#if no one can understand this i can try explain better

[dis-plus-fanfic-reblog-writes]

A/N: I was asked for more, so I am attempting. I’ve never written anything like this. I just love the idea of dad bod Logan…or muscular, fit body of Logan’s with a tummy or a decent gut. It’d be cute. Don’t judge me.

One evening when the guys returned from a merc job, Logan goes to the bedroom to get a change of clothes while still in his suit. He can wear an outfit under it rather comfortably but this time, he noticed his suit was tight in the middle. He went into the bathroom and looked at his profile where he got his confirmation that he had a tummy. He began to strip out of his suit and kept checking himself out in the mirror, not liking what he finds. Once he pulls off his tank top, he sees that it isn’t really a gut, just pudge. Just a layer of fat on his otherwise muscular form from eating three meals a day. He wonders if he should go back to alcohol and one meal a day. He shook his head since he feels better, feels healthier, and can tell what he is doing is good for him. He has more energy and much better alertness but he doesn’t like the pooch at all. He decides to go back to one meal a day while keeping the alcohol down and just making sure to drink water instead. He can do this.

What Logan doesn’t expect when he makes this decision is how Wade acts.

Three days later after Logan has returned to eating one meal a day, Wade immediately notices the change and doesn’t like it. By the second day, he decides to eat out at places he knows Logan likes but the man refuses saying he isn’t hungry. Wade knows he is lying. The man eats like him due to maintaining his healing factor.

At day three, Wade decides to pull out the stops, he wakes early to go to that bakery Logan loves their pastry to get him a dozen with half of it solely for Logan. The man glares at Wade over his black coffee and again claims he isn’t hungry.

Now, it is the morning of day four and Logan is having his black coffee and reading the newspaper.

“So, grandpa, how’s the crossword going?” Wade asks.

Logan sips his coffee and grunts. He sets the cup down and turns the page.

“Got the funnies? I’d love to see what that stupid orange cat is doing to Jon today. “ Wade sips his khaki color coffee full of sugar and creamer.

“No, this doesn’t have funnies,” Logan explains.

“Damn. I was hoping to see what that Valiant knight was up to too. Any sudoku?” Wade pokes again.

Logan quietly rumbles as he flips through the pages and removes the pages the sudoku is on before nearly slamming it down in front of Wade. “Is there anything else you need, princess, before I go back to quietly reading the paper?”

“Actually, yes,” confirms Wade.

Logan sets the paper down and gives Wade his undivided attention.

“Why aren’t you eat? You barely have one meal a day. What changed, peanut?” Wade’s eyes are lidded and he’s frowning. Logan can smell his genuine concern. Not wanting to admit the worry, as superficial as it may sound, he shrugs. “Just haven’t been hungry for some reason.”

“I smell bullshit, Wolvie, and you know it,” argues Wade. “I don’t understand why you’d limit yourself when you’re looking great.” Logan snorts at that but Wade continues, “You seem to have more energy, are seemingly happier, and haven’t even wanted to drink more than a few beers daily. I mean, you’ve been going on jobs with me which is always a blast when you come. What could be so important that you cut back on food of all things?”

Logan mumbles an answer that Wade doesn’t hear.

“I’m sorry, honey badger, could you say that for the whole class to hear?” Wade pushes.

“My suit’s tight,” Logan barely whispers as his ears pinken.

“Your suit’s tight?” Wade’s eyes incredulously asks. Logan refuses to make eye contact and stares at the table.

“Yeah, ok?! I need to lose some weight,” Logan rumbles angrily.

Wade leans back and relaxes his body, trying to seem as non-threatening to the upset beastly of the man who has his heart. “I do sew, Logan. Why don’t you let me help you out with this?”

Logan snorts and shakes his head. “Even I know letting clothes out, let alone this suit, is challenging without matching…everything,” he acknowledges. Wade is surprised Logan understands the complexities of sewing.

“True, but I know how to get matching material and where ,” Wade grins, haughtily.

Tag: @asgardiansofthegalaxyvol3

Logan moving in with Wade and gaining weight because not only is he eating three square meals a day, but he also picked up baking because both Al and Wade have a sweet tooth, and of course the sweets are there, he’s going to eat them too. But now he’s getting kind of chubby. Which isn’t a problem really. He looks healthier than he has in decades. Except…

Wade stopped flirting with him. Straight up just stopped. And yeah Logan’s been ignoring it right along because he knows Wade isn’t actually serious about it, but it was still kind of nice to be wanted. Especially since he came from a reality where he was literally the most hated man alive. And of course now he has actual feelings for Wade, he wants the option to be there.

So he decides to not only start going to the gym but also to stop eating. And of course Wade notices and has to sit him down and ask what’s up, he’s been super healthy lately why is he changing that

And Logan can’t admit why he’s doing it so he deflects. “So going to the gym isn’t healthy?”

“You practically live there now. You’re a certified gym rat. You’re overworked and underfed. THAT isn’t healthy.”

And they go back and forth until Logan finally admits it’s because he gained weight and doesn’t feel attractive anymore. “Hell, you don’t even flirt with me anymore and I’ve seen you hit on inanimate objects before.”

And Wade stares at him for like 10 full seconds before he busts out laughing, like genuinely knee slapping chuckle fest because, “You think I stopped flirting with you because I’m shallow??? You honestly think I look like a burn victims even uglier ball sack and I’m being picky with how someone else looks?”

Logan tries to shrug it off with a “Everyone has preferences.”

“Trust me, Peanut, it isn’t that.”

“So then what is it?”

And now it’s Wade’s turn to be defensive until he realizes their conversation is just going in circles and Logan won’t stop destroying his body until he comes clean. So he has to stare at the wall as he tells Logan that it isn’t that he’s not attracted to Logan’s body anymore, it’s that he’s hyper attracted to it now, that he looks so healthy, so well fed, so inadvertently loved, and that it’s a reminder of all the domesticity of their situation that he’s actually fallen in love and can’t trust himself to casually flirt with Logan anymore because he’s genuinely afraid he’s going to do something and ruin their friendship now.

And they make out sloppy style and confess their love to each other of course

[exocynraku]

I like to say that I absolutely adore how you design your feline characters and make them very unique. You’re my favorite warrior cat artist because of it! How do you go about designing your characters?

halloo... thank you! this ones a bit harder for me to explain, but i'll try! i'm going to specifically talk about cats, but these could be used for other types of characters, mostly furries. note: um, guess who talks too much! i had to split this post into four. so check the reblogs! 1. placing markings with PURPOSE (this is the big one!!!) it was only recently i finally managed to find a way to word this. to create a good design, you need to understand how to place markings with purpose. to me, there are two components to this: spacing/size and body wrapping. body wrapping first. this is how the markings on a cat's pelt wrap and contort around their body. bodies are not flat surfaces, they have plenty of curves, ridges, etc, which will alter the shape of markings placed on top of them. the markings on your character both needs to contort to the shape of the body part AND how it would look from the viewer's perspective. here's some examples;

in the first picture, you can see how i wrap the markings around the cylindrical shape of the leg. in the second picture, you can see both that i've wrapped the markings around the shape of the arm and belly, but likely also that the marking i've specifically highlighted on the arm is being smushed because of the bending of the arm. this leads to a better design, as when you look at it, i feels more natural than if you were to plaster markings over the cat in a straight line. here's a real-life example.

you can see how the markings curve around the body, though i find it's sometimes less pronounced as i would portray it in art. but it's there. sizing and spacing are second. these are less realistic aspects, as cat markings tend to be very random, however it art it leads to a cleaner, more readable & desirable design. sizing and spacing also have a lot to do with consistency. it's also... a little hard to show. i don't find myself messing it up in old pieces, and the designs i do know of which do this are... from strangers. who i would feel bad throwing under the bus for having designs i don't like LMFAO. but i can do my best to describe them. the size of your markings should stay relatively consistent throughout your design. what i mean by this is if you have large, thick stripes along your whole character's body, i wouldn't recommended adding one random thin, pinstripe-y stripe on your characters body. if you want to give them thin and thick stripes, then you need to have BOTH consistently throughout the body. or, give it a balance. thick stripes on the body, neck and tail, and thinner stripes on the face and legs, for example. very, very small markings are GOING to go unseen by you or others drawing the design, i absolutely guarantee it. similarly, the spacing of your markings should stay relatively consistent. for me this mostly occurs in tabby cats. if i draw, for example, the character's body stripes a certain distance apart, i'm not going to suddenly change that distance on another part of their body, such as their legs. the main issues i find with sizing and spacing is when people have issues with BOTH of them at the same time. random markings everywhere with all sorts of sizes and shapes and spacing will make your design cluttered, unreadable and unappealing. even on characters you'd think would be exceptions to this, such as randomly spotted characters/tortoiseshells, i still think about. how can i place these spots or patches in a way that will properly define the markings, making it easy to understand? how can i place spots to not make them too cluttered in certain area? etc. it's definitely a bit hard to explain, especially without visuals, but i tried lol (SOBS) (see reblogs for CONT.)

[beneathsilverstars]

i keep adding things to this one post and then realizing they'd make more sense as a separate post. so here's how the party explained what happened in dagger ending au to bonnie:

Siffrin was very sad and worried about everyone leaving, because he was alone before he met us and he didn't want to be alone again. But he didn't talk about it because we all had plans that seemed very important, and he didn't want to get in the way, and he didn't want to admit that he didn't have anything else to do. It sounds pretty silly when you put it like that, but the rest of us were nervous to admit how much we cared about each other, too! Sometimes it's hard to tell someone how important they are to you, if you don't know whether you're important to them.

During the quest it was okay, because Siffrin knew we would stay together until Vaugarde was saved. But getting to Dormont meant the quest was almost over, and they got so upset at the idea of everyone leaving, that they didn't really care about what they were doing. Why did it matter what happened to them, when they were going to be sad and alone tomorrow either way? So they weren't very careful while they were training, and they got hurt. Luckily Odile saw, and Mirabelle healed them right up.

Now, he's really glad that we all decided to stay together longer! But he might still feel worried for a while, because it's hard to believe that everyone isn't leaving, after he's been dreading it for so long. And sometimes when you're sad for a long time, your brain just tries to keep being sad even when there isn't any reason to be. But if we keep reminding him that we love him just as much as he loves us, it'll start to stick in his brain better! We might also need to remind him to be careful and take care of himself, because that can be hard to remember when you're sad. And while he practices that, we can help take care of him, too!

[princess-of-the-corner]

One thing I noticed with Chloé is that positive reinforcement works much better than reprimands.

Telling her she's doing something wrong on its own doesn't work right. Especially if it's not explained why what she did was wrong. She'll just get frustrated and try again.

This is because she's working off the example of her parents and everything always works for them so surely she has to do what they do to get what she wants? And it's hard to break out of this idea because, like for most children, you value your parents' opinion over everyone else's. So her parents must be more right than her peers or teachers because they're her parents and they're Exceptional™ and everything works out right for them. She just has to try harder.

But giving her positive reinforcement when she does something good helps more. Ladybug trusting her with the Bee causing her to act more heroic in Miraculer and Startrain. Or as mentioned of Bustier trying to smooth over the situation making Chloé pause and reflect and come to the conclusion she was wrong and needed to apologize.

This can even work in reverse as seen with Miracle Queen. Hawkmoth telling her that she's a valuable asset that deserves better treatment,

Because what Chloé wants is some kind of love and affection and is doing what she thinks she has to to get it, but doesn't understand why her attempts are failing.

Chloe Bourgeois - Not a Typical Mean Girl

No, I am not going to sit here and talks about Chloe's family, or issues, or one writers seeming obsession with her. No!

I am here to discuss what I think is a very common misunderstanding about Chloe's character and the show in fandom that often crops up in discussion regarding her.

Namely that the thing Chloe needs most is to be chastised, rejected & punished for her mean behavior, that will sort her out!

As though that wasn't already a thing that happens?

Bear with me and I'll explain that claim first:

The school does not like punishing any students. The only reason Alya was punished for coordinating an effort to break into Chloe's locker is because Chloe threatened the principle. The only reason Marinette was almost expelled was because Lila framed her for cheating, theft & assault all in one day & she still needed to make a scene of the whole affair. There's one teacher that punishes students, but she does so unfairly, cruelly and haphazardly and in season 1, Chloe was not shown getting any special treatment from her. Special treatment from the faculty was not a thing unless we are counting later retcons.

So now that the faculty is out of the way, wat I mean is that Chloe is not a typical mean girl because she is not popular.

In stuff like Mean Girls, Heathers and so on, the usual standard is that the mean girls are mean, but they are also revered, beloved, popular in one way or another despite their horrible behavior.

This is not the case with Chloe.

Even in Season 1 where only Marinette & Nino seems to start the season disliking Chloe. (Her presence unpleasant but hardly traumatic given the Origins level bickering) Chloe was still not widely well liked by the class or school.

She had one friend in Sabrina and a second oh so briefly in Adrien, which did let her absorb some of his celebrity by proximity. But within 48 hours of having him she lost him; with Adrien becoming more distant to divorce himself from her behavior.

That's it and while one can say her haughty attitude and ego are the reason we know from season 2 she is aware everyone hates her & it upsets her.

S1-Chloe did get invited to some class events, but even then her presence was not largely welcomed with most far less prone to be patient with her than they were with others even if they exhibited similar behavior. Such as Kim bullying Ivan, or Nino expressing blatant frustration with Mylene, ETC.

By late season 2 she was pretty much entirely segregated from her peers, barring Sabrina, and her presence welcomed with shades of disinterest, disdain or outright hostility. Sometimes evoked on her part or just in general.

This is a big difference from the usual Mean Girls = Popular Girls trend but I often don't see it acknowledged in fandom discourse.

This especially feels to be the case given so often I see people arguing Chloe "needs" to be rejected, or told her behavior is bad, or that no one likes her... But she is, all the time, she is entirely aware people don't like her and unhappy about it.

The issue is not that her bad behavior is being rewarded in school. The issue is that bad behavior is what she was taught at home and what is encouraged there and what is shown to work for her parents. But it doesn't work for her and she doesn't know why, because no one really bothers to teach her why. hey just get angry and snap at her or ignore her.

& sure you can say its not her peers job to explain morality o empathy to someone who was explicitly taught by their father how to cheat at & win elections by intimidation. But the fact is no one at home is going to do so because they are modelling, encouraging & teaching the opposite up until it impacts 'them' personally.

Not sure if there's a greater point to this, but...

I often find people acting like the thing Chloe needs is for her bad behavior not to be 'rewarded' or 'indulged' by her class and to instead be 'rejected' and for her to face 'consequences'.

But she does! That's basically all she does; & When she doesn't usually an Akuma tries to murder her anyway!

So yeah, Chloe isn't a typical mean girl.

She's actually deeply unpopular among classmates and the school has a discipline issue all over, it didn't come from her.

More negativity is not going to magically make her "better".

[sos717]

Hey again,

First I want to preface by saying, I am amazed at the response from my last post. I’m so happy to see so many messages that say it helped them understand it better, butttt…

Since the last post had gained allot of attention, so did my inbox lol, and the asks. I’m going to try and go over the main points I saw allot of you guys asking me and hopefully we can move on from there and clear things up.

A really big question I got funny enough was,

“okay I understand but how do I manifest”

lol you guyssss, I’m not gonna bash anyone because I really do understand the drastic change from dropping the reliance we have on the way things APPEAR to be, and swapping it to relying on ourself for trust, but I will say, what I write is what I’ve already lived through, I wouldn’t give anyone this information if it hadn’t worked for me, and that’s means I’ve shown myself the way this all works, HUNDREDS of times, with an insane variety of topics and aspects of my life, so when I say, please please try to READ the content and truly recognize what it means, I mean it in a way that is with complete certainty, because I’m not just telling you a practice that you pick up at one point of life and either get it or don’t get it.

I’m showing you reality

(oooo I’m already getting excited)

So, how can manifestation be explained?

Let’s take a look at all the aspects of experience when we talk about manifestation, because after all, we are here to choose our experience, but this is actually where our first point starts, you are always choosing the experience. Let’s look at this section first.

We all know, whether we come from LOA (Both kinds) or just have the general idea of manifestation/energy, etc, there is always at some point the topic of source.

And what you’ll notice is, every practice, method, technique, ritual, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS puts YOU as the focal point. Do you truly think this is coincidence? Is it a coincidence that a vision board is something that you look at? Is it a coincidence that affirming or visualizing is something YOU do? Is it a coincidence that scripting, writing a note, whispering in the air, everything you could possibly think of always has to be something you initiate? No absolutely not.

What I just described is incredibly important for you to understand, and yes I will get to the aspect of feelings how to move forward in life while activating new stories and ideas, but when I say I regret not taking the time to truly understand how IT WAS ABOUT ME BEING SOURCE, I really mean it.

We get so caught up in experiencing and needing and feel overwhelmed by the shit everyone has programmed us to believe which always ends up being limiting.

But one thing that is so badly flawed is that there is never and in depth look at what it means to be source.

I mean this should be the main focus of manifestation, the fact that you are source, but because we become so focused on the world, we turn away from the most important aspect of experience. What I’m about to explain actually goes far beyond right now, it goes ALLLLL the way back…

There is only one source, going back to the beginning of the entire universe, can you try to imagine what’s there? You’d probably come up with just a vast nothingness, but at the same time, you’d be able to recognize that there had to have been something to introduce all of experience right?

Well let’s do this together, let’s imagine the moments before the universe was initiated, in this formless, void, yet no dimensions, no description, no sign of anything actually, but definitely something, some type of thing that has to be here, from which reality takes course.

I think you can see where we’re going, all that is there, is this presence, no identity or sign of personality, but absolutely there. This is source. “Wait then how am I source” you might askkkk, well okay let’s find out how you ARE this source.

When I ask “are you aware” and you of course say yes, I need you to go ahead and find out where the answer yes came from. And not just, “it came from me”, yes we know, but find it, trace the idea back to its origin.

Your going to come up with what you can’t describe

The answer of you being aware of your own existence comes from, a formless nondimensional space, it has no identity, it has no name, it has no appearance, no attributes at all, you could almost mistake it for a void, but as you sit there, coming “face to face” with this empty space that all of your claims, all of your ideas, all aspects of your identity come from, there’s something that is present. It is a presence. It is not a thing, but from this comes absolutely anything and everything that you claim to be true about the world, about experience, about your identity, etc.

That silent presence is source, but more importantly it’s your true identity, the real you.

So what is all of this then? How do we explain the experience part of this?

Let’s speed this up a bit

Now, this part might get a little complicated if you don’t take some time to understand it, like pleaseeee take your time and re-read it a hundred times if you have to.

So, there are a few aspects that stem from source, one of these being perception, and another being sensations, we don’t need to get into the details too hard for these to so I just want you to understand it as “Sense-Perception”. This is just a fancy way to describe the WAY we experience reality, NOT REALITY ITSELF, VERY IMPORTANT.

Feeling, Tasting, Touching, Seeing, Hearing, Smelling, and whatever else you can think of (I think that’s all) ARE FILTERS. It is through the limitations of this filter that you experience your own being, conciousness.

I need you to imagine source, there is no perceiving no attributes, just a vast nothingness, it is full of life and energy which is the starting point for all of existence, but it is not a singular thing.

This is knowing. The very simple effortless thing that you are. From knowing comes absolutely everything and anything.

Let’s take white teeth as an example. So you now know, “white teeth”. However, this is just that, just knowing it, not perceiving it, not touching, not hearing, none of that. But I need you to know that this is infinitely more above any sense or really just anything to ever exist for that matter because it’s source, it’s you.

Now here comes the magic

What would be the result if we added Sense-Perception into/onto knowing? If you not only knew “white teeth” but also saw it? Also heard it? Also could smell, taste, touch, it? Could feel it?

You get what we call the world, no?

You see, the ways we perceive source/ourself is like a VR headset, or glass, or a sheet, and once it’s added to the equation, whatever it is that source is activating/manifesting as, is then experience by source THROUGH/WITH perception.

The part that can be confusing is addressing what currently is perceived. Well, it’s incredibly simple.

We’ve been conditioned into thinking that the senses activating knowing, this is literally just false to begin with because we don’t require senses to know.

For example, you opening your bank account and seeing a balance IS NOT THE REASON to activate the idea “I don’t have enough money” or “I’m can’t overspend”, don’t believe me? then explain why your able to think the same things without looking at your bank account?

If it truly was seeing your bank account that validated the idea, then why are you capable of even knowing anything related to your money story without looking at your bank statements?? It should not be possible without the validation of the senses right?

You shouldn’t be able to think about how poor you are when you’re in the shower, at work, before you sleep.

But it’s possible because what you know is in no way associated or reliant with what is seen. And having the information about what source is should make you hesitant to ever activate a story that doesn’t please you again. You are too comfortable in the cycle your in. I’m sorry if that’s a little harsh.

If we go back to perception being the filter that source experiences its own activity with, you realize that the only thing that ever changes is what’s known. The world is a SIDE EFFECT of VIEWING whats known, LET ME SAY THAT AGAIN.

YOU ARE SOURCE, YOU CREATE, THE WORLD IS WHAT HAPPENS AS A SIDE AFFECT OF PERCIEVING WHAT YOU ARE.

This has absolutely nothing to do with making or forcing things to change, the only thing that changes is you! This is about the way reality works. Not a how to guide on “getting it all”.

Now for the next part, THIS DOES NOT TURN OFF.

When I say that the senses do not create but, YOU DO, that means always!!! So looking in the mirror and complaining about your skin or eye color or nose is not going to ever activate any idea, BECAUSE YOU ARE DOING THE ACTIVATING. Don’t you see?? ITS COMING FROM YOU.

The senses CANT create, they SENSE, they perceive what reality is being! They perceive what IS KNOWN.

They can never ever ever be the cause for what is known. Looking at your teeth cannot create the knowing “my teeth are so yellow” BECAUSE YOU DO. YOU CAN DO THE SAME WITH YOUR EYES CLOSED YOU CAN DO THE SAME UNDERWATER, IN THE SHOWER, IN BED, IN THE E.R, WHATEVER IT IS YOU KNOW IS WHAT REALITY IS, AND THIS IS WHATS PERCEIVED, The side affect of percieving “my teeth are yellow”?? Well you tell me what that would be? EXACTLY.

Understand it like this, if the story or idea I’m about to activate right now could be seen, heard, touched, or just perceived in any way, what would it look/sound like? Do you see what this is now?

When you realize that you are source, allot of things start making more sense, the teachers and videos saying it’s all about you, start making sense, but they make it sound like the world is something you CHANGE as if it exists on its own, NO!

The world is the result of what KNOWING is, when it’s perceived.

At no point does this stop being true, so when you go “my teeth are white” this is reality, this is what will be perceived, but if you decide to go into habit and activate “my teeth are yellow”, there is no different process, this is what will be perceived. There is no bias to reality.

The starting point will always and can only be what’s known, the rest is automatic, as it’s always been, the only difference is, you have been activating things that you don’t like, and because this is source, all that will be perceived is what you know, so if it’s about money, or love, business, school, understand, THE MOMENT, you know something, IT IS REALITY!!!! IM NOT EXAGGERATING.

Don’t confuse the world as if it is its own entity or source, no, it’s a side effect or perceiving, NOT something you’re trying to control.

I want you see it for yourself, this information will not be of any use if you don’t see for yourself.

Please please remember. What’s perceived is not a story, it is not an idea, it’s not telling you what reality is, it’s only that, perception, it’s the same thing as looking at a brick wall for information, it cannot and will never be source, notice where the stories activate when you react to the world, and recognize that it’s something that you know, a feeling cannot stop knowing, NOTHING CAN, ITS SOURCE!

Okay, I’m sorry if this is a bit confusing at first, this is a very alternate view of the way we’ve been taught what reality is, and I know you might have allot more questions, I’m more than willing to answer them, but till then, please read this post or my past post again

(Yes im rambling, im very sleep deprived rn)

[auraisereigh]

"Peace in the quiet"

chapter twelve

Brennan Sorrengail x Riorson reader Blurb: Brennan and Star go out together to get to know each other better. wc: 8.6 ☆ SPOILERS FOR THE EMPYREAN SERIES. sweet and very fluffy, maybe some doubt? Uses pronouns: she/her. i use Star as a nickname as y/n sounds weird, and i'm awful with names.

Masterlist ☆ Dragon guide ☆ Star's story ☆ Empyrean guide ☆ Support me

Just as Brennan promised, Friday night he knocks on my door. I hadn't heard from him all day and no meals had been delivered to my room or dad's office.

I open the door to reveal Brennan, standing in the doorway. Just like me, he didn't put much effort in his looks, good, it's not a date. Not by a long shot. But his hair looks slightly less disheveled and he looks more awake.

"Hey." He says casually. I give him a hello of my own and he steps aside to make room for me to walk out of the door. "You ready?" He asks, his voice hopeful and nervous. I give him a small nod. Ever since the conversation I had with my brother I've been thinking about this, how this night is gonna go. I wrote a few questions down on a paper, the things I need to know to make an opinion on him, that piece of paper is tucked in the jacket I'm wearing.

He smiles ever so soft. "Good, I have a place in mind we could go to. It's not that far." He explains as we walk out of the family quarters and down the marble staircase to the main entrance.

We stay quiet on the way to the spot he chose. It's an open field that borders the forest, this field used to be a landing space for the dragon riders that sided with my dad, this was a safe place for them to land and not to harm anyone while doing so.

He leads me to the forest line, to a remarkably bigger tree than the rest of the trees. We both sit down there, I keep my space as I sit a little farther from him. The sun casts a golden glow across the field as it dips below the horizon.

Am I supposed to say something? Or does he start? I can't just take my paper out and ask him my questions, can I?

"Thank you for agreeing." His soft voice breaks the silence. "I know you've been busy." He continues.

"I'm busy in the mornings. After dinner I'm free." I say, trying to slowly open up to him. Yeah, I'm not doing great at that.

"How are the meetings going? If you can tell me of course, I get that there is confidential information." He asks, his voice curious but not pushy, just calm, the opposite of me. I gather my thoughts and speak. "They're going okay. Uuhm... There's not much to say really." I struggle to from words. He gives me an understanding smile. "That's fine." He gives the simple answer. "You're not much of a talker, are you?" He asks softly, amused. How does this man look right through me? "Not really, no. Except to my family I usually keep to myself." See that was opening up, even if just a little.

He nods slowly, he knows nothing is left of that family. "How's your brother? Is he doing okay?" My heart clenches at the thought of my brother. "Yeah, he's doing okay. He goes to the healers daily for the... On his back." I wince at myself, I can't even get the words out, every word that triggers something gets blocked by my brain. "He's adjusting well and he still talks to Liam which is good. I kind of expected him to distance himself from everyone." I keep talking, as if I'm talking to myself.

"That's good. The social contact will help him and I'm sure he'll heal in no time." He offers. He places the bag he took with him between us and takes out a small pack of biscuits, displaying them for me. Gesturing for me to eat them.

An olive branch.

I take one of the biscuits and take a bite, I usually forget how good these taste. "Can I ask a question now?" I say, hoping he'll say yes. And to my luck, he nods as he leans back on his arms.

From all the questions I might just pick the most useless one. "A few days ago I dropped some books off at your room. I had thought, since you seemed to like journaling and writing that you would like books. But you seemed disappointed? Uninterested." It's such a small thing but I wanna know. It just feels as if it has more meaning to it than just simple distaste.

"I was interested." He sighs. "I'm sorry I let you feel as if I didn't appreciate it. I did appreciate it. It's just... My dad is a scribe." I tilt my head up at that. A thought from more than a month ago coming back up.

Like he's the son of a scribe, not a rider.

"He taught me and my sisters many things. But most of all, it's why I love books so much. I appreciated that you brought books it just felt..." He trails off. "Wrong for you to have or read books without him." I finish for him.

He nods with a sad smile. "What do you like to read?" My voice Is soft as I ask the question. He tilts his face at me, a grin appearing. "That's two questions." He counters. "Look at you asking questions, the introvert asking questions." He mocks dramatic as if he's so surprised and I can't help but chuckle at it.

He stops his own laugh when he hears my chuckle. I look at him with a confused face. "What?" I ask. "Nothing, just, I haven't heard you laugh before." He says softly. "I was starting to think you're just one of these serious people that never laugh." He continues joking.

"You didn't answer." I state as I look away, towards the green grass field that's being kissed by the setting sun, the golden glow as beautiful as a sunflower.

"Folklore. History. Languages are interesting too. My dad taught me Tyrrish, I know a bit of Krovlish. I read a lot on poisons too, I'm pretty good at it." He explains and I have to admit it does sound interesting. "So you're good at killing people with poison?" I ask with a raised brow, amused.

He laughs and turns his head back towards me. "That piques your interest, huh?" I shrug with a smile. "Now I know why Naolin used to refer to you as a murderous little creature." He say amused, a smile on his face, both our faces. Both in memory of Naolin.

"How did you meet him?" I ask absentmindedly as I watch the sun set.

"Basgiath. He was in my squad at the riders quadrant. I didn't talk or interact much the first few months. As you know, I'm the general's son and people would suspect I would get better treatment for that, I wanted to prove that I don't and that I didn't need it. One day, when I was working on my fighting, he approached me, offered to help me work on a technique and every since he just stayed around. We got along and he was my first friend there, the first one who didn't treat me as the generals son, someone who looked past that. I suppose we got lucky when we graduated, placed in the same outpost." He explains and I can't help but feel as if history is repeating. Naolin was a caring person, he never wanted anyone to be alone.

I feel my eyes water. He reaches his hand out to my arm, carefully touching it. Like he's asking permissions to touch me. I sniff a little and I see him move out of the corner of my eye.

He moves his bag and the biscuits out of the way and sits next to me, enveloping me in his arms as he holds me close. "It's okay." He murmers softly. "It's okay to cry. You lost so much, been through so much the last two months. It's normal to cry." He comforts me.

We stay in silence for a while as he lets me softly cry, it's not the ugly crying that I had the first months, the full breakdowns that give you that massive headache and that hollow feeling, this is softer and with his arms around me the ache in my chest doesn't make an appearance.

"How did you meet him?" His tone is so soft as he pulls away a little and looks at me. He uses the sleeve of his shirt to wipe away the tears that fell down my cheeks.

I sniffle before answering. "I was four years old. My dad had put me in pre-school, naolin was in a higher year as he's older but we shared the same space during breaks. I was never a social child. I didn't have friends there either. I would always cry when dad dropped me off. One day Naolin came to me, asking me if I wanted to play with him." I begin. I smile a little at the memory. Brennan squeezes my arm. "Ever since he stuck around, he never left me behind and he was always there when I needed him." I finish. Brennan smiles down at me. He hands me another biscuit and takes one for himself.

We watch as the sun fully sets, the warm glow that used to reflect on the grass slowly vanishing as the dark of the night takes over. We almost finished the entire box of biscuits.

"You mentioned that you have sisters?" I whisper as the moonlight reflects on the ground.

"I have two younger sisters. Mira and Violet. They're amazing." A smile appears on his face. "Mira and I were inseperable, and Violet... She's a little fighter." His smile widens. "She has a condition... That makes her bones and joints snap easily." His smile dissapears, a frown taking it's place. "I always wrapped her joints for her." I tilt my head up to look at his face, now he's the one to gaze out over the grass field.

"She'll be fine. She's has her sister right? And your dad." I try to comfort him.

He nods absentmindedly, just like I had earlier. We're both going through so much.

"How about we slowly walk back to Riorson house? It's getting late, and cold." I offer softly. "Sure. You should get some sleep too. Are you busy tomorrow? He asks as he packs his bag and stands up, offering me his hand. I take it and he pulls me up with ease. "The usual kind of busy, assembly meeting. After that I just have some paperwork and then I'm done." I explain. This has been routine for the last two months but I can't say I'm complaining, it keeps me busy but I also have some free time.

I plan on training again soon. This morning I asked the weapons Smith if I could share the forge one of these days to make a new pair of swords and some daggers. I haven't used my magic in a while and I want to imbue the swords and daggers with magic and runes.

We walk back to Riorson house in a peaceful quiet, the moonlight our only source of light until the lights of Riorson house come into sight.

"Do you want me to walk you to your room?" I propose, once we reach the second floor and the door to the family quarters. He looks tired.

He gives me a small smile and shakes his head. "No, thank you. I appreciate it but I think I can walk up one floor and open a door." He says sarcastic and I can't help but roll my eyes at him. "Okay." I say equally as sarcastic.

I reach for the door when he speaks up. "Thank you. For tonight." A small smile appears on my face. I turn back to him and lean against the door.

I smile up at him. "No problem. I enjoyed it." It's true, I did. I didn't know what to expect but getting to know him at least a little soothed the uncertainty that I had about him a little.

He steps closer. "Can I hug you?" His voice is much quieter now. I give him a small nod.

He takes another step closer and wraps his arms around me. His head rests on top of mine. Perfect, we fit perfect.

We stay like that for a while before he pulls back. He gives me one last smile. "Goodnight... Star" he says, adding the nickname hesitantly.

"Goodnight Brennan." I respond softly. From my memory, this is the first time I said his name. And from the look on his face he thinks the same, he doesn't say anything as he turns to the staircase and walks away, dissapears from my view.

I walk in the family quarters to find my brother sleeping on the couch, a blanket draped over him. I sit on the opposite couch and lay down on it.

He looks peaceful as he sleeps. And my heart warms that at least now, he looks at peace. I stand up and sit beside the couch he's sleeping on. I take a hold of his hand and lay my head against the couch.

I fall asleep, feeling at ease and peaceful, knowing my brother is safe. And that no one can hurt him anymore.

☆

Taglist: @honethatty12 @smashee0789 @awkardnerd @randomperson1234sblog@bangtanxberm@hyperactive-bookworm-0@littowl @thebreadisthetruevillian

[cjsmalley]

A Reveal:

“Maman, Papa,” Marinette said after she raised the wards around the Bakery like she had been taught to by Miss Zatanna and was sitting down, clasping Adrien’s hands tightly with him beside her, “me and Adrien have something to tell you, okay? You can’t tell anyone else.”

“Okay,” Sabine agreed warily as her husband nodded.

Marinette inhaled, exhaled, looked to Adrien who nodded, and said, “Tikki, Spots On.”

The transformation overtook her and it was Ladybug who sat before Sabine and Tom Dupain-Cheng, still clutching Adrien’s hands.

Adrien who said, just as quietly, “Plagg, Claws Out.”

Sabine started weeping, standing up to hug the teen heroes; oh, god, they were just kids.

“Maman?”

“Anything you ever need,” Sabine pulled back, a hand on a cheek each as the teens looked up to her, “anything, Marinette, Adrien. Whether that be food or medical care or a safe spot to change, the Bakery, the house is open to you. Adrien, do your—”

“My adoptive parents know,” he explained, “they’re not any happier than you are. But they…they know magic, understand it. That’s another thing we have to tell you—I, er—Don’t own my soul?”

Marinette facepalmed as her parents gasped in horror, “Kitty, bad choice of words.”

“What do you mean—is it—is Marinette—” Tom struggled for words.

“Marinette’s fine. Her soul is fine,” Adrien rushed to reassure, “nothing to do with being Ladybug or Chat Noir. My…birthfather,” Adrien spoke quietly then, tiredly, resignedly, “my birthmother was very sick and my birthfather was trying to heal her. So he summoned the King of Ghosts and…sold my soul for my birthmother’s health…Papa—the Ghost King—adopted me instead of enslaving me like his predecessor would have. All my siblings have been sold to him too. Him and Mama and Uncle Tucker are barely older than me but they became my parents. Better parents than my birth ones ever were. They got me—and eventually Marinette—into therapy for all the horrible things we’ve seen, done because of Hawkmoth. I’m also in therapy because of the emotional abuse my birthfather put me through. That’s how I’m adopted but Papa does technically own me.”

Sabine had cupped a hand over her mouth in horror, eyes tearing up again.

“Can we meet them?” Tom demanded

“Not yet, one of their advisors, a ghost with power over Time, said that to reveal them in this timeline now would cause too many complications with Hawkmoth. But—” Adrien paused, “I could give you their phone number? Maybe. I’ll have to ask Grandfather if that’s okay.”

“Son, do you have a way to contact them?” Tom asked worriedly.

Adrien brightened, “Oh, yes! They taught me everything I needed to know to get into and out of the Palace safely and say I can bother them at any time, day or night. Gabriel never wanted to be bothered, you understand, too busy with stuff. But everyone in my new family says I can call, text, visit, or even Summon Papa and Danielle whenever I want for whatever reason!”

“I’ve been to the Palace,” Marinette added, shocking her parents, “I think you saw us leave? I was seriously injured and Adrien brought me to his parents to be healed by magic. It’s when I learned his Identity—”

Sabine and Tom looked gutted; they did remember seeing that battle where Chat Noir ended up taking a bleeding and dying Ladybug through a swirling green portal.

That had been their daughter. Their daughter had almost died that day and they might never had known. Would Adrien have been allowed to tell them, as Chat Noir, that their daughter had given her life for Paris? Or would she have just gone missing and been replaced as Ladybug with him unable to say anything?

The teens detransformed and two little creatures? Beings? Appeared.

“Maman, Papa, meet Tikki and Adrien’s patron is Plagg,” Marinette introduced the two beings; the red ladybug one alighting on her shoulder as the black cat looking one sat on Adrien’s head, “they’re basically gods and as their Chosen we channel a portion of their power each.”

Tikki giggled sweetly and waved at her Chosen’s parents, “We’re not really gods but that’s the closest human word for us. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

Sabine stood up from her seat and bowed lowly, “Your Majesties.”

“No, no, no bowing or scraping or nothing like that,” Plagg rolled his eyes, “we’re not those types of gods anyways. Just give me cheese and Tikki sweet things and we’re good.”

“They have to eat to quickly recharge their powers,” Marinette explained, “especially once we use the Cure or Cataclysm. Then we’re on a timer before the transformation fails. It’s a safety measure since we’re not adults; channeling power like that can have major physical consequences.”

“How so?”

“My organs can fail,” Adrien explained bluntly, “especially my heart, channeling Destruction. I have regular check-ups now with a doctor that knows magic. My body could just wither away if I use Plagg’s power too much.”

“My holders are cursed in a way,” Plagg admitted, “early deaths, health problems…general bad luck. Destruction is not a nice thing, though it is necessary for Creation to flourish.”

“My Chosen are also cursed,” Tikki agreed, “they can get…cancer, I think you call it. My divine power working their cells into overdrive. They are also extremely fertile, especially with Plagg’s holders. Multiple births used to be a death sentence for the woman and the babies. The fertility is why I work best with female holders. Women are, in a way, goddesses of Creations themselves. I also tend to go for artistic types. I need a creative mind to wield me, no matter what sort of creativity it is. Jeanne for example, she was no artist but she was creative and I still wish she had let me save her. She—” Tikki broke off with a sob.

“Jeanne?” Tom questioned his daughter quietly as Plagg flew over to comfort his other half.

“Jeanne d’Arc,” Marinette murmured, “she was a Ladybug; her Black Cat went crazy after she was killed. Started murdering children. Destruction without Creation or Creation without Destruction becomes…unbalanced, wild, holders can be driven mad without their equal and opposite and destined partners. There is…no one else that can rein them in. Ladybugs and Black Cats are always…soulmates in some way. Platonic, familial, or romantic it matters not. Usually,” Marinette licked her lower lip, “usually if one soulmate dies, the other can soldier on. Not with Ladybugs and their Black Cats. They need to be together somehow or they become…they go mad.”

“My kit could probably survive his Ladybug’s death,” Plagg spoke up, “he’s stubborn and he’d do his best to honor her, but he wouldn’t be entirely sane anymore. And Destruction or Creation going insane is never good either way…”

“I…we have more protection now,” Adrien admitted, “because Papa owns my soul it’s all but certain that I’ll become a ghost. If…if something happens to Marinette, Papa can stop me before I go too far by yanking my soul from my body. Without a soul the body is…empty, braindead basically. Easily biddable. If anything happens to me, I can still fight alongside my Marinette as a ghost.”

Marinette squeezed his hands, saying lowly to her parents, “I’m…they call it contaminated. By the stuff that makes up ghosts. Ectoplasm. The healing pools they put me in, they’re made up of pure ectoplasm and some sort of primordial energy that heals even those on the brink or death or beyond even that. So I do have a higher chance than I used to of becoming a ghost as well. Not like Adrien, who’s guaranteed to become a ghost. If my previous chances were fifty-fifty, now they’re fifty to fifty-one. Adrien’s family, they’re so contaminated by ectoplasm they’re classed as Liminal. That means they too are all but guaranteed to become ghosts as well and have access to certain ghostly abilities while living still.”

She gave a trembly smile that was no less genuine for it, “And I’ll do my best to become a ghost so I don’t leave Adrien behind for eternity in the Realms. We—don’t know what would happen if two soulmates don’t become ghosts together and I don’t want to risk it.”

“Are you soulmates because of these gods or were you—?” Tom started.

“Fate has a way of working out the kinks,” Plagg explained, shrugging, “we always end up in the hands of soulmates. Never happened that we haven’t. But like the Bug says, it’s not always romantic and if it is, it’s not always acted on for whatever stupid human reason or other. This pair,” he gestured with a paw to Adrien and Marinette, “just happens to be romantic and able and willing to deal with all that goes with that. And Fate doesn’t force it to be a certain relationship or other. We’ve had Cats and Bugs who were siblings or like siblings, parent and child, niece and uncle, aunt and nephew, best-friends, even one or two worst enemies who put aside their problems when they were needed. Just means that, for whatever reason, Fate decided that, yep, Cats and Bugs are matched sets like me and Tikki here. Can’t create without destroying something, can’t destroy anything not already created. Oh, and we’re called Kwami, not gods.”

“Is Fate a—Ka—Kwami,” Sabine stumbled over the word slightly.

Plagg snorted, “Nah, Fate’s not sentient, not like us. We can’t understand it any more than you humans can. We know it exists and works its’ way somehow but that’s about it. Most of the time destiny’s a crapshoot anyways,” the little god sneered, “My kit and Tikki’s Bug have already stopped so many nasty destinies for this silly little city and planet. Very few things in this universe are really destined like humans think. Most of it is random chance with maybe something pulling strings very occasionally.”

He shrugged again, “Even these two, soulmates, yeah, Fated to meet, yeah, but not destined to meet like they did. They could have met in a thousand different ways. They didn’t even have to know each other’s civilian identities ever. Had that happen a few times.”

“Always so sad when that happens, especially if they are romantic soulmates,” Tikki finally spoke up.

Plagg gave a bark of laughter, “Remember your Bug who managed to pass off my kit’s kittens as her husband’s?”

“She was lucky they looked so similar, but your kits have brought my Bugs’ children into their marriages without problems too.”

“They’re lucky their wives had no other option but to grin and bear bastards,” Plagg shot back.

“Okay!” Marinette interjected, “While the history lesson is interesting, that won’t happen this time! Any of my children will be Adrien’s.”

“And I will never be unfaithful to my Marinette,” Adrien said firmly.

“Kids…” Sabine started slowly, “are you two…active…with each other.”

“No. Not yet.” Marinette said simply, “We’re Destruction and Bad Luck matched with Creation and Good Luck.”

“That is just asking for children,” Adrien agreed, “and while my parents would support us, they would also skin me alive first.”

“Don’t they have—?”

“Adopted. Well, not Danielle but she’s the result of non-consensual weird science.”

“I think we need that number.” Tom said faintly.

“I’ll ask Grandfather if it’s alright,” Adrien repeated.

Wished Away 9

Tylers meet Phantoms:

“Christ, Mum,” Rose said as she took in how Jackie, Pete, and Tony were dressed, “we’re just meetin’—”

“Royalty!” Jackie squeaked. They were all done up like they were meeting the Queen at Buckingham Palace itself!

“Honestly, Mum, they don’t care,” Rose rolled her eyes, grabbing her mother’s wrist and tugging her through the console room and to the wardrobe room, “I told ya ta dress casually. Let’s just hope the Ol’ Girl has clothes fer ya.”

It took about an hour to get everyone redressed, in things much more casual but still nice, before Rose led them back to the console room.

Jackie was clearly anxious, “Are ya—”

“’m sure, Mum. Danny an’ Sam don’t do formal unless they have ta. Unless you’re an annoying subject or someone threatenin’ war, ya don’t even have ta call ‘em by their titles. They’re just Danny an’ Sam ta family.”

“Lookie what I found,” Jenny bounded from the innards of the TARDIS, holding a tiny bike helmet.

She went to her toddler uncle and put it on him, making sure it fit right, “Landings in the Realms are worse than normal ones. The TARDIS does Her best but the Realms give her…nausea? A headache? She just doesn’t do good.”

“Oh, goody,” Jackie said lowly, hugging a strut for dear life already.

“Let me protect Anthony,” Bad Wolf came out, holding out her arms; without hesitation, Pete handed his son over.

Bad Wolf settled Tony in her arms, against her chest and shoulder, and then spread her feet and crouched slightly, clearly bracing for impact; she stayed steady even as the TARDIS began Her flight.

Everyone else was thrown about the console room, the Doctor and Jenny barely holding on to work the console, but Bad Wolf and Tony did not move an inch.

The landing was rough, just as Jenny said it would be, throwing even the Time Lords to the grated floor before the TARDIS stopped quaking.

Jenny recovered first and stood up, rubbing her shoulder, to peek out the doors, “We’re in the Palace. Uncle Danny and Aunt Sam are waiting…”

Slowly, everyone picked themselves up and Rose reemerged, straightening with some popping from her knees.

Jenny led the procession out, racing to hug a man and a woman, “Uncle Danny, Aunt Sam! How’re you?”

Danny and Sam chuckled and hugged her as one, “Good, doing good. You?”

“Perfect!”

She let go of them to drag Jackie, who was hesitant, forward, “This’s my Gran, Jackie. Mum’s side, duh. Completely human. He’s my step-granddad, Pete, and Mum’s holding my uncle, Tony.”

“Yer Majesties,” Jackie tried to curtsy even though she was in trousers, “an honor ta—”

“Oh, enough,” Sam chuckled, “didn’t they tell you? We don’t do formalities with family.”

“Family?” Jackie’s eyes were wide, “I know Rose said—but—”

“We count Clockwork as family,” Danny explained, “and he’s claimed the Doctor as family. The Doctor and Jenny. Rose’s basically married in by this point. Common-law, you understand. That makes her family our family. Welcome to the Palace, your home in the Infinite Realms.”

“My god,” Pete muttered, somewhat disbelieving.

“Not a god, not yet anyways,” Danny winked.

“Where’s Dani?” Jenny burst out, “Is she still in school?”

Sam grinned, “With Anakin, in the nursery. We let her stay home today.”

“Oh, Gran! Can I introduce Tony to Anakin? Please!” Jenny nearly begged.

“Anakin’s our youngest,” Danny explained kindly, “around Tony’s age, actually. We also have a nanny looking after them, Nanny Clara. He’d be perfectly safe.”

“Well…” Jackie looked to her husband, who nodded, “if you’re sure.”

Jenny cheered and took Tony from Rose, dashing off with him deeper into the Palace.

“Jenny knows the Palace as well as anyone,” Sam assured, “and if she gets lost, she can flag down a servant for help. She’s heading directly for the nursery. It’s the most defensible part of the Palace.

Danny stood up, helping Sam, “C’mon, we can talk over food; stay close, Tylers. Doctor?”

“Rose and I can bring up the rear,” the Doctor agreed, taking Rose’s hand as they began walking.

The Palace was a gothic masterpiece, in a very literal sense, though even Sam had wearied of all the gloom and had sought artists and artwork to fill the halls, soft, plush carpets and tapestries to keep the warmth, glassworks to fill the once barred windows. Statues and busts dotted the hallways, some classical, some avant garde

Masters had given their masterpieces, their magnum opuses; they were paid handsomely of course, in either coin or material.

Oils, watercolors, acrylics, textiles, glass, all created for Her Majesty the Ghost Queen. For His Majesty the Ghost King.

It wasn’t yet a riot of color, nor would it ever be, but it was more alive.

Jackie gasped and the group stopped, turning as one to see what had captured her attention.

“When they said the family was huge…”

Ah, it was the most recent family portrait; all the children were gathered around Danny and Sam, all in formal wear.

“We…sometimes people sell the souls of children to me,” Danny started, causing her and Pete to whip around to him in horror, “I know, it’s horrible, isn’t it? But anyways, we adopt the kids. Only Dani—Danielle—isn’t adopted.”

He pointed out each child and gave their backstory.

“Good Lord, you were young!” Pete said at Damian’s story.

“Old enough to be king,” Danny shrugged helplessly, “it…it wasn’t easy, we had help, so much help, and we made mistakes…”

“All parents do,” Jackie told him softly.

“So we’ve been told,” Sam smiled just as softly, “and we’ve learned and made new ones with each kid.”

Danny coughed and continued to point out kids and tell stories, until all had been covered and then they moved on.

As they neared the dining room, Danielle and Jenny joined them with each holding a toddler.

“Oh my,” Jackie said, taking in the Anakin Skywalker; she knew who he grew up to be, or would have if he had not been adopted.

“We’re hungry, Dad,” Danielle said.

Danny waved them into the dining room where the smaller table was already set for a meal; there were two chairs with booster seats and Jenny and Danielle put Tony and Anakin in them before sitting beside them and helping them get food.

The group chatted over the meal, Jackie and Pete slowly relaxing at how easy going the Royals were, and generally had good cheer.

After the meal was done, Jenny asked, “Do we put their photo up on the family wall now? I know you’ve got me, Dad, and Mum…”

Danny chuckled, “We can, if they’re okay with it.”

“Family wall?” Pete questioned.

“We keep walls of pictures of the extended family,” Sam explained easily, “you know, like Rose, the Doctor, and Jenny. Harry’s and Neville’s parents. Damian’s paternal birth-family. The Royal Portrait is just the immediate royal family. The walls are for everyone and everything else.”

Danny and Sam led the group out of the dining room and down another hallway; the walls were plastered with photographs. Some were professional, most were candid and amateur.

A common camera sat on a small round table; a high-end camera but nothing too expensive or professional.

Danny picked it up, saying, “If Jackie, Pete, and Tony don’t mind—”

Jackie decided it would be a family photograph and dragged the Doctor in; Rose and Jenny came without complaint.

Danny took a set of pictures.

After that was done, it was decided it was time for the Tylers to leave, taking pity on the still disgruntled TARDIS.

They were, however, invited to the next family gathering.

[firestorm09890]

hi can you tell me about limbus company specifically about don quixote and sancho. i’m trying to piece it together from context clues but i’m not doing well. basically as you may know i’m a huge mili fan and i’ve just been wanting to understand the context behind the song hero so i can appreciate it better

OMG I WOULD BE HONORED TO so the first thing you need to know is that Project Moon worldbuilding is a massive beast. There will be stuff I leave out because it's not entirely relevant to Hero, but I'll do the best I can to both explain everything and keep it "short".

...Not short enough that it can stay without a readmore.

The first thing you need to know is that most of the time in fandom, the name Don Quixote refers to this person

She is extremely passionate about justice and is described as someone who appears to be playing the role of a righteous knight.

Other important information here is that every playable character in Limbus Company has an icon

an associated emoji (🎠), an associated color (Oblivion Yellow; it's just the yellow above but the word Oblivion is important), an associated phrase ("To reach the unreachable star!"), and this thing called a personal EGO, which is basically a special attack that comes from the self or something. Don Quixote's is called "La Sangre de Sancho" and consists of her shouting "Onwards, Rocinante! Justice will prevail!", running at the enemy and stabbing a lance made of blood into them. Rocinante is the name of her shoes, but it was also the name of Don Quixote's horse in the book. This is what the art for that EGO attack looks like.

Lots of posters, she's playing dolls, you can ignore the barbed wire and bars on the windows because that's part of every personal EGO but you do not have to ignore the scary skeleton horse shadow or the fact that outside the window is a carousel where instead of horses, there are people impaled on sticks. This will all make sense later.

This is Sancho. She is the same person as the Don Quixote from above.

With Sancho, you might see someone else named Don Quixote, who looks like this

This white-haired man is the Don Quixote I will be referring to up until the yellow-haired girl takes his name.

Once upon a time, probably hundreds or even thousands of years ago, there was this vampire (henceforth called a "bloodfiend") named Don Quixote. He pulls inspiration from the literary Don Quixote but only some. He lived in a castle in the middle of nowhere by himself until the weight of his bloodthirst got to him and he went to go make some kindred to alleviate the pain (bloodfiends can each turn two people max into other bloodfiends, after that they kinda just become shambling zombies made of blood; the more generations a bloodfiend "family" has, the more spread out the collective bloodthirst gets, so it's in a bloodfiend's best interest to turn others). The first of Don Quixote's kindred was a woman named Sancho, who he found kinda just letting herself die in a ditch. He asked her to join him, and she accepted.

In Don Quixote, Sancho was Don Quixote's squire, who got roped into it by the promise that he would get an island to be the governor of. There's this whole thing in the book about Don Quixote's delusions becoming slightly more realistic as the story passes, while Sancho's ideals trended the opposite way. This will be important I promise.

Don Quixote made another kindred, and that kindred went on to make a bunch of other kindreds until there was a whole huge bloodfiend family living together in that castle in the middle of nowhere. Sancho was unusual for a bloodfiend, having no interest in making kindred herself and being far more skeptical of Don Quixote's whims than any bloodfiend (or squire) should be (they have an instinct to never go against the bloodstream). She was cold and distant from the rest of her family, except for DQ.

One day! A human knight appeared at the door! In the beginning Don Quixote didn't want her there but then she sparred against him to a draw (bloodfiends are EXTREMELY powerful, more powerful than humans) which made him gain a little bit of respect for her. This knight, Bari (not a character in Don Quixote, she has other shit going on), started regaling Don Quixote with tales of Fixers, humans in The City (Limbus Company's main setting) who are... essentially mercenaries but with class- once again a whole thing but essentially she got him thinking about knights and adventurers. She did this to inspire him to take the side of humans in a war against bloodfiends that was happening elsewhere, which he does. Sancho, who thinks Bari's stories are stupid and this interest is foolhardy, stands by his side in battle.

...But wait! Over time, Sancho too grows interested in Bari's stories, though she refuses to admit it. At one point Bari tells Don Quixote about amusement parks, which gets him thinking "waow maybe if we make an amusement park, my family of bloodfiends can coexist with humans!"

It was a lovely idea, and DQ and one of his lower kindred crafted this cool new thing called "hemobars" which were like a little bit of blood mixed with a bunch of other stuff to make a brick bloodfiends could eat to satisfy their need for blood. Guests would pay at the door in blood, and they would be made into hemobars to distribute to the bloodfiend family, who runs the amusement park.

Surprise surprise, the hemobars were not enough, and the family was getting restless. They wanted to drink blood so badly, but they couldn't go against Don Quixote's wishes because he's the patriarch. So, knowing that he was really into collecting cool artifacts, a few of the bloodfiends came up with a plan to even the playing field. They told him about the Helm of Mambrino, which makes anyone who wears it be perceived as being on the exact same level as those perceiving them, so they would be able to rebel against him (they did not tell him any of this aside from it being a cool helm). A wonderful adventure! And due to Sancho's interest in the knight stuff, the family did not tell her about the plan, and Don Quixote took her with him as his squire.

They did adventure stuff, at some point Don Quixote turned a pair of shoes he got into a powerful artifact named Rocinante that will be important later. Don Quixote wants Sancho to get into the spirit of things, Sancho says it's ridiculously juvenile but tries to speak like she's in Shakespeare anyways, it's all great. They get the helm.

And then when they get back to the amusement park, everything's in shambles. Bloodfiends eating people. Don Quixote, who presumably can't take off the helm because it's cursed or something, seals the entirety of the park off (he can do that because he made it out of his own blood. it's normal), trapping everyone inside so they can't hurt more humans, but...

He orders Sancho to leave first. She was wearing the shoes at the time and those shoes take her away even though she doesn't want to go and there's lots of screaming and crying and it's horribly tragic.

Super depressed, she asks Bari to take her to Lethe, the River of Oblivion, a magic river that will wipe her memories. There's this whole thing about how drinking from the river hones some of your thoughts into a mad obsession which is only a tad relevant. She loses her memories and goes to live alone in a lighthouse in the vast outskirts surrounding the City.

I'm so sorry this was entirely backstory so far.

Cut to 200 years later, Sancho has been basically playing dolls by herself this whole time. Her obsession focuses entirely on Fixers, the sorts of heroes her father (oh yeah that's how bloodfiends work, the guy who turned her is her father now) used to love. She's silly now! She's believing the posters are talking to her! She doesn't know about the unglamorous, "hired mercenary" part of Fixer life, believing everything they do is for justice. After 200 years, this guy shows up to recruit her for Limbus Company and she accepts- at this point, she's forgotten her name, but she also hasn't taken off Rocinante, and who's name is written on Rocinante? ...Why, Don Quixote, of course! So she takes the name Don Quixote for herself.

In Limbus Company (company) she's extremely loud and passionate and will rush forward to fight for justice which causes problems for the team more than once. But the thing about Limbus Company is that everyone on the LCB team has to face their past for their mission to collect these things called Golden Boughs, and her turn eventually comes up. Coincidentally, the amusement park her father built has reappeared in the middle of the City, and it's luring people in.

She goes into this mission completely unaware of its connection to her, even as people recognize her and one guy actively tries to remind her of her past. In fact, she's extremely enthusiastic about vanquishing bloodfiends for their evil deeds. Eventually, though, there are circumstances that lead her to a point where she can't turn away subconsciously anymore, and she dismounts Rocinante (read: takes off her shoes)

The thing about Rocinante is that they have been binding her bloodfiend traits this entire time, and because she was wearing them when she drank from the river, taking them off means she remembers everything. And then she sees her father, the original Don Quixote, who, at this point, has been stabbed with thousands of stakes and is sort of merged with the ferris wheel and the Golden Bough that Limbus Company seeks is stabbed into him as well, which is a whole nother can of worms we don't need to get into

Okay at this point Sancho declares her 200 years as Don Quixote to be a dream that has ended. She fucks off to go be with her father in the center of the dungeon that's formed due to the Golden Bough, and the LCB team, the rest of our protagonists, chase her. A few other things happen but she's mostly bitter and sad.

Old Don Quixote, in his 200 years of being trapped with his starving bloodfiend kindred who have stabbed him a thousand times, has decided that his dream is dead too. There is no way humans and bloodfiends can coexist. The amusement park would have never worked. What's important now is that he feeds his family.

Unfortunately, the LCB's other objective aside from obtaining the Golden Bough is to apprehend the creator of the amusement park- Don Quixote. Sancho, ever loyal, stands in their way. There's this really long battle and whole sequence where they eventually break through to her- they remind her she's never been alone (Bari, the knight, was answering every single letter Sancho wrote to her Fixer idols. don't ask how she's still around), they remind her that the dream is still alive, and even though her father no longer believes in it, it really did become hers. Sancho struggles with the idea that the past 200 years was just a dream- even though she remembers everything from before that now, she can't just forget what she did then. That was also her. There's a cool part of her battle theme where her introductory line from the beginning of the game is incorporated into the music but cuts off before she can say her name. Anyway eventually she decides she'll give moving on with her new friends, the LCB, a chance.

Which means now she's standing against the original Don Quixote. This is the battle where Hero plays. I wish I could get into battle mechanics but that would make this explanation wayyyyy too long. He fights them all, and he's so powerful that eventually he almost kills all of them (including the narrator, who revives all the others; if they die, it's over for good), but Sancho stands in his way. They do an awesome anime clash, with Sancho using an upgraded version of her personal EGO (there is a qte. this game does not do qtes. it's supposed to represent her no longer galloping alone on Rocinante, but together) and Sancho wins. Everything that happens after is no longer relevant to Hero but I'll tell you anyway, as Don Quixote lays dying, he dissolves the amusement park (literally. into blood rain), Sancho cries over him, decides to put back on Rocinante and become the "new" Don Quixote, the one the dream will live on within.

WITH THAT CONTEXT GO FORTH!!!

Also the boss fight itself is long as fuck so the mix made to emulate the in-game experience is 23 minutes long but I can show you the cutscene featuring the final clash (only 2 minutes long), which starts from the line "Stand up, gallop on" and is so fucking awesome and imo seeing what's happening during "I am my biggest fan, I am my biggest fan" is peak

This is the in-game mix if you want it lmao

[secondarysefikura]

(Sorry if this sent twice, my WiFi's shitty rn) I remember you mentioned writing a sefikura fic where Sephiroth wins (I think) and Cloud's hiding in small spaces and generally acting traumatized, and Sephiroth's like "oh look he's playing" or something, did you ever post it somewhere?

I have sadly not yet posted it, mostly since I have yet to finish it. I have been kinda struggling to properly get the inspiration to write recently :(

But since you asked I will share a little snippet.

Cloud is pacing again: the same perfect circle he’s long since worn into the floor. 

It’s a strange and annoying habit of his; one that Sephiroth can’t quite place. Does Cloud like the sound of creaking floors? No, it can’t be that. The floor’s creaking only started recently (likely a by-product of Cloud’s pacing, if Sephiroth had to guess) but the pacing has been happening for months now. 

Perhaps Cloud is playing some sort of game that only he can understand? Yet whenever Sephiroth peers into Cloud’s mind, he cannot find any thoughts or logic that would suggest the pacing has any end goal. How can it be a game if there is no way to win? The simple answer is that it can’t be and must be something else.

Yet no matter what way he looks at it, Sephiroth cannot understand why Cloud is doing this. 

The problem is that even Cloud’s subconscious doesn’t seem to know why he is pacing, so Sephiroth cannot explain it either. There is no precedent nor suppressed memories that he can use to understand his strange little puppet. All he really knows about the pacing is that Cloud didn’t used to do this, but now he does. And that it is annoying. 

Very annoying. 

“Cloud, sit down.” 

Cloud stills for a moment, almost as if processing the command before retreating into his designated corner.

Ah yes, the corner. The first of several attempts to solve Cloud’s strange behaviour. 

Shortly after the pacing started, Cloud had begun to hide. Not hide from him, per se—Cloud both knows better than to try something so stupid and has had any urge to avoid Sephiroth…dealt with—but from the world in general. 

It started with Cloud hiding under the blankets when they slept, fully retreating under the duvet as he curled up into a ball. Then he learned to tuck himself under tables like he was preparing for an earthquake, refusing to stop no matter how many times Sephiroth assured him that there was no danger he needed to hide from. 

Besides the blankets and the tables, Sephiroth has caught him sleeping in the armoire enough times that if he calls for Cloud and his puppet doesn’t come running, he knows precisely where to check. 

I'll finish it soon! I promise!

[photoniccyclone]

Crack Theory: Zym Will Be the One To Save Claudia

Sounds crazy right? But here me out, I may be huffing some major copium right now and it requires some other headcannons to come true but when you think about it... this could be a really cool thing for them to do.

Zym can talk now, which means he's gonna need to be a charatcer and do character things, what better way to do that then take a crack at saving Claudia and bringing a new perspective the others didn't? Picking up where they failed?

In order to be saved now, after all the damage that's been done to her, she's going to need two things in my eyes.

A lot of empathy. Those who try to save her need to have sympathy and empathy for her situation and while not agreeing with what she did, have the understanding of why she did them and what she's going through, and have the ability to be patient with her and help her when she's struggling. This is going to be hard for a lot of the cast. Rayla definitely can not do this because she just downright hates her (she spent the two year time jump trying to kill her) so she's out. The rest, their emphathy has been spent potentially after their failed attempts to save her, which were, not very successful for a variety of reasons i.e tricking her with a fake mom (diabolical) or straight up making her feel gaslit. (I'm referencing the "I think we have different bone feelings" it's important to note that I don't think Soren was gaslighting her because he truly believed in what he said, but to someone like her, it can come across as gaslighting.) Or not giving her the time of day, but that's not the point. The point is that the rest of the cast feels they've done all they can, even Soren feels that way, remember he begs Terry to let him kill her! While we don't know where Zym stands on this, we can start to sow some doubt in his mind about the dragaang's methods. This will not only help explain why Zym wants to try and take a crack at saving Claudia but also help develop him into his own character who isn't just Ezran 2.0. Maybe him and Ez can even have a disagreement over this at some point! Wouldn't it be cool to see an argument or a bit of a temporary falling out between these two? Zym has been shown to be extremely emphathetic so far, similar to Ezran and has a chance that he could feel like he could bring something new to the table that the gang hasn't tried before which I will get into later. (ANNNNDDDDD, if a certain headcannon holds true he might be perfect for the job)

A proper addressing of Xadia's crimes. Yes, she's definitely going to need this. What Xadia did in the past drives a lot of her character, maybe not as much as family but it's a huge motivator, and it must sting really hard when her own brother contradicts everything with "I don't have the same bone feelings". It could easily be going through her mind right now like "Are you crazy? after everything they did to us your just all lovey dovey with them? Like it just didn't happen?". Someone is going to need to acknowledge what happened, clearly and definitively and also apologize for it and deliver the promise that they will make sure it will never happen again. Now... who better to deliver this message to her than the literal King of The Dragons himself who literally has the power to make it never happen again? Could this cure her instantly? No, maybe not... Claudia is hurting badly and the scars run deep, but that could be the beginning to set off a chain reaction that Zym could help her through by instilling point 1.

Now, if a certain headcannon comes true which could make narrative sense, it would just make this all the more powerful. You know how Ezran is an empath with animals? Like he can basically talk to them to an extent and can also feel their pain (novelizations), what if Zym is the same, but for humans and elves. This is not entirely baseless either, other than providing cool symmetry it would also explain why Zym is able to communicate telepathically with Ezran to an extent. It's two empaths connecting to each other. If Zym has this power, he could potentially understand what Claudia feels on a deeper level then anyone else because he literally feels it too, and thus would easier be able to empathize with her making point 1 all the more plausible.

And on top of everything... I just feel it would be really sweet. I love Zym, I love Claudia and seeing Zym be a character by performing something so monumental and helping someone who clearly needs help would just be... kinda heartwarming to me if done correctly. That's why it's a crack theory at the end of the day. There's not hard evidence and it relies on some assumptions, but do I want it to happen? Absolutely?

But hey, if you disagree, that's fine too! :)

"But Claudia is pure evil and I want her to burn."

I disagree on that but to each their own, fine If you want that too I guess lmao.

[inthefoxholes]

Yes to everything you say.

This is such a strange way to watch movies, to need to have everything spelled out to you - i mean, the mcu is kinda responsible for this trend, trying to simplify everything to caricatures, *cough* Thanos *cough*.

I think Tony Stark is the most obvious candidate for this disconnect, because he is a selfish asshole billionaire, that got rich off of weapons manufacturing, who is shown, again and again, to not have functionining impulse control, to not be able see the bigger picture; he has anxiety and is up in his head a lot. None of this is inherently bad (except being a billionaire, of course, but even this could be reckoned with, narratively), but it makes for a complex character. But as you say, the narrative does not allow him to be one; he doesn't get to grow, he doesn't get to learn. From start to finish, he is the eccentric, abrasive guy with "secret" self-worth (daddy-)issues, which, yeah, make him martyr himself if need be, but never reconsider outside of these life and death situations. After every movie he starts again, only with more anxiety, more self-worth issues - no reflection, no growth.

In my opinion, this rather simplistic character-formula crashes horribly with the Cap franchise, which at least tries for more nuance, and, more importantly, does not tell their viewers so much. It shows, and you have to inference for yourself what it means/might mean/might imply. It never tells us, in so many words, that Bucky was too brainwashed to be culpable; we don't learn that POWs, even if they are not robbed of their whole agency as Bucky clearly was, cannot be held liable for their actions while in capitivity. It also never explains (in-movie, I mean), why exactly Howard transported the serum in his private car, with his wife present. (Infuriatingly, the movies keep teasing these things that never get explored. Like in Endgame, when it's shown that Howard knew Zola, worked kinda closely with him? When he must have known that it was Zola who tortured Bucky and what would later become the Howling Commandos, because Howard was shown to be obsessed with Captain America, so he would have known what happened on the mission that basically made his name. What is the connection here? What else did Howard know? We never find out, because Howard, too, gets redconned in the movies, from a complex, morally grey, shitty father to someone who always tried his best, he just didn't know any better! So like father like son, I guess, because Tony also never knows better.) But if you watch the movie, have watched CA:TWS, you know that Bucky is as much a victim as Howard, and cannot, in any sense, be held responsible for his actions. Which makes Tony, who hurts Bucky, sadistically, who is ready to seriously injure Steve to get to Bucky, unequivocally the villain. And the mcu does not like that or cannot deal with that, or maybe it doesn't fit their ten-year-multi-billion-dollar-plan, whatever, but it is a badly done, from a narrative standpoint, to have the Accords (the wrongness of them) be present in the following movies and series, but never ever reckon with what Tony did and what it shows him to be.

Also, to add to what you wrote (sorry this got so long, this has infuriated me for so long, i can never shut up about it. Apologies!), i mean, EVEN IF Bucky never helped anyone after getting away from Hydra after TWS, even if Bucky turned into a bitter, misanthropic asshole (which would be entirely justified, btw), it still would never be ok to murder someone. That, in-cannon, this gets treated like an "understandable" reaction, as if Tony were a child and not a goddamn grown man with every money-resources-information-agency available to him, that this gets treated as "just as bad as what Steve did, not telling Tony beforehand" boggles my fucking mind.

Like, I can't even tell who is (more) media illitarete here, the Tony stans or the makers of CW and everything after that, who just ignore this elephant in the room.

You can like Tony Stark, i don't mind, but at least be honest about who he keeps shown to be.

It is wild, as they say, that after 9 years, holding that Tony was morally wrong to try to murder Bucky in Civil War is still a controversial position.

Are Tony fans really such a morality void that they have to condone murder and revenge-killing.

[puppppppppy]

i feel like im not making any sense but does anyone else feel like there are stories that let u run with them and ones that spell everything out for you

[piko-rose]

My Personal Headcanon On Why Amy's Love For Sonic Died Down Lately (and their dynamic)

When they were younger, Amy's love for Sonic was pretty extreme, and Sonic was, understandable, uncomfortable for the most part. He knows she means well, but that girl needs to calm down.

She can fight, but sometimes her hammer could only stun her enemies for a while. (It took her a long time to get rid of that robot that has been chasing her around Station Square.) She wasn't fully independent yet, even if she fought on her own a couple of times.

She often follows Sonic and his friends around. She is part of the team, but she was not a strong as she is now at the time yet.

She admires Sonic. A LOT. And Sonic knows that. Obviously, he could only run away from something like that, since he is NOT ready for that kind of thing, and whether Amy takes the hint or stop, she still loves him.

...BUT, I think things were slightly starting to change between her and Sonic after Lost World.

Remember this line?

You remember that? Okay, okay. Here's another totally unrelated question:

Before the events of Lost World, when was the last time Amy said "I love you" to Sonic out loud?

...YEP. 😈 (Unless I'm missing something, let me know lmao)

As more games and adventures come out, the characters get slightly older, and Amy is 12 to 13 now, and she is most certainly at that age where her body starts to change, but especially on how she views Sonic.

She knows she loves Sonic, but it was this moment during her change where she actually wanted to admit that she loves him.

I believe that Amy was all about sharing her affection to him not through confessions, but through obvious hints. Sonic totally got it, and there was no need to confess. Sonic knows she loves her.

...But she never said it. And she almost did, but she never did again for a while.

I think this was the moment in her life where, oh, God, she actually loves Sonic. SHE LOVES HIM, WHAT.

And she was looking back at all the times she had with Sonic that she can now see were unpleasant to Sonic (At least that's what she thinks) and that's probably why she isn't so expressive about her love to him than how she used to back then.

She wasn't sure what to do with this realization, and sets aside it for a while, and nearly stayed as her casual, peppy self... until the Eggman War happened.

During the 6 months of being with the Resistance, fighting Eggman's army all day and all night, all she can think of was Sonic.

She dreams that he still with not just her, but with her friends. She just wanted to see Sonic again, she just wants to be with her hero again.

But I'd like to think that she was also thinking about how she used to treat Sonic back when they were younger, how Sonic would almost always run away from her whenever she asks him out, or always look so uncomfortable whenever she gets so close to him.

Cringing at those memories big time, she wanted to change and hopefully when Sonic is okay and comes back, she can be better for him.

...Or will he still find her uncomfortable regardless? Would he even be happy to see her at all if he did survive?

But, hold on! She can't just give up her love for Sonic! He made her who she is today! A peppy, nature-loving, hammer-swinging, confident, brave... loud-mouth... annoying... Sonic obsessed... weak... pathetic... lonely little girl.

If she gives up on Sonic, it'll be like she gave up on the one hedgehog who saved her life. If she didn't she'll still be the same ol' Amy.

I also like to think she had parents a long while before she met Sonic, and was even expecting a little sister, but a robot invasion happened from where she was and attacked her parents and instead of trying to save them, after getting hurt, she ran away, hoping that they'll come back okay. But they never did.

She was all alone, and needed someone, a friend, a new family, someone who will hold her hand, anyone, to be there for her. But she was ignored by lots, and at that point, she's better off by herself, but still longed for company.

Eventually though, her tarot cards told her her future hero, and there might be hope after all. She encountered Sonic, held onto the belief of the cards tight, and the rest is history.

So, with that headcanon in mind, not only did Amy loose her parents that she didn't save because of her cowardliness (she was only so little at the time that happened) and also Sonic, who she thought will be her only hope, but now gone.

She doesn't even care if he did come back, he'd probably hate her now after everything she did to him, always talking about their "future wedding" or forcing him to go to Twinkle Park.

For the last few months of the war, it was nothing but Amy mentally beating herself up for either refusing to change or moving on, and they are both not fine choices.

She loves Sonic, but he does not love her, and she finally, finally realized it. And it's probably for the best if no body loved her at all.

But of course Sonic did survive and all of her worries wash away in an instant, she's just not expressive about her love for Sonic AT ALL now, since she's still worried about it but rather not mention it to Sonic because it doesn't matter.

If Sonic doesn't love her, then her feelings don't matter to him, and according to Amy herself, that is okay.

But also, I'd like to think that Sonic was thinking about his friends a lot up in the Death Egg for the past months, sometimes it's Tails (worried for his safety), sometimes it's Shadow (because he's wondering why he would join Eggman.) At some point, for a few days, Amy was in his mind the longest, and he felt bad about how he thought he was rude and pushy to her.

He wondered if she's not thinking about it too much, and if she is, will she give up on him? Yeah, he doesn't feel the same and still not looking for a relationship, but it's so strange but interesting how anyone could ever like someone like Sonic the Hedgehog. Amy was never afraid to show that, and she probably might be now.

He couldn't help but feel guilty. They were kids when she was like this, but he was so... arrogant at the time too. Not a lot happened at the time yet. He'd always have trouble expressing how much he value his friends, until he shattered the Paradox Prism. (I'd like to think Prime took place before Forces. It makes sense.)

She is such a sweet girl, and he probably made her believe that he didn't care for her. Just because he doesn't feel the same, that doesn't mean he hates her at all.

He wished he never ran away from Amy... Worrying for his little bro and wishing to be a good person for Amy was when Sonic cried in the Death Egg for the first and only time.

Frontiers, in my opinion, is kind of confirming their dynamic now. Sonic is a lot more sincere and kinder to Amy and she is not all hyperactive and lovey to Sonic. There is probably a real reason for this now.

They are both hiding their feelings from them, and they are both unaware of this. Amy, hiding her mental issues from Sonic, and Sonic, hiding his guilt away from Amy.

None of those things are important now. Sonic is with Amy and Amy is with Sonic. They are here with each other. They can be finally be better for each other now.

They don't care if they'll ever be something more when they get older. None of that matters anymore. They are here with each other. They can be finally be better for each other now.

Maybe someday they'll both talk about it, but for now, the present is important. They care about each other too much to think about it right now.

It's the kind of love that is unbreakable. It doesn't even have to be romantic. It's just love. Love is important for everyone, in any form. It's something Sonic and his friends need. And especially Sonic and Amy.

Amy Rose is the living embodiment of love, and without her, a lot would go downhill for Sonic and co. Heck, if it weren't for her, Shadow wouldn't have never remembered Maria's promise, which lead him to save the world with Sonic, before he temporarily disappeared from their lives for a while.

She is always there to lend a helping hand for anybody, even bad guys like Metal Sonic, and despite what she had been through, both in Forces and headcanon wise, she still fights back, even without her hammer.

She will pick you back up on your feet, reminding you that you are important and that you are loved, and that you should never give up. It's pretty much the words of encouragement she herself needed also...

She is still the happy, hyper, butt-kicking hedgehog we all know and love, but she still need someone to pick her back up on her feet after so long. Thankfully, she has her friends and her blue hero. The hero who made her who she is today.

I think Amy has no idea how important she thought she is, but Sonic does. Sonic knows fully well how important she is to a lot of people. It's about time he returns the favor to her. It's his turn to remind her how much a lot of people love her.

How much he loves her.

And I feel like The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog was the moment where their dynamic really shined, but also the starting point of their relationship not only healing, but also the next chapter of what's to come for them.

Everyone, friends old and new, gathered around for a special birthday. A birthday for the confident, unshakable, and radiant Amy Rose.

It was such a special moment in Amy's life. After years of chasing and following the people she look up to, she is part of the team, but most importantly, she is part of the family.

She is fully realized as someone more than just a fangirl, but someone strong, courageous, creative, kind and a big inspiration for others.

I feel like this moment here...

-is where Amy is eternally grateful to call her friends her family. A family she thought she'll never have again. She's not alone anymore, and as long as they're by her side, she'll never will be again.

Her chasing days are over. She's finally caught up to them. She's finally home.

And it's all thanks to Sonic.

If it weren't for him, she'd probably be alone forever. Her past moments with Sonic might be embarrassing to look back on for a while, but they are good memories regardless, because they involve him.

Sonic saved her life in more ways than one, and despite everything, he's grateful to have her too.

He cares about her. He really does... And in her eyes, that all she needed to know. As long as Sonic loves her in his own way, she'll be happy.

Amy hasn't given up on Sonic. As long as Amy always supports him, he'll be happy.

Maybe sometime in the future, they can talk about their problems, but that's a story for another time. At this point, they need to. Right now, they are happy. They are okay.

They are here for each other. They are finally better for each other now.

"You guys won't ever leave me, right?"

"Wouldn't dream of it."

[apathetik12]

Okay, I’m going to explain what I mean a bit better.

Obviously, it doesn’t make sense on a surface level. They seem completely different. What I meant is, you need to look at their dynamics on a baseline level. Okay? Just try and understand my ramblings, please.

On a base level, they match each other’s freak. They’re both fucking crazy and instead of backing away, they get closer. Sure, there’s more to their dynamics and why one is more popular than the other, that was my b for not giving any context, but I mean it when I say that if Stone and Robotnik got just a little bit of emotional intelligence and settled down together, their relationship would be a lot like Tom and Maddie and if Tom and Maddie were to become evil, they’d both go to the ends of the Earth for both their goals and each other. Tom and Maddie are crazy (both for each other and what they believe in) and if they got a bit more unhinged, they’d prolly be just as/if not more destructive than everyone’s favorite evil situationship. If Stobotnik chilled tf out, they’d be in a similar situation to Tom and Maddie.

Tom put away everything for an alien hedgehog he just met and Maddie rolled with it. There was barely any questions or pushback, just understandable confusion. Even though these two are completely different characters than Stone and Robotnik, they share the fact that the other’s flaws and problems are a big part of what draws them in. Maddie was willing to be an accessory for treason for Tom, Stone was ready to throw away his job as a government official for the man that very government was trying to say didn’t exist. Tom’s first thought when there’s something he can’t handle is to go to Maddie, Robotnik goes to Stone when he needs something done for him (normally it’s coffee, but you can assume there’s more). Maddie was willing to die by Tom’s side for a blue hedgehog(who she trusted because he did), Robotnik was ready to die in an explosion to save Stone. Maddie was ready to move away from Green Hills so Tom could live out his dream, Stone took over a whole coffee shop so he could give Robotnik what he wanted. You need to realize that these characters have such complicated dynamics that boil down to “they might be crazy, but I’m crazier” and people only recognize it for Stobotnik.

Obviously there’s more to both relationships. What I meant when I said that people like Stobotnik more because it’s gay is not to push away the fact that they’re also liked because they’re villains (cause that is a big part of it). I’m just saying that if it wasn’t or if Tom and Maddie were also homos, I feel like the ship would get more recognition. (Plus, to point out another reblog while I’m at it: I get the doomed part is a good chunk of why it’s so popular, but I’m also including before the third movie and the fact that Tom and Maddie is how I envision Stobotnik if they were happy for once in their lives)

Hot Take: Tom and Maddie are just Stobotnik if they weren’t evil and were instead domestically married.

People just don’t like them as much because they aren’t gay.

[shmorp-mcdurgen]

Late(ish) at night gman ramblings time

Honestly I have yet to find a popular theory as to what Gman is that actually feels like. right to me. Like some of them are neat ideas, if put into something fan made, but if it turned out to be canon, most of the outcomes i've seen feel like they'd be super disappointing, in my opinion of course.

I've seen theories about Gman being a Shu'ulathoi that shapeshifted into a humanoid form, and while the idea is novel, I honestly feel as though it. limits him too much. It removes the mystery aspect of him because now we know what he is, and what his motivations are. Like, if Valve ever truly confirmed that Gman is some sort of alien species that we can easily pinpoint, or even one we've seen before, it would feel like it's putting gman in a box that doesn't fit him.

To me, Gman is best left unknowable. He is a species that only has one member (maybe), he doesn't have a set true (or at least comprehensible) form, but he's definitely not human. He doesn't have a name, he has no set species that aligns with anything we have seen so far. An eldritch entity that is outside what we have observed within the Half Life universe. As much as I would love to learn more about Gman, I also fear the mystery of him being removed and overall making him feel less like a cosmic threat.

Overall I don't personally think most of the theories explaining what he could possibly be are correct for him. He is nothing, yet everything at the same time. True ambiguity.

[daily-hanamura]