#imagine loving someone and not wanting them to turn to crystal and leave you

[s-insomnia]

i don't CARE about ffxiii's generally bad and linear gameplay. the fabula nova crystallis mythos will forever have me in a chokehold.

[greyskyflowers]

I like the idea that, I've seen mentioned a few times and love it, the boys turn into those little orb things when they're like completely, if they were human they would have passed out, exhausted.

I imagine a soft glow, warm to hold, about the size of an orange, a little weight to it and it doesn't float but drops to the floor and rolls like a ball ~

⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️

It really isn't surprising after everything with hell, Esther, and Niko, that Edwin shifts.

He looks exhausted, and Charles still sees him terrifed and bloody in Hell when he closes his eyes, swaying a little bit where he stands listening to Crystal, and Charles knows what's going to happen before it happens.

The softly glowing orb doesn't even have a chance to drop before Charles snatches it, carefully tucking it away in his coat. It's a warm, little weight against his side.

He loves Crystal, Edwin does too even though he huffs about it, but she doesn't need to see Edwin like this. No one needs to see Edwin like this. The thought of it feels like calling attention to an open wound, advertising a vulnerable spot for someone to exploit or further hurt.

Thankfully, they're all finally free to go home. He doesn't like the idea of leaving Crystal but there's a growing itch to get back home and she shoves him towards the mirror and tells him she's meet up with them later.

Neither Charles or Edwin like being out when one of them is like this.

The first few time it happened, Charles hadn't really thought about it too much. And it happened a lot those first years after his death. He often overdid it, everything going fuzzy before going dark, and then he'd wake up, usually pressed against Edwin's side on the little couch. He always woke up on or next to Edwin and it'd been startling the first few times but he always wakes up comfortable now, no rush to get up.

The first time Edwin shifted in front of Charles, he panicked. Refused to let go of him until, after what seemed like days, Edwin shifted back. Still relaxed enough that he hadn't immediately shoved himself off Charle's lap and he hadn't fought the hug too hard either.

He's only see Edwin like that a few times but to be on the other side of it, he understands why Edwin always relaxes when Charles shifts back. It's a powerful and terrifying feeling, to hold something so small and vulnerable and know it's the most important person in the world to you.

As he got to know Edwin more, Charles had the horrible realization that Edwin had been in Hell for over 70 years and surely he must have been exhausted plenty of times when down there. What happened to him when he shifted?

Charles didn't know what Hell looked like or what really happened down there but he pictured the little orb rolling around on the floor, being kicked, or someone finding other ways to hurt it. He had finally asked, so worked up he hadn't even thought about if Edwin would want to talk about, because he needed to know.

He'd gotten a gentle look from Edwin and an answer.

While he was absolutely exhausted in hell, he never shifted. Hell takes a lot of things away and the relief of sleep or unconsciousness is one of them.

So, honestly, Edwin had lasted longer than Charles thought he would. He half expected that he'd have to lunge for the orb as soon as they fell back through the door from Hell.

Thinking too much about Hell and Esther makes him a nasty mix of furious and terrified, so he forces himself to focus on the present.

He holds Edwin closer his chest as he sinks onto the couch. He's emotionally exhausted and in the silence of everything, finally has a moment to think about the love confession on the stairs of hell.

He doesn't know what to do with that liar but he was right when he told Edwin they had forever to figure it out.

He lays out on the couch, feet hanging off the far end and his head on the armrest, the orb on his chest and his hands almost petting at it. Holding it like this means that when Edwin shifts back he'll be sprawled over Charles, something that will probably have him flustered and immediately trying to get up and off.

Charles hopes he's sleepy and comfortable when he changes back though, that he just settles there without over thinking it.

Just the two of them existing together in the same space.

[lilyevansisamilf7]

Another Life - Spencer Reid

Pairing - Spencer Reid x Fem Reader (Non Specified but imagined fem)

Warnings - not spell checked, character death??, cheating, all cm trigger warnings, Maeve, mentions of eating disorders addiction and suicidal thoughts.

Summary - You we’re ready to marry him, he was ready to leave.

———————————————————————

You fell in love four years ago. Budding new SSA Y/L/N and the marvellous Doctor Reid, the BAUs power couple, attached at the hip - perfect.

And perfect it was, you and spencer had been through everything together. Case after case, his addiction, your own struggles with disordered eating, and everything inbetween, so when he started being distant, and getting migraines, you were sure you could help. You found him the best doctors, geneticists, anything and anyone.

You never thought he’d fall for Maeve Donovan, his geneticist, i mean how could you, you’d seen the ring. He was going to propose, or so you thought, a beautiful amethyst ring hidden in the blazer pocket of his work suit. Not your favourite crystal but you’re sure he had a reason for picking it, he always did.

So you began planning.

And you planned and planned until it suddenly didn’t feel like he was going to propose anymore.

“Spence?” You call out from the kitchen where you’re making dinner.

“Yeah love?” He walks in.

“I was just thinking, do you ever think about marrying me?”

“Well yeah in the future when we’ve settled a bit more, i’m happy how we are right now”

“Oh” You sigh, “What about that ring in your blazer pocket? What’s that for then?”

Silence. You know what that means.

“Is she pretty?” He looks down at his shoes.

Your turn off the stove and wipe your hands on your trousers.

“It’s Maeve isn’t it? The doctor?” You giggle sadly “You always liked them smart”

“Y/n…”

“Does she make you happy?”

“Not like you do”

You scoff. He looks at you confused.

You pick at your nails, crying slightly. “You were the one for me Spence, and I just want you to be happy, I thought that was with me but i guess not anymore” You shrug before grabbing your bag.

“What are you doing?” He try’s to grab your hands.

“Im going to stay with Garcia tonight” You reach the door, “Maybe you can invite Maeve for dinner, i made your favourite. I’ll be back tomorrow to gather my things”

“Please don’t do this..”

“Goodbye Spencer Reid”

———————————————————————

The past month had been hell for you, you didn’t tell anyone the real reason you and Spencer split up, not wanting to ruin his friendships with the rest of the team, but you hadn’t been doing well. You’d lost a lot of weight, stopped going out with the team, and started throwing yourself into your work.

It was plain as day that you were heartbroken.

So when Spencer came in, seeking help for Maeve, you were advised to steer clear of the case. But you were determined to show everyone you were fine.

You worked the hardest on the case and found Diane first, and joined spencer on retrieving Maeve.

You walk in unarmed, as requested by Diane, and see Maeve being held by gunpoint.

“Diane, right?” You try and sound as calm as possible, “I’m Y/n”

“Stay back or I shoot her!”

“She rejected you didn’t she? Your paper? I read it and it was good, just needed a little more evidence”

“What evidence?”

“Someone who wasn’t your parents, who wanted to die”

You breath in

“I can help Diane, you need someone like me, you can kill me”

“You’re trying to trick me!” She exclaims.

“i’m not, Maeve doesn’t want to die, do you Maeve”

She begins to cry begging for her life.

“And you do?”

“I’ve got nothing left to live for”

You look to Spencer sadly.

“Think about it Diane, this gives you the evidence you need” You smile.

“You’re trying to trick me!”

“Fine, I guess Dr Donovan was right” I fake sigh and get a little closer, “You aren’t worth the time or effort”

In an instant, Maeve is thrown to the floor and Diane grabs and shoots you both in the stomach.

You fall to the ground.

Spencer instantly runs to you, cradling you in his arms, your breaths shallow and weak.

“Is Maeve okay?”

Astounded at your care he says “Please don’t worry about her, save your strength, the medics are on their way”

“I don’t think i have the time Spence”

“Please baby” He whispers.

“Are you happy Spence?”

“She’s not you…”

He holds you tight and you reach up to cradle his cheek with your hand, “Please let yourself be happy” A metallic taste covering the inside of your mouth.

As he’s holding you he can feel how much smaller you’ve become. “You’ve not been taking care of yourself” He begins to cry

“It’s not important now,” I whisper, “Spence?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think i’m another life we made it

He thinks for a moment.

“I’m every universe i will be forever yours, I just wish it could’ve been in this one too” Beginning to sob

“And i will always be yours too, you were it for me Spencer Reid”

His tears fall down quicker than you can wipe them away.

“At least we’ll have all those other lives, we could have that wedding I planned,” I giggle sadly, “You would’ve loved it”

“I should’ve asked you, I wanted it to be you”

“I wanted it to be me too”

Your eyes begin to close, in the distant shouts for medics get louder, the blaring of sirens closer.

“I love you” he whispers, “Please don’t leave me, we’re not done yet”

———————————————————————

[minus-plus-zer0]

Jealousy

♡ Genre: Hurt/comfort, very fluff ending ♡ Pairing: Pro Hero!Bakugou x Reader ♡ Tags: Aged up, established relationships, dating (Jealousy on both sides, it's all unfounded so don't worry! You two are loyal like dogs to each other)

Bakugou was the jealous type.

Everybody in the entire country knew that. There was nothing Bakugou hated more than imagining you leaving him for somebody else. You wanted to tease him about it sometimes, but his jealousy made him so distressed that you ended up comforting him instead.

Currently, Bakugou was still seething at the man who last flirted with you. The guy disappeared into the street's crowd under Bakugou's contemptuous gaze. His anger could only be distracted by you and your words.

"It's okay, Katsuki," you said, while hugging him. "I only love you. I didn't even flirt back, you know?"

"...I know," Bakugou said. He kissed you on the lips, somewhat possessively. When he opened his eyes again, he looked so sad. "One of these days I wonder if you're gonna find somebody better than me."

"Katsuki!" You glared at him. "I could never find someone better than you! You are the sweetest, most loyal guy I've ever met! Even if you do have a temper." You giggled, poking his forehead.

"Dummy." Bakugou rested his forehead against yours, his arm close around your waist. "Sorry. Shouldn't have gotten jealous."

"No, it's okay! Always tell me when you're jealous, always!"

That's how most of Bakugou's jealousy fits went. Over time, Bakugou became less and less easily aggravated, but he still had his possessive moments. But no matter what, he'd never take his anger out on you or try to control you out of fear.

Meanwhile, you rarely got jealous of Bakugou, mainly because you weren't the type but also because there wasn't much to be jealous of. Bakugou made it crystal clear to everyone what he did and didn't like, and you were one of the few things included on the "like" list. In fact, you were the only person ever included on the "love" list.

But despite Bakugou's poor reputation with the public, he still occasionally found fans who fawned over him. These fans sometimes made you uncomfortable.

One day, you two were out in public together in a quiet side path of the town, walking between various shops. Coincidentally, you caught some of his fawning fans exiting a store. Bakugou paid them no attention but you couldn't take your eyes off of the potential "predators" on your relationship. The fans soon passed but not without some loud screeching and several pictures taken without Bakugou's permission. Initially it irritated Bakugou, but you noticed by the end of it he was paying more attention to you.

"Are you jealous?" he asked, seriously. You two walked in the opposite direction of the fans, their voices getting less loud with more distance.

"Of course not..." you lied. "They're just random fans, it doesn't matter."

You didn't want him to tease you for this. This was one of the few times you had to deal with jealousy, and it took you off guard. It was irrational too, and you knew it. Still, you didn't always like being actively reminded that Bakugou could be wanted by others.

Bakugou wasn't having this. He stopped you in the middle of the side path you walked down, his expression focused.

"Don't be jealous, alright?" he said. You opened your mouth to speak, but he interrupted. "And don't deny that you are jealous! I've been jealous of you tons of times, so I can recognize that shit anywhere. But it's just your mind playing tricks on you. You're still the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I only go for the best, ya hear me?" He started beaming at you, and you could tell he really meant it. "I'd rather throw myself off a cliff than go back on my promises to you."

That did warm your heart. He caught your lips turning up and his hand brushed against your cheek, but you still shied away from him.

"I just don't get why you chose me," you said. "You've got so many fans. Sometimes I wonder if there are better options for you out there..."

"I fucking doubt it. I have the best judgment and the best taste, so if I chose you, that fucking means something. It means you're as great as me... or better. Now don't go saying that negative stuff about my girlfriend. Or else."

"O-okay! Alright!"

You didn't know what the heck he could be threatening you with, but you didn't want to find out. Regardless, he still looked after you and made sure nothing the fans did ever bothered you. He would never tease you for your jealousy, because he personally knew how much it hurt. You were one of the few people he could trust, and because of that you two were dead loyal to each other no matter the odds.

[redsrooftopprincess]

Witchy Shit!

An ask from @footninja that I posted as a post accidentally. 🫣

The ask is here

HAPPY ALMOST SAMHAIN MY WITCHES!!! I may have gone a little deeper than "hippie hillbilly witch"... I've been practicing for a WHILE, and magic is one of my autistic special interests, soooo.....

All the boys are FOR SURE Pagan even if that isn't what they call it (Splinter raised them Shinto), and *very* eclectic, but definitely have their own flavors that they gravitate to...

Leo

Did you say MEDITATING? When? Where? How long? He is ready to sit with you peacefully for hours.

Want to start mixing your own incense/tea? He'll help you research and grow the herbs you need.

BONSAI ZEN GARDEN

Night time dates to ALL the secret/private botanical gardens in the city.

The first time he sees you in a garden in the daylight, surrounded by butterflies, he looses the power of speech.

When you're having a tough time at work, expect tea and a full body massage with all natural oils in a candlelit room when you get home. If you are feeling up to it, that massage can and will escalate to the most transcendent, mild blowing tantric sex imaginable, leaving you fully relaxed mind, body, and spirit.

NOTE: Depending on exactly how "crunchy granola" you are, you may find yourself in conflict with his OCD, so be EXTRA respectful of his space.

Craft: Green Witch

Element: Earth

Archetype: The Hero

Major Arcana: Temperance

Raph

Need help with Ritual? My guy is a WORKHORSE. Where did you want that solid stone altar, again?

Bardic circle like a BOSS. My guy is always down for drinks, songs, and good stories, and the reverb of his voice from his shell means you can feel his singing in your feet like thunder.

Speaking of his voice: guided meditations.

Speaking of guided meditations: guided meditations that take a filthy turn halfway through. 😏

Firetender extraordinare. Want it to burn forever? This guy can drop in literal trees that'll keep the balefire lit until next Solstice.

By FAR the most in touch with his animal side.

He's a beast who not only has NO PROBLEM chasing you, naked, through the woods, but will 1000% instigate. LOVES sex outside (I may have a story about an amethyst cavern, but you didn't hear that because it's not written yet).

Craft: Primal Witch

Element: Fire

Archetype: The Knight

Major Arcana: Strength

Donnie

Oddly accepting of the witchy shit for a techy guy. He's smart enough to know that he doesn't know everything.

Writes a program that will help you track EVERYTHING. Moon, planets, planting, hurricane season, you name it.

Builds you a whole ass Orrery, because despite his program you *still* missed a celestial event and you were sad.

Expect after hours dates to the Hayden Planetarium during eclipses, meteor showers, comets, or any other excuse he can come up with to look at the stars with you.

SIGILS ON POINT. Fractals and sacred geometry, this guy is PRECISE. Made a Mercury Square once that you're pretty sure caused a blackout. He disagrees, but he doesn't make planetary squares anymore.

A night outside of the city looking at the stars? Expect my guy to be drawing star charts on your skin, before "exploring the heavens."

Craft: Celestial Witch

Element: Air

Archetype: The Magician

Tarot Card: The Magician

Mikey

Is straight up pagan.

Beaded bracelets? Hell yes. Macrame? On lock. Candle making? Crystal Wrapping? This boy is DOWN with the Witchy Crafts.

Vibes with his semiaquatic nature on a grand scale. The first time you caught him meditating underwater you nearly had a heart attack until you remembered.

If you introduce him to your people, he will fully write and lead rituals for literally anything. Leo may be master of the Dojo, but *no one* directs people's energy like Mike.

If you even suggest it *vaguely*, he is fully ON BOARD to start a coven/grove/whatever with you as your consort.

Oddly good at High Magic, but only practices VERY rarely. Won't Oracle for evocations because the idea of having someone else in his head weirds him out, but has a 100% success rate negotiating with Otherworldly Entities.

Sex magic in the ocean under a full moon? Uh, why aren't you in the water already?

Calls himself "Magic Mike."

Element: Water

Craft: Water Witch

Archetype: The Lover

Tarot Card: Wheel of Fortune

....

Tag list:

@thelaundrybitch @the-cauldron-witch @fyreball66 @ninnosaurus @tmntngl @thegirlwiththeninjaturtletattoos @zagreustomb @ramielll @silverwatergalaxy @gornackeaterofworlds @footninja @daedric-sorceress @sophiacloud28 @iridescentflamingo

(if you want to be tagged lmk)

[padfoot-lupin77]

Watching Dead Boy Detectives and, well, thoughts while watching:

The cat king is so much worse than I imagined.

“You know you can think things without saying them. Edwin’s obviously jealous” jkfjxdkdkfkhfkd Crystal out here solving the real mysteries

Charles Rowland you are a fucking genius (episode 4, after kicking the bitch lady in the fish)

Why the FUCK are Charles and Crystal making out

Do I want Monty to get out of the way? Absolutely. Do I want him to have a character development and call Esther out on her shit? Of course. Do I still hate him a little? Yeah just a little

Crystal don’t drink that, Maren is about to drug you. (CALLED IT!)

Psychopath lesbians weren’t what I was expecting out of this

Clutching your heart after hugging your best friend isn’t usual platonic behavior. Just saying, Edwin.

David is my mortal enemy. Well. He’s not mortal. But he’s my enemy so still.

“I have feelings for you too” GOOD FOR YOU MONTY! BUT: the feelings he has, are NOT for you so 🤷‍♀️

Tragic Mick’s is Magic Tricks with the first letters swapped

Monty DON’T make me change my mind I don’t quite hate you yet DON’T waste your chance of being on my good books LEAVE my boys alone pls and ty

Can people PLEASE start respecting Jenny’s boundaries

EDWIN DESERVES THE WORLD

Jenny has had enough near-death experiences by now she should be able to see the ghosts (update:🙃)

Can someone murder Esther or send her to hell or smth

Go kiss somewhere else not in front of Edwin you motherfuckers (affectionately)(but also pls stop hurting my boy Edwin)

If Esther isn’t dead and my boys aren’t free by the end of the season I’m suing Netflix

Monty be useful FOR ONCE and turn back to human to save your ex crush and his crush

If the snake starts speaking I’ll lose it

I love Charles so much

Jfkhfdkdkjfdgjdgsgfshfs

[allwormdiet]

Sentinel 9.3

Y'know, the irony here is that as I'm writing this post I've just started an online course with video lectures.

Solid bit of establishing characterization, an easy display of people's emotional ties and states.

Parahuman science must be so fucking hard to work with, honestly. Your subject matter is made up of a bunch of people with trauma-activated abilities that actively defy physics or other laws of reality, combination of psychology and whatever the hell you call studying outliers in how the fucking universe works.

Also glad people aren't just content to let the matter of parahuman origins end at "they just started happening." I know they haven't cracked the how or why of it in thirty years but I also know they crack it some time in the next two-ish years of canon, which should be interesting.

Also also, the inclination towards combat and conflict is... I know it's not going to be a long time until we talk about the "why" of that one either, but when we do I have notes for the designer(s) on these things

Oh, okay, so trigger events are talked about in a 100-level course, and Taylor straight up didn't know about them. Interesting? She really didn't give that much of a shit about cape stuff before stumbling into the life of a supervillain, huh.

Correlation between physical trauma -> physical powers and psychological trauma -> mental powers is interesting as well, although that leaves plenty of room for the edge cases. Glory Girl is actually the prime example there, too, brute and mover seem like the obvious tags but that doesn't cover the aura, which is I guess master? I'm less and less convinced that it was really just a foul in basketball that made her trigger tbh.

Also: I cannot even fucking imagine what the studies must be like about the New Wave families. Imagine writing your fucking thesis on the Dallon-Pelham Torment Nexus. Imagine being Victoria, Amy, Crystal, or Eric, and your family is being taught about in classes because of how "good" it is at inflicting superpowers on you. No I will not entertain the idea that either family is normal, parahuman psychology has so far shown zero signs of being healthy for anybody and it's not going to start holding back when it comes to child-rearing.

I'm not unsympathetic to what Clockblocker is stewing over, but the PRT can't let these kids dedicate every waking hour to crisis management; there will be a day where they're not dealing with a drowned city, and they might as well get ready for it now, and take time off from trudging through muck and mayhem as they do it.

Narrowing my eyes at the witch burning thing but I'm not going to harp on whatever the hell's going on there.

I think the gender divide makes sense but I don't know if it holds totally consistent in-story; the pre-Leviathan Wards and Protectorate ENE definitely leaned more male than female in its numbers, Merchants and ABB are two men to one woman, Empire is... eight men to seven women I think? I think as of right now the only teams we have that even have more women than men are Undersiders, Travelers, Faultline, and New Wave.

This is probably more math than I should be doing but whatever, don't use math in your story if you don't want someone checking it.

That's the same thing as Circus, right? Interesting that it's a known phenomenon.

He's doing his best, be nice.

Bunch of people are gonna be really annoyed when it turns out where powers come from because there's no way they could predict it from where they're standing.

Hwoof.

Oh, so that's Clockblocker's trigger event and power explained all at once, isn't it? I don't know if it's stated explicitly but "buying time in every way except for the one that matters the most to you" sounds like the kind of monkey's paw shit that powers love to do.

Now see, there's an interesting dilemma, isn't it. Family teams are all well and good (allegedly, given how parahumans work) but the moment one or more members die all of a sudden it's that much more fucked up for everybody. Even if the team persists past losing Manpower and Shielder there's no way they're gonna hold together after Amy & Vicky's Nightmare Extravaganza. One of the most notable independent teams in the setting with over a decade of experience, and in the span of a few months they're going from apex to nonexistence. I don't really have it in me to weep for the adults, see above suspicions about Torment Nexus, but I feel awful for the kids. Crystal is gonna be the last one standing until, what, Ward? That's gotta fuck you up good. Poor fucking girl.

And then the portraits. Hoo boy.

The portraits thing feels. I dunno. Do you have to put them right next to the other members? That feels like a really good way to get your underage parahumans even more fucked up about mortality if I'm being honest.

This is touching. Also fuck cancer.

Exactly what the Wards need, less open communication.

This is a hard conversation to have in a lot of ways. Weld is fumbling but he's trying, and the rest of the team needs to meet him in the middle for things to work out.

And. Ugh. I see an unfortunate side of myself in Clockblocker here. I've got an awful habit of going for low blows in an argument if I'm feeling low enough. I get mean, I say things just to make it hurt. I haven't done it in a long time, but it's still a thing I have done and can do if I don't watch it. With this at least it's an accident, or at least the extent of harm Clockblocker is doing is way beyond what he intended.

Clockblocker has the sense to fear Glory Girl in this moment, and she has the grace to forgive him.

And that's proof of who Clockblocker is when he's not at his worst. When he's not lashing out because of the active fucking wringer he's being shoved through, he's obviously thoughtful and kind; the lashing out is, uhh, understandable, but still a problem.

She's just a kid...

I talked about this with some folks on Discord, it's kind of remarkable to me that a guy with literal empathy powers couldn't hold a steady relationship with a single girl. I'm sure parahuman romance is its own special kind of fraught, but that's a little silly.

That said, it sounds like Gallant was good people.

This is very funny though

Oh hey, we have anger and futility coming back together again, haven't seen that for a minute.

Honestly I feel like the ones who try to be funny are usually the ones who've got so much shit going on in the background, anger is the least surprising thing to come from the team's designated funny one.

Good on Dennis for realizing how easy it is to use anger and how hard it can be to let go of it. Shit sucks.

Wuh oh.

This is gruesome, and a harbinger of things to come. Oh boy.

Fuck were the Travelers even doing here, anyhow?

Also crazy bold of the Wards to try and pick this fight. The Travelers have such outrageous firepower, I don't think there'd be much sense in picking this fight.

Skimming back through the fight, not a whole lot for me to say? I'm not super invested in it, I guess, it feels like there's exceptionally little actually riding on this fight. The Travelers want to fuck off and the Wards want to stop them from fucking off, the gallery fight had more meat than this.

"Oh thank god, a conflict I can throw myself into to feel useful and offset all the negative feelings that not fighting has left me stricken with."

That's not a criticism of Clockblocker by the way, if anything I'm just staring at the thing brought up earlier this chapter where most parahumans are driven into fighting each other and suspecting something of a connection.

Current Thoughts

I see some of my younger self in Clockblocker, which is ironic bc I actually had a superhero OC back in high school named Clockblock (his powers were a lot broader and his thing was more about struggling with overwhelming ennui in the face of his own significance in the grand scale of Time Itself). I hope he manages to get over that anger and hurt, but he's a parahuman, so I kinda doubt it.

Kid Win next, plus further plot developments.

[bitter-caf]

I've been having thoughts, so here's some The Last Unicorn quotes as Dbd characters. I hope someone else can also see the vision.

------

(This one especially I've been thinking about for a while)

Monty: I have been mortal, and some part of me is mortal yet. I am full of tears and hunger and the fear of death, although I cannot weep, and I want nothing, and I cannot die. I am not like the others now, for no unicorn (crow) was ever born who could regret, but I do. I regret.

(For monty especially, I feel as fic idea coming on just based on this quote)

Also Monty: From that first moment of doubt, there was no peace for her; from the time she first imagined leaving her forest (birdcage), she could not stand in one place without wanting to be somewhere else...Unicorns (Crows) are not meant to make choices. She said no, and yes, and no again, day and night, and for the first time she began to feel the minutes crawling over her like worms.

Cat King: I am what I am. I would tell you what you want to know if I could, for you have been kind to me. But I am a cat, and no cat anywhere ever gave anyone a straight answer.

Charles: Take me with you. For laughs, for luck, for the unknown. Take me with you.

Also Charles: I would enter your sleep if I could, and guard you there, and slay the thing that hounds you, as I would if it had the courage to face me in fair daylight. But I cannot come in unless you dream of me.

Edwin: I will keep the colour of your eyes until no other in the world remembers your name.

Also Edwin: The moon was gone, but to the magician's eyes the unicorn (Charles) was the moon...lighting his way to safety, or to madness.

Crystal: We are not always what we seem, and hardly ever what we dream.

Also Crystal lol: You pile of stones, you waste, you desolation, I'll stuff you with misery till it comes out of your eyes. I'll change your heart into green grass, and all you love into a sheep. I'll turn you into a bad poet with dreams.

Niko: Farewell,' she said. 'I hope you hear many more songs' - which was the best way she could think of to say good-bye to a butterfly.

Also Niko: As for you and your heart and the things you said and didn't say, she will remember them all when men are fairy tales in books written by rabbits.

Night Nurse: I did not know that I was so empty, to be so full.

-------

Can you tell I love the last unicorn?

[valentine-cafe]

. ˚◞♡ 𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒏 — 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒚𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒍◞ ₊˚

⊹ ۪ ࣪ ᥫ᭡ “the rain falls quietly up above many surfaces, but here, we have the crystals to give us their magic dust, floating like stars. . . yet none of it will ever compare to your beauty, aein” ꒱

. ˚◞꒰verse꒱ verseless ( dwells within the abyss )

. ˚◞꒰face claim refs꒱ ( x ) ( x ) ( x )

. ˚◞꒰species꒱ half abyssal angel / half dragon ( does not identify with his dragon heritage it makes him uncomfortable )

. ˚◞꒰ethnicity꒱ korean/chinese

. ˚◞꒰age꒱ millennia old

. ˚◞꒰gender꒱ male

. ˚◞꒰mbti꒱ infj

. ˚◞꒰aliases꒱ the angel who cried stars, the void , eyes of the abyss, void daddy ( zhào jìngyí 9948e ).

. ˚◞꒰appearance꒱

𖹭. long long, jet black hair with stars shimmering by his ends

𖹭. pale skin with golden veins that flow into a gentle amethyst ombre, shimmering just like the crystal itself

𖹭. stands at the height of 7’9” ft ( 236.22 cm ) with an athletic, lean and toned build.

𖹭. has six pairs of void black wings, with golden tips by the end of his feathers

𖹭. long, dark and flower robes. usually wears hanfu or hanbok, but at times also dresses to the usual abyssal fashion. which is composed of long, dark mesh robes, that show the gentle outline of the body and are dorned with lots of crystals and jewellery

𖹭. a combination of masculine and a few feminine features, that give him an ethereal look from all lighting and angles

𖹭. has gold and black draconic scales running down his forearms and the surface of his hands, along with a few on his cheeks

𖹭. soft, golden brown eyes, with a piercing gold slit in the middle of them, that only dilates when he senses danger

𖹭. keeps his hands clean from rings most of the time due to work, but he has his wedding ring on, composed of abyssal crystals and onyx. while his nails are painted gold and are long. they cannot be cut too far, due to draconic ancestry ( aka, it will hurt )

𖹭. only really wears eyeliner, but at times, he enjoys prettying himself up with lots of gold and bronze colors, especially for formal events

𖹭. he has standard lobe piercings and upper lope piercings on both ears.

𖹭. has several eyes concealed by magic. ( all around his body )

 

. ˚◞꒰personality꒱

𖹭. very calm and serene, and is quite reserved

𖹭. the quiet kind, rarely speaks due to the fact he gets intimidated by the consequences of words that may come out.

𖹭. extremely caring with those he holds dear and wouldn’t hesitate to smite someone if they were hurt

𖹭. a gentle soul who can quickly turn stern and disciplined should the matter arise for such

𖹭. a strategic warrior and commander, he knows what he is doing. don’t interfere unless there’s a good reason

𖹭. deceptive and secretive, more than some would imagine

𖹭. kindhearted and very empathetic — he understands many burdens that people go through and work tooth and nail to help them

𖹭. extremely intelligent and wise, sharp at mind and good at pointing out ulterior motives of others

𖹭. despite all of these attributes, this man can also be quite the trickster. loves sending people into a shy flustered state and then leaving them confused

𖹭. he has a tendency to fall in love with what most people consider scary or dark. finding beauty in it and sharing it to those willing to see.

𖹭. is quite poetic and enjoys letting a few confusing riddles roll off of his tongue every now and then and see who gets them right.

𖹭. has a bit of a dark side to himself he doesn’t like showing either, sometimes getting consumed by greed when he sees something he likes and wants.

 

. ˚◞꒰with a lover꒱

𖹭. teasing, he loves getting a rise out of you and seeing your face go all shades of red. and he especially likes when you cling onto him after.

𖹭. is touch startved and often searches for your hand or your back to hold onto. with gentle and delicate touches, that display so much love for you and all that you are, caressing your body or face — whatever he can get to.

𖹭. really enjoys taking you around the prime city of the abyss, telling you of it’s history. and if you are not a history enthusiast, he will take you to all of the best view spots and restaurants that he knows. sometimes dragging you to cafés to taste the unique pastries of the domain.

𖹭. one of his love languages are words of affection. when he speaks to you, it is with such love that is from way beyond the bounds of his heart, but instead his soul. each and every word are meant to comfort and ease you.

𖹭. loves to take you out for flights, holding you tight and close as he flies the both of you across the realm. though, always careful and avoidant of the more dangerous and dark areas he knows you shouldn’t be.

𖹭. has a thing for doing your makeup. he likes experimenting new looks or looks he finds interesting on you. don’t like makeup? he’ll do it on himself so you can give him your own input! anything to have you close is good for him. he loves talking with you, especially when he feels his spouts of wanting to interact verbally

𖹭. likes waking you up in the morning and whisking you off to eat breakfast with him. soft kisses and tired but fond glances shared back and forth. his feathers tickling your face and hands as he beckons you to brush them.

𖹭. really enjoys when you preen his wings. and sometimes teasingly gives them a little flap so you jolt back a bit and fuss at him.

𖹭. massages you all the time, he wants to assure your muscles are all eased up and not tense. any knots or tender areas are a big no no. he wants your body to feel good just as much as he wants you to feel good mentally and emotionally.

𖹭. a bigger flirt than he seems. he doesn’t mind carelessly pushing you up against a random wall or piece of furniture, whispering sweet nothings and some of the purest filth into your ears. it all adds to his shamelessness, if people watch, let them.

𖹭. will immediately take you away from any place or event that makes you feel overstimulated and overwhelmed, so that you do not end up spiralling down a path that makes you tired and exhausted. and when you feel ready, the two of you can go back together.

 

. ˚◞꒰strengths꒱

𖹭. draconic eyesight: has advanced eyesight that extends into night vision

𖹭. advanced strength: enhanced strength both in his stature and wings

𖹭. enhanced agility: advanced agility and reflexes

𖹭. enhanced senses: advanced senses, apart from his eyesight that might dwindle a bit in light areas

𖹭. advanced flight: has six pairs of wings which enhance his flight greatly. he is very fast

𖹭. shadow magic/darkness manipulation: as an abyss angel he is able to manipulate darkness and mould it into a form of magic

𖹭. light magic: the ability to cast spells, rituals and other light magic aspects

𖹭. advanced combat abilities: has an advanced knowledge of combat and is able to execute it exceptionally. his experience as one of the oldest angels plays a part in this as well

𖹭. tactical mind: able to come up with strategies very quickly

𖹭. dragon morphing: the ability to morph into a dragon form

𖹭. healing factor: the ability to heal from injuries and wounds

𖹭. divine banishment: able to banish malicious beings back to their place of origin

 

. ˚◞꒰weaknesses꒱

𖹭. iron: an allergy to iron, depending on the concentration

𖹭. black magic: as both a water dragon and an angel, black magic tends to affect him quite badly

𖹭. heat: too much heat drains water dragons and makes them weak. this can be dire in states of dehydration

𖹭. light areas: his vision gets hazed because he is adapted to the darkness of the abyss

 

. ˚◞꒰relationships꒱

𖹭. rinfier mith’andrel: husband, king.

𖹭. rishen aryielus: SON

 

. ˚◞꒰story꒱

silently, and with sharp eyes piercing through the thickest darkness of the abyss. the reknowned eyes of the realm itself overlooks the wastelands and cavern rubble that surrounds the walls outside the city of the king. his stoic expression remaining and wings all extended out with their eyes looking to all corners with him.

many dangerous things lurk within the home of this realm. and it is his duty to assure none get through the city or out.

and though longing to pass through the streets of the city on his way home, he enjoys his work. he loves the feeling of the vapor of this damned domain rushing through his dark wings.

it isn’t a feeling he will ever be able to get rid of, it’s only a matter of time before he can feel it all over again, is it not?

 

. ˚◞꒰extra꒱

𖹭. has the ability to shift his gender and appearance like most angels

𖹭. he is one of the first abyssal angels and thus holds quite the high rank

𖹭. he is omnilingual

𖹭. has a familiar woodpecker named jazz

𖹭. knows all sign languages

[t0ast-ghost]

S3 EP13 (Elaan Of Troyius) fully don’t know what to expect.

Start it up:

- Spock and McCoy banter in the turbo lift and Kirk gives them a smile before leaving

- Kirk is immediately a little hostile towards the ambassador

- I like how Kirk just looks around like ‘guess we should bow now’

- They stopped Spock’s infodump to Kirk. Sad.

- “Captain, the Dolman is dissatisfied with the quarters provided.” Spock is already done. So done.

- things getting thrown

- Kirk is also done. He’s so done.

- I like episodes where they’re on the ship with someone vaguely annoying

- Time to play ‘who does the random spaceship belong to’

…. That’s right! It’s the Klingons!

- Oh yep. She killed the ambassador. Who would’ve guessed. (Edit: he lived lol)

- “A man whose flesh is once touched by the tears of a woman of Elas has his heart enslaved forever.” So.. who’s it going to be? I’m guessing Kirk right now

- She should have the right not to marry someone. Like it’s not great that they’re basically selling her even if it’s for peace

- Every time someone slaps them, they just slap them back

- Kirk is THAT BITCH

- Did the red shirt get his neck snapped?

- Kirk planned to have Spock shoot the guards. He’s feral omg

- YEAH! Bite him!

- what. this is her problem? Or no she was manipulating him to make him touch her tears. Great… and they’re kissing

- WAIT SHE ASKED ABOUT THE SPANKING (whoever said Star Trek was for kids is a fucking liar. Side note: why did my parents show me TNG)

- Her guards are working with the Klingons aren’t they

- WHAT IS THIS

- They both caught him

- Kirk’s walk over to McCoy and Spock is so awkward

- “(Talking to Spock)Well, we’re in trouble. (Turns to Kirk) Now, listen, Jim. Petri told Christine that the Elasian women have a sort of biochemical substance in their tears that acts like a super love potion, and according to him, it doesn’t wear off.” Only Star Trek would have tears that act like a super love potion

- Stop just letting people on the bridge

- Only people who can break Kirk of his love potion are Spock and McCoy

- Kirk’s character is all about loneliness. How someone can be captain, an entire crew to watch over and command, but he’s always lonely. Spock and McCoy may be the closest thing he has, but they can never know about his feelings because he has to protect them under any and all circumstances

- Swivel chair

- “I’d say our strategy wasn’t totally effective.” I like how Spock just nods along with him

- “I want to die with you.” He considers this a minute because imagine that, someone who wants to be there with you as you die

- IT WAS A NECKLACE OF DILITHIUM CRYSTALS ?!?

- She gives him her dagger..

- “Bye.” “Good-bye.” I love the shortness of their farewells.

- damn McCoy was so happy to bring the antidote to Spock (he wants Spock to be happy with him)

- “In this particular instance, Doctor, I agree with you.” McCoy is shocked

- They share this look and then remember not to kiss on the bridge

This episode was… interesting.

Masterpost

Episode written by John Meredyth Lucas

[imbellatrix]

Hi! Me again, sorry dknw It could be with an omniscient narrator, or from Erika’s POV. It would also be great if they met again during a battle—very dramatic. Then things gradually start to soften between them, but first venting and returning to trust the other little by little. I leave it to your will actually

I'm proud of you, Erika. — Eldarya One-Shot

Oh, hey there! It's me again. I'm back. Here's your one-shot, sorry for the delay. I hope you like it. I chose an omniscient narration so I could dive more into what’s going on in Nevra’s head.

I also left an open ending because I didn’t think it made sense for them to resolve everything so quickly, so… I decided to keep it more open. Hope you like it. Enjoy the read!

The sky was tinged with a heavy gray, and the cold wind blew through the trees, like a constant whisper of solitude that Erika had learned to endure. The forest around her seemed to mirror her own journey: dense, filled with shadows and hidden dangers. Each step she took there was another reminder of her independence, of her newfound strength—a strength she never imagined she would have to find alone. But she did, because when she needed support the most, she received the least. It was sad. Painful.

Since the moment she had awoken from the crystal, Erika had felt the weight of a reality very different from the one she remembered. Before, the Guard was her home, the place where she found purpose and people she considered friends. But upon her return, she realized that welcome had turned into suspicion. She was a stranger among familiar faces. The way they looked at her—with a mixture of fear, judgment, and even disdain—corroded her soul. Where she once saw friendship, she now found closed doors. Whispers behind her back, evasive glances, all signs that her place there had changed, and she didn’t know why.

First, it could be said that she had become a legend. Or rather, a trophy. A mere trophy the Guard displayed when they needed to boast of past victories. Just an object. Erika felt that everyone in the refuge didn’t see her as she truly was. No. They saw her as that statue made in her honor.

Honor... What a ridiculous word. Erika didn’t want a statue, nor applause, nor bouquets of flowers or lit candles to "honor" her. No. The only thing Erika had asked for was support. A friend’s shoulder to cry on when all this grief weighed down on her shoulders, making her scream with inner pain. Someone to confide in about everything she felt. But that’s not what she received.

All she got was Karenn asking her to be quiet and Huang Hua saying she had more important things to do. Was it so hard to act like a friend?

And Nevra… He was, perhaps, the greatest mystery. In the beginning, her return had brought a silent comfort, an unspoken understanding that everything would be okay. But soon he started to pull away, as if there was an invisible barrier between them. He seemed at times worried, at times irritated, alternating between gestures of affection and a contempt that hurt her deeply. His words were sharp, and each encounter between them left invisible wounds on Erika, who tried, day after day, to understand what had happened. Nevra, who had once been her safe harbor, was now a source of relentless anguish. And yet, she couldn’t stop loving him.

They shared a story of love, of overcoming, of battles and victories. And yet, Nevra looked at her as if she were some random girl he had never heard of. A stranger. Even Koori seemed closer to Nevra than Erika, and Koori and Nevra weren’t even friends.

After a while, Erika grew tired of fighting for an acceptance that never seemed to come. It was then that she decided to leave, searching for a place where she could rediscover her essence, far from the judging eyes. And she found that refuge with a group of witches, powerful and fearless women who didn’t carry the Guard’s prejudices and who welcomed her like a daughter. With them, Erika learned to master her magic, to listen to the call of her essence, and to fight for herself, without depending on anyone’s approval. The witches, though looked down upon, were welcoming and taught her what the Guard had never taught her: the true value of who she was.

They made Erika open her eyes. That’s when Erika saw all the manipulation Huang Hua had imposed on her. All the neglect she suffered. All the times they turned their backs on her. For what? In the end, she had become just a pawn in the war for everyone—a pawn to be sacrificed so the queen on the board might survive.

Was that what Valkyon died for? And Leiftan? Ykhar? Kero? All those people who gave everything for the Guard, only for it to lose itself and abandon its true values of family and support, hiding cowardly behind a false moral high ground.

That time away from the HQ showed her there was a vast world beyond the Guard's limits. But as time passed, she still carried the weight of what she had left behind in her heart. There was a bitter longing mixed with a sadness that wouldn’t leave her, especially on lonely nights. It was hard to completely break free from the past, from the memory of Nevra and everything he had represented. In her mind, memories wavered between love and pain, between the desire to see him again and the need to forget.

But fate had its own plans, which sometimes were funny, other times harsh and surprising. And that night, under the pale light of the moon, Erika found herself back in the middle of a battle. The shadowy creatures appeared without warning, and she soon found herself fighting alongside members of the Guard, though she kept a certain distance, still hesitant to get too close.

Then she saw him. Nevra was there, facing a group of enemies with the agility and skill she knew so well. But there was something different about him, a shadow of exhaustion and pain he tried to hide under his confident demeanor. When their eyes met, time seemed to stop, and Erika felt her heart tighten. He, too, was staring at her, unsure of what to say, as if every word were trapped in his throat.

Side by side, they fought in silence, their movements synchronized as before, but the weight of the distance between them made each action a painful reminder of what they had lost. After the last creature fell, both stood there, panting, surrounded by the heavy silence of the forest. The tension was almost palpable, and Erika knew words needed to be spoken.

“You… left,” Nevra said, his voice low, as if admitting a bitter truth. She hadn’t expected him to speak first, even though she had no intention of making the first move. Now you decide to talk to me? Don’t you think it’s too late? “I looked for you, you know? But you never came back.”

Erika crossed her arms, her gaze hard. His words surprised her. And though a small voice in her head felt happy that he had looked for her, the resentment spoke louder, and her blood boiled. “Come back? For what, Nevra? To be treated like an outsider? To be ignored and humiliated as if I were a problem?”

He hadn’t expected such a harsh response. His eyes widened. Where was the sweet Erika he once knew? Guilt washed over him, and he looked away. Guilt was etched on his face. He knew this was his fault. And even if Erika considered something bigger, even if she blamed the Guard and the system, Nevra had placed the burden of guilt squarely on his own shoulders. He couldn’t blame Huang Hua, his sister, or his brother-in-law. No. He was the one who should have supported Erika. Perhaps if he had, she wouldn’t have left him. He replied:

"I know… I know I was wrong. I acted like an idiot. I didn’t know how to handle your return, and it made me cruel. Only now do I see how wrong that was."

“It wasn’t just a mistake, Nevra,” she replied, her voice filled with pain. If she weren’t so much stronger now, emotionally and physically, she would certainly have started crying. Instead, she remained tearless but with the voice of a woman broken inside. “You hurt me. And not just you; everyone hurt me. It was as if I were fighting for acceptance that would never come, as if no one wanted me back.”

Nevra closed his eyes, absorbing her words like a wound reopening. “I was afraid, Erika. Afraid of losing you again. When you disappeared, I… a part of me was lost too. And when you came back, I thought it would be easy, but I realized I no longer knew how to approach you. So, I pushed you away. I was cowardly, cruel… I don’t know if I can ever forgive myself.”

He had been sincere. Erika was a part of him that he had never been able to let go, and now he could see that more clearly. Erika and he, before, were two distinct souls. Then, they had united into one being. And suddenly, in the blink of an eye, Nevra was only half of someone he used to be whole with. All because Erika died, and the man he had been in the past went with her. Until she returned, and he found himself lost. It was strange to feel his heart beating again after so long with a void in his chest.

She watched him, seeing, for the first time, the depth of regret in his eyes. He was there, stripped of all arrogance, devoid of any pretense. Nevra, the man who had always prided himself on his control, now seemed as vulnerable as she had felt so many times. He didn’t even seem like the proud and arrogant leader of the Shadow Guard. He had always defended that a leader couldn’t show weakness, but now he was opening his heart to Erika as he had never done with anyone.

"You have no idea what it was like for me," Erika said, her voice trembling. "Every night, I wondered if you would come to me, if you would explain yourself, if you would try to understand me. But instead, you treated me like a stranger. And I was left alone."

She didn’t understand why she was explaining herself. He didn’t deserve her explanations. No member of the guard did. He took a step forward, his hand outstretched, hesitant, as if he feared she might disappear. "Erika, forgive me. I know I don’t deserve it, but… you need to know that I regret every word, every action. Not a day goes by that I don’t regret what I did."

She felt tears threatening to fall, but she held them back. It was hard to let her guard down after everything. But there, seeing his face marked by regret, by the weight of the choices he had made, Erika felt something break inside her. After so long being tough among the witches, Erika felt like a little girl again. A vulnerable little girl who wanted nothing more than a hug from him.

"Maybe I can forgive you, Nevra," she finally said, her voice almost a whisper. "But you need to understand that this won’t erase what happened. The scars are still here, and I don’t know if they’ll ever go away."

Nevra nodded, his eyes fixed on hers. Ah, he knew well about scars that don’t disappear. And he wasn’t even referring to the scar on his eye. "I don’t expect you to forget, Erika. But, if you’ll allow me, I want to be by your side, so we can rebuild what was lost, step by step, day by day. I… I don’t know if I’ll ever regain your trust, but I’m willing to try."

They stood there, frozen, enveloped by the darkness of the forest and the unspoken words. The future was uncertain, and both knew the road ahead wouldn’t be easy. But, that night, something had changed. They had found each other again, not as they were before, but with the promise of a different beginning, perhaps even a truer one.

Erika looked at him one last time before turning and walking in the opposite direction, toward the witches waiting for her on the other side of the forest, where they couldn’t even be seen from that spot. Nevra stayed where he was, watching her leave, with the determination of someone who knew that one day, he would find a way back to her heart.

"You have a chance. We’ll meet again, Nevra. Don’t mess it up."

That was the last thing she said before walking away again. Nevra didn’t even try to follow her. No. She was free. She deserved that freedom. And in his heart, he knew he would see her again. He gave a faint smile.

"I’m proud of you, Erika."

She was already too far to hear.

[richincolor]

Interview with Hanna Alkaf

Today we're excited to hear from author Hanna Alkaf whose latest release THE HYSTERICAL GIRLS OF ST. BERNADETTE'S fits in with the creepy vibe that's often happening in general at this time of year. If you want to know more about the hysterical girls, you can hop over to our recent review. 

I'm not generally someone who reads horror stories, but I really loved QUEEN OF THE TILES [Audrey's review here] and THE WEIGHT OF OUR SKY [Crystal's review here] so this was one I had to pick up. I read THE HYSTERICAL GIRLS OF ST. BERNADETTE'S at a rapid clip. It was fabulous and I'm so glad I moved out of my comfort zone. Thanks to you though I am having to look over my shoulder when I hear dry leaves moving around. ;) It's fall here so that is happening often. Does that sound bother you at all?

The sound of dry leaves doesn’t particularly bother me, but at the risk of sounding totally cruel, I love that it now bothers you! One of the things I love most about horror is its ability to take something completely innocuous and mundane and turn it into something ominous and dread-inducing. A kind of dark magic, if you will.

You have several works that lean toward or are classified as straight up horror. Have you been a horror reader/watcher/writer for a long time?

I absolutely love horror as a genre, whatever the medium — I think it stems from my friends and I whispering scary stories to each other as kids. Ours was a mission school very much like St. Bernadette’s in the book: Old, gothic in design, full of shadowy corners and unnervingly quiet spaces, and rife with rumours about the atrocities Japanese soldiers had committed on school soil during the occupation. It was fertile ground for young imaginations to populate with all manner of ghosts.

I really appreciated your caring note at the beginning of the book. It truly did help to be prepared for what was coming, but also let me know that the author was mindful of the fact that readers come to books with a lot of different backgrounds and experiences. That said, what was it like to research for a book about ghosts and monsters be they human or another form? It seems like some of that could also be challenging to process.

Unfortunately — or perhaps fortunately, depending on your perspective! — I’ve had a lot of experience in writing the darkness, whether it’s natural or supernatural, and have learned what I need to do to cope with diving into that abyss. That includes building in breaks and days off where I immerse myself in spending time with my kids, sketching, or binge-watching romantic K-dramas (the fluffier the better). It also means having a safety net in the form of a husband who knows to watch for signs that I’m having trouble pulling myself out of that darkness, and steps in when necessary.

What led to your choice of having two perspectives? Were there complications or surprises to using that format?

I wanted to contrast two very different perspectives and experiences of the same situation, and two very different ways of processing trauma, while hopefully showing readers that both of those voices were still true and valid and deserved support and belief. Multiple perspectives is such a tricky thing to pull off — you do have to make sure those voices don’t start blurring together, making them as distinct as possible from each other. But I was very surprised by how much I enjoyed being in each character’s head, and how fun it was to weave their stories together.

Do you write with a set schedule each day or are you a writer that fits it in all throughout the day in smaller chunks of time?

When my kids were very little, I had to utilize whatever time I had to get writing done, and it was often in small chunks — 20 mins here, half an hour there, at least one blessed hour during nap time. Nowadays, thankfully, they’re much older and I’m able to carve out time in the day to write while they’re in school — though I often also snatch some writing time in the midst of shuttling them to various after-school activities.

Are you one to manage multiple writing projects at a time or do you like to just focus on thing?

I prefer to focus on one thing at a time — though sometimes, that really isn’t possible!

And what is it that keeps you writing?

The idea that my kids, and kids like them, won’t have to look far to find themselves within the pages of a book.

Are you allowed to tell us about your current and future writing?

Next year, I have a middle grade anthology coming out that I edited called THE BEASTS BENEATH THE WINDS! It’s an illustrated collection of short stories about mythical creatures from Southeast Asia, each written by some of the most brilliant SEA and diaspora kidlit authors; truly, it’s been such an honor and a dream that they agreed to be part of it. I also have another middle grade book in the works, though I can’t tell you too much about that yet. And eventually, when I have some breathing room, I’d like to start working on my first novel for adults.

Do you also read young adult books and if so, are there some newer or forthcoming books you've enjoyed and would recommend for us and our readers?

I loved Wen-Yi Lee’s THE DARK WE KNOW, and I’m excited to dive into THE SCARLET THRONE by fellow Malaysian author Amy Leow!

We always appreciate when authors take time to chat with us. Thanks so much and we look forward to reading more of your work in the future!

[cassynite]

hm. finishing up my like third replay of the twc trilogy and. some rambling disjointed theories about future plot points/revelations:

i feel like someone has to have already said this but the supernatural rogue leader with the detective's eyes is obviously rook's Not Dead After All sister, right? like we can all agree on that one

i think it's going to turn out that rebecca is so cagey about how rook died because she is responsible for it--not, like, directly, but in a way that makes it very easy to blame herself. she assigned him the mission he died on, he wanted to leave the agency and she convinced him to stay, that sort of thing.

I think all the villains that we see will end up showing up again (either as allies or enemies), but im specifically imagining that murphy will reappear as a minor antagonist--either naturally if he escaped, or as a result of a prison break of caged supernaturals

another probably obvious one but each love interest route seems to be building up to a major subplot for each of them:

A's is seems already deep in progress and will mainly revolve around them getting over themself, and will probably resolve with them getting with the detective. slow burn extraordinaire (most nebulous one for me since this is the only route i haven't played yet; this just comes from fandom osmosis so it might be off base)

M's is going to be their lost past but more focused on whatever is going to happen when that crystal of theirs ends up failing/getting lost/breaking (going off of that, we know mishka's got a particular point in mind for M to realize they are in love with the detective. i am 100% convinced at this point that it's going to be a dramatic moment when their crystal isn't working, they're losing it, and the detective brings them back to reality--that's going to be M's oh moment). interpersonal relationship conflict is mainly going to resolve around the natural conflict that arises from the pining while fucking trope that's been established

N's is THEIR past but more focused on their mystery powers (there's a post floating around that makes a great argument that's it's mind control and i'm inclined to believe that) and coming to terms with their "darker side"/learning to open up to the detective. i definitely feel n's route is going to get darker/more angsty before resolving

and we already know that most to all of F's romance route hardships are going to be external--the relationship itself is rock solid. right now it seems to me that it's going to be the conflict with the demons (literal ones this time) from their past coming back to them. also ten bucks says their mom is alive

AND MY BIG ONE: It's going to be revealed eventually that the detective and the LI are soulbonds. I feel like there's so much present in all the books that implies the relationship is not just one of attraction--there is a supernatural element of comfort, healing, and empathetic bond shit going on. the amount of information you get about soulbonds from f if you do research in b3 also just seems like setup for this reveal as well since it's explicitly stated that soulbonds are really rare but not limited to one supernatural species

I think this revelation will probably occur pretty late--at the very least after the LT route is resolved, because the soulbond will be with the LI that the detective ends up choosing. i also think this could also contribute to mishka's firm stance on not allowing the LT to have a poly option

[foggypeacestrawberry]

Dragonfish Reloaded

I continue the story of the WaterFireGod, for part 1 click here

(1) Remember the gate, where the humanoid aliens came through?:

(2) It changed a lot after them humanoids arived -

(3) The second invasion started at dawn. It all happened very fast:

Some very mighty guards came through the gate...

(4) ...and them tiny fragile blossoms, that arrived earlier with the humanoids, grew within seconds into all kinds of - plants?! :

(5) At the same time, a second gate opened…

(6) … spitting out some more "visitors"…

(7) … all kinds of pretty agressive fellas!

(8) The whole garden of our little unnamed sim changed into a nightmare.

Well, he called them, and they came, right?

(9) They forced him to sit down and stay put on an alienesh-crystal-stone-stool-thingy…

(10) …and startet talking…

(11) … to their GOD! The WaterFireGod. Our well known dragonfish.

(12) Then they told our little unnamed sim, that they will return to their home planet through that portal, together with their god...

(13) … right after they solved this kind-a-tricky problem, that they just learned about from the little fish - sry, your highness, of course -

(14) Turns out, unfortunatly they can not just kill the sim, and leave with their god, as they intended…

(15) … because their god can not survive without our little unnamed sim, due to the bond that exists between them. This bond must be broken of course. Or else!

(16) (Moment of akward silence)

(17) They startet negotiating. Meanwhile it was bright daylight.

(18) They discussed during the whole day…

(19) …and also the whole next night.

(20) It turned out, there is more to the good old dragonfish than we ever imagined:

When he spits fire unterwater, while living with a sim that he has a very special bond with, the fire sinks down on the ground, and turnes into gold.

And you know what they say about dragons… they protect treasure.

Next time I will tell you:

What kind of bond the sim + the dragonfish do have,

what the sim is doing with all this gold?!,

and what the "Fisch des Grauens*" has to do with all that

ITS YOUR TURN NOW!

I want you to have the option to influence the story. You can choose 1 of these 3 options, what you want me to put into the story next:

No 1 - Someone will die

OR

No 2 - No one will die

OR

No 3 - Something will happen that has to do with owls.

Just write it into the comments until the End of April, then we will wrap it up and count the voices for 1/2/3!

* Please someone tell me how this fish is called in English, I couldn´t figure that out! (the dark-greenish fella living in the ponds of graveyards, killing all other fishes, and that can be used for prolonging live) - Or maybe I´ll just make up a new name for it :-D , you can recognize it anyway by the pictures I will take then.

The mods I used here for the first time:

Asparagus densiflorus, from alex_stanton1983

Lotus Lamp, from 4Sims

Floor-Lamp Skoll, from sim_man123

From @murfeelee :

TW3 Archespore Miniset

Skyrim Blackreach Giant Mushrooms as Outdoor Lights Miniset

AMR Small Plants Group

Junk Pile as Coin Pile

Deniisu_TS4 to TS3 RoM Rug Medallion as Floor Light

Thank you, @murfeelee! Love your stuff since I played the first time with the telvanni-village, and that was on my old computer (meanwhile, this computer I´m using now is pretty old).

I will also continue the 10-things-challange, weeks ago I already picked the items for the next round - but at the moment, I want to finish that alien-story first!

And yes, I still have to finish the sorting of my mod-collection. That has highest priority, not just because I want to continue playing, but also because of this 10-things-challange I started. For both I need a well-sorted, richly filled mod-folder (lol).

Well. The last weekend I spend downloading nearly everything that Murfeelee ever published :-D ! Just the sorting of this murfeelee-collection alone will take a week, or two, or whatever it takes :-D.

I started yesterday evening with the Letter A. Today I will do the B… like in "babysteps". Like in "Baby Yoda as Teddybear", that is the first mod beginning with a "B" in my murfeel-folder.

Just imagine, this green little fella, how well he would have fit in my alien-story, if I would have known this mod a week before.

You all have a good time :-)

Oh NO now I need to do the tagging. I still have NO clue how that really works here on tumblr, although I always watch you other simmers out there, and try to get it.

[pinkpoppii]

ok I like fr need to know more about bella cuz I absolutely love the one that got away trope and the potential angst with their last seeing of each other, I love the way your mind workss

okay so her family and jordans are like this 🤞 and her nd jordan grew up together essentially, and when jordans powers kicked in she was one of the only ones who didn't treat them any different, who shopped in the mall with jordan in their fem form and helped them pick cute outfits.

they'd talk about running away together alot, sharing jordans bed and talking about their shitty family and how much they hated all the expectations. jordans father expecting them to be his heir, as a man, and only a man, bellas parents expecting her to be in a traditional marriage by her twenties, a silten docile housewife.

jordan would sneak food into their room, their moms cookies and junk food and they'd watch scary movies and bella would look at jordan and think about kissing them, about being a rebel like jordan was and just. saying fuck it. imagines reaching across the bed and taking their hand, seeing what would happen. but she doesn't. she thinks about her mother's disappointment and it makes something in her shrink and die.

she helps jordan rebel in small ways, but never all the way, because shes terrified of what being shunned from the comfortable acceptance of her family would feel like. she thinks jordan might have feelings for her, sees it in the way jordans fingers linger when they help her unzip a too tight dress, feels the heat of their gaze on her neck, her throat, her lips, when they think shes not paying attention. and maybe she encourages it, silently. blossoms under the attention and affection from her most treasured person, imagines turning her head one day, and closing that distance, but no.

and then jordan gets accepted into GodU and bella feels the world fall out from under her. She has powers too, but she was never gonna be a hero. It was more for show, for protection, for money. The fear of jordan leaving her overwhelms her, even though she knows this is what they've always wanted. to get out from their parents thumb, to be free. still, it feels dreadful. the one thing in her life that she felt was hers, that tasted like freedom, wild and sweet, and they were leaving her. to become something - someone - bigger and better than she'd ever be.

so when jordan kisses her the night before they leave, she kisses back. too afraid to keep her walls up, to pretend she doesn't fucking burn for them - she does, she's constantly being set ablaze in their presence. she lets jordan kiss and kiss and kiss her, lets jordans fingers slip under her dress, feels the world widen and expand and sees colors and feels magic and - "come with me." jordan says the words she was hoping they wouldn't, "we can - i want you, bell. i want you with me."

the fire is doused in ice water. bella feels the ice as it fills her veins and has to step away, one step that feels like miles that feels like galaxies of distance apart, the tether between them straining.

she says the one thing she knows will kill, "i cant - i can only be with a man, jordan. just a man."

she sees the lie take root, sees jordans eyes harden, jaw clench, fingers twitch. taking in the hurt and internalizing it. when they speak, their voice is even colder than the snow drowning bellas heart, "right. of course -" they step back, hand on the doorknob, twisting it - bellas insides twist with it - "my fucking mistake."

she doesn't see jordan li for another three years.

by then, she's engaged, to a picture perfect kind of man. hes blonde and blue eyed and has big shining white teeth. his hands dont warm her the way jordans did.

when she sees jordan li again, they're basically already a hero. not an ounce of that doubt on their face, cool and settled into who they are completely. bella feels her heart give a kick, feels some of the ice crystals in her chest melt away.

"jordan." she breathes, when they're about to sit for dinner, seated next to eachother, just like old times. "hi. long time no see. you look - so different. good! good different."

jordans eyes, dark as onyx, flick to her and then down to her hand, her ring finger. the engagement ring sits there like an ugly rock. their lips quirk at the corners but its not a soft smile, its callous, biting.

"Bella." they parrot back, tonelessly. "you look exactly the same."

bella feels her smile drop. her heart too. looks down at her lap and curls her fingers tightly until the sharp edge of her engagement ring bite into her skin. the pain keeps her from letting tears build.

its going to be a long fucking night.

[lazaruspiss]

YESSSSSS i would love to read what you've got sorted out for your Dick alters :D

*does an evil little cheerleader dance*

-redhoodinternaldialectical

Hi! I liked the Ric arc. Conceptually. Sort of. It has many problems but it stuck with me. Most of my DIDick notes are tucked away in my DMs so I'm gonna do my best to go over all that! (and according to my writing program this is over 1.6K words so. whoops?)

By the end of the Ric arc, Dick has what are essentially 3-4 different lives in his noggin. I think the crystal shit is honestly more fucked up if he /doesn't/ have DID. And I was also just enamored with Ric, and all of the "we want you to come home Dick!!" that he was dealing with. Waking up for the first time and being bombarded by people insisting that you're someone else? It works so well for a DID story. As I continued to think about/work on it, it grew far past just covering Ric/Talon/Joker. I ended up going through the major turning points in Dick’s life and sort of walking through it, and seeing who I would end up with. In the canon I'm most attached to Dick is sent to juvie for a while before ending up with Bruce. That's where I imagine their mind first starting to take shape. Robin: A baby. All those happy memories of /before/ tucked away where they can be protected. Any pronouns, too young to really be concerned with much. They're an all around bundle of joy that almost never gets to come out despite wanting to explore and make friends. It's just too dangerous, and they have to stay "pure". This is essentially how they stay, a time capsule that never ages. For simplicity's sake, I'll refer to them as "Baby Robin" instead of Robin for the rest of this. Dick/Magpie: Dick sees Magpie as his imaginary friend. Magpie sees Dick as her partner in crime. The two co-front and switch places a lot, and are generally pretty close. Dick is still exposed to the horrors of the outside world enough to not /think/ he's missing anything, but Magpie takes on what he can't.

They slowly but surely become distant as time passes. Dick completely forgets about her by the time he turns 13. For most of their life Dick is completely in the dark. It's easier like this, when there's a face recognized by the outside world that doesn't need to know the details. It's easier to lie when you don't know you're doing it. There's a period around 10-14 where everything gets /messy/ and memories get weird, particularly where the Joker is involved. Dolly: A little girl with big dreams. She thinks herself much more mature than she is, and doesn't understand what's so wrong about Humbert Humbert. "He really did love her, you know?". Joker showers her in the attention that she couldn't find anywhere else at the time. He's the only person who knows she exists even including the others inside the system. He's the first person outside the system to know that there /is/ a system in the first place. Magpie eventually gets some indication of Dolly's existence, but she doesn't act on it. Has no clue what can even be done for Dolly in this situation.

It does make moving in with the Teen Titans an easy decision. They need to be away from Bruce for a bit, need to just leave Gotham and get it together. The stress of it all still keeps picking up while they're with the Titans. It's no easy feat to manage a team while trying to balance their own mental state(s). Elle: Originally unnamed, but Baby Robin thought they should be named after Elle Woods because they're "smart and cool like her!" but the resemblance pretty much ends there. They're very no nonsense and short tempered. They don't control the body at all, instead managing things from an inside perspective. They know just about everything about everyone. Like Oracle, but for the system and all that encompasses. They can occasionally co-front and speak if need be, but prefer not to. Cannot move the body if they were to front alone.

X: Do I even need to explain. X, Apprentice, eventually Renegade, it has many names, X just stuck the best. Rose ends up calling it René though. Slade gets to call it whatever he wants. X is pretty morally neutral. Doesn't seek to do harm, but follows orders without guilt or hesitation. Doesn't talk, sometimes it just can't, sometimes it just doesn't want to. Slade has heard its voice the most out of anybody. Its mental image of itself has no face, only a warped echo of the mask that Robin once wore. Not actually as mean as it might seem, especially when Slade isn’t around for it to serve. Slade was surprised when he found out about the system, but rolls with it in a way that earns him at least a little favor with most of them.

Maggie (Magpie): She's quiet during the teen years. She can't bring herself to talk to the Titans, seeing them as Dick's friends and not hers. She's lonely. Honestly, she’s a pretty normal teenage girl.

Dolly: Went dormant when they left Gotham.

Dick still helps in Gotham for a while. Until he gets fired by Batman. It sets everything a bit sideways. Dick is sort of leading the charge for a while and is so annoying about it that a coup is briefly considered. This is around the time he falls in with Eddie and Liu, eventually losing his virginity to the latter. Maggie doesn’t handle that last part well. It does end in Dick establishing Nightwing, and most are content with that, but Maggie still occasionally ends up with the memories that Dick pushes out. It eats at her and eats at her, and she never really recovers. Maggie is stuck in a permanent state of being sixteen after this. Life goes on. Life goes wrong. Jason dies. Everything is messy again. Eventually Dolly comes back, but more as an adult this time. Doesn’t mean she’s well adjusted though. She’s selfish, reckless, and far too attached to the demon in their head. Did I mention the Joker introject? Good. Neither did any of them. It’s an open secret, a he-who-shall-not-be-named type of situation. Joker: “My pronouns are eat/my/ass.” He’s pretty much exactly how you think he’d be. He gained some influence after Dick tried to kill the original Joker, but he’s always been this ambiguous boogeyman. Doesn’t really go out of his way to fuck shit up, and mainly sticks to fucking with his Dolly.

Lola/Dolores (Dolly): Can't lie, she’s my favorite. She's got so many issues, but carries herself with a mix of playfulness and flirtation. She's a /woman/ now and isn't afraid to remind you, /Papa/. She thinks of Lulu Belle as being her “girlhood self”. It’s a lot more pleasant to cling to memories of when she and Bruce met and got along through the occasional “cross-dressing” mission than it is to think about what most of her younger years were like. She’s prone to manic episodes, and is frequently enabled by Joker. She drinks, she plays, and she gets yelled at by Elle about making sure she at least uses protection.

Dolores and Joker are effectively married (derogatory). It’s obviously really bad for Dolores. She doesn’t really distinguish between her introject husband and the original Joker, often prone to breakdowns when he sees the original with other women. She fucking hates Harley so damn much, and Punchline when that all happens. It doesn’t really come to anything, but it does mess her up emotionally. It goes on like that. The Blockbuster incident proves to be another low. They keep pulling themselves together into something functional just to be broken down again. Dolores forces her way to the front a lot. She already had a drinking problem, but it doesn’t really get better. At least that makes for a good excuse as to why Dick’s memories are so full of holes. Then Jason is back. He’s intimidating. He doesn’t know, but he can see through them more than most. They keep him at a distance when they can, because it’s terrifying feeling so exposed. And then there’s the headshot and the crystal. All previous alters are essentially locked out, and for a while it’s just Ric.

Ric: He’s angry and hurting. Why wouldn’t he be? Everyone looks at him and treats him like a man that he’s never met. They /hate/ him for not being that person. He’s reckless and guarded, but softens up around people who don’t know the stranger he’s supposed to be. He doesn’t know Slade, but he would've fallen for him easily. Also of note is that he ends up as one of those alcoholics turned health bros, in large part due to finding out that he’s a part of a system. He has a huge soft spot for animals and kids, and is pretty nice to those who deserve it. He’s not afraid to tell people when he thinks they /don’t/ deserve it though. The most date-able of them all tbh. Talon: It’s a feral animal. All its memories, thoughts, and feelings are incoherent and abstract. Joker: He’s given memories of being abused by the Graysons’ and the original Joker gets cemented in his mind as his dad. The aftermath of being groomed and controlled by the original Joker really fucks him up. He gets pretty forcibly humanized. He’s still not great, but he’s slightly better now that he’s learned about concepts like “pain” and “trauma” first hand. He’s morally improved and mad about it. He misses being evil and guiltless. Eventually the previous alters come back after the crystal is taken care of. It’s a fucking trip for Dick, because he’s finding out about all of them for the first time. From here they’d ideally stay away from the bats while they sort out/adjust to all that.