#maybe that was the plot of one of his nightmares xD

[balkanradfem]

Had some harry potter thoughts today at work. I was thinking of how funny it was that voldemort set up the 'muggle-born registration', because there's one very funny thing that could have happened in there.

Imagine if someone in the ministry was feeling a little bit daring, or just, high, and sent voldemort the summons for the 'muggle-born registration', maybe a bit for the vengeance. Like Percy did it to redeem himself.

Okay so if Voldemort were to abide by his own laws, he should be showing up, right? Of course he would just murder anyone involved at all, but let's say his stupid 'oh I need to prove to everyone that I'm better than them', comes out, just like he always gets stupid about proving he can kill Harry, and let's say he shows up, thinking how he's gonna intimidate and impress everyone there.

And as we know, everyone summoned there has to prove they have at least one magical relative, in order to prove that they didn't steal the magic. And, he can't, because he killed all of his magical, and muggle relatives. He came from an orphanage, his name is mostly muggle, and if Merope was his mom, there's nobody to confirm it, nobody but Dumbledore knew that, and he's dead now. So, if he abided by his own laws... the ministry would have to conclude he was a muggle born and snap his wand in half and send him off to live with the muggles.

I know he would just murder his way out of this, but it is so funny to me that he could potentially have this kind of experience in a world he set up himself xD.

[aziraphales-library]

Lost Fic #225

1. Hi!! First I just wanna thank you for all the good work you do! I have found so many fics on here. I’ve been looking everywhere for this fic I think I read several months ago. I’m starting to think maybe I dreamed it up because I cannot find it anywhere. It was something where Crowley was stuck in his dreams so Aziraphale had to go in and pull him out. He saw a bunch of Crowley’s nightmares. I wanna say one was in hell and there was another featuring the Blitz? I’ve been looking everywhere but can’t find anything. Any ideas? - anon

2. Hi! thank you for this blog. Let's see if I have luck, I've been looking for a fic I read a while ago,I think there was an aziracrow baby that died at bith?, but it became an angel and grew up in heaven, they were named phil as in nephilim - anon

3. Hello I’m looking for a fic but I can’t find it despite always trying every few months XD Maybe it’s been deleted but maybe it’s still out there but I just can’t find it. It’s a human AU in which Crowley is a single dad to Adam. The mom left them pretty much as soon as Adam was born. Because of an injury Crowley got as a child he can’t work and lives on government support. He meets Aziraphale who volunteers at a Foodbank or Soupkitchen (I can’t remember) and they fall in love. - @little0cean

4. Hey it’s me again help? So there is this fic I can’t find (it’s in ao3) Awhile ago I think a long time, I read this good omens fic about aziraphale and Crowley, the basic premise is that god drop azi when he was made and thus azi created the first fire which then he kept it, he tells the other angel his purpose is a secret because god forgot to tell him it, I believe there was some true form stuff, and yeah that is about what I can remember there was also something about his sword being on fire because he was fire at his core - @zeroheroaero-blog

5. hullo! i hope you guys are having a great summer i need some help finding a fic, i don’t really remember much of the plot but i remember that at one point, crowley goes to a bar and picks up a girl and they end up having sex in the bentley. after, aziraphale is in the car and finds out the used condom and chastises crowley. very specific scene but i can’t seem to remember any other details for the life of me. thank you in advance for your help!❤️ - @brndnglow

If you know any of these fics please include the number in your reply! Thank you :)

- Mod D

[bluepopofanarts]

I don't give clear spoilers from the S2 but read the next with precautions (I imply things but I prefer giving the warning. I hate spoilers so I try to avoid it to others even if with the S2 my brain was impatient XD).

------

Little AU (another after the swap comic XD) where they have met in childhood. They both share the same origin story but one day they just met randomly when Viktor played with his boat (probably just after meeting Singed because I drew an healthy Rio).

The timeline changed her direction to a long-time friendship where they shared every steps of their life. I drew Rio with them but infortunately she had the same fate (I swear I keep the main scenario because I didn't find how to save her. If I find something I'd change the description ! XD Maybe bringing her back with some Hextech magic, even if that implies she is white/gold if you know what I mean lol).

They did their studies together and created te Hexgems. The main difference : they've never created the unstable ones that destroyed the appartment (because Viktor was already here "to crank it") but they also never dared to talk about them. So when the group stole them they both ended up in trial for creating the Hexgems. But Mel saved them both and their part of the story is the same (except the fact that Viktor being put under the spotlight gave him a Councilor place too. He enjoyed that like an introvert in front of a full theatre xD).

For the Zaunist side, and because the Hexgems are stable, they didn't create the deadly huge explosion. Milo finished to free Vander, Claggor created the wall hole and everybody escaped. Even Powder who were already outside, she didn't fly with the explosion like in the original.

BUT

Silco took the Hexgems and started to create weapon with them + the Shimmer.

So yes, Jayce and Viktor are in trouble because they have to create the Hexgates and trying to keep peace. Luckily Victor is the one trying to find peace with Silco. And Vander helped a lot with a certain heartbreaking piece of paper (I'm still crying all the water I drunk in a week everytime I read it ! And !spoiler for the artbook! having the artbook with that letter in it is not helping ! XD)

And because I really love (in a painful, tearful, brain-eating, obsessive, and highly passionate way) what happened to my precious Vitya in the next season, I guess they found peace and gave independance to Zaun but a certain someone set the Council room in fire to start again the hatred (probably a dangerous woman in red who already prouved that she can plot horrible plans !). So Silco is alive but we still have the S2 (yes even the absolute horrific end of the episode 6. Seriously, even after knowing what/why/all the things and reasons, fuck you still, Jayce).

So this is how I fixed the utopic timeline of the episode 7 (not gonna lie guys but I was absolutly not a fan of this moment when I saw it for the first time. For me Arcane was "impossible to give me joy" "this is probably some kind of Arcane bad trip and they are in reality in some kind of deadly nightmare" "everything is fake", I was super suspicious so I did'nt enjoy it like I should have do xD But now I'm fine with that even if a lot of things are illogic, but it's still beautiful to enjoyer peace and love).

Anyway, more Jayvik incoming because they are the biggest brainroat I've ever had in my damn life. Viktor really set my mind in pieces and I don't recover from it. But I forgive him because it's Viktor <3

Merry Christmas even if it's the end of the day ! (almost 10pm here xD)

[comickergirl]

I thought it would be kinda cool to try and make a tier list with my own drawings and, in hindsight, that was maybe too ambitious, given I had more manga titles this year and less free time for fanart, but regardless, here we are! Gonna hide additional thoughts on some of the books under a read-more for the terribly curious. XD

Going in order from top to bottom, left to right:

Snow White with the Red Hair: ...No. There is too much to say. I'll need to return to this some other time. XD (Actually I'm gonna skip the other 2023 titles on the tier list as well)

King in Limbo: LOVED this one. Possibly one of my favorite that I read this year. (Am I biased because it takes place in San Francisco? MAYBE SO.) Really great sci-fi series with a crime/murder mystery element, and Rune and Adam make for a great mismatched 'buddy comedy' duo. Also... *cough* Am I excited for the Your Forma anime? Yes. Do I think King in Limbo did the same plot but better and first? Also yes. *cough*

QQ Sweeper/ Queen's Quality: Look this title has everything, okay? Action, romance, comedy, horrifying nightmare monsters, tips on window cleaning, what more could you want, really?

Wolf's Daughter: A Werewolf's Tale: THANK YOU SEVEN SEAS FOR LICENSING THIS FOR PRINT THIS YEAR!

Library Wars: Admittedly I'd tried this one a handful of times before and struggled to get into it (also I don't care for the anime) BUT. I told myself to stick with it and lo and behold, loved it. Such a charming cast of characters.

Immortal Rain: I recall encountering this in either middle school or high school and loving the art, but I don't think I read past volume one. Really enjoyed reading the whole series through.

Wolf and Revolver: How can an unlicensed title rank this high, you ask??? V I B E S

Rose of Versailles: Listen I felt genuine anxiety over the fate of Marie Antoinette and if that isn't the mark of a skilled storyteller right there, I don't know what is.

Gold Kingdom and Water Kingdom: IT'S SO CUTE AND CHARMING and way funnier than I thought it would be??? Also reminded me of The Thief and the Cobbler a fair bit, in terms of tone and art.

From Far Away: Feel like this had a bit of a slow start but the main draw, in my opinion, is Noriko. She’s such a sweet, determined heroine.

Children of the Whales: I actually have some nitpicks with this one, story-wise, BUT. It’s so impressive from an artistic standpoint and unique in its world building that I just gotta give it to ‘em, you know?

The Hachioji Specialty: Tengu’s Love: How can a manga with only two volumes out rank this high, you ask? IT'S ADORABLE. XD In all seriousness, I love that it’s a ‘fish out of water’ story that doesn’t infantilize the woman so that the guy can save her with his worldly ways. Refreshing! And I say again: so. Heckin’. CUTE.

The rest of the titles all tend to fall in the same sort of, ‘I liked this!’ area for me, except fooooor….

Fushigi Yuugi: Listen LISTEN, it ranks real low and I’ve got complaints about the plot and pacing BUT. I’m glad I read it and would like to someday dive into the sequels because it is clearly a genre-defining staple. Maybe I’d like the anime better?? (I liked the first volume of the latest spin-off! XD)

SECRET BONUS ROUND! Most of these had a physical edition of their first volume drop at the tail end of the year and as such, felt a bit too last minute to draw, but they generally all fall in the ‘solidly entertaining’ tier:

Stomp, Kick, Love Blade Girl Love, That’s an Understatement Agents of the Four Seasons* In Another World, My Sister Stole my Name*

(*These came out less recently but I forgot to write them down! XD)

SECRET BONUS ROUND: 2023 EDITION! These didn’t make it onto my illustrated list that year but I *have* read ‘em:

Red River (Note: If I had to pick a soap-opera-esque, sprawling, vaguely historical isekai fantasy, I prefer this to Fushigi Yuugi) Prince Freya

SECRET BONUS ROUND: SHONEN/SEINEN EDITION! Nozaki Kun Your Forma Dahlia My Dear Detective Noragami Tropic of the Sea Opus Seraphim The Concierge at Hokkyoku Department Store The Golden Sheep

And there we go! :D

[aquaburst3]

Welp, the latest main story update dropped last night. Oh, boy. It's bad. Like super bad. Somehow even worse than Vil turning into a diva and abusing Neige.

According to people who recounted what happened in it, Leona is a tyrant that doesn't care about his people. It' possibly hinted at that he murdered his own family to get the throne.

Leona would never do that! While he finds his brother and nephew annoying, he still loves them and would never wish them harm let alone murder them. Last time I checked, he and Scar weren't the same character.

Do I think Leona is ready to be king now? No. But, I don't think think he would be this bad. He's smart and willing to listen to others. I don't see him letting the country fall to shit.

Yes, I know that he said that wants to harness Sunset Savannah for its natural resources and upgrade the country. One, that comes out of a place of compassion. He knows Ruggie and plenty of others like him suffer under massive poverty. Hell, there are parts of that country that still have to use well water. He just wants to upgrade those parts to make things more even. Two, Leona has some very good points. If there's so much wealth disparity in that country, maybe finding other ways to make money might be a good thing. I agree. Destroying the environment isn't the answer. But there are ways to bring the country up to stand and be harmonious with the environment. Leona is smart enough to figure out those options. Three, he's not a fucking Captain Planet villain. He's willing to listen to others' advice and find a balance. Even in this very chapter Leona said that he wanted to have an internship at a mine in his country, so that way he can learn how to balance his own desires and saving the environment and tradition. This quite literally contradicts what this Book said several updates ago.

I know that Malleus is creating these dreams based on his own understanding of these guys, so there are gonna be some inconsistencies. But if that was the case, wouldn't Leona instantly know that something was off? He's the smartest character in the game. If he was in character, he should've figured it out and played along with Malleus' little game long enough till he got help. I even heard one suggestion that if Leona was in character, he could've purposefully gave himself a nightmare so he could wake up faster. That would've been so cool, too. But, no. Leona has to be an idiot, because the plot demands it. (Between this and Book 2, I swear he's cursed that whenever he gets any large amount of focus in the main story, he's transformed into a total dumbass. xD)

This is so bad and out of character that it geniunely pisses me off. Leona's not even in my top 3 favourite characters in this game! This is somehow even worse than The Cursed Child. At least that got the character's basic personality traits right, for the most part. This is just The Lion King plot superimposed on the Twisted Wonderland characters, so it falls apart at the seams. What a waste.

[chaoticdelinqueerwithglitter]

Snippet of 5th division Takemichi!

This is just a little drabble, like a snippet on a story that for know I only have notes about but I'll write someday. I just have 2 oneshots and one chapter to finish for starting with the wips that are just pages of notes for now, yuhu!

(promising this to myself)

I read a fic a few months ago with this idea and well, it was hilarious and I started thinking in what type of AU this could work, one trying to also save everyone and go to the plot of the different arcs. Did I say before thatt Tokyo Revengers is my Roman Empire? I wasn't joking. The other wip I have is time-leaper Manila Izana going through tenjiku arc. Fix it fics that, like canon, will be heavy on the angst but with happy ending (yes, me, doing happy endings, I know but did I say it will be heavy on the angst? Because the Izana one... He needs to learn a lot, oopsie)

For understanding the drabble, a few basics:

It's based on an AU where Takemichi jumps to the day when he met Mikey after shaking hands with him in Bonten. And let's pretend our dear Michi actually catched up Sanzu's name and was thinking in something more than Mikey for a second, okay?

Things happened and after saving Draken he asked to be put in the 5th division because reasons (Sanzu, knowing that Mucho is a traitor, knowing that well, he knows a lot about conspiracies that will happen in Toman so maybe this is not such a bad idea even if he's scared of his captain and vice-captain, right?)

A lot of things will happened for get to this point, but after some months of Sanzu knowing about Takemichi being a time-leaper, he finally opens up with the truth about tl0 (yes, he's a little shit and doesn't say anything for months but he has trusting issues, okay? Let him alone xD). Obviously, there will be chapters with Sanzu's POV, for plot reasons (not because I love writting his mental breakdowns, nops).

So... I think that's it. Ah, this conversation is happening in some point of Tenjiku arc, I'm still deciding what to do with this arc, but Takemichi changed enough things. So Mucho goes to Tenjiku alone and now Sanzu is the captain of the 5th division. With Takemichi as a vice-captain, poor crybaby.

Warnings: NONE! I almost don't believe it myself, but this is just comfort. Because it's a small scene that came to my mind and made me smile and I'm having a soft day, so I thought, why not write it?

(he's so pretty and I'm so normal about it, yeps)

At this point, Takemichi already learned a few things about his captain and how to tell the subtle changes on his expressions. He was sure Sanzu hided even more under the mask, but it wasn't that easy to see him without it. So he could see that the other boy was more absent, that his eyes weren't really looking at anything. And Takemichi had a hunch about the reason, he was just trying to find a way to talk about it without getting punch. Or worse, to be honest sometimes he still find the scarred boy a little too unpredictable.

“You know, some days when I wake up, I'm not even sure what time line is it. And I'm always afraid to discover the truth, to discover I fucked up and went back to Manila. Or Bonten.”

Some days, he still feels Mikey's body getting cold on his hands. Or see him getting pale with Emma doing the same. Dead inside in the hospital, the same empty eyes Takemichi saw in that abandoned bowling-alley. But that's an image the other doesn't need, the scarred boy has his own nightmares with Mikey on it. Absolute void in those darks eyes, more than he's able to imagine.

Sanzu gives him a weird look that already feels like a victory, he's looking at him. That's something, right?

“For what you said, I'm sure that Bonten wasn't that bad.” The pinkette snickers. “But, yeah... I get what you mean. It's like anything feels...real.”

The last part is almost like a whisper, like he was afraid of confessing it.

“Exactly.” The blonde smiles brightly, he knows he shouldn't be this easy to read, but he can't really avoid it. “It feels nice to have some one to talk about it that actually understands. With the rest of people that known before, I was always afraid they'll start thinking I was going crazy for saying this type of stuff.”

Aquamarine pair of eyes wide with the last words, like he suddenly understood what his vice-captain was trying to do. What he did, actually.

“I still hate you. Don't start thinking we're friends or some shit like that.”

It sounds almost like a bark, but Takemichi knows better after the last months. So he just laughs, happy with being able to cross another one of his captain walls. He promised to both of them, that he'll save him too.

And he will. Because this time, he'll save everyone. This time, he actually understands what is happening with Mikey.

So he'll save everyones asses, even the ones that don't want to be saved. Specially that ones.

[applesjuice]

WAIT, does that mean that Kieran/Akari still captured legendaries?!!! When they're hearing Cinhtya talking about myths and legends of Hisui to see if there is a semblance of truth, and Akari just goes "Oh, ye." And just, sent Palkia/Dialga, darkrai (Lord of nightmare?!!!), GIRATINA (the fu-) and plenty others?!

...GOD?!

Pfffhehehe, it's just funny to think of the reaction the Poke-world could have to these XD. (Legend AU)

Yeah! They completed the pokedex and helped Laventon get the ball rolling in his research since everything got derailed thanks to a certain someone. I don't think they'd bring the legendaries back with them since like, they're literal gods who are worshipped. They captured them but they still do what they want, like showing up to work on the farm randomly or appearing to Kieran in dreams like they're the Virgin Mary descending to bestow a prophecy and its just Palkia or whoever wanting some attention. Kieran feels very bad for Giritina, and projects a bit on it like they did with Ogerpon, but I genuinely think Kieran is just a very empathetic kid.

The clans worship their specific pokemon like gods with carved figures in their homes that they make daily offering too. At some point Kieran makes one for Giritina and puts little hats on it when it gets cold and leaves berries and treats as an offering. Maybe the big baddie of the Distortion World is that way because nobody ever gave it a hug or tucked it into bed we dont know!

Kieran and Dawn in the future: maybe the real gods of creation are the friends we made along the way

I think there'd be pockets of people descended from the clans in modern Sinnoh who still worship Palkia or Dialga in their homes. Cynthia's family grew up with the church of arceus (and we all know why) but she loves theology and has so many questions because surely that one photo of the Big Three frolicing on a farm is some Ancient Alien level hoax and Kieran is just like: on no they just really like soybeans. I think they were competing to see whose plot got the highest yield.

Diamond and Pearl still happened so Dawn has current "ownership" of the Sinnoh legendaries but they have zero sense of time on a human scale so they'd be stoked to see their buddy Akari again but. But like, morally and ethically can you bring god to a pokemon battle? They'd probably enjoy battling for fun on the occasion but they're not normal pokemon and can't be treated as such. Im my mind there's a parctice of every generation or so since pokeballs became a thing, someone has to catch whichever legendary to keep it safe from your average nutjob drying to take over the world. Pokeballs are technology they're not forever and after a while they degrade and stop functioning. Or at least in my mind that's how it works. It would likely make sense to like. Just bury a legendary's pokeball somewhere and let it live its best life while there's ensurance for like 30 years some rando can't catch it.

Sorry this went on a tangent about my thoughts on religion in the pokemon world, but I see the Legendaries as being too Other and beyond our understanding to stick around on someone's team. I consider the various protagonists who catch them have gained their favor so they will pop in during their lifetime to visit because humans and pokemon need eachother to get stronger. Legendaries imo are just different in that they need exposure to that humanity to keep them grounded and present mentally. They have PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWERS, but itty bitty understanding of humanity, or like, the pokemon equivalent of it.

So yea Kieran doesnt bring any legendaries back with them but they'll still ask to see them occasionally to see if they're doing ok.

[randomgentlefolk]

CPC CHAPTER 165+166

The warning earned a chuckle from me lmao. Because why did I literally gasp while reading the first line xd

The warning for eps 166...didn't make me laugh at all.

Yayy Gwen is finally awake!! I guess thanks Leland for removing the thorny plants so she won't hurt herself :|

Nah cause Leland really dare try to kidnap a girl who asked whether he's okay after she herself just woke up from an intense nightmare 💀

Bro has the GUTS. THE AUDACITY. To start ranting about the kids he's kidnapping.

This scene is so emotional, and I am so glad Gwen is finally starting to know who Leelathae is. Though I won't lie, I'm a little disappointed that Leland is the one to tell her :/ I was expecting a family moment with Jack and the other pastel kids. But it's all good since she finally gets to know her :D

I would like to apologize in advance. Serpent Leland kinda made me laugh due to his abs lmaooo.

But it's pretty cool how Gwen and Frederick sees Leland as a threat (tho unintentional), though with different perspective. Gwen sees Leland as a big bad wolf while Frederick sees Leland as a serpent.

HECK YEAH!!! You go, Frederick!!! For once, his ability to misunderstand something is actually resulting in something wonderful and amazing!!

Aww the Possum immediately hugging Gwen <3

Oh uh whoops. Can Curtis see through that glasses? Hopefully...

Guys, Leland is throwing tantrum again :/ but i can see how using Laverne as a weapon against him is a really useful tactic. Considering how in the past, he bought Laverne to be a replacement for Jack. So turning Laverne against him probably feels like a 2nd betrayal for him.

OOHH....Aww man. Damn. I can feel that comb hitting Leland's hand and pushing the thorns in. Ouch...

NAHH NOT CELSO!!! My man this is why you don't scream your move when doing stealth move 😔

Did Frederick just do a Judo move.

I looked it up and this move is called shoulder throw or Seoi-nage.

BUT FREDERICK ACTUALLY, SERIOUSLY JUST SHOULDER THROW HIS FATHER, THEN PROCEEDS TO PLANT HIS HEAD ON THE WALL. Those laverne carrying are working. Plot twist he's actually buff lmao.

Ahwguwau Frederick actually learning from moments where he got hurt and being brave tho!! So proud of him <3

I love Aurelia and her comments man XD

Frederick immediately checking up on Gwen and making sure she wasn't hurt. These guys deserve their happy ending Lambcat c'mon :')

AURELIA FINALLY GIVING GWEN THE DIARY!!! PASTEL KIDS CHILDHOOD WJSJIWNSGEKA

But of course! Let's start from the beginning of chapter 166...

Lorena would be so proud if she see how Frederick tied his dad with her vines.

Yeah, Gwen definitely should start on the second page... Just reading the first page by glancing could lead to many misunderstandings.

May I just say, I love how Gwen is being stern(is that the word?) To Aurelia about how she needs to read that book and that she really want to know about her mother. Hah! Again, I love Aurelia's comment (this time about the war literally happening downstairs XD)

IT'S TIME. INTOOOOOO PASTEL KIDS CHILDHOOD WITH LEELATHAEEEE!!

(Cue that batman transition music (i forgot the era))

WUJWJWHWAIB THEY??? ARE ADORABLE!!! Awww Leelathae reading them a story with Jack and Gwen & Jamie's onesie!! Also their plushies!! I'm having cuteness overload....

HAJSYAISYAJ THEY HAVE MATCHING DRESSES!!!!! Maybe Leelathae sew them herself??? SJSJSHJAUS

Oh. Okay. That's not good. I suppose there's a side effect after giving birth to the children? That's...depressing.

But before we go deeper into that, birthday party!!

I must say, I absolutely adore how chaotic Lorena seems to be lmao. Look at her and her little sword XD and Maria looking really elegant. She really does give the eldest sister vibe. Gwen looks so cute with the pigtails! (I forgot the hairstyle name). Jamie with the fruits and Gwen with the fruit and cooking utensils!

Also it seems that the pastel family is having a small party for birthdays instead of big ones like the plaid kingdom. I wonder why they don't invite the plaid family over? Blaine and Lance would be 6 and 5 years old at this time, so they're probably at the academy already. But what about Leland and Isolde?

Man, this family is genuinely so wholesome and that makes me even sadder for what's about to happen. CAUSE DAMN??? Leelathae passing out while holding the cake, and Jack noticing like 😭 AND THEN JACK RUNNING TOWARDS HER LIKE MARIA AND LORENA RUNNING TOWARDS GWEN I'M GOING TO CRY.

R.i.p cake (i had to do it)

Ahh I see. Okay. So the left ventricle (which is a part of the heart) is weakening and it can't strengthen back up? That's what I'm getting, at least. I wasn't aware something like this could happen. I'm just researching, and is Peripartum Cardiomyopathy (PPCM) the correct term for this? I don't know anything about childbirth beyond what I learn in school so... this one's purely based on searching the symptom in google.

Okay, let's see... *puts on glasses and squint my eyes* *clears throat*

Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) or also known as Postpartum cardiomyopathy is an uncommon form of heart failure that happens toward the end of pregnancy or in the months following delivery, when no other cause of heart failure can be found.

https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/cardiomyopathy/what-is-cardiomyopathy-in-adults/peripartum-cardiomyopathy-ppcm

(This information is taken from American Heart Association website. I hope that's alright?)

Symptoms of PPCM that we've seen in Leelathae:

- Fatigue

- Shortness of breath

- Chest pain

- Feeling lightheaded or faint

- Dizziness

For now that's the only things I can note. I mean, I'm not even sure if that is what Leelathae is going through. But it seems likely. I don't have anything to add on this matter right now, so what if we go back to the story. Shall we?

"I'm going to perish...from a broken heart"

OHHHHH, OKAY DAMN LEELATHAE. Man... this reminds me of the broken heart syndrome. It's pretty interesting. If I'm not wrong, it's a heart condition that comes from extremely stressful situation or emotions. And it is possible to pass away from it. So yes, you can die from a broken heart.

Oh man this just got depressing real quick... The kids sitting beside Leelathae's bed, the medicines piling up overtime, Leelathe crying and Jack hugging her...

Leelathae :( she just wants to see her kids grow up and her husband man... and yet because a certain jealous man just had to steal a portrait...damn it Leland.

The witch!! It's her!! :0000

That's nice of her to offer to listen to Leelathae's vent :) though she does mistake her for a witch :')

THIS WHOLE TIME. IT'S THE WITCH LMAO. Okay actually being mistaken as a witch has a perk this time!! And does this mean Leelathae can bake??? Like mother like daughter real.

The panel of the witch hugging Leelathae is actually pretty sweet haha. They're besties now X)

I wonder how this spell will work....

That's it for now. 2 episodes in a post! Wooo! I gotta stop procrastinating... this post was so long lmao.

Mono out! (Ngl I'm still in lmao)

[fitzrove]

One undertheorised aspect of Elisabeth [yes I'm approaching the show like a research field] is that of the POV in Mayerling. Setting aside/ignoring my favourite interpretation (ie. Lucheni's POV colours every scene from beginning to end), I started thinking: could it be we're seeing it through Elisabeth's eyes?

The first time Elisabeth acknowledges the mirror imagery (which is built between her and Rudolf in the Vienna-based productions) is literally right after his death - "you were like me, you needed me / I left you on your own to free myself -- / The fault is mine". She seems to see "the truth" (what the show has constructed for us to see from the start - Elisabeth's emancipation and Rudolf's isolation) and blames herself for it. And that "truth", as it is represented in the show, includes (personified) Death.

But is it really "the truth", or is it what Elisabeth has come up with in her long solitary hours despairing in the crypt? Has she, while mourning him, just begun to think back on everything she knows about Rudolf and reinterpreted his life as a nightmare similar to her own - looking to Death for guidance and comfort and yet suffering as a result? Maybe Elisabeth isn't just observing; she's interpreting and creating (the narrative) before our eyes. What we see happen to Rudolf before that point is her hindsight. And ok the implications are kind of horrifying especially for Schatten reprises where Tod really goes at it physically, like, her imagining Rudolf suffering like that - like she has with depression as well, in DLT and WITW - over and over (in Mayerling too) and not being able to stop it because he's already dead.

Granted, there are some things that make this less likely: ie. the overall strength of the Lucheni interpretation (I think it's the canon one honestly, there's too much evidence to ignore) as well as the historical fact that Elisabeth remained mostly ignorant of Rudolf's political writings and aspirations even after his death, but it's still interesting to think about.

In any case I don't think Rudolf is in control of his own narrative like traditional fictional characters are - and why should he be, he's a minor character in a show using storybook/circus/etc aesthetics as an artistic device. He's in control of his actions within that narrative (ie. Elisabeth saying his death is her fault is not really true), but he's really a plot device. And therefore:

1)conspiracy bad XDD

2) Mirror imagery good, hence removing the mayerling kiss horribly bad

3) what if Elisabeth made up Mama, schatten reprise and Mayerling after the fact, while despairing and overthinking what she could've done differently during Totenklage (out of all the candidates for "narrator"/POV character, Rudolf is just about the unlikeliest person in the show - he's only born halfway in and dies before it ends)

Fourth point under the cut for whining XD Might delete that part later

4) i keep saying this ad nauseam but we do not really need more/expanded mayerling (or rudolf immorality) stuff in the show ahsjfkggkkf. I get that in terms of history and the public sphere, we need justice and spotlight for Mary, but the show is about the death of liberal politics through Rudolf and it's already unclear to some people so we don't need to make it more confusing for them. Based on the level of reading comprehension online re my favourite shows I don't trust people to understand the symbolic death of liberal Europe in the face of Hass AND the rudolf-elisabeth mirror imagery AND Rudolf as a historical person being complicated and shitty. The last one can be brought into it through acting I think, but we don't need to change the staging to be heavier on the historical Mayerling stuff. You can criticise the portrayal, you can think Elisabeth does a bad job of portraying Rudolf and normalizes abuse or murder or something, but you can't really change how it's depicted without wrecking the architecture of the show. Rudolf literally has no canon personality beyond "sad" [being gay for death is part of this] and "struggling politically"

I promise i'm not sexist and horrible btw akjsjdjdfkgkg. But like legit. Rudolf already comes as a matching set with the mayerling affair in the public sphere. Elisabeth is like the only thing where his political legacy (or lack thereof) is of equal importance, and the portrayal is generally sympathetic. I'm not saying we can't do more rudolf media that addresses it with more complexity, but Elisabeth is not the time or place - especially since if we did include more of the Mary stuff (as a staging choice, since the script is set), it would almost certainly fail to do anything meaningful in terms of her historical legacy, given that she wouldn't be named (can't stop the mayerling sequence to give a spoken rundown of events...), and her life and personality beyond the circumstances of her death would once again be overshadowed by her ending up in Mayerling

[zanarkandfayth]

*cartwheels in* Hiii helloooooo what is the nightmare fic wip thing ✨✨

hiiiiiiii okay so. I actually have not thought about this fic since I started trying to plan it out with the not-bestie back in 2020 when I was having an incredibly bad bout of dysphoria and I have forgotten some of what I intended lmao gjkdsjgsk but from what I vaguely remember and can gleam from our conversations, it was supposed to be an ffxv fic (of course xD) where noct is depressed during his last year of high school and starts isolating himself and eventually begins having nightmares for... reasons??? am unclear on that now 😂 and eventually the nightmares cause enough sleep deprivation which leads to him fucking up bad during training or something and nearly injuring ignis and gladio, who both get upset with him.

and because this is noct and I love a good "hiding injuries/illnesses" plot, there was definitely meant to be a lot of him hiding the nightmares and sleep deprivation, just being unwilling to admit to it even when he fucks up, and unfortunately I never got as far as working out what I wanted to happen after that or how I wanted the fic to end. I also did not get as far as writing any of it so no snippets to share! but ngl, this is actually one of the few I'd still love to maybe come back to if/when I finish my active WIPs and poke at it some more? I'm actually kind of thinking now it would fit really well set during the game instead rather than brotherhood era and could maybe that way be a shorter chaptered fic, but who knows! but I just really wanted and still do want something with a sleep deprived noct so I can project all my own sleep deprivation onto him 🤣🤣

thank you for the ask! :D 💖

[charles-leclerc-official]

Late for the rpf Monday, but wanted to share that in an attempt to improve my English and because there's been an elaborate story in my brain for a while now (and nobody will bring it to life for me), I started my first fic (only a word doc for now) and it's ruining my life. Now I cannot enjoy anybody else's work. All I think about while reading is how terrible my stuff is in comparison. The plot is fine, nothing groundbreaking, but it's solid. Everything else is a nightmare, especially since my only writing experience post high school required me to deliver very concise, emotionless reports, so basically the opposite of what I'm trying to do. Is there a question here? Maybe how not to give up after 3 chapters. On a brighter note, I have so much more appreciation for every creator out there. You guys are doing great, really xD

Hi, omg so first of all this is a very common problem and I struggled with it too.

Because yes once you start writing it's hard not to go "wow this is amazing" and then look at your own doc and go "and mine sucks"

But there are are few things to keep in mind.

You are currently writing a first draft, first drafts are usually rough and often bad in some way. You are at the stage where you should write it anyway even if the writing isn't super polished(that comes later) So keep in mind you are comparing your rough writing to something someone has polished up already. That and some authors have been polishing their craft for years.

I personally don't read as much when I am actively drafting to avoid this issue. I usually draft, then binge read, then draft again.

Your first story/writing doesn't need to be great. Originality is often overrated in fiction as very little is truly original. And in fanfic we love seeing tropes done over and over again.

Reading is one of the best ways to improve your writing. So when you are reading something good, instead of comparing how much better you think it is to your own work, look for what about the prose makes you like it and find some takeaways to inform your own work. Like "why is this author so good at conveying immediacy of emotion?" "how are they describing physical actions so fluidly?" etc. Reading good works (fanfic and original fiction) is a good way to improve.

Edit your work. The editing stage of writing is when it starts to actually sound good. So plan on having an editing stage and that can be when you make things sound better.

Read your work out loud. If you are worried about it sounding too dull and mechanical read it out loud to see if that's true. That can help some people find a more natural sound(and it is really helpful with dialogue especially) This would be something you do during the editing stage. Read sections you are struggling with out loud.

When you are at the editing stage have someone look at your work to beta read (this is scary but worth it in the end) this doesn't need to be another writer per se, a fandom friend etc, anyone who likes reading who you trust to give feedback (be clear with them about what kind of feedback you are looking for and how harsh they can be) If you don't feel ready for a beta reader just chat to someone about your work more casually and that can help too(keeps you excited and will likely prompt improvements as well)

This is a hobby and for fun. It's most important you get what you want out of it. You will not be perfect your first try and that's okay. Writing is a constant process of learning and improving with each new work.

If you are struggling with motivation on a larger project I might suggest trying to write a one-shot first. Something shorter and less complex to test the waters and to practice.

And finally everything you've expressed is really common and things that a lot of writers struggle with, so you are certainly not alone.

I hope you keep it up on your work, it's a lot of pain to bring a story to life but I assure you it's so worth it <3

[dynamic-k]

hi i'm supposed to be doing latin homework but oh well XD

I don't have that many questions left that aren't too direct to the plot.

ok, I think I have a new one???

Has Chosen ever thought about doing villainous actions??

What about Dark?? Like- what if Alan was right???

Of course he wasnt, Chosen would never do that... right?

idk i think i can imagine him snapping and having a villain arc.

Probably in the fight with Primal. Maybe she went too far and actually stabbed him? Ballista and the others weren't fast enough to stop her. Primal what is it with you and stabbing people I swear-

But then the others come seconds [haha what have you done to me Scarlett] later and then Dark sees Cho nearly dead.

Dark goes feral, and Vics like oh god not again.

Second goes to heal him, and Ballista.. yea I dunno about Ballista :'D

I think if Chosen were to have a villain arc, Second and Ballista would have to be removed from the plot. They're too nice-

Dark and Chosen just committing crime while the other villains just stare and think: "what on earth- Hey! THATS MY JOB!!!"

And then plot twist the villains have to work together to become heroes and stop them.

How the turns have tabled XD

wait i this is actually so far off my original question wot happened

Well, thanks for reading listening to me ramble and good morning/night/whatever,

-R

SS!Chosen thinking about villainy?! :O

WHat an iDeaA! Stick, no- He's very very heroic at heart, really and truly.

Cho dislikes harming people, and mostly uses his powers to trap, headlock, restrain, or take out of commission. UNLESS somebody hurt his family. XD Or, you know. Really-hard-to-defeat villain. He can get riled up, but he's mostly a quiet figure who has a heart for people's wellbeing and safety.

He's an AWESOME babysitter, he's protective, caring and loyal, and sticks [*silly grin*] his neck out for others' sake on a regular basis.

Even if Chosen did snap and get greatly upset, he isn't going to take it out on anyone. He tends to either grow very tense and grit his teeth and take on a dangerous tone of voice, lashing out with words rather than violence... ORRRR he leaves and calms down elsewhere. He isn't one to resort to reflexive violence.

SS!Dark. He is much the same way, although he might leave and go take it out on a pillow. Dark has the self-control to not punch someone, even if they're being really rude or insensitive to something and deliberating riling him up. He isn't going to do much aside from glaring or very hilarious and Dark-styled clever comebacks... although I suppose it is also possible he may knock the offending stick's lights out, no real harm done.

Dark has had nightmares of himself doing more than violent things, and it's not something he ever wants to come to fruition, or be made a reality. He's a careful stick, despite his reckless abandon. Oxymoronic, I know, but we did talk about how precautionary his designing of the button-bots' functions was. And even as careless as doing a surgery on himself sounds, he WAS steady and watchful in the process. He thought things through and understood the gravity of the situation he was about to do.

What is it with Primal and stabbing people- XD

She has always held a bit of a high and uncontrollable temper, only milded and mitigated to near nil or none when Ballista is around, seeming to sooth any and all violent reflexes by his presence alone. Primal loves Ballista dearly and is quite protective of him, in a similar manner to how protective the Beckers are-

So of course, the temper worsened to dangerously high levels when Ballista was in jail. :D /smile-of-"I-Love-Angst" insanity, hehe

Plus, knives and sharp things are some of the easiest projectiles for her to conjure up. Ease of summoning, plus "first-thing-she-thought-of"ness, not to mention that when you think of throwing or send-flying an object at another, it's usually an arrow or something just as sharp. TECHNICALLY, she only really stabbed Vic- She only tried to stab Chosen, which is saying a lot since this was all shortly after she felt sick to her stomach due to "killing" Vic, in her perspective.

To be fair, she was a little out of it. The serum she'd taken was meant for Vic and Vic only, and was having quite the adverse effect on her thinking and her health as a whole. Ballista was still in jail to her knowledge, Chosen was in her way ONCE AGAIN, and she was DONE. She snapped there, and for once, instead of merely paining the eldest Ladybug brother, she actually wanted to full-on drive something sharp into him so that he would not bother her.

Primal did not want to kill him, she had enough clarity of mind to decide this, but she knows where to aim her weapons so that Chosen will be weakened by injuries, but not on the verge of death. She wanted to disable him, but not fatally. She was not adverse to the sight of his blood, in fact, she was paying attention to it so she didn't overstep, even as hard as she was fighting.

There is also the adrenaline factor, and the rush that the serum granted her. It was a miracle she had enough sense to make decisions like not killing Chosen, when her mind is fuzzed by energy that her body isn't used to having, the pounding of her heart and code resonating through her ears but easily ignored because she's on top of the world and nothing can stop her.

Stick. I feel like I could have done better with Arc One, I really do. Sure, a lot say that it's really good, and I don't disagree with that, but... I see a LOOOTTTTT of room for improvement and structuring when I look back at it. HENCE! I want Arc Two to help fill in those missing spots Arc One lacked!! Might be why I'm taking so long to decide things, and probably contributing to the hiatus somewhat.

Overthinking everything... Timeline plotting for the plot on a diagram with mixed results of success...

...

ANYwaY-

| But then the others come seconds [haha what have you done to me Scarlett] later and then Dark sees Cho nearly dead. |

:D PUNS! :D

XD Nice notions, although I know even without the existence of Ballista and Second, even with the two sweeties gone, Chosen would still be a hero. It's interesting to think about how his villain arc would go, but we kinda already saw a taste on that in canon what with all the terrorism and destruction of sites. I know Canon!Chosen didn't kill anyone since that is exactly what worried him with Dark's whole Virabot scheme, but he DID help destroy a lot of homes at first.

Prettyyyy villainy.

SS!Chosen, thoughhhh- ehhh, nope. He good.

PLOT TWIST THE VILLAINS HAVE TO HERO AGAINST VILLAIN-CHOSEN- XD HELp- That would be hilarious-

HOW THE TURNS HAVE TABLED INDEED- sticks i love saying that so much- XD

....Anyway- I will go and answer those other two asks in my inbox-

:3 Might be slow today, I'm currently at my shift, but there was a slow moment so- I got this one done. U v U

I LOVE this. Rambles are epic.

[iztarshi]

I am curious besides rise what’s your opinion other on the other iterations of Raph? Since he’s my fav

87 Raphael is my favourite turtle of all, but it's hard to know where to start describing him. I just want to hold him out to people like "see?"

He's an outlier among Raphaels so people who usually like Raphaels don't always like him. He's the wise guy of the group and would always rather say something clever than something useful, but when he does say something useful it's usually a suggestion they don't run headlong into danger. He's verbally prickly, but physically affectionate, and although he's not the protector like some Raphs he does get latched onto by Donatello and Michelangelo sometimes just because he doesn't push people off. Michelangelo jumps into his arms when scared a few times and Raphael just stands there holding him for the rest of the scene.

I think Raphael vs the Volcano is a good episode for getting to know him. Raphael thinking he's dying due to a silly misunderstanding is a standard 90s TV plot, but the show takes it unexpectedly seriously once the set up is done. We see his cynicism as he tries to convince himself that the world is good and his life has been worth living only to fail due to New York's typical disregard for a loitering pedestrian. We see how his cynicism doesn't stop him wanting to save people when he decides that the world is terrible but he's at least going to make it better before he goes. We see his tendency to run from things, in this case from the emotional scene saying goodbye would be, since the misunderstanding continues due to him leaving notes instead of using his turtle comm. He's a little guy, he cares a lot, he's scared of a lot and doing his best anyway. Like other Raphaels he has more emotions than he knows how to handle.

03 Raphael is so nice. He wouldn't understand me saying that, which breaks my heart, but he is honestly such a sweet, polite teenager. He spends an episode doing chores for an old lady and is suprised and touched when she wants to see him again. When we see his worst nightmare it's his own face being behind Shredder's helmet. More than any Raph he seems to genuinely think he's bad. His temper is a lot for him to control and the part where he nearly hit Mikey with a pipe came off as if it might be a dissociative episode but he gets very little help with it. Despite his prickly reputation he's more often acting as emotional support for the others, especially when Leo's in an anxiety spiral.

He does have fun though! He's a Raph who really enjoys a fight and his "irritation" with Mikey is just a game.

My favourite bit of the Christmas episode was him and Angel pranking Casey with mistletoe because it's not often he really gets to act his age.

2012 Raph is maybe the prickliest Raph of all, combining 03's aggression with 87's sarcasm. He still manages to have the biggest, saddest green eyes when his brothers are upset and he can't do anything about it, though.

He comes off like an asshole in season one when he genuinely does seem to not like the other characters very much. Later this mellows a lot, to the point when I'm told he still regularly threatens to quit the team and storms off I'm not sure I believe it. Especially when it's never happened on screen before.

I don't think I have much to say about the movie Raphs. 90s Raph is good. 07 Raph needed to apologise to Donatello and not to Splinter, but that is a plot problem more than a problem with him. Batman Raph should not get to lecture Batman about being open with his family. I swear, of all the turtles XD

[katyspersonal]

So... Mesmmer IS going to be THE VILLAIN of the dlc.

Dude, I swear, if my cursed meme where Mohg says "better sex offender than a fascist" about Messmer ages like a fine wine I'll implode vghggjhgjjgfj

Yeah, I am sure he will be a very bad guy! Maybe a bit like nightmare!Maria in which he is not only the poster (baby)girl, but also the guardian on the way to the abhorrent secret which he took the hand in, and the true final boss of the story will be some sort of surviving victim of that mess.. or what's left of them. ......OR MIQUELLA WHO HAS GONE INSANE AFTER WHAT SECRETS OF HIS MOTHERS PAST HE DISCOVERED DUN DUN DUUUUUUN

^ how I'll sleep at night if everything is going to be terrible and every and all hope for happy or bittersweet plot is met with a gutpunch and every ER fan comes out after DLC more depressed than before fr

.....okay let's not go ahead of ourselves xd I will say that I am a bit concerned for Messmer simps now, because after the trailer I got an impression he might be so revolting that even the most war criminal-loving people's stomaches will turn :') I talked about it in another post but him having aesthetic of Godfrey and Champions and traces of Dragon Communion doings (again, likely approved by Godfrey since dragon communion altar has a lion head) makes me feel like timeline-vice he must have been born or at least lived.. well, around Godfrey's best days and wars. And Shadow Realm is said to be the place Marika set her foot at the first.

That's why I theorize that it is not that he was born/left there to burn what Marika decided to not take with her in the "better era", but went there later. That Marika left results of her "betrayal" taking only Golden Light in her new order kind of to just rot and either decided to have Messmer go there and clean them later Just In Case.. OOOOORRR he deserved banishment in there somehow and pulled the "bEttEr ReIgN in HeLL tHaN sErVe iN hEaVeN :(((((((" thing when he couldn't take the L (would bet on this one, since he speaks about those devoid of grace in similar disdain as Lucifer would about God's new OCs being cringe)

[lunarsands]

ESMP Fanfic: A Garden's Path - Ch 3

Characters: Mythical Sausage, Scott Smajor, Bubbles the Dog, Sir Carlos, appearances by the rest of the cast of Empires SMP S1, featuring blaze-hybrid emperor TangoTek, and introducing: The Children of Mythland (specific characters to be tagged when they appear in each chapter)

Relationships: MythicalSausage/Scott Smajor, LDShadowlady/Smallishbeans, Shubble/Katherine Elizabeth, TangoTek & SolidarityGaming, Joey Graceffa/Xornoth

Tags: Empires SMP S1 AU, scosage, adoption, fluff, wholesome, so much wholesome fluff you would not believe, a bit of angst here and there, Sausage has a few nightmares for Plot reasons, acknowledgement of amputation (not sure how else to tag that but just in case)

WARNINGS: fantasy racism (human v elf), loss of parent (with adoption inevitably comes orphans), minor character death in a later chapter

Chapter Summary: Sausage and Scott set out to add to their family and find quite the boisterous little elven girl to take up that place. Meet the adorable, unstoppable force that is Liana of Mythland.

(Also available on Ao3!)

[ Prologue ] [ Chapter One ] [ Chapter Two ]

[A/N: This character sprung fully formed from my head like Athena from Zeus. She was the first to get an official name due to a small one-off scene that eventually led to this whole story.] [To CallMeSausage on Ao3: I see your comment on Chapter Two, and I acknowledge it. XD ]

---

Chapter Three – The First Princess

The orphanage looked somewhat similar to the one they had previously visited, if not smaller and with a yellow thatched roof. As before, Scott made introductions in Elvish, and also as before some of the children shied away from Sausage. He took it in stride, and quietly walked around looking at some drawings that had been placed on the walls, hoping to acclimate the children to his presence and show he was harmless. He could hear Scott chatting with someone young but avoided the temptation to glance over, hoping he wouldn’t interrupt a possible candidate. He heard a negative response and tried not to worry. It might be too much to hope for another scenario where a child was more curious than put off by him being a human.

Yet instead, what Sausage heard next was a somewhat brash little voice calling up at him, “I’m having a tea party but no one wants to play tea party with me! You’re not playing with anyone, so do you want to come to my tea party?”

He looked down to see an indigo-eyed girl of perhaps somewhere around six or seven years old, with long, sapphire-colored hair that looped down one side of her pinkish-hued face. She tucked the loop behind her ear as she looked back at him. Sausage smiled gently. Well, maybe this was a good sign. “Yes, I’d love to.”

“Okay.” Without a second’s hesitation she grabbed his right hand and pulled him toward a small table. There were some small chairs already occupied by a few dolls arranged around it, but after she let go of him, she started moving them to make more space. “You’re too big – they always tell the bigger kids not to sit on these chairs or else they’ll break them! So, the dollies go here. You can sit in this spot, an’ I’ll sit over there an’ pour the tea. An’ then we talk about our fav’rite things ‘cause that’s what the growed-ups always do when they come here. Oh, an’ I’m Liana. I’m six an’ a half. We’re s’posed to tell our names an’ how old we are even when we’re just playing.” She gave a big sigh. “They don’t always play tea party, either. Okay, let me get you a cup.”

As he knelt in the indicated spot, Sausage couldn’t help finding her to be quite endearing. “I can get you another guest if you’d like.”

“Okay! I can take a cup from a dollie. They don’t act’lly use them, you know.”

Sausage turned and waved to get Scott’s attention. “Scott! Come have tea with us!” The elf raised an eyebrow, intrigued by where Sausage had ended up, but smiled as he walked over. “Scott, this is our hostess, Liana. Liana, this is my husband, Scott.”

“Hi. You didn’t say your name, you know. Let me move another dollie.” The little girl briefly wrestled one of the chairs to make room for Scott.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot my manners. My name is Sausage.”

She stopped and giggled. “That’s a silly name! But I had a friend named Buttercup, which is also silly, ‘cause a whole cup of butter is a lot! But she was nice, so it wasn’t a bad name. Just kind of silly. She went home last year. Okay, tea time, everybody sit.” Liana bustled back over to her hostess spot.

Scott nudged the chair the rest of the way over so he could kneel, then he sat back. He watched her pick up a small, unglazed clay tea pot that had been roughly painted by obviously childish hands. And was obviously empty. “That’s a nice tea pot, Liana. Did you paint it yourself?”

“No, I gots it from Melne when she went home. She gots it from somebody else, an’ they gots it from somebody else. I’m gonna give it to somebody when I go home so they can play tea party, too.” She poured the pretend-tea into the equally unglazed cups. “It’s hot so be careful!” She poured her own cup then sat and leaned over to blow on the cup. “Okay, now it’s colder.”

Scott and Sausage obliged by picking up their cups and pretending to take sips. Sausage snuck an amused smile over at Scott, then said, “This is very good tea. Thank you, Liana.”

“Yup! Okay, now you tell me some of your fav’rite things, then I’ll tell you more of mine.” She took a dainty pretend-sip from her cup then looked over at them expectantly.

Sausage decided to go ahead and talk about Bubbles, while Scott mentioned magic and cut to the chase by conjuring a small snow flurry over the table. Liana said she thought it was neat, then listed off her favorite dolls from around the table, but especially her bunny plushie that had always been with her and not a hand-me-down from the older kids and that one was on her bed because bunny needed a nap today. Then she asked, “Do you gots any other kids? Sometimes the growed-ups talk about their other kids an’ aren’t act’lly sure they want more.”

“We have two boys,” Sausage replied tentatively. “They’re at home, but we asked them if they would like to have a sister and they said yes.”

“Boys, huh?” Liana looked like she was considering the matter very seriously. “Well, boys don’t always like to play tea party, but that’s okay. ‘Scuse me.” She abruptly stood up and ran over to the caretaker across the room. “Hi, can I has cookies, please? I want to serve my guests. They need cookies with their tea!”

A giggle escaped Sausage. “Oh, she is precious. She doesn’t seem bothered about my arm or the… other thing.” He briefly reached up to touch his ear. “What do you think?”

“I think we have a match” Scott said, watching Liana skip back over clutching a container. She carefully set it down, then fished out one cookie at a time to place on the plates in front of them.

“Okay, wait for me to get back, then we can eat.” She carefully put the cover back on the container then returned it to the caretaker. “I only took one each, so’s not gonna spoil their dinner!” Once she returned, she dunked her cookie into her pretend tea and started munching on it. She then giggled and leaned toward them to whisper conspiratorially, “Sometimes I play tea party so’s I can gets extra cookies.” She giggled again, pleased to have shared her secret, then sat back to finish eating.

Sausage muffled another laugh, covering it up by hastily biting into his cookie. Scott ate his with a little more grace, then said, “We would be happy to get you your own tea set – and cookies – if you’d like to come live with us.”

“Can I gets one with bunnies on it?”

“You could even get one that you can paint yourself and put anything you want on it,” Scott replied. He reckoned they could probably request a specially decorated one from the potter, though.

“Okay. Can I bring my bunny, or do I has to hands-me-down it first?” She looked a little consternated by the choice.

Sausage could see the indecision in her eyes and felt he should encourage her in some way, as the tradition seemed important to her. “You can bring everything that is yours. But we can get you some new things, if you’d like to leave anything as a gift to someone else, like this tea set.”

“I really like my bunny… But I have a dress that Silvilana said she liked. She’s smaller than me but she can wear it when she gets bigger!”

“That’s very nice of you,” Scott said. “Thank you for the tea. We need to talk with the other grown-ups but we’ll see you in a little while.”

“Okay. Thanks for coming to my tea party. You were nice guests. Time to clean up!” Liana stacked the plates and hurriedly began to bring the assortment of items to a set of wooden cubby holes along the wall. She was trying to line up the dolls on top of them – not quite tall enough to reach – when another little girl came over to her. As Scott and Sausage walked toward the caretaker, they heard her call out, “Silvilana! I might gets two daddies! One of ‘em gots a metal arm!”

Scott was now the one to suppress a laugh. “Oh, my gods. She’s perfect. She’s just like you.”

“I don’t remember if I was like that at that age.”

“No, I’m talking about now.”

Sausage gave him a look questioning that observation. Scott gave him a frank look in return. Sausage bobbed his head for a moment as if in debate, then held his hands out in a gesture admitting the elf was right.

Soon paperwork was finalized and once again the royal stamp was eyed by the caretaker. “You’re… absolutely sure about her?” they asked, attempting to be tactful. “She’s not quite, well, princess material.”

Sausage deftly snapped the stamp up into his hand then whisked it away into his pocket. “We’re not looking for a princess. We’re looking for a daughter.” He smiled pleasantly and turned to go help with Liana’s bag, with Scott not far behind.

The little girl sat in a chair near the main door, humming and swinging her feet. She hopped up as they approached. She hugged her bunny plush tightly. “Time to go home! Do we have to go far?”

“It’s a little far,” Sausage admitted. “But we’ll get there before it’s dark out.” He then gave pause and lowered himself to one knee to be closer to her level. “I just want to ask you one thing before we go. You’ve been very nice about my arm. It does come off so it can be fixed, so you’ll see me without it. Is that okay?”

She looked over at his prosthetic thoughtfully, then placed her hand on the transparent crystal in the middle of his forearm. “A dollie’s arm gots pulled off one time but gots sewed back on. I could still play with her without it.”

“I also can’t sleep with it on, so it isn’t just when it needs to be fixed.”

“Well, yeah! Metal can’t be comfy to sleep on!”

Sausage smiled broadly at her. He felt Scott’s hand on his shoulder. “You have a very good point. Are you all ready to go?” He stood up and gave Scott a weaker smile. The elf patted his shoulder in response.

“Umm…” She turned to the door, then looked back toward the playroom. “I put away all the toys like I’m s’posed to. I put all my clothes in there. I have my bunny. I think I’m okay to go now.” She hugged the doll again, then reached up for Sausage’s hand while holding the bunny close with the other. “Let’s go home, um… Sau-sage an’, um…” When she sounded out his name it was the first time she seemed uncertain.

“You can call me Papa,” he offered.

Scott moved to get the door for them. “I’m called ‘Dad’.” Remembering what she had said to the other girl, he added, “Daddy is fine, too.”

“Papa, and Daddy. Okay.” Liana nodded, then quietly walked along out to the carriage. She wasn’t as enamored with it as the boys had been, instead only keeping a tight hold on her bunny as she watched Scott climb in. He took her bag from Sausage then held out his arms to help her in when Sausage lifted her up to reach the step more easily. She sat between them and once the carriage set off, she began humming again.

Scott let a few minutes pass before striking up conversation. “Liana, can I ask what you think about princesses?” Sausage shot him a bit of a worried glance; he had thought they would bring that up closer to home.

“They live in big castles an’ have pretty dresses an’ have pet horsies. They don’t ride the horsies too much, they just sit on them an’ look pretty, an’ a prince walks the horsie around so she doesn’t have to walk after he gives her a special shoe.”

There was clearly a very specific picture book that she associated the word princess with.

“Princesses can actually do all sorts of different things, including ride a horse around,” Scott said. “The big castle part is true, though.”

“Are we going to see a big castle? An’ meet a princess? That would be neat.” Her face fell a little bit. “I don’t gots a dress pretty enough to meet a princess. Everybody looks really pretty when they gets to meet a prince or princess.”

Sausage commented with a smile, “You’ll soon get to meet two princes, and they won’t mind if you have a fancy dress or not. But we can get you one.”

She perked up. “Can it be purple? I like purple. Melne had a purple dress, not as pretty as a princess’, but it was nice.”

“It can definitely be purple,” Scott replied. “If we get back home with enough time, we might be able to find one and you could wear it when you see the princes.”

“Are they your princes?” Liana asked with all the curiosity of the world in her voice, while leaving them stunned that she managed to make such a guess. “You said you gots two boys. So, two princes!”

“Ah, ehm,” Scott stammered. “How did you get that idea?”

She pointed at Sausage. “You’re tall like a king.”

“Me?” Sausage tried to sound innocent. “But he’s taller! I didn’t know height was a requirement for kings.”

“No, it’s ‘cause you’re like this.” Liana stood up and carefully walked toward the other seats, mindful of the motion of the carriage. She squared her shoulders and then sat, poised confidently with her back straight and head held high – a complete change from her own subconscious slouch when she had been sitting between them.

“I – I am??” Sausage asked in confusion, unaware of his apparently ingrained royal posture.

“When you sat at the tea party!” she insisted. “’Cause you were being serious! You were serious about playing pretend!” A grin spread across her face.

Scot failed to not share that grin as he turned to his husband. “She has you, there. Well, Liana, you have us figured out. We’re the rulers of Mythland. We wanted to keep it a secret so no one would think we were super-special.”

Liana’s face scrunched up into an exaggerated ‘thinking mode’. “Hmm. Kings pretending to be reg’lar people but are from a land of myths…” She peered over at them. “Are you also heroes who saved the world from a BIG monster that would’ve eated everything if somebody wasn’t brave enough to stop it?”

Sausage hastily hugged Scott to cover up their mutually shocked reactions, lamenting, “Scott, we have to keep her now! She knows our secret! We have no choice but to make her a princess who will be destined to save the kingdom from an even scarier monster in the future! Thank goodness we found her in time!”

Liana giggled. “No, that’s just pretend! I can be a reg’lar princess just having tea parties! An’ maybe ride a horsie.”

~*~

When the report came from the watchtower that a carriage was approaching, Bubbles and the boys ran out toward the stable yard – with Sir Carlos flapping in their wake, admonishing them to slow down in case one of them tripped.

Due to this, they all arrived after the carriage had parked, although they witnessed Sausage lifting an elven girl who was clutching a plush bunny doll down off the carriage steps. She spotted the boys and dashed over while Sausage was busy taking her bag from Scott. “Hi! You must be the princes! I didn’t have a dress for meeting princes an’ we didn’t have time to stop an’ look for one like Daddy said ‘cause we didn’t want to be late to dinner, so I’ll get one later. I’m Liana, an’ I’m six an’ a half!”

“Hi, Liana. I’m Azahar. I turned twelve last month, but… you don’t have to keep telling everyone your age now that you have a family.”

“Oh.” She looked up at him, baffled. “That’s what I was told I was s’posed to do when I meet new people. You’re my brothers ‘cause you’re Papa and Daddy’s sons, but you’re still new to me!” She then pivoted toward Elowen. “Hi!”

Her gregariousness seemed a bit much for the other boy, who stammered, “H-Hi, Liana. I’m Elowen. It – It’s nice to meet you.”

“Yeah! And this doggy is Bubbles, right? Hi, Bubbles! And this is—” Liana paused and peered down at Sir Carlos. “Nobody told me about a pet chicken! ‘Specially a chicken with armor! Papa!” She turned her head to look for Sausage. “Are you a king who has all sorts of knights, too? ‘Cause this chicken looks like a knight!”

Sir Carlos clucked – almost sounding more like a chuckle. “Young mistress Liana, I am Sir Carlos. I am, indeed, a knight.”

The little girl spun back to face him with her eyes wide. “You’re a talking chicken?! This place is like a fairytale story! Bubbles, are you magical, too??”

Elowen tugged on Azahar’s sleeve as the older boy stood stunned by the sheer amount of vivacious energy coming off the girl. Elowen whispered, “And I thought I got excited about cool things. Wait until she hears about the dragon…”

“There’s a pet DRAGON, too?!” Liana exclaimed.

Azahar now turned an amused smile toward his parents. Sausage hefted Liana’s bag over his shoulder and strolled past the children up the steps, trying to give off a casual air. “You, Liana, seem to have exceptional hearing. The story about the dragon will have to wait – I think I can smell dinner from here! Let’s rest up from all that travel and we can all talk more inside.”

“Okay!” Liana followed at his heels. “Is there a special princess chair? I’ve seen pictures of princesses sitting on big, fancy pillows. I don’t need a fancy pillow, but sometimes I need one to reach a table.”

Azahar and Elowen remained where they stood for half a minute longer, just staring after them and listening to their new sister’s voice echo off the stone as she continued to ramble. The older boy looked at Scott as he stepped between them to put a hand behind each’s shoulder, as if to nudge them out of their flummoxed states and start walking. “How—” Azahar flicked a pointing finger between Scott and the direction of Sausage’s back. “How did you—? She’s—??”

“…Just like Papa?” Scott finished for him with a smile. “There is a lot of magic in the world, and maybe fate does happen to be one of them.”

~*~

Liana gazed around as she continued to follow Sausage toward the staircase that led to the upper floors, where he intended to quickly stash her bag and maybe see if she would part with her bunny plush so she could go to dinner unhindered. “Papa, this castle is huge! It’s gonna take weeks an’ weeks to see all of it! How come you only gots two kids? You could fit elebenty hundred in here!”

Sausage laughed. “Well, we only decided we wanted kids last year. It would take a while to find that many! And there aren’t as many bedrooms as it looks like.  We would probably run out of space after the first elebenty, er, eleven. Azahar and Elowen share a room right now, but they might decide they each want their own later.”

“Who do I have a room with?” Liana asked curiously.

“Um… your bunny! But your room is right across from the boys if you need anything, and Dad and I are right down the hall.”

“What about these rooms?” She glanced left and right at the other doors they were passing.

“Those are guest rooms! Well, a few have some junk stored in them because I, uh, collect things. But when you or the boys make some friends, they’ll be able to stay over and sleep in one of them! Okay, here we are! See, there’s their room.” Sausage pointed with his foot to the open doorway on the left before finagling with the door across from it.

Liana wandered over to glance inside; she saw the two neatly made beds with Elowen’s teddy bear on the one farthest from the door, then she spotted the books and crowns sitting on the dresser. Her eyes widened with glee, but she kept the feeling reined in to just a broad smile as she turned and walked back over to survey her room. Two new beds and other furniture had been placed in it after the existing items had been moved to accommodate Elowen’s request to share.

Liana scurried over to the second bed and climbed up to lay her bunny against the pillows. “You’re right! Bunny gets a bed, too!” She hopped back to the floor and took a serious look around. “Hmm. I need to gets books. An’… An’ a crown. ‘Cause that’s what’s in Azahar and Elowen’s room.”

Sausage kept quiet for a moment, realizing for the first time as he put her clothes away in the dresser how few possessions Liana had been able to put in her bag… or, what had actually been put in it for her. The clothing seemed threadbare and was, perhaps, reserved for sending off with a child when it could no longer be handed down to another child who wore that size. He made a mental note to send a subsidy to that particular orphanage, and have a talk with Xornoth about checking fund distributions; he then added a note for himself to do the same there in Mythland.

He turned a bright smile toward Liana. “You can put whatever you want in here! It doesn’t have to be just books! Flowers, dollies, a pretty tea pot – even other bunny plushies!” She looked distressed for a second, so he added, “Bunnies that are friends for your bunny! That way yours can have company when you’re busy doing princess things!”

She seemed to think about it, then she nodded enthusiastically and carefully enunciated, “Thank you, Papa, I would like that.”

Sausage chuckled then scooped her up with his left arm, holding her on his hip with support from his right hand. “You’re welcome! Let’s go downstairs to dinner, and we can think about getting dollies and dresses tomorrow. In fact… We’re going to be late for dinner! I just noticed Dad and the boys didn’t follow us! They might eat everything before we get there! Hold on to me!”

Liana giggled and hugged his neck as he ran out of the room and tore down the hall, laughing with her until they reached the staircase, which he navigated more carefully until he neared the bottom. He bunny-hopped down the last few steps, making Liana giggle again. As they neared the dining room, she put her nose up into the air and crinkled it. “I can smell dinner now, too! Dinnertime! Dinnertime! Dinner with my new daddies an’ brothers!”

Sausage entered the room to see heartfelt looks on the faces of Scott and the boys due to having heard Liana’s joyful declaration. They had been making changes to how the table was arranged, with Scott and Elowen seated to the left of the head of the table and an extra chair added on the right next to Azahar that put Liana between him and Sausage. An additional purple cushion had been placed on this chair. Liana uttered a big, delighted gasp when she saw it as Sausage set her down on it. She wiggled a little, then whispered, “So there was a special princess chair…”

Elowen suppressed a giggle, while Azahar smiled gently at Liana. “You said you might need a pillow to reach the table, so we found one for you. Dad said you like purple.”

“I do! Thank you!” Liana crowed. She calmed down and said matter-of-factly, “I only need it for right now, though. I’m gonna grow up to be really tall, then I can reach all the fancy tables!”

Elowen fidgeted as the kitchen staff began to set out bowls of soup and small, individual baskets of warm bread rolls. He appeared as if he wanted to say something to Liana, but he waited while she thanked each person that walked past. After the staff withdrew, he blurted, “D-Do you think you’ll be really tall because your mom or your dad were tall?”

Liana had started munching on a bread roll and calmly spoke around the bite, “I don’t know my mommy or daddy. When I gots old enough an’ asked, the growed-ups told me I was a ‘doorstep baby’, an’ all I had with me was my bunny! So, they didn’t know about them to tell me.”

Azahar, Scott, and Sausage were startled by her candor. Azahar reached over to lightly pat Liana’s arm. “You and I have something in common, then.”

Liana’s eyes widened. “You gots left with just your bunny, too? But I didn’t see one in your room!”

Azahar laughed. “No, I think it was a handspun yarn blanket, and when I outgrew it, it was used for another baby, which I didn’t mind.”

“Oh, that’s a nice hands-me-down,” Liana said, nodding sagely as she took another bite of the roll. She chewed, then announced, “This is yummy bread!” She hummed happily until she finished eating the roll, then she looked across the table. “Elowen, did you hands-me-down anything? Was that your teddy bear I saw? It could be friends with my bunny!”

Elowen smiled weakly, having been poking his spoon at the vegetables in his soup. “I didn’t have anything like that. I got my teddy bear later.”

“Oh, okay,” Liana replied, oblivious to his dulled tone. “That’s a good reason to not hands-me-down! Daddy, Papa, do you have bunnies or teddy bears from when you was kids?”

With a mischievous look – and hoping to lighten Elowen’s mood – Sausage answered, “I only have Bubbles from when I was a kid!”

Liana shook her spoon at him. “Papa, Bubbles is a real doggy! You can’t pretend a real aminal is a toy!” She took a very serious first sip of her soup, as if she was the parent scolding the child, then her eyes lit up and she looked down at the bowl in wonder. “This is really good soup!” She ate two more quick spoonfuls before coughing when she started on a third.

“Slowly, Liana,” Scott gently chided. “It will still taste good if you eat slower. And to answer your question, I had a blue fawn plushie when I was little, although it ended up with the spots turned red because my brother tried to dye it with berry juice. We were never able to wash the stain out. But it was still my favorite.”

Liana gave an angry pout. “Your brother sounds mean! What if you gots another brother or sister after you, an’ you were gonna hands-me-down it to them, but they didn’t like red, an’ it made them cry! An’… An’ if he’s your brother, that makes him my uncle!” Her face fell into a sadder pout. “I don’t want a mean uncle.”

Scott chuckled. “Don’t worry, he wasn’t trying to be mean. He just wanted to do something silly. He thought it would wash out, too.”

Liana stood up on her chair and now shook her spoon at Scott, sending a few droplets of broth flying. “But no one should mess with someone’s fav’rite toy! It’s not nice! He shoulda tried it on his own toy first, so’s he would know how it feels!”

Sausage reached over to pinch the handle of her spoon between two fingers, creating a metallic tink sound. Putting some focus on his magic frequency, he sent a brief surge of energy through his prosthetic to make the gemstone at the wrist twinkle. The shine of this light through the translucent green cover atop his forearm  distracted her from her tiny outrage and she watched with fascination, although all he did was gently lower her hand.

Meanwhile, Azahar and Elowen traded looks across the table. The latter stammered, “Y-You’re very energetic, Liana. We were really nervous about becoming princes and were, um, very polite our first days here.”

Liana blinked at him. To Sausage’s relief, she put her spoon down altogether instead of gesturing with it again, so he withdrew his hand. “But it’s just dinnertime,” she replied. “It’s not a big ball with lotsa candles an’ people dancing in a big room with fancy dresses. We’re just being us, aren’t we?”

Sausage began to laugh. “She’s right! We’re just us right now. But you still shouldn’t stand on your chair, Liana, or wave utensils around at the same time – you might fall over into your soup!”

“Oh. Yeah, you’re right – it won’t taste good if I do that,” she agreed. She sat back down on the pillow and ate her soup with perfect manners, although after a point she grabbed another roll and proceeded to gobble it down while again proclaiming how yummy it was.

~*~

After a short lantern-lit tour to try to give Liana a sense of direction if she happened to get up during the night or possibly woke up early and decided to explore on her own – which, honestly, Sausage and Scott wouldn’t put past her but did request that she not do – everyone started getting ready for bed. Sausage tucked her in and asked if she would be alright in a room by herself, and assured her it was fine if she wasn’t, and asked if she would feel better if one of her brothers stayed in the room with her until she got used to it because this place was new to her and it was fine to be nervous, and—

Liana merely hugged her bunny and said she was okay, a big girl princess wouldn’t be scared of a castle and she had bunny to share the room with her, after all, and Azahar and Elowen seemed to like having a room together, so maybe that also meant one of them was scared to be alone at night, so she would be brave so that neither of them would have to be alone, and—

Scott broke up the mutual rambling session, gently pulling Sausage away from the doorway before wishing Liana a goodnight in Elvish to try to make it sound like a finality that everyone would go to sleep now. He elbowed Sausage, who hastily repeated the phrase while still looking worried about this first night in the castle. Yet, this only caused Liana to giggle, because Scott then corrected Sausage’s accent, telling his husband he had just told Liana to ‘have a good sneeze’.

Liana loudly repeated the misspoken phrase with another giggle, drawing laughs from across the hall. Sausage uttered a good-natured grumble about still working on his accent, then wished everyone goodnight again in Common.

The little girl laid down, bunny in her arms, and gazed at the ceiling while processing some of the sounds she was noticing; she was silently glad for the lanternlight coming in from the hallway, since the door had been left open in case she did happen to call for something.

It was only a few minutes later that Azahar came in to check on her. He sat down on the other bed as she sat up to tell him, “I told Papa I was okay. You can sleep in your room.”

“I just wanted to make sure,” Azahar said warmly. “I always tried to help new kids feel welcome in the place where Elowen and I used to live. I thought I could still do the same now.”

“But Daddy an’ Papa took me home! That means I am welcome!”

“Oh, well, yes. Of course it does. But if you have anything you’re, like, worried about or scared of, I can talk with you about it. Elowen was nervous about how big the castle was when we first got here, and we wondered if there might be ghosts.”

“Castles are s’posed to be big! An’… An’ ghosts aren’t scary!” Liana insisted, although she clutched her bunny plushie tightly. “Papa would have said something if there were ghosts!”

From out in the hallway came a high-pitched “OoOoOo~” noise, then Elowen leaned his head into the room. “Maybe Papa doesn’t know there are ghosts. Maybe they only show themselves to certain people. Like little children…”

Azahar shot him a look of warning; Elowen gave a mischievous grin. Liana, meanwhile, protested, “Stop tryin’a scare me! You’re being mean brothers!”

“Shhh,” Azahar tried to quiet her, holding his hands up to calm the situation. “Let’s not worry Dad or Papa. They need to rest from traveling, too. Elowen, that wasn’t nice. We should teach her how to chase away the ghosts first.” He snuck a grin at the other boy.

Liana scowled. “I don’t believe you! There aren’t any ghosts! Kingdoms that have talking chickens an’ dragons don’t have stupid scary things like ghosts! There would be REAL monsters! Now get outta my room, I wanna go to sleep!” She glared mightily at them.

Elowen stood straight upright, incidentally hopping into the middle of the doorway. “Oh, I see – you’re scarier than ghosts would be! Oh, time to run away! I’m gonna hide under my blanket from a scary little sister!” He turned tail to run to the other room.

Azahar stared after him. “This is… not how I meant this to go…”

“Hmph!” Liana put her chin in the air. “That’s what you get for tryin’a scare me! Now go away!” She emphatically turned and pulled the blanket up over herself.

“Okay, well… Um, sorry, Liana. I really do want to help. That was just some silly fun to make your first night here less scary—”

“I don’t care! Time for sleep! Say sorry at breakfast, an’ maybe I won’t be as mad at you!”

“Heh, okay.” Azahar wished her goodnight in Elvish, then left.

Liana hugged her bunny under the covers. “Mean… There’s no ghosts. There can’t be ghosts. My new daddies are secret heroes… Ghosts don’t haunt heroes. Unless they’re good ghosts… I don’t wanna see a ghost floatin’ through the wall, but maybe they’re helpful ghosts… An’… An’ they don’t try to scare little girls who’re tryin’a be brave even though they’re in a big, giant castle for the first time, an’ just met everyone…”

She heard a brief scraping sound; she let out an involuntary whimper, clutching her bunny tighter. Something jumped onto the bed, and then a wet nose came sniffing around the edge of the blanket. There was a very soft, “Arf?” then a weight settled down beside her.

Liana put her hand out and ended up grasping a fistful of short fur. She lightened her grip, then surreptitiously began to pet the furry creature. She whispered, “It’s time for sleep, Bubbles. You can stay in my room, though. You’re a big, brave doggie. Goodnight.”

~*~

Sausage was the first awake the next morning, and he didn’t even wait for Scott to be up to help him don his prosthetic before he padded out of the room without it so he could check on Liana. Things were a little different from Azahar’s and Elowen’s first night in Mythland; they were older, for starters, and had the familiarity of each other for company. Sausage had heard some of the kerfuffle among the three children at bedtime, but it hadn’t seemed too alarming, and everyone quieted down soon after.

He glanced into the boys’ room just to see if Liana had gone to them – either from reassurance during the night, or if she had already woken up and was there to chat. Instead, he saw both boys still in bed, although they were awake. Azahar was doing some arm stretches while Elowen yawned loudly – but he used a quiet tone when he spotted Sausage and said, “Good morning, Papa.”

“Good morning,” Sausage replied, also keeping his voice down. “I’m just checking up on everything. I’ll see you at breakfast in a bit.” He gave a little wave, then crossed to the other side of the hall.

Liana was sleeping soundly, lying on her back with her bunny in range of her right hand, while her left hand rested beside a furry black and tan lump that was curled up next to her. Sausage smiled and whispered, “Good girl, Bubbles.”

The interdimensional Yorkie lifted her head and turned it to peer at him. She wagged her tail and made a silent bark. Then she jumped up, did a one-eighty turn in the air, and licked Liana’s hand. The little girl stirred, mumbling, “Bubbles… stop tryin’a eat me… You’re s’posed to eat the scary ghosts…”

“Bubbles,” Sausage called in an exaggerated whisper, “I thought we chased off the ghosts. Did you find one more and tell our new daughter about it?”

Liana abruptly sat bolt upright, causing Bubbles to jump off the bed and run past Sausage out of the room. He smiled after her, turning so that the cuff covering his stump was visible – due to his nightshirt lacking a sleeve on that side. Liana declared, “I knew there wouldn’t be any real ghosts! Azahar an’ Elowen tried to scare me, but I didn’t believe them! Bubbles was just sleepin’ here ‘cause she wanted company! I wasn’t scared!” She then blinked and stared at Sausage’s right side. “Oh. That’s not like the dollie’s arm. Her whole arm came off.”

Sausage smiled gently and cupped the end of his stump with his left hand as he entered the room. “Yeah, the dragon only ate part of it. I usually put on my metal arm when I get up in the morning, but I really wanted to make sure you slept alright last night. So, the boys tried to scare you, huh?”

Liana’s eyes went wide and, aghast, she yelled, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE DRAGON ATE IT?! I thought it was a pet dragon, or knight dragon, like the chicken!!”

Sausage winced at her volume. “Oh, ha, we didn’t tell you the whole story yesterday.” He sat down on the side of the bed with his left arm toward her, but she crawled over to sit on his right, so he turned, leaving them both sat on the end facing the doorway. “Dad and I, along with our friends – your new Uncle fWhip and Aunt Gem – fought an angry dragon – or, a dragon-like creature.” Sausage’s own eyes brightened with merriment as he thought of a way to embellish the story, because Liana was hanging onto his every word. “We didn’t know what it really was, but it was fierce, and it was hungry! I attacked it with my sword – whap-pow! – but it just opened its big mouth and bit down on not only my sword, but most of my arm! Dad used his magic to freeze it, then rescued me, and Auntie Gem healed me. She did a good job, but the beast had already finished its meal and we couldn’t get it back to stick it back on, so Uncle fWhip made me a new arm!”

Liana fairly vibrated from excitement. “So, you did stop a monster that would have eated everything!”

Sausage uttered a slightly nervous laugh. “Well, sort of. It seemed like it was happy to eat only my arm. But we put a stop to it, just in case.”

Liana went quiet, looking as if she was pondering a very serious matter, then said, “Papa, do you think the dragon-creature’s ghost would haunt the castle?”

“Nope! I think you already know what would happen – Bubbles would eat it!”

“That’s true,” Liana replied in an upbeat tone. She then tilted her head. “Can I see it? Y-Your arm? Um, the part the dragon didn’t eat?” She gestured to the buttoned cuff, her expression the epitome of childlike curiosity. “Oh, wait, ummm… Is it okay to ask that?”

“Sure! I don’t mind! It’s not scary, it just has a scar like my face.” Sausage began to undo the buttons on the side of the cuff.

“Did the monster scratch your face, too??”

“No, that was from an… accident. With a Blood Sheep. You don’t want to mess with the Blood Sheep. They’re powerful, like Bubbles! But as long as they have plenty of grass to graze, they won’t try to eat little girls.”

“What’s a Blood Sheep? There were sheep near where I lived, but no one ever said they were dangerous!”

“Umm… I’ll show you after breakfast!” He rolled the cuff upward and held the remainder of his arm up for Liana to examine. She noted the wide line of scar tissue on the end and began to reach to touch it, but pulled her hand back, murmuring to herself, “Nope, that might be rude, too. You gots to ask first.” She screwed up her face in thought, then pulled up the sleeves of her nightgown and – after a moment of deliberating – held her left arm up next to his stump to give herself an idea of where it might match up.

Sausage smiled, amused by her train of thought. He then caught movement by the door from the corner of his eye. Scott was there with a look of consternation, one of his braids coming loose as if he hadn’t had time to complete it, and he held the prosthetic in his hands. Sausage gave him a little nod, then raised a finger in a ‘one minute’ gesture. Scott shook his head and pointed down at the prosthetic, then off to the side, indicating that Sausage should get moving. “Well, Liana, if you have any more questions about it, I can answer them later. We should get going and have breakfast!”

Scott gestured more insistently. Sausage hopped up and hurried over to ask about the rush, but Scott immediately ushered him back to their room. “There’s a raven waiting for you. It came from the western border. You need to go over there right away.” The raven in question was sitting on the windowsill, an open scroll under one foot.

Sausage quickly pulled off his nightshirt to allow Scott to help him attach the prosthetic. “But we were going to go shopping for Liana after breakfast.” His mouth fell into a little pout.

“It’s urgent. I’ll take her and the boys out, don’t worry.” Not waiting for Sausage to move faster, Scott started dressing his husband shirt-first.

Sausage, meanwhile, gave him a sad-eyed look, his pout intensifying. He did, however, cooperate with getting dressed for travel.

Scott chuckled softly. “I know, I know. You were looking forward to it. You’ve become very fond of her rather quickly.”

“I can’t help it! She’s so charming and… and… we didn’t have a chance to stop yesterday to get her the dress she wanted…” Sausage continued to pout, then tapped the tips of his index fingers against each other while looking aside as he mumbled, “But I guess she can spend time with her new dad, too…”

“Sau-sage,” Scott said, “They think there’s a Warden loose in the caves near the town. If it weren’t for Liana, I would go, too, but I don’t want to leave her on her first day here. And it’s better if you’re the one to meet with the townsfolk, especially if you need to get Tango’s help for Warden wrangling.”

Sausage’s expression changed instantly. He rushed to get his boots on, then grabbed his customized elytra from the armor stand in the corner. He shrugged it on, then went to the window to read the scroll for himself, checking the name of the town. Then he climbed into the window. The raven croaked and flew off ahead of him to let the distressed townsfolk know their king was on his way. “I’ll find breakfast on the way. Tell the kids I love them and I’ll be back soon!”

“Good luck!” Scott called after him as Sausage launched himself out of the window frame. Scott then finished getting himself sorted for the day and went to tell the children of the change in plans. He caught up to the boys as they were heading out of their room, and asked them to wait while he checked if Liana was ready to go downstairs.

He found her fully dressed in one of the patched outfits she had brought home with her, the leggings in decent shape – but no shoes yet, since she was jumping on the second bed trying to look out the high, narrow window. Scott was about to question her but she turned and exclaimed, “I heard a loud bird! An’ I looked up an’ saw Papa flying by the window! He doesn’t have bird wings like elves!” She leapt down from the bed and ran over to Scott, demanding, “Why is he flying? How is he flying?!”

Perhaps startled by her announcement, Azahar and Elowen ran over to the doorway. Scott looked around at the three children, silently wishing Sausage had chosen a different direction to go. “I was just coming to tell all of you: Papa had a sudden, important request for help from a town, and it’s his job as king to go in person, especially because he might need some extra help.” Scott then realized what Sausage’s choice of direction meant. “It sounds like he was going to get that help, actually, because Tango the Blaze Emperor – boys, you might remember him from your gala – is a specialist at wrangling the creature that the townsfolk are having a problem with, and the best place to find him is our neighbor, the Cod Empire.”

Azahar was about to make a humorous comment about Tango being rather memorable for appearing to be on fire, but Liana cut him off. “Our neighbors are fish?! How do fish have an empire?? Don’t fish just swim around in the water all day? Isn’t a blaze like a fire? Wouldn’t that boil the water? Oh! Is he really good at cooking fish?”

Elowen giggled. Scott was once again struck by how similar Liana and Sausage were. As he stifled a laugh of his own, Azahar explained, “There are people who can breathe underwater and have the appearance of different types of sea life. The Cod Empire is ruled by Jimmy, who is a fish-like man. His sister, Lizzie, rules the Ocean Empire, and looks like a giant blue axolotl. Tango, however, is a blazeman-hybrid. He does have a kingdom of his own underground, a little far away from here, but he is good friends with Jimmy, who is teaching him about life on the surface – teaching him about people like us, who are different from what he’s used to.”

Liana seemed to be listening with fascination. “So, there’s lotsa other kingdoms besides Rivendell an’ this land of myths? But those people all sound like they’re myths!”

Scott now openly chuckled. “Our kingdom is literally named Mythland. Sir Carlos can explain the history better than I can, but it has its roots in an even older kingdom with a great – if lost – legacy. You’ll learn all about these things when we have school lessons later. We��ll figure out what type of lessons you need another day, though. After breakfast we’re going to do some shopping in town and find that dress you wanted, and you can show it to Papa when he gets home.”

Liana looked disappointed for a second as she stepped back. She glanced toward the window. Then she gave a decisive nod and ran to the dresser to take out a pair of socks. She sat down on the floor to pull them on. “Okay, Daddy. We’ll… surprise Papa by finding a really pretty one! An’… he’ll see… he’ll see that we could find one, even if not all of us was there to look at ev’rything.” She scooted over to her shoes to put them on next. Afterward, she lifted her chin proudly to show she was being a big girl and not upset that her new papa wasn’t also going with them.

Scott, of course, noticed her lip tremble. “He’ll be with us in spirit. He really wanted you to get that purple dress, and since we don’t know how long it would take to help the townsfolk, I said I would take you out to get one.” Thinking he had cottoned on to the problem, he said, “You know, this can also be a way for you to impress him by telling him about all the things you saw in town! It will be like your own adventure in your new home.”

Elowen piped up, “Y-Yeah, Liana, and we can show you some of the cool things we’ve discovered when we’ve gone out around town.” He gestured to himself and Azahar. “We can show you where the winter market was, and where the regular shops are that sell fun stuff!”

“No,” Liana said in a firm, yet calm, tone. “When Daddy an’ Papa came to my old home, they both played with me. So, they should both be there for other fun!” As if that should settle the matter, she walked past Scott and went between the boys, grabbing Azahar and Elowen by the hand. “Okay, breakfast time! You gots to eat a good breakfast before you go out!”

~*~

“Jimmy!! Tango!!” Sausage’s voice rang out over the sea-facing border of the Cod Empire as he flew over, hoping to get the attention of one of them. “I need help with a Warden problem!!”

The door of the fishing shack flew open – presumably from the force of Tango’s kick, seeing as he came out with one upraised foot leading. “Warden?? Where?! Oh, hi! Hi, neighboring Sausage-king-person.” Tango looked eager for details, but waited for Sausage to circle around to make a non-watery landing.

Jimmy wandered out of the shack a moment later, yawning and rubbing one eye. “Sausage, it’s too early for monster wrangling…”

The King of Mythland didn’t bother closing his elytra. “Not when they wander up to the surface overnight! I’ve got a small town in need, and I don’t have a lot of time today, so I thought I’d call on the expert to get it done faster. Oh, and you can help, too, Jimmy.”

The Codfather gave him a disgruntled look, while Tango straightened up proudly. “Of course! Professional wranglers here, at your service.”

“Great,” Sausage said. “Now grab some elytra and follow me! I need to get back a-sap!”

“I’ll get them!” Tango chirped. “I haven’t flown around much. Some practice will be great! fWhip even made me some fireproof ones.” He scurried back inside the shack.

Jimmy waited outside, taking note of Sausage’s clearly bright mood despite the apparent threat. “You’re in quite the hurry. What is going on that you need to rush back? Do you have something nice planned with the princes?”

“Jimmy…” Sausage clapped his left hand onto the Codfather’s shoulder and feigned a somber attitude, then overrode it with a wide grin. “Scott and I just became the proud fathers of a little girl! We brought her home last night! This is our first full day with her, and I have to go deal with some stupid Warden that couldn’t stay in the Deep Dark.” As he spoke, his fingers tightened, digging into Jimmy’s shoulder; Sausage’s grin turned into a clenched-tooth grimace of aggravation.

Jimmy endured it, then pried Sausage’s hand off. “Well, uh, congratulations, and I’m sorry you have a rogue Warden to deal with, today of all days. What’s her name? What’s she like? Hey, it’s actually kind of nice to find out ahead of time instead of a gala invite out of the blue.”

“Oh, Jimmy, she’s the sweetest little elf. Her name is Liana, she’s six and a half years old – she seems to like insisting on the ‘and a half’ part – she loves to talk and ask things and have tea parties, and I can’t wait to see her running around with Bubbles and the boys and having fun together—!!” Sausage pressed the palms of his hands against his cheeks and all but squeed with joy.

“Oh my gosh, Sausage.” Jimmy’s mouth crinkled up in amusement. “She’s got you wrapped around her finger, and it hasn’t even been a whole day! That’s so sweet, man. I’ll look forward to meeting her. Y’know, before or at her debut gala.” He grinned teasingly.

Tango returned before Sausage could comment. He handed Jimmy his elytra, then shrugged his own on. “Alright, now to take care of this little Warden issue. Lead on, Your Highness!” Tango glanced over to see Sausage still in jubilant father mode. “Uh…what’s with him?” he asked Jimmy.

“He has discovered the joy of having a daughter. Give him a second, then you can try using your Warden roar to snap him out of it.”

~*~

The shopping trip quickly became a spectacle of Liana delighting each and every shopkeeper they passed, between her customary announcement of her name – although she cut back on mentioning her age unless someone asked – and her exuberant curiosity about differences she noticed between elven and Mythlandian culture.

Scott opted for the general and practical clothing shops rather than going straight to the tailor; that would be reserved for a special trip closer to a certain date. He left Liana under the supervision of either Azahar or Elowen depending on which one he was assisting at the time – Elowen’s leggings were starting to come up short on him, and Azahar’s shirts were becoming tight across his chest and arms.

Meanwhile, Liana would babble to the shopkeeper and whichever brother was in attendance at the time of how she wanted to look at anything in purple or that had a picture of a bunny on it. Scott would then look through those offerings with her, and she tried on the ones that looked like they might fit. If anything happened to be slightly too big, like in the case of corduroy overalls with a rabbit embroidered on the front pocket, Scott bought it anyway with the idea that it could be stored for the future.

By the time they were done they had amassed six large parcels, the clothing neatly folded and secured with twine, but a bit much to carry home even when Scott tested out carrying them on a gust of cold air with magic. The final shopkeeper agreed to hold onto the lot until Scott could send someone down with a cart to pick it up.

Liana had actually gotten quiet by that point, watching as the parcels were stashed in the shop’s back room. She fidgeted for a moment, then yelled, “Thank you for watching our stuff! When I’m bigger I’ll come back for more bunny dresses! So please have some more!”

The shopkeeper chuckled on his way back to the floor. He dusted off his hands and nodded to Liana. “Sure thing, little Miss. You just let me know when you start outgrowing those, and I’ll put in a special princess order.”

“Yay! Thank you, mister clothes shop owner! DADDY!” she then yelled to Scott, ���Thank you for the nice dresses!! Maybe when I outgrow them, we can send them to Silvilana an’ the others! But maybe by then Silvilana will have nice daddies, too! Or nice mommies! Or a nice daddy and mommy? I don’t know, but I hope she goes home, too! An’ the others, an’ then maybe they won’t need my clothes, but there always seemed to be new kids coming in, an’ they should have nice stuff, too—”

Scott patted her on the head. “We’ll look into it when the time comes. Right now, we have one more stop to make, then we’ll go home for lunch and see if Papa is back to eat with us.”

“Are we getting something for you an’ Papa next?” Liana asked, puzzled, as they walked out and headed down the street. “You haven’t gotten anything yet! Ev’ryone should get something, it’s only fair! You were nice an’ gots us lots!” She looked at Azahar and Elowen, expecting them to agree.

Elowen nodded. Azahar chuckled. “She’s right, Dad. You should get a tunic with a rabbit on it. A blue one.”

Scott laughed. Liana jumped forward with both feet to keep pace with his steps, proclaiming, “Or a blue fawn! Ev’ryone should get a picture of their fav’rite thing!”

“You have a point, Liana,” Scott agreed. “But as King Regnant, I have to wear what other grown-ups consider to be dignified clothes.” When she stopped jumping in order to pout up at him, he added, “Maybe I could get something like that on a night shirt.”

Her face brightened. “Yeah! Then you just put on a kingly robe over it to hide it from boring growed-ups!”

They all laughed at the idea, then Scott proceeded to make up increasingly silly scenarios where someone might find out he had pastel blue fawn pajamas. This continued as they traveled along the streets until another clothing shop came into view. The sign hanging outside depicted a formal ball gown. Liana’s eyes widened when she saw the window display. She whispered, “Dresses for meeting princesses…” She then froze on the spot, realizing that she now was that princess.

Scott went to the door and held it open to allow the children to enter first. “You could say this is something for Papa and I: to keep our promise to you.”

Liana hopped up and down, then once again grabbed her new brothers by their hands. “Look, look! Now we can see what I shoulda been wearing to meet you! Now I can fit in with princes!”

Azahar tried to say, “Liana, you were fine meeting us just as you were—” but the words got lost as she pulled them into the shop.

The shopkeeper hurried over as soon as she noticed who had entered. “Your Highness! Young princes! I see you brought a little friend! How may I help you?”

Surprisingly, Elowen was the one to answer. “We need a fancy dress for our new sister.” Scott felt a surge of pride over the younger boy speaking up, yet realized that – perhaps – it was Liana’s energy rubbing off on him that had encouraged him.

Liana hopped up and down again. “That’s me! I’m the princess! An’ I need to look like one! Daddy gots me some nice new things, but Elowen’s right! Princesses need one really fancy dress!”

The shopkeeper looked toward Scott. “How wonderful! My congratulations to you and Lord Sausage! Your family just keeps growing, doesn’t it? What are you looking for in your fancy dress?”

Together Scott and the boys all chorused, “Purple” at the same time, answering even as Liana was opening her mouth.

The little girl giggled and then smiled up at the shopkeeper. “Please, may I see your finest pretty purple dresses?”

~*~

Sausage glanced around the interior of the cave nervously, then hissed, “When I asked you guys for help, I thought Jimmy would be the bait, not me!”

The Codfather grinned from his hiding place behind the pile of rocks that was closer to the entrance than Sausage’s position. He whispered in reply, “Of course I’m not the bait. I’m a professional wrangler now. Don’t worry, Sausage! We’ll get you home to your kiddos in one piece. Relatively speaking.”

Sausage wanted to glare in Jimmy’s direction, but the clacking of Warden antennae made him return his focus to the device nestled behind his ear that connected him to the magic frequency operating his prosthetic, allowing him to control it remotely. The prosthetic was currently secured above a button that would turn on a noise machine, which was intended to lure the stray Warden toward a web of ropes set up to snare the creature. It had wandered deeper into the cave system for the moment, but that didn’t guarantee it wouldn’t wander back out again. “You know what - You know what? If my arm gets damaged, you get to explain to fWhip why!”

Tango, hidden across from Jimmy, replied in a flat tone, “Better your fake arm than your whole, real body.” He was in a strict focused mode now. The change in his demeanor started slow after they had spoken with the townsfolk, the bravest of whom took the three to the road that ran near the cave system where a farmer making an early delivery to the town had heard the frightening sounds of a Warden stomping around. The farmer fled without confirming it, but a few intrepid townspeople investigated, only to flee as soon as they heard it and the tell-tale heartbeat for themselves.

Tango’s blithe attitude toward a potential adventure disappeared completely once the three of them had scoped out the cave; they all immediately went on alert at the sound of the creature sniffing around, and the way Tango launched into an analysis of the terrain led Sausage to not even question the plan when it was first proposed.

Now he was feeling uncertain, however. Tango was correct to use Sausage’s prosthetic to activate the noise machine, avoiding any of them being too close to the Warden after it became attracted to the sound, but Sausage himself still needed to be within a specific range of his prosthetic for the signal to carry. “Tango, I think I like you better when you’re hyper and slightly weird. ‘Serious-Tango’ scares me. This had better work. I want to be able to hug my kids with both arms when I get back.”

Tango uttered a strange sort of squawk. “Shush your face! I can feel it stomping this way again! … Wait for it… Wait for it… Now!”

Sausage could see the glow of the Warden’s open chest and antennae around the corner. He gulped, then directed his prosthetic’s hand to slam down onto the button. The noise machine started up. The Warden grunted and the glow coming off it shifted directions as it lumbered toward the machine.

Sausage suppressed a squeak of relief as he ducked behind cover. He left the rest to the professionals as they sprang into action. He put his attention on the device again to remain aware of whether or not the Warden happened to smash his prosthetic or not – rather than watch it occur with his own eyes. Out of sight there, he could also keep his dramatic worries to himself, quietly whimpering and theatrically crying as he imagined a scenario of him returning home without the prosthetic because he would have had to drop it off at The Grimlands for fWhip to repair, and then Liana and Elowen might even stare at his right side and the lack of arm, and he would get ten thousand bazillion questions about their own imagined scenarios before he could explain, and surely he should make it sound more amazing than just using it to push a single button, and meanwhile Scott and Azahar would probably stand there looking amused because, well, Scott knew the situation, and Azahar would be quick to catch on although he would still be entertained by the adventurous aspect, but Sausage ­still­ wouldn’t be able to hug everyone or pick up Liana and assure her that he was alright, and that they could still have fun the rest of the day, and… [To Be Continued in Chapter Four: The Parties and The First Dreams]

[egg-emperor]

What are your thoughts on Sonic Superstars as a whole?

I liked it! It's simple and fun, it serves its purpose as a classic game and captures the feel of the 2D main titles well in a cool new 3D way in gameplay, controls, music, plot, animation, etc. Definitely prefer Mania, especially since I replayed it earlier in the year to refresh myself on it but that doesn't mean it's bad in comparison like some are saying. It holds up against all the other classic games well, I think, so I consider that a win.

I had fun with it. I had to play single player but I feel it would've been a little more enjoyable on multi because it definitely felt like some parts were designed with it in mind, such as the length of the bosses and how much damage they can take, as I can imagine it would've been over in seconds if four players were all fighting it at once if they hadn't. True or not, some feel they drag on a little too much on single player.

The bosses ranged from enjoyable to frustratingly difficult because of how long they were. I can imagine that isn't so much of a problem with multiple players. The actual stages were almost too easy in comparison, they lacked the challenge Mania constantly offered but it made for nice relaxed gameplay in comparison where I could just sit back and enjoy, (which I'd been wanting after the nightmare difficulty of Final Horizon lol) so it's not terrible.

The Eggman themed stages like Pinball Carnival, Press Factory, and Egg Fortress included basically all my favorites and that's not even just my bias, they were the most fun for me gameplay wise too- and they also looked really fucking cool. I always love when Eggman's love for carnival shows and the dark industrial pollution of Press Factory was so awesome and my element, I enjoyed the look and the stakes of act 2 🥰💜

The new robots and boss designs both the funny huge animals and ones Eggman got to pilot were really cool too! And Eggman's adorable model and all his animations were just so precious, he's so full of life and charm and character and made me so happy. 💕 I wish he'd gotten more drawn animation and context in the plot in game but combined with the prequel comic, manga, and Trio of Trouble, it was a good amount.

Admittedly, I haven't played all of the game yet, only the main story mode, so I can only speak for that. I skipped all the extra optional acts and haven't played Trip's and the Last Story. Mostly because I got the game a couple days early but was in a rush to be somewhere, so I only played what I had to get the Eggman related stuff I needed, make my video, and be on my way. XD After main story, I didn't mind spoiling myself the rest.

I find it odd how Eggman is completely absent from Trip's and the Last Story, I hoped to see more of how Trip joined his side and I also feel there at least should've been a bit of context provided for how the dragon got out to fight because it was strange how it just appeared out of nowhere and went just as fast. I didn't expect crazy depth from a classic game but that was a little too random to just throw at you like that lol

But other than that it pretty much gave us just about everything I expected and I'm happy with it. I kinda don't think it was quiiite worth £60 as I enjoyed Mania more and that was way less expensive, (though maybe that's too soon for me to say as I haven't played the other two campaigns), so I say unless you're super eager then maybe wait for a price drop- but I do recommend the experience for a nice little fun time with a faithful classic feel!