necessarily imply sleeping around, you can be addicted to sex with only one partner-” Mary half-shrugged and raised her teacup daintily, her pinkie finger extended automatically which made Casey snort internally at the juxtaposition between her professionalism and the vulgarity of her words.

“-but, I digress. Okay. So, what's wrong with you, then? I’ve reared four children and one manchild husband. I've heard and seen far more than I need to in order to know I can handle what you're going to tell me.”

Casey stayed stubbornly quiet.

She knew, internally, that she was inevitably going to tell her, because of course she would. She knew Mary was aware of that too. There was no version of this conversation in which she’d successfully be able to keep her struggle a secret, and she didn't want there to be one either, she did want to tell her.

It was a way to reassure herself, though, that her vulnerability was accepted- if she made Mary work her for it, then there was no way Mary could ever blame her for opening up, not that she … that was a bad thing to think, wasn't it?

“Don't disappear into that thick head of yours, Casey.” The sound of an impatiently tapping finger against the white tablecloth snapped Casey out of her internal dialogue and she swallowed, blinking back into present focus. Mary was looking at her expectantly.

“I started working at SVU,” Casey said, then, in an uncharacteristically small voice, a note of defeat in her tone.

Mary rewarded her for the slight lower of her guard by immediately ceasing the motion of her finger, and her eyes shifted from stern and expectant to almost maternal-like in care. This was the dynamic between the two- so long as Casey displayed the level of trust, respect and expectation the elder obliged her too, Mary would be her place of attention and support.

“Well, that much I’m aware of. You’ve asked me for help on some of your cases,” Mary nodded, tilting her head to the side. “Has something happened?”

Casey felt nauseous immediately, the line of questioning making her stomach flip uncomfortably. She could feel her shoulders urging her to let them hunch inward, so she forced herself to do the exact opposite, pushing her shoulders down and backwards while straightening her spine. Mary watched her do so with a disguised sense of interest, and although Casey knew she was watching, it didn't add or lessen the discomfort she felt.

She felt childlike under Mary’s intent gaze, but then again, she was the same age as Mary’s own children, so she supposed it wasn't that ridiculous of a thought. Casey felt small and somehow even weaker, more tired. She didn't want to admit that. She had worked exceptionally hard so that no one could ever identify she was struggling, and despite knowing she had to admit it if she wanted to improve the situation at all, it was a difficult thing to do.

A swell of anxiety rose in her middle, blocking her throat, and she coughed awkwardly. This wasn't like the defiant silence she had provided Alex with, where both didn't quite know what to say or if they were even ready to converse at all, she simultaneously wanted to pour it all out and run for the hills. It reminded her oddly of telling her father she had received a misconduct for fighting in the school courtyard, steeling herself desperately and yet hopelessly against his fiercely stoic gaze. She needed to say it, and she knew she wasn't going to be punished for it, but she just couldn't bring herself to do so.

“Casey,” the elder woman’s voice was far gentler now, “You know there's nothing you could tell me that could sway my opinion of you, yes?”

“I know,” Casey muttered hoarsely around the frog lodged firmly in her throat, “I don't know why this is so hard for me. It shouldn't be.”

“Nonsense,” Mary insisted, “Come now, dear. You take as much time as you need to find the words, but please do share them with me.”

The redhead nodded slowly, trying to ease tension from her stuff muscles by letting out a shaky exhale. The stress wasn't subsiding the way she had hoped it would.

Ironically, and in a way Casey thought to herself was wildly naive, she almost wished it was Alex across from her- Alex who had already seen, who she didn't need to explain it all too, Alex who was trying to win her favor back and therefore couldn't make any real demand of her, while Mary- albeit gently- was currently asking for quite a lot.

Leverage and position, just like when drafting a plea deal.

She decided to try to frame it this way to herself. She had committed the crime of recklessly manhandling her latest court cases by showing up exhausted and experiencing physical afflictions, and she could forgive herself for her stupidity if she plead her way out by taking responsibility. The only way she could do that is if she admitted to the judge- a position Mary had formerly held, so it wasn't even that far off- her misconduct, and hope the court accepted her attempt at reconciliation.

Casey thought about how she’d want a defendant to apologize when admitting guilt to the court, and decided to follow the structure that type of address would entail.

“I’ve been reckless,” Casey said slowly, “I’ve endangered my cases and therefore the reputation of myself and the DA by appearing in court while in a state in which I shouldn't have.”

Mary nodded, although a small twinge of confusion was evident in the way one of her eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly- Casey had previously denied any sort of substance abuse, and she couldn't assume any other sort of state she could’ve appeared in.

“It isn't an excuse for my actions, but I’d like to offer an explanation,” Casey breathed, letting her green eyes flicker warily up to Mary's warm brown ones, and letting herself relax slightly when she was met only with sympathy and apparently growing concern, “I … I haven't been sleeping. I’ve intentionally neglected sleeping because I … I keep …”

She was growing frustrated with her inability to just spit the godforsaken words out, and she could see Mary’s eyes flicker down as Casey’s fingers clenched in on themselves from where she had laid them on the table.

“It's stupid,” Casey gasped, tears pricking at her eyes, defeat tasting as bitter in her mouth as the feeling of her voice cracking with emotion did.

Mary’s hand extended over the length of the table to nestle comfortably over her’s, squeezing in a successful attempt to be reassuring. Casey felt herself breathe a bit easier with the physical affection, and she let her eyes drift to fixate on the gleam of Mary's golden rings as the elder woman ran her thumb soothingly over Casey’s hand.

“You’re working a really stressful job, Casey.” Mary coaxed, “I won't blame you for anything you’ve done, not when you've clearly already been beating yourself up for it.”

“I haven't been eating,” Casey spit out the words as if they were burning her, because they felt like they were, “I haven't been- been sleeping, because all I do when I’m not working is- is exercise.”

Mary looked bewildered, but now that Casey had gotten over that particular hurdle, it was like a dam had split wide open. Words lapped eagerly through the floodgates, tumbling from her tongue before she had a chance to agonize over each syllable.

“It's- it's gotten bad. I don't function, anymore, I can't stand to be in my own head if I’m not- from the second I get off of work, I’m at the batting cages until I physically can't be, and I have all these bruises and I know people are worried about me but I just can't- I can't handle it, everything feels to impossible, and when I’m moving I can't think about all that, but I’ve been stuck in perpetual movement for- for weeks, and I can't do this anymore.”

The hand that encased her’s squeezed again, warm and soft, unflinching and firm. Casey’s mind flickered back to watching Alex’s hand quiver every couple seconds, an action Alex herself hadn't even seemed aware of. The parallel was very obvious to her, but she wasn't sure what it meant.

She felt her eyes prick with tears, and despite not wanting to shake Mary’s hand off she needed to as she reached to press the edges of her palms against her eyes to contain the miserable liquid before it ruined her makeup and composure entirely. Mary had seen a lot from her, but sobbing wasn't one of them- Casey certainly did not make it a habit to cry in front of others, and this was no exception. She gritted her teeth and tried to curse internally. She tried to transfer her exhaustion and her anxiety into fury at the universe, but when she did that only caused an inadvertent flex in her bicep, and she realized that was exactly how she had gotten this bad. She had been channeling her grief into rage she could unleash via swings of a softball bat, and now she was stuck with no other way to bring herself back down.

“Can I tell you a story?”

This was exactly why Casey confided in Mary- the elder woman always managed to catch her off guard in the best way possible.

Mary never made her feel bitter with empty platitudes and pleasantries and faux comforts. She always had something unexpected and exactly right to calm the bubbling swirl of overwhelm in Casey’s heart. With a small hint of relief, a whispered thank-you to God for sending her a mentor like Mary Clark, Casey nodded and resigned herself to listen.

Casey studied the face of the older woman, chocolate brown irises with wisdom and smile wrinkles near her eyes and cheeks as her expression smoothed over thoughtfully. The elder woman broke eye contact to drop her gaze to the tablecloth, and Casey realized she was slightly uncomfortable.

“You don't know this about me,” Mary started, “because I don't quite make it a habit to tell, but it seems like a fitting time for me to tell you about something that happened … probably right around the time you started preschool. I do have a few years on you, after all.”

Even though through her scrutiny Casey was finding more slight indicators what Mary was about to confide was not an easy subject for her, she was making an obvious attempt to keep it lighthearted for Casey’s benefit. Casey offered her a weak smile at that small bit of humor.

“I had just had my third,” Mary murmured, referring to her children, “and the delivery had complications. To spare you the awkward details, it wasn't anything pretty. I had to stay in the hospital for a week or so, and it was much harder than I ever expected it could be, especially since my first two were reasonably easy.”

She took a deep breath, opened her mouth, and then closed it again, her short brown hair swaying slightly as she shook her head. Mary attempted to gather the words, and Casey tried not to feel exceptionally guilty for asking this of her, but unlike with Alex- who was scrambling to find purchase, would offer information she’d later regret if it helped her regain standing next to Casey- Casey could trust that whatever Mary had to say was something she meant too. She didn't need to reassure Clark that she didn't need to say anything she was uncomfortable with.

“People always talk about postpartum depression,” Mary said after a few seconds, “Well, they do now- maybe not as much when I was going through it- but you never really understand until you're exhausted and can't muster up the willpower to want to care for yourself, or the kid you're going with it through, let alone the other two and a good-for-nothing husband- it was hard, Casey.”

“I can only imagine,” Casey heard herself say, as if through water. Something about the way Mary spoke soothed her frayed nerves in a way she hadn't felt in months. It was a weird experience, to finally be out and vulnerable, to not hold a facade. To not be the one scrutinized, rather the one observing.

“But obviously, just because you want to give up and sleep for weeks, you can't. World keeps spinning. Kids need to be cared for. So I picked up a habit that helped me keep me upright- I started smoking.”

Casey didn't know how to respond to that, so she just lowered her gaze submissively and shook her head slowly, hoping that conveyed some sort of empathy, not that she felt like Mary expected any from her.

“It was a cigarette a day, and then one every couple hours, and then before you knew it I was calling recess in court just so I could go out myself and chain-smoke. I was going through a pack in less than three days, and bottles of whatever kind of perfume I could use to try to hide the stench of it even faster.”

Mary waved her hand as though attempting to make a dismissive motion, but the weight of her words was far from anything Casey could ignore.

“I knew it had to stop when I had to ask a defense counselor to justify an objection, only because I had been mentally wondering when the next time I could hold a recess was, and not because I needed the elaboration. I don't think I’ve ever admitted that to anyone before.”

Brown eyes met green, and Mary’s gaze bore a comfortable space into Casey’s soul, chipping through the layers of crumbling cement to fill the hollow space with comfort instead of numb exhaustion.

“It hurts, Casey. I know it does. And almost every person you’ll find in a courthouse has some kind of story where the stress just got too much and they lost it. Some drink, some sleep with people they shouldn't, some take it out on other people. Some never recover, but I did, and I know you will, too.”

“I don't know how,” Casey’s voice cracked, but she didn't clamp her mouth shut or try to stiffen, she forced herself to relax into the vulnerability of the moment.

“You don't have too.”

Casey blinked at her and Mary’s hand found her’s once again.

“It starts with eating better,” Mary soothed, “it starts with listening to your basic needs. Eat when you're hungry, drink when you're thirsty, sleep when you're tired and you can. Rest in the arms of people who love you.”

“I can't,” the redhead choked, pushing her head into her hands desperately, hiding her face and seeking support from her arms hopelessly.

“Mary, for years- for years, I’ve been- I’ve been telling myself that all I had to do was make it ‘till high school graduation, make it through law school, make it until I get married, but there's no goals anymore, and everything’s falling apart.”

Mary’s gaze sharpened quickly and Casey realized she had slipped up, revealed something she hadn't meant too. Mary had known she was engaged, and as Casey watched while internally cursing herself for the impulsive statement, her gaze flickered down to Casey’s hand. Casey had been engaged, and if marriage wasn't a goalpost anymore, that left only two options- either she had a husband, or she no longer had the immediate potential of one. No band adored Casey’s ring finger, and she could see that recognition click in Mary's eyes.

Defense attorneys had a habit of declaring their thoughts out loud, even if the implication of the situation was obvious enough. Clark was no different. It made Casey wince inwardly.

“You're not engaged to Mr. Morrison anymore?”

It had been a little over a year, fourteen long months since Casey had thrown Charlie out of her house, and the majority of people who had known about the engagement through idle understanding still didn't know it was over. Though, to be fair, she hadn't ever had that broad of a social circle to begin with- her parents had been informed when Casey kicked him out, his parents minutes after, and the few drifting college friends over the following weeks, and mostly only after they had asked first. Mary was one of the few exceptions who had been aware through random small talk, and Casey had never gone out of her immediate way to declare her potential marriage had crashed into a burning heap.

“No,” Casey muttered. She glanced up through her eyelashes, deciding if Mary would run with this topic, she’d continue it. Old women were always suckers to discuss romance in younger people, weren't they? “I’m not. And the person I saw after that didn't quite work out either, I- … I think.”

She hadn't lost Alex entirely. They would be speaking in two week’s time. But she had spent the past months struggling with the assumption she’d never enjoy the company of the blonde ever again, and despite it now being corrected, the shape their relationship had previously been did not fit the way Casey’s character had morphed under the stress of the previous months.

It was like a house one had moved out of and then revisited- bittersweet and hollowed, nostalgic in a heart wrenching way. The adornments that had lined the hallways, the understanding and familiarity ripped out and the walls entirely repainted. Perhaps the potential to repossess the property would occur, but there was no guarantee it would work, or that it would be at all comfortable like it had been before.

It might not work. She would not base her fragile state of the foundation that she had no way of ensuring would not crack under her. If she were to be better, she’d do it without her, and if she wanted to share a second chance with Alex, she’d need to be healthy for that.

“You think?” Mary tilted her head, but then blinked and shook her head quickly. “For another time, Casey. Clever, though, trying to redirect me like that.”

“Lawyer for a reason,” Casey said quietly, taking a spoonful of now-cold soup into her mouth so she’d have something other than speaking to do with her tongue. She averted her gaze. Her mental energy to have an emotionally taxing conversation like this was plummeting by the second, even with someone she trusted as much as Mary Clark.

“So if you don't have that type of consolation, Casey, what support are you getting?”

That was the question probing the area Casey did not want to delve into. She sighed and closed her eyes, hoping Mary would get the message, which of course she did- but even a defense attorney as formidable as her wasn't quite sure how to breach such a sensitive topic.

“... You're working with the Special Victims Unit, so you have a set rotation of detectives now- are any of them trustworthy enough?”

“I don't know how to answer that without sounding like a rejected schoolchild,” Casey muttered before she could stop herself. Pathetic, she groaned internally, why would she say something so pitiful? She was a prosecutor for God's sake, she should be stoic and cold and statuesque, but instead she had her elbows on her table with her head in her hands spilling her soul to the judge she did her clerkship under because a couple coworkers didn't appreciate that her face didn't look like Alex’s stupidly pretty one.

The image of Alex’s smiling face, with her smooth porcelain skin and golden hair, the perfect image of everything that was wrong with Casey and the symbol she had used to punish and oppress herself, made adrenaline bolt into her veins. She wanted to run away, now. Hit something. Even with the norepinephrine she didn't have enough energy to do so.

It's unfair, something inside her said, to hold Alex’s image in such a negative regard. Alex had been struggling too. Alex was trying to be nice to her, despite the venom Casey had spat. Alex wanted to keep trying. Alex was good. If Alex was good, then Casey must be bad, because Casey was not what Alex was- but Casey was not a bad person. This, despite her insecurities, she knew.

“I’m tired of mental gymnastics,” Casey groaned out loud, because what kind of internal dialogue was that supposed to be, “Fuck this.”

“Then we proceed through this in steps,” Mary affirmed, “And if you're a rejected school kid, I’ll be the teacher whose classroom you eat lunch in until you manage to make your own friends. This won't last forever, Casey, but until it's over I’ll hold your hand, so to speak.”

Casey decided to ignore the comparison of herself to some little high schooler with her cafeteria tray in her English teacher’s classroom and focus on the proposal.

Proceeding step by step. Court proceedings were something Casey was good at following. She could do steps. She had a feeling Mary knew that was the equivalency she would immediately draw and had intrinsically framed it as such for her benefit.

“Okay,” Casey took a deep breath and nodded, straightening up and smoothing out the tablecloth and the skirt over her lap out of habit, “Okay.”

“The first step,” Mary’s eyebrows flexed as though warning Casey not to be dejected, because she already knew she would be, “Is to let yourself accept you’re struggling. You've got thick skin, dear, I know you hate to admit it, but you have a problem right now, and you can't fix it if you keep agonizing over how much you hate that you have one.”

“I’m here, aren't I? I’m having this conversation,” Casey responded, slightly indignant.

Mary was quick to offer a quick “Yes, of course,” as a consolation. “I meant, though,” she was quick to continue, “That you need to come to terms with it. Counseling, I’d suggest, but you're stubborn and hate opening up to people, so perhaps journalling. Just get everything in your head out somewhere, and I guarantee you it’ll clear some space in that brain of yours.”

“Journaling,” Casey echoed distantly.

She wanted to cry, all of a sudden. She didn't want to be here anymore. She was exhausted and even though the way she had been going felt horrible at least, in a twisted way, it was familiar- but this? It felt easier to just lapse back into erecting brick walls.

I don't want to do this, something inside her thoughts despairingly, I just want to crawl into a hole and hide. I’m not like Mary. I don't have children to take care of. There's nothing keeping me going the way a mother is driven to persevere.

“Okay,” she said, despite the voice in her head and the overwhelming sensation of internal organs churning in the cavity of her chest, “I can do that. What would come next?”

The look Mary gave her made it obvious the older woman saw right through her facade, but she did not choose to comment on it.

“Better habit forming.” Mary said flatly, and Casey shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. That much was obvious. Eating better, drinking enough, sleeping more. She already knew she had to do that, but perhaps after getting her head a bit clearer through Mary’s suggestion of journaling it would be easier than where she currently found herself.

“The step after that would be getting yourself out there again,” and here too Mary had to shoot her a stern look, because Casey snorted at the notion, “You need friends, Casey. You need to find people you're comfortable sharing things with.”

Casey was silent.

“And after?” She asked, finally, because she didn't like sitting in silence with Mary Clark.

“Foresight and planning are essential to a lawyer,” Mary agreed, taking another slow sip of tea that had long since cooled off, “but you know better than anyone that you can't plan too far in advance, or it’ll become impossible to deal adequately with unforeseen challenges. Focus on what I told you, dear, and let the rest come naturally.”

I don't want to be here anymore, Casey's voice told herself. I don't want to do this. This seems so hard. I look pathetic and weak in front of my mentor, and it's not like anything will change. I don't want to be here. I want to go home.

She was going to cry if she stayed here for any longer, she realized. She needed to go home.

Before she could formulate some sort of excuse to tuck tail and duck off, Mary’s lips curved into a sympathetic smile, and she looked at her with an air a bit too motherly, a bit too familiar for Casey to be entirely comfortable with.

“You’re done talking for today, Casey, aren't you?”

“Yes,” Casey’s voice came out in a small rasp, “This is harder than I expected it to be. I can't… I don't…”

Mary shushed her, a soothing, hummed coax to Casey’s fragile psyche. Casey didn't need to talk, it seemed. Only listen. Casey could do that. Casey could force herself to do that.

“I don't want to keep you any longer than you’re comfortable with,” the elder woman said in a quiet voice, quiet enough that Casey felt comfortable leaning forward slightly, “so I will provide you now with my closing statement, which begins by affirming I don't expect a return statement, so feel free to leave when I’m done talking.”

Casey’s eyebrows simultaneously raised and tilted, a look of be-deadass crossing her face. It was generous for Mary to offer an exit without requiring her to say something to part, but she’d never leave without acknowledging the effort Mary was putting into this conversation. Mary smiled in response.

“I’d like to say how proud I am for agreeing to meet with me, and acknowledge how exhausting this must be for you right now,” at this Casey averted her gaze, her heart jolting in her chest, but she tried to settle into the uncomfortable warmth. It caught her off guard, but not in a bad way. She had heard people be sympathetic, offer comfort that simultaneously wasn't genuine but also not a lie- words they thought would bring something, but offered more out of a sense that that was what they were supposed to say, supposed to do. Tense, Awkward. Forced. But Mary spoke so easily that even Casey’s naturally oversuspicious mind was lulled, at least to some degree.

“And furthermore, I urge you to remember how good of a lawyer you are. How many people you’ve helped, be it financial ruin from your time in white collar or the gift of a fighting chance to special victims in your new work. You may feel powerless, but you’ve been making a real difference, Casey. You’ve been doing well. You’re good, and not only at what you do, but in general- you’re a good person, Casey, no matter what kind of affliction provokes you.”

A small shudder ran down Casey’s spine. It hurt to hear that, somehow, perhaps it hurt because her first instinct was to argue.

“You’ve got me to call if you ever need advice, or a shoulder, or a helping hand,” Mary continued, “Or a shoe. And I know, you’ll argue with me about this, but I know with absolute certainty I’m not the only one who cares about you. Find the people who do and stay with them. You’ll be okay, Casey. Everything will be okay.”

With that, she promptly nodded, the same way she had in court after finishing her closing statement, or giving the floor back to the prosecution. She had said her piece.

“Thank you,” Casey started, before opening and then closing her mouth blankly. How was one supposed to respond to that- how did she want to respond to that?

Being comforted by anyone- being offered consolation or support hadn't been an experience she had the privilege of receiving in months, perhaps years. Mary gave it to her as though it was water. Casey may as well have been terminally dehydrated. Her throat was choking trying to swallow something she wasn't at all used too- but she needed it, fuck, she had needed it.

So she simply repeated a “thank you”, reaching over the table to squeeze Mary’s hand softly, mirroring the elder attorney’s earlier action. Casey took a deep breath, letting her eyes flutter shut.

“I am very grateful,” she said slowly, “to have a mentor like you, Mary. Thank you for deciding to check on me, and thank you for listening to everything. Thank you for being so kind. When I’m back to normal, though,” her eyes flickered up, hoping to inject a small veil of playfulness, “I hope we go straight back to your ruthless teasing over my mishaps.”

“Oh, dear,” Mary chuckled, but her voice was still tinted with sympathy, “I’d never dream of anything otherwise.”

“Good, then.” Casey said quietly.

She was done now. She had heard Mary out and responded in some way she decidedly thought was adequate. It felt awkward leaving but her heart couldn't take much more of the way she had forced it open for this meeting.

“I’ll see you soon, yes?” Mary asked, and Casey nodded easily. It wasn't like with Alex where the next meeting was loaded and something to obsess or agonize over. Another meal with Mary was as inevitable as rain falling- Mary needed the excitement of insights into the life of an up-and-coming ambitious young attorney, and more than that Casey needed her trusted mentor’s advice.

“I’ve got this check,” Mary murmured, picking up her teacup, “So go on home, now. And Casey- take care of yourself.”

“Yes ma’am,” Casey said softly, before standing up and slinging her coat over her shoulders. She turned back for a small second, her eyebrows furrowing. Casey swallowed once as a nervous tick, letting her bottom lip part open for a small second. It felt awkward leaving. It felt impossible to stay here.

“Thank you,” she said one last time, sheepishly, quietly.

Mary didn't look up, but she smiled widely over the rim of her teacup.

Casey turned and left.

#calex #casey novak #alex cabot #casey novak x alex cabot #svu #law and order svu #law and order special victims unit #lesbian #olivia benson #elliot stabler #mary clark

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erinwantstowrite · 9 months ago

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Hi!!!! I Love love love your fic, and I have a question! An inquiry if you must lol. I was reading the tags again, and I noticed the skip Westcott tag. Are you going to approach the topic? Like, other than Peter suffering that trauma, when he eventually opens up to the bat family, will he talk about it?? Will dick talk about his own experience with Tarantula? I'm so excited to see your take since you put some hints that skip was maybe his caretaker at some point? Like foster dad or maybe I'm genuinely just tripping and mixing with other fics.

ALSO incredibly excited to see what happened to him with the experiments!!! It's extremely vague but im so needing that angst!!!! I really want to see more of Peter's life before coming to Gotham, before even meeting Tony!

hiii!! ty for the love!! :)

i spent ages looking for an ask i got a while ago about this topic but i can't find it for some reason? so if anyone is able to find it for me, i'd like to link it to this post and i'd appreciate the help!!

EDIT: perpetuallypanicky found the post!

(warning for under the tag: talking about Skip Westcott and Tarantula, which covers the topic of SA. please take care of yourself)

Peter will eventually talk about Skip Westcott. I can't say how much he says because I haven't actually written the conversation yet, but at the moment, it's more alluded to that it is talked about. It's a conversation for way later in another part of the series I have planned for LoF, which actually has an entire plotline about Peter's past and how it connects to his future. But he will open up and talk about it at some point. I think in the road trip arc (chapter 15 I think?) I have it planned for Peter to talk about Skip in some context with Dick (mainly, he tells Dick the most he's ever told anyone about the day he was bit by the spider), but not fully.

(And if that changes, it will 100% be warned in the beginning with the other trigger warnings I put in beginning chapter notes.)

That's mostly because Peter still hasn't processed that yet. He hasn't even told his therapist (I briefly mentioned a few times in Peter's POV's that he has gone to therapy, but I should probably make sure it's known that he doesn't go so often that he's gotten through the biggest parts of his past).

As for Tarantula... I talked about this in the Lost Post (this thing disappeared???) so I should probably mention it again. But Tarantula did NOT happen in this au.

There's a huge reason for it, and that's because I hate Devin Grayson, the writer who put that shit in there. I don't want her attached to LoF in any form, even if I'm writing to bash it.

That's not saying that Dick isn't still a survivor of SA. He's still going to have that be a part of his past as well, with some of the other instances. (There's another instance with Catwoman that's just... no.) So I'm not erasing that part of his history. I just hate Devin Grayson.

Which means that when Dick does find out (and he will), there's gonna be a big reaction. For the most part, when it comes to What Happened, I won't be going into details, nor flashbacks, stuff like that. It'll be about the impact of those times, and how Peter and Dick are recovering, though they do talk about it.

Also, Skip was Peter's last foster parent before Tony, you're right. He's probably just a little older than Dick, I'd say, around mid thirties? He was responsible for Peter for a little while but Peter ended up running away that day he got bit, and Skip hasn't fostered since.

And as for the experiments: I'm excited to write about it more. Peter and Dick also talk about this, and in some more detail than the Westcott talk. It's about time that Dick learned how Tony got Peter's complete trust,,,, a little sneak peak into that,,,, :)

There's actually so much about Peter's backstory that I sometimes wonder if there's things that I wouldn't be able to get to in LoF... It just means that I've been considering writing a prequel one day

#erinwantstowrite #ao3 #ao3 fanfic #leap of faith ao3 #leap of faith catch me if you can #leap of faith #peter parker #thank you for the ask!#tarantula DC #devin grayson i hate you so much #dick grayson #my love dick grayson #:((#nightwing

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bloopitynoot · 1 month ago

Text

Reading TGCF: Chapter 63

For those who don't know, I am reading TGCF for the first time and sharing my thoughts!

If you have not read it, there will be spoilers! Consider this a warning.

Also- if you want to follow along, I am aiming to post updates daily. You can find all the posts in the tag Bloopitynoot reads TGCF. You can also check out the intro post for context on my read BUT if you followed along with my SVSSS read, the rules and vibe are the same.

I really wanted to get a chapter in before my tattoo appointment today! I was hoping to do one yesterday, but the shift I was on-call for had me called in so it did not happen. I knew that this afternoon would also not be a possibility because I will be out of commission.

So, no tea, this morning is just water since I am hydrating for my appointment.

let's go chapter 63!!!

omg these two caring for one another always make it the most awkward interaction! I need Hualian to get to the "kiss because they want to" stage because my second hand embarrassment is too much right now! pp173-175

The whiplash Hua Cheng must be feeling; "He's kissing me. He's apologizing? He's running away! He's running back? He's holding my hand!" LOL p176

Then Hua Cheng is just trolling, "yeah that's definitely not the real way to do that. Do not do it to anyone else...(except me- unsaid)". p177

This is what I said last chapter! Just throw Hua Cheng in a casket and float to freedom. p179

omg, we have an idiot. "San lang, just what kind of person is your special someone?" He asked. "Why haven't you won them over yet?" my guy... p181

"What matters is you, not the state of you" My heeeaaaart p182

Another coffin adventure! (no spoilers but SVSSS has a coffin scene as well). I love that they built this and for sure could have made it larger, but nope, they definitely did not do that. p184

I am eating up this sentence, "Top, bottom; isn't it all the same?" p184

oh no! The mortifying ordeal of both of them getting hard-ons in a small space. RIP p186

It's even worse now! They are back with the other group (mostly) and getting clocked on how disheveled they are p187

Pei Ming!!!!! "You made that coffin yourselves, right? Why didn't you build a bigger one" p188

Oh man, if that shadow person touches Hua Cheng, Xie Lian is about to go feral. He will be ending it.

I cannot

The ridiculous this chapter is so much XD The dissociation and error coding Xie Lian went through; the man literally was drooling. I hope he has his awakening soon!

Though I will say these two are adorable, but man, the amount of trauma they hold is really fucking up their interpersonal relationships. I do hope they make it through and work through some of their fears, because the babes to deserve to have some happiness.

#bloopitynoot reads tgcf #tgcf mxtx #tgcf spoilers #tgcf #heaven official's blessing #xie lian #hua cheng #pei ming #shi wudu #THE COFFIN SCENE #definitely can get it up #how many fake kisses does it take to get a real one #they designed that coffin

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random-vore-blog · 26 days ago

Text

[ Warning, this chapter contains: swearing, noms, soft noms, c!Dream being a naga, semi-unwilling(?) pred, unwilling prey, willing preys, injuries, fearplay, fear, fear of digestion ( doesn't happen and is not really written), naga instinct, animal-like imstinct and behaviour and near death.

If the warnings contain something you don't like, then I kindly ask you to please leave. For those who stayed, enjoy.]

[ Taglist: @kayla-crazy-stuffs]

New players

( For context, I have finally come back to my abandoned au I haven't used yet with two oc's. One of them is really old, and never got a design until a few days ago and the other one is very new. Dream is a Naga in this au, because I rarely see naga Dream noms. My new character is just an ordinary female human, while the other is a Lizardshifter. Meaning that they can shift into any lizard-type creatures like dinosaurs, lizards and even dragons. Lore will drop out soon enough for these two. Also, this is just an au of mine! I will probably make another story of this au soon.)

The server was quiet. Not a chaotic quiet but a calm quiet. The Admin, Dream, was literally a naga that... didn't really hurt anyone. All of the members were still a bit shaken by his appearance, but not scared that he'll probably eat them. Not that he'd actually do it, as he has said multiple times when questioned every time until they were assured he wouldn't gobble them up as an easy meal.

Although, he wouldn't mind storing someone if they knew about his anatomy well enough to know that it was safe. He knew both Sapnap and BadBoyHalo had brooding pouches, maybe Philza too, but they didn't know Naga anatomy or anything. Maybe Philza did know very little of his anatomy, but not a whole lot. It had been a problem hiding his instincts or controlling them.

Especially when your friends looked so vulnerable.

" WHAT THE FUCK?!"

He heard Tommy all but screech, as if he had seen a ghost. Maybe he saw one because of the illusion of the mushrooms Sapnap gave to him as a prank.

" LANGUAGE!"

Typical BBH. He sighed, slithering outside of his human-made cave to check out what the ruckus was all about. He was confused, if not shocked too.

A storm had brewed up out of nowhere, and it didn't have rain pouring down. Just flashes of lightning and the dark clouds. George had stood not far from where he was, including the rest of the server, it seemed. Sapnap was confused, and the fireborn seemed to have taken shelter under some trees with Ranboo.

" What is happening...?"

" HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO KNOW! ONE SECOND I AM GETTING WOOD, TGE NEXT SECOND, A BIG STORM APPEARED!"

" Calm down. Maybe it's a glitch?"

But he knew that it couldn't be a glitch. The Admin would've received intellect from the server's code about glitches. This wasn't a glitch. He hummed, watching it a few minutes longer in time to see a bolt nearly strike a building. It was one of the buildings Tommy built for Technoblade.

" Dream?! Can you get rid of this storm?!"

He shook his head slightly, as if knowing that he was unable to rid the anomaly and make it a peaceful day again.

" I-"

Thunder flashed, two silhouettes falling from the sky, as a bolt flashed again, into the forest away from the base. Everyone had to have seen them, right?

" What the f- the storm is gone? Did you get rid of it, Dream?"

He all but shook his head the question, looking back at the forest where he saw the silhouettes fall.

" Has anyone seen Foolish?"

" Sorry, Karl. I haven't seen him recently. He just went to the ocean to get something. Said he'll be back by nightfall."

Dream ignored the conversations, staring at the forest blankly. Had he just imagined it? Probably. No way a storm formed out of nowhere and disappeared after two people fell out of the sky. He shook his head and returned to his cave, building more materials for the members to enhance their mining.

Just as he got done with one iron pickaxe, he got a message from Fundy. Curious, he opened his comminicator, reading the message.

' Come to -234, -31.'

' Co-ordinates?'

Dream though, a bit confused at the text-

' QUICK!'

' On my way.'

He typed, taking a moment to process what just happened. It had to be urgent...

He sighed, setting the crafting materials aside and exited the cave. He made sure to place a sign down to let everyone know that he was out somewhere. Not that they would try to craft an item without him there. They wouldn't find the hidden chest containing the precious materials. He was the only one with knowledge of making the materials so far, as the rest of the crew were... a bit dumb.

He opened a screen, checking the co-ordinates. He was at -297, 10. He wasn't that far from Fundy, but he wasn't too close either. It would probably take a few minutes of slithering while the other humans took approximately twenty minutes to get there. He loved being part snake sometimes.

He wasn't sure why Fundy seemed a bit panicked/worried from what he could gather from the capital letters in the second message, including the exclamation mark.

He slithered in the direction of where the co-ordinates took him, making sure to pass by some mushrooms that had a slight blue glow to them. He didn't want to have another experience with illusions again. Not with those mushrooms.

" Dream!"

Fundy immediately waved for the naga to follow him, seeming distressed and urgently trying to get him to follow. Dream knew by then that something was wrong.

" QUICKLY! FOLLOW ME!"

" Woah- Fundy- wait-"

The admin had to literally slither a bit quicker to keep up with him. The fox hybrid was quick and almpst silent with how he ran. Dream had to admit, the hybrid was quick. Although, the hybrid had shorter stamina than him in comparison.

He saw Fundy stop, and he began to slow down. The porcelain mask glistened in the sunlight now that it had finally made contact with it. The poor fox-hybrid had his ears down, tail between his legs as he looked at Dream.

" Um- so... I saw a storm and..."

He used a paw to gesture to show Dream something. He followed to where the paw gestured for him to look, and his green eyes widened in shock.

" these two fell out of the sky."

What Fundy was pointing at were two figures under some wooden planks Fundy probably constructed to keep them out of the sun. He had never seen these two before, or didn't receive a pop-up in the chat to let the entire server know that they had joined his server. As a matter of fact, how did they get into his server?

" Um... yeah... they don't look good either."

Dream lifted his mask slightly to reveal his lips, flicking his tongue to taste the air. He smelled blood.

" Did you give them regeneration?"

" I didn't have one, and just went with building something to protect them both from the sun."

He looked a bit upset at that, but shook his head as kept speaking.

" And one of them had a strange blood colour."

" Strange? How strange?"

Fundy motioned him to get closer to the two people.

" Um... does a black glistening purple metallic colour blood count?"

Fundy lifted the arm of the person wearing a mask, gloves off as it exposed the black contents dripping from their skin. It, indeed had a purple shine when seen from a certain angle or if some light poured in. It was a black-purple colour.

" It... that is not normal."

" So... any idea what they are?"

" I know that the blonde is just a normal human. The masked one... I have no idea."

Both saw night approach, and Fundy built the two people in, trapping them inside the hollow box of wooden planks for their protection.

" We should get Ranboo or Sapnap? One of them can carry one pf the two while I carry the other person. That way, you can protect us."

" I don't know... we can just wait for it out until day. It'll be easier as you have enough planks to build a small hideout."

Fundy sighed, shoulders slumped but he nodded. Not that he fully agreed with the Admin, but it was better then to accidentally drop the unconscious person while Dream attacked. It might cause more injuries on both of them than helping and healing them. Besides, Dream was large enough to coil his tail four times around them for protection and warmth.

It didn't take long to quickly build a temporary hideout for the four and destroy the box around the new people. It wasn't large, but it wasn't small. It was just big enough to fit Dream's entire length and leave enough room for Fundy and the two newcomers.

The only light was the torch in the middle of the hideout, illuminating the room with a soft yellow glow. Dream's tail coiled around Fundy and the two injured people, radiating warmth that the three desperately needed. Except Fundy, as he was part fox. The other two, however, needed warmth the most.

One of them stirred, and both Admin and Fundy turned their attention to the two, seeing the blonde stir and sit upright. Most of her hair covered her left eye. Probably from impact.

" Um... hi?"

Her eyes flew open upon hearing Fundy speak, staring at the two. And then-

" WHO ARE?!"

" Woah- calm down, ma'am-"

" WHERE AM I?!"

She tried to back up, but ended up backing up against Dream's coils. She froze in place."

" Um... firstly, I am Fundy and this is Dream. Secondly, you are with us in a temporary hideout for the night due to dangerous mobs."

" Can you please calm down? And tell us how you got in my server or who you are?"

Dream offered a small smile, but it did little to help calm her down as she only shook her head and glared at them. She refused to answer, but did seem to try to get closer to the other girl. Do they know each other? Possibly.

" What's your friend's name? So that we don't just use your pronouns?"

She refused, folding her arms over her knees and holding them tightly. Maybe a bit too tightly as Dream could smell fresh blood after flicking his tongue.

" Hey- don't hurt yourself! We don't want to hurt you two! We just want to bring you back to base and heal you and your friend."

Seems like he wasn't the only one who could smell fresh blood. Fundy was full of surprises as a fox hybrid, it seemed. But it would make sense as he was part fox.

" ... How do I know you aren't lying?"

" Um..."

Fundy looked at Dream for help.

" Well- I am a naga which means that I would've had a chance to eat you-"

" WHAT?!"

" Dream- that isn't helping-"

" IF it weren't for the fact that I only eat animals."

She stared at Dream in shock, slowly loosening her grip on her arm, but looked away quickly. The air was tense and quiet for a good minymte before she started mumbling something.

" Pardon?"

" Juliette..."

She closed her eyes, inhaling shakily.

" I am Juliette."

" Nice to meet you, Juliette. I promise that we only want to heal you two up."

Dream was quiet, but it was soon discovered why as he was already asleep. Juliette shivered at the mere touch of his scaled lower half.

" What's the name of your friend, if you don't mind me asking?"

She hesitated, contemplating whether or not to tell them the masked woman's name. He quickly began to talk.

" You don't have to say her name if you don't want to! That's fine by me and Dream."

He looked nervous, almost as if he was scared that he may have made her uncomfortable. Yet, she showed no signs of being uncomfortable. She just... looked wary, which was understandable.

" Um..."

She looked off to the side, hesitant as she looked at the green scales. Her eyes immediately displayed curiosity, and she dared to reach up to feel Dream's scales. Though, Fundy looked worried about how he would react.

As soon as her hand made contact, the tail flinched and Dream stirred, turning his attention to where he felt the touch. Juliette immediately yelped, scooting away from the muscle and muttered an apology.

" Sorry..."

Dream sighed, but said nothing. He only brought his tail closer, lowering his head back onto his arms, watching her. Fundy had not expected that type of reaction from Dream, but thought that it was probably smart enough to let her curiosity go wild so that she didn't do anything dumb.

" Wh-what cr-creature are y-you?"

She stuttered, shyly glancing at Dream and Fundy. Out of all the questioms she had, she wanted to know what creature he was?

" Furry one of you two..."

Oh... That made sense. Get to know what creatures both of them were so that she could get comfortable or try to feel safe around them both.

" Well... you can probably tell that I am a fox hybrid. Not really sure what else to say."

He offered a soft smile, before giving Dream a nod. As if giving him a chance to explain what creature he was. She tilted her head, curious but began to worry about Dream.

" Well, to put it in short, Fundy is just a mix of fox and human."

Her face twisted in confusion.

" H-how is that p-possible?"

" We... uh... don't question it."

She was dumbfounded, shoulders slumped at the brief explanation. She didn't seem as scared as before, but still was wary. Not that he blamed her.

Fundy leaned against anpther secrion of his tail, getting comfortable and drifting off. He mostly relied on Dream's warmth radiating from his scales. Nights tended to get cold in the woods, and he wasn't sure if the unconscious person would make it. She hasn't woken up yet, and it might have been only half an hour.

Fundy was fast asleep, and that's when Juliette had the courage to ask something he had not expected.

" Y... you are a naga, right?"

He nodded, confusion emitted from him. What did this have to do with their situation? He didn't know.

" I- um..."

She looked a bit embarrassed, scared even.

" Can... can you help my friend?"

" How can I help her?"

" She is a... uh- shifter of lizards? And uh..."

He tilted his head, a vague thought and idea of what she was about to ask popped up, but he dismissed it. He blamed instincts.

" And you are a reptile... Do you think that she... nevermind. It's stupid."

She turned her head away, trying to avoid eye contact with him. It just left him in a pool of confusion and curiosity. He couldn't stop as his question slipped from his mouth.

" You think I can help her?"

She looked... a bit disappointed, but nodded slowly.

" Yes... I thought you could... help her."

" How?"

" I thought you had bandages?"

" Oh... I unfortunately don't have any. Not even a regeneration potion."

She was conflicted with herself, it seemed. Not something he expected from her. It was as if she regretted her attempt at trying to ask for help to heal her friend. She didn't need to. He thought that it was a nice gesture and action that proved that she was a kind-hearted person.

" Sorry I asked."

Her voice sounded so small....

" What the- what happened?"

" Granite!"

A new voice asked, and he turned his attention to the other person. Juliette basically just jumped onto her, which caused her to hiss in pain.

" Ow- Juliette! My arm!"

The masked figure looked at Dream, and immediate began to ask a series of questions to which Juliette tried to answer as best as she could to her abilities. It was funny to see her bicker, but it replaced it with how she flinched from her injuries.

" Sorry! I am just glad that you're okay!"

Dream noticed the blood had dried up on her palm. It was a strange colour for a shifter, and he had never met a shifter that could exclusively shift into lizard related creatures. Was it because they were rare? He didn't know. He only knew that he would take them to BBG as Philza was not going to be available for a few days.

They had to just hope for the best.

-x-

" GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!"

" LANGUAGE!"

" I DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT YOUR FILTER!"

" As I said: LANGUAGE!"

Things... didn't really go as well as both him and Fundy had hoped. Partly because Granite, as they learned from the interaction with Juliette, was a bit of a stubborn person with severe trust issues and a protective nature. And maybe she possibly had some trouble expressing her other emotions around strangers? It was a possibility, but wasn't to say that it was true.

Juliette was... a lot calmer as Karl treated her wounds. She didn't seem to be hostile unless in the situation she was in prior. Especially since her friend was unconscious. Not as if he could blame them both when they woke up to see strangers around them. He, too, would've reacted like that if he were a human with both George and Sapnap unconscious in their situation at that time.

Although, he couldn't help but dwell on his instinctual thoughts when Juliette asked if he could help Granite. The more... caretaker mindset made him feel uneasy. Not that it would be obvious with a mask over his eyes and lips most of the time.

He shook his head and left, getting his mindset back to crafting those pickaxes and shovels for the others to use. It wasn't like he'd try to stay there and dwell much further.

-----x-----

It had been three or four months after the arrival of Granite and Juliette. And even DreamXD had been spotted a few times. To say that Granite had basically tried to fight the god was an understatement. She managed to not only fight but also land some incredibly good but ineffective hits on him.

Not that it helped with the fact that she had gained the interest of the god, which only encouraged her further to pick a fight with him. She was either very brave and bold, or just very stupid and uneducated about the gods. It was a fifty-fifty at this point. Though, it was expected for her to not know about the gods or how many there were and their roles.

He shook his head as he saw Juliette try to hold Granite back from clawing at XD's throat which he thought was both admirable and incredibly baffling. He thought that Granite would listen to Juliette's reason, which proved to be wrong as the shifter just threw insults at the god.

However, the god left to which Granite seemed to take offense to and began cursing and calling the god pathetic for escaping. She was lucky that BBH was not here, or he'd literally wash her mouth with soup. He had done it before, and she was somehow not traumatized or anything. Rather, it made her start to curse even more.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when someone tugged on his sleeve. He turned his attention to see who it was, and was not at all surprised to find Juliette being the person to have tugged at his sleeve with Granite grumbling nonsense at the air.

" Um... Mister Dream?"

" I told you that you can just call me Dream. No need for ' Mister' when addressing me."

" Sorry..."

She fiddled with her sleeves for a bit before looking at her feet.

" I wanted to ask if... if it was true that you can craft materials?"

"Right... they hadn't seen me craft or anything. Just heard by the others that I could craft."

He sighed, but answered regardless by giving a small nod, curiosity filled his mind. He saw how her eyes lit up, and a smile begin to form on her lips, stretching from ear to ear.

" Can... can you craft a wooden sword for Granite and I? So that we can learn to use an actual sword properly in the future?"

He thought about it for a minute, but gave in. He nodded, before speaking again.

" I might have some wood left from making that shovel last time. It shouldn't take long. But let's see first."

He turned to his chest, and opened it. Lo and behold, there were still leftover wood. He was lucky to have leftovers, or he would've asked someone else to go get wood.

" I do have enough wood to make two wooden swords."

He let them know, getting the materials ready to be turned into weapons. He didn't mind if anyone watched him craft, as it was really complex to them. It should be complex to the two females too.

So, he began crafting, chipping away pieces of wood to form a sharp edge for said weapon and make a handle with whatever sticks he had left. After the first one was done, he began on the second one. He could feel both of their eyes look at how the sword was crafted by him with awe.

" That's so cool!"

He chuckled upon hearing the excitement in Juliette's voice. He couldn't help it, as she was rather sweet and literally scolded anyone trying to go back what they were doing with injuries that had been treated. It was comical, in a way as it always resulted in childish arguements. Especially with Tommy.

Now that he thought about it, Granite never revealed an inch of her face. Especially when she had to eat with everyone during hangouts. He only showed his lips when needing to taste the air, but that was about it. Granite... never really revealed any inch of her face. He shook his jead at the thought and gave them their weapons upon finishing. He would dwell on that thought later. For now, he had to focus on his tasks as Admin.

" Thank you!"

" Yeah... thanks or whatever, I guess."

Juliette began to scold Granite for her rude behaviour, to which it ended with them chasing each other and then practicing their fighting skills. How in Prime they were best friends was beyond him.

However, he was dragged out of his thoughts when Juliette began to yell at Granite. That was something that rarely happened between the two. He shrugged it off, simply thinking that they were messing around with each other with their new "toys" and testing them out.

It was silent after he had finished his work. When he looked outside, he noticed that it was nighttime already. It had to have been a few hours, since he worked on his tasks as Admin when the sun was in the sky at noon. However, he hadn't seen or heard of the two females in a little while. He grew a bit nervous, as they would already be in a building and let him know via George but when he checked his communicator, he saw nothing from George.

This made him incredibly worried, as mobs spawned at night away from the little town his friends had made, thanks to the glowstone path that had been placed everywhere. He put on a call for everyone to join, to which they did. Albeit some of them were a bit annoyed while others weren't.

" What is it?"

" Has anyone seen Granite and Juliette?"

" Sorry. I haven't seen them."

" I haven't seen them in a few hours."

" I last saw them at the pond."

" I am busy trying to get more materials for their armor in the mines."

" I thought they went to you to ask for wooden swords?"

" I did craft them the swords, and immediately began doing Admin tasks. I just got off and went through the messages."

Murmurs broke out on the call, and they were worried murmurs. BBH was always the one to be more worried, bless his kind heart. And then, George spoke up.

" I am going out to look for them. Sapnap said he'll help."

Everyone wished them luck and prayed for their safety. And then, the call ended with only Dream, George and Sapnap still on.

" I am coming with you guys."

" Alright. We'll be at the border of the forest near your cave."

" Just don't forget regeneration potions please."

" Wouldn't do that."

And then thhe call came to an end, communicator put back into his inventory as he began to get every necessary item for the search. He hadn't gotten close with them personally, but Juliette looked up to him. He didn't like failing. He wouldn't fail.

After making sure that he had everything, including some potions, he left to join the two waiting for him. He talked to them, and explained what the course of action was. He wasn't surprised to see that the two had iron armor on for safety. His scales were so thick, that not even gold could penetrate it. Only diamonds.

" Okay- I'll try to get their scent and then you two could carry them while I stand as a protector. I have more than enough regeneration potions incase they are beyond healing from one potion each."

The two nodded, seeming to agree with Dream's plan. They would have used building materials to build another temporary hideout like last time, if it were not for the fact that there were more mobs than normal and a literal god on the loose now. Who knew what XD would do to the two?! Especially since Granite literally attacked the god!

They followed Dream as soon as he went into a certain direction, tongue flicking to get a taste of the air, trying to pick up the scent of the two vulnerable females and probably a very protective Granite. Problem was, they had no idea whether Granite jad shifted into something or not, and they had never seen the robed female shift before.

He picked up a scent, and immediately made a sharp turn towards it, the other two trailing behind. He had smelled blood, which was not good. It was a definite sign that something or someone was injured.

As they got closer, they heard labored breathing and Juliette's voice. Not good. Absolutely not good.

" Dream! Sapnap! George!"

She immediately called them over as soon as she saw the trio, behind her was Granite with multiple injuries and a broken mask, revealing half of her face. She was covered in her own blood and a bit of Juliette's blood. Not that her friend had suffered most of the injuries like she did. Juliette suffered minor injuries while Granite suffered major injuries.

Now that they were literally up close, they saw a black tail behind Granite and some horns on her head. Her canines were sharper amd longer. Sapnap immediately began to inspect the injuries on Juliette while Dream went to use the splash potions to heal Granite's wounds. George inspected the damage inflicted on the raven-haired female and looked at Juliette.

" What happened?!"

His voice was a shrill yell as he demanded the background of what happened before the trio arrived. Sapnap just wrapped Juliette's injuries on her arm and face, incredibly focused on trying to put pressure on the bleeding wounds on her back.

" We got lost and then a large horde of zombies, creepers and skeletons came! Granite shifted and took most of the blows from the creepers and skeletons while also protecting me from the zombies! And then there were phantoms and-"

Her breathing increased, her chest jerking as she struggled to suck in oxygen, tears falling from her face as the memory of what happened began to traumatize her body again. She shook, body jerking with every breath she took in as she sobbed.

Sapnap tried to control her breathing, giving her breathing exercises he had gotten from BBH when Karl began panicking. Juliette kept speaking as she struggled to breath.

" And Granite- she- a phantom attacked- but then a zombie came- she swiped her talons at the phantom- and then a creeper came-"

At this point, she was messing up her sentences and her words jumbled, overlapping the previous word as she struggled to form a coherent sentence. However, from the jumbled words they gathered, it was obvious what had happened and why Granite was injured. No wonder Juliette didn't suffer major injuries and Granite did.

" It's okay. You don't need to say much more."

He looked at the Admin and George, all three exchanged worried looks and asked a telepathic question:

How were they going to get Granite out of here?

She was now too heavy for George to carry and Dream needed to have his hands free as George couldn't keep killing mobs that wished to do harm. Sure Dream could carry Granite, but then George would have to kill dangerous mobs with his low stamina, and he was better with long distance combat. Not short distance.

And they had no wood to build a temporary shelter.

Granite groaned, eyes open ajar as she stared at the four. Her eyes glowed and her pupils were slitted. Her vision was blurry and all she could see were the blurry coloured clothes from all four of them. Even her hearing was filled with ringing, their voices were muffled as they spoke.

That's when Sapnap and George looked at each other, exchanging nervous looks while Dream was too deep in thought to notice them looking at him. Even Juliette seemed nervous when they were nervous. Dream had a salution, but brushed it off as soon as the thought popped up.

He was fighting instinct to store them, especially Sapnap and George even though they had armor. He was large, and could fit all four of them in his brooding pouch, but he didn't want to scare them. Especially because none of them knew that he had a brooding pouch like Sapnap and BBH.

He sighed, facepalming. He was just going to have to fight it off and carry Granite. But then, out of nowhere and so sudden, Sapnap gave a surprising question.

" Dream, you're a naga. Don't nagas have a brooding pouch?"

George gave a confused look, but it wasn't directed at Sapnap. Rather, it was directed at Dream. The Admin was caught off guard by the question, looking at the two and very worried Juliette with a baffled expression. Not that they would see it anyways.

" How-"

" Dude! Your a naga! Everyone knows nagas have brooding pouches!"

He was baffled. No, really, he was. Did that mean he had worried over nothing? His mind couldn't comprehend what had just happened, or even process the information.

" Sapnap is right. Don't nagas have a brooding pouch?"

" What's going on? What do you mean by Dream having a brooding pouch? What's a brooding pouch?"

Right. They forgot that Juliette was here. And she had no knowledge about naga anatomy. Granite probably also had zero knowledge about his species's anatomy.

" So,"

Dream began crossing his arms.

" you are telling me that I was worried over nothing?!"

" Well- now that we think about it, yeah."

Sapnap rubbed his neck nervously, almost shyly.

" Yeah... we thought you knew everyone knew about your anatomy."

Juliette was confused and scared. Dream sighed, groaning at his stupidity. Of course everyone would know. There were books about naga anatomy in the library. He should've known.

But Juliette didn't know about how his anatomy worked. And he had to somehow convince her that it would be safe. Granite was too injured to probably not know what the hell they were talking about. Her mind wasn't comprehending what was said.

It wouldn't hurt to let instinct take over, right? To not let him hear the pleas Juliette would ask as he send her to his pouch, and tune out Granite trying her best to protect Juliette while being injured.

He hadn't realized that his tail unconsciously coiled around Juliette loosely, or how Sapnap and George tried to tell her that she was safe for what was to happen next. Or how Granite had blacked out again. George and Sapnap were also in his coils, and had not struggled. Although, they were a bit nervous as Dream had never used his brooding pouch before. Well- not with hus friends but with treasures before meeting them.

He barely heard the terrified yelp as his jaws opened, or how Juliette had squirmed in his coils as his head was brought closer to her face. He was in instinct mode, and it was evident that his friends knew this. They kept reassuring Juliette, but it fell on deaf ears on Dream. Everything was muffled, his slow progress of sending Juliette to his pouch and tip of his tail slowly coiling around Granite.

He only knew of a warm lump slide down his throat and enter his pouch before moving onto the next vulnerable person. He didn't know who it was, but he could definitely taste iron armor, which his brain registered as either Sapnap or George in its foggy state. He worked his jaws around the person, tilting his head so that gravity could assist him with getting the vulnerable thing down his throat, for it to enter his brooding pouch.

He didn't know what happened further, memory foggy and instinct on high alert as he felt the last vulnerable being weakly move at the tip of his coils. He snapped out of it, and held his head, feeling his brooding pouch full of something. He didn't see George or Sapnap or Juliette anywhere. That's when realization hit him.

He had them in his pouch.

And someone was squirming.

And two masculine voices tried to calm down that person.

It was Juliette that squirmed in his pouch.

It was Juliette that had pleaded for her life.

He panicked, about ready to hack them out when the squirming subsided, coming to an abrupt stop. No more pleading or squirming. Just stillness and quitness. He worried that the three were going to be ask to be let out, but didn't hear anything. He just felt the occasional squirming from the person to get... comfortable?

" Fucking- I am fighting that smiling mob-"

He snapped his attention to face Granite, who had wiped her face uselessly. She must be talking about XD, who he now found she that she thought that the god was a mob. She still wasn't in the best state, given how she distantly checked her surroundings.

He felt a tug at his brain, but decided to not worry about it as he brought the incoherent woman to his face. She didn't even know what the hell was going on when he opened his maw, saliva dripping from his sharp fangs as he carefully maneuvered her inside, working his jaws around her body without a hassle. He could taste the blood, which was bitter and not pleasant on his palette.

He swallowed, tilting his head as his esophagus brought her in the tube as he had gulped. He gulped again, feeling her slide down his throat and into his pouch. He never felt so relieved to have his friends this close to him, or how they knew of his anatomy.

He still felt a bit upset for letring instinct tale over and let it put Juliette in his pouch first and then his two best friends. But je found it pleasant to have control and feel how Granite slid down his esophagus and into his pouch. But je frowned and placed his hand on his tail where his brooding pouch was located.

" Is... is everyone okay? Do I need to get you out?"

" Yup! George and I are fine! Granite doesn't seem to know what is going on. Maybe she is put of it."

" And Juliette?"

His heart sped up, but he perked up at her voice. Scared, but not mad.

" Is... is it really safe?"

" I promise that you are safe!"

He blurted, hoping to Prime that she didn't take his blurt of words as a bad sign.

" I'll try to find that book that explains my anatomy when we get back! I promise!

" Can we just get a move on? I am about ready to just fall asleep after the scare of finding these two injured."

Dream just shook his head, slithering back to where they all came from. He even climbed the trees to avoid as many mobs as possible with everyone in his pouch. It won't be that bad the next day, right?

-x-

He was absolutely wrong. Granite came back from who knows where in her mind and what was the first thing she did? Go after XD. Dream had gotten them out of his pouch when they made it back to where they all came from, and is currently panicking at the shifter claw everywhere XD had teleported to. Juliette, BBH and even Foolish went after her as she ran after the god, whom teleported everytime she clawed at him.

It didn't seem to work, as she just kept going after the god like some German Shepard going after a killer during a police investigation. And she was not waiting to gain back her breath.

" Is this really the first thing she does upon waking up and get regenerated from the potion?"

" Looks like it."

" Now we know where to find her if XD is here."

" Couldn't agree more."

Both Dream and George said in unison as the three watched four people chase each other after a powerful entity. This was definitely not something they had expected after being in Dream's pouch and be let out upon arrival. Definitely not.

" Should we....?"

" I don't think it's a good idea."

" GET BACK HERE GREEN SMILING BASTARD!

" LANGUAGE!"

" HOW ARE YOU SO FAST?!"

" JUST COME BACK HERE, GRANITE! THAT'S A-"

" COME HERE COWARD!"

" GRANITE!"

Yup. This was their daily routine now. And it was now everyone's problem, as the rest of the members just watched the chase unfold. Heck- even Tommy wamted to join at one point! Dream had to learn to make Granite stop going after XD. Even if it means using his pouch or going through codes and use commands.

" GRANITE!"

This was his life now.

#dsmp vore #safe vore #soft vore #naga!dream #fundy #foolish #georgenotfound #dreamwastaken #dsmp #g/t #mcyt g/t #mcyt #mcyt vore #sapnap #badboyhalo #tommyinnit #karl #dreamxd

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this-acuteneurosis · 26 days ago

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Spoilers for We Will Not Wear Chains, btw

First of all,

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Secondly, thank you so much for writing Don't Look Back, it's an incredible work and I absolutely Adore it. I just finished rereading so that I could appreciate the new chapters in the full context and I must scream 😭😭😭

One of the things I noticed in my reread is that Anakin has glimpsed Luke (mentioned as a reflection in a window for a brief moment, somewhere in the second book) and in either the second or third book Leia promises Shmi that she would introduce Shmi to Luke "soon". I can't wait to see how either of them react to finding out that Mace beat them to the punch.

Based off of several Trick or Treats prompts, I think we're all salivating for the sweet sweet catharsis of a Reveal, but also cannot wait for our friend Palplatine to meet a swift and vicious end. I eagerly look forward to the next chapter, and hope you're doing fantastic. Thanks again!

P.S. Bail's gone before he knew about his daughter nooooooooooooooooooo

It's always fun to see comments from people who have been rereading the story and catching bits of foreshadowing, or the buildup to things that haven't yet. As long and arduous as writing his has been, every time I see someone catch something else, I'm just so grateful I took the time to really make this story work. People are having so many feelings, and as a writers that's really what I hope happens when people read my work. That they feel things, and that they get to enjoy doing it.

We got so many more feelings still coming guys. I'm so excited for this last arc.

#people are so kind #Don't Look Back

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hervygervy · 1 month ago

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So Kid Icarus Uprising has been out for 10+ years and yet we're still reusing the same two jokes, huh... Well, recycling is a beautiful thing so why don't we talk about them today!

You guys know 'em, right? Of course you do! "Floor ice cream gives you health!" "I never learned how to read!" Ha! What knee-slappers. Now what if I told y'all that those lines were actually creative deviations from the localization team?

Let's go in order. First is the floor ice cream bit, which occurs in chapter 16 right after a hot spring:

That was probably the millionth time you had to listen to that conversation, so I hope you can forgive me. But hey, now you get to hear the Japanese version:

The punchline is entirely different. Here's how I'd translate it:

Palutena: There's a Float Ring.

Viridi: I wonder if this is also an Aurum copy.

Pit: Whether it's a hot spring or a vehicle, I'll use whatever I can! This is what it is to be an angel! This is the angel's way of life!!

Viridi: What are you getting all psyched for? Palutena, are you giving him enough pocket money?

Palutena: Ah, that's... I haven't thought about that.

Pit: I'm not crying or anything, I'm not!

Aww. Poor Pit doesn't get any allowance. That's to be expected, I think.

A couple notes: the "Float Ring" is just the Japanese name for the Aether Ring, although you probably figured that out. All the vehicles have different names, actually. The Exo Tank is called the Beetle, the Cherubot is called the Gigas, the Lightning Chariot is called the Chariot of Light, and the Great Sacred Treasure is called the True Three Sacred Treasures. So on and so forth.

Additionally, something I personally find interesting is Viridi's word choice in one of her lines. Japanese is a very grammatically complex language, and one of these complexities comes in the form of talking about giving and receiving. There are a bunch of words for "to give" that are used depending on the giver and receiver's social status. As an English speaker, it's a real headache. I guess this is what you call pragmatics. When talking about giving allowance to Pit, Viridi uses やっておる (yatteoru) which is a progressive form of やる (yaru). やる can mean a billion different things, but in this context, it means "to give." And this is the kind of "give" you say when talking about giving something to a dog or plant or the like. Make of that what you will!

Wow, I really got sidetracked. Anyway, I can't say I know the logic behind this change, because both versions evidently have the intention of being funny. But lately I've been coming to the conclusion that the English version tries to make an effort to be more blatantly funny for lack of a better word. Like, instances where there is no joke in the Japanese version will see a joke inserted in the English version, or in cases like these, they try to ham up the funny factor. The localizers pretty much had free reign over the English script per Sakurai's blessing, so I suppose such random changes are an inevitability. In future posts, I'll talk about plot changes and characterization differences so please stay tuned for those! Back to the topic at hand, personally I'd say I prefer the Japanese version of this conversation, it's funny and cute.

Moving on! Reading. You're doing it right now. Thank you for that, by the way. But poor Pit, he never learned how to read. We learn this near the end of the flight segment of chapter 17:

People seem to be really fixated on what was honestly meant to just be a totally unserious and funny line. Like there's a whole lotta fanart out there depicting Pit learning to read or whole essays on literacy headcanons. But who am I to talk, I'm also someone who would take all of this game's lines at face value.

And now, the Japanese:

And my translation:

Pit: M-my wings are getting hot!

Palutena: It's no good! We're already at the flight limit! I'll cut the miracle of flight!

Pit: Wahh!

Palutena: Pit! Pit!!

Pit: Mayday! Mayday!! All systems down! It's already come to this! Before I die, I wanted to eat until I was full!

Viridi: Is this the time to be saying such corny things? You should ride this!

Pit: N-Nachure!

Viridi: Carefully line yourself up with the floating island. If you land poorly, you understand what'll happen, right?!

Oh, right, Viridi is called Nachure in the Japanese version. As in "nature." Surprised that never came up until now. But yeah! As you can see, the Japanese version uses a more clichéd punchline. Something you'd expect in a shounen anime. Again, the localizers had free reign and they simply changed the line to be something funnier. I have to say, I think the English version wins. There is no better punchline than illiteracy. It's a terribly overdone joke at this point, but maybe for good reason. It got added into Super Smash Bros Ultimate, after all. Did you know Antony Del Rio had to rerecord that line just for that game? They didn't just reuse it!

...I can make this post longer, if you want. We can like, really dive into this literacy thing if you want. There are a couple more conversations to pick apart, in that case. Just take a gander below the cutoff if that's your fancy.

Alright, so there's this part in chapter 5 where you have to jump across a bunch of rotating floating platforms, right? One of these rings of platforms is fashioned into letters spelling "Pandora," if you remember.

A thoroughly enlightening spelling lesson. The way this conversation plays out implies that Pit couldn't read the platforms. It makes me wonder if the English script writers already had the "never learned how to read" joke locked in, thus making it a genuine piece of characterization the writers were going for, or if this is purely a coincidence and it just so happens to work out perfectly.

To be honest, this conversation is a little less interesting than I hoped it to be. I'll translate:

Palutena: Those yellow floors ahead look like letters, don't they?

Pit: Let's see...

Palutena: PA-N-DO-O-RA... is this place some kind of self-introduction?

Pit: How embarrassing.

Pandora: Hmph. What, can't manage it? This taste.

Palutena: Yeah. It's impossible. In every sense.

First of all, I like how the English version calls the platforms orange rather than yellow. Yeah girl... those are indeed orange. Second, when Palutena is spelling out the platforms, she spells it out as if it were written in Japanese. The game's subtitles use Roman letters to transcribe her spelling, but it has furigana above it for a Japanese reading. Here, I'll show you and hope Tumblr doesn't ruin the compression:

Quick Japanese lesson, writing is split into three scripts: hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Hiragana is like the foundation of it all and each character represents a single syllable of sound. Every hiragana has a katakana equivalent, and their purpose is just to transcribe foreign words into the Japanese sound system. Kanji are more logographic, considering they're derived from Chinese characters. They make up most of the "content" of the language while hiragana makes up the "function." Every kanji can be converted back to hiragana, since that's how all the sounds are written, but since there are no spaces in Japanese, it'd be a mighty pain to read if everything was hiragana. And Japanese is already hard to read. All of that word salad just to tell you that "furigana" are hiragana or katakana characters written above kanji or other characters to indicate how to read them.

Now, the Roman letters can actually be written out in katakana. Spelling "Pandora" would look like ピー・エー・エヌ・ディー・オー・アール・エー (pii, ee, enu, dii, oo, aaru, ee). But instead Palutena pronounces it and spells it out in a Japanese way, which seems odd to me. Am I making sense?

All in all, it's pretty obvious the Japanese version doesn't really contain any of the implications the English version potentially has.

There's one more conversation I want to take a look at. It's one of those elusive random conversations:

That's right, we're starting with Japanese first this time! This one's gonna be interesting to translate:

Pit: There are various gods around the world, huh?

Palutena: That's right.

Pit: Does each god come with their own respective angel, I wonder?

Palutena: No, that's not necessarily the case.

Viridi: "Angel" is written from "heaven uses," you know.

Pit: What? Isn't it "heavenly messenger?"

Viridi: I pity you. Don't you even understand that it means you're just being pushed around?

Pit: Lady Palutena, please say something!

Palutena: ...huh?

Pit: Hey, wait, Lady Palutena!

Mmm that probably didn't make much sense. Alright, so the Japanese word for "angel" is 天使 (tenshi) which is made up of 天, meaning "heaven," and 使, which means "use." So, literally "heaven's tool." I'm going to come to the conclusion that the Japanese seem to understand what an angel is better than the average westerner. Anyway, Viridi's making the argument that the word is derived from 天が使う (ten ga tsukau) which would mean "heaven uses." Pit protests that the word comes from 天の使い (ten no tsukai) which is also just... another way to say "angel." It literally means "heaven's messenger." A Japanese dictionary will define "angel" as "a messenger from God" so Pit's probably more correct here. As you probably gathered, 使 was read differently depending on how it was used. This is par for the course for kanji. Since kanji are derived from Chinese characters, and Chinese as a language has changed over time (as languages do) and different regions of China have different ways of saying things (dialects and all that), Japanese naturally picked up on all these different pronunciations. Thus, any one kanji could have a dozen different readings.

So what does this all mean? It means we've got a case for literacy, ladies and gents. You'd have to be able to read at least a little bit to understand that "shi" and "tsuka" are derived from the same morpheme.

The Japanese version of the Pandora convo doesn't really tell us anything, so to tally it up, we're at two points for illiteracy and one point for literacy. I have one more trick up my sleeve... but we're going to have to venture outside of Kid Icarus Uprising.

In Super Smash Bros for Wii U and Super Smash Bros Ultimate, if you play as Pit on the Palutena's Temple stage, mashing down taunt will trigger a special conversation between some of the Kid Icarus Uprising cast. It's like an evolution of Snake's codec calls from Brawl. Anyway, I want to direct your attention to this part of Villager's conversation. I don't have any audio so I hope some screenshots will do:

"By the way, that name has an interesting secret."

"Oh oh! What is it?"

"The truth is, this is the first name in Smash to use hiragana!"

"W-what! I didn't realize!"

I dunno, this has gotta indicate some literacy, right? Gotta have some conception of hiragana for this to mean anything, right? Can we get half a point for team literacy at least?

...I guess we really didn't get anywhere in the end. Is Pit literate? Up to you, I suppose. What a thrilling conclusion. Let's close this off with the English version of the above convo because I like it lots. It's got a stupidly rare random chance of occurring in like, chapter 11 exclusively so perhaps you haven't even heard it.

Probably one of my favorite interactions in the game. "Errand spirit." Chef's kiss. Perfect. Sublime. Perhaps westerners understand angels after all. Secretary Pit is also awesome.

The English version evidently takes the angle of playing with the definition of the word, rather than the etymology. This is fair enough because the average English speaker probably knows jack about the etymology of "angel." Oh, and the type of joke the Japanese version wishes to convey wouldn't really work in English. For fun, "angel" comes from Greek "angelos" which means "messenger." ...I guess we've come full circle.

This post has gone on for way too long. This cutoff part is probably longer than the main point of this post. Maybe I'm the one who needs a coffee.

#kid icarus #kid icarus uprising #japanese #localization

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these-posts-arent-real · 11 months ago

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(masterpost link)

Aaand we have returned to the madness on a larger scale! What are these cats up to...

#sighh #i know i've been away from dash sim posting for a while #was dealing with my last few days of school #but #that is Over Now #i can return to fulfilling everyone's need for Warrior Cats But Tumblr

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🐦 s3afow1s--sc0wl Follow

PLEASE stop talking about the most recent TTDV slates without spoilers, it hasn't made its rounds to ShadowClan yet and I don't want to know what's going to happen before I read it!!!!

#ttdv discussion #ttdv:rp #through the desert vast #ttdv: rattlesnake path #ttdv #through the desert vast: rattlesnake path #especially since i heard the newest slates have seafowl in them a lot #he's my specialest guy...

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🔁 🛤 carnation-stem-02 reblogged

🍲 ex-thundrclan-kipper Follow

I think the worst thing about no longer being a Clan cat is that a lot of the time I have no idea what y'all over there are talking about. What is TTDV?

🦁 lionsight-x3 Follow

TTDV stands for Through the Desert Vast. It's a new slate series everyone's going bee-brained over... I haven't read it yet because I prefer for a series to be finished before reading, but I've heard good things. Queer rep within the first couple chapters of the first slate-set, a non-traditional setting and cast (a rogue group living in the desert), and complex characters... needless to say I'm excited for when it finishes and I can read it!

#it's been on my to-read list for a while #maybe this is a sign #it seems pretty cool #ttdv

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🔁 🐦 s3afow1s--sc0wl reblogged

⛰️ fc-rockpaint Follow

In honor of Through the Desert Vast becoming popular, I've decided to make a rock-dye project on all of the main characters. Today's character is... Seafowl!

Unfortunately I don't have the right paints to portray him accurately (I haven't been able to find any white herbs for his patches, but I'm still on the lookout!) but this is mostly accurate to how he is described in the slates.

🌠 nightshade-tast3s-yummy Follow

Pssst... @s3afow1s--sc0wl

#eeeek! seafowl! #i looove him so much... my precious boy... #art #ttdv #ttdv seafowl #thanks for the tag!

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🔁 🌻 l1llyst3m reblogged

🌻 l1llyst3m Follow

Aahhhh I've finally gotten into TTDV and... NOBODY was gonna tellme that one of the characters is heavily implied to be transfem? Nobody thought I'd find this interesting????

🌻 l1llyst3m Follow

SCRATCH THAT. IT'S CANON. PIT VIPER IS CANONICALLY TRANS.

🐚 hermitcrabfriend Follow

I had wondered if you were talking about Pit Viper when I saw this post a cople days ago! Apparently so ^w^ yeah, it's canon, gets confirmed in the second slate set.

🌻 l1llyst3m Follow

This makes me wonder. Why is everyone on this site talking about Seafowl saying he gives "egg vibes" when we have. An actual confirmed trans character. Right here.

Nothing against Seafowl but the only vibe he gives off to me is traumatized.

🏞 trouttail-prefers-bass Follow

He's your typical prettyboy cishet protagonist type and everyone is pissed off that he's a side character rather than ttdv's ✨️specialest boy✨️. So they're trying to make him special by claiming he gives off trans vibes when he clearly does not and is happy as a tom.

🌻 l1llyst3m Follow

#wait till op reads rattlesnake path

What do you mean by that-

#what do you MEAN by that— #im gonna need context #is this /pos or /neg #does something bad happen in rattlesnake path?? #help someone pls #through the desert vast #ttdv

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🔁 🥬 rxttencatmint reblogged

🥬 rxttencatmint

Im so fucking irritated... my mom wont let me read TTDV because it's "inApPrOpRiAtE." Which. Of course. Is because it has lgbtqia+ characters.

🥬 rxttencatmint

WONDEDFUL NEWS. MY MENTOR LET ME BORROW HIS COPY OF THE FIRST SET. AHHHHH!!!!! I GET TO READ IT!!

#YIPPEEEEE #òw�� im so exCITED!!! #ive been wanting to read ttdv for a whileee #i love my mentor sm

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🪵 i-eat-moss Follow

My unpopular opinion (TTDV:RP SPOILERS INCOMING)

Keep reading

#ttdv:rp #ttdv #rattlesnake path spoilers #ttdv spoilers #ttdv:rp spoilers #nothing against pit viper!!! #i like her as a character #i just dont get why we got a whole book explaining her backstory

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🐚 hermitcrabfriend Follow

I LOOOOVE RATTLESNAKE PATH SO MUCH. IVE JUST GOTTEN TO READ IT AND IM SO EXCITED. OMG.

Not only is it a whole set dedicated to my favorite character !!! like a dream come true!!! It ALSO contains good intersex rep (Ball Python my beloved!!!). Over all just a FANTASTIC set in a fantastic series.

12 notes

🌱 dirtdigger-23 Follow

I'm... back?? I'M BACK ON CLANBLR!!!! WOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO

#i thought i'd never get back #stuck on Tumblr...

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🍽 the-post-maker

I hope y'all enjoyed this insight into what the cats do when they get fandom-y... and if you want to discuss TtDV further... well, there's a server for that ;) now back to your regular dash

#dashboard simulator #fake dashboard #fakeposting #dash sim #dash simulator #fake dash #warriors dashboard sim #warrior cats dashboard #warriors dashboard simulator #warrior cats #clanblr #“slate set” refers to our idea of a book #one slate = one page #“slate series” = our idea of a book series #these posts arent real #cat dashboard simulator #dashboard sim #unreality

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corviiids · 24 days ago

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hello hi i would like to ask how you get your characterization and indirect (?) character framing right, if that's not too much of a heavy question... there's this bit in the first chapter of as you like it which hit me like a sledgehammer when i first read it -- when the phantom thieves were all talking around akechi's absence. it was such a brilliant and clever way to showcase the conversation, and it's stuck with me for a while -- i asked my writing professor about it and he did not. really have any clear answers for how to replicate and learn to do that.... and also the slightly sardonic (?) tone akechi takes on, and the different ways his own internal narration presents itself based on who he's in conversation with and what AU / story context he is in. it's a small yet brilliant detail which i haven't been able to as of yet understand how to write. i've been sending your fics and tweets to my two lovely friends who i have also dragged into the p5r rabbit hole! they're always a delight to read and reread and sometimes longingly look at from afar and wait for their completion (cough cough as you like it). thank you!

hii thank you so much 😭 it means a lot to me that ayli resonated with you!! i am reeling slightly that you asked your professor about it. did you show your professor goro akechi fanfiction? my goro akechi fanfiction? powers i cannot conceive of. i shake your hand. also ayli next chapter is in the works i promise!!!!!!!!! writing progress has been on hold lately due to life. gestures

hmm so i don't know how to answer this precisely because if im reading your question correctly it's more of like a Vibe than a specific thing, right, which is hard to define enough to explain since im honestly just happy to hear it exists at all. also this is a scene i wrote in probably 2019 ie over six years ago now (screams), so there are things i would do differently now... but i will try my best!!

i think the main thing for me in a scene like this is to keep pov front and centre. any vibe that's achieved in this scene comes as a result of that, because pov is the filter through which the events of the scene are experienced. this fic is written in limited third person pov, so i have to remember that because the narrator is a character, the narration is also a character. all we have access to is ren, so i get to use his thoughts, feelings, biases, tendencies, etc to frame the reality of the story and i have to remember im not presenting the world the way it is, im presenting the world the way he's experiencing it. so the entire scene has to take on whatever he's feeling. and in the first scene of ayli, ren is feeling Bad, so the narration and subsequently the scene have to take on his tension.

ren is trying to shut down, which is how he copes, but he's not quite able to because he's also feeling the pressure of being the leader and keeping it together for everyone else. he's extremely aware that something very traumatic has just happened for his team, and being the person he is he feels the responsibility to step up for them. but he can't.

Ren is vaguely aware that he’s shaking again, but thank god no one’s noticed but Ann and she’s always taking his hand anyway. Plausible deniability remains. This isn’t how he wanted the tension to overflow. This isn’t when. He’s meant to go downstairs and simmer curry and reassurances, and then they’re all meant to leave knowing tomorrow is another day and their fearless leader’s gonna fearlessly lead them into it, Morgana keeping pace with Futaba for the night to provide comfort to the one who needs it and deserves to, and then he can climb back up the stairs and slowly and patiently tear his hair out in methodical shreds in the cosy quiet comfort of his own storage facility capacity of one. But they’re all frozen, and the carrots are still in the fridge, and Futaba is up and demanding the centre of attention. And up is down. And signals are gone.

so pov is the first filter: the scene is tense because he's tense. the narration cuts off constantly because he's spiralling and trying to stop himself from doing it. what i was trying to do with the stop-start narration is to show that ren's losing control over his thoughts but trying constantly to reign them back in, which should give you information about ren but also disorient the reader. kind of a two for one effect where you're learning about ren but you're also Experiencing the scene As him. (weird prose can be ur best friend)

pov is the subjective factor and it's how we frame the scene, so then we can move onto the other more obvious factors which are the objective ones so to speak: ie outside of ren's/our pov, what's actually happening?

ren's not the only one who's tense, everyone else is tense too. so who are these people. they've just watched a fellow student die who shared a lot of similarities with them. (whatever p5 wants you to think i Do believe that yes having one of your peers die right in front of your face would be traumatising.) they're also bound by social niceties right now. nobody's saying anything about it and it feels taboo to bring it up. they're all trying to act okay. this is obvs a matter of first knowing all your characters (how would x phantom thief respond in a situation like this)

but a maybe another, slightly less(?) obvious piece of 'advice' that works for me is to consider that absence can also be a character. akechi isn't in this scene but he absolutely is in this scene. so if im struggling with making the cast discuss this in a way that captures the fragility and awkwardness and bloat that i need it to, i try to like... imagine the conversation as holding this big breakable thing that fills up way too much space and if you aren't careful with it then it'll explode. akechi is there. in everyone's effort not to talk about him, they end up emphasising the presence of his absence. it's very different from someone not being there at all. is that really abstract and unhelpful i am so sorry please ask me more questions if you need me to clear that up i don't think that made any sense at all

ok anyway. on ren's internal narration in particular: i do think a large part of it is just that ren is a special boy. (said while kicking him in the shins) the way i like to write him, he's very uniquely malleable at the surface and totally uncompromising at the core. but that surface level adaptability makes him a super interesting conversation partner and science experiment to place in new situations because of how quickly and easily he reshapes himself to fit into them. honestly the approach is just that i keep track of which parts of ren are uncompromising (loyalty, dedication to fairness, protectiveness, quiet stubbornness, etc) and then the rest of it is about knowing who he's speaking to/the situation he's in and what they would need from him, because i think that's how he runs the assessment himself. ok for real lmao the confidant point-up system is actually an incredible way to understand this if you imagine it as ren's internal process for deciding what to say next, which i sometimes make explicit in fic. e.g. if you look at his responses when he's talking to iwai, there'll usually be like, a neutral answer, a kind answer, and a talk-back answer, or something like that. all three are things that ren could plausibly say, but ren's figured out that iwai usually prefers it when he has a smart mouth. that's the best way to put iwai at ease and make him open up (+3 points) so ren will preference that attitude when they're speaking over the others. other characters prefer a gentler approach, a strong one, a funny one, etc it's not fake, because none of these attitudes are insincere - they're all ren, he keeps them all within him and they all share that core, it's just a matter of which side of his face he turns to show them based on what they need from him. (akechi's the only one who seems really into JUST the core and not the faces imo.) literally to an extent we all do this. you might be more teasing with friend x than friend y because you know x will banter back but y won't like it. ren just kind of happens to be supernaturally good at it.

i am RAMBLING again but maybe the key here is just to remember that a shape that has 100 different faces is still just one shape...? you can't make him vary too much because he has to be recognisable, you just have to think, like, first of all who is ren and second of all what are the aspects of him that he could turn public-facing? what does he look like when he's shy, when he's bold, when he's sweet, etc, and make sure all those things are still recognisable as having ren in common (as opposed to just being three different guys).

#i dont think this helped at all. im sorry. more word vomit from me. but i hope it helps 1%.#ask me to explain if it made 0% sense. i am happy to yap #rookthots #asks

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