#i think i wrote Some of it out but not too much of the finer emotional details

[twerkstallion]

character hard mode questions: 5 for wetley . this is hard because he doesnt have pockets but imagine if he does. and also 17 and 34 for roger? por favor?

Westley-

5.) On an average day, what can be found in your character’s pockets?

hes a purse guy. not in the literal sense, but like, in the over-prepared, carrying way too much shit sense. hes got chapstick, and an unopened one in case anyone needs it. cash, change, gum (fruit and mint), bandaids, neosporin, a metro card, the phone number of the nearest 3 gucci store managers, a tire patch kit, moisturizer, a couple allen wrenches, etc. if he was Worse:tm: than he already was, hed have a burner phone and unopened cigarettes too. luckily he isnt at that stage yet, if he ever gets there. he definitely carries things for himself, but does spend a great deal of time thinking about others.

---

Roger-

17.) What was your character’s favorite toy as a child?

i wanna say something like an action figure. 80's or 90's hard plastic. like a teenage mutant ninja turtle or transformer or my little pony. he had a couple of them, probably still even has them in the attic at home. he may have also been a star wars kid to a degree.

34.) Is your character more likely to keep trying a solution/method that didn’t work the first time, or immediately move on to a different solution/method?

this is a bit of a confusing question i may interpret it wrong but.. both? Roger is a fairly logical, smart, slightly out of the box guy. hes got a big job and can handle it, much like Westley. he likes to experiment a little, he sort of has to sometimes, but hes steadfast. not as stubborn as... other people, for sure, but he also wont immediately give up. hes gotta be the level headed one here anwyays.

[sweet-reaper]

Flowers

 “Hey Gid?” Kremy asked.

“Yea?”

“What’re your favorite flowers?” 

“Oh—uhhh. I liked the red 'n black ones. Had ‘em at our weddin’.”

Kremy started. Hearing Gideon call that insanity of a night 'our wedding' and not 'the pixie wedding,' made him feel a lot of things.

Because, yes, it was where they got married. Ironically, at least. But it was also where they married three other people. It wasn’t quite the happiest memory Kremy had; he had been in tears for a good part of it. Still, it sounded nice in that Yona drawl. Our weddin’.

Gideon looked over at him when he didn’t respond. “In my suit. All tucked in. What’s that called again?”

“Boutineer,”

“Yeah, yeah. What was that flower? Somethin’ to do with fire, I recall?”

“I think it was a fireblossom. Some call ‘em fire lilies.”

“Yeah! Yeah. Mighty nice.” 

Kremy nodded, a self satisfied grin at the edge of his lips. He had thought so. “Hm.” he hummed lightly. He looked over at Gideon, meeting his eyes. There was a pause.

“Well, don’t you rush to ask me what mine is! Mine’s—”

“WAIT!” Gideon got up and was halfway across the room. “Wait… don’ tell me.”

Now Kremy was pissed. “What d’you mean, don’t tell you? What in all nine hells, Gid? First you’re all ‘Kre-meh nevuh tayls me nuthin’.” he imitated Gideon’s drawl. “And now you don’t care to know what flowers I like!?”

“‘Course I wanna know! But I don’t wantcha t’ tell me.” Was Gideon blushing? Why? The man of no shame was embarrassed about flowers?

“I wanna…” Gideon's voice dropped down, and so did his eyes. “I wanna give you flowers till I end up givin’ you your favorite one. See if I can guess.”

Oh. That sounded nice. 

“And... what happens when you find out what they are?” Kremy was happy to hear his tone come out as cool, almost disinterested. Dammit if this man couldn’t get under his skin. It would be too damn easy to let himself unravel into a puddle.

“Then I’ll mostly give you those, when I can get ‘em. I can switch it up, though. If you’d like.” Gideons voice was a little rough. He was blushing properly. No finer sight, in Kremy’s eyes. 

“Well, okay then. You can do that... if it pleases you.” Kremy said, a little haughtily. He had to keep up the appearance of an upper hand between them, at least occasionally. 

“I wanna please you, darlin’. If y’know what I mean.”

Fortunately, Kremy does know.

He walked over to the much taller man and ran a thumb over his cheek, feeling the heat that had built. Gideon looked down at him with that goofy expression of his and leaned in for a kiss. 

Kremy wondered how long it would take Gideon to bring him fire lilies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In honour of my first Kremy Wednesday, here's a little snippet from a chapter I just wrote for my second Coal-Leroux fic. I'll start posting it regularly (daily?) in Jan 2025 on AO3 :)

Read the first one here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/59990893/chapters/153056824

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I read your rewrite of Chapter 2 (which was great, by the way) and would like to clarify some things. Of course, you wrote that the fixes were just you exploring possibilities, so you don't need to justify anything if you don't want to. 1. How would Leona join the investigation? Correct me if I am wrong, but Leona didn't seem to know about Yuu and co. until Riddle and Qater confronted Ruggie. For him to know about them so soon, someone (like an injured Savanaclaw student or a Savanaclaw student who overheard Yuu and co. questioning others) would need to let him know. Even then, would he be able to join without looking suspicious? 2. How does Leona plan to frame Diasomnia and get it to stick? He can point fingers all he wants and use the circumstantial evidence they gather to prove it, but Diasomnia has no reason to sabotage others when they have Malleus. Leona would most likely be aware of Crowley's biases, so is he just hoping casting enough suspicion would force Crowley's hand? Does he intend to convince students from other dorms to demand their disqualification despite the lack of motive?

[Referencing this post!]

Wow, people are still reading that?? 😭

As I said in the original post, my book 2 rewrite was more of a compilation of shower thoughts without much care given to fleshing out the finer details. It is by no means perfect, nor is it meant to cover everything.

There’s enough wiggle room left for various different interpretations using my book 2 rewrite as a basis. It’s meant to be flexible!

Just for fun, here are my thoughts:

To your first point, I don’t think Leona would come off as suspicious if his introduction was framed a certain way (which I’m sure he could plan around). Yuu and co. would be investigating all the dorms (since they’re all suspects), which includes Savanaclaw students. Leona could easily hear it from Savanaclaw mobs and then reintroduce himself to the group, claiming he also wants in on the investigation to seek justice for his injured students. Since Riddle is already investigating with Yuu, Leona could easily use that to distract from his true intentions. He would come off as just another pissed dorm leader trying to stand up for and avenge his dorm members. (And if we really want to get technical, we could reason the other dorm leaders are not getting involved due to other reasons, like Azul being busy with the inter-dorm event organization, Jamil not trusting anyone with Kalim but himself, Vil preoccupied with his professional gigs, Idia being Idia, and no one knowing where the heck Malleus has wandered off to now.)

To your second point, I think Leona definitely has the capacity to trick/manipulate other students into believing Diasomnia is responsible. He could set up situations which incriminate certain Diasomnia students (based on their unique skillsets), then leave the other dorms’ students to come to their own (false) conclusions based on that. Obviously, it would look too suspicious if he and Savanaclaw students are the only ones pointing fingers, so he has to convince the others to parrot the rhetoric he wants them to. If it was done this way, we achieve many things: 1) Leona comes off as way more intelligent than in the original book 2, 2) it sets up more parallels between him and Jamil (who also tried to get a lot of people to side with him under false pretenses to convince someone of higher authority to change their mind) for delicious book 6 payoff, and 3) it adds to the sense of betrayal the other students experience at the end when it turns out Leona deceived them.

Something I feel that the main story fails to do well is to define the rivalries between each dorm. It’s only mentioned a few times off-handedly, like how Octavinelle and Scarabia students are intelligent and are thus always neck and neck in terms of grades. In my revised book 2, an opportunity arises to utilize this untapped potential. Think about it: what if the other dorm members are more likely to suspect Diasomnia because the main story calls more attention to how the dorms do NOT get along with each other?? Diasomnia is described to us as a place where skilled all-around mages go, and this has resulted in the Diasomnia students being more arrogant than your average NRC student (which by itself is already very arrogant). From that point of view, it’s not too hard to believe that the other students could think Diasomnia is injuring other students “just because they can”. They’ve grown too arrogant and think they can get away with doing whatever they want because they won’t face the consequences of their actions. (Malleus himself is THE poster child of that across multiple events and vignettes too.) There doesn’t necessarily need to be a motive in the traditional sense; people could suspect that Diasomnia has gotten too high and mighty, so they are conceited and feel entitled to doing whatever the hell they want. It would be a perfect way for Leona to weaponize the preexisting animosity and pride of the NRC students against them. The injured students would then feel slighted because Diasomnia are being held up as the metaphorical “golden children” (despite their theoretical unethical behavior) while their suffering is looked over. These feelings ironically also parallel how Scar feels cheated of the throne because of his careless older brother and son, or even how the hyenas are not seen as part of the Pridelands.

[cillianhead]

hii! your work is amazing from what i’ve seen. so so amazing. i know you do a lot of smut but i was just wondering if you would do fluff headcanons of cillian with a fem reader who absolutely adores music? also maybe what would he do if you like dragged him to a music festival? would he enjoy it? thank you so much!!

Oh my gosh! Thank you. I'm glad you enjoy what I've written so far :)

Thank you so much for your request and I will happily write a fluffy fic just for you <3

Put The Beatles On, Light The Candles, Go Back To Bed || Cillian Murphy x Reader

warnings: None really, fluffy <3, mentions of an unspecified age gap between reader and Cillian, reader and Cillian aren't married.

You and Cillian had a very harmonious relationship. You showed him how to get out of his comfort zone more and he showed you the finer quieter things of life. Like books, new music, poetry, and films.

You've always loved music, obsessing over it since you were little, not being able to go anywhere without your headphones and something with some sort of music that could play through it. Without it you're an irritated mess. And when you met Cillian, he introduced you to new music you'd never heard before, it's what you bonded over when getting to know each other.

Before you lived together, you'd stay up all night, listening to records he'd recommend you or calling all night long, talking about whatever together, talking about music. And when you moved in, it was just perfect. His record collection was large and full of rare finds, when he was away for work, you'd play the same Beatles album over and over again, falling asleep to it. It was comforting to you, in the presence of music, you felt Cillian there, even in his absence. You couldn't listen to one song without thinking of him.

Swaying in his living room with him, his arms wrapped around you as he sung along softly to the words. He was the perfect man for you, you both had a shared love and passion for music. You'd stay up writing songs together, playing various instruments, and making up melodies to gentle love songs dedicated to one another. It was cheesy but it was also so beautiful.

One time, Cillian wrote a short sappy love song on his guitar for you, the words were simple but meaningful, you sat cross legged, watching him play his guitar with that shy smile on his face and rosy cheeks and when the song was over, he'd look at you to see your reaction to find you sitting there crying quietly.

"Oh no, Y/N, what's wrong, baby love?" He gently placed his guitar to the side, kneeling on the ground in front of you, cupping your face in his hands. "Why are you crying?"

"That... that was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard, Cillian," You sobbed, whimpering as happy tears streamed down your face. That was the moment he knew he was going to spend the rest of his life with you. "I love you so much, I love you, Cillian... thank you for writing that for me." You cried softly.

"Oh you sweet girl," He leaned in, pressing a kiss to your lips in the hopes to calm you down. Even though he knew you were happy crying, it still pained him to see your tears. "I love you more than anything, that song was only a small example of it, please don't cry or I'll start crying too..." He pulled you into his lap, tears starting to well in his own eyes, cradling you in his arms, on the floor of his living room. He hummed into your hair. You were both so incredibly in love. Two souls perfectly intertwined, your love was a slow gentle waltz and life was the music that let you dance.

Though you weren't the most extraverted person, you were definitely more outgoing than Cillian himself. He was quiet and reserved, though around you he would open up a bit more, he couldn't help being quiet when the two of you went out in public, for whatever reason it was. So when you got tickets to a one day music festival with some artists that you liked and you thought Cillian may like too, he was very hesitant to go with you. Not because he didn't want to but because he knew there would be thousands of people there, probably a lot younger than him, he'd definitely feel out of place. But he couldn't deny you something that seemed like it made you so happy.

So on the day of the festival, Cillian kept a tight arm around your waist both for his own comfort and to protect you, even if you didn't need protecting. You were so excited, raving on about how excited you were to see Lana Del Rey and all the other artists that were performing. He smiled at how happy you were. You had a glow around you when you were smiling, one that made him give you big heart eyes.

"You're so cute, love," He muttered into your hair as he placed a loving kiss on your temple. "Gonna make you m'wife, love how you love music, love you."

"Oh shut up!" You teased, nudging him softly as you shook your head bashfully. You stood more towards the back of the mosh pit, so you guys had a little more room to dance and privacy to yourselves. The event was quite colorful, people covered in glitter and nothing else walked by and tight revealing clothes, you could see Cillian's flushed face, he wore one of his cardigans and dress pants, a very modest outfit, one he usually wore everyday. You thought he was so cute. You could tell he was nervous. "I love you, Cillian, we can always leave if you don't feel up to it... I won't be upset. I just want you to feel okay." You kissed him reassuringly, he just smiled at you in response. That's all you needed to see to know he was telling you he was alright.

Your relationship was like that. You didn't need to speak to understand each other, you could give each other a glance and you would know how the other was feeling. Your hearts were connected, after all.

When the performer came on stage, Cillian took a step back, leaning against one of the barricades and watching you with a grin on his pretty face, arms crossed loosely over his chest. You danced and swayed to the music, singing your heart out to the words. You were the most beautiful thing to him, so carefree and free spirited, an angel in human form. Occasionally you'd look back at him with that big dopey smile of pure bliss, your eyes full of love and Cillian didn't know how he could love you more in that moment. He'd never met anyone like you, anyone that he could spend days and days on end with and never get sick of.

Though big crowds and festivals weren't his thing, the sight of you dancing to the music and laughing at how much fun you were having was the most lovely thing. It made his heart swell and a sense of calmness floated over him. You were all he ever wanted. As long as you were happy, he was happy.

As one of the slower songs began to play, you walked over to him, leaning against him and swaying softly, his arms wrapped around you from behind as he placed gentle kisses on your neck and collarbones. Your skin was like a drug to him, the high washing over him in waves. "My lovely girl," He'd whisper. "Love of my life."

"I love you, Cillian." You felt like the luckiest person in the world. As long as you had Cillian's love and music, you knew you'd be okay.

-

Oh to be in Cillian's arms and swaying softly to music :(

[ruggiethethuggie]

MY SUNFLOWER || Ruggie Bucchi

romance isn't dead.

wc: 613 cw: ruggie bucchi, drabble, gn!reader, it's very short, established relationship (you've been together for awhile), mushy gushy romance a/n: this has been in my google doc drafts since August and i wrote it at like 11pm apparently ?? i must've been using my love goggles while i wrote this

“Ruggie…,” you whispered with a long pause afterwards. The sight before your eyes was one you never really anticipated on a day like today, but Ruggie was never short of surprises. You and Ruggie had taken the weekend to go back home to Sunset Savanna. Every time you two would go, it was always a given that you would visit a small field that grew wildflowers and sunflowers. It always had the prettiest view for the sunset, and since you were with Ruggie, he would always bring a blanket and some snacks for you both. It was something you always enjoyed doing when you came to visit with him, but this wasn’t ever what you thought would happen. Not here, not right now.

Ruggie was staring up at you with a beaming grin across his face, the sleeves on his white button up were rolled up to his elbows in his typical playful fashion. But this was no mere “playful” interaction between you two. This was something important, something far more serious. The way Ruggie knelt down on one knee, his hand holding out a small box with a dainty, yet breathtaking ring, was almost too much for you to take in all at once.

He took your hand; you could feel his own trembling as he spoke. “You know I love you; you mean the absolute world to me. All the money I could make, all the finer things I always wanted to have, hell, even the selling price for all those goodies in Kalim’s little treasure room- all of it's nothing compared to you. Nothing would make me happier than to be able to call you mine forever, my partner in life as we try to figure it out together. You are my sunshine every day, the reason I wake up every day and do my best to be a better person, the best that I can be so you’re proud to have me next to you.”

You were trying your hardest to hold in the immense amount of emotions you were feeling in this moment. After all these years- all the long days and nights when he was away and working hard to make sure you both were fed and taken care of; all the petty arguments you had over something that was never as serious as either of you made it out to be in the end; all the blissful, shared memories you two had accumulated together that would make you smile when your mind replayed them randomly throughout the day. Everything had brought you both to this point, to this moment in time- one that, truthfully, you wished would last a lifetime.

You let out a short exhale, trying to catch your breath and find the words you so desperately wanted to say to him, but he continued on with his affirmations towards you.

“I want to wake up to you every day; I want to make you breakfast, lunch, dinner- whatever, whenever. I want to be the reason you smile every day. I’ve grown up with so many hardships, I think I know pretty well when something is worth it, and dammit,” he chuckled a bit, “I think you’re worth it. We are worth it. I want to be the person you can rely on when you need me; I want to be at your side always. I need you to know that I love you more than anything, more than myself or my friends and family, more than anything or anyone on this planet, the galaxy. You are the one I want, the one I want to be with… please, my sunflower, will you marry me?”

© Pastel Orange Heart Divider | please do not copy and or repost my work as your own, my brain is massive and these are my thoughts.

[atoriv-art]

I’m deeply in love with your artstyle! What do you headcanon for the Naruto characters appearances and how did you come to that?

thank you!! assuming you mean facial features + body types and the like, it's honestly a very "vibes"-based approach AKSDMKM i wrote down a feeew of my thoughts in [ this post ] (which i doodled as i was still not done watching naruto LMAO) but it's mostly about like.. picking aspects of the character that jump out to me and thinking about how to incorporate that in my interpretation of them, a lot of the time it's their eyes (for example i Adore itachi's stupid prettyboy eyelashes so i knew i wanted to draw those) but it could be just about anything; some examples of my beloved Guys:

with itachi i wanted a 'ghostly' kind of look to him because he is very aloof and distant, i also like having him be Long and Bony for a lack of a better word for the same reason?

with sasuke i wanted a very sweet and earnest "trying to look tough but failing because he's a little guy" vibe, mostly because those are the thoughts that were going thru my brain in any given sasuke scene in our naruto watch

for kakashi i needed his prettyboy charms coupled with his depressed everything

etc! it's hard to convey how/why something comes off a certain way, and that's mostly because imo any given appearance can be used to convey any sort of idea depending on execution! it's not Just "round = friendly and triangle = angry" yk you gotta like. flavor it for the lack of a better word

i'll put the rest under a read more so it's not too long ^^

for more general examples here's my kabuto (yeah i'm a kabuto liker. woe.), konan and nagato

kabuto (esp. in shippuden) has sharper features and i also wanted to go with a face type i'm not AS used to drawing for funsies, i also think the Angles contrast well with his (...stupid...) glasses.

kabuto is an adult but he's still very young esp when we first meet him so when drawing his younger self i'd like to put emphasis on that (especially because he presents himself as friendly), thus the slightly rounder features. by contrast in shippuden he's Going Through Some Things so the spikes in his hair are emphasized and he looks a bit more mature

konan for me sticks out as like, "bold"? not aggressive but very intense if that makes any sense, she's a very serious person and you can tell from the moment you see her, nagato ofc has the rinnegan so his eyes have to be the main feature of his face, and similar to itachi he has a thinner body type... what i wanted with him was similarly a very serious person with a lot of edge to his gaze due to his special dojutsu. and finally on a more subjective level i wanted them to look like they match/belong together because i'm very normal about them ♥

i also enjoy conveying character through how hair is maintained, so for nagato he lets his hair grow kind of however it wants to, konan is more meticulous about hers (tho i forgot to draw her bun in that LOL), and kabuto (given when his design transitions to the shorter hair) i very much picture cutting his in a moment of crisis (pictured below. <3)

there's also always like.. the Fullness of the hair if it makes sense, i enjoy drawing 'fluffier' stereotypical anime hairstyles a lot but i also really like having people like itachi with finer hair and such, i also think varying that between characters gives each a more unique charm :)

one should also note that a lot of the times the physical features are only half the impression, the other half is how they carry themselves and body language conscious And subconscious!

i think in general studying from life will never lead you wrong (even if your style isn't 'realistic', like, mine certainly has anime leanings), and being mindful of what kind of choice/feature you give someone and what you think that implies about them is always important :) the characters i draw are all characters i like so i try to let whatever makes me fond about them have an influence ^^

it's a constant learning process imo i personally find that even if i like how i draw faces Now i often find them wonky like, 6 months later? but i take that less to mean that i drew them Bad and more to mean i've improved lol

[swaps55]

WIP Wednesday

A deeper look at Jacob's POV in Mezzo, for @asthewindbehaves

~

Shepard watches his every move before dropping his gaze to the table and tracing a finger through a ring of condensation left by whoever had vacated the seat before they got there. It’s like being a mouse pinned under the paw of a cat that hasn't decided weather to let him go or bring the claws out.

“Don’t hear about many biotics manifesting past puberty. Adult eezo exposure?”

“You could say that,” Jacob replies, trying to rein in the bitterness. “Corsair job gone wrong. Alliance wrote me off as dead, same as you. Cerberus saw things differently.”

“You seem pretty convinced they’re trustworthy.”

“You seem pretty convinced they’re not.”

Shepard raises an eyebrow. “I don’t tend to trust shadow organizations who take out inconvenient Alliance admirals.”

“Is it that much different from the Alliance? Or was Lord Darius special somehow?”

Shepard doesn’t quite flinch, but it’s close. The Alliance had tried to spin the massacre on Nonuel as a negotiation gone bad, but the murder of an ‘ally’ who’d become a thorn in the Alliance’s side was too convenient, and Shepard isn’t the guy you send when plan A is to talk it out. Your hands are as dirty as mine were, Jacob thinks. Jacob just hadn’t had a Spectre badge and a heroic pose to hide behind.

The asari returns with their drinks. Shepard examines his glass before taking a cautious sip. Whether he finds it to his liking or not is for someone else to figure out.  

“So what happened?” Shepard asks, apparently uninterested in further debates on the finer points of military morality. “With the eezo exposure.”  

“Classified black ops mission. Alliance wouldn’t even tell us the name of the planet we got dropped at, which means brass didn’t want anyone to know we were there. Orders were to get into the tunnels of a prothean ruin, dismantle some sensitive equipment and evac it.”

Shepard’s watching him again. Like a hawk. Jacob tries not to squirm.

“No one warned us it was leaking enough eezo to power a drive core. Three members of my team were dead within forty-eight hours, and I wasn’t far behind them. Turns out mass effect fields forming in your blood vessels is a bad thing.”

Shepard takes a slow sip of whiskey. Jacob kind of liked it better when he wasn’t the center of Shepard’s attention.

“And the Alliance couldn’t treat you.”

Jacob shrugs a shoulder. “Couldn’t. Wouldn’t. All the same in the end. The mass effect fields made my blood pressure unstable, which killed my eyesight. Alliance didn’t have an answer, but Cerberus did. You aren’t the only one on the Normandy with synthetic vision.”

The laser gaze doesn’t waver, but Shepard shifts in his seat.

“Look, Shepard. I’m not telling you the Illusive Man is some kind of hero or saint. But do you think the Alliance lifted a finger to rescue you? Hell, they didn’t even look for a body to bury. They got what they needed out of you, and when you became inconvenient? They did to you what you did to Darius. Only the collectors did the work for them, and they still got to put your face on the recruitment posters.”

[thehuntss]

LOST IN THE FIRE

Hi guys!

I got so inspired today and I wrote you this wee AU, because I wanted to remix a bit of the storyline, much more to my taste. Hopefully you’ll like it, let me know what you’re are thinking about !

Enjoy, xx

*

In this story Doyle is dead and Emily is in Paris because she hadn’t come back yet to the BAU, unable to arrest him herself because of her bad injuries. Aaron is in DC and can’t stop thinking about all the times he missed his chances to tell Emily how perfect she was.

Dave was fed up.

•

She had set a routine to feel better. Metro, boulot, dodo.

And she didn’t like it. She didn’t feel home in this city, everything was remembering her the unhappy childhood she had. Everyday was pretty much the same, she had to go to therapy, then the physiotherapy and after that Emily was too exhausted to do something else.

She would pour herself a glass of her favorite wine and then enjoy it silently in the living room, observing the city through her windows, missing her life in America and all the persons she considered as friends, as family. She missed them so much. Usually she would fall asleep for a bit, and once woken up the hardest part of her day was crawling to her bedroom to sleep, or at least try because nightmares were still very active in her mind.

But tonight her routine was about to change forever and she had no ideas her life in Paris would change.

•

Aaron was soaking wet, he had been walking in the rainy city still trying to figure out why he was here. Because you were worried about her you dumbass. Because Dave forced you to take this plane. Because you’re an idiot and you’ll die alone if you never tell her. He shakes his head, yes he was worried about her but did it really justified a 10h flight ?

He had always heard of Paris as the city of love and it was ironic because since Haley he had been too afraid to tell his feelings to the woman of his heart. Aaron could almost hear his oldest friend David Rossi telling him to stop thinking because they were made for each other, because he had seen how they were flirting together. Aaron couldn’t remember a day passing by without Dave telling him the only person who didn’t know he was in love with Emily, was Emily herself. And same situation for her. But yet he couldn’t tell her, she was his best friend and he couldn’t ruin this. As destroying as it was, he was ready to have her as a friend only than being rejected and not having her anymore.

Get it together Hotch!

When he arrived at her door he felt anxious, suddenly wanting to go back to the airport and leave like nothing had ever happened. But his body made the physical move his mind couldn’t do and before he could realize he had already knocked at her door. Aaron heard some steps behind the door, swallowing hard. When he saw her he couldn’t but think she was beautiful. Her hair was longer, her curtains bangs falling on each side of her face, her cheeks were finer than they were few months ago. “Hi.” He whispered, not knowing what else to say.

She took seconds before realizing he was standing in her doorway. “What the…Aaron…I…” she shook her head, letting him in. “You’re soaking wet, let me help you with it..” she said as he took off his coat, still unable to speak.

He observed her, she was leaning on a cane and he cursed himself one more time for what happened in Boston, for not protecting her from this bastard. And from a moment he saw them back them back there when she was bleeding on the floor, thinking she was dead.

“Do you want some wine?” She asked, taking him back on earth.

He blinked, rapidly nodding and following her in the kitchen, feeling more guilty when he saw the way she was walking. “It’s good to see you.”

She turned and smiled to him. “It’s good to see you too Aaron.” And the way she told his name made a knowing feeling grows inside of him, she was still dissociating Hotch from Aaron.

Back in the living room they silently cheered, Emily still couldn’t believe he was here in Paris, sharing some of her boring routine. She awkwardly broke the silence, looking deeply at him. “What brings you here Aaron, don’t tell me you came all this way just to drink some wine with me?” She tried to joke.

“I’ve missed you.”

He wasn’t looking at her, he was staring a the beautiful Paris skyline but she knew he was being honest with her. Because she had missed him too. Emily slowly turned his head so he could look at her, letting him know it was a mutual feeling. He looked so broke that it made her heart falls in pieces. “I’ve been thinking about you, you know. A lot…”

He was about to speak but she continued, like she couldn’t just stop. “I kept thinking of you because it was the only memories I could focus on, and not only during therapy. I remembered it from the day we’ve met, to the day I’ve almost died in Boston.” At this point he could hear her voice breaks, but she continued. “I couldn’t stop thinking of all the times we’ve been hanging out together, with Jack, the zoo is so far my favorite day. I don’t remember I’ve been that happy in my entire life, on this day I’ve felt normal, I never had a normal family time and I don’t know, it made me feel like I was finally fitting somewhere. And when I arrived here everything fall appart, because I was on my own and..”

She broke into a sob, feeling pathetic and stupid. But when he slowly pressed his lips against hers, she couldn’t not answer, and their salty kiss finished her speech, letting him know she felt the same he was feeling about her.

“I too couldn’t stop thinking about you, and Jack always tells me how much he loves you. We miss you.” He couldn’t tell her he was missing her more than his little boy, that would be a lie and Emily was still a profiler, she would definitely recognize a lie.

“Is he going well ?” She can’t help but smile, remembering this sweet bundle of joy. And as Aaron showed her the pic he always kept in his wallet, she felt like the nostalgic leaving her body.

“I missed him too.” She simply replies, almost able to hear his sweet and innocent laugh through the appartement she almost shared with them back in DC. And as memories crossed their mind, Emily buried her hands in his hair, smiling when she smelled his cologne, the same since day one.

“You never changed it.” She whispers in his ear, kissing his sensitives spots. “You did not change…”

At this point he’s not sure if she’s speaking of his cologne or all the little things that made him love her more than anything. “Never.” He simply replies lowly, curling his fingers into her dark and soft hair. She was intoxicated by him and when she curled up against him, Aaron released his breath, allowing him to finally enjoy this time with her. They always used to have naps like this when she used to come at his place to spend some time with them. But then had never kissed before, because they both didn’t want ruin to their friendship.

It’s only an hour later he woke up, carefully picking her up and making his way to the bedroom. She was so precious and seeing her hurt made his heart breaks because Emily didn’t deserve it. At this very moment Aaron realized all he wanted was to care of her, and be here for her. He then quickly fell asleep next, not wanting to think about it now.

•

Emily woke up in the middle of the night because of the usual pain in her body. She was used to it, it has been a few months but her doctors were thinking it was normal, that she needed a lot of time to recover. She quickly got up and made sure not to wake him up, he looked so peaceful. On her way to the bathroom Emily realized how lucky she got, she didn’t expect Aaron to come over and especially in Paris. They hadn’t always been this close but after Foyet and Doyle, their relation grew up very quickly. They both had their traumas and stories and having each other definitely helped them recover mentally, their bodies were still bruised but with time it was easier to accept it. However Emily wasn’t sure she was ready to show her news scars to Aaron, even if she knew he wouldn’t mind because he had his owns, and she had been the one helping him accept them.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t hear him arrive behind her. It’s only when she felt his bare torso against her back and his arms curling around her that she shivered, softly turning her head to look at him.

“Why are you up sweetheart ?” He whispered to her ear, making her shiver one more time. “Is everything alright ?”

“Yeah, we should go back to bed don’t you think?” She turned in his embrace, slowly kissing him. It was a new sensation, something she had wanted to know since day one when they met. She still wasn’t sure if that was the right thing to do, but they were here together for now and it’s all what mattered.

He guided her to the bed, helping her so she could take his arm instead of her cane. And when she curled up against him none of them spoke, because they wanted to appreciate the moment, tangled together in Paris, the city of love. She listened to his heart beats, noticing how relaxed he seemed and he just looked at her, playing with her hair.

“Does it change something ?” She whispered shyly, unable to look at him, unable to be disappointed if he was telling her otherwise than what she wanted the most. “Between us?”

The seconds he took to answers were the longest ever. “No, it just changes in a better perspective. If that’s what you want.” He replies with a soft voice, kissing the top of her head.

“I do. Do you ?”

“Yes.”

She smiled against his torso, trying to get as close as she could from him. For years she had been in love with him but always thought it would be unprofessional. So she tried to set her barriers so neither of him or her would be hurt by something they couldn’t have.

“Since the first day we’ve met, I always had a soft spot for you.” He confessed, knowing she would understand. Back in times he was still married to his high school sweetheart but Emily had made something fo his heart, she was different, and everything about her turned him on.

“And now you have a soft spot for me?” She lifted her up a bit so they could look at each other. He nodded simply, pressing his lips against her, feeling already the desire grows inside his body.

She definitely felt it too because her eyes went wide for a second. She softly chuckled, pressing soft kisses on his neck and torso. He closed his eyes, sighting. “Don’t make me want you more than I already want sweetheart..”

She traced some circles over his torso, not stopping what she was doing, making him shivers, definitely feeling his hardness against her core. She wanted him so bad, they had been waiting too long and tonight they would make love for the first time, showing each other how much loved they needed to be.

“I want you.” She simply said in between kisses.

“Fuck.” He groaned as he felt her fingers curled around his shaft. He couldn’t wait more and slowly pinned her on her back, trying to move carefully so he wouldn’t her hurt. The look over her face made him know she didn’t care because she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

“Make love to me Aaron.”

It was almost a pleading and how could Aaron Hotchner could turn her down when he was dying for her. “I’ll make you come so many times you won’t be able to walk for real sweetheart.” his voice low and dark, his eyes turning darker they originally were, his whole body reacting too much at the sight of her against him.

They slowly made love that night, ending curled up naked again each other. Aaron was rubbing her back with his hand, unable to find sleep, it had been too extraordinary. She was perfect. And he knew that no matters what, it was better for them to be extraordinary together than ordinary appart.

“Come home with me.” He whispered, covering her so she would get cold. “Come back to DC to Jack and I.”

She simply nodded, almost fast asleep and Aaron couldn’t help but smile, only realizing that without this Italian bastard he would still be in DC, with his feelings and frustration buried inside of his heart. He owed Dave a good one.

•

Back in DC, the team was having some time off waiting for another psychopath to come out. As he poured some coffee for him Rossi looked over to JJ who seemed particularly happy.

“What’s going on that make you so happy?” He gave her a cup, the blonde smiling to him with this I-have-a-good-feeling.

“Did Hotch left for Paris ?” She just asked ta randomly, knowing he knew the truth.

Rossi eyed her, almost forgetting this whole office was full of profilers. He shrugged at her, trying to figure out how he could get away from this and cursing Hotch for making him promise not to tell everyone. “I don’t know, why?”

“Oh come on Rossi!” She chuckled. “We all know he went there and even bet on it, you’re the only one who didn’t participate and we’re about to close it, so if you could just say yes we would be really happy.”

And as she told so, the Italian looked over her shoulder to see that Morgan, Penelope, Reid and even Alex were eyeing on them, waiting for his answer. “You’re definitely not taking this from young lady!”

And he left before she could convince him otherwise so.

“Well, I told you he wouldn’t say a word.” Derek said when she came back to their desks, looking disappointed. “He’s a grave, and loyal, even with the best scotch bottle he wouldn’t have said a word.”

“I’m sure Bossman really went to Paris, nobody saw the signs or am I the only one to noctice?” Pen added, looking too joyful and involved in this story.

“Signs? Like what ?” JJ asked with curiosity.

“Hotch is very secret we all know this. But since Emily had been transfer to Paris, he’s acting different. He has this little hope in the eyes whenever his cell phone rings and sometimes when he walks in the corridor thinking no one is watching him, he looks at the pic we took last year, when Emily was still in DC. And I’m not even talking about all the times they were flirting with each other, pretending we were being paranoid and saying that nothing happened. He had been in love with her since day and the only person who didn’t know it was Emily herself.” She recited quickly, not bothering to speak very high. “Did I tell you what I saw 6 months ago when we were at the bar in Dallas ?”

“You’re about to tell us baby girl…” Morgan teased her, all of the members listening while Rossi was watching them from his office, apparently speaking on the phone.

“You have to come back. I’m serious, I always forget how brilliants these profilers are.” he said to the phone, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Seriously, get you ass here and tell them the truth.”

All he heard was two laughs from the other side side of the line.

“These kids are going to kill me I swear on my nonna’s head.” He mumbled fo himself before hanging up.

[coltermorning]

hey, this is going to be a bit out of nowhere but I genuinely enjoy your writing so much and I want to get into writing as well, but I don’t know where to start, would you have any tips for people who are just starting out in writing? (again im so sorry this is out of nowhere and it is perfectly fine if you don’t answer this bc it’s a bit off topic) :””)

No worries I’m happy to give my advice on this!

So when I started writing this kind of stuff, it was about ten years ago. And I’ll say this about it—my writing wasn’t very good back then because I didn’t read very much. I think reading things, whether that be the same type of stuff you plan to write, books of the same genre, books of different genres, or whatever it is, helps so much. It helps to find writers you like and pick apart why you like their work, then incorporate some of those things into your own when you’re starting out. I read a ton now and I think it keeps my work improving and keeps the ideas flowing. But even in starting out I think it would have helped me so much then just to read! A simple thing, but you really find yourself referring back to the things you pick up in books or other works and putting them in your own writing to get things going. It makes the scary task of starting something new a little less intimidating when you already know the groundwork you want laid out.

Other than this, I would say to write about things that make you happy. You can never go wrong doing this, and it’s easier to stay motivated when you enjoy what you’re doing. It almost becomes second nature to write when you get so distracted by enjoying the subject matter that you aren’t even paying attention to the finer details of writing. Then you turn around and have something to show for it without realizing you put in all that work. It’s the best cheat I’ve found so far, so start with something that gets you excited to write.

As for more specific things, what helped me starting out was to know what I was going to write before I wrote it, to get the characters’ voices down beforehand, and to get a good mix of dialogue and exposition and summary. Knowing where the story is going before you write it helps when you find yourself in the middle of it and suddenly don’t know what to write—if you know where you’re going next, it’s easier to get there when you’re drawing a blank on a certain scene. As for characters, keeping consistency with how your characters talk and think and act makes for someone readers usually like more. Get to know your characters well before you write the whole story, then see someone unfold that is enjoyable and easy to write and read about. Then for writing technique, too much dialogue reads too quick, too much exposition and information and backstory gets confusing, and too much summary gets boring. So attempt to get a good mix of the three when starting out, and you’ll find you have less to go back and fix later. It will also flow better.

That’s mainly all I did or wish I knew when I was starting out. If you want more specifics for any of this, let me know. I’m so happy to see other people getting into writing. Just start somewhere and don’t give up, and you’ll find it was easier than you thought all along. Happy writing!

[charmspoint]

🌿for the writers truth or dare!

Thank you for the ask!

Ask game

🌿 ⇢ give some advice on writer's block and low creativity

Cradling your face in my hands

YOUR BODY IS NOT A MACHINE. NEITHER IS YOUR MIND.

Idk about you anon in particular, but I've found that I often have writers blocks the most when I push myself too much. I'm currently in a writing low, which is normal because I'm right off a really really big project and I need to replenish my energy. I also had a really big writing block when I came crashing down from 2021 when I wrote a truly dumb number of fics for me. This one happened because I got caught up in the fandom craze and tried to pump out a lot of high quality fics fast, because that is what fandom demands from writers and artists these days. Fast and quality. This of course wasted a lot of mental and emotional energy which couldn't be compensated by the at the time abysmal comment frequency (Recently I've been getting a lot more comments and I hope everyone else is too. It would feel nice to be out of this dark feedback era).

So to reiterate.

Your body is not a machine.

Think about what is happening around you in life. Are you stressed about school, college, work? Are you having social problems? Are you spending too much time online? Do you feel like you constantly have to be pumping out projects or people will stop paying attention?

From my experience, writing block is very rarely about the inability to write itself. Inability to write is a side effect of something else. A big project, complicated outside factors, external pressure, or just the fact that you got a new game and you are using all your time to play your game and not doing anything else (person who is not obsessed with BG3 atm). Usually when these are dealt with and you renew energy after them, writing will come back on its own.

You need to be kind to yourself.

I find this to be the best advice in many situations.

Pushing yourself to do what you can't do at the moment will only result in further frustration. Yes, it's good to have a writing habit, but I advocate for that to be a low goal one. My goal is 200 words a day. Sometimes I don't manage to do this because life is complicated but 6 days out of 7 I do. This keeps you on track, doesn't let your brain stale, but also isn't just torturing you.

If you are lacking in creativity you need to EXPERIENCE THINGS. Read that book you've been putting off, start a new manga, watch a movie, beyond that, take a daily walk, go to a museum, discuss ideas with your friends. I hate the phrase media consumption but I do like eating imagery and your brain NEEDS to eat. It needs to experience different art forms to be able to produce ideas of its own. Fanfiction is fine too, but unless you know a really amazing writer who brings a lot of new things into their work, I wouldn't recommend it, because in the end fanfiction is just exploration of a familiar thing. Thing you are stuck on. DON'T function only on fanfiction.

Let your material REST. If you are stuck on the fic, shove it in a folder and don't look at it for a week. Try not to think about it too much, do some of the things above and let your work rest. After a week you'll forget the finer details of it and will be able to look at it more objectively, which might help you resolve the thing you were stuck on. Also sometimes when you read your own fic a fresh you get those 'I´m a fucking genius' moments which is always great.

BE KIND TO YOURSELF.

Don't create on anyone's schedule but your own. I know how incredibly hard it is, I've felt it too, with fandom today which is overly picky, overly judgy and not very grateful. With a fandom that seems to more and more treat its creators as content machines instead of people sharing their passion projects. DON'T WRITE FOR THOSE PEOPLE. It's hard but don't write for the comments in your inbox. Don't set a schedule you can't meet. I've been writing a 17 chapter fic for almost 3 years now because I want a weekly release schedule but I don't want a weekly writing schedule. If your fic takes 6 months, a year or 10, let it take that times, don't shove it out before you feel ready.

BE KIND TO YOURSELF!!!!!!!

Realize that sometimes writing just won't go, no matter what you do. Realize that you aren't a failure or a fraud for this, that it means nothing when it comes to your skill and ability, that the greatest writers ever had struggled with the same thing. Some days you don't have time to write, some days you aren't in the mood to even do the bare minimum. These days will exist and be kind to yourself on them. Your writing won't escape anywhere. Come to terms with being human and come back to it tomorrow.

Hope any of that rant helps hzbjhvh!!!

[comphetkoncass]

timkon romcom existential horror (?) WIP:

“Hey, I’m here for the… Plus-One Craigslist Ad?”

“Hilarious.” Tim doesn’t look up from his newspaper. Another victory for the mysterious Event Horizon, superhero at large. Victorious against supervillains and heroes alike. Tim can't seem to stop seeing publicity for him, ugh. For some reason, Tim can't seem to like him no matter how much good press he seems to be getting lately. “Sorry to disappoint, but my friend made it as a joke. I'm only here to let you down easy. Well, you and anyone else unlucky enough to take it seriously.” 

“Oh. Sorry.” 

The man sounds actually pretty disappointed, and Tim looks up to half-apologize, maybe buy him a coffee for the wasted time and send him on his way. But one look and he’s thinking yes to the coffee, and no to sending him anywhere. 

Craigslist is tall and built like he lives in the gym. Deeply physical, yet not in an aggressive way. Tim feels gross even thinking of him like such a sexualized description, like he’s supposed to be more than that even from just a glance. And yet, there’s really no mistaking that this is a man who clearly takes damn good care of his appearance. Even his hair is perfect. His style sets him apart from the rest of Gotham, too. He looks out of place; jeans, flannel, and leather, with sturdy boots half-hidden under cuffed jeans. 

“You’re hired,” Tim says, words escaping him despite his better judgment. 

“What?”

“I said you’re hired. All of it. Everything you’re applying for, you’ve got it,” Tim says, because he might as well commit. “How soon can you start?” 

The guy blushes. “I thought you said the ad was a joke?” 

“That was because I wasn’t convinced my friend knew what she was talking about. Clearly she does.” 

“She?” The guy furrows his brows. “There a reason this friend couldn’t-?”

“She’s married to my sister. Not exactly plus-one material.” 

The guy looks appropriately embarrassed for overstepping. “Sorry,” he says, then steps forward and extends a hand. “...Conner Kent.” 

“Timothy Drake-Wayne.” Tim reaches for his hand, and it feels like magic when their fingertips connect. Tim feels starstruck. Like everything around him is a little less real than Conner. Conner, who feels strangely familiar; like Tim knows him from somewhere. “Remind me what the ad says? I do need a date, and I’m willing to hire you for as much as the ad says I’ll be paying you… but we weren’t exactly sober when we wrote it.” 

Conner snorts. “Sixteen hundred bucks for two hours as a plus-one. Best paying gig I’ve seen in a while. Be honest, am I about to get scammed?”  

“No, the money isn’t the issue. Just glad I didn’t put sixteen thousand dollars,” Tim says. “Did I share time, date, formal dress-?”

“Two Fridays from now, seven o’ clock, white-tie. I look even better in a tux, believe it or not.” 

"I believe it." Tim smiles, a little to the side. “I’ll pick you up, they're weird about security. Of course, for that I’ll need contact information-”

Conner slides him a business card. Tim’s vision whites out for a moment, and he swears he sees a different name on the card than Conner Kent – something short, hypenated. But when he looks again, it’s just an email address. “Here.” 

Tim reaches for it, and their fingertips brush again. “We’ll need to discuss details if asked, I expect we've been dating for at least a few weeks. I wouldn’t bring a first date to a gala.” 

“Email me the details. We can call and discuss, but I’ve got plenty of experience with improv. I'll yes-and you all night.” 

“Handsome and knows how to flirt.” Tim pockets the card, then folds up his newspaper to go. “Can I interest you in going over the finer details now? Maybe over coffee?” 

Conner glances between him and the line, which has mysteriously vanished. “Are you sure?” 

“Your coffee is on me. It’s the least I can do.” Tim smiles, and Conner returns it, and for an instant, he looks so familiar that Tim loses his breath. 

There’s a flicker of memory somewhere. A Conner Kent who smiles wider, with perfect shiny teeth and longer, curlier hair. A strange uniform. 

“Do I- Do I know you from somewhere?” 

Conner looks startled at the question. The world seems to still around them, just for a moment. Even the coffee shop music slows, deepening by octaves as the world crawls, then stops. 

Tim thinks, for a second, that the world is less substantial than it was before. That only he and Conner are still in full color, still at full opacity. 

Then he blinks and the world returns to motion, light, and color. 

“Dude,” Conner says, “You're hiring me as an actor, did you think this was my first gig? I started when I was like, fifteen. Of course you recognize me from something. If you hadn’t, I’d have to fire my agent.” 

Tim breathes again. That’s right, he thinks. That makes sense. 

“What would I recognize you from?” 

“I’ll tell you over coffee if you’re really interested.” Conner smiles the tiniest bit deeper, and that smile looks familiar again, but Tim tells himself it’s only from a teeth-whitening commercial. A romance. A teen action show. 

“Mocha with java chips?” 

Tim shouldn’t know it. Conner grins brighter. 

“I’d like that a latte.” Conner winks, and Tim turns back to the line in front of him, face blindingly red. 

///

“--got my start in kids’ cereal commercials, toothbrush commercials. You’d recognize me from a lot of the stupid jingles that get stuck in your head. But my big break was when I played the love interest on Wendy-” 

“Wendy the Werewolf Stalker?”

Conner grins around his mocha latte with java. 

Tim doesn’t remember buying the coffee. He doesn’t remember starting the conversation.

When did they sit down? When did the coffee shop's background music turn from soft disco-pop to acoustic romantic duets? But Conner’s looking at him, and everything feels right. Conner taps his toe against Tim, and Tim taps his right back. 

“You been in anything recently?” Tim asks. “No offense, but I wouldn’t have guessed you’d be doing Craigslist ads if you were, uh…” 

“Wow,” Conner says, laughing. “Just go right for the heart, why don’t you.” 

“Sorry. Can’t help but notice.” 

“I want to stay out of the press for a bit,” Conner admits. “It’s not fun being too recognizable. I have fans that get a little too enthusiastic sometimes.” 

Tim furrows his brows. “Paparazzi?” 

“Nothing that extreme usually. But.” Conner shrugs a shoulder. “Perils of being famous, I guess. Besides… most of my most famous roles were when I was a little kid. Or playing love interests when I was a teenager. Being a million teenage girls’ first crush. It’s weird, being recognized for that kind of thing.” 

Tim takes a sip of his coffee. It doesn’t taste like anything; he pays it little mind, compared to the way Conner is staring harder at his own drink. 

Tim reaches for his hand, and the world rights itself again. “It’s fine, Craigslist. As long as you’re good at improv, I don’t mind where else you’ve been.” 

Conner smiles, and Tim thinks he’s made the right move. 

[sadiecoocoo]

The Little Things - JLU fanfiction

Relationships - John Stewart & Wally West, Shayera Hol & John Stewart, Shayera Hol & Wally West, Shayera Hol/John Stewart

Tags - Slice of Life, Hurt/Comfort, Family Bonding, Whump, Humor, Fluff, Platonic Cuddling, Wally West is The Flash, Wally West Needs a Hug, Wally West-centric, Hurt Wally West, POV Wally West, Protective John, Protective Shayera Hol, Wally West has ADHD

Summary - Wally overlooks the little things often, always focusing on the bigger picture than the finer details. so, of course, he wouldn't think much of a little tingling in his leg… until it evolves into a full blown cramp in the middle of a movie night with John and Shayera

Word Count - 1,537

Read on AO3

Notes: I got the worst cramp of my life today and needed to project, so I got this done before the feeling would go away :) please enjoy your tiny bit of Wally whump <3

One thing that Wally had learned as a hero was that the littlest of things could turn out to be some of the biggest problems later on. You let one perp get away, the next day he’s set up a bomb in City Hall. You tell the first person you see when you find out about a mind controlling snake rock thingy, they end up being the one controlled at the moment and end up almost getting rid of you and blowing up the sun. You skip a meal before an outer space mission, you’re starving with no edible food for humans in sight after the Javelin crashes.

He was always one of the heroes that looked out for the little guys. Hell, his villains could be categorized as “little” compared to the psychos Bats and Superman had to face on a daily basis.

But looking out for the little things was very different than paying attention to details. With his attention span, they might as well only exist to bite him the butt later. Sometimes he didn’t understand how he became a forensic scientist, let alone one of CCPD’s best. He wasn’t even sure how he managed to be a mechanic for a bit.

Wally overlooked things a lot, but usually he didn’t need to worry about that as much when he was with the League. They had learned to not let anyone get away unless they had a plan or really couldn’t get to them. They had learned to be more cautious when mind control was the weekly event. They had learned to always keep an enhanced protein bar or two for Wally.

Too bad Wally didn’t entirely learn how to figure out the little things going on with himself.

He was in the rec-room with John and Shayera. All the others were doing whatever either in their home cities or actually doing work in the watchtower. Which, he guessed he was really the only one that came up here for any reason other than work.

Anyway, Wally was currently enjoying a bit of chocolate (with sea salt, one of his favorites!) while beating John at an old fighter game. He had opted for Mario Kart, but was quickly outvoted by both of the others. It’s not like his superspeed would transfer to his character, just while pressing the buttons and his reaction time!

He still reveled in John's muttering and grumbles about losing, denying the accusations that he was losing his powers. He couldn’t really stop using his powers though, even at the CCPD he wrote inhumanly fast.

A pixelated flame covered the screen after Wally landed one more hit on John’s character. The blaring bright words of GAME OVER only made him feel even more smug. He flashed a shit-eating grin to GL.

The Lantern pinched his shoulder in response, rolling his eyes. Then, as per their rules in any of their hangouts, gave Wally another chocolate. Shayera laughed lightly and bumped his other shoulder.

“Alright, it’s my turn!” She declared, reaching over Wally to snatch John’s controller.

“Oh come on, at least let me beat him once.” John urged. He was getting restless (which wasn’t that weird? John being the restless one in the same room as the two most hot-headed members of the league [don’t tell Shay]).

“You’re just a sore loser.” Wally teased, leaning his head on John’s shoulder mockingly. The Lantern pushed him off with an eye roll and unintelligible grumble. He fell into Shayera’s shoulder and laughed.

“We’ll see who’s talking after I’m done with you.” Shayera said, or rather, threatened. He stuck out his chocolate covered tongue and she scrunched up her nose and rolled her eyes.

For another hour or so, the group continued to switch off on who played against who. Then, after Shayera ended up winning the most rounds (which he totally wasn’t butthurt about, shut up John), they moved on to a basic shooter game.

Wally picked his favorite character, which to anyone else would be a surprise as to who that was, a stealth character! Bats would blow a gasket if he ever found out. But, what could he say, she had a speed boost while in stealth mode. The others picked their respective characters, then they fought a couple rounds against different teams.

Another hour and a half passed, all the chocolate was gone and now replaced by three large bowls of popcorn, two of which were for Wally. 

There was some cheesy horror movie on the TV that even Flash thought was bad. But, John had recommended it, so he thought he might as well try it. He sat there and made fun of it with his friends.

It was well into the Watchtower’s simulated night cycle by the time it was done. Every room and hallway was dark, and the only sign of life were the three of them. Wally leaned back against the couch as he let out a wide yawn.

“I think it’s about time to head home.” John said, covering his mouth as he yawned too. Sometimes Wally wondered if those things were contagious, like they set off a chain reaction. He should look that up sometime.

Wally was a tiny bit sad to end their night just hanging out, but even speedsters needed to sleep once in a while. He hummed a quiet agreement and stretched out his legs before he got up.

As he stood, a small tingly feeling creeped up his legs. He frowned and blinked several times at the feeling. It was weird, but probably nothing. He had been sitting down in the same spot for a while.

“Well, it was a good one,” Shayera said, wrapping an arm around Wally’s shoulder, “too bad I won most of the chocolate though.” She teased smugly. The speedster rolled his eyes. Hawkgirl had given him a lot of the chocolates she had won anyway.

He let out a small sigh, then started towards the door.

A second later, he was holding himself up from the armrest on the couch and taking gasping breaths.

“Wally?” John asked, turning back and rushing towards the speedster. He only had the mind to let out a small groan, more so a whimper, really. “Hey, what’s going on, kid?” John leaned down to grab Wally’s shoulders as his legs gave out.

Shit fuck shit shit! His leg felt like it was locked into place. He didn’t think he could move it without sparks of pain making it feel like it was burning. He placed his hands on his leg and started to rub it.

“Cramp.” He forced out, his eyes already watering. And, wow, wasn’t that embarrassing?

Shayera sat down on the floor next to the two, rubbing circles on Flash’s back. He leaned his head forward and rested it on John’s chest. He tried to move his leg, curling it forward, but the combination of the searing pain and John’s hand on his knee stopped him.

“Stretch it out, it’ll help.” He urged. Wally didn’t think it would help when it only increased the pain and made him want to cry more than he already was. Either way, John forced it down (rude) and massaged it as best he could (less rude, but still).

Slowly, disgustingly slow for Wally’s standards, the pain started to subside. It was still there, but it was better. Wally let out another gasp and whimper. John brought him into a hug, then Shayera surrounded them both with her arms and then her wings.

“That’s never happened before.” Wally mumbled, closing his eyes tightly as the pain flared up again for a moment.

“You probably just sat still for too long.” Shayera offered. She drew back her wings as Wally leaned back and away from the hug.

“That’s never happened before either.” He added, a pouty lip protruding.

“Just try to keep stretching it for a bit. We can stay longer, there aren’t any emergencies.” John said. Wally smiled at him. Sometimes he couldn’t tell if John was his best friend or his older brother figure. He guessed he could be both.

“Come on,” Shay said, hoisting Wally up into her arms. He made a small squeak at the sudden movement, then he was plopped down on the couch again, and John and Shayera both sat beside him again.

“I don’t think you have to do all this.” Flash muttered under his breath, because he had no idea how to say thanks for sitting with me while I just fought for my life against a leg cramp of all things.

“Well, we can just leave.” Hawkgirl drawled, moving as if she would get up. Flash quickly, though somewhat slowly for him, grabbed her arm and pulled her back down.

“No, that's fine.” He insisted, holding onto her wrist. She smiled, shook him off, then threw her arm around his shoulders and brought him into a half-hug. He leaned against her shoulder with a hum.

“Thanks.” He mumbled, still a little embarrassed. John lightly bumped his shoulder before moving a bit closer to him.

“Anytime Hotshot.” he assured.

Wally may never see all the little things, but his family always would catch what he missed.

End Notes: I actually looked up the yawning thing, and yes, it is contagious. if you see, hear, or think about someone yawning, you yawn too. people actually yawn to cool down their brains which wasn't explained very well in the article so I don't fully understand that. also your eyes water when you yawn because it strains your face muscles and affects your tear ducts! anyway, wally whump and family bonding! also this is sort of an au where the three of them shared their secret IDs with each other before the others, so they both know Wally is Flash, and Wally and John know Shayera is Hawkgirl's real name.

Also I definitely go between seeing John as Wally’s father figure or his older brother, or just his bestie. But I thought brother would work best in this situation (also if John isn’t Wally’s dad Bruce 100% is imo)

I appreciate any comments and kudos, and I hope you all have a lovely day <3

[revserrayyu]

My experience with Serval’s companion missions

I finished both “Time Express” and “Only A Child” and wrote this up shortly after on hoyolab about a week ago, but I figured I might as well post it all on here as well with a few additional thoughts towards the end now that I had more time to think about everything. Needless to say, I experienced many emotions that I felt the need to ramble on about.

(so spoiler warning for those two missions? though I’m sure the majority have completed them already.)

Being relatively new to HSR, I didn’t realize these specific missions ultimately allowed for certain characters to become visitors on the Astral Express. I’ve done a couple of these missions previously, but thought it was just a random occurrence regarding who and when they’ll ask to visit the train. This is my own fault for accepting missions too quickly, so I tend to miss some finer details. This was absolutely the case once I got a message from Serval because of course I’m going to drop everything I’m currently doing and help out one of my favorites in the blink of an eye! She’s been a reliable teammate of mine til now so you can imagine the blissful shock I felt when she brings up the possibility of joining the Astral Express.

Deep deep down, I had a feeling that the game itself was set in stone with who the main group of the Express was going to consist of. It’s a pretty solid family of six after all, so I had my doubts it was going to expand so easily, especially at the wishes of us as the mc. Everyone would just recruit their favorite characters and then no one would be left roaming the worlds (which I do enjoy, honestly. Seeing all these familiar faces out and about, living their own lives when you can go check in on them whenever you want. Makes the world feel more.. I dunno, inviting? real?). Anyway, even with that tint of doubt, I strongly hoped such an idea was still possible. The game is great about having various replies to the different text options we can choose during conversation, giving the impression that what you say does indeed make some kind of impact (which is another thing I love about this game btw), so naturally, being me, I wanted Serval to join us. Like, now. Instantly.

I chose to run the idea by Himeko, but read online afterwards that she, Welt and Pom-Pom would’ve accept a new member regardless. It was sweet learning how open they were to a friend of yours joining the family, but it makes me sad knowing that now after having finished both missions because darn it, it could’ve actually happened had the game let it! Aahh, it seemed easy and too good to be true, and if there was one person I was wary of about this whole situation going by smoothly, it was Gepard. Upon running into the siblings in the workshop and seeing him ask Serval about rejoining the Silvermane Guards again, I believed that would deter her from actually wanting to stay in Belobog, as the job might cause some unpleasant memories to resurface. Even though I wasn’t surprised to see Serval being so hesitant about the idea or going to talk to Bronya, I was pleasantly surprised about Gepard agreeing that Serval might benefit well from traveling. I was happy to hear that, of course, but also because he also seemed more concerned with his sister’s happiness and well-being rather than what’s best for the city and the civilians, which says a lot about him, being captain of the guards.

Cut to the conversation happening within Qlipoth Fort and here’s where my first “oh no, she’s staying” feeling struck me. Up til now, I knew Serval was a kind and considerate soul; it was evident back when she stayed behind to assist Gepard and his men fight off the incoming enemies while everyone else went to confront Cocolia at Everwinter Hill. Seeing her choose her family over the chance to see a stellaron, something Serval spent so much time and effort into researching over the many years for her career, spoke volumes to me about how selfless she is. Hearing her admit that her idea of running away with the Express crew to fulfill her own dreams was a bit recklessly selfish instead of help those in need in Belobog with the skills only she has made her really pause and think about what to do next.

To add even more fuel to the fire, the past comes back to haunt Serval even more with the reveal of the famous guitar. This moment is a little silly to me though, but only because I’ve been persistently using Serval on my team, so seeing her with the guitar is nothing new in my eyes, but it’s clear that story Serval hasn’t seen said guitar in quite some time. Which makes me wonder, how did she help Gepard and the soldiers near the barrier previously without her main weapon..?

Oh boy, and to think I’ve been letting her fight so often with such a guitar so heavily linked to her upsetting past. I’m sorry sweetie, I didn’t know!

Moving onwards, there’s one thing I adore about this conversation with the siblings near the flower shop and it's how the npc on the bench was actually playing one of Serval’s songs. If I hadn’t recently went back and watched all the character’s trailers then I probably wouldn’t have caught that extra detail, but it’s so good that they included it and had Serval confirm it as well to prove I wasn’t going insane and overly thinking about it. But yeah, another slight “oh no, she’s not gonna want to leave” moment if the people actually enjoy and appreciate her music.

I still kept teetering whether or not the game was actually gonna allow Serval to join the Astral Express at this point with all the little hints it tossed in, but when following the siblings back to the workshop to help Serval pack her bags, I was like “wow, maybe it could actually happen?” I wasn’t completely convinced though since every item we looked at around the shop seemed to have a ton of sentimental value to them, such as the unfinished letter to her mother, the plant from Lynx, that family heirloom case and of course the guitar. Now is a good of a time as any to also mention how much I love Serval’s voice actress. Throughout this whole mission (and the one upcoming), she has put so much darn emotion into her voice! I swear it was enough to get me emotional too. I’m not only saying that because Serval is a favorite of mine and I’m bias but because of how easy it was to feel her pain through every word spoken. Even now, just reading the conversation over again, I can still hear the emotion so clearly in my mind. The weight behind all her words, sighs, pauses and the hopelessness she felt due to all the changes in her life that she had no real control over.. aah, I just have so much empathy and love for this girl y’all.

Once everything was packed and ready, I truly thought the Express family was gonna succeed in gaining another member.. that is until Gepard opens his mouth and requests some assistance in the Underworld. I can accept he truly wanted Serval’s help with all the energy hubs, maybe to also spend a little more time with her before she leaves and I’m certain he had no idea of an incoming monster attack, but the end result really threw my wish out the window. I did appreciate that quick moment that happened before taking the train to the Underworld, where it was briefly mentioned that Serval was late to meet us due to actually getting in touch with her parents. I like how she’s making an effort to be on better terms with the family despite being kicked out, and while there’s no issue with mom, there’s still a lot of tension between her and dad. Thankfully Gepard is fully aware of it as well. Again, I love all the emotion in Serval’s voice, even her slight anger.

And the emotions just keep on coming in waves because her entire encounter with this decaying Cocolia-like shadow almost had me breaking down and shaking as well.

It's happened a couple times now within the story and these missions that whenever the conversation does get real heavy, Serval tries her hardest to lighten the mood regardless of what she feels in her heart and I want to hug her so much. She doesn’t deserve all this pain!

Honestly though, with all the heartbreak and setbacks Serval has endured since Cocolia went power hungry, we’re lucky it all didn’t lead her to start her own villain arc, ya know? I’m thankful she stayed strong all these years, but who knows how close she was to snapping and giving up and that thought alone makes me so sad. The game can only show us so much about each character but just imaging Serval struggle from losing her job, all her research, her closest friend and all the family drama is a lot for one person to bear. 

Good lil’ Geppie stepping forward to defend his sister while she needs a moment to get all her emotions in check.

And me too, naturally. I’d defend this woman with my life and give her the world if I could! She deserves so much happiness!

Yeaaahh sweetie, fight your demons! And not that anyone was wondering, but yes I had Serval on my actual team this entire time, so having her actually take part in this fight was wonderful once again. 

With the all the chaos over with, we all end up back at Natasha’s clinic to check up on the people we helped escaped and I’m hit with even more “oh no” signals as we witness this other sister and brother pair talk about their family.

And the warning signs kept on flashing in my head as Gepard speaks his own mind as well. Serval’s silence is so loud til her request to chat with her brother confirms exactly what I’ve been fearing.

And then the “oh no” feeling finally lands a critical hit on my heart as Serval reveals her choice to stay in Belobog. Again, I had a hunch it was going to happen, but having Himeko approve of a new member and Serval pack her bags really had me believe that her boarding the Atral Express was possible for a while.

Even though the news bums be out, it means so much more to see Serval turn over a new leaf and become a better version of herself.

And you just know she’s going to improve Belobog so much with all her knowledge and skills with mechanics. We might not personally get to see it, since there’s so much else going on within the game’s story, but I can dream, can’t I?

Now, I’m already proud of her for all the personal progress she’s made so far to make the decision to stay, but I could’ve never imagined what her final request would’ve been back on Everwinter Hill. For a brief moment, I took her words quite literally and believed we were actually going to hear her sing a calm melody or something.

Once she started shouting.. I quickly realized this wasn’t gonna be as heartfelt as I thought. If I was in Serval’s place, I probably would’ve sent countless swears to Cocolia for all the heartache her actions left upon me. 

What actually happened, however, was far from anything I expected! At first I figured perhaps Serval might’ve brought the guitar to use as a makeshift headstone of sorts, but nope! Let’s smash it to pieces instead! Ooohh what a powerful moment, not only because of the quick cutscene or all the rage in her “I will no longer live in your shadow!” scream (sending praise to her voice actress once more), but also due to how significant that guitar was to both Serval and Cocolia. It was something they built together and as much as Serval absolutely loves music, she rather live freely without her past holding her hostage than keep the instrument around as a constant reminder of everything she lost.

Again, I feel so bad because I use Serval all the time in fights and knowing now what that guitar represents to her is.. unfortunate. I mean, I know Cocolia was the one who gathered all the parts available so Serval could create it just as perfectly as she designed it, but I’d like to imagine Serval was capable to create a newer improved version of the guitar afterwards.. just so I won’t feel guilty having her in my team still. Anyways, I did find it a little funny that after witnessing his sister rage out and destroy one of her most special possessions, he asks something so simple.

But all is well because she definitely deserves to feel happy and free from her past. I wish she could’ve been there for the real final battle too. Whatever happened to March promising to take pictures of the stellaron for her, huh? I know the battle was wild but surely she had to capture some moments yeah? Pftt, I wish.

After a quick thanks (which really wasn't necessary because I'd happily do anything for this woman), her mood improves so quick and I’m glad she’s got all that weight off her shoulders now and can focus more on better and brighter things in her life.

When all is said and done, of course I sprinted back to see if there was anything additional after the mission ended and I’m glad I checked. She’s not wrong about how the whole guitar smashing fits the rock n’ roll vibe, so now I’m feeling a bit stupid about how I never thought of that actually being something she would do considering everything that’s happened, but it works very well for her story.

As proud as I am of her for willingly offering her assistance so everyone can have better lives in Belobog, I am holding onto that “for now” bit so tightly within my grasp.

I know better to get my hopes up again but.. please please please please please ~

And that's the end of that. Apologies again for rambling on but I just get very passionate about favorite characters of mine and can’t hold back (some might say it’s very on brand for me to do so). I tease about wanting Serval to join the Astral Express so badly, but I truly am happy with the choice she’s made for herself. She’s fantastic and I’m amazed how quickly someone from this game earned a place in my heart. 

HSR really knew the perfect way to capture my attention, honestly, the way they had Serval be a free reward you receive from the start. Of course, I probably would've grown attached to her regardless because right away her character design is simply stunning! She's gorgeous but I also love how asymmetrical her outfit is, with one half is a torn up uniform from her days associated with the Silvermane Guards/the Architects while the other half clearly gives off her rockstar vibes. It captures her past and future wonderfully.

Then finally getting properly introduced to her during the first trailblazing mission where we learn bits and pieces of her past due to her rather complicated and unfortunate relationship with Cocolia was great, even though it tugged on some heart strings. It really set up just how how involved other characters aside from the Express crew are within the story itself, which is yet another thing I sincerely appreciate with HSR; the fact that everyone seems to have some sort of significance and gets the attention they deserve. Getting a deeper look into all the playable character's personal stories through these missions is such a nice touch and so impressive with how many there are so far. At this moment in time, I've done a handful of other companion quests for other characters, but only a few really managed to leave an impact on me, such as Natasha's, Luka's and Yukong's, but Serval's feelings and struggles during these two missions was beyond anything I could've imagined. It's all the emotion coupled with learning what makes a character who they are now and how they manage to live their lives dealing with their past that's really memorable to me and Serval's had that in spades. Who knew a simple request to meet up for some afternoon tea would lead me down an emotional investing road to find my favorite character?

[aethersflames]

Friend, I beg of you, for the WIP Folder, please "It's A Beautiful Night For A Bloodbath", it sounds very interesting!

Crys! Hiii! Thanks for the ask, though I find it super funny that you're asking about that one out of all the others. Of course, that's not going to stop me from elaborating!

"It's A Beautiful Night For A Bloodbath" is essentially the novelisation (? closest term I can think of... basically converted-into-a-written-version) of the d&d campaign that'll never leave my head. absolute historic moment of my life, and I have to thank you for playing your part in it. <3

ah, for those who don't know what I'm going on about...

first things first, credit for the story itself goes to my irl best friend, who wrote the campaign proper - a crossover between the Forgotten Realms we all know and hopefully love, and a... rather obscure visual novel that holds a very special place in my heart.

the party: my aarakocra half-dragon sorcerer, Serrakah; @bunniletto's vampiric tiefling bard, Adrian; @shitty-drawer's half-elven cleric of Lathander, Tyrion; her friend's (who I'm not sure has a tumblr) elf rogue, Karina; and last but not least, your dearest bloodhunter dragon girlie, Cookie!

the premise: a masquerade ball in Baldur's Gate, hosted at the headquarters of a once-prestigious guild. but things go awry as the host - the sole survivor of a massacre of both guild staff and clients several years ago - is murdered on stage, and our ragtag group of adventurers must band together to venture deeper into the guild facility, discovering the dark secrets of its past, and for some, how it entwines with their own backstories...

also featuring: many fights against blue tieflings and mephits that say "poopyhead", using food as improvised weaponry, a friendly baby mimic, tripping on ice from the Nine Hells, and so. many. awkward moments of romantic tension between poor Serrakah and... well, my f/o, given the d&d treatment.

many of the finer details have slipped from my memory, but thankfully I've got the recordings of all three sessions - and if I cringe too much at the sound of my own voice in those, at least I've got your extensive notes to rely on! :D

[putschki1969]

Hi Sarah ☺️👋,

I apologize from the beginning in case you did not understand my meaning, the question was written through Google Translator.

Should we really not care about what goes on behind the scenes in the entertainment industry? I remember that you wrote that We have to take it at face value and not dig into what is happening behind the scenes in order to live a healthy life without carrying this worry, but after watching the oshi no ko anime, this made me think again about the state of the entertainment industry, do we really have to be indifferent to what is happening to our favorite artists not only our kalafina girls but in general. Shouldn't we, at least discuss this matter so that their conditions do not get worse? I feel we should not separate the product from the condition of the person who made it!

Hi there! Don't worry, your message is perfectly clear and fine. I apologise for taking so long to reply, this has been sitting in my drafts forever. This is a tricky topic so it took a while to figure out the best way to map out my reply.

I am assuming that this ask is a direct response to what I wrote HERE? For those who are curious, this is what I had to say to someone who seemed incredibly upset about the current state of Wakana's "relationship" with everyone else from the YK family.

[I]t is not at all healthy to be this invested in public figures and the things they choose to share with us. I fully understand the desire to get more insight but please don’t make your happiness and peace of mind contingent on something that is so completely out of our control.

Let's start with a quick clarification, I am by no means implying that we should take everything at face value. Quite the contrary actually, I am a strong proponent of critical thinking, it's crucial to look at things from a nuanced perspective, to read between the lines and educate ourselves on all the finer details before making any sort of assumption based on surface-level observations. Many fans operate on misconceptions and tend to jump to conclusions because they heavily rely on unverified news and brief snapshots without taking all the available facts into account. This is why I often feel the need to make elaborate explanation posts. I just want to keep people grounded and stop them from coming up with unfounded theories.

I am also not trying to tell people to be completely indifferent towards what is happening behind the scenes of the entertainment industry. The Japanese entertainment industry is indeed very harsh and genuinely messed up. It's impossible to not feel affected when you hear news of celebrity su!c!des and see some of those horrible conditions our favourites are subjected to. Being conscious of these issues while engaging in fan activities is a good thing and completely normal but it's very unhealthy to let your whole life become consumed with worry over someone whose mental/physical state and situation we are incapable of fully understanding.

Because you see, even with access to a vast amount of knowledge, we as fans have to realise that we'll never get the "full picture". The extent of our involvement is incredibly limited. There are boundaries we have to respect, there are lines we aren't allowed to cross, there are things which are purposefully kept from us. The truth of the matter is that regardless of how deep we try to dig into what is going on behind the scenes, regardless of how much we discuss the situation or how many possible theories we come up with while endlessly worrying, it won't ever lead us to satisfactory results, it won't bring us any closer to knowing more about the "real" condition of the people we idolise. So why should we sacrifice our mental well-being over something that's so far removed from us? It's utterly pointless. Hence my above advice to not get too caught up in this mess.

I am not sure if you are familiar with the term but when fans get overly invested in the lives of idols, celebrities and public figures, it's a slippery slope towards developing a so-called parasocial relationship with them. This sort of relationship is based on delusions, meaning fans fool themselves into believing they have a deep connection to that person (or rather, the "idea" of said person) which may lead to a false sense of intimacy and ownership. But make no mistake, despite what fans may think, we have very little insight into the lives of these public figures and while they have a considerable amount of influence over us, we have comparatively little influence over them. In reality, most things are completely out of our control. We often have no choice but to watch things unfold from the sidelines.

My point is, take everything with a grain of salt, thoroughly acquaint yourself with the topic, stay respectful, be aware of your limits and come to terms with the fact that you are not really in a position to save or help them when it comes to personal matters. Don't compromise your own well-being by getting entangled in a mess that's beyond our control. It sounds harsh but as fans we are quite powerless in that regard. All we can really do is support and appreciate the content (or "product" as you say) our favourites create and have faith that their "real condition" at least somehow resembles the positive image they choose to present to us.

And yeah, I am self-aware enough to know that this all sounds hypocritical coming from someone like me who has always been quite vocal about being crazily obsessed with Kalafina. I'd call myself an extremely dedicated fan who is very much invested in the lives of the Kalafina members. Still, I believe I know where to draw the line and that has more or less kept me sane throughout the years.

[wildtornado-o]

Tell us more about the Roman survives AU? :3c

Ok so like i dont have too much figured out but. It plays out relatively the same up until the battle on the airship, Neo still flies off but this time, instead of just flying through the sky Roman has to see her get eaten by a grimm </3 obviously hes distraught and furious at Ruby so he starts attacking her but before he can kill her (or the nevermore can get to him) the ship starts exploding earlier. So Roman and Ruby both get caught in the explosion, Ruby narrowly avoiding getting hit as bad as Roman did by using her semblance

Im considerinnnggg Roman taking some collateral damage from the ship exploding but im not sure if I want to make it like, some scars, or hes missing a limb or 2 cuz explosions r nasty (leaning towards both, hurting my favourite characters is always fun) But yeah after he wakes up from the explosion hes like. Severely injured but he still takes time to look for any sign of Neo, only finding her parasol. He realizes shes absolutely dead and just snaps like hes not ok. Blah blah gets medical attention probably a replacement limb from the underground, falls off the face of Remnant and from public eye entirely, people just assume both he and Neo died in the fall (Ruby doesnt know he lived).

Then he tracks down Cinder in a similar manner to what Neo did, by going to Lil Miss and shes just like "Holy shit Roman what happened to you" He asks for help tracking Cinder, Lil Miss knows hes serious because he came back to her of all people. Not sure how I want the Cinder and Roman confrontation to be, but hes a lot less willing to work with her and only does it because he thinks Salem may have a way to bring Neo back (Hes smart enough to figure out shes immortal lol).

Roman also uses Cinder to his advantage and goes after Ruby too, since he literally watched her be the cause of Neos death. Hes really sad and angry and filled with blood lust u know how it is. Idk what his role in the Atlas arc would b yet still figuring that out.

And then in the Ever After since he doesnt have a semblance it plays out very differently. Hes less fueled by rage than Neo was, and moreso heartbreak and regret that he wasnt able to keep Neo safe, just as he had always worried when he brought her into his life. Whiiiich makes him easier to break. The cat notices this, and the moment they do they give up on breaking Ruby (no suicide tea party, yet there is still tea idk how i want to implement that yet. Maybe Neo as the March Hare kinda thing where she was conjured by the ever after somehow and theyre just chilling drinking tea like they used to, similar to the Hatter and Hare in the original)

When the cat breaks Roman its like ugly and he just collapses and stuff because hes really lost everything and hes completely alone again. Thats what the quote I wrote in the art I posted is from, Roman felt as if he wasnt enough to save Neo, the cat bribes him with a promise of making him enough. The cat uses his body's fighting ability as a small power up (nothing near neos, but still pretty ok) Ruby gets forced into ascension instead, since shes still pretty broken.

And this is all I have so far lol need to figure out the finer details but yknow