#my guess is the encounter with shadow is a long scene - might have a fair amount of dialogue

[multicolour-ink]

There's an usual bit of editing that occurs in the trailer when the trio first encounter Shadow: it starts with Knuckles on the left and Tails on the right, but after Shadow calls them a colorful bunch, Tails and Knuckles have swapped places, and then after Shadow deals with Knux, Tails is back on the right, so there's clearly more going on here than what the trailer is presenting, which is to be expected of course, but still noticeable

Yes, I've seen that. There's a post floating around on here about it as well.

It's hard to say exactly what's going on in the full scene, but it's clear there's something happening between the characters before the actual brawl.

[delu-jean]

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞: 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞

(Jean x fem!/reader) -> (Angst...) -> 3.5k

Notes: some of the events placed might be a little rushed...but regaredless, enjoy :’D 

Ⅳ > Ⅵ

Time had passed after you and Jean confessed. These past couple of days had been peaceful, and enjoyable. Your friends around you chose to give you both space every once in a while. Not knowing when duty would call you (yet again), you both chose to spend your time wisely. 

For example, one time, he brought you to the top of one of the hills. You both star gazed with each other till the horizon rose. Both of you in awe of such a beautiful sky. Though enveloped in darkness, each star had its own light, brightening the shadows the galaxies held. 

Another being that you both rode for a while. It was great being able to bring out your horses to roam around fields (without the worries of titans). You were also able to make and give Jean a flower crown. Though made of weeds (dandelions), he loved it regardless. He also tried to make one for you, but it didn’t go as planned. 

Lastly, although this involved everyone else, you made pancakes. Sasha, Jean, and Connie had helped you out. They weren’t fluffy, but that had to do with the lack of ingredients (imagine crepes). You gave them out and made a jam with the strawberries Sasha and Connie had picked. Reiner and Berthold also helped the two in their spare time. Although not many were there (in both berries and people), the six of you enjoyed two pancakes each.

“THANK YOU Y/N, I LOVE YOU!” Sasha exclaimed and almost took Reiner’s plate, but he shoved her away before she could.

“I haven’t had these for 5 years...I won’t let you take them now-”

“Five years? This is my first time…” Jean pouted and then looked at you. You instead gave him another strawberry to see everyone shocked.

“WHAT, NO FAIR!!” Connie yelled.

“FAVOURITISM AT IT’S FINEST!” Said Sasha, Jean winked and you rolled your eyes.

“Y/n...what about me?” Berthold frowned as you sighed and gave him one of your crepes. He then remarked he was joking, but you insisted. This was one of the treats you loved making for him growing up, and since it had been a while, you wanted to give it to him while you could. Jean looked somewhat shocked, as the other two snickered. 

“Hehe, that’s what you get Jean,” they both said in unison.

“Oh shut up.”

You shook your head and got up. Since you had finished, you then whispered in Jean’s ear:

“Come and help me with the dishes,” he immediately got up and followed you as the others watched.

“I can wash them,” you looked at him uncertain.

“I’ll help you regardless,” from there, a water fight broke loose, along with a little teasing here and there. You both laughed, enjoyed your time for Bertholdt to then come over.

“Hey I just wanted to ask...but you do know that all of us are going to be on standby, starting tomorrow, right?” you glanced at Jean and then turned towards Bertholdt.

“Yes, I do,” Jean wasn’t coming with you guys. You weren’t exactly sure as to why, but regardless, he seemed a little sad. You then watched as Berthold put a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, be careful out there...okay? Don’t worry about Y/n, we’ve got her.” “Yeah! We all do!” Connie blurts from the other side.

Jean then smiled and nodded: “Yeah...I know you do.”

--- The day came where you now had to perform your duties. You were grateful for the days given, but now, it was time to go and commence your obligations. As you went to your horse, Jean came over and gave you a very tight hug. You knew he didn’t want you to leave (and you didn’t either), but duty called. He sighed and then kissed your forehead. You then looked up at him as he held you close.

“Be safe...I’ll see you soon...Y/n,” you then slid out of his grasp, and sat on your horse.

“You too love,” you watched as his eyes trailed. It seemed as if he wanted to say more, but kept it to himself. You bit the side of your cheek, wondering about what he would say, but decided to let it go as you followed Bertholdt, and Reiner. You guys rode at the back of the group.

“It’s not like you’ll never see him again,” Reiner teased as you smacked his arm.

“Shut up,” you both laughed to then hear Berthold say:

“But Jean?...ah, I guess he’s better than Eren.”

“What?” Although Bertholdt was timid in front of others (including you), he had his moments where he spoke his mind. This being one of them. “I mean, he’s nice and all, but I thought you would get with someone like Armin, you know? Someone a little quieter, and intelligent,” Reiner than responded:

“I mean, you do you, but don’t get too attached,” he joked. You decided to ignore what he said, and because of that, his tone of voice changed from being goofy, to serious.

“I mean it, L/n. You can do whatever makes you happy, that’s fine, but know that type of stuff comes with a price. Especially on the battlefield. Remember, here on Paradis, you might be a scout, but when you go back to Marely, you are a soldier.”

“Nothing about our operation has changed, there was just some delay. Now that we have a clear objective of where the founder is, we have a sense of direction. If your little affair is going to get the best of our mission, drop it. Remember what we came here for, Y/n,” you froze as he said that. Even though you weren’t from here, it felt like you grew up and lived your entire life with the people of Paradis. You did for about five, maybe six years of your life, but even then, such a foreign place felt like home. That being the case, there were times where you had forgotten about your mission. Especially during the training course. However, when Eren arose out of that carcass, that was when an upsetting wake up call hit you, one you tried to snooze for as long as possible. Secretly, you knew that you wouldn’t be able to live out such a dream with your comrades here...but you wanted to push that thought to the side. That way, you would never have to wake into the horrendous nightmare Marely had waiting for you. You sat there in silence for the rest of the ride. For once, you actually needed to listen to what Reiner’s “warrior'' had to say. Though you hated that emotion, it was one who spoke the truth at times. Plus, even if you didn’t want to accept his words, they would revolve around you eventually. You all then halted at the buildings, and made your way.

--- “If you want to sneak out, I will too.”

“But why?” Connie asked as he lazily moved his finger.

“Don’t you think it’s suspicious? We have none of our gear on yet our superiors are geared to the bear of their bones.”

“Maybe it’s bears?”

“For bears, all you need are guns.”

“Guys...let’s settle down, we won’t be here for too long,” you said.

“Um, guy!? I hear footsteps-”

“Sasha, that would only happen if wall rose had fallen,”

“TITANS ARE COMING! WE NEED TO GO, NOW!”

You all got up immediately. Not having time to put on gear, you all got on your horses, ready to help scope/save civilians. Connie and Reiner decided to go south...near the direction titans were running to. Though you were a little scared, you decided to follow anyway. You were concerned about both Connie and Reiner. Plus, three mutuals were better than two. -> You all made it to his village. You looked around the area with Reiner, wondering where everyone had gone. Titans seemed to have imprinted the buildings, but there was no blood shed. It was a mysterious scene alright, but what spooked you even more was Connie’s statement.

“Guys...I think...I think that’s my mom.”

“What?” both Reiner and you asked in unison. Impossible?...how?... Was that even possible? It could only be if... As you kept on thinking, Reiner then said:

“Connie, I think you’re reading too much into this.”

“I...maybe...it’s just a hunch though,” you sat there worried. Maybe it really was. The look on Reiner’s eyes however, made you think the opposite. You chose to leave it alone as your superior said:

“Come on, we need to regroup with the others. No one is here, so let’s go.”

--- It was now dark outside. Your superior held a torch as he guided the rest of you along the wall, making sure nothing was out of the ordinary. Problem was, things were. You weren’t exactly sure as to why, but a feeling got the best of you. Knowing that, you approached Reiner with a worried tone in your voice.

“Something feels off...why is that,” you whispered.

“I’m not sure...but keep your guard up,” he responded with.

You then met with another group who had come from the west. You sat there in fear after hearing that they had encountered nothing over there. It should have been a good thing...but no sight of any titans? Whatsoever? Something bad was going to happen, and you could tell as you all grouped, and rode off elsewhere.

“You, rookies. Go and sit in the tower, we’ll patrol from above.”

“Right,�� everyone then climbed up the stairs and sat beside one another.

You sat beside Bertholdt as Ymir and Reiner headed elsewhere. You weren’t in the best mood and he could tell as he scooched in a tad. He scrunched both of his legs which were held by his arms. He then looked at you with a sorry look, and then started conversation.

“You okay? What’s up?”

“Bertholdt...what if...what if we, no...I die here?”

“You think you’re going to die before me?” he chuckled and then saw his joke didn’t lighten the mood. He decided to tuck his playfulness away, and instead seemed more sincere.  

“Y/n, you will make it back home...we all will. So don’t worry too much, okay? Overthinking is my thing after all,” you nodded and then asked:

“Hey Bertholdt...could you do something for me?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“I will, but you’ll have to do the same for me as well.”

“Of course, I promise,” he smiled and then patted you head, just like old times. Although you have grown up, he’s always seen you as his little sister, and always will. He admired you and would try to protect you, no matter the cost. To your surprise, you then were told that titans started approaching. You all rose immediately, chasing for the exit as Reiner led.

“REINER, WAIT FOR US!!”

“WHY IS HE ALWAYS FIRST!?” Connie yelled in frustration.

“GUYS, THE TITANS ARE IN! COME AND HELP ME!”

Before you could get there, Bertholdt ran faster than you. While he aided Reiner, you helped the girls who had found a canon.

“REINER, MOVE!” You yelled and he did so.

“That should hold them off,” Christa said.

“Yes, now let’s go back up,” your body motioned upwards as everyone followed.

You watched as Christa helped fix up Reiner. Although not obvious to some, you and Berthold could tell Reiner was very much enjoying that interaction. And he told you not to get attached to Jean, that hypocrite. You and Berdtholt watched from afar as you whispered:

“Not like he’ll need it anyways,” you meant that both literally (since he was a titan and could heal) and jokingly. Thankfully, Berthold got the joke and chuckled.

“No but...has Reiner always been the self-sacrificial type?” Connie asked as you both froze.

“No...he used to be...more of a warrior.”

“A warrior?...I don’t get it,” Reiner replied.

‘Well I do…’ you thought to yourself.

Though Reiner did have his moments where he was a “warrior” and what not, deep down, you knew he was also a coward. That was another reason why you took her words lightly. Because whenever he would spur, you knew it was out of either fear, the truth, or both to cover up his worries. Like you said, every smile had it’s frowns. Reiner was no different from that, and neither were you.

Your little moment was then interrupted as the sound (and feeling) of collision occurred. You all went up the stairs to the outdoors of that building. Two bodies were laid down and titans were coming up the tower as you spoke. You were told by your superior that someone was toying with your situation, but who? First, no blood shed at the village, second, no titans appeared until now, and third...the coordination that took place...was too odd to call it chance. But what exactly were you guys fighting against? 

They then ordered for you to stay back as they both flung. You watched as they fought endlessly. After one titan fell, another appeared. Why was...why was that happening? Berthold stood in front of you as the blades of the two dull. You knew what was yet to come and looked away. The yells of their screams, though you’ve heard them before, still sickened you to this day. Though, you weren’t sure as to why…since you were trained at both here, and Marely to think otherwise. 

Ymir then grasped Christa. You weren’t exactly sure as to what would happen, but you then saw her grab a knife from Connie. You were confused as to why she would do such a thing.

‘How is that?...’

“Okay...what���s your plan exactly?” Reiner asked as she touched the tip. “Not sure, but I guess we’ll figure it out together.”

“Ymir, wait. We should plan things out before you go head first into something-”

“Y/n...don’t worry about me. Instead, Christa. Remember the promise we made on the snowy mountain...I have no say as to how you live your life, but...live for yourself,” you saw as the girl sprinted off the building, knife in hand.

All of you watched from afar, shocked. Just what was she doing? Connie grabbed Christa and once you saw that damn spark, you understood what was going on. Ymir had Marcel’s titan...the Jaw. The boys behind you stared terrified, if only Marcel didn’t get eaten by Ymir...would this all have happened? 

You gazed as Ymir took out titan by titan. Christa was ready to jump off the roof, while those below kept on fighting back. You weren’t sure what to do exactly, and instead clung onto the brick. Terrified for what was yet to come. Christa then yelled:

“TEAR THIS TOWER TO BITS! LIVE FOR YOURSELF!”

Although you wished Ymir could’ve done differently, it was probably the best option for the six of you. So she did. She ripped each tile to pieces, knocking down titan by titan. She then jumped back, telling you all to hold on. You gripped onto her hair (along with the others) and watched the castle collide with the monsters below.

“YMIR!” Christa screamed as Ymir ran towards the titans arising.

“Hey ugly!! You still have a job to finish!” Connie added.

You couldn’t believe that the jaw was under your nose the entire time. She was just as good when it came to hiding (like the four of you). You watched as titan, after titan beat her exterior to a plump, and the next thing you knew...a titan was right behind you. You knew too damn well the armoured was too important, so you did what any soldier would have done.

“REINER, MOVE!” You pushed him to the side.

“Y/N!” They all screamed as it grasped you.

“DAMNIT!” Reiner yelled as it held you captive. You struggled your way out of that mess, why here, why now? What would Jean think?

‘Jean…’ you froze in terror as the mouth opened, only to hear Bertholdt screaming at the top of his lungs.

“WHY!? WHY Y/N!? LET HER GO!!” You heard him cry as you then slipped into its mouth...watching the place go dark, along with your conscience.

---

“Hey,” it was the morning of the day you were headed towards the standby zone. Jean still embraced you and you could smell the scent of the breeze that lay on him. You sobbed on his shirt knowing this would be the last time you would get to see him. 

There was no going back. This was it. The warmth Jean had given you, would now be gone...“With no type of heat, your body started to ice. Instead of struggling, you accepted it...something you wish you didn’t end up doing.”

--- “Heyo kiddo, you can get up now,” your eyes fluttered and then sprung open. Your body was drenched and your muscles sore. Soon enough, you recognized that voice. It sounded way too familiar for you to ignore.

“Zeke…” you coughed as he replied:

“Yes, Zeke Jaeger. The one and only-'' you immediately stood up, put your hand to your heart, and the other behind. But you then quickly changed as you shot your right to your side, and the left with your palm faced towards him. You were terrified to say the least.

“Relax...it’s just us, so no need for formalities. Anyways, tea?” you did as told and sat across from him. Now things were starting to make sense. If Zeke was here, he was probably the cause of all of the commotion, coordination, and suspicion. 

You had always known Zeke as the playful kind of guy. Though you weren’t a warrior, since Bertholdt and Annie were, you often got to interact with Zeke. He seemed like a nice person with good intentions, but seeing him from this perspective, had you thinking otherwise. You took the cup he gave to you as he started to go on yet again.

“Honestly, I was expecting one of the warriors...but I guess having you here isn’t a loss. At Least they actually brought me someone who’s from Marely,” he sighed as the titan who devoured you, then went on it’s way.   “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, well isn’t it obvious? To take you home silly, along with the founder.”

“Eren Jaeger?”

“Yes, the man himself. Which if you don’t mind me asking, what exactly does he look like?”

“Well...he’s a brunette boy. 5’9 I would assume, and he also has deep blue, yet greenish eyes.”

“I see, also, what is this gear exactly? I comprehended the idea behind it, but could use more information.”

You and Zeke spent the next hour talking. You explained the way things worked here, along with the ODM gear, and what you knew based on what the warriors had told you. You also explained how this happened in the first place, how their titans were revealed (but not their identities), and how you saved Reiner by pushing him to the side.

“Excellent reaction. We can’t afford to lose the armoured at this rate.”

“I guess so…”

“Also Zeke...why come now?...after all of this time?...” he sighed and then looked at you.

“Well, time is running out, and I already gave enough time for the 4 of you to settle things. I’m surprised but glad you’re still alive.”

“Which reminds me, Y/n, I’m dismissing you from this mission?-”

“What!?” you immediately shot up after hearing him.

“Is there something wrong? Your family is back in Marely, waiting for you. Plus, if you do, the military might acknowledge you. Saying you protected the titans and served marely during the mission to paradis.”

“Though, I can’t guarantee anything.”

‘But...Jean...the others…’ you weren’t given the time to think as he then called out:

“Pieck, come here.”

“Pieck?”

“Why hello Y/n,” she said as you flinched a bit.

“Since she’s armoured, ride at her top if anything. You remember how to shoot, right?” you nodded and he then continued.

“Okay then. I won’t see you for a couple days, but until then, you’ll ride home in the boat at the doc,” right before you climbed up Pieck, Zeke stopped you:

“Ah wait, you’ll need this,” he grabbed you an armband and placed it in your hands.

“I’ll see you soon.”

--- Pieck sent you to the doc. Your eyes dimmed as you both stepped closer to the boat. You were glad the people there were Eldians, because that meant you could let go of your composure (to an extent of course).

“Tell the general that we’ll be on our way soon enough,” they all saluted and agreed. You were now on the boat, and felt as it started to move.

You stood there and watched as the Island drift further from you. If only you could have stayed longer, used your time wiser, and gotten to spend more of it with Jean...you would probably never see him again. The difference between this scenario, versus the one before (the incident that led to your “death”), was that now you were leaving Jean...but alive…. You thought it would’ve been better if you had left him dead. That way, you could have a peace of mind. 

Now this guilt would live with you for gosh knows how long. Not only that, but the lingering feeling for him...would always trail behind. You didn’t know how you would cope with this...and honestly, you hoped you wouldn’t. Because it would be the only thing that would make your departure bitter yet sweet...

Ⅳ > Ⅵ

[yoon-kooks]

The Devil Writes Romance | myg

Pairing: Yoongi x Reader

Genre: fluff, angst, college!AU, fuckboy!AU, fanficwriter!Yoongi

Summary: When you’re assigned to work with Min Yoongi on a final project for your Writing Fiction course, you stumble upon the fuck boy’s secret identity as a sappy fanfic writer. With the heart and soul of an aspiring editor, you’re somehow convinced by the boy himself to help make his fictional romance more realistic and heartfelt. Before you know it, you’ve made a not-so-innocent pinky promise with the devil.

Word Count: 3.2k

Warnings: mentions of sex :-)

A/N: this is basically a pilot that sets up a lot of plot for a potential series so lmk if you like the idea and would continue reading it as a series! also special shoutout to @chewymoustachio​ for the love & support 💖

As spring semester comes to a close, your only goal is to make it through finals week unscathed. Like many of your fellow English majors, most of your finals are extensive papers rather than traditional exams. Normally this would not stress you out, but your Writing Fiction course has thrown a curveball your way: half of your grade is dependent on your partner, Min Yoongi.

Personally, you’ve never been a fan of partner or group projects because you always somehow end up with incompetent teammates who either do a half-assed job or ghost you until the day before it’s due. Either way, you’ve learned and become accustomed to relying only on yourself.

However, as your Writing Fiction class has taught you, a writer’s world is not built upon independence. Rather, it’s built upon the opposite. Writers depend on others for support, feedback, and revision. That’s where your final project comes on.

For your final project, everyone in your class signed up for the role of either a writer or editor, and you’ve been randomly paired up with someone who chose the opposite. It’s no secret to anyone that you dream of becoming an editor in the industry. You love the idea of reviewing other writers’ works and providing them with as much feedback and constructive criticism as possible. Naturally, you signed up to be an editor.

As fate would have it, you find yourself paired with the boy who’s pretty much slept with the entire class, including the TA, and allegedly the professor. The only person left unchecked on his list is you. Somehow, you’ve heard more gossip about his sex life than his skills as a writer, which is why you believe you’re fucked for this final.

“Hey, Partner,” Yoongi catches up with you in the hall after class. His signature cedarwood cologne is too heavy to ignore as he strides beside you. “Are you free tonight?”

“To brainstorm some story ideas?” You tilt your head and add an innocent tone to mask the skepticism. Truthfully, you know what he really wants. It’s not your first rodeo.

“I actually already have a story in mind,” he says. “But I was thinking you and I could-”

“What’s the story about?” Because you’d much rather hear about that than one of Yoongi’s many excuses to get in your pants.

“You’ll just have to wait and see,” he shrugs as the two of you walk out of the building and into the beaming afternoon sun. You lift an arm to block the light out of your face, only to realize the boy’s shadow blocks it for you. Apparently, there are perks to walking with a buddy after class. “I’ll send you the draft tonight.”

“The professor literally just assigned the project and it’s not due for another week,” you raise an eyebrow. Weird, you’ve never seen a college kid so proactive and eager to get a head start on their final project. Something tells you the boy is just spouting bullshit and telling you what you want to hear. “You don’t have to rush and write all ten thousand words in a single night…”

“Well I don’t have any other plans tonight,” he says. “Unless you want to-”

“Nice try, Yoongi.” You start walking further ahead of the boy. You’re forced to squint as to not be blinded by the sun. “I guess you can have fun writing your story, then.”

“You really know how to play hard to get, Y/N…” Yoongi whines in that raspy voice of his, eliciting the tiniest smirk on your face. You might not approve of his fuck boy tendencies, but you’re also not opposed to teasing him a bit.

“If you really want to impress me, keep your word and send the draft tonight.” You spin around and wave farewell as you battle the sun. “Your editor will be waiting.”

As soon as you arrive home, you realize Yoongi isn’t the only one without any Friday night plans. With nothing to do, a large part of you hopes your partner keeps his promise so you can at least try to be productive over the weekend. But ten thousand words is a lot to write in one night. It’s more than likely that he won’t be able to pull it off.

In an attempt to wind down, you scroll through the blog feeds of your favorite writers. Many of them, such as @suga-fix and @jk-seagull, are college students like you, so you can appreciate all the time and effort they put into their craft on top of their school work. While the fan in you loves to shower them with sweet and supportive messages, the editor in you hopes to one day be able to also provide feedback on a professional level.

At the very top of your feed is a short post from @suga-fix, a romance fanfic writer whom you recently found while scouring the #jiminscenarios tag for something free of smut.

“Does anyone else struggle to ask their crush out or is it just me? Asking for a friend.”

You giggle at the innocent question. In addition to writing the sappiest Jimin fanfics, Suga is known to post snippets of his own nonexistent love life on his blog. From what you understand, he’s a boy who’s never experienced true love firsthand. Recently, however, he’s been gushing over his pretty classmate. You’re waiting for the day when he builds up enough courage and finally lands a date.

Until then, you’re satisfied with reading his ongoing fictional love story featuring the popular idol, Park Jimin, as a struggling romance novelist who finds inspiration in a skeptical wedding photographer. You absolutely adore the story, the characters, and the underlying narrative, but the editor in you can point out an area for improvement: his romance game. 

You notice the two main characters lack a certain level of chemistry to get the readers quaking and itching for more. Most of the time, the intimate scenes end with poor Jimin getting friendzoned, which certainly has its charm and humor. But truthfully, you expect a little more love from a romance fic.

You suspect that, to some extent, this is intentional as the characters are the type to dance around intimacy and have pessimistic views on romance overall. However, you also wouldn’t be surprised if Suga’s own personal inexperience with romantic scenarios is what holds him back the most.

After catching up on your socials, eating dinner, and hopping out of the shower, you sit in the darkness of your room and check one more thing before calling it a night. No email, no text, no draft from your partner. Not that you were actually expecting anything, but it would’ve been nice for the fuck boy to prove you wrong.

To be fair, you know how long and painful ten thousand words can be. If Yoongi is in fact sprinting through those ten thousand words and gets them to you by the time you wake up, you’ll consider him a man of his word.

[4:56AM] Yoongi💋 “I emailed you the thing”

[7:24AM] Y/N “Ooh, I’ll take a look 👁👁”

[7:25AM] Y/N “Btw I don’t appreciate you adding an emoji to your contact info on my phone”

After changing Yoongi’s contact name to something more appropriate, you go into your email and find the story draft that the boy had sent at exactly 4:55AM. The word count on the document says 10,382. Not too shabby, Min Yoongi.

You grab your morning caffeine and crack open your laptop to read your partner’s story on the big screen. Right away, you notice the document is titled “Untitled1” which is never a great sign, but you’re willing to forgive him if its content is stellar.

The first thing that puts a smile on your face is the main character, Jimothy. His name reminds you of your favorite idol, Jimin, with a playful touch. He’s the romance novelist who attends his friend’s wedding where he has a chance encounter with a pretty wedding photographer-

Wait. You’re pretty sure you’ve heard this story before. In fact, you know exactly where it came from. You pull up Suga’s Jimin fic and put it side-by-side against Yoongi’s version. While it’s not exactly a copy-and-paste situation, the romance novelist x wedding photographer premise is too similar for it to be a mere coincidence.

At first glance, you find it funny that Yoongi took the time to reword everything to not be caught by the plagiarism police. If you didn’t know any better, you’d assume he did a quick search of Jimin fanfiction and picked one that was moderately popular but not viral enough for anyone to notice. Jimin fanfic just so happens to be your guilty pleasure, so there’s absolutely no way you’d let a plagiarist slip one past you.

But upon further review, after digesting the entirety of the fic, you find that Yoongi’s flow and choice of words are eerily similar to Suga’s style without recycling a single line. Likewise, you notice the same lack of chemistry in both versions of the story. You suppose this can only mean one thing, and you need to confront him about it in person. Because the last thing you want is for him to ghost you like everyone else you’ve ever worked with.

[8:42AM] Y/N “I just finished looking it over”

[8:43AM] Y/N “Wanna get coffee & discuss? ☕️📖”

[8:45AM] Yoongi🐍 “Oh? I thought you weren’t interested in a date with me 🥺”

[8:46AM] Y/N “Let’s meet in about an hour at the coffeehouse on campus?”

[8:46AM] Yoongi🐍 “See ya there, my editor”

As you stir the oat milk into your second dose of caffeine for the morning, you wonder how you can bring up your suspicions in an appropriate and professional way. Should you confront him about it immediately, gently coax him in that direction, or take a more passive approach to see if he’ll mention it on his own? Because if you’re going to be this boy’s editor, you want to do it right.

“Thoughts?” Yoongi enters the chat with slightly damp hair and an iced Americano in hand. Your only thought in that moment is about how fucking good he smells, even in the presence of the rich aromas of your favorite roasted coffee beans. But you’ll leave those thoughts to yourself.

“My first thought was that you sent me a document titled Untitled1,” you say.

“I have a working title,” he assures you. “But I’m curious to hear what clever titles my editor has come up with after reading through the whole thing.”

“Pink Cheek Syndrome sounds appropriate.” Because that’s the title of Suga’s original fic. It’s also the term coined by Jimothy to describe couples who aren’t as in love as they’d like to believe. It’s a facade to fool everyone, including themselves.

“Great minds think alike after all.” Yoongi leans in to give you a high-five, but you just throw a balled up napkin at his palm. Confess. Just confess already.

“Can I ask what inspired the concept?” You bite your lip. “You don’t strike me as the romantic type.”

“Don’t you ever feel like people get into relationships just for the sake of being in a relationship?”

“Yeah.” All the time, in fact.

“It’s pretty shallow if you ask me,” he says with a nonchalant chuckle, as if he’s not the shallowest person on campus when it comes to established relationships. “PCS is just a commentary on people like that vs people like you and me.”

You and him? You’re not sure you have anything in common with someone who breaks hearts and sleeps around so casually.

“Sounds like something a fanfic writer would come up with.” Because it is.

“Sounds like something a fanfic reader would say,” he throws back at you.

“In fact, there’s a Jimin fanfic I read once called Pink Cheek Syndrome,” you say. The dose of coffee moving up Yoongi’s straw suddenly freezes. “You’re the original writer, right?”

He swallows hard and raises an eyebrow. “What makes you say that?”

“The writing style matches even though you didn’t copy and paste,” you scroll back through Yoongi’s version for reference. “And besides, scrambling to write ten thousand words in one night is typical fanfic writer behavior. A true plagiarist doesn’t know what it means to put those hours in.”

“Nothing gets past your sharp eyes, huh, Y/N…” Yoongi sighs, failing to hide behind his Americano. “I’m equally impressed as I am scared.”

“Wait, so you’re really Suga?” Your eyes widen. Suddenly you’re overcome by a wave of emotions. Excited, nervous, star-struck. But most of all? Confused. “How?”

“Just don’t tell anyone.” He picks up his phone and starts typing away at something.

“I won’t,” you say, also pulling out your phone to check up on the @suga-fix blog. Sure enough, there’s a stream of several new posts from a few seconds ago.

“fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckFUCK”

“I feel so exposed 😔”

“Quick, everyone act like this isn’t a fanfic blog.”

“We can pretend to be like a porn blog or smth”

“I can read everything you’re posting, you know.” You show your blog feed to Yoongi, who’s still busy keysmashing. When he finally glances up from his screen to yours, the look on his face is both flattered and distressed.

“You follow me, too?” The boy takes a long sip of his Americano, shifting his beady little eyes and plotting his next move. “What’s your URL?”

“You’re totally going to block me,” you frown. “I already told you, I’m not going to tell anyone…”

As you continue to scroll through Yoongi’s blog, you notice his post is gone from the day before. Perhaps that’s what the boy is desperately trying to hide.

“By the way, is it true that Min Yoongi, resident fuck boy, has a crush on someone?” You get excited because that’s not something you hear everyday. In regards to Yoongi, it’s always been sex, sex, and more sex. He’s notorious around campus for having one-night stands and breaking hearts the morning after. You’d never imagine a boy like him having an innocent crush on anyone.

“Where’d you hear that?” The boy across from you gradually sinks deeper and deeper into his seat every time you open your mouth to expose him further.

“You made a post yesterday about not being able to talk to your crush properly,” you giggle. “It was kind of cute.”

“I was talking about my friend.”

“You can’t fool me, Yoongi. I’m not that oblivious.” You take a sassy sip of your coffee and lean forward. “So who’s your crush? Is it someone in our class?”

“Don’t worry about it, Y/N,” he shoos you away and slides a hard copy of his draft in your direction. “Let’s not get distracted from why we’re really here.”

“Hold it, I’m not just being nosy for the gossip, you know,” you say. “From an editor’s perspective, I think the romance in your story could benefit from you interacting more with your crush.”

For a moment, Yoongi just gives you a look. You can see the wheels spinning in his head. “Well, that person doesn’t seem very interested in me, so…”

“Unrequited love?” you gasp. The plot thickens.

“Yeah,” he chuckles at your enthusiasm. “But you did give me an idea just now.”

You examine his handsome face for a hint of what’s to come. His signature Fuck Boy Smirk tells you he’s up to no good again. “I’m listening.”

“You’re my editor, right?” he asks. You nod. “And your main critique is that I should up my romance game, right?”

You nod again.

“What if you help me make the romance scenes more believable and realistic?” The boy watches as you blink your wide eyes, stunned at his suggestion. You know he doesn’t just mean that from an editorial standpoint. Surely there’s an ulterior motive here. “And before you jump to any conclusions, no, this does not include sex.”

Oh.

You’re reminded that Yoongi doesn’t write smut, despite how much of a fuck boy he is in real life. Because you’re sure he has the capability and personal experience to write some steamy and wild sex scenes. And yet, he chooses to focus on hardcore romance instead, something he himself is much less familiar with. It’s mind-blowing to think that a boy as experienced in bed as Yoongi could be so inexperienced elsewhere.

Why does he write the opposite of how he lives?

“I don’t think that’s how editors work,” you finally respond to Yoongi’s proposal, flipping through his draft and writing in the margins. You have to admit, the boy has a gift. His stories would no doubt skyrocket in popularity if the lovey-dovey scenes could draw out true, raw emotions as though you were there living in those moments. As a reader, you want him to pull at your heartstrings, smash your heart into a million pieces, and slowly put it back together. All of that can be achieved if the writer gets some hands-on experience in the love department. “But I get what you’re saying.”

“So is that a yes or a no?” He sips down the rest of his Americano as you continue to think your decision through.

Given what you know about Yoongi’s track record as a fuck boy, you’re hesitant. But at the same time, the ambitious editor in you knows what you want.

“It’s a yes,” you sigh. “But only if you promise me a few things.”

“Go on.”

“One, you’ll come to me if you’re struggling and need suggestions, advice, or someone to talk to.”

“Easy. You can be my editor-in-chief.”

“Two, if anyone asks, we aren’t dating.”

“Got it.”

“Three, help me study and prepare for the rest of my finals.”

“We can have study dates.”

“And lastly, please don’t sleep with anyone else while we’re doing this thing. Because that would be awkward.”

“Oh? I didn’t realize you were the possessive type, Y/N,” he smirks.

“Not trying to be That Controlling Bitch who forbids you from sleeping around, but I think it would defeat the purpose of what we’re trying to accomplish.”

“But what if this goes on for a while?” Yoongi strokes his imaginary Santa beard. “You expect me to practice abstinence forever?”

“It won’t go on forever, Yoongi,” you giggle at the boy’s silly remark. “Because eventually, you’ll find someone who can bring out those romantic feelings better than our faux intimacy ever will.”

“But you’ll still be my editor-in-chief?”

“If everything works out, then I don’t see why not.” You want to be optimistic about a long-term deal, but you can’t seem to rid yourself of the doubt stuck in the back of your mind. Because humans, not just fuck boys like Yoongi, seem to have a hard time keeping their promises. “I only ask that you don’t break my trust.”

Before responding, the boy meets his eyes with yours. You suppose tender eye contact is a skill he acquired from his flirty lifestyle. You, on the other hand, blink away. Eye contact longer than a glance has always made you feel vulnerable.

“I won’t, Y/N,” he says, coating his raspy voice with a layer of honey. It’s almost as intoxicating as his cedarwood cologne, but that’s another thought you’ll keep to yourself.

You watch as he slides his pinky into view, over the draft and coffees to make it official. After cracking a smile at his childish gesture, you wrap your pinky around his, thus marking the beginning of your deal with the devil.

[skaylanphear]

None of y’all are actually understanding The Puppeteer 2 (spoilers ahead)

Okay, so it’s been a LONG time since I’ve written any meta on this show. Mostly because a lot of episodes are now focused on things I don’t care so much about, BUT I was rather inspired by Puppeteer 2, especially since SO MANY PEOPLE seem to be missing the entire point of the episode.

Now, I’m not giving the writers of the show a ton of credit--they have their good and bad moments. But given the obvious budget of this episode as well as the sheer amount of dialogue, I think it’s pretty fair to assume at least some thought was put into this episode. 

So, first and foremost, there were a few points made during this episode.

Let’s start with the Wax Museum and why it’s so pertinent to this episode. The Wax Museum is made entirely up of celebrities. Though we have encountered Adrien and his status before, this is one of the most direct ways they could have drawn attention to it. There is a clear line in this episode--Adrien is a celebrity, his friends are not. Yes, the akumas had wax statues, but the victims and their akumas are not the same people, so to say.

So here we have an “honor” that is only ever granted to celebrities (wax figures) and we have Adrien coming in to work on his. But before that, we have a constant back and forth in the car as to why Marinette is even there--is she Adrien’s friend? His lover? Just a fan of wax statues? This is important because it is less a reflection of Adrien and Marinette’s characters as it is Marinette’s own, let’s say, psychological confusion over how she views Adrien. We’ve seen here make stupid, flustered claims about Adrien before, and these conversations are forcing her to face that head on, even if Adrien remains oblivious as always. 

During the conversation up to the top of the building, we are faced with more of this confusion. Namely, Adrien’s interpretation of his relationship with Marinette versus her own. Granted, Nino brings to light a lot of the problems, but he is less the cause so much as the vehicle with which Marinette’s own inability to be honest is being portrayed. Her behavior causes confusion, even if Adrien is unable to fully grasp that (which is all the more part of the problem). Alya, Nino, and Adrien are ALL responding to the issue of Marinette’s feelings in different ways, because THEY are confused as to what she actually wants and what they’re meant to be doing. Marinette says one thing and then backs out a moment later. As someone who recently went through something similar, my initial indecisiveness to admit my feelings to the person I liked caused a lot of back and forth confusion for the people I had told. Marinette’s situation has spiraled FAR beyond that, which is all the more reason we’re getting these vastly different interpretations as far as how her friends are meant to be reacting. The POINT is that her indecisiveness and timidity is confusing and this is becoming a problem. 

The other thing that I think is interesting in the following scene--which will lead me back around to my main point--is the fact that despite having come with Adrien to support him because the wax stuff is going to be long and boring, all his friends abandon him when he’s literally trapped in the vice of “celebrity.” Granted, Nino and Alya leaving is a bit of a device to move the plot forward, but Marinette also leaving kind of wraps the whole thing up in a neat bow. She’s supposed to confess and ultimately can’t. And instead of staying with Adrien as a good friend should despite her inability, she leaves as a flustered mess. 

Adrien is now alone, his hand clamped in a wax trap. In a lot of ways, this is extremely symbolic of his status as a celebrity and his friends not being a part of that. That Marinette left as a flustered mess only makes this worse, especially since she left him in a manner that is very similar to how a flustered fan might react if they become overwelmed. 

This is important because we’re now seeing a very clear implication that though she desires to know Adrien and has done many things to be a good friend to him, Marinette is still haunted by this “idea” of Adrien that she has that isn’t at all factual. And while I don’t think it’s celebrity worship, as some would argue, I do think that the metaphor of celebrity worship in this episode is a very good use of Adrien’s character. We are seeing that Marinette interprets Adrien in a light that is not entirely realistic, which doesn’t help anyone. 

This metaphor is only further expanded after her discussion with Tikki. While Tikki’s advice might seem helpful, what it really does is further support the notion that Marinette’s entire infatuation with Adrien is shadowed by false idealizations. She creates a persona to act as in order to communicate with him. She is literally creating a role for herself that she thinks will allow her to exist in Adrien’s, I guess, “proximity” so as to allow her to “get what she wants,” so to speak. She’s acting--as in, she’s lying. Just as much to herself, I think, as she is Adrien. 

And this whole thing is only made worse by Adrien’s “prank.” He symbolically becomes nothing more than a wax statue during the entire time that Marinette is playing her “role.” She even goes on a tangent about all the great characteristics he has as a statue, highlighting a lot of shallow aspects of why she’s attracted to him. Granted, I think there’s more to it than that (her feelings, I mean), but she’s so confused by the “more” that it’s hardly relevant if she can’t voice her feelings in the first place, beyond how “perfect” she thinks he is. 

Now, this is the “cringe” part of the episode that everyone is complaining about. But to be honest, I really didn’t think it was that bad. It clearly shows Marinette’s idealization of Adrien, as well as the “form” Adrien has within that idealization. That she said all the silly things she did (again, playing her role) and kissed him, while embarrassing, is wholly within her character. Given her tendency to fantasize on extreme levels, I think I’d be more surprised if she didn’t try to kiss Adrien’s wax statue. I get people are annoyed with Marinette constantly being the cause of bad things, or the butt of jokes, etc, but I don’t think that this situation is wholly unfounded given her personality. It was very in character for her to act that way, and I think it made a rather valid point about her feelings for Adrien. After all, she and Adrien may be “friends,” but they’re clearly not close enough for him to feel certain about what she really thinks of him, so she can’t be that close to him, which means there is a bit of shallowness on her side as far as her feelings, even is she would prefer it be different. 

Now, another complaint people have been voicing about the episode is “why can’t Marrinette have a tastefully handled confession like Chat?” And while a lot of you didn’t seem to realize this, the episode actually addresses that.

When Chat Noir flirts with Ladybug, she actually stops fighting to ask him how he so easily is able to express his feelings, because she has such a hard time doing the same thing. He responds with some line about how the people you care about should know how you feel, but the whole point of that episode was to illustrate the differences between Adrien and Marinette, and kind of explain why Marinette’s confession is so long in coming while Chat Noir has confessed, like, two or three times now.

For better or worse, Marinette’s inability to be honest about her feelings for Adrien is a huge conflict surrounding her character and has been from the beginning. Much bigger than Chat’s conflict over his feelings for Ladybug, which tend to be addressed in a more, let’s say, lighthearted manner than Marinette’s feelings for Adrien. Adrien is a very forthcoming person. He likes to think the best in people and is very honest about how he feels with almost anyone. And while I think he should probably re-evaluate the behavior he thinks is acceptable from other people, he mostly deals with any kind of conflict straight out. He doesn’t sit and stew like Marinette does, he doesn’t even waste time thinking about Chloe and Lila. Adrien would much rather think about the good than the bad. In fact, he would much rather ignore the bad (which is probably why he tried confessing so many times--likely hoping for a different outcome. Optimists, amiright?)

Marinette is NOTHING like this. She will sit and stew and plan and make herself anxious and scared and angry over things that would slide off Adrien’s back like water slides off ducks (thank you, Crowley). Marinette confessing is a much bigger roadblock because of this difference in their personalities. And it’s also why she gets all sweet on Chat for his reasoning behind why he can express his feelings so easily, because he makes it sound so simple, which is exactly what Marinette needs. Not overly complicated plans (Nino and Alya) or anything like that. She needs to be able to push back on her anxiety, walk up to Adrien, and just say it (much like how she kissed his cheek in the finale of the last season). No attempts made by her to confess will EVER succeed so long as there is any kind of convoluted plan surrounding it. 

The writers were literally giving the viewers a direct comparison between Adrien and Marinette as far as how they deal with their feelings and y’all missed it because you were too busy being mad. While Adrien overly simplifies situations--which can be both good and bad--Marinette is more likely to overly complicate things--which is also both good and bad. Where Adrien might fail to see how complex a situation is, Marinette will, whereas Adrien is able to make things simpler where Marinette cannot. You even see it in their fighting styles. Adrien ALWAYS goes for the obvious physical attack, while Marinette is the one to strategize. IT HAS BEEN A LITERAL PART OF THEIR PERSONALITIES FROM THE BEGINNING AND YOU ALL MISSED IT!     

The point of this episode was to illustrate Marinette’s issues with her feelings for Adrien, as well as draw comparisons between them so as to better understand why Marinette’s attempts to confess ALWAYS FAIL! 

Until Marinette can pull back enough to see Adrien less as a terrifying mountain to climb and more like a simple set of stairs, she will not be able to reach him. 

And that is the tea. 

[iatheia]

EDA reviews part 2 - books 10-18

Previous part here

10) Legacy of the Daleks - A very enjoyable read, even though it doesn’t mesh well with Big Finish continuity. I have a few headcanons on how to rectify that, though... The meeting between the Eight and Delgado’s Master left me grinning ear to ear, the way Eight was posturing, wholly aware of the way the Master ticks. I’m not sure I liked Susan quite as much, though - nor was she that fundamental to the story, spending most of the time off screen, but being somewhat unlikeable when she was there. Her final confrontation with the Master was a bit much... Similarly, it was hard to accept Master not recognizing her. That said, the rest of it was a fun romp, and Eight’s thoughts towards the end were particularly poignant, 9/10

11) Dreamstone Moon - Starting right off the bat with an author self insert, and have him being both the source of the conflict and the one to ultimately save the day, kind of - it’s a bold choice.... It’s been said before, but Doctor’s companions really should unionize huh? Eight’s in particular. It really is quite striking that the situation with Sam is pretty much the exact same one as it will be with Charlie - thinking that the Doctor is dead, abandoned, alone, without any network of support. And I’m finally about to have context for that post, so, cheers, I guess. That said, Sam and the Doctor are very much representative of the “quit telling everyone I’m dead - sometimes I can still hear his voice” meme. I’ve lost count how many times Sam decided that the Doctor’s dead within five minutes of seeing him very much alive. (Ok, no, I jest, but it’s a good book, throughly enjoyable from the beginning to end, 10/10)

12) Seeing I - I, uh, really struggle to follow Sam’s logic in the beginning here. I don’t really understand how she ended up in the place she did, after the last novel. Because, she wasn’t alone, she wasn’t abandoned, she was in a company of people, who, uh, cared about her might be putting it a bit too strongly, but who at least could vouch for her. So this disconnect is a bit odd. And, as good as this novel is, as good as the character work in here is, I have a slight disconnect with the rest of it, too. There is too big of a gulf with where the story begun and where it ended - there are too many things going on, too many plots introduced and then unceremoniously dropped. It’s like... Revolution of the Daleks inside of Kerblam, with Nightmare in Silver thrown in with half a dozen other themes from other episodes. When you have the doctor in the machine and the psychologist guy go from primary antagonists to the supporting cast we’re supposed to root for, there is something mildly dissatisfying about it, thematically speaking. Overall, the story in its entirety is less than a sum of its parts. Breaking it into pieces, though, there is a lot of exciting stuff there. 9/10

13) Placebo Effect - Controversial opinion time - I don’t care for Ark in Space. I think it’s a pretty forgettable episode. So any time I encounter any reference to the wirrrn, my reaction is “wait, who?”. And even though I like Leisure Hive well enough, I dare you to find anyone who has been clamoring for the return of Foamasi. This rather made me immediately apprehensive, straight from the preface. In general, there was too much continuity. Stacy & Ssard, really? How deep do you need to be to appreciate their appearance? They are so utterly unnecessary, too, they disappear less than a quarter of the way into the novel, they aren’t even there for set up, they are there for a set up of a set up. If you are actually a person who knew who they were, and wanted to see more of them, I can’t imagine this being all that satisfying. It’s a rather abrupt transition from the previous ark. I dare even say, aggressive, to the degree you have Sam going from “she is afraid to be even in the same room with him, lest she kills him with her soaked through panties” to “she is absolutely delighted when he imparts onto her his grandfatherly wisdom”. Then again, any time either Eight or Sam opened their mouth, I didn’t see Eight or Sam. I saw Four and Sarah Jane. It’s not well written, either. It’s very clunky. The dialogues in particular are obnoxious. Stacy’s and Sam’s conversation, and later on dogmatic discussion between Sam and the priests gave me full on psychic damage. I mostly skimmed beyond that, can’t say there was much to catch the eye. 2/10

14) Vanderdeken's Children - This book is aiming to be a masterpiece, but it’ll just have to settle for being good enough. It does have some interesting twists and turns in here, even though most of them are pretty predictable and expected from the set up. The last couple of chapters, the ending overall, are quite decent (even though all the ebook versions I was able to find cut off the last couple of pages, argh!), but the middle is very middling, with mostly uninspiring secondary characters that are ever so slowly being positioned on the chess board. 7/10

15) The Scarlet Empress - Where to begin... It’s a series of mostly unrelated short stories in a trench coat pretending to be a novel. It’s set up in a middle of a road trip, unrelated not just to each other, but also the measly bit of plot that was given to us? I found it’s quite difficult to engage with the story overall, or follow it, really. It tries to be more character driven than plot driven, which is an admirable aim, and some of the character stuff they have in here is nice, except... Outside of may be bits of chapter 1, I couldn’t really hear Doctor’s voice - any version of him, let alone Eight. Sam fares a bit better, but, at the end of the day... It doesn’t really feel like Doctor Who story. The pacing is completely off, as is the structure, and it was quite nonsensical and whimsical, more akin to Alice in Wonderland than Doctor Who. Not bad in and of itself, just, hard for me to appreciate as a part of this marathon. A note on Iris. I haven’t yet listened to her stand-alone adventures, but I generally enjoy whenever she shows up in Big Finish. Here, though, she was rather lacking Katy Manning’s charm and personality. And, I feel, if you didn’t have any existing fondness for the character before, this novel isn’t going to give you much to care about her. Except, *checks notes*, this was one of her first major outings? Not really a good start. Oh, and prior to this she was in a few short stories, by the same writer. Well, that checks out. 6/10

16) The Janus Conjunction - I really liked this one. Not much to say beyond it, but, very well written, very easy read, practically in a single breath. Excellent characterization for both Doctor and Sam, just a right degree of joyful, determined, adventurous, death defying, mad, delirious, and codependent, almost moreso than any other I’ve read so far. Rather dark, though, I can feel it resonating in the pit of my stomach, and it gets inside your head. 10/10

17) Beltempest - What did the Doctor do to deserve this character assassination??? It’s not without redeeming bits (looks like “I’m not a man” quote comes from here, big yay), but, in large part, is barely a pale shadow of a character I like. Especially in the beginning - he think that Sam might have died and he is ok with this??? After the Dreamstone Moon??? And he is incredibly obnoxious? And Sam was barely herself, even before being... uh, possessed? for plot related reasons. I can’t describe how much disconnect I have with the protagonists here, or with any characters in the rest of the book, for that matter, and how much the dialogue made me roll my eyes. And, ah, the technobabble. I generally try not to overthink the physics of most things in fiction, because, as a certified space scientist, otherwise I’d be here all day, but there comes a point where it crosses the line. After everything else, to read the words “newly born main sequence star” with my own two eyes is just too much. I’m a good person, I do not deserve this nonsense... The first half of the book left me rather put off. The second part left me feeling absolutely flat. No emotions, either positive or negative. And, uh, there was a post going around on tumblr along the lines of “the worst you can do to the character is having them mention a certain food, because the fandom will turn it into an obsession” - it’s rather the same here with Eight and books & classical music. I am rather starting to loose count of the number of times they are trying to emulate the scene with the ending of the movie, where he is lounging about and reading, or specifically mentioning Pucchini. To be fair, it’s not just this novel, but it definitely starting to take me out of it. 5/10

18) The Face-Eater - I’m generally a bit wary of cold opens in the books, because some tend to ramble a bit, with the characters I don’t already know and love, so it’s often is a chore to muster enthusiasm to care about them. This one, though, despite all that, starts very effectively, in a way that made me immediately sit up straight. Very snappish, in a style of noir novels. Too bad it doesn’t quite sustain that energy throughout it. The plot is... interesting, I guess. Characterization is decent, for the most part - although some moments, especially early on gave me a pause, it more than makes up for it in other places. 7/10

Overall impressions so far: Much better than the first set of 9, which often were too deeply rooted in nostalgia to try to offer anything unique. And, I guess, with more writers having a chance to read each others works, the characterization is a bit more consistent (not for every writer, mind, but, in general). How long does it take for them to write a novel of this length, I wonder? A book a month is a rather grueling pace for the series - how far in advance do they start? How many other books come out during that time? 

Sam in particular incrementally found her footing (though, there is a bit of a lag from novel to novel). Instead of imagining literally any other companion, there were certain novels that really helped me to grasp her character. Though, hmm... being Doctor’s companion is not a safe job by any stretch of imagination, but this girl has really been through a wringer. I’m rather struggling to think of any other companion that has been put through so much (non-lethal) battering. There comes a point when one just wants to just to let her have some good time. And, uh, there was a horrible thought that occurred to me, and went to look up how she will depart the TARDIS in the end, and... well, I have a feeling that sometime afterwards I will not like what will happen.

Also, there is this trend of separating her and the Doctor, for a prolonged period of time, them having no idea where to find each other, without any contact, just, stumbling onto one another eventually. It’s a way for writers to have them cover more narrative ground, and you certainly don’t want them attached by the hip, but when they spend less than 20 pages a book in each other’s company, that’s, uh... not a trend I particularly care for.

Well, onto the next batch where we meet Fitz, and say good bye to Sam.

Next part here

[thebibliomancer]

Shadows of the Dark Crystal liveblog pt 2

Shadows of the Dark Crystal by J. M. Lee

Because I crave more Dark Crystal content and also more this content.

Last time in this book: Naia dreams of something More than staying in the swamp and training to succeed her momdra. Then Tavra of the Vapra shows up and makes a fool of herself multiple times. And also, Naia accidentally dreamfasts with her and learns that Tavra is looking for Gurjin and Rian.

Dun dun dun.

Chapter 3

Okay, the Drenchen have a great way to do the dishes.

They just leave them out to be washed in the rain. A for lack of effort. Guess they don't serve anything that really sticks. And no utensils.

The cool Drenchen live inside a giant tree.

Dream-etching! You know, for a pretty cool concept it didn't get a lot of play in the show. Still, I appreciate it.

Maudra Laesid calls Tavra in and gives her a 'i'm not mad, I'm just disappointed' stare. She's being a very bad guest, having all kinds of ulterior motives.

Laesid is basically 'we know you're up to something and it involves Gurjin and these chapters are like 8 pages long so you might as well admit it'

Tavra: "Your son and another castle guard, Rian of Stone-in-the-Wood, have been accused of treason by the Skeksis Lords. Their crime is spreading lies against the Castle of the Crystal and Ha'rar. When called to trial, instead of facing justice, they fled. Neither have been seen since."

Naia in this whole scene wants to shout 'BS' at everything Tavra is saying but she's actually really disciplined at not doing that.

Tavra is here not just to see if Gurjin and Rian are hiding out with the Drenchen but also to bring Gurjin's closest kin to stand trial on his behalf. Which, uhhhhhhhhhhh.

And if Gurjin and Rian don't appear in Ha'rar within one unum (month) then they'll be sentenced to death in absentia. This is a really tight timetable in a world where sending a messenger is the fastest way communications works.

Gelfling need to get to teaching fire skype to the masses.

And the closest kin thing is basically holding them hostage to try to force Gurjin and Rian to show themselves.

Except Gurjin can't because the Skeksis have him locked up and I guess didn't tell anyone. I don't remember this early part of the show very well.

Dad's reason why Gurjin can't be guilty is "Gurjin's interests are in hunting game and courting girls, not politics"

Bellanji: "How I'd love to see those rosy-red cheeks on Her Silverness when she finds he's not planning treason but climbed up a tree with a lassywings somewhere."

'Your honor, I can't possibly be guilty of treason, I was making out the whole time' - Gurjin's Dad's idea of how things will go down.

I think of Gurjin as Rian's dependable friend and forgot that he had this side to him.

Naia actually starts wondering if maybe Gurjin did get involved in something because she's imagining the Castle as a magical place that can really change you.

"Had she been in his place, she would hope to have changed -- grown, at least a little. Her mother had always said assignment at the castle might grow some wings on the boy, a saying that had consistently invited contest from her only son."

So, wait. This is a matriarchal society so is grow some wings a good thing? Gurjin didn't like being told that. What does it mean for a guyfling to be told to grow some wings?

Tavra: "If you're so sure your son is innocent, then I invite you to send his closest kin back to Ha'rar with me" -significantly glances at Naia-

Bellanji: -refusing to read the gesture- 'YEAH MAYBE I WILL COME TO HA'RAR WITH YOU'

Tavra: 'oh sweet mother aughra, no'

Tavra is trying to talk Bellanji into staying and he's not having any of it and Laesid goes 'cool, Tavra and Bellanji roadtrip. Naia, go with them. It'll do you some good to see the world.'

Laesid: "There's a thorny nettle growing. Between the castle and the Skeksis, tangling with the All-Maudra and the Gelfling race. As it grows thicker, we in the outreaches of the Skarith Land will need to be more familiar with those that rule us."

And then Laesid tells Tavra to gtfo!

"I don't need your guarantee of anything, Tavra of Ha'rar, except one: that you'll get out of my swamp as soon as there's light enough to show you the way."

Now that's a bridge burned!

In fairness, don't send a paladin to do diplomacy, I guess?

Chapter 4

So the next morning Naia goes to pack for her finally getting to leave the swamp.

Apparently the first time Gurjin returned home from the castle, he brought Naia a souvenier. A small dagger made out of real metal. A real rarity in the swamp!

Unfortunately it just intensified Naia's ENVY because Gurjin also talked at length about all the cool metal stuff in the castle. And a metal dagger isn't so much use in the swamp which mostly relies on long-distance hunting. So it mostly exists as a symbol of the life she couldn't have.

Doesn't help that its the only thing gift he ever brought her from the castle.

But since she IS leaving the Sog now and who knows whats going to be out there, she does bring the dagger. And tries to squish down her bitterness since Gurjin's fate is up in the air at the moment.

She's pretty excited about what she might see on this journey.

"Would she see the wide, endless ocean?"

I hope she does.

Tavra apparently slept for crap, or isn't used to getting up so early for travel. She's got bags under her eyes and her ears are drooping.

But she learned a thing from her journey in so she's gotten rid of most of what she was wearing to travel light.

Drenchen ranging gear: Nebrie leather and apeknot bark armor, hunting spear.

Tavra also learned another thing, right now, by watching Naia and Bellanji travel through the apeknot canopy.

"To her surprise, Tavra kept up. Without the weight of her cloak, free of the quagmire that had sucked at her boots for miles, the Silverling was as fleet as a bog flier. Naia could only imagine how quick she might be in an open field, or maybe atop a long-legged Landstrider. Tavra's wings stayed folded tightly at her back until just the right moment - then whissssh! Out they'd stretch, catching the atmosphere and launching her into the air, where she'd glide, darting upward to land on another branch and resuming her pace on foot."

"As the trees began to thin nearer the swamp threshhold, Tavra made one particularly impressive leap, swooping high into the air and flying for some distance without landing. The clearing in the canopy let the sunlight through, and the rays caught the Silverling's wings, lighting them with a flash and sparkle of silver. Distracted by the sight, Naia swelled with envy, nearly missing her step as the earth suddenly shook."

Was it just envy though?

And suddenly to distract Naia away from the probably envy, a random encounter. A giant darkened Nebrie attacks.

Naia reasonably responds by repeatedly throwing bolas at the thing's eyes and then wondering 'hey why are its eyes all messed up?'

Which, to be fair, is separate from throwing things at the eyes. Bolas don't cause evil, purple lightning.

"Naia stared into the creature's deep orbs, sensing pain and seeing only black and flashes of violet, as if the Nebrie had looked upon something so bright and terrible that the image had burned all else from its mind."

This Nebrie has seen the lie at the center of EVERYTHING.

The Nebrie has also gotten irritated by Naia throwing stuff at its eyes so knocks over the tree she's in and she plunks right into the Sog-y drink.

Its fine, Drenchen have gills. They do??

Gelfling adaptation of their environments is wonderful. Swamp gelfling lose their wings and grow gills, because of course. Underground gelfling - no I mean really underground, like the center of Thra underground - evolved to be constantly on fire.

Naia actually hit the water so hard that she just disassociates at the bottom of the swam for a while until her dad falls bleeding into the water too.

Tavra helps her pull her dad out of the water but they're cornered by the Gigamax Nebrie.

Out of any other options, Naia just tries asking really nicely that the Nebrie doesn't kill them.

Which works! Because the nebrie just drops dead!

Quite odd!

[titan-wolfdog]

Predator and Prey - An Ereannie AU

Prompt for day six of Ereannieweek2020! Hope y’all enjoy! This might have a second part if enough people like it.

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Annie, a young goat satyr, finds her territory invaded by a young wolf going all on his own. One headbutt later, he is head over heels- figuratively and literally -over her.

Her hoofs clicked over the rocks and soil, ears shifting as she followed the intruding noises carried by the winds. Snarling, soft steps, swishing of a tail, she listed down in her head, jumping down from ledge to ledge with swift, precise steps.

Something had entered her territory, someone. From the earthly musk she picked up, it became clear whoever it was came from the forest not far from her ground. Peeking from above a rock

If I didn’t know any better, I’d think- oh, fuck me. Yes, she was seeing right. A little less than twenty feet below her, a young hunter with claws and teeth as sharp as they could be. His fur and his hair dark, thick and long, fit for a hunter of the night, or so she assumed by his various battle scars.

She adjusted her top, calm as her fingers moved the blonde locks away from her face. Careful steps taken as to not alert him, she made her way down and around the mountainside until he was closer, and she was very, very close.

He was taller than she originally thought, so she stood with her head high and her chest out. The clinking of her iron weave necklace made his ears turn back. He glanced around and tilted his head, confused as to why he didn’t see anyone, until a soft ahem! came from under his sight.

‘‘Wolf,’’ her eyes tracked up to his, but her words got lost for a second, last she expected was to meet with a green pair more gorgeous than any emerald she had ever encountered. ‘‘you… seem to not know where you are, why don’t you take a guess?’’

He was calm, no expression or emotion. Easily he towered over her and yet, he could read no fear in her. ‘‘I believe to be in the Gempeak or nearing it, since I stopped to talk to you.’’

‘‘Not the full answer, however.’’ She corrected, take a step back, then another.

‘‘Is that so?’’ His hand reached to move his hair back, a little display of power wolves are known for as it displayed their muscles, but, with a terrible timing this once. He created an opening for her.

‘‘You are,’’ she paused as her stance lowered, lining head with his stomach and drawing her foot on the ground. ‘‘in my territory.’’

‘‘W-Wai hold on a- ahhh!’’ Her horns and head struck right in the center of his body, draining him of almost all air, having butted him off the road and hoping he’d keep going that way down the cliff.

She snorted and puffed, pale blue eyes moving down with remnant anger as her back turned from the scene. Her fists were clenched and so was her jaw, trying to shake the feeling off so she could go back to her daily routine.

Then she heard his claws digging. She turned around and he was there.

He did not fall; he latched onto a ledge and had quickly made his way up again.

With his breaths turned into panting and his muscles tensed, the wolf struggled to get up for a second, a hand resting on his abdomen. ‘‘That- phew! -was quite the hit…’’ His fangs bared on his smile; a heavy gulp went down her throat, ready to go at him once more.

‘‘You are downright wonderful.’’

Until that.

‘‘W-What?’’ she understood everything he said, loud and clear, but he caught her with her guard down in every emotional sense. Her cheeks flushed pink and her ears lowered as much as they could.

‘‘I’ve never seen anyone take me down so easily, that ledge? Pure luck.’’ His whole body language shifted; he wasn’t trying to intimidate her anymore, not in the slightest.

‘‘Huh...?’‘

‘‘I didn’t expect that headbutting at all though I should’ve, you’re a satyr!... And a very beautiful one, what’s your name?’’

Is he flirting?! She glanced around, unsure if he was leaning because of the pain, or because he was getting a better look at her.

‘‘I’m Annie, wolf.’’

‘‘And I’m not wolf, I’m Eren.’’

He took her hand into his, the great contrast of his dangerous claws and killer hands holding it ever so gently. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t like it, that big strong wolf named Eren, bowing to kiss her hand.

A minuscule smile crossed her, and it quickly faded when she took her hand away. ‘‘Get up, Eren. I don’t want you bending down for me.’’

 -----

 So, it had begun. Annie had found her way mingling with him, someone she shouldn’t be, someone that would’ve killed her if his appetite had asked first. And he was there with her almost every day, someone that could pummel him against a wall at the slightest threat or danger he could pose, or if her instincts believed so.

But there they were, under the shadow of the trees and among the flowers and bugs that- thankfully -were not crawling on their skin.

His lips trailed the skin of her neck, tender and careful with his fangs. ‘‘How long has it been?’’

‘‘Weeks,’’ Annie replied, blonde locks moved away from her neck by his hand. Her flesh, soft and exposed, Eren couldn’t hold back from placing dozens of kisses on it. ‘‘have you told your pack yet?’’

She felt his grip around her waist turn strong; his fingers soon wrapped around her wrists and pinned her to the ground. ‘‘Not my pack, just my two closest.’’

‘‘That beta Armin and the fox, Mikasa, right?’’ She looked away from him, clutching her fist. ‘‘So, am I your secret now?’’ Her body struggled under his, heart racing in her chest as his lips came closer.

‘‘I don’t want secrets either, but if my packs finds out-’’

‘‘I don’t care about your pack,’’ if she could, she’d be growling. Her eyebrows furrowed in her fair face. ‘‘you said you wanted to claim me and that I’d claim you- Mmf!’’

His fangs dug into her exposed shoulder, not with the intent to hurt her, but it did send the blood rushing to her face and her nails claw his back with the blissful pain. ‘‘What d-did you do…?’’

‘‘I marked you…’’ Annie saw him hesitate; his cheeks just as colored as hers. His head tilted away, his claws picking his hair and moving it away. ‘‘Now you do the same.’’

‘‘How?’’ She didn’t have the claws or the fangs he had. She glanced at her curved horns, and, carefully, used the ends to give him a ridged mark.

His body shivered at the sudden ache. A guttural snarl rose out of him, he whined in the slightest against her ear. ‘‘Y-Yeah, that’ll do.’’ His tongue licked where he bit, calming her pain pondering if she had it still. ‘‘This way, they’ll know without me having to tell them and-’’

‘‘And if anyone sees me, they’ll know too.’’

‘‘Yeah…’’ His licks turned into kisses, on her shoulder and her neck, as she felt him tug his knife-holder belt.

‘‘Eren?’’

He found no need to respond, rather easing into her as they met in a deep kiss. The same that steals your breath and yet you don’t want it to end. The same that left him with his head in the clouds and yet not wanting to ever leave from being on top of her, besides her or below her, no matter the way he was caught in her kiss, it was all worth the same.

She buried herself in his hold, caressing his shoulders, down to his biceps and holding onto his forearms. She pushed, gently to clarify, her forehead against his; her blush betrayed her attempts to conceal how much she adored him then, and every day.

‘‘Is that affection you’re showing?’’ His question was accompanied by a smirk, and a wag of his tail.

‘‘Quiet, Eren, or I’m headbutting you into that tree.’’

Her threat made him laugh and he drowned and quieted her with more of his kisses.

[sensenoi]

I recently reread Cruel Prince/read the B&N short story, and I had THOUGHTS:

Cardan is already drunk at the coronation because he's angsty about his least favorite brother becoming king, but he gets really drunk to the point of completely missing the coronation massacre because he's pissed about Jude. So essentially, Jude is indirectly responsible for saving his life.

I love how Jude is so shocked that Cardan is attracted to her that her first thought is that he must somehow be lying or twisting his words, while Kaye figures it out in about five seconds flat just watching them dance from a distance, before she's spoken to either one of them.

During the nixie episode, Jude thinks Cardan goes to the river's reeds to get a better look when she slips and falls in the water. He's really about to get into the river to help her if she was actually in trouble. I love how she automatically assumes the worst conclusions with him.

Cardan was probably looking for Jude under the tables after the coronation massacre. She and Taryn have a well-established habit of hiding under the tables at feasts, and he knew she would be in danger. It wasn't luck that Jude got her hands on Cardan - he was actively trying to find her.

One of the guards at Hollow Hall tells Jude and Sophie that Cardan has to return them both back this time. This raises SO MANY QUESTIONS. Cardan at the start of CP wouldn't be the type to return glamoured humans to the human world - he really does have a contempt of them, learned from Balekin and from his friends. But he also wouldn't intentionally hurt human servants either, and definitely not kill them. So what was happening there? I don't think we'll ever get answers and that upsets me a little.

When Jude first breaks into Cardan's room, she sees that he broke his pen. The pen he was writing his infamous Jude note with… so many angsty feelings.

Jude and co are literally the biggest dumbasses for not seeing the Balekin/Madoc alliance coming. Jude recognizes the spy she killed as being Madoc's and just decides not to mention it?? Jude figures out they've been misreading the blusher mushroom note and then not only fails to follow up on her investigation (to be fair, getting sidetracked to rescue Sophie is a noble cause), she fails to mention it to the Court! Sorry but the Court of Shadows is really bad at spying. Just epically bad. No wonder they mess up again in WK.

Cardan making out with random fairies while watching Jude make out with Locke is a mood and I can't believe Jude didn't figure out things sooner.

At the beginning of WK, when Grimsen is introduced, Jude mentions that Cardan had told her some info once about the Alderking's son Severin. I totally forgot that happened in CP and that we also met Severin.

I love how at the coronation and the Hollow Hall party, murder and mayhem is happening with abandon and everyone just stands around eating popcorn and watching the shenanigans unfold.

I really liked The Lost Sisters novella, but it ended a little too soon. I'm forever curious about Taryn's thought process when Jude comes in with Cardan at the Hollow Hall party.

In addition to Jude and co being unbearably bad spies, the one other major failing of the book is that it starts at the point when Jude stops giving a shit and starts fighting back. For the majority of her childhood, Jude has sat with Taryn under tables and hidden in balconies at feasts, bowed her head and bit her tongue to Cardan, and generally kept a low profile when the faeries are asshats to her. At the start of CP, Jude decides she's had enough and enters her rebellious teenage phase. Taryn says multiple times in CP that Jude fighting back "isn't like you" and is a new bad idea Jude hasn't had before. This is reinforced in The Lost Sisters. But we don't really get much of a glimpse of Jude's previously meek behavior, except at the first feast when she curtsies to Cardan. Because of this, Jude starts off in feisty rage mode, which rather lessens the effect of said mode because we don't have anything to compare it to. I wish CP had started a little earlier, so we could get a better contrast and also a better idea of how Jude survived this long if she's willing to push everyone's buttons.

It's very clear that Cardan was attracted to Jude even when he was with Nicasia, which much have pissed him off to no end. I'm so curious when he started developing feelings for Jude.

I didn't notice this so much in WK, but in CP Cardan and Jude's contrasting approaches to alcohol speaks volumes about their personalities. Jude has a low alcohol tolerance and wouldn't drink anyways because she likes to always be in control of herself and always be in a sane frame of mind. She feels like she always needs to be on her toes and can never truly relax (and is in fact kind of creeped out by how relaxed and chill she was at Locke's house). Cardan drinks in excess because he hates his life and if he's drunk he can basically forget about it. Jude is constantly aware of her shitty situation and makes copious efforts to improve it by any means possible. Cardan is unmotivated to improve his shitty situation because he believes there is no way to fix or improve it, so might as well get drunk and have fun.

It will never cease to amuse me that one of Cardan's demands in exchange for helping Jude and co stop Balekin is all the alcohol in the palace. Like, damn.

I love the part when Jude and Cardan are in class the day after she snuck into Hollow Hall and saw Balekin beat him, and she realizes he's actually in a lot of pain but pretending to be his usual chill, snarky self. And she realizes that there's been plenty of times he's come to class and has pretended he's fine when he isn't, just like her. It's a nice moment early-ish on where Jude starts to understand that she and Cardan have more in common than she'd like to think.

It's also a great scene when Jude finally tells Cardan the exact circumstances of Valerian's death. Cardan says he assumed Jude had hunted down and murdered Valerian, and I rather like that Cardan had begun to think the worst of Jude in the same way that she thought the worst of him. When she holds him at knife's point at the end of the coronation, she realizes she's smirking in the same way that Cardan usually did to her. So there's some nice continued role reversal where Cardan is taking on Jude's worst case scenario expectations. When Jude explains that Valerian actually tried to kill her again and came pretty close, Cardan realizes that he had misunderstood Jude's character. Holly Black has said that Cardan is the only person who truly understands Jude, and I think that moment is when Cardan really starts to get Jude and how she operates. He understands that Jude isn't actually as mean and nasty as she's been pretending to be, and that she must have given Valerian quite a few chances for him to have nearly strangled her.

Not a new note, but Vivi's decision to give zero fucks about anything Madoc cares about is amazing and a beauty to witness. The fact that she has maintained and sustained this kind of rebellion for ten years is honestly life goals.

Returning to the B&N short story, I quite like Kaye and I hope she and Jude become friends. But I really don't get the Kaye/Roiben dynamic. I don't think the story did a great job of making their relationship convincing, in part because the story got majorly sidetracked with playing voyeur to Jude and Cardan. Which was my favorite part of the story, but still. This is Kaye's short story, not Jude and Cardan's.

I have SO. MANY. QUESTIONS about the Ghost's motivations. After the coronation massacre, everyone is upset, but the Roach is mostly upset that they now have literally nothing without Dain while the Ghost is mostly upset that Dain is dead. So the Ghost is loyal to Dain, whereas the rest of the Court of Shadows were mostly opportunistic and loyal to the power and money that Dain could offer them. But then why would the Ghost side with Balekin and the Undersea in WK? Balekin literally killed Dain. He stabbed him straight through the chest. I can see the Ghost thinking Jude and Cardan and shitty rulers, but I can't fathom him siding with Balekin. There is clearly other things going on that will be explained in QoN, but right now I am a very confused person.

So it wasn't clear to me until after I reread CP that the original Hollow Hall plan was to drug Madoc and then have him fall asleep at the party while Jude was in the hallway letting the Court in through the window. It wasn't Jude's original intent for Madoc to follow her out, and their duel was her improvising to delay Madoc until the poison took effect. So the OG plan was just for Madoc to collapse in the party in front of everyone and for Balekin to just think this was fine and normal?! I would think that would totally freak Balekin out and maybe even lead him to cancel the party immediately, which would ruin Jude's plan.

Where are the other faerie lands?? Where do the other courts live? Jude has literally only ever been to the islands of Elfhame, but there's this massive faerie world out there that she's heard about but never been to. I'm so curious, and I have a good feeling we'll find out in QoN since the setting is ice and snow.

By the way, super curious also about how Cardan has a copy of Alice in Wonderland in his room. I guess he sees Alice as a Jude parallel. Is he more curious about Alice, the intruder in Wonderland, or about the inhabitants of Wonderland themselves? Everyone keeps commenting that Jude and Taryn's situation is like a fairytale come to life, but I think it's interesting to view their situation through an Alice in Wonderland lens. In the book, Wonderland is insane because it literally runs on dream logic, nothing makes sense, and Alice spends the entire book attempting and failing to apply human logic and reasoning to the madness she encounters. But what if Wonderland wasn't a dream, and what if Alice couldn't go back home in the end? What if Alice had to stay in Wonderland forever?

Every time Cardan tells Jude that she doesn't belong in Faerie and should leave, all I can think about is in WK, when he tells her, "I wasn't sure if I wanted you or wanted you gone from my sight so I that I would stop feeling as I did." Having read that in WK, it's so interesting to go back and see those moments in CP where Cardan is trying to get Jude to leave Faerie so he can forget about her and move on. 

When Jude first starts trying to make alliances with other courts, we get this great line: “’Take care’ he [Cardan] says, then smiles. ‘It would be very dull to have to sit here for an entire day just because you went and got yourself killed.’” Cardan admitted earlier to Jude that he smiles when he’s nervous, and I’m convinced that’s why he’s smiling here. He tells her to take care because he’s genuinely worried about her safety. Then he has an ‘oh shit my feelings are showing’ moment and backtracks by covering his slip up with an insult. 

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY Recaps: The Shining Beacon Part 2

I miss RWBY. Specifically, I miss early RWBY when there was less drama (not really but let me pretend), so let’s head on back to Volume 1.

In our opening scene of Episode 3, Ruby and Jaune have managed to find the hall where the rest of the newbies are meeting and honestly? I’m super proud of them for it. These are the two fools who will later argue over who had the map while wandering around the wilds of Remnant. Baby leaders managing to find the rest of their flock? Great job. Well done. Mama’s proud.

This little time skip raises some questions though. Did they ever find the Beacon cafeteria? What else did they chat about the rest of the day? Yang makes it sound like they’ve been gone a number of hours and I for one would love to know what awkward Ruby and even-more-awkward Jaune got up to during that time.

Tis the realm of fics though, not canon. Instead we get another shot of RWBY’s infamous shadow people with Yang standing out like the goddamn sun.

Who could the main character possibly be??

Beats me. What a gosh darn difficult question.

Yang: Ruby! I saved you a spot.

Are... are there spots, Yang? You’re all standing in a giant auditorium. If Ruby comes to stand beside you is another student gonna throw a fit about it? I mean real talk, I went to watch the changing of the guard while spending a month in London and let me tell you, there were people who guarded their spots like a pissed off bird guarding her eggs. (For the record you couldn’t even see anything. This was just human prickliness at its finest). So who knows, maybe Yang knows precisely what she’s doing.

Ruby abandons Jaune to join her, which on the one hand is kinda mean—you can’t invite your new friend to stand around with you?—but Ruby does say she’ll “see [him] after the ceremony,” so that’s nice and all. I know my anxious ass would have been thrilled to hear someone making future plans like that, even if it’s mostly just a nicety. Making new friends is hard.

Of course, Jaune doesn’t make that job any easier on himself. I’ve written before about his Nice Guy tendencies in the early volumes and they come back in full force here. He bemoans Ruby’s leave, asking himself where he’ll find “another nice, quirky girl to talk to?” It’s an easy introduction for Pyrrha, revealing her behind Jaune and quite obviously setting her up as that “nice, quirky” girl who he’ll become closest to as the episodes progress, but jeez, Manic Pixy Girl assumptions abound. Especially given the fact that Jaune/Pyrrha became canon in Volume 3. Obviously Pyrrha will be written with great depth as RWBY continues, but it does rankle a bit to have her introduced as a Ruby stand-in, someone positioned as a way of fulfilling Jaune’s ridiculous “needs.” I’m glad this is undermined later when she takes initiative towards him, i.e. saving him during initiation and angling to be his partner. Her interest is clear even if at that point Jaune will take anyone pretty: Ruby, Weiss, Pyrrha herself.

But I digress.

Ruby gives her whole spiel about meeting Weiss and Yang’s response is, “Yikes. Meltdown already?” heavily implying that she expected Ruby to have a “meltdown” at this school, just not so soon. Which—iffy terminology aside—isn’t at all surprising. RWBY does an excellent job of setting up Ruby’s nerves, from her “bee’s knees” comment to her eagerness in showing Weiss exactly what she’s capable of. The girl is desperate for validation—as is the whole RWBYJNPR gang, in their own ways—and a lot of that comes out as anxious, social awkwardness. If Ruby was at all inclined towards “meltdowns” at Signal then I’d say she did a damn good job holding herself together through everything that happened at Beacon. Granted, being put in a position of power will help with that, at least on a surface level. To semi-quote Oz, how can you expect others to put forth their best if you’re not constantly doing the same? Ruby has the veneer of self-control down now because she had to for her team... which makes me anticipate her inevitable breaking point all the more. We saw in Volume Six how close Ruby got to dropping her ‘I’m an endlessly put together leader’ persona with Qrow drinking himself to oblivion, but she never quite got there. I’m waiting (hoping really) that Ruby’s long-established anxiety will finally be addressed, what with Yang having made good headway in that department and all the shit they’ve gone through adding up to a very justified breakdown.

Let the poor girl really falter for once and let the rest of the group grapple with that. Everyone deserves it.

I’m jumping six volumes ahead though. Here and now Ruby is still telling Yang all about her horrible encounter, segueing into how she “just wanted her to stop yelling” which of course is the perfect moment for Weiss to sneak up behind her with a loud “YOU!” (Jaune’s comment linking to Pyrrha; Ruby’s comment linking to Weiss—RT enjoys writing these little bridges, particularly for introducing new characters).

I love this moment simply for how much it tells us about Weiss. Largely in retrospect. Because while her trailer song is definitely on the nose in some respects—“I’m the loneliest of all”—it’s not until later on that we realize exactly how abusive Weiss’ family is and how isolated she’s been for the whole of her upbringing. This girl has absolutely no experience interacting with people outside of the Schnee/everyone else hierarchy (note in a moment how she assumes that Ruby will want to “make it up to [her]”) so if you’re suddenly surrounded by people for the first time who aren’t fawning over your name and money and dust connections... what do you? How do you get some vaguely positive attention? Oh okay, guess I’ll force it! Here Weiss is claiming that she never wants Ruby to speak to her again, but she’s the one who barged in on their conversation and loudly drawing attention to herself. Weiss is starved for healthy validation while simultaneously stuck in the behavior she’s been taught: asking for attention solely by trying to show off— here’s a rambling summary of the Schnee Dust Company’s disclaimer look at what a good puppet I am—or by insulting others. Weiss mocks Ruby’s genuine offer to buy school supplies together but then doesn’t move away from her and Yang once the announcements start. She doesn’t know how to say ‘yes’ to any offers of friendship, but she also doesn’t want to say ‘no.’

Interestingly, that moment also tells us a fair bit about Ruby. Not just by re-emphasizing how kind she is by extending the offer to start this relationship over, but also adding weight to the headcanon that Ruby is neurodivergent. Weiss’ heavy sarcasm about how they can “go shopping, paint our nails, and talk about cute boys” goes right over Ruby’s head. She responds with a “Wow! Really?” similar to the “...can you?” heard right before she attacks the Nevermore during initiation. Ruby has a history of not just being awkward but missing a lot of ‘normal’ social cues as well.

The girls’ bonding is interrupted when Ozpin begins his speech and boy oh boy do I love this moment too. Anyone who reads my metas knows that I’m a firm defender of our disaster headmaster, especially after volume 6, and looking back this scene is the PERFECT example of how RT tries to make Ozpin seem shady... while really failing to accomplish that. Obscuring eyes/the whole face is a super easy way to tell the viewer that this is an Untrustworthy Character. See: every horror movie where the villain’s face is obscured by shadows, our own dear Adam who keeps his face hidden with a mask, etc. It serves to dehumanize the character, keeping us from seeing some of the most expressive parts of their bodies, and equates one thing they’re hiding—such as a deformity. Yay ableism! /s—with other things they’re keeping from the heroes; secrets, sinister intentions, and the like. The primary exception to this are characters who wear masks for defined and morally acceptable reasons. i.e. superheroes who need to keep their secret identities intact and, notably, aren’t withholding that information from the viewer. We as the audience usually know who they are and thus aren’t inclined to distrust the character based on secret-keeping.

Awesome superpowers aside, Ozpin doesn’t fit within the mold of superhero, so all of this reads as pretty damning:

Like holy shit, friends. With the exception of one moment, 

notably when Ozpin informs them that “knowledge will only carry you so far,” the cinematography goes out of its way to hide his eyes, if not his entire face. Oz comes across as super shady here, compounded by the close up and centered shot of Ruby’s silver eyes to contrast. Compounded further by the exchange Ruby and Yang have afterwards about how he seemed “kind of off”—an exchange that doesn’t precisely fit with in-world logic (how does Yang know what Ozpin is normally like?), but serves as a clear message to the viewer: Something is UP with this guy.

The problem? This isn’t Ozpin’s introduction.

Imagine a series where in Episode One we only hear about a powerful Beacon headmaster. Someone who bends the rules and let’s Ruby in two years early for reasons unknown. Then by Episode Three we see this guy almost insulting the new group of students (Yang’s eyes narrow when Ozpin says he sees only “wasted energy in need of purpose”) and the entire time the camera refuses to give us a good look at him. That would have set up a character who is legitimately creepy. Someone we know instinctively might not really be on our side.

Instead our introduction to Ozpin is this.

He’s smiling and charming and legitimately kind. He listens to why Ruby wants to come to Beacon before making his decision (aka establishing her agency here). He shares a fond “Aww, you know I’m gonna get what I want” look with Glynda. He brings cookies, for god’s sake. Ozpin’s supposed shadiness falls completely flat here because we’ve already developed positive feelings for him, notably while he was with our protagonist and his BFF headmistress. The intimacy in Episode One implies that this is the “real” Ozpin, whereas a formal speech in front of (from the audience’s perspective) a literally faceless mass sets this up as a “fake” Ozpin, one that comes out when he feels the needs to be stern with incoming students. Or, based on information we learn later, when he’s pulling from another personality.

All of which isn’t a criticism of RT’s writing. Rather, given what we now know definitively from Volume Six, I don’t think they were invested in making Ozpin into a legitimately shady character. What RWBY is invested in is poking at or outright dismantling a lot of tropes and conventions, which is essentially what they did here. “You EXPECT the secretive, powerful headmaster to be a morally gray kind of guy... so we’re just not even gonna go there. Not really.”

But back to the actual plot. Jaune ends the scene by sliding up and announcing that he’s a natural blonde, another excellent example of precisely the thing women aren’t looking for in a guy. He knows Ruby now so it’s totally cool for him to re-join her, but using that as an excuse to start talking about his looks? Nah. Remember folks, women generally like it when you treat them as more than just a romantic and/or sexual conquest!

But enough about Jaune. We cut to that night where all the newbie students—way more than we’ll actually see throughout the rest of the series—are crowded together in Beacon’s hall, which from a world building perspective is a really great choice. I love what it says about Beacon as an institution: We’re not giving you rooms yet because we believe that most of you will fail the initiation (or at least that’s the impression they want to give the students). There’s a sense of ‘roughing it’ with simple mats and no personal space, the sort of things they’d have to get used to if they’re out traveling as huntsmen later in life. The overall emphasis on community and team work. Like the teams of four, Beacon is invested in setting up situations where the students are forced to work with one another. Particularly with those they might otherwise avoid.

That’s precisely the sort of interaction we get in a moment, but first: a tangent. Okay. So in previous metas—mostly Volume Six stuff—I’ve gotten a lot of pushback for my use of the term “kids” to describe the RWBY gang. Which I get. Post-Beacon most of them are legally adults by our standards and they’re certainly doing Adult Things nowadays. I do think there’s a lot of interesting nuances here—the fact that our protagonist and arguably most significant character plot-wise (Oscar) are both still underage, asking whether Remnant even views age in the same way we do, whether hitting the magical age of 18 suddenly gives you any more insight or maturity than you had at 17 or 16, acknowledging that they were never meant to be out in the world fighting this war and making these decisions yet, so we shouldn’t conflate traumatic necessity with emotional growth—but for the most part fans don’t want to grapple with those sorts of questions. There’s a knee-jerk reaction (particularly from those who are around the group’s age) of, “Most of them are 18. They’re not kids so stop acting like they are.” RWBY has raised a lot of questions for me regarding how I balance “Kids/teens/young adults are people with agency and more maturity than people tend to give them credit for” with “I remember how much of a kid I still was at 18 and know precisely how much I’ve grown in the decade since. I was not an adult then, no matter what the law said.” It’s a matter of acknowledging generational experience without turning into one of those, “Bah! Kids don’t know what the hell they’re talking about” curmudgeons. I’m an adult with a father who dismisses everything I say because he’s got—and will always have—50+ years on me. I’m well aware that it sucks.

Why am I bringing all this up again? Because this scene is just so kid-ish. It’s wonderfully young and carefree! Ruby is writing a letter to her friends in cutesy grimm PJs. Yang slides over with a comment about how it’s just like a sleepover. They acknowledge that Tai would not be pleased with all the boys around while Yang ogles the shirtless guys and Jaune wanders around in a footed one piece. This entire scene has a distinctly middle school or early high-school vibe. Not that adults don’t hang out and chat in super comfy PJs—we totally do—but rather that viewers know how scenes like these are coded. They’re supposed to look young here and even though experience has most certainly aged them, even though about two years have passed since this moment... that’s still only two years. I have a difficult time accepting that we should now view the group’s decisions as irrevocably Adult and Mature (cough-airship-cough) when such a short time ago they weren’t either of these things. And they weren’t meant to be those things. Not yet. I wish that these later Volumes of RWBY were more interested in exploring the concept of (yes) kids forced into the role of adults, as opposed to trying desperately to pretend that they’re adults already with a more worthwhile voice than people with 10, 20, or in Ozpin’s case, a 1,000 years more experience than them.

Anyway. Enough ranting for one recap.

Ruby shares her fears about not making any friends and Yang has her “You’ve just made one friend and one enemy!” line before giving her little sis a legitimate pep-talk. She explains that there are friends all around Ruby, “you just haven’t met them yet.” A near identical perspective to what we heard from Jaune last episode. Which is hilarious given that ten seconds ago Yang was pseudo-insulting the guy.

Seriously though, how is there not more Jaune-Yang interaction in canon? They’re got so much more in common than just blonde hair and anger management issues.

Cue another segue. Right after Yang finishes talking about future friends Ruby catches a sound off screen and we get our first look at Blake since the courtyard.

Yang quite literally drags Ruby over and it is an excellent display of siblings being siblings.

Blake recognizes Ruby as “the girl who exploded” and honestly I’m sad that this didn’t become a moniker for her in the same way “vomit boy” did for Jaune. Nothing like being defined by your embarrassing moments and ridiculous habits to encourage true bonding! My BFF calls me Trout and I call her Hunter and no, I will not expand on the ridiculousness that was my middle school years.

I mean, Ruby starts to tell Blake that she can call her crater face before realizing that this might not be the best idea. The girl is awkward af and I love her.

Yang: What are you doing??

Ruby: I don’t know help me!

God they’re so fucking relatable.

Yang manages to get Blake’s name out of her and then makes the mistake of commenting on her bow. Granted, Blake doesn’t show any overt signs of discomfort here—that would have been too obvious even by RWBY’s standards—but looking back we can assume that any conversation veering towards the one thing she wants to hide wouldn’t exactly endear her to these girls. Blake gets pretty rude by saying that she’ll continue to enjoy her book just as soon as they leave. Yang gets ruder by announcing, right next to Blake, that she’s a “lost cause.”

The book is Ruby’s in though. Now it’s less small talk and more legit interest as she asks what Blake is reading. The fandom has acknowledge to death the “It’s about a man with two souls, fighting for control” line and how that obviously relates to the Ozpin-Oscar situation, but beyond that I’m interested in the fact that we never learn the title of this book. Normally that wouldn’t mean much (only so much world building you can do and book titles aren’t necessarily the sort of thing RT wants to waste time on), except that Ruby specifically asks for it and Blake delves straight into the summary. I wonder if perhaps this specific text will show up again in future volumes. I don’t have any real evidence for the hunch, just the fact that we now know Ozpin has put stories out into the world that relate to his situation, namely The Maidens fairy tale. I have to wonder if perhaps other lives of his created art as a way of coping with their situation—unknowingly truthful accounts that people like Blake read, oblivious to the ways that this fiction might be setting them up to be more empathetic towards the same situation in real life. It just stands out to me that we’re not given a title or author here; that Blake was one of the ones to learn about Ozpin’s immortality off screen (denying us her initial reaction); that comparatively she was one of the more sympathetic during that awful moment out in the snow. It would be awesome if the “lol Blake is a nerd who sometimes reads porn” aspect of her personality actually sets her up to be one of the more understanding people in Volume 7.

Basically, please give me super nerd Blake who starts warming back up to Ozpin because she finds out he’s authored a bunch of her favorite books lol. Or at the very least she realizes that she’s now living the stories she’s long adored; she’s been given the opportunity to extend real support to someone so very like the characters she’s felt for all these years...

RWBY does love its meta.

Ruby admits to loving books too, particularly the fantastical stories that Yang used to read her. Blake is far more pessimistic.

Blake: Hoping you’ll live happily ever after? 

Ruby: I’m hoping we all will.

Hello, conflict of the entire series. As well as many fans’ hope for how it will all turn out. I’m personally not at all interested in a 7+ year investment with this cast only to watch them end on a bleak, or even bittersweet note. Despite what some might claim nowadays, happy endings are far from overrated. Given the state of the world, happy endings are radical.

Blake tells Ruby that her dreams are “Very ambitious for a child,” one of the very few indicators we’ve gotten (along with Weiss’ “Aren’t you a little young to be here?”) that the rest of the students recognize on sight that Ruby is younger than them. I’ve literally never heard one child refer to another, same-age acquaintance as “child.” Especially not when they’re hinting strongly that they’re being naive.

Yang is SUPER proud of that optimism though and starts a tackle hug that leads to them fighting cartoon style, complete with stars, cat noises, and dust clouds. The racket of course brings Weiss over. And by “of course” I mean “Oh look, another excuse she can use to go talk to the only people she knows here.”

We get another handful of great lines—Ruby has known Weiss a day but she was “always on [her] side,” Weiss exclaims that Ruby is “a hazard to [her] health”—but the episode is basically over. Blake blows out her candles and that’s that.

Meanwhile, I can’t believe I just wrote nearly four thousand words on a six minute episode. I’m gonna go re-think my life choices.

Minor Things of Note

“You’re lucky we weren’t blown off the side of the cliff!” Hey there, episode four foreshadowing! Also, Weiss, you guys are nowhere near a cliff. You’re so dramatic.

You can really see the difference in their expressions when Oz gives his speech. Ruby and Yang looked pumped and joyous. Weiss is anxious and unsure.

Still super interested in Ozpin actually using his cane as he leaves the stage. Probably just a random animation choice before they worked out all his character kinks, but if we imagine that his host was currently speaking maybe that’s a quirk specific to him.

We never again hear about “the gang back at Signal” that Ruby is writing to. Just like we never see the friends Yang apparently entered Beacon with (and weren’t meant to given that they were also shadow people). Not that RWBY needs any more characters to keep track of, but from an in-world perspective it is a little strange that they were supposedly super close to all these people and then just... never mention them again lol. 

[xantchaslegacy]

MtG Month of the Ship Day 17 - Matchmaker

This one takes place before the other two dinobots fics I posted earlier. Oviya sees a potential partner for Saheeli in her new visitor, and puts a plan in motion to get them a little closer.

The stranger’s garb was the first thing to catch Oviya’s attention. The woman wore a fashionable artificer’s tunic that was innocuous enough, but her feathered headdress and strange haircut marked her clearly as a planewalker. Oviya had met enough of them in the past few years to be certain of it.

Even more interesting was seeing this new visitor trailing after Saheeli Rai like a puppy.

“Saheeli, dear!” Oviya waved from the cafe table where she’d been enjoying breakfast. Saheeli caught sight of her and strode through the crowd, her companion right behind her.

“Ms. Pashiri.” Saheeli extended a hand and they traded the secret (well, semi-secret) lifecrafter handshake.

“Who is this?” Oviya looked the visitor over head-to-toe. She carried herself like a consulate guard, but her expression was friendlier, and more curious. She was taking in every angle of the city with the wide-eyed wonder of an artificer encountering a novel invention. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you with a…a friend.”

“Huatli.” The visitor gave an unusual sort of bow, and smiled at Oviya. “May I ask what you’re eating? It smells better than the ocean breeze.”

“Just a bit of masala dosa.” Oviya slid the plate of food across the table. “You’re certainly welcome to some. Do you two have a moment to sit? Not to divert you for too long.” She winked at Saheeli.

“Well, we were-”

“Saheeli! What is that?” Huatli had grabbed Saheeli’s shoulder and was pointing down the street at a squat little bomat courier, rolling along and weaving through the foot-traffic. For a split second Saheeli flushed, and her hand jumped up, as if to take the other planeswalker’s hand in her own.

Just a split second, but long enough for Oviya to notice.

“My apologies, Lady Pashiri.” Huatli gave another deep bow. “I would love to dine another time, but…”

Oviya waved away the apology. “I understand, lots to see in our thriving city. You two have fun. I’ll have you for tea tomorrow, if your schedule permits. Stick close to Saheeli until then; she knows all the most interesting sights in the city.” She gave Saheeli another sly wink.

“That sounds lovely, thank you!” Huatli was already halfway down the street in pursuit of the courier as she shouted back. Saheeli lingered a moment.

“Thank you for the invitation Oviya. My, um…my guest is from out of town…”

“Like Ajani. I guessed.” Oviya took a slow sip of tea. “I didn’t realize there were so few good women in the city that our young bachelorettes must go off to faraway worlds to find companionship.”

Oviya thought she saw the blush return, but it might have been a reflection of light.

“N-nothing like that,” Saheeli said, unconvincingly. “We’ve only just met. I think she found our world by accident. I don’t even know if she’s involved…um, what her life is like back on her plane.”

Oviya tsk-ed. “No time like the present to learn. Haven’t you talked at all?”

“Mostly about dinosaurs.”

“About what?”

Saheeli shrugged. “Creatures from her world. It’s really very fascinating; apparently there are all different kinds, and she’s very good at describing them. I invited her to my workshop later, after I’ve shown her more of the city.”

“For inventing purposes, of course,” she added hastily.

“Of course. Well if it’s interesting sights you’re after, I hear Gonti’s new underground racing league is having a competition along the old consulate parade streets.” Oviya scrawled down a place and a time on a scrap of paper. “Maybe take your friends there this evening.”

Saheeli glanced at the paper. “On the rooftops?”

“That, is the best vantage point, or so Depali tells me.” Oviya settled back into her chair. “I’m inclined to trust her on all matters fast and furious.”

“Hmmm…I think Huatli will like this. Thank you.”

“It’s my pleasure. You show her a good time until then.”

Saheeli’s face definitely flushed this time. She nodded and bid farewell to Oviya, walking quickly to catch up with Huatli.

Oviya watched her go. As soon as Saheeli was out of sight, she plucked the hummingbird construct from her shoulder and whistled an order.

“Find Shadowblayde. And Kari. If they’re free, I have a fun project for them. If not, well I think they’ll want to help all the same.”

* * * * *

“That’s…odd.” Saheeli looked up and down the roof of the building. There wasn’t another soul in sight. Even if the race location was being kept secret, word should have gotten out to someone. A race wasn’t a race without someone cheering the pilots on.

“That sunset!” Huatli ran to the railing. “By Kinjalli, I’ve never seen a sky like that!”

Saheeli followed her. It was a lovely afternoon. The sun was about to settle below the horizon, and the final rays of the day were refracted through a hundred loops of aether in the sky, creating a filigree maze of rosy clouds and glassy blue distortions.

Saheeli dared a sidelong glance at Huatli. She had closed her eyes, and in that moment the sunlight shining off of her made every curve and crevice of her face glow. Saheeli stared at that wonderful, serene face for what seemed like a small eternity. When Huatli’s eyelids flashed open, she quickly diverted her gaze to the street below.

Still too crowded, even for an illegal race. Where had Oviya gotten that intel from?

“Oh! Look!” Huatli jabbed an arm out over the rooftops ahead of them.

A flock of skywhales danced through the sunset-lit sky, looping and diving in graceful intertwined paths. Saheeli was taken aback. It was unusual, to say the least, for so many of the creatures to convene over the city itself. In fact, the last time it had happened…

…there. She caught sight of Kari Zev’s skyship trailing after the whales, adding another graceful silhouette to the scene. What was that little pirate up to?

“The golden city is full of wonder

But above the spires and metal that moves

Shadows rise and twist and fall

With the grace of pterosaurs

Against a twisting field of sunset jewels

Lovely as the gold on a fair maiden’s dress”

Huatli’s voice filled the rare silence of pre-twilight, sending a chill spreading from the base of Saheeli’s neck across her shoulders.

“That…that’s lovely. I don’t think I asked how you were so good at that.”

“Lots of practice.” Huatli grinned, looking caught between pride and embarrassment. “And a bit of inspiration.” She made a broad gesture that encompassed the sky…

…and Saheeli.

Thankfully, a sudden sound from somewhere on the rooftop gave Saheeli an excuse to look away, hiding her reddening cheeks. At the same moment, Huatli reacted to the sound, pulling out a war-fan and placing a protective arm across Saheeli.

“Hmm.” Huatli scanned the rooftop. “Sorry about that. Warrior’s instincts. That’s a lovely song, whatever it is.”

Saheeli had to agree. A soft, musical sound was thrumming through the spires of the rooftop, like several insects humming together in harmony.

Several very familiar insects…

“Ah, they’re going higher!”

Saheeli turned back to the railing. The skywhales were dancing straight up into the spreading dark of the night sky, following the aether trails of Kari’s ship. Saheeli couldn’t fathom what Kari meant to be doing.

Not that she was much focused on it, with Huatli’s hand still resting gently on her shoulder. Her head was practically swimming, between the touch, the music, and the admittedly lovely sight of the whales twirling high above the setting sun.

Saheeli leaned into the touch, and to her delight, Huatli lay an arm across her shoulders.

“Cold?”

“Hardly.” Saheeli managed to keep her voice steady. A small miracle all things considered.

The stranger’s garb was the first thing to catch Oviya’s attention. The woman wore a fashionable artificer’s tunic that was innocuous enough, but her feathered headdress and strange haircut marked her clearly as a planewalker. Oviya had met enough of them in the past few years to be certain of it.

Even more interesting was seeing this new visitor trailing after Saheeli Rai like a puppy.

“Saheeli, dear!” Oviya waved from the cafe table where she’d been enjoying breakfast. Saheeli caught sight of her and strode through the crowd, her companion right behind her.

“Ms. Pashiri.” Saheeli extended a hand and they traded the secret (well, semi-secret) lifecrafter handshake.

“Who is this?” Oviya looked the visitor over head-to-toe. She carried herself like a consulate guard, but her expression was friendlier, and more curious. She was taking in every angle of the city with the wide-eyed wonder of an artificer encountering a novel invention. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you with a…a friend.”

“Huatli.” The visitor gave an unusual sort of bow, and smiled at Oviya. “May I ask what you’re eating? It smells better than the ocean breeze.”

“Just a bit of masala dosa.” Oviya slid the plate of food across the table. “You’re certainly welcome to some. Do you two have a moment to sit? Not to divert you for too long.” She winked at Saheeli.

“Well, we were-”

“Saheeli! What is that?” Huatli had grabbed Saheeli’s shoulder and was pointing down the street at a squat little bomat courier, rolling along and weaving through the foot-traffic. For a split second Saheeli flushed, and her hand jumped up, as if to take the other planeswalker’s hand in her own.

Just a split second, but long enough for Oviya to notice.

“My apologies, Lady Pashiri.” Huatli gave another deep bow. “I would love to dine another time, but…”

Oviya waved away the apology. “I understand, lots to see in our thriving city. You two have fun. I’ll have you for tea tomorrow, if your schedule permits. Stick close to Saheeli until then; she knows all the most interesting sights in the city.” She gave Saheeli another sly wink.

“That sounds lovely, thank you!” Huatli was already halfway down the street in pursuit of the courier as she shouted back. Saheeli lingered a moment.

“Thank you for the invitation Oviya. My, um…my guest is from out of town…”

“Like Ajani. I guessed.” Oviya took a slow sip of tea. “I didn’t realize there were so few good women in the city that our young bachelorettes must go off to faraway worlds to find companionship.”

Oviya thought she saw the blush return, but it might have been a reflection of light.

“N-nothing like that,” Saheeli said, unconvincingly. “We’ve only just met. I think she found our world by accident. I don’t even know if she’s involved…um, what her life is like back on her plane.”

Oviya tsk-ed. “No time like the present to learn. Haven’t you talked at all?”

“Mostly about dinosaurs.”

“About what?”

Saheeli shrugged. “Creatures from her world. It’s really very fascinating; apparently there are all different kinds, and she’s very good at describing them. I invited her to my workshop later, after I’ve shown her more of the city.”

“For inventing purposes, of course,” she added hastily.

“Of course. Well if it’s interesting sights you’re after, I hear Gonti’s new underground racing league is having a competition along the old consulate parade streets.” Oviya scrawled down a place and a time on a scrap of paper. “Maybe take your friends there this evening.”

Saheeli glanced at the paper. “On the rooftops?”

“That, is the best vantage point, or so Depali tells me.” Oviya settled back into her chair. “I’m inclined to trust her on all matters fast and furious.”

“Hmmm…I think Huatli will like this. Thank you.”

“It’s my pleasure. You show her a good time until then.”

Saheeli’s face definitely flushed this time. She nodded and bid farewell to Oviya, walking quickly to catch up with Huatli.

Oviya watched her go. As soon as Saheeli was out of sight, she plucked the hummingbird construct from her shoulder and whistled an order.

“Find Shadowblayde. And Kari. If they’re free, I have a fun project for them. If not, well I think they’ll want to help all the same.”

* * * * *

“That’s…odd.” Saheeli looked up and down the roof of the building. There wasn’t another soul in sight. Even if the race location was being kept secret, word should have gotten out to someone. A race wasn’t a race without someone cheering the pilots on.

“That sunset!” Huatli ran to the railing. “By Kinjalli, I’ve never seen a sky like that!”

Saheeli followed her. It was a lovely afternoon. The sun was about to settle below the horizon, and the final rays of the day were refracted through a hundred loops of aether in the sky, creating a filigree maze of rosy clouds and glassy blue distortions.

Saheeli dared a sidelong glance at Huatli. She had closed her eyes, and in that moment the sunlight shining off of her made every curve and crevice of her face glow. Saheeli stared at that wonderful, serene face for what seemed like a small eternity. When Huatli’s eyelids flashed open, she quickly diverted her gaze to the street below.

Still too crowded, even for an illegal race. Where had Oviya gotten that intel from?

“Oh! Look!” Huatli jabbed an arm out over the rooftops ahead of them.

A flock of skywhales danced through the sunset-lit sky, looping and diving in graceful intertwined paths. Saheeli was taken aback. It was unusual, to say the least, for so many of the creatures to convene over the city itself. In fact, the last time it had happened…

…there. She caught sight of Kari Zev’s skyship trailing after the whales, adding another graceful silhouette to the scene. What was that little pirate up to?

“The golden city is full of wonder

But above the spires and metal that moves

Shadows rise and twist and fall

With the grace of pterosaurs

Against a twisting field of sunset jewels

Lovely as the gold on a fair maiden’s dress”

Huatli’s voice filled the rare silence of pre-twilight, sending a chill spreading from the base of Saheeli’s neck across her shoulders.

“That…that’s lovely. I don’t think I asked how you were so good at that.”

“Lots of practice.” Huatli grinned, looking caught between pride and embarrassment. “And a bit of inspiration.” She made a broad gesture that encompassed the sky…

…and Saheeli.

Thankfully, a sudden sound from somewhere on the rooftop gave Saheeli an excuse to look away, hiding her reddening cheeks. At the same moment, Huatli reacted to the sound, pulling out a war-fan and placing a protective arm across Saheeli.

“Hmm.” Huatli scanned the rooftop. “Sorry about that. Warrior’s instincts. That’s a lovely song, whatever it is.”

Saheeli had to agree. A soft, musical sound was thrumming through the spires of the rooftop, like several insects humming together in harmony.

Several very familiar insects…

“Ah, they’re going higher!”

Saheeli turned back to the railing. The skywhales were dancing straight up into the spreading dark of the night sky, following the aether trails of Kari’s ship. Saheeli couldn’t fathom what Kari meant to be doing.

Not that she was much focused on it, with Huatli’s hand still resting gently on her shoulder. Her head was practically swimming, between the touch, the music, and the admittedly lovely sight of the whales twirling high above the setting sun.

Saheeli leaned into the touch, and to her delight, Huatli lay an arm across her shoulders.

“Cold?”

“Hardly.” Saheeli managed to keep her voice steady. A small miracle all things considered.

They watched until the light faded from the horizon, and the urban glow of night enveloped the city. The hidden music persisted, shifting to a tune that better matched the lighting. They leaned over the balcony to watch the foot traffic, and stayed that way in silence for a while before Saheeli spoke again.

“If you’d like, you can sleep at my place tonight. It’s just a workshop, but I have plenty of space…”

“Thank you, I would love that.” Huatli smiled up at Saheeli, and the artificer felt her heart stutter. I can tell you more about the ferocidons. I think you’d like them.” She turned her gaze back toward the avenue below, where several shouting Aetherborn were beginning to clear the streets of pedestrians, while motorists lined up their vehicles on the far end of the street.

“Yes,” Saheeli said softly, her eyes caught on the soft glow of the city lights through Huatli’s hair. “I think I would.”

The above is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.

[nahret]

It Takes Two

I’ll be honest: I have not been looking forward to Dui’s story, which is why I let it lie for so long. On the surface, there is obviously nothing wrong with Dui, quite the contrary. He is by far the kindest god of the entire bunch, a quiet person who genuinely cares about his friends and the MC. But I’m not new to the Japanese approach to mythology, and there is one thing that is simply a given: the Gemini sign will always have the evil twin and/or split personality problem. Always.

My favourite anime show, Saint Seiya, managed to combine both concepts: Saga, gold saint of Gemini, did not only have a dark side within himself, but also an actual evil twin brother, Kanon. Now, in Saint Seiya, Saga was (and is) my most beloved gold saint, and in terms of favourite character, second only to Phoenix Ikki. But what I’m looking for in an action show is radically different from what I’m looking for in a romance story, and a split personality is pretty high on my List of Nope.

  Saga’s split personality

Saga and Kanon

In everybody else’s route, Dui is depicted as a soft-spoken, friendly god who has everybody’s best interest at heart. As sweet as he is, I expect his evil twin to be all-out evil. And while I know that a story needs an antagonist, and that a fair amount of drama is to be expected, I really prefer enemies that are not, you know, oneself.

Okay. I’m sure everything will come up roses in the end. Let’s have a look.

Synopsis

This time, the choice makes sense: when the MC falls off that roof, she calls upon the kindest of the gods she has encountered, Dui. He catches her and teleports her to the mansion. He is nice to her, and concerned for her well-being. When the other gods arrive, he tells them not to scare the MC.

Alone in his room, however, he suddenly hugs the MC, much to her surprise. He is gentle and playful, and he smells amazing… And the MC’s heart is just about leaping out of her chest. But surely, he doesn’t mean anything by it? He is an exceedingly kind god; when there is a disturbance in her apartment complex, he offers to stay in her room to watch over her while she sleeps. Without the ulterior motives Ichthys or Teo would certainly have in this particular situation.

Things proceed as usual. Since the MC needs to be present for Dui to do his job in the Department of Punishments, she helps him cast his punishments by the reflecting pool. When he hands her a piece of paper, she cuts her finger on it. The tiniest bit of blood is visible – and here we meet Shadow Dui.

Look at this innocence.

Shadow Dui is, of course, the Evil Twin. His existence was hinted at by the other gods, especially Scorpio and Ichthys. Shadow Dui takes a dim view of the MC and her “meddling” in Dui’s life. In no time flat, he decides to find a definitive solution for this problem and attempts to drown her in the pool. Just as the MC is about to hit the water, though, Shadow Dui falls to the ground, unconscious. This is when Scorpio and Ichthys show up, who take Dui up to his room, and explain the situation to the MC. Apparently, something severe happened with Dui, and his shadow personality was created. Clearly, it must have something to do with the great sin that got Dui exiled to earth in the first place…

Of course, once he comes to his senses, normal Dui urges the MC to stay away from him, as it’s far too dangerous for her to risk triggering the shadow self. Naturally, the MC, already in love with Dui, refuses. She intends to make him whole again, instead. The next time Shadow Dui appears, the MC is actually sensing that she is making a kind of headway: Shadow Dui exists to protect normal Dui, whom he considers a weakling. He will go to any lengths to keep normal Dui safe. In the meantime, however, he will help Dui with his work, replacing the soft punishments the latter had devised with, basically, horror and mayhem. Yet again, it takes Scorpio’s and Ichthys’ intervention to stop Shadow Dui before he kills the MC. Scorpio tells her to stay away from Dui in the future, but she can obviously not give up on him.

Epilogue

Ugh, mom, I don’t wanna, do I have to? Well. I guess I already bought the epilogue (for all the stories, for the sake of consistency), so I might as well read it. But if the main story is anything to go by, I won’t have much fun with it.

Quite typically, we’re at this juncture where the MC and the god of choice are together, but haven’t had sex yet. Partheno is the notable exception to this rule, and his purpose was nefarious. Things being as they are here, Dui and the MC have not done the deed, but the other gods don’t know that. Teo’s and Ikky’s wild speculations and inquiries on what it’s like between a human and a god make our MC blush furiously, of course. Ichthys’ assertion that Dui can tie cherry stems into knots with his tongue are not helpful. Oh, not normal knots; heart-shaped knots. Our besotted couple ends up fleeing the scene.

They decide to take a day trip to a cherry orchard together – cherries are Dui’s favourite food – where the MC realises that she really has two boyfriends, in a way. While Dui and Shadow Dui now get along and can apparently communicate with each other, they do not share the same memories. After repeatedly confusing the two, the MC walks away to clear her head and promptly gets lost in the orchard. After the mini-crisis is resolved, there is the usual hemming and hawing about being naked together, because of course she wants it, but cannot bring herself to admit it. It’s tedious. At least Shadow Dui talks the straight talk. There’s sure more chemistry here than in the main story.

The Chemistry

Dui is everything we’re looking for in a person: sweet, considerate, thoughtful, polite, not to mention quite handsome, as they all are. How is one not to fall in love with him? One very positive aspect is that the confession comes early on, and from his part. There is much emphasis on his purity and innocence, and it’s actually lovely. What follows, though, is the MC being far too lenient with Shadow Dui’s behaviour, especially once she concludes that he must be “misunderstood” because he’s only trying to protect Dui. Which means that she starts taking crazy-stupid risks in order to save them both, of course.

My man Scorpio is in control of the situation.

Everything is kind of predictable: she falls in love with him, because he’s really easy to love. He falls in love with her, because the story demands it. Shadow Dui is evil, but is he really? Must he not be redeemable somehow? Scorpio is being Scorpio, Ichthys is being Ichthys, and they’re both really good at it. At chapter 10, I was wondering when Zyglavis was gonna drop by. And the King. Then Zyglavis makes an appearance. And the King.

And yet, there’s no… I don’t know. No palpable, chemistry, if you will. It’s all telling, no showing. In other stories, there was a rawness of emotion about the characters, that I feel is completely missing here – except where Shadow Dui shows up. And that’s just not enough.

The Love Meter

I suspected as much: I couldn’t get out of the Forbidden zone. Really, I’m not surprised. Sometimes, characters just aren’t for me. But sometimes I chose the answer that I really thought would push the needle back into Blessed, only to have it go deeper into Forbidden. I guess I should have been more accepting of Shadow Dui, but I have trouble getting into people who are repeatedly trying to murder me with their bare hands.

Bottom Line

I’ll be honest: it took me eternities to finish this story. Not only was I not really engaged, I also find this trope a bit more problematic for me personally than a lot of others. That’s because we see a lot of that in real life: women who stay with abusive men for the times when they are treated nicely, or to save the men in question, or both. Now, I know, here it is not within Dui’s control when Shadow Dui appears. I know. It’s just not a trope I enjoy. Also, Scorpio blaming the victim is not my favourite thing, even if it is in keeping with his personality. Apart from the above, I just have to admit I didn’t really feel it, if you know what I mean. Yes, Dui is super nice, and loyal to a fault. (No, really. You have no idea.) But there is not enough friction there that is not Shadow Dui. Look, I’m gonna say it: this was boring. Not out-of-my-mind boring, but just not interesting. Pity.

Star-Crossed Myth: Dui It Takes Two I'll be honest: I have not been looking forward to Dui's story, which is why I let it lie for so long.

[cassandraclare]

more Gotsm/sotd questions!

Some spoilers but nothing too crucial!

spoiler space

bookwormdazzle said:Hi! I am enjoying GOTSM already! I have a question. There's a line that mentions Jem remembering something about the faerie woman he sees at the Shadow Market, "dimly recollecting her hurting a golden-haired child. It had be so long ago." My memory is kinda foggy, or maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I'm assuming we should know about this child? Thanks!

Actually it’s a reference to Cast Long Shadows, which in the print version will be the first story. We decided to release the stories out of chronological order because we felt like people would be excited to read Son of the Dawn in which they knew all the characters rather than steamrolling them right into the TLH characters, who haven’t had a book published about them yet! We’re hoping people will have enjoyed SotD and be willing to take a chance on the next ones.

fair-but-wilde-child said Let Matthew know that if he needs someone to fight that awful faerie woman who hurt him to shoot me a fire message. I love Matthew and have a lot of rage that he was hurt. :p

Good job guessing it was Matthew! I think it’s a little puzzling to guess immediately because we don’t think of Matthew as a “child” at all, and “golden-haired child” does make him sound like a tiny tot. But we were trying to draw a bit of a distinction between Matthew at the beginning of Cast Long Shadows (innocent and boyish) and Matthew by the end. So it makes sense that Jem (who is so much older) would remember Matthew as a child in that scene.

fair-but-wilde-child said:Hey Cassie! I LOVED Son of the Dawn so much. I was wondering two small things. First, is this the encounter that Raphael remembers Alec from when he was twelve? 

maximilianthequeer said:Hi Cassie! There’s a line I remember from one of the books where Raphael meets Alec (I think it might be from TBC) and he said “I distinctly remember you being twelve” In SOTD when Alec meets Raphael and said “I’m basically twelve” was this kinda a reference to that scene or am I just over thinking this. Love the book btw Alec’s many gay moments made me very happy!

Aw, you are too kind! I didn't know the exact details as they transpired, but I did figure — and so did Sarah — that Raphael'd had a run-in with the Lightwoods before, and remembered Alec as a kid, and thought there might be an amusing tale there. It was also fun to see Alec and Alec's sexuality from Isabelle’s perspective — from his little kid crushes to more mature crushes (especially as we know he will one day find his man and be happy!) 

And indeed, Raphael remembers how old Alec told him he was, which wasn't actually accurate...

lumixre said: Hi Cassie! Before my question I need to say I am tragically in love with everything you do and you are an actual goddess 💕 My question is, in the Bane Chronicles when Rafael bumps into Alec and Magnus on a date and tells Alec he remembers him being 12, did you always know that Alec and Raphael’s first interaction was in Son of the Dawn?

We suspected it was actually a much more memorable encounter for Raphael than for Alec, since as we see Alec goes on his merry way, whereas I think Raphael was expecting trouble but was NOT expecting what he got! I figure Raphael went home to the hotel and told Lily about what had transpired, and Lily was highly amused, but both of them were like "oh, that won't end well, with Shadowhunters being the way they are, there goes trouble.” And then, as Raphael considers it, he turned around for a brief moment and suddenly there was Magnus, right in the middle of trouble!  I feel Raphael came out of Taki's in the Bane Chronicles tale, and was like, “Lily, Magnus is going to get his stupid head CUT OFF.”

emma-cxrstxirs said: Hey Cassie!! I was wondering, will we get to see the s4 and the residents of the London institute (Will, Thomas, Lucie, James etc) in person in Cast Long Shadows, or only in Matthew's thoughts and flashbacks? I'm really excited to better understand the dynamic of the relationships between the characters of TLH!

You’ll definitely see the S4 in Cast Long Shadows from Matthew’s perspective and then again in Every Exquisite Thing from Anna’s. Hopefully it’ll give you a better understanding of their dynamic!

tidtlhtmitdatwp1903 said: Hi Cassie! Is Catherine Ashdown Cameron’s mom? Or a different relation? Why would she be escorting Jace from Idris if the Ashdowns are from LA?

Catherine is not Cameron’s mom — not every Ashdown is going to be a close relation of Cameron’s. Paige is Cameron’s sister and lives in LA; Vanessa is a cousin who lives in Idris with other Idris Ashdowns, and Catherine is simply part of the Idris branch of the (very big) family!

history-maker-viktuuri said: Hello Cassie!! I just want to say that I loved Son of the Dawn! It was really fun and sad at the same time to read more about Jem and the others characters (but especially Jem!!). I can’t wait to read the other stories. Just one question: We will see James or Lucie Herondale or even Cordelia Carstairs in one of the GOTSM stories?

You will see James and Lucie in Cast Long Shadows and Every Exquisite Thing, but Cordelia does not appear (except in Jem’s thoughts and memories) because she has not yet moved to London.

[enixamyram]

OUAT ReWrite: 7x22 - Part 6

Some of my added scenes, I won’t lie, are purely for me. I wanted more, but I don’t necessarily think they would have been needed in the episode. However if I had been in charge of the finale, I would have fought for either an extra long episode or an extra episode 23, which meant I could have included all these scenes without problem!

Sadly, for now, we’ll just have to contend ourselves with my little fic instead.

Chapter Six: Alice, Robin, Henry & Killian In The Rescue

  “You okay?” Robin asked quietly.

  The two girls were trailing a fair distance behind Henry and Killian as they made their way towards Wish Charming’s castle. They kept the space to avoid causing Killian any more suffering but already Robin could see he was walking stiffly, like a man doing his best to pretend he wasn’t in incredible pain with every step he took. She glanced at Alice but the other girl was walking with her head lowered towards the ground, not focusing on anything else but her own feet.

  Good. Robin didn’t want to her to notice and feel any worse than she already did.

  “Yeah,” Alice mumbled, leaning against her.

  Robin squeezed the arm she had around Alice’s shoulders gently. “It was an accident, Alice. It’s not your fault.”

  “I should know better,” Alice hissed, wincing like her own words had struck her.

  “Alice…” Robin cut herself off. She wanted to say something to make her feel better about it but what could possibly make any of this better? It was all one great big mess.

  Alice shook her head again, looking like she was on the verge of tears. Robin helplessly glanced up at the others, seeing Henry and Killian’s backs as they wandered slightly further ahead of them. Still, it wasn’t enough for Robin’s liking and so she slowed her pace and pulled Alice back with her, forcing her love to drag her feet slightly until there was an even larger gap between them and the men that Robin was satisfied with. And only then did she pull Alice to a complete stop.

  With a slight jerk, Alice glanced up at her, meeting her love’s gaze just as Robin reached up and cradled the side of her face, leaning in for a long kiss. She pressed her lips against Alice hard before releasing her face in order to wrap her arms around her torso and pull her into a tight and proper embrace. Alice only resisted for a moment of surprise before she let go of the bad thoughts and wrapped her arms around Robin’s shoulders in turn, opening her mouth and allow Robin sweet entrance. She pressed closely against her love and happily would have lost herself in this moment for the rest of her life if she could.

  Ahead of them, Henry happened to pause and glance back. When caught sight of them, he came to a sharp and slightly annoyed stop. “Seriously? We don’t have time for this.” He grumbled, turning around to call after them, only to stop when he felt Killian grab onto his shoulder.

  “Come on, mate.” Killian said softly. “Let them have a moment.”

  Henry seemed reluctant, but looking in the pained eyes of his friend allowed him to nod his head and turn back around, giving the girls their moment as well as some privacy to go with it.

  When they pulled away, Alice felt light headed and almost drunkenly happy. She smiled at Robin and nearly forgot why they were even here in the first place. Then, slowly, the memory of earlier came back and her smiled dimmed, though at least it didn’t vanish. Because it was impossible for it to truly vanish completely while Robin was looking down at her with such a loving gaze.

  “Everyone makes mistakes, Alice.” Robin said softly. She paused, wetting her lips nervously before sighing. “I never told you this but… I once tried to join Gothel’s side.”

  “Wait, what?” Alice blinked. “When? In Hyperion Heights?”

  “No, no, no, way before we even met.” Robin said quickly. “I was a bratty teenager looking for someone to teach me about magic and I ran away from home and met Gothel. She made it seem like she could teach me so when my mum and your dad showed up to bring me back, I turned away from them and stayed with Gothel instead.” She sighed. “It was a big mistake. I nearly died and then nearly got my mum killed because of it, too. I was such an idiot.”

  “I didn’t know that…” Alice mumbled, staring at Robin in surprise.

  “It’s not something I’m proud of.” Robin snorted. “Like I said, I was an idiot. I nearly got so many people hurt, all because I wasn’t thinking straight.” She reached up, stroking her thumb over Alice’s cheek. “But my point is; people make mistakes. And sometimes those mistakes put people in danger and cause everyone a little pain. But the important thing is that we learn from them, too. For example, I learned not to trust a women who keeps animal skulls decorating her hidden cabin in the woods.” She added lightly.

  Alice laughed, stepping forward and hugging Robin closely, tucking her head between her shoulder and chin with a sweet smile of content. “Yeah… Thought that would have been obvious.”

  “You’d think!” Robin giggled, wrapping her arms tightly around her and squeezing her close. “But apparently eighteen year old girls from Storybrooke are a lot dumber than you’d realise.” She pulled back to glance at Alice. “Luckily they fall in love with smarter girls who’ll steer them clear of trouble.” Alice looked up with a raised eyebrow and Robin grinned. “Or, you know, drag them head first into it.”

  “That’s more like it!” Alice giggled, leaning up and pecking the side of her mouth softly.

  “Come on, we’re on a mission.” Robin said. “And after we’ve completed this one, we’ll start the mission to find a cure for you and your father. Together.”

  “Thank you,” Alice whispered, kissing her deeply once more before they were forced to turn back to the path. Quickly linking their arms, the girls hurrying ahead to catch up to where Henry and Killian had temporarily disappeared from their sight.

  As they caught up with them, they found Henry and Killian had come to a pause among a small space between the trees. “What’s happened?” Robin asked, still standing with a slight gap between them to keep Alice away from her father.

  “It’s like we figured. There are guards in front of the entrance.” Henry noted. “No way to get in.”

  “So we’ll have to split up,” Robin nodded.

  “Where’s the backup you were talking about?” Killian pressed.

  “They’re coming,” Alice insisted. “Don’t worry. They’ll be here.”

  “They will be, but we don’t have time to wait for them all the same. We should go now.” Robin explained.

  “Okay, Alice, you’re with me.” Henry said, reaching a hand to press on her back and gently lead her off to the side, taking the long way towards the back of the castle.

  As they walked away, Alice glanced over her shoulder towards where Robin and Killian hovered on the spot behind her, giving the two of them a gentle smile before looking away. She followed Henry quickly into the thickness of the trees, making their way around the back entrance as quickly and quietly as they could manage, not even risking talking to one another as they made their way, for fear that they would be discovered before they could reach their intended destination.

  As Alice and Henry jogged lightly off into the trees and out of sight, Killian and Robin turned back to the gap in the bush and peered through towards where the guards were currently crowding outside the entrance just before the main bridge. Killian pulled out his telescope, glancing towards where they were lined up at the ready, one of them sat atop of a horse with his head held high even in the dark armour that covered them almost entirely and made them seem more like shadow demons than actual human beings. They all probably thought they were the heroes in this situation, but then villains always did.

  With a sigh, Killian lowered the telescope, fighting the aching pain that was throbbing through his chest. Alice and Henry had already gone off on their own, and yet it still felt like she was too close. The pain had been a gradual thing, growing worse over the years every time they encountered one another. At first he had been able to be near Alice so long as he wasn’t touched by her but now, even a distance away, he could feel the effects of the curse bruising him from the inside out.

  “Look I’m pretty good with a bow, but that’s a lot of bad guys.” Robin noted, looking nervously towards the amount of men between them and their rescue attempt.

  “We just have to create a diversion.” Killian breathed, even talking was becoming a struggle now. “So the others can sneak Henry in to rescue Regina… Uh!” He groaned, turning away as the pain became too much for him.

  Robin turned with him, watching the older man rest an arm against the tree behind them for support. “It’s getting worse isn’t it…?” She asked nervously.

  “Aye,” Killian agreed, turning to lean his back against the tree. “I survived this long but… Now my end is close at hand.” He looked up at Robin’s worried face and saw the kind compassion in her soft green eyes and in that moment he understood now more than ever, why his daughter loved her so. And he was relieved to know that after he was gone, Alice would not be alone. “Take care of Alice.” He said quietly.

  “Of course, I will.” Robin said instantly, then took a deep breath. “Look there’s something I wanted to ask you.” She paused, glancing over her shoulder where she knew the guards and her aunt were waiting for them. “I’m just not sure right now’s the right time.” She said, nervously turning back to face him.

  “This might be your only time.” Killian groaned.

  Well he had a point there.

  “Can I…” Taking a breath and giving him a strained smile, Robin forced the words out before she could let her nerves get the best of her and change her mind. “Have your blessing, to marry Alice.”

  There was a pause that felt like it lasted an age longer than it really did. Killian stared at her with a slight frown on his face that made Robin second guess what she had assumed would have been a sure fire yes to her question. Killian always seemed to have liked her, after all, but maybe he still thought she wasn’t good enough for his daughter. Alice was special. Robin whole heartedly agreed that she deserved the very best in the world, but maybe Killian didn’t think Robin was the best…

  However, before Robin’s mind could get too ahead of her, Killian’s face broke into a wide smile and he gave a light laugh. “Of course! Of course you have my blessing.” He said, pushing away from the tree and moving to pull her into his arms.

  Relief and happiness swam through Robin all at once and for a moment she clung to him tightly, just as much for Alice as for herself. And in that moment, she knew this couldn’t be the end for him. Because Killian was right in his belief that Alice deserved the very best in the world, and that included all the time with her father that she had already missed out on thanks to Gothel and her stupid curse.

  So when they pulled away, Robin found she had gained a newfound courage from the hug. Even as Killian’s face continued to pale and sweat from the effort of just standing there, Robin was determined to get him through this.

  “And here’s the thing. You’re wrong. Your ending isn’t at hand. I don’t care what we’re up against. You are walking Alice down that aisle.” Robin said firmly, reaching back for an arrow and loading her bow with strong determination. She paused, waiting for his reaction.

  Killian chuckled. “Aye. I wouldn’t dare argue with my future daughter in law.”

  Robin smiled at him, watching as he fought through the remaining pain and managed to stumble out into the opening, even as Robin ducked further along the side, still hiding in amongst the trees. She dropped down out of view while Killian stood in the middle of the path and waited for the guards to notice him. It certainly didn’t take them very long. Then, with a loud cry that was more to encourage his limbs to move than anything else, he stared forward, lifting the sword into the air and charging towards them.

  As the guards immediately copied the charge and started towards him, Robin began setting off arrows from her hiding place, one after another, catching many of them while they were distracted with Killian. She took down the horse and his rider first before turning on the others, getting them in their backs and along their lower legs. However, a great number still reached Killian and Robin dashed out from her hiding place as soon as they were all safely away from the bridge.

  “Hey!” She called.

  At least half of the remaining guards paused and looked back at her, shocked to see the lone girl standing among their fallen friends. While they were distracted, Killian lashed out at those closest to him and Robin continued her own assault from afar. The guards stumbled for a moment as they struggled to get back to their senses and quickly mentally debated over which person they should attack before finally separating into two much smaller groups and dividing themselves, moving towards the enemy closest to them.

  Just then, a second pair of guards appeared from the forest opposite the road from where Killian and Robin had come from. They came rushing forward and cut down two of the men that were about to catch Killian off guard in a matter of seconds.

  “What took you?” Robin called as the other guards once again stalled in their surprise.

  “We had to pick up some armour along the way,” Came the reply from the first guard. The voice was familiar but only distantly so and Killian shot Robin a confused look but there was no time to explain. She could fill him in when they had beaten these guys back and safely had Regina returned to them.

  “Henry’s gone ahead inside. Hurry! He may need help. We can handle these guys.” Robin said, turning to one of the remaining men and firing an arrow into his knee.

  With that, the two new guards nodded at her before they turned and dashed back passed Robin and towards the castle, knocking down anyone stupid enough to get in their way as they did. When they swung passed Robin’s side, she fired at those who tried to follow and Killian closed in on them behind. Finally the last few seemed to sense this wasn’t going to end well for them and turned tail to run, making their way around Killian in a desperate break for an escape. Little did they know that Jacinda and Zelena were waiting for them on the other side of the hill.

O*U*A*T

  Meanwhile, as all this played out, Alice and Henry hurried towards the back entrance that Zelena and the others had told them about. There wasn’t time to ask how they knew about it but Henry trusted them and so rushed along regardless of the uncertainty.

  “Alice, wait here.” Henry said as the short door came into sight.

  “But-” Alice began.

  “I need you to stand watch!” Henry called even as he hurried inside without pause. It was only a half lie. Someone should make sure no one else was coming but there shouldn’t be any need while Robin and Killian kept them distracted. More than anything Henry just wanted to keep Alice away from the danger that was no doubt waiting inside the dark tunnels of the castle dungeons.

  And anyway. It was his mother who needed rescuing. It only seemed fit that he should be the one to save her.

  So while Alice lingered in the entrance, glancing around nervously and listening to the cries and shouts from both her father and her love, Henry hurried deeper into the underground caves. He stumbled blindly for only a short time before he found himself following the lights hanging from the walls, rushing down the uneven ground until he finally tripped along a dead end where one of the man cells were located. As he rushed forward, he caught sight of a pair of iron keys hanging off the wall before he saw his mother, sitting curled up on the floor of her cell.

  “Henry!” Regina gasped as she caught sight of him, scrambling to her feet as far as the chains around her wrist would allow her to go.

  Henry closed the distance between them, grabbing the bars and temporarily looking down at her with unsurpressed joy. Thank god she was safe.

  “I got this,” He grinned, turning back to the keys he had passed.

  He had just managed to grab onto them when a sword appeared by the side of his face, pointed to the back of his hand threateningly. Two guards had somehow gotten in without his knowing and snuck up on them. Now they were there, he was kicking himself for not noticing them sooner, silently wondering how they had gotten in. He hoped they had come in through the castle and not the secret entrance where Alice was supposed to be standing guard. He sent a silent prayer that she was okay as he slowly released the keys and pulled his hand away…

  Regina’s chains rattled as she fought against them, feeling more useless now than ever before, just as Henry spun around sharply. He knocked the guards arm down and let the sword fall away from him before reaching up and punching him through an opening in his helmet. While the first guard fell away and Regina continued to struggle against her chains, Henry turned quickly to deal with the second. He dodged a blow for his head and made for one of his own, only for the guard to grab onto him and spin him around sharply, pushing him backwards at the same time. Henry lost his footing and fell against the bars of his mother’s cage, helpless as the second guards returned with his sword once more, this time pulling it back and aiming for his head while he was pinned.

  “NO!” Regina cried.

  However, just before he could attack, something struck the guard from behind. His body jolted for a moment before it dropped to the floor and they looked over him to find two more guards had joined the fight. There was a short second of confusion among them as the first guard released his hold on Henry and turned to face them just as one ran straight for him. Only he was too slow and the new guard closed the distance between them, swinging his own sword in hand. It was almost too easy for the new arrival to use the handle of his weapon to crack against the others helmet, knocking him unconscious with a single blow and letting him drop down to the ground at their feet along with his friend.

  “Who are you…?” Henry asked, feeling breathless and confused as the new guards came to a stop in front of him. This hadn’t been part of the plan, had it?

  Suddenly the two guards pulled off their helmets and Henry almost laughed in relief at the sight of the familiar faces hiding underneath.

  “Your grandparents,” Snow confirmed needlessly.

  “We heard you needed some help.” David noted, grinning at Henry and Regina. “Sorry we took so long,” He quickly passed Henry the keys to Regina’s cell. “Snow and I had a mission of our own to deal with first. We were hoping to stop Rumplestiltskin here and now but he escaped before we could reach him, so we came here to help you instead.”

  “Hey, you’re here now. That’s all that matters.” Henry beamed, unlocking Regina’s cell and then the chains on her wrists. “You okay?” He asked her.

  “I’m fine. Just so relieved you’re okay.” Regina beamed up at him, her eyes misting.

  As they turned back to the others, Henry saw Snow was close to tears of her own. “Hey, grandma, you alright?”

  “Yes. It’s just…” She laughed. “You’re so grown up!”

  With a soft smile, Henry moved forward and hugged her. “It’s certainly been a while…” He agreed quietly.

  “Come on,” Regina said, patting Henry and Snow’s backs. “We can continue this reunion somewhere less depressing.”

To Be Continued...

I added that scene between Robin and Alice partly because there wasn't enough of them in the finale, partly because I wanted to address Alice's guilt over her mistake and partly because I wanted to bring up a moment where Robin confesses she almost sided with Gothel. In other words, I wanted to kill three birds with one stone!

And then, again, added some minor bits here and there, including explaining why Snow and David weren't with them originally, and having a bit of a proper reunion between them and the future version of their grandson!

[reylo-is-strong-in-this]

Can you write a scene in a soulmate AU? I just love that dynamic, don't worry about your grammar I'm sure It will be fantastic.

Thank you so much!

It’s not good, but I really do hope you enjoy it.

I tried to write it in Canon-verse, but somehow i just couldn’t.

Rey used to be fascinated by the idea of soul marks when she was young. Growing up in an orphanage with no one there for you tended to make a girl daydreamed about her very own prince charming. She used to spend hours imagine how their first encounter would be like. She had always been an optimist, according to people around her.But when her soul mark appeared on her wrist on her first day as a barista in a coffee shop near her college, she couldn’t help but cringed.‘BENJAMIN SOLO, 31 Oct, 1990’The name was not common enough for her to think it could’ve been someone else, but the TA from her history class was just so…awkward. He kept to himself and rarely ever spoke, she just found it hard to believe the universe would pair her up with someone so…dull.It didn’t help that soul marks are exclusive for female either. She couldn’t tell if he was interested in her at all, or if he knew that they were soulmates. He just came in the coffee shop daily for coffee and stayed at the table in the deepest corner of the shop, never said anything to her more than a coffee order.Triple-shot espresso with no sugar, like his aura was not gloomy enough.She sighed, whipped her cell phone out to check for e-mails and text messages. It was a slow afternoon and she was bored out of her mind. She just hoped the person she texted last night responded.‘I don’t think she even know I exist.’A small smile crept on the face as she read the text.Kylo Ren was an exact opposite of Ben Solo, this friend she only met online was charming, lovely, and had a wicked sense of humor that always cheered her up on her bad days. She had been talking to Kylo for the past three years since she joined an e-mail pal program her orphanage organized. They made her used a pen name in order to make her more comfortable to open up with a faceless stranger, from then on, she was Kira, a normal girl with a normal friend whom she had never met.Not that she minded though. It was easier for her to keep her crush on Kylo a secret when he couldn’t see her face.Especially when he was head over heels in love with some girl that did not even acknowledge his existence.Rey kept telling herself that it was for the best they hadn’t met, Kylo had someone out there who rightfully belonged to him, she couldn’t have him no matter how much she wanted to.And she was stuck with Ben Solo.‘Don’t say that. I’m sure she is well aware of you existence.’She typed. Kylo mentioned on several occasion how tall he was. Rey liked to imagine resting her head on his broad chest and listening to the steady beats of his heart.‘It’s not fair. Why are girls allowed to know who she’s gonna spend the rest of her life with and I’m stuck in this stupid guessing game?’She could sense irritation from his text. Clearly Kylo was having a bad day.‘Maybe you choose try and talk to her. Maybe she IS your soulmate, but she is to shy to tell you that.’It pained her to play cupid for a guy her had feelings for, but it wouldn’t be right to tell him to give up. She just want Kylo to be happy.‘She covered her wrist with a huge ass wristband and looked at me like I insulted her father every time we met. I really doubt that’s the case.’“Oh. You poor thing.”She mumbled, resisting the urge to ask him for this bitch’s location and hailed a cab there to knock some sense into her.Rey looked down at her own covered wrist, maybe she was not the one to talk.‘Try to break the ice. Start a conversation. Who knows, you might get a good friend out of this.’She tried to cheer him up. Some woman chose to stay single or marry someone who was not her soulmate and stay friends with the guy who was chosen for her by the universe. It was a rare occasion, but not entirely impossible.‘You know what? I might try that. I mean, it’s not like I’m asking her to marry me, right? Just…wanna talk…’Kylo also did mention in the past that he was not as good at interacting with people as he seemed to be with her. At first Rey didn’t think much of it, but it’s been three months and Kylo still just follow this girl around like a lovesick puppy without so much as a glance from her. Maybe she needed to step in before Kylo did something stupid and sent the girl running.‘What do you plan on talking to her about? You know any of her interests?’Rey typed. ‘Coffee…Plants…Books… I’m pretty sure they are something along that line.’Simple enough.‘Start with something broad, see if she is interested in the topic. You can do it, Kylo.’ She hesitated, then typed. ‘If it didn’t work out. You still have my shoulder to cry on.’‘I really wish you were here.’She smiled at the text, before looking up when she heard a cough. “Umm…”Ben Solo was standing right in front of her. The poor lad looked like he hadn’t sleep in days. But even with that deep shadow under his eyes and his quiet personality, he still was a very attractive man.She just wish he would be more…Kylo.“Yes, sir. How can I help you?” She forced a smile onto her face. Even if Ben had done nothing to her, his mere presence was more than enough to make her felt uneasy.“Do you know that if you drink two cups of coffee daily, you will decrease your risk of committing suicide by 50%” Rey blinked at him. She had no idea how to respond to that.“Umm. 1 cup of triple shot espresso, please.”It was his second cup of the day, so she couldn’t help herself but asked.“Are you trying to lower your suicide risk?”“….”He just stared at her awkwardly. So Rey continued to do her work and just ignore him as usual.When Ben was gone, she picked up her phone again.‘I screwed up. Now she thinks I’m a weirdo!’‘Well, at least she know you exist.’ Rey didn’t dare ask what he said to that girl.‘I wish I was born like 80 years earlier. You know, back in the day, my grandfather just told my grandma he hated sands, and the next thing he knew they were having twins.’‘You father must have been very hot.’ That was all she could reply.‘He was.’‘How about you pretend to bump into her. Or drop something for her to pick up. You know, like a proper high class lady you are.’ She teased. Suddenly, a sound of a coffee cup shattering the floor caught her attention. She almost rolled her eyes when she saw Ben knelt down to pick up the pieces.“Let me do it.” She told him and knelt down beside the tall figure. They were so close she could feel the burn of her soul mark, begging for her to tell him he was the one.“Sorry.” He mumbled. His voice sounded  deeper when  he was close. He looked nervous and guilty.It made him seemed a little more approachable somehow, and for a moment, Rey even thought that expression was rather cute.“No problem.”Rey said, looked away from Ben’s face. It was her job to clean up after customer anyway.When she got back to her phone, there were tons of texts waiting for her.‘Nope. Didn’t work.’ ‘And I pretty sure she hates me now.’‘Kira. Do you think it’s time we actually meet up?’‘I could really use a friend right now.’Rey felt her heart slamming into her rib cage. They had talked about meeting up from time to time, but it just didn’t feel right. Even calling each other on the phone didn’t feel right, so they stuck with texting ever since.But she sensed that Kylo really could use a shoulder to cry on right now.‘Sure. I’m working part time in a coffee shop right now. I’ll sent you a location.’She knew Kylo was near by. He mentioned working in this area after quit from his mother’s company.‘What?’That was the only thing the test said after he got her location.‘What’s what?’ She typed, and that was when her phone rang.Kylo names flashed across the screen, considering how long she had his number, this should not be surprising to her, but she couldn’t help but swallowed at the thought of hearing Kylo’s voice for the first time.“Hel- Hello?”“Kira?”His voice sounded shocked, shaken, and very, very Ben Solo.Rey looked up from the counter. Ben Solo was staring at her with his mouth wide open. Rey couldn’t do anything but staring back with exactly the same expression.“Ky- Kylo?”He hung up the phone, walking straight to her. Rey should have run. She should have said something.Instead, she just froze.Kylo bit his lower lip. His eyes dropped to the wristband on her wrist.“I’m sorry. I should have gotten the clue.” He pointed at her wrist. “He is a lucky guy.”“I-”Rey couldn’t wrapped her mind around the thought. It has never occurred that they could be the same person.“You are…different from what I pictured.” That  was all she could mutter. and she regretted it the second it left her mouth.“Yeah. I’m kind of a freak in real life.” He scratched his neck, heat crept from his face to his neck and ears.And somehow, Rey found that quite adorable.“Don’t say that.”She said, slowly  pulling her wristband off her wrist. “You are not a freak.”His eyes widen as he saw the name written across her wrist, branded her as his by the universe.But instead of being happy, Kylo just looked hurt.“Am I that much of a disappointment that you chose to cover up my name and pretend I don’t exist?”“What? No!” Rey cried. she bit her lower lip,  and decided to answer him honestly. “When your name appeared. I was already in love with someone else.”Kylo looked like he just got punched in the stomach. “He was my first friend, my only friend, the only person in this world who gave a damn whether I lived or died.” She looked into his eyes, and continued. “We fit together. When I talked to him I felt like I wasn’t alone. Like no matter how far away he was, he was still right there for me.”Kylo just looked confused, which make her confession harder than  it already was.Rey sighed.“I fell in love with him even without knowing his real name, what he looked like, or what he sounded like.” She smiled softly. “Well, not until today, at least.”Kylo’s face looked almost comical when he came to realization of what she just said. His face broke into a smile for the very first time, and Rey felt her heart beating rapidly inside her chest.“I…” She blushed, looked down to her feet when she talked to him. “I don’t like sand.”She heard a soft chuckled forming in his throat. Man, she could listen to that sound all her life.“Careful there, I heard having twins is a lot of work.”“How about we grab something to eat first?” She relaxed. That was Kylo she knew.“Sure, and on our way back to the campus we can pick up some onesies for the twins. You can’t be too prepared.”“Shut up, Ben.” Rey smiled.“See, we aren’t even married and you already know how to boss me around.” He teased. “Oh. And I have one more question?”“Yeah?” “What’s your name?”

[swapauanon]

Better KH2 AU: re:coded

This is mostly plot/system overhaul since the game is already fun to play. Under a cut because this was more detailed than I was expecting:

Viruses would have to be enabled by a cheat. So you’ll only be forced to wager all your SP if you have decided that the risk was worth it, but the cheat simply allows the player to raise the likeliness of it happening from 0% to 100% (not that I’d recommend deliberately making every floor of a system sector have a virus because nobody is that good).

Additionally “Play at night” wouldn’t be a thing.

re:coded would be on the 3DS instead of the DS.

The secret message Jiminy finds would actually magically appear as he’s going through the journal. Mickey would suggest that turning the journal into data might help them find other hidden messages.

There would be stakes as early as before Data-Sora’s created, with Chip and Dale noting that the Bugs are deleting the journal.

Data-Sora would start the game as slightly robotic and less emotive, coming across as emulating what Sora’s journal entry says instead of just being dumber Sora.

Data-Sora would switch to a wooden sword when fighting Tidus, with “Busting up on the Beach” making its triumphant return.

Data-Sora would ask if Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka if they’ve seen Riku anywhere, but none of them have any helpful answers.

When Data-Sora investigates the Secret Place, he’d encounter a hooded figure and a Shadow. With both vanishing into the Keyhole.

Data-Sora would express worry for Destiny Islands, with Mickey explaining that, since the blocks are gone, the island isn’t in danger of being deleted.

Data-Sora wouldn’t quite know what deleting means but assumes that it doesn’t matter since it won’t be happening if he keeps debugging the worlds.

It’s incredibly blatant that Data-Sora doesn’t know that he’s a computer program, and Mickey would be more than happy to keep things that way.

Mickey would actually try to use his Keyblade on the door, but would be shocked when it doesn’t actually work (this would later be revealed to be due to the fact that the door was actually just a texture at this point and not a real door).

The puzzle pieces Huey, Dewey, and Louie are holding would actually form an incomplete Keyhole instead of all of them being a weird Tetris-esque L-block.

The hearts the fake Emblem Heartless release would be pixelated, to signify that they aren’t real hearts being released.

Data-Riku would hint to Sora that it’s just like what “she” said would happen, before vanishing.

When Data-Sora meets Alice, Mickey would comment that she’s a Princess of Heart, like Kairi. Data-Sora would reveal that he doesn’t know who Kairi is.

At the end of Wonderland, Data-Riku would take Data-Sora to the digital copy of Disney Castle, explaining that he felt that Data-Sora deserved to know the truth, but also that, since his appearance has since stabilized, he can finally appear to the others in his true form.

He’d still reveal that Mickey and co were brought into the Datascape.

Data-Riku would then explain that, prior to the Datascape’s creation, the Journal had previously been turned into data by a girl, whom had done so to place a pure, unaltered version of the journal within him, and warned him that the next time he woke up, the worlds would be in danger, due to a very vital piece of the Journal being missing.

Data-Riku would guess that Kairi is this missing piece, since neither he nor Data-Sora know who she is, and yet Mickey was surprised to know that Data-Sora didn’t know about her. Mickey would then explain that in the real world, she motivated both Sora and Riku to undergo their journeys in the first place, and that without her, Sora’s and Riku’s first adventure might have never happened.

Data-Riku then surmises that the Bugs are the Journal’s way of coping with Kairi’s disappearance. Without her, Sora never went on his adventure, and Riku never fell to darkness, meaning that the nothing in the journal makes sense, and so it uses the Bugs to fill in the cracks, which only serves to make the problem worse. Data-Riku then guesses that’s why the data’s backed up inside of him. If the Bugs were to completely corrupt the Journal, then they’d need that pure data.

Data-Sora would then ask about the inhabitants of the digital worlds, and what will happen to them if the data is completely corrupted. Data-Riku would state that, odds are, they’d all be deleted, since they are made of that same Data. He then says that Data-Sora should be safe, so long as he stays in the uncorrupted worlds.

Not about to let anyone die, Data-Sora instead says to send him to the next world that needs debugging, stating that even if they’re made of data, he can’t allow them to disappear. Data-Riku then points out that Sora’s made of ones and zeroes too, so he’s in as much danger of being corrupted and deleted if he goes to the remaining worlds. Data-Sora doesn’t care, and says that he has to fight the Bugs. Mickey would point out that Data-Sora was programmed to help fight the Bugs, so it wouldn’t make much sense for him to stand by and do nothing. Data-Riku relents, and opens a gateway to the next world, before warning Data-Sora that, if he’s corrupted and deleted, loading a back-up will just create a new Data-Sora, and not bring him back from the dead. Data-Sora states that he understands, and simply asks that if anything happens to him, that they be kind to the next Data-Sora.

The extra bosses in Olympus Colisseum’s extra layers of the Labyrinth would be the Rock Titan, the Ice Titan, and Sephiroth, instead of the Rock Titan, a Behemoth, and the Ice Titan, since if I remember correctly the KH1 Sephiroth battle wasn’t retconned out of continuity in this AU.

The ending would be changed to have an extra scene with Cloud if Data-Sora saved him. Depending on which of the four bosses was fought, Data-Sora could get an Overclock Command, Metal Chocobo, Diamond Dust, or One Winged Angel.

Hades would hint that someone actually taught him how to manipulate the Bugs to warp the labyrinth to his advantage, foreshadowing Pete.

Pete would reveal that he had gotten past the Cornerstone of Light by using a Gummi Ship, and that since he wasn’t in the room when everyone inside was transported into a digital copy, he instead found himself floating between the data worlds, and that Maleficent was able to bypass the Cornerstone of Light by teleporting to him.

When Pete leaves, Data-Riku warns Data-Sora that Pete and Maleficent are accelerating the corruption of the Datascape by manipulating the Bugs with darkness.

In the section of Agrabah where time is stopped, running out of time would actually cause a game over.

Maleficent would use Bug Blox to destroy Data-Sora’s fake Keyblade.

After Data-Riku is captured, and the fake Keyblade is destroyed the implications of being made of data finally start to sink in for Data-Sora, who bitterly points out that he’s not the real Sora when Donald and Goofy point out how he’s never given up on any of their previous adventures, even snapping at them for how they keep treating him, before deciding to go to Hollow Bastion and save Data-Riku himself, Keyblade or no.

When Goofy saves him from the Heartless, he’d remark that it doesn’t matter if he’s the “real” Sora or not, he should’ve been more considerate of how Data-Sora felt, and that the fact that he’s made of data shouldn’t stop them from being friends. He’d point out how in their last adventure with Sora, they befriended a computer program and helped him save his system and the real Hollow Bastion from the Heartless. Goofy would then explain that he and Donald were separated when they were attacked by some Heartless while they were running after Data-Sora.

When they find Donald, Data-Sora would apologize for losing his temper earlier, stating that it wasn’t fair for him to take out their frustrations on them like that. He’d explain that the fact that he’s not the real Sora had just sunk in and that Donald and Goofy treating him like the same old friend they had gone on two adventures with really wasn’t helping with the existential angst. Donald would then reply that just because he’s not the original Sora doesn’t make him any less real than the one they journeyed with. If he has thoughts and feelings that are his own, then it’s pretty clear that he’s more than just ones and zeroes.

As the three journey on through Hollow Bastion, Data-Sora would ask questions about the Sora outside the Datascape, and Donald and Goofy basically get the chance to tell stories and recap the previous two games, while also mentioning the time Sora came back from being a Heartless, of how they had learned about a boy named Roxas, and how the three of them had befriended Naminé after saving her from DiZ. Everything about Nobodies would basically fly right over Data-Sora’s head, but Goofy would say that they shouldn’t have to worry about them because Jiminy didn’t know about them when he recorded this journal.

The part where Pete traps Donald and Goofy would be in the Chapel instead of the Great Hall.

Donald and Goofy would be caught in Danger Blox (which damage anyone who touches them) instead of Bug Blox.

They’re motivational speech would be calling back to all of the low-points they had overcome. With Data-Sora calling back to the “My friends are my power!” moment on his own and with no prompting from Donald and Goofy.

Mickey would catch up right as Data-Sora gets his real Keyblade, explaining that he had been fighting Maleficent and wasn’t able to intervene until now.

There would be a save point in the Chapel after Data-Sora gets his Keyblade back, with the Data Keyhole being located where the Corridor of Darkness was in KH1.

Instead of “Hollow Bastion: Part II”, the portion where Data-Sora debugs Data-Riku would be called “The Datascape”, and be treated as a new world.

The second he arrives in Riku’s Data, Data-Riku would give Data-Sora the back up Journal Data, explaining that Data-Sora needs to leave with the back-ups so that Data-Riku can delete himself and be rid of the bugs once and for all, and Data-Sora can restore the worlds from the back-up.

Data-Sora would, of course, refuse, and instead decide to go through Data-Riku’s memories and debug his data.

Castle Oblivion would be unlocked for Questploration at this point, though clearing the world would be impossible until the Datascape is cleared.

When Data-Sora clears Destiny Islands, he’d ask what Data-Riku was doing in the Secret Place with a Heartless. Data-Riku would remark that that wasn’t him, and then wonder if that hooded figure might be up to trouble.

In Traverse Town, Data-Riku would explain that the reason he was so cryptic is that, underneath the hood, he was a jumbled mess of code, and that the same girl who backed up the journal’s data inside him also gave him the coat to protect him and the data from the Heartless. When Data-Sora asks why he isn’t jumbled code if he has a back-up inside himself, Data-Riku would explain that he learned from the girl’s mistake and found a way to place the data inside Data-Sora without messing up his appearance.

Otherwise, debugging Data-Riku proceeds as normal.

When Data-Sora fights Maleficent, she’d reveal that she had decided to take a page from Xehanort and control Riku from within. Data-Sora would have no clue who Xehanort is and Maleficent wouldn’t bother explaining that. Otherwise their epic conversation from the actual game would be more or less unchanged.

Sora would get Zero/One for defeating Maleficent.

When Data-Riku lets out Donald, Goofy, Mickey Mouse, and Jiminy Cricket (since Pete and Maleficent are no longer in control of the only way out), he’d remark that there might be some issues loading up the back-ups if they can’t find out what happened to Kairi’s data, since her absence is what caused the Bugs in the first place. Data-Sora would also express worry, but Data-Riku explains that he’s been using the records of Data-Sora’s adventures as a temporary placeholder, which is why replaying the episodes was even possible. And then an earthquake happens and Data-Sora suddenly realizes that he technically never finished debugging Hollow Bastion. The ground shakes and a voice announces that a complete deletion of the Datascape is already underway.

Mickey and Jiminy come to the conclusion that Maleficent must be trying to destroy the Datascape out of spite, and Data-Riku tells Data-Sora that if he can destroy the source of Hollow Bastion’s bugs, they should be able to stop Maleficent from using the Bugs to erase the entire Datascape. Data-Sora then heads into the very core of the corruption.

When Data-Sora arrives at the core of the Datascape, he tells Maleficent that he won’t let her erase the Datascape. Maleficent would reply that she’s not trying to delete the Date Escape, it’s unique properties are far too useful for her to not do so, she and Pete were simply trying to leave so that they could formulate a new plan, only to find themselves trapped in this place. It’s at this point that the rainbow Darkside shows up, Data-Sora realizes that it must be the source of the Bugs in Hollow Bastion, and Maleficent decides that she’ll simply have it obey her will like any other Heartless, with Pete questioning if now’s really the time to try that. The Darkside then announces “I don’t take orders from you!” before punching Maleficent and Pete, the two vanishing into the darkness.

Data-Sora is surprised that 1. the Darkside can talk, and 2. it sounds like him, and Data-Riku cuts in, and explains something that he feels like he should have explained a while ago: In the Journal, it was recorded that Sora had become a Heartless. Data-Sora learned about this incident from Donald and Goofy, but notes that Kairi had restored him. Data-Riku replies that yes, she did, but Kairi doesn’t exist in the Datascape, and so here, Sora never turned back. He then explains that Mickey and co didn’t create Data-Sora, they only created his Keyblade. Data-Riku actually created him from the back-up data, explaining that Sora’s data was too corrupted to wield the Keyblade.

Sora’s Heartless then remarks that it has grown stronger since their last meeting, taking the Darkside’s data for their own, and using the Heartless to grow stronger. Data-Sora then realizes that the Heartless he saw in the Secret Place with the hooded figure is actually the same Heartless standing before him now. He then replies that he’s been destroying the Heartless, and Sora’s Heartless replies that that is how it was able to grow so strong. The hooded figure taught it how to collect data from other worlds, and how Heartless release hearts when destroyed by the Keyblade. But the Heartless Data-Sora fought were not real Heartless, and so instead of releasing hearts, they released minds. Minds that Sora’s Heartless were able to combine with it’s own to grow more intelligent, and learn how to manipulate the Datascape, and, more importantly, how to escape.

When Sora’s Heartless takes on the Anti-Sora form, it would remark that all of the real Sora’s experiences are it’s own, that a mere copy cannot hope to overcome him. Data-Riku cuts in, telling Data-Sora that Sora’s Heartless is just corrupted data, it may emulate Sora’s appearance, but it can’t copy his heart. Nor can it overcome the strength of Data-Sora’s heart.

When he defeats the second form, Sora’s Heartless suddenly reappears, revealing that it figured out how to back-up it’s data, then splits into three. Data-Riku then tells Data-Sora that he’s not fighting the real Heartless, that he has to strip away all of the Bugs that Sora’s Heartless has used to upgrade itself so that he can take it out at it’s source.

When Data-Sora defeats Sora’s Heartless again, it once again takes on it’s “Neo Darkside” form, and announces that Data-Sora can’t possibly hope to defeat it, only for Mickey Mouse to hope in and blast the Darkside with a beam of light. Mickey then explains that he was watching the whole thing and figured out how to defeat Sora’s Heartless for good. The answer? He simply locked the Darkside’s data, but since this is an unconventional use of the Keyblade’s power, he needs to use all his power to keep the Darkside’s data locked. Sora’s Heartless emerges, remarking that all it needs to do is attack Mickey to put an end to this pathetic charade. Data-Sora summons his Keyblade, and thanks his Heartless for revealing itself.

Sora’s Heartless would scream as it fades away, and the Darkside would explode in a burst of light.

Data-Riku would remind Data-Sora to seal the Data Keyhole when they arrive in the Chapel, in order to put an end to the bugs once and for all. Data-Sora does so, then remarks that now all they have to do is find some way to restore Kairi’s data, and the Datascape will be ready for complete restoration. Mickey asks what happened to Maleficent and Pete, and Data-Riku replies that they vanished into the darkness. His guess is that they’ll never see them again.

Meanwhile, Maleficent and Pete are in a Corridor of Darkness. Pete remarking that that was a bust, but wonders what the point of conquering a bunch of fake worlds would be anyway. Maleficent would then reply that it wasn’t the worlds in the Date Escape that she was concerned with, but the Date Escape itself. Namely, the fact that it was able to generate entire worlds and people. That is the power that interested her. She then tells Pete that they should head back to their headquarters, as there a things she needs to tell him out of range of prying eyes and ears.

When Mickey returns to the outside world, he sees a thank you message from Data-Sora and Data-Riku. Roll credits.

This would unlock the “Debugged Ending”. But the game would suggest holding on to the Clear Data and checking out Castle Oblivion through Questploration.

Loading the Clear Data places Data-Sora in the Great Hall in Hollow Bastion (though it’s considered part of the Datascape, world-wise), just before he dove into the corrupted data, but just after he debugged Data-Riku. He can restart the Datascape Episode by selecting “Replay Episode” from the World Map, or just pick up from the side-scrolling minigame by selecting “Score Attack”.

When Data-Sora arrives at Castle Oblivion, Mickey would warn him to be careful, since the original Sora had a nasty encounter with Organization XIII in this world that cost him his memories. He explains that, this is also where the words in the Journal first disappeared, so that if Kairi’s data would be anywhere, it would be here. Data-Sora asks what these Organization people looked like so that he can keep an eye out for them, and Mickey’s voice cuts out right as the hooded figure from the Secret Place appears. He then answers Data-Sora’s question: “We typically dress in black coats.”

Data-Sora would then summon his Keyblade, and the hooded figure would tell him to relax, he already cleared out the other Organization members in this castle. He had grown to hate them, you see. He then explains that he’s not even supposed to be in the Datascape, but that he woke up in Castle Oblivion after a battle with the real Riku. Data-Sora asks him what he’s talking about, but then the hooded figure remarks that he should have paid more attention when Donald and Goofy were telling him about Nobodies and Organization XIII, before going off on a spiel on finding and losing, before explaining to Data-Sora that he can either go back to the Datascape, or try and uncover the secret of Castle Oblivion. Data-Sora’s interest is piqued, and Data-Roxas gives him a card, depicting Destiny Islands. He then tells Sora to use the card, so he can explain more there.

When Data-Sora returns to the entrance hall, and finds that he can’t remember what happened in the Memory World, Data-Roxas explains the gimmick of Castle Oblivion. Whereas in the real Castle Oblivion, the real Sora lost more and more of his memories until he went mad, in this Castle Oblivion, Data-Sora will meet people from his past every time he uses one of the cards, but won’t be able to make new memories while he’s here. He then tells Data-Sora that he can do whatever he wants, since there’s no script to follow. He can help them out, crush their dreams, or simply leave them to march along to the scripts of their own memories. Data-Sora then asks why he’d do that to his own friends, but then the hooded figure reveals that, going forward, whenever he uses a World Card, he won’t have access to his memories of his visit to that world until after he leaves. So it’ll be like he’s meeting these people for the first time all over again.

If Data-Sora goes back to the World Map, he can pick up where he left off in Castle Oblivion by selecting “Questploration” when visiting Castle Oblivion.

Data-Sora will only get the Datascape’s World Card if he’s defeated Sora’s Heartless. If he hasn’t, he’ll have to reset Castle Oblivion after he does in order to complete it.

Cloud’s test in the memory of Olympus Coliseum would be to destroy the one Red Nocturne in a crowd of Green Requiems.

As Sora journeys deeper and deeper into the Castle, the Hooded figure reveals more and more of his motives, asking Data-Sora how important Kairi can possibly be if he could forget her so easily. He’d bring up how once he had been a dutiful wielder, fighting the Heartless wherever they manifested, hoping to eventually gain a heart of his own so he could understand what’s so great about them, only for the people with hearts to turn out to be some of the cruelest people he had ever interacted with, stealing away everything he had and leaving him with nothing, just because he wasn’t “real”. He’d mention how much he hates Sora, blaming him for his misery, stating that the only reason he’s even doing this is because he likes to see Sora squirm, even if it’s not the real Sora who fell into his trap. The hooded figure would eventually reveal that he, much like Data-Sora, is a copy of a fake, that the same girl who backed-up Jiminy’s Journal copied his data from someone else, who was then tortured and erased just to wake up the real Sora. Meaning that all this hooded figure has are painful memories that aren’t even his own.

The Datascape World Card’s Challenge is to defeat three waves of Bug Enemies (Blox Bugs, Danger Bugs, and Metal Bugs), while working with King Mickey, and before time runs out. If King Mickey runs out of HP, that’s an ending. If time runs out, that’s an ending. If Data-Sora defeats all the enemies, that’s an ending.

After clearing all the World Cards, Data-Sora comes to more or less the same conclusion that he did in canon, but Data-Roxas isn’t content to let him leave. He wants to see Sora break, and to feel the same agony he’s felt his entire life.

After Data-Roxas is defeated, Data-Sora decides to spare him. Data-Roxas would question why he’d do that, after everything he’s done to him. Data-Sora replies that he can tell that Data-Roxas is as much a victim as he is, and simply says that even if he’s still mad about everything he did, he wants to help him. Data-Roxas merely laughs sourly, then says in a dark tone, “At least I know one way I can hurt you. Even if I can’t destroy you, the failure to save me will haunt you for the rest of your miserable life!” and then erase himself while laughing, leaving nothing behind but a card. The World Card for Castle Oblivion. Data-Sora would pick the card up, then lament that Data-Roxas just wouldn’t let go.

Mickey would arrive with Data-Riku right as Data-Sora’s about to use the World Card, stating that after their connection was lost, he had to find some way to get into the Castle. Data-Riku remarks that the Data-Roxas is the same person Data-Sora saw in the Secret Place with Sora’s Heartless, and that this whole mess was part of his twisted revenge scheme, before asking Data-Sora where he is. Data-Sora would reply that when he tried to help Data-Roxas, he deleted himself just to spite him. Data-Riku would remark that what Data-Roxas did is not Data-Sora’s fault, he was simply too blinded by his hatred to do let anyone fill the void within him. Data-Sora also explains that the world card is all that’s left, but that it feels different from the other World Cards he’s used. Mickey would suggest that Kairi’s data might be in that Card, and that if they use it they might be able to get her back. Data-Sora agrees, and uses the card, the three entering the Memory World together.

There they meet Data-Naminé, who finally explains what happened after introducing herself. The original Naminé had wanted to restore the Journal while piecing Sora’s memories back together, but DiZ didn’t consider that a priority, and so ordered Naminé to not even bother. When Riku captured the original Roxas, DiZ turned him into data. Naminé took the liberty of copying Roxas’ data, and digitized the Journal, before placing Roxas’ data in there to guard memories she stumbled upon in Sora’s heart that didn’t belong to Sora. Data-Roxas became self-aware, much like Data-Sora did, and instead decided to try and locate the real Sora so he could carry out his revenge against Sora. Acting fast, Naminé went into the record of Castle Oblivion, and gave the memories to her counterpart in the Journal, then gave Data-Riku a copy of every word written in the journal, as well as a black coat to hide himself. Data-Naminé hid with the memories in the back-up data, and Naminé paused the entire Datascape and turned it back into a Journal, to try and pause Data-Roxas’ rampage.

Mickey asks what the memories Data-Naminé has are, and she explains that their the memories of people tied to Sora’s heart, the memories of the tragedies that befell them. She explains that she wanted to show them to the real Sora, but there were more pressing matters, and they could break Sora’s heart if handled improperly. However, Sora needs to use these painful memories in order to save the people in them. Data-Sora is all for going ahead and giving it a try, but then Data-Riku brings up the fact that they were dangerous enough that Naminé had to effectively quarantine them, and that just because they can make another Data-Sora, doesn’t mean that Data-Riku wants to lose the one they have. He just wouldn’t have the same heart. He then says that he’ll do it. Data-Naminé points out that she’s not sure if he can handle the memories on top of the stress of holding a back-up Datascape inside him. Mickey proposes that they work with and support each other, remarking that if one heart alone can’t handle it, then the three of them will have to combine the strength of their hearts in order to endure it.

They then take on the memories. They see Roxas (in his casual clothes) and an older Naminé. Data-Naminé explains that while the original Roxas has made peace with Sora, he’d still much rather be his own person. Naminé, meanwhile, had been surprised to find her own memories tied to Sora’s heart, but nonetheless, she has been in excruciating pain ever since she returned to Kairi, and the union cannot be complete because Kairi’s heart does not allow for darkness to exist within it, and Naminé has darkness inside her. Data-Sora then notices Xion, and just by looking at her, he can tell that something horrible happened. Data-Naminé explains that Naminé was surprised to find that anyone else could remember her, and that it is only through remembering that she’ll make her return. Data-Riku comments on just how much sorrow he feels from Xion (though without saying her name), and Data-Naminé explains that her life was short and full of pain, and her consciousness outlived her body and is in a state of pain. But they are not the only ones needing help.

At this point, Mickey notices Terra, Ventus, and Aqua, and is surprised to see them, having thought that they were gone for good. Data-Naminé explains that they’re all still alive, and that one of them sleeps within Sora’s heart. However, the other two are currently lost in a terrible and malevolent darkness that the original Naminé was too terrified to seek through. She then adds that when the original Naminé tasked her with keeping these memories safe, that DiZ was planning on hiding his research inside the original Sora, to keep it out of the Organization’s hands, then tells them that if they can find some way to get this data, then they might be able to use it to their advantage.

As that’s done, Mickey promises to get the original Sora to help these people, but Data-Riku asks if there’s any way to fix the Datascape, because even without the Bugs, it’s nowhere near stable. Data-Naminé sighs, then explains that when Naminé tampered with Sora’s memories, it was his memories of Kairi she overwrote, and so Data-Naminé believes that in the Journal, Kairi’s Data was overwritten with Naminé’s. Meaning that Kairi’s restoration might mean her end.  She admits full and well that she has the power to put Kairi back, but she doesn’t want to die. Data-Sora cuts in, stating that they’ll find another way to stabilize the Datascape, but Data-Naminé refuses, remarking that they can’t afford to wait any longer if they want to undo the damage that was done. She remarks that she’s happy to have met them, because now she doesn’t have to die alone. He asks her if there’s anything he can do for her. She just requests that he hold her, because she’s scared it will hurt. Data-Sora complies, and Data-Riku thanks her. In a flash of light, Data-Kairi materializes in Data-Sora’s arms, and asks if it’s over. When she hears her name, she expresses confusion and opens her eyes, questioning how she’s not dead. Data-Sora explains that Data-Naminé brought her back, but Data-Kairi states that’s impossible, because she is Data-Naminé. Mickey then remarks that this outcome was obvious, because Naminé couldn’t make Sora forget Kairi, only change how he remembered her. As such, Data-Kairi and Data-Naminé are actually one and the same. Data-Kairi admits that this is confusing, especially since she doesn’t think of herself as Kairi. Data-Sora remarks that she can go by whatever she wants, and Data-Kairi/Naminé states that she’s just sick of Castle Oblivion and wants to go home. The four of them head out, Mickey to Disney Castle, and the Data trio to the Digital Destiny Islands.

Mickey’s letter addresses the entire Paopu Trio, with Kairi asking Sora if he’s ready to go as he reads the letter. Sora replies that he is, and these people are counting on them. She then asks if he remembered to tell his parents, and Sora suddenly panics. Roll credits, and “Remembered Ending” with the “Battle Report” showing Data-Sora and Data-Riku with Data-Kairi/Naminé on Destiny Islands, watching the sunset.

In the Secret Ending, Mickey would explain to Yen Sid that he’s learned the location of Ven’s heart, as well as the fact Terra and Aqua are still alive. Yen Sid would remark that that only leaves Terra, right as Sora and co arrive, asking what they were called here for.

Yen Sid explains that, now that Maleficent has met her end in the Datascape, they can focus on dealing with Xehanort. The others would express confusion at this, Riku noting that he’s dealt with his Heartless, Ansem, and Sora reply that his Nobody, Xemnas, is history. Yen Sid replies that that is exactly the issue. When a Heartless is destroyed, that frees the heart from darkness. And when a Nobody is vanquished, the body lies dormant in darkness. And as both have been dealt with, Xehanort will no doubt return. This is why Yen Sid called them here, to prepare themselves for Xehanort’s inevitable return. Especially since now they will be up against not a fraction of him, but Xehanort’s complete form.

Meanwhile, Terra-Xehanort, Braig, and a hooded figure are conversing. Terra-Xehanort comments that Braig played his part well while he was without his memories, and that now he has returned, he can get his original plan back on track. Braig comments on how Ansem and Xemnas nearly ruined everything, and asks if he’s sure there’s no trace of either left in him. Terra-Xehanort replies that that’s none of Braig’s business, and tells not to forget his role. Braig remarks that he hasn’t, and says that since he can’t help them with the next stage of their big plan, he’ll go and carry out his own plans. Telling Xehanort to make sure to fill in their little friend. The Mysterious Figure lowers his hood, revealing himself to be the younger Xehanort seen at the beginning of Ven’s story. He asks why they’re letting Braig leave, stating that they need as many seekers as possible. Terra-Xehanort replies that it never hurts to have a spare, before summoning his Keyblade, calling it the most ancient of weapons. His Keyblade is a relic of the Keyblade War, passed down through the generations, and the first Keyblade ever forged. He tells the younger Xehanort that this present is his future, and that Yen Sid and the King do not yet realize just who it is they are dealing with, nor how many to expect. The younger Xehanort simply replies that he still doesn’t know what his older self is up to, and Terra-Xehanort replies that it was deliberate, all he needs to know is how to best carry out his role in these long-destined events. The younger Xehanort then asks a simple question. Braig said that they had to take one of the unconscious people with them, then asks who it is. Terra-Xehanort grins, but only gets out the first letter before:

Reconnect: Kingdom Hearts

[wonderfulchaos69-blog]

Fanfic Recs

I’ve been meaning to make one of these for a long, long while and so here it is! Amazing fics that I’ve read and enjoyed a lot =) I hope you’ll find something that you might enjoy, too, along the way. And feel free to share any fics you’ve read/written, I’d be more than happy to add to the list!

Artemis Fowl:

Why One Must Not Attempt to Analyze A Child Genius, fiercejinx - Complete, G. "Artemis Fowl had retired half a dozen counselors from St. Barleby's already this year." Here's how. Six chapters, one for each psychologist losin' it.

Blue Exorcist:

To Be Good, Kizmet - Complete, T. Yukio had always been the good twin, intelligent, studious, disciplined and, most importantly, not a demon. It was obvious that he only wanted what was best for Rin. Yukio's intentions were one thing Rin would never question, no matter what. After Father Fujimoto's death Yukio went quietly insane. No one noticed.

Danganronpa:

A Farewell to All Futures, Yukari - Complete, Not Rated, Oneshot. One of them in theory belonged to the chosen ones, but still wondered if his life had any meaning.

The other one had a chance to become the chosen one, but still wondered if his decision was right. Basically the first, very brief meeting of Komaeda and Hinata before the world went completely insane, because we probably won't get to see it in the anime.

Bad Poetry of a Lopsided Heart, IcicleWieldingManaic - WIP, T. Komaeda likes to write letters that he never sends. However, one time Hinata accidentally receives one addressed to himself. He also feels a responsibility to watch over Komaeda after the events of the first trial. You know, just so nobody else gets killed.It's a good thing Hinata doesn't know who the letter's from, huh? Komaeda/Hinata, slow burn.

just looking at you i enjoy myself, suitablyskippy - Complete, Mature. “Hm?” says Komaeda, and looks down at the grip he’s still got, cold and clammy and squeezed uncomfortably tight. “Oh – that! Of course! You know, sometimes, Hinata-kun – sometimes I forget, when I’m touching you! Because it feels so natural. Like you and I are one, almost! Like we were always meant to be this close – do you know what I mean? Do you feel it?”

“You’re still holding my wrist,” says Hinata.

Komaeda lets him go, and then he touches his elbow, gently, as though in consolation. “With my luck the way it is,” he says, “no one’s gonna be able to kill me unless I let them.”

(Someone's got to die next, and Komaeda would really, really like it to be him!)

Long Road to North, Urponator - WIP, T. There’s nothing as hopeless as a life being a regular salesman at a regular office. And after waiting for years for his life to change, he can’t contain his excitement as he finds himself threatened by a knife, held by a brown-haired stranger on the run. Komaeda/Hinata, slow burn, AU.

Death Note:

A Forgotten Encounter, Alex Prosper - Complete, T. Light is faced with his first murder case at age nine after meeting a strange, hooded teenager in Harajuku. Dupin becomes the one special thing in his childhood, long forgotten. This is L and Light's true first meeting, but they will never know it.

Genius is a Curse, Bloodshot Eyes - WIP, T. If Light had never touched the Death Note, would he ever have found an escape from the depression and boredom that plagued him? Would he have had a future at all? Undertones of Light/L, dark themes.

Leave the Light On, Ne Quittez Pas - Complete, T. Light had dealt with admirers before, but nothing like this. Between an unknown stalker and a mass-murderer with a God complex, it's unlikely that Light will ever sleep again... unless an insomniac detective can help him put a stop to both. Light/L, dark themes.

Detective Conan:

It's Raining Men, Hallelujah, Asuka Kureru - Complete, Oneshot, T. Conan already has some kind of corpse magnet power, but when Heiji is in his orbit the corpses actively come to them. From above. Witness.

D. Grayman:

Fair Play, liketolaugh - WIP, T.  Cross hated his master. Really. Allen fucking Walker was the most infuriatingly mysterious human being on the planet - but even Cross couldn't say Allen had done a bad job looking after him. Oneshot series.

vertigo, hurryup - WIP, Mature. Los Angeles, 1951. Allen Walker, a private eye of cult celebrity status, has been running from his past for a long time. Howard Link, an LAPD cop rising quickly through the ranks, finds himself caught between that which is lawful and that which is right.

As Sunset Boulevard crackles with caged heat, the thread of their investigations meet. With them, corruption, obsession, and celebrity meet in a game of chess that holds the entire city as its hostage.

The descent into hell is easy. All it takes is a little push.

Durarara:

If We Ever Meet Again, Shitsuren69 - Complete, T. AU. Mikado thought that the biggest event in his life was when the love of his life ran off with his best friend. This was, of course, before Celty invited him to Ikebukuro. Eventual Shizuo/Mikado. Prequel to Operator.

Comments: I just really love the way this one was written. From Mikado getting along with Walker and Erika to the falling out in the beginning with Kida and Anri. It makes when they meet again all the more interesting! And there's this one scene that will always stay in my mind - Mikado jumping off the roof, fully expecting Shizuo to catch him. I know, I know, what is the likelihood of something like that happening in real life, right? Still, I got a kick out of reading Izaya's reactions in this story. In addition, this story gives me the same vibe as the series - it's about different forms of love.

Thirty-Two Steps, Nanimonaimono - Complete, Oneshot, T. He guesses it's time to make Anri fall in love with Mikado like she should've from the start. As he opened his mouth, Masaomi fought the ridiculous, overpowering urge to stop and shout that he's been in love too long for this. Kida/Mikado.

Final Fantasy 7:

Beloved, Sinnatious - Complete, Mature. It all starts when Cloud tries to leave during the middle of a Loveless performance. Genesis/Cloud. Tifa/Cloud.

Dishonorable Discharge, icynovas - Complete, T. Seeking a new career, infantryman Cloud Strife attempts to get fired from ShinRa.

Off the Line, esama - WIP, T.  In which Cloud gets a Virtual Reality Dream Console – ShinRa's latest in virtual reality technology. Aaand everything pretty much goes downhill from there. Vincent/Cloud.

The Fifth Act, Sinnatious - Complete, T. Cloud has an accident with a Time materia. There are people to save, and for that, some people need to die. 

Comments: This is a pretty well-known story in the FFVII fandom, and let me tell ya, it’s worth every second of the read. Even if you haven’t played the game, this sort of storytelling will drag you in and keep your attention. You’ll be left wanting more!

My Hero Academia:

but you gotta get up at least once more, simkjrs - WIP, T. Izuku’s never run into this problem before with anyone else, but it’s still not much of a problem. “Oh, that’s alright,” he says. “I don’t have a Quirk.”

Tsukauchi stares incredulously at him, and then looks at the iron bar that Izuku is currently straightening with his hands.

Midoriya Izuku does not let his lack of a Quirk prevent him from being strong.Also known as that one AU where Izuku follows the ridiculous training regimen of Saitama from One Punch Man and becomes stronger than anyone ever imagined he could be.

Persona 4:

Dare Disturb the Universe, jackdawq - Complete, T, Oneshot.  A creeping, nagging sense of repetition: rewind, replay. Yosuke/Souji, Naoto/Kanji.

Days Without Nights, Angevon - Complete, T. Years after the events of Persona 4, Yosuke Hanamura is married. Then his wife leaves him. Yosuke/Souji, slow burn.

First Impressions (Seventeen Variations), jackdawq - Complete, T, Oneshot.  It sucks to be the new transfer kid. Right?

Reversing Arcana, Sinnatious - Complete, T.  P3, P4. Six months after Souji leaves Inaba, he wakes up to his house on fire. The Investigation Team are the only ones who know he survived. But that's only the beginning of their troubles.

Ten Steps, chisotahn - Complete, T. Written for a prompt over at badbadbathhouse. "Souji never told anyone about being able to enter the TV. So, even though Chie and onward somehow ended up with Souji, Yosuke never wound up knowing about the shadow world. For months on end, Souji has been keeping his otherworldly adventures a secret from his predictably ignorant (yet suspicious) boy [best] friend (though he's still your Magician).

Preferably later in the game, Yosuke appears in a Junes-exclusive interview (bonus if the media was filming Junes without permission), and thus, dungeon time ensues." Only... well, slightly modified. ;) You'll see! Yosuke/Souji.

Psycho Pass:

Unconventional Normality, scorchedtrees - Complete, G. AU: In which Akane joins Division Four to work alongside Inspector Makishima.

Servamp:

Fragile Bonds, Atherin Ashura - WIP, T.  A silent walk home from school can change the outcome of so many paths. Fears arise, secrets that are closely guarded come to light and partnerships can crumble. But if one can survive through it, a brighter, more certain, tomorrow awaits. Kuro + Mahiru, sloth pair friendship.

Honest is Your Only Policy, faecakes - WIP, Explicit.  Being Ex-Lovers can be complicated, especially when your ex happens to be Tsurugi. Mikuni/Tsurugi.

Unmasked, stirlingphoenix - Complete, Explicit, Oneshot. "The smile falls from Mikuni’s lips and he dons a more pensive expression before reaching forward and taking a piece of the paper bag between his fingers.

'I want this gone,' he says casually, like it’s only a suggestion, and not the demand Jeje knows it is. Once again, he feels as if he’s being pinned down by Mikuni’s gaze, and he can hardly think." Jeje/Mikuni.

The World Ends With You:

Blindsided, R. Seldon - Complete, Oneshot, G. Neku has something to say that Joshua does not particularly want to hear. One-shot. Warnings: spoilers; mild, kinda-sorta one-sided Joshua/Neku. Or just Josh being, um, obsessive. Spoilers for endgame.

Dust, DarkRulerDominica - Complete, M. After surviving three weeks of the Reapers' Game, Neku demands that Joshua return him to the world of the living; Joshua agrees, but there's a catch to the deal…. Dark themes. 

Comments: As a thriller/horror story, this one is damn good. It answers one of the glaring questions from the game: what happens to the bodies of those who are playing the game?

Perfect, Infamousplot - Complete, Oneshot, T. One month. That was all the time he gave Kitanji: four weeks, 28 days- give or take a few. Well, now he's down to three weeks. A whole week wasted. Because SOMEBODY, though he won't name any names -Neku Sakuraba -, just won't freaking DIE! Now, he's sprinting through the RG with a gun, a psycho on his tail, and only one goal in mind: Kill the proxy. Now.

The Red Queen series, Kay (sincere) - Complete, T, unfolds in four parts.  In which someone who has been too long alone finally reaches out, building a bridge between his world and another's. It has been decades in coming, and it isn't easy, but the more difficult the ordeal, the greater the reward -- just like in any Game. 

Tokyo Ghoul:

mamihlapinatapai, sinshine - Complete, T, Oneshot. 

“Hey, babe,” he crooned into the phone. “I know you're thirsty but you can't keep calling me at work like this.”

“Hide.” Came the exasperated sigh and he couldn't help but smile at the sound. “You're not really at work, are you?”

“Nah, I'm just getting something to eat.” Hide took another bite out of the dismembered arm he held and licked a drip of blood up his wrist before it could hit his jacket. “What's up?”

Your Cross, I’ll Bear, PTchan - WIP, T. “You make him sound like the hero of a shonen manga or something,” he couldn’t help but comment.

“Who knows,” Koma replied just as Irimi stood to deliver the order. “Maybe he is,” he winked. “And you would be the sidekick right?”

Kaneki sweatdropped, but chuckled all the same. A story with Hide as the main character, huh… he thought, wringing his cloth in the sink before hanging it on the rail and picking up his notepad. Well, if it’s him… then it would surely be one filled with hope.(Or: that fic where Hide wakes up in the past just in time to prevent the Tragedy that was Kaneki Ken's life... by taking it on himself.

Of course, it doesn't have to be a Tragedy.)

Yuri on Ice:

a glide in your step, Yuu_chi - Complete, T, Oneshot.  Ah, Yuuri thinks as his skates touch down on the ice, and even as Yuuko watches him it’s the weight of Viktor’s eyes he feels on his shoulder blades, I’m not ready to let this go. Victor/Yuri.

fight for you, write for you, third - Complete, T, Oneshot.  The thing is, Yuuri had completely forgotten about his account on Figure Skating! until he sees the email in his inbox. He doesn’t know how he ends up awake at 3 AM defending Victor’s reputation from strangers on the internet. Victor/Yuri.

i see quiet nights poured over ice, ohhotlamb - WIP, T. He’s a despicable man, but what he offers is the truth. I’ll make you a winner, he says. And he knows -

This is one thing that Yuuri can’t refuse.

like your french girls, ebenroot - Complete, T. "Victor," Yuri begins, lowering the eighteenth sketch of the figure skater Victor drew this week, "you have a fucking problem." 

--in which Victor is an artist, Yuuri is his figure skating muse, and Yuri is so done hearing about their stupid love story through Instagram. Victor/Yuri.

stay young (go dancing), ryuuzaou - Complete, Explicit, Oneshot. Victor/Yuri.

“Do you do this with every pretty boy that serves you champagne?” Yuuri asks, finally a touch of humor in his tone.

“I’ll admit, I’m the flirty type,” Viktor says, “but I haven’t asked to kiss any.” Oh, fuck it. Yuuri throws caution to the wind and says, “You won’t have to.”

aka: the one where yu-topia onsen caters a celebration party for viktor nikiforov's fifth world championship win, and viktor takes interest in the super hot waiter.