#i shoudl rest a bit now

[acidrain39]

ITS 2025 NOW LETS FUCKINH GOOOOOOO

its not 2025 yet as of writing this (at least not where i live) but i want you guys to see this

i may not have been there for the glory days of blingee but its legacy lives on

happy new yuri you EMOs!!!!!!!

[quitealotofsodapop]

[The ones who manage to unearth their version of Luzhen clutch the newborn Stone Monkey tight, sobbing at the joy of finding another of their kind.]

That’s those that do have them. Their universes aren’t identical, so there is likely some that don’t have a Luzhen because their moms mate did perish in the flood: like, say, TMKATI-verse.

Mostly because I was looking through the old posts and one way for Luzhen to be born was somebody locking Peach into the furnace, but not turning it on and that counting to start the process. Obvs different rules now, but variety, you know?

That and the rest of the SWKs can quickly learn why Stone Eggs are a last resort kind of deal, with Peach nearly croaking during birth. Like, ‘Damn, there is a way for us to die, even with all these immortalities’, you know?

Also: [Cherry, holding his little bro up like Simba: PEEEEEBBBBBLLLEEEE!!!!!!!]

If none of the modern kids do the Circle of Life, I will be disappointed.

Recall that back then also were going by the thought of Nuwa having a hand in SWKs creation? Well, thought here: she’s responsible for Reborn-Luzhens creation. Don’t know, just had the idea of a small undefined soul causing some havoc near Nuwa – because it wants a family, it was promised a family, why won’t it be getting its family anymore – reminding her of the Havoc and she ends up making a little clay monkey for the soul to inhabit.

Kinda like TMKATI, just less pregnancy and more clay.

Then she drops the little troublemaker off at Smokey’s, “He really wanted to be born” she shrugs and peace’s out.

Smokey, who was doing his best to suppress his grief at the apparent fact that his dad had died in his world, just now has waterfall levels of water coming out of his eyes. His little brother harassed a god to ensure his own birth! Truly, they are related.

[The knowledge that he might be considered divine royalty under Celestial Law would be a bit much for him right now.]

Honest question: what do the rest of the SWKs think about that? Like, that has to knock the wind out them, for sure.

referencing the Wukongverse learning about Stone Matriarch au + our older post about Nuwa and Houtu making Luzhen on accident + Furnace - Fire = Stone Egg.

I should really do an updated TMKATI timeline post once my exams are over. Currently I'm thinking of altering it so that the twin boys of the Nodelets - Jidu and Luohou - are the ones created from one of the parents getting trapped in the Furance without the fire, likely from LBD stealing the Furance/capturing one of them. I'm thinking Luzhen (like possibly Canon!MK) would be created by Nuwa since TMKATI!MK got found by the Shadowpeach parents as a "broken" egg and they accidentally became his parents.

The Stone Matriarch au likely doesn't apply to many of the other universes since it is in of itself an Au. If any of the SWKs find an egg at the bottom of FFM/Mount Huaguo, it's like a million to one chance.

The one that does is super hyped/sad though. Not sure which.

-

I love the idea of Reborn!/Smokey's Luzhen getting created because Nuwa encountered a little chaotic soul wanting to be born + realising that she shoudl probably give him to someone with a similar origins.

And let's just say; what if... Reborn!Luzhen's soul was created as a reincarnation?

The Reincarnation of a *certain* Primordial Demon who has just died? And may need to be raised in tandem with it's Qi Energy counterpart in order to grow into a (mostly) balanced monkey?

>:3

-

As for the method in which: (Stone Monkey + Furnace) - Samadhi Fire (or they waiting too long) = Egg?

Most likely candidate would be Netflix!SWK/Cherry.

Because he's the exception of Monkey Kings who haven't been "furanced" yet.

I'm just imagining the next Wukongverse he pulls up looking SUPER rough.

Starfruit: "Wow, you look like Hell." Cherry, covered in burn scars: "Don't remind me. Ran into some jerks who stole a bunch of alchemy supplies from the immortals." Sugar: "Calabash?" Cherry: "No thanks I'm not hungry. Well anyway this guy working for Heaven thinks I'm too dangerous to be walking around, and he tosses me into this big pot. I run out of air and somebody turns the heat on! For like a month!" All the SWKs who Know: *winces of sympathy* Ace, jokingly nostalgic: "Ah the Trigram Furnace. Usually happens before the Buddha's hand though." Cherry: "Yeah don't remind me. Luckily my new friends got me out and woke me up." Dawn, suddenly pauses: "Wait. Woke you up?" Cherry: "Yeah I sorta passed out just before the worst of the fire started." Dawn, gettign concerned: "And were you asleep for that whole time?" Cherry, getting nervous: "Yeah??" Dawn: (*shares a look with the other monkeys. A bunch nod their heads with nervous expressions*) Cherry: "Why, what's the problem? Did you guys not fall asleep?!" Smokey: "How could we? The flames of Samadhi nearly turned me to ash. Only way me or any of us survived it is because the Wind corner has a higher pressure." Cherry: "There was corners in there?" Dasheng: "You didn't train in alchemy under Subuhti as we did. The Trigram Furnace is made up of eight corners according to the major celestial elements, with each corner having the properties of that element. The Wind element feeds but also suffocates fire, so even True Fire weakens there." Cherry: "Oh. I think I survived cus I just went into a dissociative state and became a statue." Dawn, now convinced: "YOU PETRIFIED!?" Cherry, getting scared: "NOW I AM!?"

Cue the monkeys who know about how Stone Eggs are formed dragging Cherry to see Guanyin. The bodhisattva explains that; yes, Cherry is carrying a mini-him all wrapped in a stone casing, all because the lack of air in the Furnace caused his body to believe that it was time to bud off into a new monkey. Cherry faints. Joyfully.

Cherry, rambling excitedly: "A mini-king! No! A Prince! NO! A PEBBLE! And he'll be *just* like me!" Dawn, stressing: "Aren't you worried that it could kill you!?" Cherry, brushing him off: "Pff! I'm immortal. Can't die. If I was really worried - I'd just grab a few more pills or peaches." Dawn: (*grabs Cherry by the collar of his armor and pulls him closer. eyes glowing red*) Dawn: "I have over twenty times the amount of immortality you have, and I almost f*cking died. The only reason I'm here today is because Guanyin, the goddess of safe birth, was at my side. And because my Macaque would have dragged me back from Diyu if I had. So. Be. Worried." Cherry, nods fearfully: "Y-yes sir."

But the young Monkey King is still super jazzed about his upcoming mini-him. Even if he's now looking up other ways him can become immortal so that he can meet his little pebble and give him the hugs he himself was denied as a baby.

-

Lastly this part might need to be it's own post due to the amount of thoughts I has.

[The knowledge that he might be considered divine royalty under Celestial Law would be a bit much for him right now.] Honest question: what do the rest of the SWKs think about that? Like, that has to knock the wind out them, for sure.

Send in more of your thoughts :3

[pipecleaneradventures]

This is just a little scene from the animation I was working hard on yesterday. Can you guess what I was working on? I might end up remaking this and my other animations though because even though I was doing a lot of planning before starting this animation, I didn't have everything prepared or in the best way to animate efficiently For example, I remembered that he shoudl be glowing when I was already almost done making this scene. I don't want to have to redo all those animations I just finished, but I guess I was learning from the experience of making them. But I thought I should at least show you a little bit of what I have been working on, even if it isn't very good. Once I started working on it rather than worrying about it though, it turned into a fun adventure rather than a big, overwhelming project that I'm so worried I"m going to fail at making. I had lots of new ideas to improve and make things beter, so I look forward to continuing this project, but for now, I'm going to rest. Oh, and I still haven't started Shadow Geneations yet. Maybe I shouldn't be using it as a reward for finishing this, but that's the king of thing I do sometimes.

[teaxeee]

Hello! 🍒-anon back at it again today with a different kind of ask~

I saw a tiktok earlier today as you know hehe (https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGJv9r3vb/)

And it got me thinking.. That with jihoon-

He's actually driving. Driving my mind crazy

Ur a: JIHOON SIMP 🫵

Anyways my dear 🍒 anonnie, it all starts with the both of you getting that card game and deciding to play it for the first time, you read the rules, got everything ready and started to play. Mid round you got that card, and as you read it out loud to him, he got an idea to his head. As you were about to do it he pushed your hand away and reversed the roles, saying he shoudl be the one doing that to you, and because you couldn't disobey him in any way (bro would manhandle you if you disagree anyways) you let him have that card instead. He just smirked in victory and slid his hand in your panties, as he made a challenge: to make you cum in 2 minutes. He quickly slides 2 fingers inside of you as he starts fingering you at a fast pace, making you completely fall apart just from his fingers inside you alone. You'd become such a moaning mess and try to stop him but he doesn't stop, he continues and starts rubbing your clit to help you cum faster as you keep track of the time. Already a minute and a half in and you feel like you're about to burst. He starts sucking on your neck and pinches youe clit as he continuously fingers you, which makes you a bit sensitive, causing you to squirt and make a huge mess as he assults your now swollen clit. You try to pull away but he doesn't move, saying that you should be a good girl and let him continue, otherwise he's gonna edge you. And you let him continue. He manages to make you cum 3 more times with his fingers only before he takes off whatever you're wearing along with yohr panties, settles himself between your thighs and starts eating you out, devouring the way your pussy tastes on his tongue. That's how you spend the rest of the night, Jihoon between your legs as you become a crying and babbling mess, begging him to stop as he fucks his tongue inside you and rubbing at your clit to stimulate you more (which is a great sucess 😀👌). In the end you're a crying mess, ruined from his tongue and fingers alone just because of a card game and his own little dare that he achieved.

[anemoiawithatouchofobsession]

Something different from my usual content! But hey, I listen to new music too. Which means, I listen to rap. What a shocker! Lmao. Anyways, I've been interested in Megan Thee Stallion for a long time ever since Th0t shit and Body came out, and I was one of the people bumping "HISS" until it hit #1. Even after that too... but yeah. Anyways. To the point- Megan dropped a new album! Megan act 2. And i thought... I want to listen to it in full and just give my thoughts. I liked around half of the album last time - my favourites were Mamushi, Otaku Hot Girl, B.A.S., Moody Girl and Accent - but this time I'm hoping for more bops from Meg!

Track one starting off strong as heck! Not only is the beat nostalgic, but Meg just SLIDES. Like, it's the same flows and cadences that we know from Megan, but that's what fits on the song and I really love the beat. I also love how she shows her Houston roots and her people! This could have been a banger in the summer - eventhough Mamushi did that already - but I would have lived to bump this alongside Not Like Us. It's breezy, braggadocious, very very quotable, and super enjoyable. 8.5/10

OH BANKROLL ON THE BEAT This is the HISS of this album. Hiss episode 2! She is going to have Nicki in another spiral this time even with the direct imitation of her voice. I live how Megan disses tbh. I HAVE to look the lyrics up just to bask in the lyrics. Like, I JUST KNOW Megan put so much of her old Tina snow persona in it - 9/10

Another strong beat and this time it's for all the trash boys in her Megan's life! Yep. GIRLS DONT CHASE BOYS! Oh the last two songs were pure anger and energy, this is a bit more "fun" but still serious. In the Act 1 album she branched into more other chill genres and went into her comfort zone, but she brought in so so much energy in her beats this time. It's crazy. - 8/10

OHOOOO Goodies by Ciara! It was the number one song in the US when I was born... that's funny! I haven't looked into her because I am yet to familiarize myself with her songs... but on this song, she does sound really good and really grooved on the beat. Until now, we've been on a streak of really strong and loud beats with very energetic lyrics, let's see how the rest goes! - 7/10

I don't recognize the sample if there is one, but the singing voice caught me really off guard. Is it Megan's? Like... the autotune is really throwing me off, she could have easily gotten a vocal feature but somehow the vocal parts aren't really doing it for me - 4/10

Ooooh this brings me back to the 2018 trap era! The piano beats and all that. Megan has a more slower flow that I really like. The beat is super hot. Like... idk it makes me feel *things*. Yep girl. You're making gangsters and girls blush for sure! Aaaallll i would have needed is another verse - 7.5/10

This is the fabled TWICE remix of Mamushi - and I'm not FULLY on board. Mamushi grew on me after some time, and I'm sure this will too. I like the second part of Megan's new verse and the first part of TWICE's verse with Jihyo and Nayeon. Jeongyeon and Dahyun's verses fell pretty flat in delivery - I needed more energy to support the brag! Chaeyoung's part should have been moved directly after Nayeon and shoudl have been delivered with a bit more energy! Like... girls! Where's the "TWICE" shout? Tzuyu was almost not even there, but she held up. And, obviously Mina, Sana and Momo on the chorus did their best. Overall, I felt that Jihyo and Nayeon really shone. - 7/10

Okay WHATTT??? This is a wild af beat. Like... GODDAMNN MEGAN IS ANGRYYYY and the rock/metal beat with the guitars is... damn. Loud. I can only imagine how much the rock girlies will love this. This is a really damn good crossover and this MUST go hard in the concert. I don't know who Spiritbox is but seems like they're a rock artist? But this is a newer style for Megan too and I'm definitely intrigued. - 7.5/10

Ooh this is giving 2020 Megan! Like... her lyrics and the flows! This also falls pretty short tbh I would have loved more of the beat. But she is mad throughout the entire album and I love the vibes it gives the album! - 7/10

HEY HEY ITS THE 808s! Old school boom bap beat and some fun lyrics about a baddie falling in love. But I'm the grand look of the album, this is kinda fun and breezy but not really memorable. 6/10

[yourlocalmechanism-dr-carmilla]

Name: Alice Liddell

Position: (former) scout captain

Side: rebels(former), Queen of hearts (current)

Status: deemed detrimental to the war effort, but now employed by her majesty, the queen of hearts

Relationship: the general(?) The tow have been seen spending quite alot of time together and seeming to be close…we also osberved that there was a.small bottle we couldnt get away from her..odd

Remarkable action: stabbing the Jabberwocky's eye out, aswell as a few victories on war and for being able to overwrite comsat chesires code, fighting for the queen of hearts with such aggression and strength

Timeline of events as documented:

-after pleading for mercy for the knave of hearts, she was brought away to receive her own punishment- becoming a servant for the queen of hearts.

-comsat chesire used her voice to receive more soldiers to keep the war going

-first, brainwash was in order- by replacing her eyes and also caring for her haur- bloodstains are rather fashionable and the new eyes add a good flair to them :)

-then od course it us about making her body as suited as possible with the limited respurces..the subjecr alice has shown resisitance and stubbornness, bt we amamged to break her eventually

-the result: a fierce, intimidating soldier, a good guard dog to our wonderful queen

-shes rather deadly with the blade and swift, although we do iften have to keeo her mediacted or even sedate her when she loses it

-but then .ine day,the subject tried to murder our queen and we relaized that she was unsuited to be a soldier and trialed her and passed the judgement ofdeathh-whuch was carried out

Cause of death: decapitation, executed by her majesty, the queen of hearts. It was followed through

[notes added by raphaella la cognizi and jonny d'ville]

We deceided to rescue this poor girl- or her body parts. Raphaella said we shoudl jsut take the brain out and vocal chords and throw the rest of her head away, shed make a new one. (Frankly she is abit scary). The reason wyh we take her allng is her affinity for VIOLENCE, how she deals the rifle and because its time for abit of fresh members here, ya know? And also because raohaella felt sorry for her and wanted to give her a second chance…which she got i guess…and raph says that she did some VERY fine work which we all agree on..and so fsr, aside from usual ptsd, panic attacks nightmares, mumbling how her mind is in ruins and all that jazz, shes a good additoon! We get along swimmingly, shootign witnesses and everyone else on our time-she loves ising her blue rifle which is called “Dinah” …funny eh? Well, we picked up some more of these wonderland folks..even tho i didkt agree too…but then the arguments between them, are rather entertaining….but sometikes i do feel…sorry for her. With her Amnesia and also her not talking about her past- well except to me..she admitted she killed her parents as they supported king cole..and her sister was uncaring..…burnt down the house…mustve fucked her up preeettty bad…and i get thst…so..i wanna protect her abit more…but dont let the pthers read that!

“There's no exit out of my ruined mind”

I once fought for a good cause, a rebel soldier through and through

My parents never understood, they rather supported a old tyrant- that was their doom

A library burns far too easily and it can be passed off as a accident, my sister was in the house too, i felt abit of regret, but had to focus on the war

Oh, my mind is a labyrinth thats in shambles,

I cant get out, i keep being mislead

Through the haze i see myself, fighting, bleeding, when will it stop?

Nothing yet everything makes sense here

And who even was I before i found myself here?

Although you must say, ive never fought in the original war, so to say- but i remembered bits of stories and aftermaths…grim and bloody…

And then, one day/ a standard flight, as i pick up a old signal

It leads me to a planet, that is encased in wartimes, no one wants a ceasefire or peace it seems, as if everyone would die when the war ends

Oh, my mind is a labyrinth thats in shambles,

I cant get out, i keep being mislead

Through the haze i see myself, fighting, bleeding, when will it stop?

Nothing yet everything makes sense here

And who even was I before i found myself here?

I cant fins anyone that has sense in their heads/ and there i am, pleading in the favour of the knave of hearts- i am unsuccessful as i am being dragged away

The trial isnt fair of course and what follows is my eyes being replaced- a start to turn me into a guard dog for her majesty

Syringes, medicine and brainwash are the tools they use to shape me, drug me so i dont act up

Oh, my mind is a labyrinth thats in shambles,

I cant get out, i keep being mislead

Through the haze i see myself, fighting, bleeding, when will it stop?

Nothing yet everything makes sense here

And who even was I before i found myself here?

But then, i break through! Getting back at her, almost killing her like i did so many others in her name- i fail! My trial again is swiftly over and then, i kneel infront Of her, one last insult is hurled at her, before she slices my head off clean. Youd think death brings peace, but now- it brought fury and pain up inside of me, oh how loathesome!

And then i wake up..alive…feeling different….amnesia prevents me from knowing little more than my name…and a few locked away memories i shant tell…

Oh, my mind is a labyrinth thats in shambles,

I cant get out, i keep being mislead

Through the haze i see myself, fighting, bleeding, when will it stop?

Nothing yet everything makes sense here

And who even was I before i found myself here?

Speaking of alice..my version of her plus a song :3

[jackienautism]

fe3h update! well i just finished my first playthrough and i am just sitting here.... the second to last battle was SO hard for me and it was definitely made harder by the fact that i like. played it weird. bc i thought if i just completely avoided her i wouldn't have to kill mercedes so i took all my units on a really weird path and then once i finally killed everyone else turns out. i still had to kill her.

i managed to get to a support between byleth and all of the eagles except linhardt (still mad about that.... i wanted to get the whole set </3), as well as marianne, sylvain, ingrid, and felix (who yeah, i did end up recruiting).

as for my ranking of the eagles... it's really tough to pick! it's closer to tiers for me, bc some of these characters are so close to each other in my ranking. i'd probably go... dorothea, caspar, bernie/hubie/edie, petra, ferdie, linhardt. dorothea and caspar are probably my absolute favorites now. and because of that, i think they're gonna be the eagles i recruit on my VW playthrough (and maybe. all subsequent playthroughs too LMAO) . from the lions, i think i'm gonna take sylvain again bc he's easy to get and he grew on me, as well as mercedes. mighttt also recruit annette and maybe ashe? i barely interacted with them the first time around but i hear ashe is interesting in VW and annette has supports with claude, but i'm also trying to limit myself here lmao. i'm probably not gonna try to recruit both of them, if i even recruit one.

anyway! i'm genuinely sooo excited for claude.... also since i enjoyed marianne so much, i'm excited for her to be like.. more relevant LMAO.

i'm also gonna look into how to like... successfully build my guys this time around because i have a feeling i was NOTTT doing it well at all. which like... i don't need to have the best builds in the world or anything, as long as i'm having fun i don't need to be doing things "right", but like. i think i could maybe be having a bit more fun if i. knew what i was doing lol.

thanks for letting me give you these updates lol! i am having sooo much fun.

HIII OHOHO HAPPY TO HEAR YOUVE FINISHED YOUR FIRST RUN :D AND THAT YOU REALLY ENJOYED IT.... i lowkey forget the second to last battle ebut i assume it was the one w/ dimitri right? or was it the silver maiden one w/ rodrigue? forgive me its been a bit since ive played crimson flower dfgnfg but anyhow! SORRY THAT YOUR DIVERSION MADE THE BATTLE DIFFICULT FOR YOU....AND THAT YOU STILL HAD TO KILL MERCEDES ANYWAY ):

and damn </3 atleast you got thr A supports between the rest of the black eagles! i suppose theres always next route or next CF route that you can get linhardt's... i could tell you the gist of it if you want but im sure youd rather get it yourself. speaking of A supports, which endings did you get :o? like between the other characters i mean?

good tier list<3333 dorothea at the top as she shoudl be. and edie and hubie togehter as they SJOULD be. dorothea snd caspar as your faves are such good choices... quite the duo. and them being the eagles you recruit in your other routes is very respectable as well.. still cant believe that youre willign to Not recruit everyone but i totally understand the mindset as well. angst is good. but it also hurts. MERCEDES..... ooohhh i love her oh so much. she would def be a good choice. good luck limiting yourself btw dfgkdnfg annette and ashe are very good very goodd. im not particularly attached to them as ive talked abt before but theyre both very sweet characters. and have a lot of substance to them. plus their family situations and whatnot are very sad. so yeah! recruiting any of the blue lions to learn more abt them would be a good thing to do! esp if you didnt interact w/ them much in CF

YESSS CLAUDES ROUTE WAS VEYR GOOD.... AND I LOVE HIMS O MUCH ANDHIS RELATIONSHIP W/ BYLETH.... and yessss marianne ): my girl.... i will say that something that happens in verdant wind def shouldve been saved for edie's route but :/ soon enough you'll see what i mean. hope you enjoy verdant wind!!!!

and kfdngdkfg yeah i feel that. its quite overwhelming at times isnt it? as logn as youre having fun though thats all that matter sbut i totally understand wanting to like know what youre doing. a few videos and reading up on classes should help! what were your guys' final classes if you don't mind me asking? if you think youd habe more fun if you knew what you were doing, then id def go for it! good luck w/ everything!

and omg of course!!!! thank YOU for being so kind to keep me updated and whatnot! i always enjoy reading what you have to say and how you've been doing in game and otherwise :] hope you have a good day / night!!!!

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

Sorry for accidentally unfollowing you ha but also should have sent this ask DAYS ago srry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ANYWAYS you say you're bad at initiating communication so here I am!!!!!!! What 3 albums do you consider 'great' (like, for any reason, you think these albums are near perfect front to back)? what 5 songs have you been having on repeat lately? what songs do you think you could sing at karaoke? anything in your music taste you're 'embarrassed' about (or think you'd get teased?)

!!!!!! hi!!!!!!! yeah I never know how to start conversations except for in tags (where I am my truest self...) I'm so glad you want to talk tbh, you have great taste in basically everything and I think you're really cool

What 3 albums do you consider "great"?

my favorites right now Ben Shive's The Cymbal Crashing Clouds (THE PIANO. THE LYRICISM. THE V I B E S. the musician pun at the end of EGBDF makes me absolutely insane honestly.), Paramore's After Laughter (I feel this album in my SOUL. also the lyrics flat-out slap), and, this isn't really an album proper, but MCR's Conventional Weapons (obsessed with the lyrics and emotion in this. Number 4 is an outlier and shoudl not have been counted, I don't like those songs, but the REST??? INSANE PERSON BEATS TO CRY TO).

What 5 songs have you been having on repeat lately?

Fake Happy by Paramore

Already Gone by Dermot Kennedy

Beside You by Marianas Trench

Homeward by Dermot Kennedy

Thank You For the Venom by MCR

What songs do you think you could sing at karaoke?

Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes by Fall Out Boy, Donny Novitski (as in, the song) from Bandstand, Fool's Gold by Lucy Dacus (which was my top song for Spotify this year because I spent a day with it on constant loop as inspiration for a fanfic I was writing), or Sugarland by Sugarland (yeah I know), which is actually the song my URL comes from!!

Anything in your music taste you're embarrassed about?

so, my dad is actually the one who got me listening to Dermot Kennedy, I once was riding shotgun with him with my kid sister (middle schooler) in the backseat and my dad's Spotify was just playing through DK's entire discography, I vaguely recognized the first bit of Shelter, leaned over to my dad and went "I think this one has an unflagged F-bomb" (which tbh i wouldn't bother about if my sister wasn't there. but she's like...... an innocent child??? I'm protective, ok? shfkfbskfns), my dad was like "nah we're good" and. and then. yeah. skfkfnskfnskgns it was certainly A Circumstance.

that said I have never been good at talking to my dad about stuff (we have a good relationship, I'm just terrible at starting conversations, as we've established, and apparently it's genetic bc my dad and I are incapable of carrying a discussion longer than like... 60 seconds. infodumping? Oh Yeah. actual back and forth conversation? ehhhh dubious) and I am a tad self-conscious about my media consumption in general, and I have not managed to ask him yet if he's listened to Sonder.

[mallowstep]

Leopardstar is holding Fireheart close, as if he was still a tiny kit that slept at her side and not the cat who'd just killed Scourge. Featherpaw and Stonepaw walk beside Mistyfoot as she comes closer, and he can feel Misty stop beside him.

"Mudfur says he's going to be okay. He's just exhausted and a bit scared. Scourge said some things about Leopardstar never coming back and well after what happened to Tigerstar..."

Leopardstar looks up, dazed from the numerous poppy seeds Mudfur had given her, before she spoke. "I'm sorry Stonefur...he made me choose. My son...or you. He said he'd kill Fireheart...but that he'd give you a chance...I...he's my son, Stone. My only kit...."

[au where leopardfur is firekit's mother]

oh god i have No Idea what happens in tigerclan during this au. i have Not gotten very far with this one LMAO.

anyway no statements of what it'll look like when i get around to Writing It, but rolling with this for now bc i like the character moment provides...

mudfur's den is very crowded. it's been a long time. fireheart is...probably pretty injured, actually. he doesn't have nine lives and scourge is not an easy fight. so like. you know everyone is worried about him. and leopardstar missed stonefur terribly much and mistyfoot and featherpaw and stormpaw and...

poor mudfur. he does not have space for this.

(also if anyone is curious about the new divider it's because it looks pretty in the font on my blog on a browser. not to promote the nice version of my blog but u should look at it it's pretty.)

*** *** ***

"two of you can stay," he says, "you've all said hello, everyone get out."

there's no question about who's going to stay.

fireheart is too big for leopardstar to curl around, but she's done the best she can, his head tucked at her side. stonefur bunts her softly, and she blinks at him, her eyes glassy and dazed. he purrs, lying against fireheart's back and pressing his forehead against hers.

"mudfur thinks he'll be okay. says it's more shock than anything." she licks fireheart's shoulder.

he would ask if she was okay, but he knows the answer.

"stonefur, i'm -- sorry about everything." she presses her nose to his chest. "i didn't...i should have fought harder, fought sooner for you."

she should have, but what's done is done. whatever mudfur has said, and whatever leopardstar has heard him say, fireheart's life is still teetering dangerously, a leaf floating down the river. he doesn't need to make her feel worse.

"he was going to...he told me..." leopardstar taeks a breath. "i shoudl have done more," she repeats.

"it's alright, leopardstar."

"it's not." she pulls back, resting her chin against fireheart's spine. "I should have known he wouldn't keep his word. i know better than that."

stonefur shifts, turning his head to look straight at her. "what do you mean?"

"he knew about fireheart," she says. "he said i could keep my deputy or my son."

the tip of her tail flicks against the ground.

"i was a fool, stonefur. i know better than that."

"you're not -- tigerstar had two clans underneath him, leopardstar, and windclan wasn't coming to help us. i wouldn't..." he licks the top of her head. "i'm not angry that you chose your son over me."

"i shouldn't have chosen either of you."

he knows her well enough to know she is thinking, if i killed him then, i could have killed him before.

"we're all alright now. that's what matters."

[popculturebuffet]

Mickey and the Roadster Racers: “Mickey’s Perfecto Day” and “Daisy’s Grande Goal” review or “I think i’m going out of my headcold”

Saludos Amigos!  I”ve been sick, and as such have had no energy or state of mind to continue my look at every apperance of the CABs in the us, concluding with a look at every episode of legend of the three caballeros. 

And today’s stop is one i’m only passingly familiar with: Mickey and the Roadster Racers. MATRR.. wait really that’s what it spells?

No Larry the Cable guy on this blog thank you.  Anyways, Roadster Racers is surprisingly complicated for such a simple show. For starters it’s the successor to “Mickey Mouse’s Club House” another CGI Disney Junior show, Disney’s equivalent to Nick Jr because their clever like that. And to continue the theme of ripping off other properties, the show was Disney’s stab at following the big fake interactivity craze started by Dora the Explorer. And it’s annoying as that sounds with a lot of pasues and an annoying recurring hot dog song that’s obnoxiously catchy. It was mostly just slice of life shenanigans with the mickey mouse crew and when retoolling it they decided to drop the now dated fake interactivity, turn up the slice of life and add some of those nitro burning funny cars vroom vroom. IN a sense genral g rated soft boiled mickey shenanigans with a racing theme. 

Not a terrible series but not terribly intresting hence why i’ve never covered it. It’s a bland inoffesnsive cartoon for toddlers. Enough effort is put in for me not to hate it, as even a toddler show can have effort, but not enoguh so that I really care. I’ve seen better, i’ve seen worse. The only intresting things are the racing gimmick and the fact that as said gimmick diminished they switched names to “Mickey’s mixed up adventures” in season 3. Hence the complicated part as it’s not counted as it’s own series but unlike other disney title changes they aren’t just slapping another label under the logo like the marvel shows. This is  a full on retool. But it still has the same cast and prodcution crew and is counted as part of mickey mouse. Point is it’s weird and not relevant since our boys didn’t show up in that season. Oh and as a final note I learned while writing this/ there’s a THIRD Mickey Mouse Disney Junior Series, Mickey Mouse Funhouse, coming next year. 

But with so little to cover I ended up throwing in a freebie. See normally I charge the same for 11 minute and 20+ minute shows. It’s fair as most 11 minute shows these days pack in as much character as the ones that use the full half hour. It’s just a diffrence in tactics is all. But here I felt obligated to do at LEAST two diffrent, but cabs related, 11 minutes here, so if I had nothing to talk about I could pad it out and If I had everyhting to talk about.. eh I still tried to do the right thing. I regret nothing. But yeah i’m sick, this series is eh, let’s gooooo. 

Mickey’s Perfecto Day So Mickey and Friends are preparing to drive to spain.

No i’m not making a joke. Wish I was would be one of my best but no, Mickey and Friends are just.. casually going to drive to Spain. To explain why this hurts my head a map, on which i’ve drawn the route they’d have to take to get to spain from, let’s say Calisota, the fictional state where Mouseton, Duckburg, New Quackmore, and thus probably Hot Dog Hills, the show’s setting, reside. 

This is a crue map, they oculd’ve gone down through mexico or central america.. but the point is THEY DROVE ACROSS THE OCEAN. And I genuinely do not know if their cars can do that but apparently they can. So either the writer didn’t know where Spain was or didn’t care and either way it’s bad. LIke at least give their cars a plane or boat mode. Go full DKR up in this bitch, give em diffrent racing vehicles. But it wouldn’t be as aggrivvating or bizzare if they MENTIONED how they were driving to spain, like maybe Donald’s car that’s also an old boat and goofy’s that’s a tub have aquamodes and can tow the rest. I get 5 year olds don’t care about this.. but still? I guess? Also MIckey is either the sorcerer supreme or jesus at this point. He can cross oceans by car, astral project, cross into other dimensions.. the only thing missing is raising the dead and  he already did that in the 30′s. 

So as for why the sorcerer supreme and his buddies are going all the way to Spain, Donald has a concert with the three caballeros and this time they all remember him as a memmber and Daisy’s a huge fan. Which is sweet. Then we hear donald duck talk and...

Yeah, Daniel Ross is not the best Donald. Now I will cut the guy some slack here: He’s a voice actor more known for doing bit parts who just got the role in 2016, since racers aired in 2017 and animation lead time and all that. He’s not going to be nearly as good as Tony or Clarence out of the gate. Even Tony wasn’t. He also had a valid reason for picking up the role as Tony likely had two series in production at that time, Rise of the Three Cablleros and Ducktales, and thus had to split his time between both. And having Chris Diamaptolus do mickey in the new shorts instead of his usual voice actor Bret Iwane despite Iwane not being in any serious danger of dying soon has worked out super. So having multiple actors isn’t the problem. Hell after the tragic loss of Russi taylor and with how bad the world is, having an understudy in mind for such an important role is a grim but understandable necicisty. While I belivie tony can go on for decades, he’s only human. 

So my issue is not on Donald’s voice being diffrent or new.. it’s that it’s not very good and the second episode featuerd here shows Daniel Ross really hasn’t improved despite now having worked as the character for a while.I can forgive taking some time to grow in but being this sloppy after a full season is just unacceptable. He’s BETTER but he’s still just not very good and doing the bear minimum. I don’t doubt he’s a good va in other rolls, I don’t want to hate on the guy, but I can hate on aperfomance when it’s bad and it’s not good here. It’s just not. Not in either episode not in any way shape or form. It just feels like a lazy donald duck impression. Disney can do better and Ross can hopefully find better work in the future. But for now this just hangs like a wet fart on his resume. 

Moving on, thankfully, we have our three stories split pretty evenly and all stock plots. “Horay”.  Mickey and Minnie: Mickey tries to have a “perfecto” day, hence the title with Minnie, but instead gives her a rose a baby bull likes.. or maybe it’s SUPPOSED to be full grown but while Mickey and Minnie treat him like a grown bull and react to him like one.. the boy dosen’t look at all, even in the series style, like an adult bull. he looks like a calf. Mickey.. is initimdated by a small child whose horns aren’t sharp enough to hurt him. 

It’s just REALLY distracting and takes me out of the plot which itself is as bland as plain toast and twice as dry. They flee him till the end where Minnie figures out the rose thing at the concert and they make an ew friend. NOt TERRIBLE but not great.  Goofy and Cuckoo Loca: Okay first off who and what is a cuckoo loca? Well she’s a wind up bird that lives in Daisy’s Cuckoo Clock and makes sarcastic comments in a brooklyn accent because nikka futtterman voices her. Still makes more sense than driving to spain. She’s not a bad addition to the cast.. not even that weird as most kids based franchises have an adorable animal sidekick to market. Goofy wants to try some “flamingo dancing” while in spain, with Loca going along to make sure he dosen’t die somehow.. which would be unjustifable for anyone but goofy. Also.. Flamingo Dancing...

But yeah Goofy goes up against ... world famous flamingo dancer horace horsecollar?!

Now apparently this is a common thing for him in this series, apparently, but still it feels like if one of those weird variant ninja turtle figures from the 80′s was a plot point in an episode. Like if we actually had an episode based around birthday magician raph. 

It feels just as odd and out of place for down to earth if showy horace to suddenly be the best flaminco dancer in spain, despite being very much white coded, as it does for the angriest ninja turtle to be pulling a rabbit out of kids hats. Now Rise of the TMNT raph I could totally see as a party magician but any other? He’d probably break his wand over some kids head. 

Goofy ends up winning anyway because he’s stupid, though Flamingo dancing should be a real thing even if this joke is bad and it shoudl feel bad. What an ODD subplot Okay one more then i’m free of this prison. 

The Three Cablleros Plus Daisy:  Okay finally we get to what I came here for. The Three Caballeros! And..they look a tad off. Not terrible but clearly the animators weren’t as skilled with non duck beaks as both of them look ready to do this to donald. 

While Panchito’s color varies. Sometime’s it’s a deep brownish crimson, sometimes it’s poop brown and there’s no classy way to put it. When he’s in this cheap cgi, he looks like a shit chicken. This gets to a larger issue though... the animation here is not great. It’s not TERRIBLE.. but it’s pretty freaking sub par for disney. And i’ve SEEN their other cgi shows around the same time due to having a young niece and nephew. Sherieff Callie, Doc McStuffins, MIles from Tommorowland, and after this T.O.T.S. and Rocketeer. I’m not saying these are masterpieces of the genre, but they have more effort in botht he animation and writing put in. Here it just feels like they do the bear minimum which feels really fucking wrong. These chracters deserve better and have thankfully gotten better. YOu can make a show for preschoolers that’s cutsey and harmless and still have it at least be creative god dammit. It’s why I don’t like covering this show. It just feels so.. lifeless. They try a bit here and there but outside of cuckoo, there’s nothing really new or intresting to really make kids love these characters and it bothers me. it bothers me a lot. 

Moving on thank god, the plot is bare bones as is the boys characterization. So far at least their character has been pretty consitent across all mediums. i’ts something I haven’t really touched on but their seen as world traveler’, Panchito being a Gaucho and Jose being such a ladies man this will probably happen to him eventually. 

I swear to god that was the only part of this movie I can remember. I’m  better off that way. But yeah without Panchito’s pep or Jose’s smooth talking ways, there’s just nothing for disney junior to work with so their just.. friends to donald who are nice to daisy. Which is very nice to see, but isn’t very intresting or gives me a lot to talk about. Donald eats a food that’s too hot, continues to talk poorly, and Daisy has to fill in. He gets back in at time and they sing probably the most forgetable cabs song yet. It’s.. not much honestly.  This was worth covering for completions sake but it dosen’t really add much. If nothing else it at least made me realize so far each mile of the ride has added something fresh to the characters: The original was the foundation, rosa gave them depth and made them feel like real people, and house of mouse made them feel like a big deal to other characters and made donald’s history as a cabllero part of his legacy as it should be. Each one so far has felt like it added.. this one just made me realize that and that is all. It builds on nothing adds nothing and there’s really nothing here other than MAYBE the brown/crimson design for panchito that carries over from the looks of it. The next two versions build on what rosa, the movie and to a lesser extent the house of mouse built. This one adds nothing. This plot is just.. inconqueintal. not bad for kids to know about them but even then it feels like a disapointing introduction. I fondly remember hte cabs episodes of house of mouse and even on rewatch they mostly held up despite some weak parts. This .. this will just be forgotten and I only hope legend and ducktales have done a better job keeping my boys alive in kids minds. God i’m depressed. Well at least this is over right.. right? 

Daisy’s Grande Goal

Okay as I said I was doing two, and rather than do this episode’s paired episode I decided on Season 2′s “Supercharged: Daisy’s Grande Goal”.. and cut the supercharged out of the title for the most part because why would you put the sutitle in your actual title. And only in some episodes. But yeah this season had a new gimmick, SUPERCHARGING... which basically means our heroes roadsters can go into super sayian tron super sayian mode and go real fast. They look real nice though and it has it’s own neat theme tune so there’s that. Otherwise the only other change is the animation which improves greatly. Seriously look at that shot above. That’s quality lin line with the ohter disney juinor shows. It’s still not as CREATIVE, but it’s not as slipshod as it started and I have to give them credit on that. 

So our heroes are in Brazil.. and as far as I can tell they drove there again.. but the diffrence is 1) you can actually DRIVE to brazil and 2) they have super fast super cars now, meaning even if the super charge mode has a timer, it can help with the commute. It’s also one of the boys actual home countries this time. I mean the episode isn’t built around the cabs.. but neither was the last one. Seriously I almost missed that: it’s three unrleated plots and really you could’ve just lenethed the bull and goofy plots a bit and left donald and daisy out. If your not going to use the cabs right hten don’t use them at all. Here though their used BETTER.. still not in the lead unforunately but at least them being on the brazilian soccer team makes sense as jose is from brazil and while panchito is it he’s his best friend, sometimes lover and always there when he needs him. So spending some time in brazil to play soccer/football isn’t a stretch. But that’s about it for their involvment: they say a few lines, are part of the brazilian team our heroes face, and we get Not-Donald saying “No Way Jose”.,,,

Sadly I can’t leave but the main plot is about Daisy’s Cousnt Almonda. She was in the previous episode which I did not watch but I do like both there being a valid reason why our heroes are here, and connection between episodes. While this season isn’t MUCH better.. it’s still better by some metric.  The plot is very basic: Almonda always wins at soccer ever since she and Daisy were kids, and it’s your basic “hero gets overcompetitive to finally win plot and learns to just have fun and to use teamwork heart of the cards and all that” It goes how you’d expect with Daisy hogging the ball and causing disasters and then a ten car pileup before cucoo yells at her, she realizes she was bad and also realizes Almonda had to practice hard to beat her, and ends up beating her through teamwork and you get it. IT’s not much But yeah ten car pile up.. that’s where it is intresting and rediculous as their playing soccer with cars. Which given i’ve always been an advocate for card games on motor cycles, seriously it’s not more rediculous than Yugioh was before that: in the anime and manga before 5ds we had table hockey but the puck is ice with nitrocylcrine in it, a battle with an escaped convict involving vodka and only using one finger, a chinese puzzel box that devoured souls, a dueling monkey, a whole hogwarts style school for dueling, duel spirits, our heroes childhood creations coming to life to help him, our hero merging with his androgynous childhood friend to fight the light of all evils, and on top of all of that, kaiba building a giant murder theme park soley to kill yugi and, even with how rich is he is, not even going to prison for the two months he’d get for that. My point is Yugioh is fricking weird and I love it so and card games on mortocyles is awesome.  Soccer with cars is alright. The teams are mickey, minnie, daisy and donald, for the US and Almonda, Jose, Panchito and.. Pancho Pete for the Brazilian team. Pete’s cousin. He apparenlty has a lot of em. Eh as long as we don’t get petkeem the african dream we’re fine. 

Why why did I make this. Why. But yeah it’s fine, not the best action ever adn the supercharge segments as I said look nice but as I also said ther’es just not a lot here. Daisy’s cousin is intresting, but likely more in the other segment. Here she’s more of a plot device to make daisy into an asshole for the episode so the plot can happen. There’s just not a lot to talk about> Hence me doing two of these. I will say it’s a better episode than the other one: it felt like more actually happened, it was more cohesive, had way more enerjgy and it had billy beagle... the series resident overexcited and loveable announcer voiced by the far from loveable jay leno of stealing conan’s job he gave him and last man standing, for some reason, fame. 

Overall these episodes are.. eh. The first one is kind of a mess, the second one is slightly better but these clearly werne’t meant for adults, let alone older kids and it shows. But I found some material here and made a horrifying combination of a terrible racist wwe gimmick and pete so.. I win/ I guess. I dunno, until next time, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye. 

[whump-it]

Callum, Rory and Alyaa; Miscommunication Part 1

Tag Team Time!

@haro-whumps @grizzlie70 @castielamigos-whump-side-blog @comfortforthepain @shameless-whumper @iaminamoodymoodtoday @kawaiiloverofanimu @burtlederp @untilthepainstarts  @my-whumpy-little-heart @moose-teeth @pepperonyscience @faewhump  @saphemme @slaintetowhump

TWs for characters that are clearly healing from past abusive situations.  Panic attacks.  Small mention of scarring.

“Alyaa!”

She stopped in her tracks at the sound of her name being called.  She knew that voice.  She recognised it from the last time she had heard it, laced with alcohol and too close for comfort.  She had got her timings wrong.  He should be at work.  He shouldn’t have been able to find her in the corridor.  She should have known better.

“Alyaa, I need to ask you something!”

His voice was closer this time, his footsteps were approaching at a jog.  She closed her eyes and breathed in.  In through her mouth and out through her nose.  Her fists clenched in and she dug her nails into her palms on each hand, letting feeling of it centre her before she opened her eyes, painted a smile across her face, and turned to greet Rory who jogged to a stop in front of her, closer than she wanted. 

“You ok?” he asked her, frowning slightly at her stiff posture, her controlled manner.  He could only imagine what he must have said to her that time when he was drunk, but he didn’t want to ask.  And right then wasn’t the time.  There were other more important things that he needed to worry about.

“I’m fine,” Alyaa said, politely.  Quietly.  Carefully and with a hint of thanks that should smooth over any further probing.

“Good!  Good,”  Rory pushed his hands into his jeans pockets and bounced awkwardly up and down on the balls of his feet, making Alyaa wish both that she’d pretended she’d never heard him to start with and that he would just spit it out.

“So I really really need to go out today and I don’t want to have to lock Callum in the apartment but if I don’t he’ll probably wander,” he said in a hurry, blushing and glancing nervously up and down the corridor.  Everything that he had said so far was making her itch with the desire to run, run and then keep running.  “I can’t have him wandering you see and I need to go out...”

“You already said that part,” she said quietly.

“Umm, yeah.  Uh, so the thing is I was wondering if you could just go in and keep an eye on him for me?  Please?  Because I just don’t trust him on his own quite yet.”  As he spoke he started backing up a bit, moving slowly in the direction of his own front door, clearly hoping that she would follow.  Like a scared puppy being led nervously to the shelter.  Being led where it ought to be safe.  Where no one actually ever knew what went on once the door closed.  And damn it all if her feet didn’t start to move with him.  She had given them no permission to do so but they were doing it anyway.  And she knew, she just knew, that the reason was because someone needed to see if that boy he had brought home was ok.  Because saving herself once had been the hardest thing in the world and she knew that not everyone was capable of that amount of strength even if it had left her almost permanently emotionally winded.  And because she knew without ever having to be told it, that the boy had been Callum.  The one that Rory had cried about to her.  The one that he had clearly wanted for himself.  The one that he now did have and had brought home battered and bruised, cut to shreds and barely clothed. 

“He won’t give you any trouble,” Rory said as they drew closer and closer to his door.  “But please don’t offer him anything.  He’s able to make his own food and drinks and stuff.  He doesn’t do so well with being given nice things so best not to ask.”

Alyaa swallowed hard and tried to slow her heartbeat, which was skipping up and down uncomfortably in her chest, while her mind turned over on itself with all of the possible reasons why on earth she shouldn’t offer this boy anything nice.  Why nice things were apparently being kept from him.

She watched from a small distance while Rory fumbled his keys out of his pocket and opened his front door.  He motioned for her to go in but her self preservation made her stay back, a small shake of the head to say that he shoudl go in first. Her self preservation made her keep him in front of her and the door right behind her as she followed him into his apartment.  She stepped in after him and left the door open, keeping her back to it.  The place was a mess.  It was overly warm and stuffy and all of the windows that she could see were shut.  Her gaze bounced from window to window, over and over, checking and zeroing in on the catches while her feet moved just a step closer to the door.  The living area was a clutter of pillows and covers, old glasses with the drink still in the bottom of them.  The dining table caught her eye as being utterly and spotlessly clean, and it stuck out like a sore thumb in the rest of the chaos.  She craned her neck to look into the kitchen area which was also surprisingly clean and tidy.

“Callum!”  Rory shouted, making Alyaa jump and sending her heart rate leaping again.  A bead of sweat ran down from her neck.  She could feel it tickling its way down her back.  He turned back to look at her and shrugged with a small apologetic looking smile which she didn’t like in the least.

“Sorry,” he said.  “He’s probably in his room...”  They were interrupted by a small sniffing coming from between the coffee table and one of Rory’s couches.  Rory moved instantly in the direction of the sound, and Alyaa was drawn instantly out of the need to see what had happened to Callum.  She moved into the room, still keeping Rory in front of her and the door at her back, a clear line between her and her exit, and looked down into the space between the furniture where Rory was now crouched down, his hands pressed to down on Callums drawn up knees.

And there he sat.  Callum.  In an oversized sweater that she guessed must belong to Rory, and a pair of sweat pants.  His feet were bare and she could have sworn that there was a hint of some sort of scarring just licking up from around the soles.  He was clenching his toes then releasing them over and over while Rory muttered something at him close to his face.  The poor boy was blushing furiously and nodding, looking sad and upset and nervous and Alyaa wanted to run and she wanted to kick Rory where he was crouched.  And she wanted to pick Callum up and take him home.  She backed up a touch and from her new position she could see that Callum was holding on to something tightly behind his back.  Something crusted in what looked like mud.  Or at least she hoped that it was mud.  He was twisting it up in his grip as though his life depended on it while he continued to nod over and over at whatever it was that Rory was saying to him.  Her mouth felt dry, throat thick and tight while she watched them interacting. 

Rory rocked back on his heels and stood, followed by Callum who did the entire movement with his hands behind his back, clutching tightly to what she could see now was a teddy bear, and she was horrified all over again.  He looked so young but she knew that he was a grown man.  And he looked frightened and torn to pieces that were barely holding together.  And he was holding a teddy.  There was so much wrong about everything that her brain couldn’t settle on one singular point.  Instead it held her frozen where she was while Rory introduced them.

“Callum, this is Alyaa,” Rory said, motioning to her. 

“Hey,” she said softly, trying so hard to smile for him and for herself.  “Callum?” He looked quickly from the ground up to meet her eyes and then looked to Rory, his gaze settling on him.  Alyaa wante dot tell him to look at her, not Rory.  Don’t look at him.  He’s not in charge.  He doesn’t have to be in charge.  Her ears were ringing slightly and she could see Rory lips moving but couldn’t hear what he was actually saying.  He nodded in her direction and Callum looked back to her.

“Umm...yeah...C...Callum.” 

A moment of silence hung awkwardly in the air between them all for a few beats until Callum hesitantly spoke up.

“Uh...umm...c...can I sit back...umm...on the floor?”  he said, looking at Rory wide eyed and flushed. 

“Yeah, you go for it,” Rory said.

“Thank you,” Callum whispered.  “Thank you for letting me...tha...thank you.”  Alyaa listened horrified to his murmurs of gratitude.  Had he been fine she realised, she would have run out of the apartment, back to her own, and locked herself in for days.  But not now.  Not now that she had actually met Callum.  Her fear was reigned in tightly and kept in check only by the fact that he seemed to be so very damaged.  She knew damage.  She knew what it felt like.  Someone needed to stay with him.

“Right,” Rory said.  Or announced.  It was spoken with a finality that allowed Alyaa to breath a little more easily because finally he would go and she could relax just a tiny little bit.  Not much, but the tension might bend instead of breaking.  “I’m sorry but I really do have to make a move.  I won’t lock the door but Callum, you have to do what Alyaa says ok?  Please?  Just stay in the apartment.  I don’t know how long I’ll be out for but you need to stay.  Don’t try to go back.  Ok?  Promise me?”

“I promise,” Callum said earnestly, looking up from his place back on the floor.  “I won’t go.  I’m sorry.  I won’t...I’m sorry.”

"Ok... cool," Rory moved towards Alyaa and she backed up slightly, led a dance between them, a circling motion that took her closer to Callum, and Rory closer to the door.

"... right. I'll see you both later," and with that Rory was out of the apartment and the door was clicked shut. Alyaa listened to hear the tell tale sound of a lock sliding into place, breath held and aware of everything. When ten or so seconds had passed with no more noise she released her breath and tried to relax into the situation.  When she turned back to see what Callum was doing, she saw that he was right back where he had started.  On the floor with his teddy behind his back.  She crouched down in the spot that she was stood in, first to her knees, and then slowly placed both palms flush to the floor and slid her legs out to the side, settling into the position near to him but not too close.  She slowly moved her hands to her lap and kept them close in so that he would know that she wasn’t intending to aim any fists or swings in his direction.  She could see the bob of his adams apple as he swallowed reflexively, a sure sign of his skittishness and nerves.  He was glancing across at her from time to time and clearly trying not to be seen doing so.  He ducked his head back down when she smiled at him.

“Callum?” she said quietly.  He looked up quickly and looked alert to any dangers that could come his way.  It was a look that she knew all too well.

“Umm...y...yeah,”  he said, eyes darting around the room and only ocassionally landing on her face.

“Thank you for letting me spend the day with you,”

“Uh...well...Rory said I shouldn’t be alone...so....”  Callum’s words trailed off into more silence. 

“Yeah I know,” Alyaa said, trying not to let her face show how cross that had made her.  That apparently this poor young man wasn’t even allowed to be left on his own for one day for fear that something would happen.  That he might get out.  And that Rory was determined to stop that from happening.  Part of her wished that he had just locked Callum in like he had apparently been doing since he had brought him home, so that she wouldn’t have to be in there with him, panic striken and nervous and constantly looking at the door and the windows to calculate the quickest way out.  But the thought of abandoning him was already too much to bear. 

“So...what do you do then?”  she asked, trying to frame her questions in the best possible way to get answers but without breaking Rory’s rules.  Because breaking rules had always been a fast track to trouble.  One that she didn’t want to travel down again if she could help it. 

“Wh...what do I do?”  Callum asked, looking confused.

“Yeah.  Like during the day.  Here.  What’s a day like for you?”

“Umm...I like...no...umm...Rory says not to do...umm...he says I should wash or...I sit with my teddy,” his eyes were starting to sparkle with tears, welling up and edging towards spilling over and down his cheeks. 

"Ok," she said. "That's ok. You just stay sitting then." Alyaa glanced around, desperate for inspiration or an idea that would help. A way into Callum's mind. A way into what was actually going on.

"So do you go out much?" Alyaa asked. "Does Rory let you... take you out?" Callum curled forward at the question, had been curling gently more and more in on himself since she'd started asking him questions. The silence stretched out until he eventually answered.

"He takes me out," Callum whispered, knees tucked up and his mouth pressing the words on to them instead of out into the air. "Th... thank you for umm... for asking. He...we go walking sometimes. He's always s... so kind to me. He says he'll always bring me h... home."

Alyaa suppressed the shudder that ran down her back at his words. At the politeness that seemed all too automatic. She was struggling to make any sense of it.

"Well," she said, forcing the words out even while they were making her feel sick. "That sounds very nice. Uh, very nice of him to do that." She wanted to scream at Callum that he should be allowed to go for a walk if he wanted to go for a damn walk. That Rory didn't own him. But what stopped her was the ice cold, stomach churning dread that Rory had gotten hold of what he had wanted since the first moment it had walked into his Collection Box. That there was every chance that Rory did, in fact, own him.

"He says... he... I'm not supposed to want to go back," Callum volunteered the start of some information up and Alyaa pounced on it. Another part of a barely even started puzzle.

"Go back where Callum?" she asked quietly. "Where have you come from?"

Silence draped heavily around them again as Alyaa sat and watched Callum. He was still digging his fingers into the teddy, still swallowing hard. A tear had finally escaped and ran slowly down his cheek before dropping on to his knee.

"From Master Hayden," he said, breaking his voice on the words and gulping in a sobbing breath. He looked utterly distraught, wrecked, just a shadow of what Alyaa could tell that he ought to be. Who ever Callum's Master Hayden was, it was very clear to her that he was upset about being away from him. Defeated. Devastated.

"Oh Callum," she said, edging just a touch closer, scooting across the floor towards him. "Do you miss him? Are you missing Hayden?"

"I'm..." Callum was crying over his words, making them hard to understand. "I'm not...I can't be better if I'm not with Master...mm... Master Hayden. I can't be...I can't be better. I want to be better. I can atone..."

Alyaa watched him twisting himself up in knots and panic and confusion, the fear that was coming off him in waves was starting to lap at her toes and erode the edges of her composure. She could feel it happening with no power to hold it back. In one quick move that sent Callum scuttling back towards the couch she pushed up off the floor and almost ran to the kitchen, throwing herself towards the window, over the sink, grabbing at the handle that wouldn't budge, fingers scuffing across the sill blindly feeling for a key but finding nothing.

There was no key. The handle wouldn't move. The latch didn't give. There was no key. There was no key. There was no key. The edges of Alyaa's vision were starting to twinkle and fuzz. Her breathing was ragged. She felt hot and cold all at once. She was on the very knife edge of what her body was willing to put her through when just to the side of her, silently, slowly and carefully, Callum's shaking hand gently placed a key down on the window sill before he stepped back. She snatched it up and jammed it into the lock, a few shaky attempts at getting it right and then it gave. It finally gave and she heaved the window open.

Cold air, blessed cold air flooded into the room and over her while she stood and breathed it in, in, in. While she let it cool and calm her. While her breathing and heart rate slowed and steadied and Callum stood to the side watching her, his teddy pressed to his chest with both hands. She chanced a look at him. He was shaky, pale, but he looked more in control of himself that he had been when she first arrived. Without a word, Callum transferred his teddy to one hand, keeping it firmly pressed up against himself, and he reached into a cupboard with his free hand, bringing down a glass. She watched him draw the glass up to his chest, hands together again while he used a shoulder to nudge the cupboard shut almost silently. Then he moved towards her, towards the sink which she stepped away from to give him access. Keeping both hands together and the teddy somehow dry, he filled the glass and then held it out to her.

"Rory says that when I'm worried I should sip some water," Callum said, with more confidence then she'd heard yet. With less stumbling across his words. Less breaking upon each syllable. Alyaa took the glass with trembling hands and a weak, small smile, and sipped at it for a few minutes.

"Thank you," she said. "For the key."

"Oh that's ok," Callum said, blushing. "I like to help. I'm good at helping. M...Master Hayden said that I have my uses... and... and Rory says I'm very good at helping."

"You are Callum," Alyaa said, almost reaching out to touch him but stopping herself. "You really helped me."

"Thank you. Thank you."

"I'm..." she took one more deep and steadying breath in. "... I'm getting hungry. I always make too much. My Opa always said I make too much. But I'm sure you and me won't let anything go to waste will we."

Callum smiled and shook his head, ducking it down shyly and rubbing his cheek against the top of his teddy's head.

"No... no waste."

[iguanasplit]

top 3 fanfics, let's gooooo

Eyes Wide Open All the TimealsoSo realityOOOOF WHY

ok then,,this one has had me screaming since july of last year and i havent gotten over it:

AMULGOE or  A Misguided and Unnecessarily Long Galactic Odyssey to Earth by dearest  unclassified_senpai  

the sci-fi fanfic ive been crying for eons and i keep doodling stuff about, (i know this is cheating but up here goes too the rest of this because HA ITS A SERIES YEET , so ADEGU or A Detailed Explorer’s Guide into the Unknown goes here as well, as well the logs of the stravechi nava, (look im so whipped and YOU KNOW IT)

then tbh i have a couple of possibilities ok i cannot do this: im gonna list my faves in no particular order

Heart of darkness by  SooSooDyo which Ha! also got me obsessed its a very amazing world building based on a videogame/novel and its dystopian and very well written and so good, just dont read it at 2am haha its about darkness and stuff and trains

the saga of Dragon Age!Jongyu by bmot DAMN ok one of the best fics i read in the fandom, its so well done i could prefectly get it despite not knowing sht about dragon age

OFC Press start to play by Jumpthisship you know this, the writing is light yet the perfect amount of detailed to fit the whole situation, and i liked the how the aftermath of the experience was treated (plus this has many side stories and an epilogue so it should count as series too)

OFC circuit breaker by  wolfsupremacist   this one wow!, also the perespective of an android living his life and the haunting development of yeols character was a 10

a very odd number on the list since its a harry potter fic, Running on air by  eleventy7. one i read very longish ago one or 3 years and i rember it was sooo good,, i saw a fanart and found the fic

reality check by  syncopate one of my favourite shinee writers, the whole hanahaki series its very very pretty, it was made showing other types of finals to the usual hanahaki ones and its very pretty, its a Gwi x onew haha

talking about hanahaki one of my faves is So silver bright by  baeconandeggs, Ink-and-stars (AriasOfSnow) one with a very different focus on a world with hanahaki and that baekhyun character is very very insteresting, the whole plot is narrated in an unusual way with some second person POVS i love

and from the same author as so silver bright its Codename:M.O.N.S.T.E.R one with a dystopian videogamish very cool world building (on hiatus)

also Shadows Fading into Light by Bbaegi in which yeol is a cool and a bit of an ass blue monster!!! which has the same writing energy as an adventure book its charming in lots of ways and the worldbuilding is cool (on hiatus) 

this one is very special and one i have re-read a couple of times since its a oneshot and isnt super long, its very comforting and grounding when i feel like jumping into a void or numb, its called and all this time by  younghyuns     

ofc came the last night, exodus , phoenix by unniebee such a good writer i cry, really, plot twists at the middle of the fic are totally her thing, i can always see one in her fics, came the last night its my favourite from her but phoenix, literally got me into exo so, also here should go and you have read them all... but im adding this one The space between with a steampunk verse by her too, that has an amazing turn of the whole social classes in the steampunk society, it is close to cam the last night, its so good.

OK I SHOUDL SLEEP NOW 

special mentions to

The palace series by Anonymous_Ostrich  a very cool series of fanfics from when i was in free!, back then it was still ongoing and its on hiatus, i started reading this in fanfiction.net lol, it has to do with geniuses and the ending of free where they have camels and stuff in the desert but super well developed

Eyes Wide Open All the Time by macbetha my last free! fic before jumping to kpop and one of the best experiences i had reading back then even tho i actually didnt finish it bcs it was ongoing when i left the fandom, it deals with many triggering topics tho so caution with the warnings

wow this got me busy for like a whole hour!!!! i love talking about fics ok!!! 

[ace-adventurer]

Hit the max limit trying to recite tangled from the “I was in a situation” part

“look I was in a situation. galavanting through the forest. I saw a tower- oh no, WHERE IS MY SACHEL” “I’ve hidden it. somewhere you’ll never find it.” “.. it’s in that pot isn’t it”

“NOW I’ve hidden it where you’ll never find it.”

ugh I don’t remember the rest until it gets to “you can tear this tower apart BRICK by BRICK but you will net find your precious sachel” “look. I didn’t wanna do this. but you leave me no choice. here comes the smolder... this is kind of an off day for me. FINE. I’ll take you to see the lanterns.”

“REALLY? oops”

“you broke my smolder”

“YOU COMIN BLONDIE?”

“look at the world so close and I’m halfway to it. look at it all so big do I even dare? look at it all so close I just have to do it. shoudl i ? no. Here I go- jUST FEEL THE GRASS THE DIRT JUST HOW I DREAMED THEYD BE, JUST FEEL THAT SUMMER BREEZE, THE WAY ITS CALLING ME, FOR LIKE THE FIRST TIME EVER, IM COMPLETELY FREE! I COULD GO RUNNING AND RACING HAIR FLYING HEART POUNDING AND SPLASHING(???) AND REELING AND FINALLY FEELING THATS WHERE MY LIFE BEGINNNNNNNNNNS”

“I can’t believe I did this! I can’t believe I did this. Mother would be so furious. Well that’s okay, what she doesn’t know won’t kill her right? This is going to kill her. I’m going back. I AM NEVER GOING BACK. that’s it. -crying-“

“I can’t help but notice you seem... a little at war with yourself here. But let me ease your conscious. This is part of growing up. A little rebellion, that’s good, healthy even. Will this tear her heart and crush her soul? Of course, but you just got to do it.” “tear her heart?” “In half.” “crush her soul?” “Like a grape.” “You’re right, mother would be heartbroken....” “ I am, aren’t I. Oh bother. That’s it. I’m letting you out of the deal”

"What?" "That's right, you get me back my satchel and you get back a mother daughter relationship based off mutual trust and voila! We part ways as unlikely friends"

"No! I am going to see those lights!"

"OH COME ON! What'll it take to get my satchel back!"

"I will use this."

"-rustle- WHAT IS IT? RUFFIANS?? THUGS??? HAVE THEY COME FOR ME??????"

-a wild bunny appeared!-

"Stay calm. It can probably smell fear."

"Oh! Sorry, I guess I'm just a little bit..... jumpy,"

"Best if we stay away from ruffians and thugs though..."

"Yeah.. that'd probably be best.."

"Are you hungry? I know a great place for lunch!"

"Where?"

"Oh, don't worry, you'll know it when you smell it!"

"Ah, there it is, the snuggly duckling."

"Well, I do like ducklings!"

"Yay!"

"GARÇON, YOUR FINEST TABLE PLEASE!- you smell that? Take a deep breath in through the nose! I'm getting one part man smell and the other part REALLY bad man smell. Over all it just smells like the color brown, your thoughts?" "that's a looot of hair." "She's growing it out. Is that blood in your moustache? Goldie look at all the blood in his moustache! Good sir that's a lot of blood! hey, you don't look so good blondie. Maybe we should get ya home. Call it a day. This is a five star joint after all-"

"Is this you?"

"Oh come on. Now they're just being mean"

"Oh it's him alright. That rewards gonna buy me a new hook."

"I COULD USE THE MONEY!"

"What about me?? IM BROKE!"

"Gentlemen, we can work this out!"

"Give me back my guide!"

"Please- not the nose NOT THE NOSE"

"PUT HIM DOWN! I don't know where I am and I need HIM to take me to see the lights because I've been DREAMING about them my whole life, didn't your humanity! Haven't any of you had a dream?"

"I had a dream, once"

I'm malicious mean and scary/ my sneer could curdle dairy/ and violence wise my hands are not the cleanest/ but despite my evil look, and my temper and my hoook/ I've always yearned to be a concert pianist/ can't you see me on the stage performing mozaaart/ tickling the ivories till they gleam/ yes I'd rather be called deadly/ for my killer showtune medley/ THANK YOU! Cause way down deep inside I've got a dream/ I've got a dream / I've got a dream/ see I ain't as cruel and vicious as I seem/ I've got scars and lumps and bruises/ something here that oozes, and lets not even mention my complexion/ but despite my extra toes and my goiter and my nose/ I really wanna make a love connection/ can't you see me with a special little lady/ rowing in a rowboat down the stream/ though I'm one disgusting blighter I'm a lover not a fighter/ cause way down deep inside I've got a dream/ Paul would like to quit and be a florist/ gunter does interior design/ ulf is into mime/ atillas cupcakes are sublime/ killer knits/ bruiser sews/ frankies little puppet shows/ and Vladimir collects ceramic unicornsssssssss

"So? What about you?"

"Yeah what's your dream?"

"Sorry boys, I don't sing"

I've got dreams like you, no really, just much less touchy feely, that mainly happen somewhere warm and sunny, on an island that I own tan and rested and alone! Surrounded by enormous pounds of money

I've got a dream! I've got a dream! I just wanna see the floating lanterns gleam! And with every passing hour I'm so glad I left my tower! Like all you lovely folks I've got a dream

"I FOUND THE GUARDS"

"WHERES RYDER WHERE IS HE"

"Find him! Turn the place upside DOWN if you have to!"

"Go. Live your dream."

"I will."

"Your dream stinks. I was talking to her."

"There's no sign of him!"

"Maximus?"

"What's he doing?"

"A passage! Corn (I forgot his name) stay with the stabbington brothers"

"Play it safe. I'll go get the crown."

"I got a dream, I got some dreams- wOAH somebody get me a glass! Because I just found myself a tall drink.. of water"

"Oh, stop it, you big lug. Where does that tunnel lead out?"

"KNIFE!"

"Well I.. didn't know you had it in you back there."

[marxism-leninism-utenaism]

hi i want to get into logh with my gf, the original i mean. what order should we watch things in? we're fine with the like, "there's over a 100 episodes", i just wanna know if we shoudl start with that, or the movie, or

there’s no “right way” to do it, but there are a few places that i’d recommend considering that you start:

the original series - this is the first bit i watched and still my favorite. there’s 110 episodes of it so it can be intimidating, but imo its still the best telling of the main story. you don’t need any background to get into it, all of the other stuff is either retellings of stuff that happens here, or filling in more detail of backstory that the main series glosses over.

my conquest is the sea of stars -  this is one of the prequel movies, which shows the first encounter of the two main protagonists of the series. it’s very very good, but imo not entirely representative of the series (its in line on themes, but very heavy on space battles and doesn’t really get into the political intrigue that makes up a substantial part of the main series)

overture to a new war - this movie is where a lot of people recommend starting. its a retelling of the first two episodes of the original series (if you watch overture you can skip the first two episodes and not miss any story information. there are a lot of things that overture does better than the original series, and one really important thing that imo it does worse (there’s a significant moment in this part of the story that’s portrayed as a lot less gay in overture than in the main series). that said, i know a lot of people who’ve started here and loved it a lot. it gives a bit more context to some of the relationships and issues at play in the beginning of the series.

ok, now that’s out of the way, here’s some places i wouldn’t recommend starting

golden wings - this movie is an adaptation of one of the side-stories about reinhard’s early career, but its done in a completely different style (taking cues from one of the manga adaptations of the novels, rather than the original anime like everything else here does). its very interesting (especially for the different design interpretations of the various spaceships and iserlohn fortress) and extremely gay (i love a lot of the reinhard/kircheis intimacy in this one) but overall not at all representative of the rest of the show at all

legend of galactic heroes gaiden - this series of shorter OVAs is super interesting and covers a ton of material, including yang and reinhard’s early careers (complementing but not overlapping the material in golden wings), and is really cool and fun. if you’re gonna watch these, i particularly recommend one hundred billion stars, one hundred billion lights and the third battle of tiamat for reinhard’s backstory, and spiral labyrinth is the backstory retelling yang would want, in that its primarily a meditation on historiography, the use of military force, and a retelling of a previous alliance hero’s rise and fall. that said, this stuff is largely ancillary to the main thrust of the series, and while it (like golden wings) is chronologically prior to the beginning of the series in terms of the fiction’s chronology, it’s not narratively prior or prior in release order.

die neue these -  this is probably the easiest place to jump in right now because it’s currently airing and will be a much less intimidating 12 episodes and 3 feature-length films (covering the first 26 or so episodes of the original series), but while it’s too early for a final judgment the preliminary feeling is that DNT just isn’t quite as good

the english translations of the original novels  - there aren’t many of these available, and while i haven’t read them, from what i’ve heard the translation isn’t always the best. additionally, it’s very clear even from what i have read that the anime adaptation is far superior in terms of pacing and structure

[fictional-guns]

Warinings: Strong language English is not my first language so sorry for any mistakes :/ Chapter One: I laid over the shoulder from the Hound, and he carried me, back to the Red Keep. I had no force to say something at the moment. I only had the feeling that my ribs where hurting and my face was slightly swollen.Then I noticed he sat me on a bench against the wall. So before he left I took all my strength that was left and came back when I sat and ask:"Sansa?" He looked back at me. "The little bird is save. Like you now." I nodded slightly and wanted to wait til the pain in my torso stops, so that I could go back to look after my lady. But it doesn't stop, I sat there without help, without any person. I could've cried, but I won't it was not the first time that someone want to beat the shit out of me. "M'lady are you ok?" a worried voice spoke to me. I looked to the side where Tyrion Lannister stand. I think he only said M'lady 'cause it was an Situation that is maybe confusing so he spoke in titles. "Why you asked for a fucking maid? She doesn't deserve it. No ones looked after me." I heard the king complain. Tyrion rolles his eyes and meant:"Although she's not an high grace like you that doesen't mean we shouldn't take care of them. She is the maid of your fiancée Sansa. It is important that her personal maid is able to work for her." I believed that he knows that I am one of those less real friends she had here, and he wasn't a man that would take away a little girls friends. "Hound bring her to the measter, now." he commanded. The big Hound stand up and came to me. But he doesn't threw me over his shoulder like last time. He tried to be gentle. He picked me up like bridal style and my tiny hands clutched around his neck. You could here the screaming voices and the helpless people. It was loud much too loud for my mind. So I closed my eyes and hoped that the noises would go away. And yeah they were going to be quiet, so quite I only could here the steps of the man that carried me and his heavy breathing. With his legs he opened the door from Grandmaester Pycelle. The old man was confused that the Hound came in he sat me down onto the patient table. "Take care of her. Command from Lord Tyrion." the Hound said to him. I didn't like Pycelle much, he was more intereseted to see parts and touch parts of woman that he shouldn't see or touch. "What happned to her, is only her face hurting?" he asked the Hound. Before he coud went out of the door. "She beat her badly, maybe her ribs could be broken. When can I come back?" he answered and asked the next question. "One hour." the maester meant. So the Hound went out and the maester was doing his work. "Open your dress, honey. We want see if your ribs are really broken." he said. When I was honest I wouldn't like to do such a thing but I had no choice. I opened the fabric of my dress but hold it so that he only could see the part where it was hurting. But his eyes glanced for a look to my chest. So he bandaged my rips and torso. he gave me an ointment for my swolling parts that  had on my face. And he meant I should wait til the Hound is comming in again. I realy asked myself why the Hound want bring me back to my chambers. It wasn't like that I was a lady or smething. I was just a maid. But then he stepped in. "Come on little maid." he just said and picked me up again. He knew what Pycelle was and although he took care of me that he always tried to touch things and that was what the Hound knew. he brought me to my room and laid me into my bed. But before he could sat me up I said:"Thank you, Ser." "I am not a Ser." he said. "I know." I answered, my voice just so small in compare to his, so quite. "Then why you call me like that." he asked. "You are more Ser than many other knights I know." was my final words. He only looked at me and if I did not fancy it he had a smile in his dark eyes. "You should stay in bed, 'til your are able to workd again." he told me and went out. He didn't know that I couldn't stay in bed until I was able to do something again. I was a maid, always ready to work and to serve. I know that Sansa would say it was ok for her, but she need me and Shae. Ok Shae could do a few days my work with, but I need to go to the taverne next day, to earn some money. Although I could get as maid a chamber and food it was still not enough because someday I want to go somwhere else, I didn't want to stay in this shitty city. But my head was to dizzy to think about that the whole time because of that milk of poppy I got. I had and quite sleep and I didn't wake up til the next morning. When I was about to get up lady Sansa and Shae stepped in. "(Y/N), you shouldn't get up." she said with a worried look. And Shae helped me to get to my bed. "But I can't stay in bed all day long." I answered. "Your ribs are broken you can't work. It is really ok, if you are about to get some rest." she said. "It would be really better when you stay here." Shae added. I sighed. "If the King and Cersei find out. I would get an punishment." I said. "I will take care of that problem." my lady said. "No, you have enough Problems with that little monster you call fiance." I said. "Really (Y/N), stay in bed it is an order." Sansa commanded. "Your grace it is really lovely from you, but I am a maid I have to do my work." I tried to make her understand. "I can do your work while you are get some rest ok? And I will bring your food and something. It's not a big deal (Y/N)." She smiled. I smiled back. "But only for a few days." I said. and laid my head back into the pillows. Sansa got out with Shae and smiled at me. "Get well, (Y/N). And thank you, that your tried to help me, although you get in danger too." she thanked me. I nodded to her. And then I got some sleep again. During the day it was nothing special. Shae brought me food, and sometimes I drank a bit of the potion the maester gave me. But now it was late evaning so I had to get up. I got dressed in a one of my few same red servent dresses and went out of my chambers. My feet find the way through the floors until I was by the taverne. I saw a few faces that were not foreign. Like Bronn, Meryn Trant, a few other guards and the Hound. "Glad that you came to your shift, (Y/N)." my boss said. "Yeah, need money, you know." I answered but smiled. "When you can't take it longer make a break ok?" he advised me. I simpley nodded and take a jug with wine. I gave in gradually, and when I was by the Hound, I wanted to thank him again, because yesterday I was too weak. Before my steps went to him to make his cup full he looked at me, slightly worried but he doesn't said anything. "Some wine?" I asked him. He nodded and I bend over to gave him some wine. "That's up to me." I said to him. "You dosen't need to gave me a favor girl." he meant. "But I want. It's just not enough only to say thank you, for someone who saved me. If I can't do anything for you tell me." I said to him. I wasn't afraid of the Hound, yeah he was a killing machine but he wasn't a man that would hurt a tiny girl. I stand before him. And I decided to do something no one woud have done. I leaned to his face an gave him an short kiss on his cheek. Although it was his burned side. Some of the guard yelled and said something like:"Wow, the dog got a bitch for him." but I didn't care. He should know that he isn't such a monster, for me he is not a monster. I went away and do my work the whole night long. Although my ribs were hurting an pulsating, but I need that money. Some of those guards were much too drunk, but like I, I wasn't really careful so I poured some wine on his pants. "Sorry my lord. It was not intentional. Please forgive me." I excused me fast and looked to ground. "Are you serouis? Stupid girl. Maybe you shoudl get a lesson." he warned. "A lesson my lord?" I asked while I was starring on the ground. And than he grabbed mm by my waist and threw me on his lap. His rough hand squeezed the side, exactly there where my ribs was hurt. "I am sorry Ser, don't hurt me anymore." I said with a whining voice. The whole room was quite and watched. "Don't hurt you? I will break the other ribs too girl, if you don't do what I want." he threatend me. "W-w-what you will do?" I asked in fear. "I will fuck you this night, in your sweet little cunt. And then I let my friends fuck you." he whispered but loud enough that all could heard it. "But I am a virgin, Ser. It would not really be gentleman like." I tried to change his opnion. "Better than I thought a virgin is tight." he laughed. And beat me into my ribs. I fell to the ground and was nearly about to cry. Then he wanted to grab me again and he looked into my face. He wanted to hit me. But before that could happen some stepped in. "Let go of that girl." Sandor yelled at him. The drunk man watched the Hound. "Why I should, that stupid bitch-" he began to speak. But Sandor let his fist punch into his face. He fell to the ground. "Look what a coward are you? Beat up little girls like her. Bet you piss in your pants when I would put my sword out."  the Hound threatend. But the drunk guard was sure he could be better than Sandor. "When someon is pissing in his pants than it is you. They call you the Hound, the only thing I see is a puppy." he provocate him. Than Sandor took him by his throat and pushed him against the wall so the man wasn't standing on the ground. " You little piece of shit. Don't you understand I could kill you with my own hands. And all see what a shitty knight you are." he made fun of him. Sandors hand went tighter on his throat. The man was panicing. and he trembled and his hands tried to get the hand of the Hound away. "I am sorry, I am sorry." he yelled so loud he could but it was only a whisper that escape his mouth. Sandor let him down. The man ran out the taverne. And Sandor came to me. "Her shift is over." he said and take me with him. My boss looked slightly shoked but nodded to the Hound. When we were out he asked angered":Why are you so stupid and go to work girl? You shouldn't go work here when you are ill like this." "I have to. I need money. I need it." I said to him. His both hands where on my shoulders and he turned myself to him. "Why? It is so important that you want get in danger?" he asked. "I want to leave, somday I want to have enough money to leave this fucking shit city they call capital." I cursed and my feelings nearly overhelmed me. It was hard to live here. "Where will you go? You have no one." he said and let go of my shoulders. "I don't know, only away from this shit. I can take care of myself." I meant. He chuckled. "Take care of yourself? If I would not had punched him, now you would lie with this man in his bed and his friend would rape you." he make me clear. "I have no other choice, Sandor." I said louder. He didn't expect that I call him by his forename. "The porblem is you are braver than you should be. And that's why you glide into something like this what happend." he confronted me. "I am not brave. I am just a servent girl..." I sighed. His eyes were disappointed. "Thank you again Ser. And sleep well." was the last thing I said before I went away from him.

[yutikyis]

Snowball Fight

(I am posting this here because I am considering consolidating my character blogs into one. It’s easier to write for other characters if I can just write instead of fumbling between tumblrs. So this is a Reri story, not a Yuti one.) 

Starlight. Frigging Twelve-damned Starlight. Worst damn time of the year if you asked Reri Kyis. A damn waste of time for everyone. Not that she hated getting gifts. Truth was she didn’t even mind giving gifts. Nahu had been surprised about that but it was true. She wasn’t going to give gifts to every damn person she met like the Twelve-forsaken Saint but a gift could be a way to praise someone as much as anything else. Despite what the Snowflake thought she wasn’t against praising people. They just had to earn it first. It was the idea behind it that ticked her off. It was a celebration of weakness and coddling and cowardice. Those stupid red outfits which so many people saw as something to praise. To her they were like scarlet signs of weakness. She wasn’t an idiot. You took care of kids until they could take care of themselves. That was how you kept the species alive. What she despised was hiding it. Pretending those kids were soldiers and then snickering in your hand about how you go away with it? The entire damn thing pissed her off. It pissed her off that the Ishgardians had been stupid enough to let a bunch of children probably die when they had enough space for them. Waste of life and waste of resources on top of that. It pissed her off the soldiers didn’t have the balls to actually confront their officers and settled for second best. It pissed her off because it taught those kids the wrong lesson and they began handing out presents to every random kit they could find instead of learning something useful. Damn celebration of weakness is what it was. If you asked her a damn sight better figure for Starlight would be that Azure Dragoon fellow. Now that’d be a damn proud story to tell your kids. “Yeah, Snowflake, people wear red because the Dragoon killed the ugly bastard who’d been terrorizing us for a generation and it stained his armor red. We wear red to celebrate that because it’s a damn fine thing to be proud of.” Course there was more to that particular story from what she’d gathered but it didn’t really matter. Both were stories anyway. It just depended on which one you wanted to celebrate. Killing an ancient wyrm and bathing in its blood was a damn sight more of an act to be proud of than hiding a bunch of kids from some damn bureaucrats and chucking them back out in the snow when you were done. Not to mention the frigging snow. Who ever heard of it snowing in a desert?  She’d come to Ul’dah to get piss drunk and ended up having to deal with it being cold enough to freeze her tits off despite it being the Twelve-damned desert. An frustrated part of her wondered if this was the result of some kind of Saint of Starlight Primal and if so could she stab the hell out of it and bring the warmth back?  Not that it mattered. Not even the bars were a fun escape today. Of course every single bar in the entire damned city was dressed up for the holiday. You couldn’t even get piss drunk without some arsehole crooning in your ear about the Saint’s bells or whatever. She could enjoy a good drinking song but those were songs that were about fun shite, not some red-faced Roe whinging about mother making out with the Saint beneath the mistletoe.  So that was why she found herself sitting outside in the snow, a bottle of Limsa’s finest imported in her hand, generally angry about the state of the world. Frigging celebrations of weakness ruining her drinking. She couldn’t even go out hunting because half the damn Companies were more worried about some stupid trees stealing decorations and the best place to hunt in the Shroud was full of idiots on dressed-up bears throwing boxes at one another like morons.  So she was content to get pissed and let the day pass... until a snowball hit her square in the face. As she sputtered and brushed the snow from her eyes, she looked around quickly, her hands sipping down to the daggers at her side, face alight with anger. Who in the Hells?! Her would-be victim was actually a Miqo’te boy of about twelve summers whose snowball had clearly missed HIS intended victim, a tall and lanky Roegadyn girl of a similar age. Both looked entirely terrified as Reri’s blazing eyes turned towards them. “OY! Ya bloody idiots! What the Hells kinda throw was that? I shoudl tan yer hides and hang ya up for the bloody vultures!” The Miqo’te boy looked as if he wanted to melt as quickly as the Starlight snow. It was only the Roe girl who seemed to be regain a little composure. “'’Leave 'im alone ye ole bat. It ain't his fault ye were sittin' thar mopin',” the girl shouted back, standing between her friend and the angry redhaired Miqo’te, arms crossed tight over her chest as if she could intimidate Reri into submission. “Well, I ain’t mopin’ if you want to know the truth. I’m considerin’ how to tear yer head off and shove it up your own arse. Figure that’d be an interestin’ Starlight challenge. Figure the Saint can find ya ta give ya a gift up there?” Reri growled, though there was a twinkle of amusement in her eyes as the girl stood up to her. “Well, I assume ye'd be th' one t' tell me considerin' ye already 'ave yers up thar!” the Roe sniffed. The Miqo’te boy slid up behind her and tugged at her arm. “Iyrn, c’mon, don’t make it worse,” he whispered in a pleading, plaintive and desperate voice that made it clear he did this all the time.  “I shall nah! Th' squiffy ole strumpet be threatenin' us 'cause she got a wee snow down her front? Maybe if she buttoned up her jacket that wouldna be a problem!“ Reri’s bad mood vanished in an instant and she began to laugh loudly. She took a long swig from her bottle and pulled her hand away from her daggers. “Squiffy ole strumpet am I? That’s mighty big words comin’ from a bearchild whose askin’ for a beatin’.” Reri’s threat however seemed only about halfway real. “Good on you for standin’ up for yourself, girly. Probably gonna get your arse kicked for it someday but better an arsekickin’ than being a pansy.”  The Roe seemed entirely unsure how to take that mix of threat and compliment and settled for huffing quietly. “I be nah afeared o' some tart who be so bothered by snow she'd try t' skewer me o'er it.” Reri’s laughter redoubled at that and the Miqo’te boy’s ears flattened back against his head. “C’mooooon  Iyrnthota, let’s just go before the lady gets angrier at us...”  Reri shook her head and gave the Miqo’te boy a glare. “Oy, mankit, shut yer bloody mouth. Yer a man, ain’t ya? You should be the one standin’ in front of her, not cowerin’ like a babe behind his mama. Have some damn Miqo pride boy. Ya ain’t ever gonna be a Nuhn that way.” The boy slumped slightly and mumbled something about not wanting to be a Nuhn anyway.  Reri gave a derisive snort at that. “Well, I ain’t particularly fond of Nuhns myself but I doubt you’re going to be able to take a ride on the Roegadyn express either if’n ya keep acting like a wimp.” Judging by the sudden way the Miqo’te’s face turned pale and then a vivid shade of red, there was was a very real chance the poor boy was about to pass out and die on the spot. Iyrn turned no less red though her response was more anger than anything. “Ye crude ole strumpet, wha' be th' matter wit' ye? We be friends 'n even if we were nah that ain't somethin' ye jus' say.” Somehow that made the Miqo’te boy look both happy and miserable ta the same moment. Reri rolled her eyes and walked over towards a nearby street pole, one of the large ones used to hold up advertisements and banners. She rested her back against it and motioned for the two to approach her with her head. After a moment they did. “Listen, the pair a ya. Ya ain’t got nothin’ ta be gained by pretendin’ ya nothin’. Yer little friend there,” she motioned at the Miqo’te who slunk behind his friend again “.. s’clearly got a crush on ya about as wide as a chasm. So just admit it boyo instea’ dancin’ around all this shite. It’s a wastea everyone’s time, myself included bein’ as I gotta tell ya this.”  Iyrn looked behind her shoulder at the MIqo’te and frowned. “That ain't true, be it O'Lei?” The boy’s cheeks turned a brighter shade of red which just made Reri burst out into laughter. “Girl, ya must be mighty blind if ya can’t see that. Boy has it bad enough for ya he’s probably havin’ dirty dr-” “S-Stop it!” “C’mon boy, nothin’ to be ashamed of, you’re at that ag-” 

“By th' Twelve do ye ever stop natterin'!?” Iyrn interrupted with a huff. She looked over at O’Lei again and there was something a bit softer in her eyes as she smiled at him. He looked up at her and fidgeted a little before giving her a tiny smile. “If she's right ye should say somethin', ye know. I like ye too,” Iyrn said softly. The boy’s expression shifted to one of shock before a brilliant smile crossed his face. “You mean it?” “O' course I do. Ye're me best mate aren't ye?” “Yeah but I wasn’t-” And anything more was interrupted by Reri making a loud exaggerated gagging sound. As both looked back at her, Iyrn clearly affronted, while O’Lei was too obviously pleased with the situation to be really upset, Reri smirked at them. “See? Ain’t nothin’ to be gained from dancing around the truth. Ya be honest and ya go for what ya want. If it ain’t what either of ya want then ya might as well get that out in the open too. Have some balls.” Both the children seemed a little unsure but nodded their heads in unison. O’Lei actually reached out and took the Roe girl’s hand lightly and stood a bit closer with her.

Reri’s eyes twinkled slightly. “Well, one la’ thing before I leave the two of ya.” The Roe and Miqo both looked at her in confusion. “Ya oughta keep yer wits about ya even durin’ a conversation,” she said and quickly pulled her leg up and kicked backwards at the pole she was leaning again..  Up above a particularly large pile of snow that had been pile up above on the small outcropping used to hang the advertisements was suddenly shaken loose, sending a veritable avalanche of heavy wet snow down on both children.  By the time it was finished they were both covered in the stuff, shivering and trembling and shocked. “Looks like I win’ the snowball fight, ‘eh?” she said with a wink and a raucous laugh as she turned and strode away, finishing the last of her bottle as she did, leaving the two snow-covered kids behind her.