#new prophecy flash game

[smilingsheltie]

when I was a kid I used to laugh so hard if I got the twoleg because it's just boots. like look at that. all the other enemies are snarling animals and the twoleg is just WHAT ARE THOOOOOSE.

The New Prophecy Quest Game - Other animals

Twolegs, Horse, Ticks

Stoat, Cow, Cow

Rat, Badger, Dog

[cult-of-a-buttercup]

Hey. Have you ever wondered what each boss fight OST could mean for each bishop? No? Well too bad!!! This is all about that!!!!! (Links to the songs are on the names :] )

Leshy’s theme

Leshy’s boss fight is usually the first one you go through- though you can defeat whatever boss you want first, he would be the most common option since Darkwood is the first zone you unlock.

His theme is very simple when compared to the others? The whole song feels very magical, in a similar way like a fantasy world- it reminds me of medieval bards probably because of the string instruments. And the whole magic thing is blame of the chorus that shit goes hard

The lack of complexity of Leshy’s song could show that this is a bit of a first- he hasn’t fought much in his eldritch form before, so he does as best he knows with little thought. Him being the “first” boss also makes him a somewhat easier opponent, so it only adds on to this. Also the ending of the song really makes it seem like something surprising has happened- again because of the chorus. Very probably because. You know. First bishop who EVER got killed. Bit of a shocker. Things are going to change from now on you feel me.

Heket’s theme

Heket’s theme goes HARD. It’s probably my favorite one

The the first few seconds of the intro SCREAM destruction. This girl is there to demolish you and to make sure the One who Waits stays chained FOREVER. It’s very fast paced and it keeps going fast for a while before a chorus kicks in and holy SHIT I don’t know why but the melody it follows just. Makes me think of sorrow. Of how sad all of this prophecy really is and how this has affected Heket for CENTURIES now.

AAAND this is BACKED UP by dialog!!! If you go to Anura without killing Leshy she says this:

“The Bishops… my family. Have they not suffered enough? Have I not suffered enough?”

“We fought, pathetic vessel. We bled. We grieved. And yet the Red Crown wants more. No more.”

HELLO??? LIKE SHE’S SO SAD AND IT SHOOOWSSS IN HER FUCKING OST i love this game:;;:; the fact that she remarks that they GRIEVED the loss of her brother too- this poor girl has to every reason to never miss or think about her brother but how can she?? He was one of her older brothers, one of her mentors. Of course she misses him and probably still hurts because of his betrayal- both emotionally and literally because of her injuries. But you think she’s going to let her “feelings” get in the way???? NO. She’s going to kill you. That’ll make her feel better (eternal denial)

Kallamar’s theme

The build up of Kallamar’s theme genuinely just reminds me of royalty and. Mermaids. This squid is out here to show just how GOOD he is at killing lambs. KING of lamb slaughter you could say. LORD of murder. The chorus it has and the instruments really make it look like he’s a force to be reckoned with and that his fight will be filled with power!! With the grace only a king and a god could have!!! But even so it still has a few parts near the middle where it like slows down and shows maaybe a bit of insecurity. Knowing Kallamar wanted to avoid this fight at all costs it wouldn’t surprise me that his confidence in fight comes and goes in flashes, much like the parts with flutes and singing after the “greatness” introduction. My poor man is having a crisis out here someone help him

Shamura’s theme

Something that really catches my attention is that unlike the rest of the boss themes, this song has no initial build up or intro. It’s pretty straightforward. And honestly??? (WARNING: SHAMURA PROPAGANDA) it just shows how important they are. They need no introduction, they’re the bishop of war and knowledge! The one and only, Shamura!!! You already know who it is, they don’t have to make it clear with an introduction. It’s either that or a reflection of how used they are to war and combat, so they don’t make it as much of a big deal as their siblings. OR since they already knew it was going to happen, it simply isn’t big news and they’ve been waiting for this to happen for too long to care.

It’s also really quick paced and goes very well with their boss fight, considering how aggressive it is compared to Leshy’s or Heket’s. Even so, like the others it has a part in the middle where it slows down a little and has a smaaaall little chorus in the back before building back up to a quicker pace. Could be that they’re analyzing what’s going on or that their injuries are acting up again so they need a breather- it also gives it this slightly sorrowful feeling to it AUGH.

The ending of the song is also different, like Leshy’s. Though the ending of Shamura’s theme really make it sound like something big happened- not because it has never been seen before but because its over. There’s no more bishops, the Old Faith is fucking gone. If you beat them last, that is JWRBIFDNB

Narinder’s theme + The One who Waits’ theme

Hooooly shit these two songs go hard. Also two of my favorites.

The introduction makes it SO clear that something has unleashed like you don’t have to be playing to know something BIG is happening. This one has only a voice and the bass- it makes it feel very majestic and divine in a way I can’t really explain, if you get it you get it. Honestly I have no comments. It’s mystical, it shows that you are fighting a GOD and that is IT.

The fact that it’s two separate songs also makes me think a lot about how Narinder was part of the Old Faith, but The One who Waits is NOT. Basically when comparing osts Narinder’s theme sounds a lot more like what we’ve seen with the other bishops while toww is a LOT more aggressive and just overall heavy handed?? It makes me think that like he’s DONE playing around.

Other things I noticed:

All mini-boss themes are similar to a small sample of their respective bishop

Other locations like Sozo’s cult or Midas’ cave also have similarities to the bishop’s themes or rather their areas

Baal’s theme is longer than Aym’s. Could mean many things, like Baal is older or that his fight takes a bit longer. Most people know Aym is the weakest link since he falls coughing after some attacks he makes, so it only makes sense

Narinder’s theme is more similar to Aym’s and The One who Waits’ is more similar to Baal’s

Shamura’s theme is the longest between all bishops with 2:35 minutes

WOW this took a minute but yeah. I hope everyone likes it!

I’d love to see what all of you think!! Maybe you think I’m absolutely wrong or want to add on- either way I will read everything with them big old eyes ❤️

[random-sparks-98]

Sunlit Gotham Universe Notes

Batfam Notes:

- Due to moving around the batfam timeline a bit, Jason is the only one who has died who has been fully buried and then revived (Steph’s heart stopped for about three minutes when Black Mask captured her, and Damian has not been killed.)

- Damian came to Gotham earlier than canon, and is currently 10 years old and in 4th grade at Gotham Academy

- Jon Kent is also going to be the same age as Damian in this AU

- Jason Todd is going be announced as Legally Alive before the beginning of the story (Yes, he is still Red Hood, but he doesn’t kill anymore (most of the time))

- Bruce will NOT be going missing in time

- This means that Tim never drops out of high school, gets emancipated, and becomes CEO of a company at the age of 17. It also means that Dick will not have been Batman

- Selina and Bruce are dating - he’s gonna probably propose soon, but big life events keep happening (like adopting new children every few months) so he hasn’t yet. He claims he’s waiting for a time when everything is calm. His children call bullshit and say he’s just scared she’ll say no

- Selina totally knows that he already has the ring and is honestly just teasing him and stressing him out more by making comments and jokes every so often

How does Wonder Woman not know about the demigods?

- When the Greek Amazons went to live on Themyscira they became cut off from the rest of the mortal world. This means that they weren’t aware of Camp moving around to follow Olympus

- Diana was born WAY before the First Great Prophecy, and technically isn’t a true demigod because she was sculpted from clay - therefore not really part mortal

- By the time Diana had left the island, demigods had gone underground and general society forgot that they existed. Both camps are kept secret so that the demigods are safe, so Diana hasn’t heard about them and assumes that the demigods are just no more

- Due to the Mist, Off World League Missions, Rescue Ops, and the fact that she lived in Paris for a while, Diana hasn’t been around during any of the major battles - or her focus was elsewhere

- Donna Troy might show up at some point, and the same logic about leaving Themyscira works for her too. We’re going with the Magical Duplicate origin story for her, so again, doesn’t quite count as mortal enough for the prophecy

- Cassie Sandsmark originally used magical artifacts to help Diana fight crime and was later ret-conned into being either a daughter of Zeus or a granddaughter of Zeus. The ret-con is going to be brought up in the story and we can all thank the Flashes for messing up the timeline. But basically she doesn’t become a proper descendant of Zeus until after the Titan War and therefore the prophecy doesn’t apply to her either

Children of Apollo have the following abilities According to the Riordan Wiki:

- They can curse others to only speak in rhyming couplets that can take days or even weeks to wear off (depending on strength and number of people in the spell)

- They are expert archers, inherited from their father. However, the children of Apollo who are healers tend to be less skilled with this (as seen with Will Solace)

- They also excel at anything involving throwing or shooting stuff, like shooting hoops or shooting firearms or other missile weapons 

- They are skilled in physical contests and games

- They excel in the arts

- They are skilled musicians

- Vitakinesis: As the children of Apollo, they are natural healers. They can heal people by singing a hymn to their father (in Ancient Greek).

- Audiokinesis: As the children of Apollo, they have the ability to control sound waves and music

- It is extremely rare that a child of Apollo can possess complete photokinesis, as only Apollo himself and the Titan of Light, Hyperion, and the Titan of the Sun, Helios, have been known to use the ability

- From what can be gleaned from The Demigod Diaries, it can be presumed that some, or even all of Apollo's children possess a limited form of precognition

- Thanks to a curse, all the children of Apollo have a terrible fear of snakes

In this AU, souls have auras that are unique to each soul. Demigod children with parent’s who deal with light (ex: Apollo or Iris) can see the auras if they focus really hard. Children of Apollo will often use it as a way to check how well a patient is healing as the brighter the aura the healthier the person.

[annimator]

THEY GOT MY FUCKING YURI

(I AM FEELING EMOTIONS OVER THAT NEW EPISODE)

• “Hannah was ALSO pissed at Spencer for eliminating Tristan.” TRISTANNAH MENTION

• “And Diego… Oh, and Amelie! Hannah’s lost a lot of friends.” BOY DON’T DO HANNAH DIRTY LIKE THAT LMAO

• NOT TREVOR & DEREK SHIT-TALKING THE CONTESTANTS DURING THE CHALLENGE RECAP

• The visual of Spencer’s icon changing from red to blue was kinda cool ngl

• intro :D

• my god it fucking hurts to see all the contestants during the intro knowing who got eliminated

• THIS FUCKING DORK GETS SCARED SO EASILY LMAOO

• ANA’S SO UNPHASED BY RICHARD’S STORY

• “I almost peed myself”

• Spencer really did that weird-ass flashing glasses thing on his way to blue campsite lol

• DAMN LOGAN GOT HIS ASS

• SPENCER SWAPPED WITH ISABEL? yeah sure ok

• “The lord works in mysterious ways! Less mysterious next time, please!” mood lol

• Zaid originally being catholic before getting busy with school is mood, he’s just like me fr

• Benji’s trying his best. you’re doing great bestie

• Oooooo, Jade’s cooking

• wait, she was keeping the idol under her shirt-dress thingy?

• OOP, LOOK’S LIKE ISA & JADE ARE IN AN ALLIANCE

• YURI TENSION! YURI TENSION!

• “Being voted out by your own team shows he’s not a worthy member.” Gift of prophecy right here

• BRO WAIT ANA’S BACKSTORY??

• WDYM HER PARENTS FORCED HER TO BE A MODEL TO GET OUT OF FINANCIAL PROBLEMS, WHICH LED TO HER CHILDHOOD BEING LOST. WHAT’S WITH PARENTS IN DC BEING ABSOLUTE SHIT

• “You trust me right?” “…” TENSIONNNNN

• WAIT HOLY SHIT THEY’RE HOLDING HANDS & HEADING SOMEWHERE SECRET

• Nat & I are thinking the same thing lol

• THEY WANT SPENCER TO SPILL THE TEA, PLZ DO BRIT BOY

• NAT THOUGHT HIM & DIEGO WERE A THING. GIRL I WISH

• “Sorry he got voted off, by the way. Shit must’ve hurted.” SHE DOESN’T KNOW SPENCER WILLINGLY VOTED DIEGO OFF OH MY GOD

• DAMN SPENCER, HOP THE FUCK OFF OF NAT. FYM SHE’S OBNOXIOUS & ALL THAT NEGATIVE SHIT

• THEY’RE EXPLORING LOGAN’S SEXUALITY, LEZGOOOO

• MARISSA RLLY BROUGHT ANA TO A CARNIVAL GAME TO MAKE HER SMILE MY GOD THIS YURI’S AMAZING

• THEY BROUGHT UP THE KISS FROM EPISODE 6

• “I have to tell you something…” FR THO, DID ANYONE ELSE HERE THINK ANA WAS GONNA CONFESS &/OR COME OUT TO MARISSA DURING THIS SCENE

• “Her childhood seemed… difficult. But I wanted to give her a moment where her walls could come down. Even just for a second.” AWWWWW

• HELP EVERYONE ON BLUE TEAM MISSED ISABEL, BUT NO ONE (besides Benji ig) MISSED SPENCER’S BITCHASS

• Trevek doing matching poses when introducing the carousel was cute

• “Yeah, i’d never let my kids on those things.” COWARD

• Literally my mind during this whole challenge kept replaying Maze of Life over & over again.

• THIS CAROUSELLLLLLL

• “They’re much less fractured.” YEAH. BLUE TEAM RLLY DOES GIVE OFF FOUND FAMILY VIBES

• mlm wlw violence

• technically Spencer was confirmed to be pan (he’s just like me fr), but yknow

• “Of course, you’re an informant.” “And, you’re delusional!” DAMNNNN

• GET HIS ASS ANA

• Benji locked the fuck in, life is so beautiful

• wait what

• oh ok

• “Zaid, you got a dump-truck, so—.” “I GOT A WHAT?” lmaooooo

• OH MY GOD IVY’S AGREEING WITH BENJI

• aw Hannah cares for Benji :D

• Damn this carousel music sucks ass. What the hell is Logan on

• RICHARD, YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE TEASED DEREK & TREVOR LIKE THAT

• L Marissa

• Lynda, shut the fuck up

• THE BESTIES

• Looking back, Nat wasn’t wrong about Spencer being bad for the team

• DAMN RICHARD WENT FLYING

• HOW THE FUCK DID ANASTASIA MANAGE TO PULL LOGAN BACK ONTO HIS SEAT

• Trevor’s having too much fun my god

• Derek, your man’s losing his shit

• AWWW TREVOR SMILING AFTER LOOKING AT DEREK’S FUCKING ADORABLE

• Are Ana & Logan really betting on who’s sleeping outside

• FUCK YEAH HANNAH SAVED HERSELF

• OH SHIT LYNDA SAW ANA’S ADVANTAGE

• uh oh, Spencer’s offering a vote to Lynda

• “We got this Spencer! Spencer?” HELP THE WAY SPENCER FELL OFF HIS SEAT WHEN IT PANNED BACK TO HIM

• “Isabel & Zaid win Red Team’s first immunity in what feels like centuries! Eons, even! I cannot believe Red is actually winning something! OH MY GOD! DEREK, QUICK! COME LOOK!” TREVOR, RELAX

• “Guess you could say I— I was you saving grace!” “You’re quite the miracle worker, little lady.” Ngl Isa & Zaid have a good dynamic :v

• DAMN SPENCER ANGST WITH HIM BEING USED TO BEING VOTED & STUFF??? OK

• MORE YURI TENSIONNNNN

• WELL FUCK, LYNDA & SPENCER REALLY ARE GONNA VOTE TOGETHER

• DAMN WE GOT ANOTHER ANARISSA MOMENT

• MORE ANASTASIA BACKSTORY POG. ALSO W SUNSET BACKGROUND

• ANASTASIA BEING INTERESTED IN PHOTOGRAPHY MAKES SO MUCH SENSE

• “I’m too busy being in front of the camera to take time to shoot my own photos, but… there’s something so special about capturing a given moment of time… I’m being silly, aren’t i?” “Not at all. Maybe one day we can take some photos… together.” MY HEARTT

• ALSO THIS IS THE SECOND FUCKING TIME I THOUGHT Y’ALL WERE GONNA KISS. HURRY THE FUCK UP

• Ngl, Richard & Nat’s convo was really sweet. Love me some gay trans solidarity

• I’m scared for this elimination ngl. I DON’T WANNA ANY OF THESE GUYS TO GO. LYNDA GREW ON ME LAST EPISODE

• Well shit, bye Spencerrrr it was nice knowing you

• wait

• WAIT WHAT THE FUCK

• ARE YOU GUYS ACTUALLY FUCKING SERIOUS

• NOT MY FUCKING YURIIIII

• WHO THE FUCK VOTED HER

• SPENCER YOU BITCH

• YOU TOO LYNDA, WHAT THE HELL? I WAS JUST STARTING TO CHANGE MY OPINION ON YOU

• OH MY GOD THIS IS LITERALLY TOM’S ALL STARS ELIMINATION ALL OVER AGAIN. THEY LITERALLY HAVE THE SAME COLORS IF YOU SQUINT

• “Ana, It’s Ok. At least now, I have time to figure out my next steps. Thank you… for always being by my side.” “But I don’t want you to go!” “Hey… this isn’t goodbye. We’ll see each other again.” “We will.” Y’ALL COULD’VE KISSED MAN

• Jesus fucking Christ, Spencer. You’re a great character & I still like you, but seeing you’re elimination’s gonna be so therapeutic

• Natalia :(

• AVENGE YOUR GIRLFRIEND ANA, I BELIEVE IN YOU

• Yeah great episode as always, besides… y’know

• Anyways elimination devastation ranking

5th - Amelie

4th - Ted

3rd - Alessio/Diego

2nd - Marissa (yeah)

1st - Tristan

[nolonger100daysoftavvyfanart]

Bingo Results:

Vriska Leaves the point: Was there ever any doubt Special Shading: Relative to Homestuck 1, but par the course for 2 Chumi Lee Fantrolls: For all we know the LOBsTERs could be a Lee original. But I meant the hot one when I wrote this, and I didn't see him anywhere. Hometeam Adv8ntage: Thank jegus, it wouldn't have fit at all New Helltier: Was there ever any doubt Cascade Parallels: I thought I had it in the bag when i saw the Meenah walk cycle, but that's Game Over. I really should've put Game Over, that would've been an easy sweep Deltritus kid intro: nuh uh Friendly Fire: I thought it would be a Kanaya kill, but I never actually said that, so I'm taking the Gubhub Gablooie. Car Destroyed: No car present Tavvy Jokerkind: Who knows? Vrissy Dice: Who knows? Jan 8: Well the day happened. And there was an upd8. But this was for the Flash. I could've changed it, but i put it in the middle for jegus' sake, there needs to be a fall for that kind of hubris Eye: Right off the bat, and kind of later with Jade's goggles Harry does nothing: He literally un-did something he was doing. He stepped back into the ship after stepping out. Was there ever any doubt 3D: nuh uh. Rose's prophecies: One Un-happens because of Hope stuff, and the big one gets stopped. Tavvy saw Jade die: we don't know, and she's back now anyway Jane Dies: She got stabbed, but she's lived through worse. She's been stabbed before. Frame by Frame: Probably, but I was imagining it like the part the head artist did for Game Over Reanimated, which didn't happen. Fair enough, though, there was enough going on as it stands. Both Timelines: nuh uh Kid in Guardian mode: we saw Yiffy in scuffed early comic Spritesque mode, but that isn't Guardian Mode, so no. Calliope self-sacrifices: no. Also, did John even get his shit blasted? Why was the laser blue on the ground? Was it really just a mistake? Yiffy Ballkind: Who knows? Tavvy Maimed: Well he didn't have any arms when he kicked that bomb. But he often doesn't, so no

[kanene-yaaay]

The Other Ending (A Brand New Life)

Kanene's notes: After finishing Enigma of Fear I IMMEDIATELY cried for like 10 minutes, opened the doc of this fic and forgot I had any other wip in my life so jhgfdfghjkjhg welcome to a story with no sense that only wants a happy ending for everyone

Warnings: LOOOOTS of spoiler from the game, some hurt/comfort, angst, mentions of child abuse, domestic fluff, found family, fluff, family tickles, Ticklish!Jaser and Ler!Calisto + Ler!Sofia. This sounds more serious than it actually is but I swear that there's plenty of fluff and comfort to make up his sad past. Around 6.500 words.

Also!! Verity = Veríssimo; Pai = Dad; Mãe = Mom

[~*~]

Jaser was staring at the bundle on his arms, barely conscious of everything else that happened around him. Even before Veríssimo turned to him with relieved eyes, he was already trembling non stop, now, with the infant (with Mia-), he felt like he was Golias, watching his own body like an outsider, seeing it move automatically to carry the baby trusted to him automatically, without really processing what was happening.

This is all wrong.

None of this was supposed to happen, in no ending, in no place, in no reality. Yet, the little whimpers and wiggles in his arms couldn’t be anything but real. The ragged, quiet (and alive) breaths of Sofia next to him could be nothing else but real and that was the first time since… the first time he actually felt anything. 

Veríssimo moved closer and Jaser’s arms curled protectively around Mia, pulling the baby to his chest. For a maddening moment he wondered if they were all being poisoned, with how difficult it was to breathe.

“You’re an older brother now, Jaser.” Veríssimo said somewhere close by. The words made his head whip around so fast his vision disappeared for a moment before focusing on that worried, exhausted face. For a flash, the crinkles on the corner of his eyes were older and his beard was as white as part of his hair, dotted with drops of blood. Jaser could almost feel the burning on his stomach.

One blink and the memory was gone, this Veríssimo was still young, not so marked. He looked serious and kind, as if Jaser’s reaction (his first reaction) was nothing new, something expected. 

The boy (but not really) didn’t understand. He had always been a brother, older, younger, whatever fit at the moment, but not like this, never like this.

“Say hi to Mia.”

He looked down to the tiny infant, ugly and unaware of the world around her, at how her simple existence broke something that had always existed and would continue to do so for decades and decades to come. How did something so finite break their cycle, his personal loop?

(Had it always been so fragile to be undone like this?)

“Hi.” He croaked. 

Sofia, if she was awake, would’ve smiled at him bright like the sun at his first words, cradled him nicely in her arms and made everything disappear in a sea of warmth. Veríssimo showed his happiness in a different kind of way, and so, he quietly put his hand on his shoulder and looked down to both of his children. The corner of his eyes were soft. 

Jaser began to laugh, first with gasps, each one more hoarse and painful than anything, but the insane feeling bubbled across his chest up his throat until he was roaring with laughter, with surprise, with revolt, with how maddening all of this was. When the baby was lifted from his arms and a strong hand guided his face to an equally stronger chest (that in such a short time of years would look so small and mortal). Only when the wet fabric of his shirt began gluing on his face Jaser realized he was crying, an ugly kind that he couldn’t stop no matter how he tried.

His Vision was faltering, words coming and going in flashes and flicks of light, his objectives shining in a vivid green behind his eyelids no matter how tightly closed he pressed them, warnings blasting on his mind, screaming about his Role, the Prophecy and his Meaning. He was above everything else the Unhaunted one, no matter what, he should keep going through the plan. 

In the middle of that cacophony, Jaser gripped a single thought with all his strength and pushed it forward: he was not walking away now, because his Vision was wrong, it had been wrong about this Ending and it had lied to him and he was not going to obey it anymore.

(If it lied to him about this reality, then where did those lies stopped? How many lives has he thrown away for his role? How much of it all was pointless? How much would’ve he gotten back if he had fought it before?)

His mind was convulsing and collapsing. There was a feeling choking on him that Jaser could recognize, the usual darkness that would grant him peace every time he passed out, usually because of his father’s senseless violence. It was a good thing, he thought, at least he would be in control of everything again when he woke up.

The loud sound of a door hitting a wall shot through the place and Jaser felt a stronger paranormal presence, a cold wind came rolling and howlering across the room, trying to pull him away with barely any resistance at all, with how his body felt weak.

But then, just as the cold had clung across his torso and pulled, a high pitched cry filled the space and Veríssimo’s tensed like steel as he brought him even closer to himself, shouting something Jaser could no longer process.

Then, there was darkness.

(...)

The first time he discovered about it. It was in an inconspicuous morning

As Sofia walked to the kitchen, yawning and still barely awake from Mia’s decision to call for their presence the entire night, she almost shouted when he saw the boy standing still in front of the oven, green eyes glowing in the darkness like spotlights. They flicked over to her hand, which was holding tightly onto a dagger and showed no expression, the younger simply turning around to stare at her fully, completely clothed and with his hair combed and on his daily clothes.

“Sorry for disturbing you, mãe. I simply wanted to make breakfast.” Ever since they got out from the Perimeter, Jaser started to talk more, his voice going from hoarse to a more smoother tune. Sofia is sure that in a few years he will have a low, deep voice not so much unlike Veríssimo. The thought, together with him adapting so easily to her new address (mom! she is really a mom, now!) made her heart melt, a hand slowly (because he was still wary at receiving touches) resting on his hair, combing it with her fingers for a couple minutes before pushing a few words out of her mouth.

“What do you want to eat?”

Usually, as Veríssimo kept working at home with fewer cases and late days were more common, besides the kids, they didn’t really have breakfast besides some fruit and, in Sofia’s case, a good cup of hot tea. Until recently, Jaser didn’t also eat much, preferring to skip his breakfast as well, only changing his mind when Mia kept stopping her own eating to shove pieces of fruit uncoordinatedly at his general direction. The only way to subdue her was seeing him nibbling on something, even if she kept babbling irritatedly and pointing at him if Jaser ate too slowly for her taste.

“You are still recovering from giving birth, I will take care of the carcass.”

Sofia wondered if the tiredness was making her listen things. “The… carcass.”

Jaser blinked, unmoved at her confusion. “Yes, for our meat.” Then he stopped, considering. “Unless dad has already taken care of it when he came back yesterday?”

Yesterday Veríssimo had come home bloodied in the middle of the night, giving her a heart attack before he explained he had to take care of an urgent case of blood zombies before coming home. Jaser didn’t see much surprised or interested at the time.

“We don’t usually hunt,” they had fish, but for the state of the Statch’s house (especially Golias room) when they rescued Jaser, she really doubted he was talking about that. “But we do have some frozen meat if you want, there’s also ham and eggs that we can make to put in your bread.”

Jaser frowned at the content on her fridge. “Thank you, but I can hunt and gut a pig for you. If you want fresher meat.”

“No, no, dear, there’s no need.” She quickly began gathering tomatoes, bell pepper and a couple of bananas and apples on his arms, before he could try to follow through with his idea. She didn’t really cause a problem with whatever neighbor who was raising pigs nearby. “We can stick with what we have here, right?

Carrying her own supplies (butter, bread and some delicious carrot cake covered with chocolate that Veríssimo bought yesterday) she let him cut the vegetables for the scrambled eggs while she made a floral tea for her and, much to her demise and immense nostalgia, a cup of coffee for Jaser.

As the table was set and they were enjoying their breakfast, the high shrieking sound of crying shot across the house and Sofia drank the last sip of her tea before preparing to get up, only to be stopped as the tall shadow of her husband tumbled across the corridor to Mia’s room, the crying only resounding for a couple minutes before fading away. When she looked at Jaser, he was already halfway across the living room, a tight and worried expression on his face.

“Jaser?”

“I will… help him.”

He had only arrived at Mia's door when Veríssimo got out, Mia sitting on his arms and patting his face, absolutely delighted by his beard before turning to Jaser and squealing, her chubby little arms reaching for him.

The boy with green eyes scanned her and relaxed, holding her hands and shaking them lightly with a tiny smile, wisely keeping them away from his hair. 

“Good morning, Mia.”

Veríssimo bounced her softly and she replied with babbling, which, in Sofia’s opinion, was just a step away from forming “Mama” and therefore Veríssimo should stop deluding himself saying that her first words would be “Papa”.

“Did you sleep well, Jaser?”

“Yes, pai.” When they locked eyes, it seemed like there was a silent conversation going on. “I apologize.”

“One is not faulty for the house they are born in.” Veríssimo stared at him, serious and kind. “But there’s always the light from the future to take over the dark of the past. Your eyes will learn to see it.”

“Maybe one day.” 

Seeing they were still standing in the corridor, Sofia made a show of putting more food on her plate, humming and remarking a little too loudly as she served another cup of tea. “What a kind husband I have! Leaving all his breakfast for his hungry wife to eat since he’s too busy philosophizing to reclaim it.”

Before she could get another bite from his bread there was a large shadow in front of her, accompanied by gurgling baby noises and she smiled, ignoring both and chewing smugly.

“Sofia…” Veríssimo said, both fond and exasperated when she gasped in fake surprise, looking up with wide eyes. 

“My husband!” Because he has a butter melting heart, Veríssimo only looked in love at her and her smile before turning her attention to Mia, immediately answering to her reaching arms and lifting her out of her husband’s grip, throwing her high in the air. “And who is this? Ohh, maybe it’s my little sleeping beauty, huh? It is, it is!”

“A beautiful princess, must have inherited from her mother.”

Sofia huffed. “More like she inherited my powerful lungs.”

Still squealing, Mia wiggled in the air, which rid a bit of her shirt and reminded the adult something Calisto used to love when he was around that age.

“Is that a chubby tummy that I see, huh?” Gasping once more, she brought Mia next to her face. “A very tasty tummy for me? Oh, my thank you!”

Shoving her face on her belly, she began blowing softly and making ‘nhom nhom nhom’ noises, relinquishing on the high pitched, baby laughter that filled the entire place, happy and loud. Sofia began giggling as well, moving so she could take a look at Mia’s beautiful smile, reddish-brown eyes looking at her while her hands pushed her face away uncoordinated, she pretended to nibble her little fingers only to she the baby pull them away with another laughing shriek. 

“Hmmm, such a delicious baby. You don’t want me to eat your cute tummy?” As her giggling began slowing down, Sofia lifted her high once more, smirking at the other joyful squeal that brought. As if wondering out loud, she teased. “Maybe I should try to have another thing for a snack, then? I know!! What about these cute little toes right here?”

Back to nibbling and blowing raspberries, she laughed along with her kid, tickling her a little bit more and then bringing her close so she could kiss that small smiling face.

When she felt Veríssimo resting his hand on her, she let him grab Mia, both pretending to not see his fondly exasperated face, as he took the baby to her special chair. It was a good thing if Mia got all her energy out now, perhaps her morning bath would be even easier.

(Or she would be too pent up for breakfast and make even more of a mess than usual, they would know the answer in a couple of hours.)

“If our Tickle Monster is already satisfied, maybe she can let Mia have her meal as well?”

Sofia smirked. “I don’t know, I feel like I could go for a second serving.” Staring directly at Veríssimo, she had the perfect view of his eyes widening, mouth opening to a clever reply before thinking better, turning around and quickly helping Mia with her breakfast. She laughed and turned around to give Jaser a conspiratory wink, only to find him staring at the scene with a slightly tilted head and confused frown.

At her wink, he blinked back at her and showed a small, closed lipped smile staring at Mia once more before beginning to eat, staring thoughtfully at his meal.

Sofia went to make another cup of coffee for Veríssimo, a bit of warmth in her heart. It was good, even if sad, that Jaser was starting to get used to their displays and affection.

(...)

The first time he felt, it had been in an unmarked night.

When Veríssimo looked at his side, as he expected, Jaser was there, not even pretending to look at the starry night or the floating leaves in the cold wind. He was using a coat, at least, which was going to save both of them from a scolding later. Just in the corner of his collar, there was the hint of a white symbol that Veríssimo was pretty sure was not there when he bought the coat for the kid. 

He sighed and turned around fully, the conversation they were about to have was not about it, possibly.

“Don’t you wish to know what would have happened if the prophecy had been completed?”

“There are questions that must not be answered.”

At this, Jaser smiled with an expression that was too old for him. He said nothing else and Veríssimo was glad, there was a kind of knowledge that must never be obtained for the strings attached to it not to be lost. To know everything is to lose everything, and Veríssimo already knew too much only by noticing how those green eyes would linger too much on his face or his sword.

There was no helping, sometimes, at wishing that he arrived earlier, before the kid was forced to grow up too much for his age. 

(What an unattainable thing to wish, Jaser would say if he heard him. I never had a beginning or an end, my life was a song never actually born and always on repeat, a copy with no original piece, unable to limit what it was or it will be. And yet, if someone could wish to find that end, it could be only the two of you.)

But he said nothing, because there was no need for things to be said.

“Mia is going to like growing up in this house, with both of you.”

“Good.” The implications were there, Veríssimo purposefully looked in the other direction. “She is going to like having you as her brother. You must be an example and teach her things about life that she may never ask us about.”

“I have nothing to teach, no thing to give.” He said, a hint of fear in his tune, a broken kind of thing in his smile. “This is my first time here, I know nothing about this life.”

There was no helping the amused huff that left him at his words and the confusion as the boy stared at him.

“Then none of us will teach her anything. This is my first time here, too, afterall.”

And so Jaser huffed a laugh, looking at the sky with a lighter smile. 

“So this is it… The Unhauted one becomes a brother and nothing more. Things really have changed.”

“No, I don’t think the Unhaunted would ever be a brother.” Jaser freezes, fingers clasping on his sleeves before being forced to open, a neutral expression taking over his face as he stares at the adult. “But I think Jaser will.”

Veríssimo put a hand on his hair, messing it while the kid still didn’t care about his appearance enough to push him away. 

After a while, both finally turned fully to enjoy the stars and cold wind.

“Mãe won’t like that you came outside without a coat.”

Veríssimo sighed, part of him glad to hear the slight joking tune that wouldn’t be there in months ago. “Please don’t tell her.”

Jaser hummed non concomitantly and Veríssimo let his hand slip to grip the kid’s shoulder and shake him, not even realizing when his fingers brushed the unprotected neck by mistake, pulling an uncharacteristic yelp and jolt from the younger.

They stopped for a moment, staring at each other a bit confused and a bit wide eyed. Veríssimo was the first to understand, the corner of his lips quirking upwards.

“Be careful to not let Sofia find out this.” He said in that cryptid tune of his, that said any and everything, helping in nothing the puzzled expression in Jaser’s face as he brushed the tingling feeling out of his neck. He looked at Veríssimo’s hand with the corner of his eyes, as if it would answer his new waves of questions.

Verissímo, on his turn, simply turned back to get into his house, knowing he had already tempted the luck enough by spending that much time outside.

And if he caught Jaser kneeled in front of Mia’s crib, calling Mia his sister in whispers on another completely different time, he was careful to walk away quietly enough to not disturb any of his children.

(...)

The last and also, in it’s own way, first time it happened, was during a visit.

“Miaaa, aren’t you happy to see your favorite uncle?” 

The baby screamed and giggled non stop, although that was mostly because Calisto was spinning her  around, not really an answer. The adult cheered either way, though.

Sofia, the only voice of reason, replied from her place on the couch. “You’re her only uncle.”

“And therefore her favorite!”

Sofia refused to rise to the bait. “Stop throwing and spinning her around so much! She will get nauseous and you will be the one cleaning it up.”

“Throwing babies around is good for them! It adjusts their senses about the world surrounding them, you know? I read about it… somewhere.” Calisto rolled his eyes but obeyed nevertheless, bridging Mia close and bouncing her on his arms. Sofia looked at him with one doubtful, crooked eyebrow at which Calisto made a face before turning to his niece. “Aren’t you excited for when your mom will stop being a worrywart? I will be able to show you so many fun places. We’ll get into so many adventures together.”

“You’re not taking my baby to coffee shops, she will not be inheriting your bad habits!”

“Hey! I know plenty of other places in the city other than coffee shops.”

“Is that so?” She challenged. “Name five of them.”

“Five?! With how small this city is, if I know three it’ll be more than enough to satisfy her for her entire life!” Calisto sniffed petulantly and sat next to his sister, probably only so she would listen to his conspiratorial whispers to Mia. “Don’t worry, my dear niece, you mommy doesn’t have any culture to pass on but your favorite uncle is here to save you from that boring life, ok?”

Mia, nor Sofia, answered, the latter instead scanned Calisto up and down, eyes sharp and lightning with understanding, when Calisto turned around to investigate the sudden silence, he was pinned down by her glare.

“You’re stumbling on your words again and your leg doesn’t stop bouncing.” Sofia narrowed her eyes. “How many cups did you have today?”

“....Two…?”

“Calisto Besatt, I’ve changed your diapers, you don’t dare to lie so boldly in my face.”

Like a flower without water or sunshine, Calisto whitled. “Four.”

“Calisto! It’s not even five in the evening, how much more do you plan to drink tonight?!”

“What, you want me to keep deciphering all of those rituals without my little bit of happiness? You know how much I need them for my work, Sofia.”

“What you need is to sleep and create an effective routine to not accumulate so much paper and need to spend an entire night awake to finish it!”

It was hard, and a bit interesting, to try to reconcile both of his memories of an inexistent ending and his new reality, sometimes things were different enough that Jaser had no problem distinguishing both, other times, those same differences left him disoriented in his actions.

Looking at Calisto, he kept waiting for that broken, mad man inside the Perimeter, someone who understood his words and warnings on a level that no one else would ever be able to, murmuring non stop to himself, analyzing every symbol and every ritual with eyes that saw almost the same as his own, who would spend nights without sleeping and sacrifice all he had to save what he lost. 

Jaser kept looking into those brown eyes and hoping to find a green hue just like his, only to find nothing. 

That was a good thing.

Sometimes his disorientation hit for other reasons. Before, Jaser never really cared about how broken and different his family had been, he never even looked or interacted with his own siblings outside carrying on his objective, and never even got to know if they had cared about him on any level before they were led to their end. 

Even so, Jaser couldn’t imagine doing this again with Mia, just like he couldn’t imagine Veríssimo knocking him out with punches or Sofia haunting the corridors whispering madly about a song. To see the strong bond between Sofia and Calisto, it made him wonder if that was how siblings really acted around each other, playing fight, faking arguments and running to each other’s side the very moment they are needed.

Therefore, Jaser tried to be next to Calisto every time he visited, even if he didn’t know exactly how to answer to his attempts at conversation and interactions, he could still try to learn something from him.

A loud shout brought him back from his thoughts, only to see Jaser almost laying on the couch with how much he was squirming away from his older sister, whole body trembling not from fear but with laughter, a gigantic smile on his face that was mirrored by Sofia as she followed him close, a hand burrowing on his stomach and the other holding his shoulder to not let him fall.

And there it was that thing again. The one that made the person laugh and yet try to get away from the sensation. Sofia kept doing it and Jaser had yet to understand how it even worked.

“Sohohohohofia!! Sohohohfia, plehehehease! I wihihihihihill drop MiahAHAHAHAA!”

The last word disappeared in a laughing scream as Sofia pushed him to fall completely on the sofa, the two of them being the most careful while adjusting Mia to lay as well on his chest. After this, Sofia used both her new free hands to sneak underneath his shirt and… Jaser twisted his face this and that way, only seeing that there was a movement over his sides, but not really what was happening. With this, however, Calisto arched his back and began kicking his legs as funny kind of sound (a strange mix between those snorts from pigs and a hissing kettle) appeared amidst his laughter, one arm holding his niece close and the other missing all the attempts in pushing his sister away.

“NOHOHOHOT THEREHEHEHE!”

“Awww, can’t little Calisto have his belly tickled, huh? Is it too much for him to get a few belly rubs?” A high pitched sound, and yet more laughter. Jaser really didn’t understand what was happening. “What if I go here, instead?” With a strange kind of fascination, Jaser watched as her hands moved upwards and rested on his armpits, which, somehow, morphed completely the laughter from the other, transforming it into a giggly, high pitched and long winded sound not so unlikely Mia did when she was excited.

“Eheheheeeeeek!! No! Nononohohohoho! Geheheheeeeet ohohout! Sohohofiaahahahhaahaha! Ihihihim dying!”

“Is that so? My little brother must be really getting old, you lasted so much more in our tickle fights when we were children!”

“Thihihihis barehehely-eeek a fight!” Another one of those squeals and even more high pitched laughter, even Mia was senselessly pushing her hands on her uncle’s torso, although somehow differently from what Sofia was doing, the sparse “oof!” sounds Calisto let out showing the difference.

What was that word again? Tickle?

That was when Calisto found his gaze and extended an arm at him (or tried to, since something happened again and not even half minute later he was cluing that same arm on his torso and doing that snorting sound), still laughing, still smiling, still squirming away. “Jaahahahahaseher! S-Saveeheheh meehehe! Yohohour motheheheher wehent crahahazy.”

Sofia gasped, affronted (but not really, like faking an affrontement), taking in a deep breath and letting it out in a loud, muffled sound on Calisto’s belly. Partially muffled and partially disappearing at the loud shriek from the other, with, again, more laughter.

“Mãe?” Jaser asked, as she lifted her head, ready to reply with something else and, just like she did every time Jaser called her, Sofia turned her full attention to him, also smiling. Like they were having fun. “Let him go, please?”

She laughed. “Alright, alright. Turning my own son against me, you have no shame.” One last squeal and Calisto was left panting and letting out those tiny, fast kind of huffed laughter. Something must have shown in Jaser’s face, to gain Sofia’s next words. “Don’t worry, Calisto is just being dramatic, he can take much more tickling than this. He actually likes it!”

Tickle and tickling, Jaser guarded those words in his mind where he kept all the new information about his new family. Calisto likes it and Sofia likes doing it too. “I see.”

Calisto groaned. “Sofia! Stop embarrassing me in front of my niece and my nephew!”

“Stop being embarrassed, then. It's cute! Besides, everyone is ticklish.”

So, it’s something embarrassing but not. He added ticklish to the information.

“Yeah, you’re right. Everyone is.” He pointed that by poking Sofia on her back, making her jolt on the same place at turn to him with a playful smirk.

“Me too?”

Both adults stopped and turned to Jaser, who kept staring at them. Something sad flashed on Sofia’s eyes while Calisto put a hand on his chin, thoughtfully. “I mean, yes, probably. Every kid that I know is.” Then, his mouth curled in another playful smile, his sister and him were really alike. “Want us to tickle you?”

“Yes.”

Calisto blinked, astonished, before being nudged by his sister, scotting aside to open a seat between the. Sofia patting it in an invitation while Calisto adjusted Mia into a more comfortable position, the infant watching Jaser with big attentive eyes. For some reason, as he walked and sat between the adults, Jaser felt a zing of anticipation. 

He remembered Mia squirming and wiggling, Veríssimo’s tactical retreat and Calisto trashing, but also they incessant and bright laughter. Something that made you both keep on smiling and running away at once… How would that even feel like?

“Am I going to hurt you?” 

“No, we’re going to be very careful. And if you want us to stop, just ask and we will, alright?” Sofia smiled reassuringly as the young kid looked at her.

“Do I have to do anything?”

Calisto snickered, a bit of amused and a bit of fond. “Not really. Although it might be hard to not do something when you’re very ticklish.” Looking at his slightly confused face, Calisto smiled. “You’re going to see.”

With a single finger, Sofia lightly traced his neck and Jaser barely had time to process the strange feeling before he let out a quick funny huff and quickly threw himself away from her 

“It might feel a little funny at first.” Calisto remarked “Sorry, it got me by surprise.” Jaser straightened himself, feeling a hint of heat on his cheeks as he went back to his previous position, much to both adults’ joy, and embraced himself again for the strange, sudden spark of sensation.

“My turn, now!” Following his sister’s lead, Calisto’s hand began to dance and wiggle on Jaser’s neck. Where his fingers touched, a different kind of electricity spread, making all of his nerves tingle and his body to try to act on its own. He wanted to squirm away once more and to giggle uncontrollably. At the giant grin appearing on his face, his eyes closed on their own and a silly kind of laughter started to crawl up his throat, trying to get free. 

Jaser barely lasted a few seconds at all of this before falling to the other side with a couple of muffled, quiet giggles.

Sofia watched him, now resting on her arm, with eyes shining and soft, but with a playfulness on them (now directed at him) that made a shot of adrenaline run across his blood.

“It looks like someone is ticklish.” Sofia pointed out the obvious and Jaser couldn’t help but let out a short, fleeting noise, too quick to be stopped when the sudden sensation of someone poking his ribs made him almost lose his control and scramble away from the tickles. Almost. “I got a lovely squeak, now! Thank you, Jaser. Maybe we can do that again?”

That he did. As she kept poking at his ribs, more and more squeaks flowed from his mouth, sometimes in quick, short bursts of noises and sometimes louder, depending if she attacked his ribs with fast pokes or if she took  the opportunity to prod and dig on the bone. Jaser couldn’t stop himself from squeaking and letting out tiny huffs and puffs, a humming kind of laughter that he didn’t even know he could do.

A soft tracing on the shell of his ear and on the - seemingly - extremely ticklish skin right behind it made him shake his head involuntarily with a shiver and the sudden tickly sparkes that filled his sensation, louder snickers and a couple of bouncing noises of surprise flying in the air with the new attack. 

“Look at this, I got two giggly yelps.” Calisto pointed, proud, at his discovery. Jaser wondered if the siblings were making a competition of his reactions. That thought only made him smile more, body wiggling from one side to another, running away from the absurdly soft touch from one side only to fall into more pokes and prodding that kept making him jump and jolt in the same place.

“Are we just-” His voice sounded funny, higher, wobblier, words stumbling and dancing across giggles and chuckles as a result of the tickles. “Ticklish everywhere?”

“Not everyone.” Calisto pointed, focusing on an especially sensitive spot under his chin that made him squeal and try to protect the place by bringing his chin down to his chest which, considering Calisto’s hand was still there scratching and scribbling over and over the spot, but now unlocked between his chest and neck, didn’t really help. “Some people are ticklish and certain places that others are not. We still don’t know why humans are ticklish at all and why we laugh when that happens. There are papers that say it’s a reflex for protection or some social aspect of humanity. In general, children are mostly ticklish everywhere, though, probably because….”

There was a slight pause, filled with a kind of anticipation that Jaser would probably be prepared to understand in any other circumstance in which he was not having his mind completely overcome by the hand now crawling upwards on his torso towards his armpits. It finally made him understand why Calisto was squirming so much that time and also completely destroyed his simple desire to just stay still, every rational thought disappearing, taken over by tiny, funny sounds and quicker, fast-peaced guffaws. 

If Jaser could actually stop to analyze that silence, he would’ve realized that, technically, he was currently the child his uncle was talking about.

“They’re all soft!”

It was too late, and suddenly two hands clamped on his sides and began squeezing non stop, making him fall once again on his mom, another failed attempt as the tickling followed him and his squirms. A loud, screeching sound left his mouth, followed quickly by louder, stronger crackles and hummed chuckles taking over the room as Sofia also used the opportunity to softly spidering and scratching his armpit, pulling a snort. Jaser could barely register the next words being said.

“Or at least they should be! Sofia, where is the rice and beans for this kid?” He began squeezing his hip bones as well, searching and finding the most ticklish spots with the deathly precision of an investigator who had done this for years, analyzing all the reactions of his victim only to latch on them. And latch he did, Calisto drummed and tased a place where his stomach met his side and clawed at his hipbones, prying more and more squeals and crackles, delighted in seeing his usually so closed and suspicious nephew having so much fun. “Jaser, you’re still so skinny. I can feel your bones!”

“Plehehehease dohohon’t!”

A poke on his bellybutton and he was curling into a ball of protection, another squeaky squeal flying high in the air. His eyes crinkled where they were sealed tightly shut and there was a slight soreness on his face, Jaser doesn’t think he ever laughed that much.

“Calisto,” they stopped tickling him and Jaser discovered that even without any movement, he still could feel a newer, softer tingling which created another wave of ghostly tickles. It  slowed his laughter but kept the snickers coming at the same time. 

When both adults adjusted themselves on the couch, Jaser almost flinched at the anticipation of a new attack, the stubborn wobbly smile on his lips never leaving his face for not even a second. 

Sofia started. “I think it’s time for our grand finale.”

With a so deeply serious tune that could only be fake, Calisto agreed. “That’s right, it seems so!”

“Are you alright with it, Jaser?” Finding his eyes, she showed him a bright, incredibly soft and happy smile. “It’s fine if you had enough fun, too.”

“Whahahat is ihit?” Curiosity sparkled in his voice at the same light it twinkled in her eyes, as if she was feeling just as much joy as him.

“It’s an extra special tickle surprise.”

“Our trademark, our friends would say.”

“Do you want to discover it?” 

“Ok.” Jaser answered Sofia’s question and watched as both siblings exchanged a determined nod, as if connected by a mental link. In sync, both of them grabbed one of his arms and pulled upwards.

“Keep those here, ok?” Calisto patted his head and Jaser almost flinched in anticipation, this time a bit more conscious of the opening he was giving them since all his tickle spots (as it seems) were concentrated on his upper body. “It will help a lot for our trick.”

“Ok.”

“One...” Sofia started.

“Two…”

They stared at him, who for reason stared at Mia, who simply started clapping. Electricity continued to run wild across his nerves, setting each of them alight. Eventually, Jaser completed. “Three.”

Calisto and Sofia took twin deep breaths and in that very same moment Jaser knew exactly what was going to happen, he barely had time to let out a squeak when two faces shoved themselves on his sides and belly in a huge “PFFFFBBBT” sound, shaking their heads as if to increase what was already the most murderous, effective tickle attack Jaser ever felt.

“IYAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Jaser fell backward on the couch, completely boneless, trying to become a tiny ball and being continuously caught off guard by more and more tickles. No matter how much they did it, each new blowing-air-tickles kept leaving him in shrieks of laughter, the sensations feeling like they exploded everywhere across his stomach and explored in a buzzing feeling every tickle spot nearby. They were both long winded tickling and also tiny airy attacks that were peppered all across his sides and ribs, leaving him crackling and snickering at each one. With this, all the kind of funny reactions were pried from him, snorts, squeals, squeaky and an uncontrollable, unstoppable kind of laughter flying across the space and taking over the entire house.

The more they tickled him, the more ticklish Jaser felt, as if that playful activity was self sufficient on itself, and the more he was tickled, the more he laughed, and the more his laughter kept coming, the more those lighter and fuzzier feelings took over his mind, making his entire body more relaxed and, therefore, more vulnerable to more tickles, which would start the entire cycle again. 

So he just kept snickering, giggling, crackling and guffawing non stop.

When his uncle and mother stopped, he was still left giggling and huffing laughter as their warm hands rubbed his back and combed his hair, the waterfall of titters slowly coming to a stop a couple of minutes later. Jaser took wobbly, deep breaths and felt his own face smile a giant grin that had never before lived in his expression, a mark of joy that refused to disappear from his face. His entire body felt like all his bones had melted, relaxed like never before.

“It was… fun.” He said out loud, in a tune with a tad of disbelief and surprise. “Really fun.”

“Aww, see, Calisto, he got that from you.” As his uncle sputtered and batted Sofia in retaliation, who simply continued her teasing. “Mia will have so much to learn about tormenting brothers from her mother.”

Jaser snickered at the batter, his reactions much softer, easier than before. What a silly thing to say, Mia definitely wouldn’t remember any of this moment since, as it seems, normal, non-Unhaunted children didn’t really attain every single memory from the moment of their childbirth, right?

Even so, he turned around to look at his younger sister, who had been particularly quiet the entire discovery, staring as those attentive eyes glued on him and she smiled and giggled.

…Right?

Jaser huffed and offered a finger for her to grab, smiling as well.

(He could understand Calisto perfectly well, now. There were people who really were worth sacrificing everything for.)

For this little life, the tiny infant that changed his entire life, who gave him this chance of reality, who was kind enough to share her family with him, who changed him, Jaser really wouldn’t mind learning everything he could to keep and make her happy.

[zoebelladona]

fics by crowstyping (that's me!) 🌿

PERCY JACKSON

arkadia is gone: broken trio lycanthrope au. in which it is lykaon instead of kronos.

kyparissos, run! kyparissos, cry: novelisation of thalia's death

pointed north: au about my ocs, campers luke's age post-battle of manhattan. pov my son of apollo oc with mommy issues and psychosexual problems.

HIS DARK MATERIALS (follow @dximonions)

apple heart: narnia/hdm crossover. lyra belacqua x lucy pevensie one-shots collection.

bauble: a tony costa x lyra belacqua flash fic.

it's a long way out to reach the sea (but i'm sure i'll find you waiting there for me): au where lyra is not captured at the end of the subtle knife. lyra and will play in the ocean of another world.

paradise dropped: high school/small town au. panjava. will has a crush on lyra belacqua, they sit in the park and drink wine, talking about prophecies.

symbol no.14: bird: pre-the secret commonwealth fix-it where lyra and pantalaimon talk things out instead of letting it fester.

this peppermint winter: written post-s1 finale. christmas special about lyra trying to make the holidays feel special despite everything she went through.

novaturient: post-the amber spyglass lyra realises that while she might love will she wasn't in love with him.

within walls: human experiments but with dæmons

SHAPESHIFTER AU

the influence stars have: the lion king except it's humans who can shapeshift into animals

anatomy of an edelweiss flower: the secret of nimh except it's humans who can shapeshift into animals

《 possibly upcoming 》

power outage [ pjo / one-shot ]: throne room scene in tlo except thalia is there

lightning in a bottle [ pjo / multichap ]: au where luke does not join kronos. when thalia's tree is poisoned luke offers himself as volunteer to go on the quest for the golden fleece in an attempt to save her.

lichtenberg figures [ pjo / multichap ]: au where thalia comes back her actual age.

fixed star [ deltarune / one-shot? ]: following the events of the snowgrave route, instead of opening a new dark world kris goes to noelle and explains the situation. they think they might have a chance to find dess if they work together.

smile to charge, hug to cast [ pjo / multichap? ]: my will solace and lou ellen are besties manifesto. backstory stuff and how they fared during the events of pjo

supernova [ deltarune / one-shot ]: december holiday is missing. two kids try to find her.

bury me in the lake i swam when i was a child [ merlin / two-shot? ]: freya is not dead. she and merlin got married, he visits when he can. he brings her flowers.

amphibious [ merlin / one-shot ]: merlin can think of no one better to look after aithusa than the lady of the lake.

thaw & foredawn [ barbie / multichap ]: i rewrite magic of the pegasus but i let annika say fuck

dark age [ loz / one-shot ]: totk being the "beginning" of the timeline makes me angry so i'm novelising a theory i saw refuting that

how terrifying to be aglow [ loz / multichap ]: totk + ss remix where i do my own take of the imprisoning war from skyward sword using tears of the kingdom worldbuilding. aka, hylia and the original hero are zonai

we'll be dead in the water [ thg / multichap ]: welcome to the 73rd hunger games! fanfic quality version of the ongoing rp between myself and @on-the-river-lethe. for more check out @laberinthos

waking up the giants [ tlg / multichap ]: my version of the backstory of the dead civilisation in the last guardian

wearing our remains [ trc / multichap ]: my adam/blue/noah manifesto + au where i remix trc to Not include gansey and ronan. die mad about it

[pollydoodles]

These Endless Days (Are Finally Ending in a Blaze)

Following the events of Civil War, the Avengers are disbanded, scattered and in hiding - and not coping all that well. The rise of anti-superhuman feeling continues, and it's not only the Avengers who are feeling the effects. Steve Rogers and team are about to discover a whole other world, and with it comes what might be the biggest threat they've ever faced.

Whispers from the Hellmouth

“Whole town, devastated, on the whim of a child.”

A New Threat

Agent Riley Finn, waiting in the shadows of the Hagia Sofia with his recon team, takes a deep breath as he watches Captain America dust a vampire.

The Carter Girl

“Carters are Watchers,” he intones, and Peggy turns to face him, fascinated against her will to hear her father’s words from her little brother.

Conversations with the Dead

“We’re not super, Xander,” she says, a brief flash of annoyance colouring her eyes before she rolls them at him. “We’re nothing like the Avengers.”

Death of a Slayer

He had had such high hopes for this one. Had thought that she had been the key, the girl that he had been waiting for, the one to fulfill the prophecy. And yet, as they all had before, death had claimed her. This one was the same as all the rest.

The Things You Never Knew

“Last set of people I ‘had to meet’ turned out to be Nazis,” Steve returns flatly, but she’s been in the game long enough to be able to detect the note of underlying interest running through him as he says it.

Behind Enemy Lines

“What is - what is your work?” Peggy asks, curiously. “What could the Council possibly want with a scientist?” Erskine sits back in his chair and rubs at his chin, feeling the beard that has grown there over the long months he has been kept at Kastel Kaufmann.

Confessions of a Sinner

“Vampires, right,” Scott yawns again, waving a sleepy hand in Steve’s general direction. “Tennis vampires, or-” He pauses, hand out-stretched towards the kitchen counter, frozen in the act of reaching for what passes for a clean mug these days. “Wait, what? Like Dracula? Bleh, bleh, bleh?”

City Under Siege

She has strength enough to focus on the task at hand, to despatch the three vampires that come at her fast, one after the other with teeth bared and bloodlust in their yellow eyes. As they explode into dust at the point of her broken chair leg, the men who watch at the window are silent, but their eyes see all.

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

The girl wakes in a new sort of darkness, gasping for air that is thick and heavy and does not fill her lungs the way she needs it to. For a moment or two she feels as though she is more than one person - that in one body exists more than there should, a jostling within herself - themself? - she shakes her head, blinking into the gloom and the feeling starts to recede.

Got a Secret, Can You Keep It?

“I’m guessing you all recognise Steve,” Maria says, nodding toward him as she speaks.

“Don’t you, uh, usually come with real shield action?” Xander mimes throwing an over-large frisbee, and the little redhead - Willow, Steve reminds himself - beside him puts a hand to her face with a grimace.

The Chosen One

“Here’s to making history,” Erskine says, nudging the small glass tumbler back across the desk toward her, and raising his own.

“A history no one else will ever know the truth of,” she says, ruefully, as she toasts him in kind.

Coming soon:

The Will of the People

Little Eva

Friction Burns

[riewritten]

CHAPTER 6. COUNTERATTACK

EDGE OF THE PRECIPICE — DIRECTORY

ERWIN X FEM!READER, ERWIN X YOU, NO Y/N | hurt/comfort, angst, mystery, childhood friends, fake marriage, modern au, parallel universe, reincarnation, mentions of canon, pining commander erwin smith, trauma, manipulation, referenced child abuse, violence, psychological torture

SUMMARY: Aggressive land grabbing from the royal government ensue from one countryside to the other, all allegedly for the prophecy: a tree, vast source of power that'd bring great abundance and prosperity to mankind, is standing among their lands. As the said prophecy holds the answer to the tragic childhood you have no memories of, the guerilla's commander pulls out something he prepared for years to help. AO3 | FANFICTION

WORDS: 6k | Want to get tagged for the succeeding chapters? Sign up here.

Levi, Isabel, you, and Erwin stayed inside the conference room after everyone in the HQ called it a night. An old vintage television is open and its news flash report further echoed the already grim mood. 

“Breaking news: Stohess citizens, abducted by rebels to avenge their comrade’s death.”

“What?!” Isabel grimaced.

“Reportedly thirteen soldiers were dead on arrival while five were injured. Citizen casualties remain unknown as they were seized before back-ups had arrived. The rebel being avenged, Petra Ral, was a university student branded as the ‘brainwashed Eldian.’ Ms. Ral was said to be killed after trying to shoot a Military Police officer,” the newscaster continued.

“So this is their game?” Isabel taunted at the air. “Bet they’d make these five soldiers who weren’t even there fool the media with sob stories of how merciless we were.”

Petra did not deserve such disdain at her name, but this time you remain composed instead of making a scene yet again. It’s not like you could do anything about it, not when the next person interviewed on the news was your former boss—the same man who berated Petra at the cafe, the same man who made you realize how desperate you were for normalcy to the point of letting a precious friend’s reputation undeservingly stepped on over and over. Your then-boss sputtered a lot of nonsense on live TV to make his exposure longer. He spoke of how barbaric Petra was, of how he regretted hiring a girl like her, and even went far as to mention your name—that you were one of the poor fellows fooled by Petra’s “so-called” kindness because, before you went AWOL, he caught you staring daggers at him which sent shivers down his spine. He even added in his final statement, “It wouldn’t surprise me if she joined the rebels, too. Petra was smart enough to brainwash students who seemed like a complete airhead like her workmate.”

The one who broke the grim atmosphere (or perhaps made it even worse) was Erwin. He chuckled, sardonically so, as if it was nothing but a noontime gag show and your then-boss was none but a stand comedian.

Levi had the face saying ‘the fuck are you laughing on’ but didn’t waste energy to tell him out loud because, after all, out of all people inside the room, Erwin would be the one to react most unkindly once your name was said in a bad light. It’s always been that way for you, even back in Mitras, so annoyingly protective even after you berate him for taking on fights that were yours to take in the first place.

Perhaps Isabel deemed the laugh utterly displeasing and felt compelled to turn off the TV and change the topic—you were her chosen target, “I actually don’t know what name to call you anymore. Would you rather go by your original name, A—”

“That is not my original name,” you grimaced but quickly regained composure because, if anything, Isabel meant no harm, “I’m sorry. I just—I don’t like the name. Please call me as it is.”

“I prefer your current name now, too! Erwin said you were the one who came up with it as a child. How did that happen, though?”

“Erwin’s aunt allowed me to do so after she adopted me. Now that I think of it,” you then turn to Erwin to ask, “You were the one who suggested to give me a new name. Did you do that to hide me from the royal family?”

“If I were Erwin, I would’ve done the same if not more. The last thing I’d want for you is to be used as collateral for a prophecy that can’t even be proven unless you die,” Isabel tapped Erwin’s shoulders. “Smart move, Er—ouch! Levi, be more gentle!”

Levi carefully tied Isabel’s hair up to tend the wounds on her back, after which he called your name to say, “The royal family and its cohorts are squeezing their brains out to find you. Not even your face as a child could be retrieved. It was as if someone intentionally ensured that your traces would be erased.”

“When I was young, everyone in the village made a precaution to not take pictures of me. I thought it’s because camera flashes could be a trigger as they could potentially be associated with explosions, but the reason is much clearer now.”

“Seems like Erwin’s family was hands-on with you.”

“Erwin himself, even,” Levi mused, “he’s been watching you all this time. Erwin and I had known each other even before you went to university. He was the one who urged me to let you in. The ‘room for rent’ poster at the university bulletin board was intended only for you to see—just so you’d think you found us all by yourself.”

Your eyes widened.

“That’s a bit creepy,” Isabel shuddered.

“Oh, it seems like you’re not fond of saying your acts of love out loud, yeah?” Levi quipped nonchalantly at the man in question. Erwin, although stoic, seemed to ask Levi what he was trying to do right now. But even before he got to, you glared at him and asked, “Is that true?” 

“It is.”

“And you didn’t tell me anything, Levi?” the next glare was for him.

“That’s my next question to Erwin,” Levi lowered his voice, darkly so. “As I said, I’m not here to mess around with whatever prophecy the royal family is brewing behind our backs. If you still don’t give us the context regarding her identity, I’m taking Isabel home with me.”

“Hey, Levi,” Isabel grimaced.

If Erwin was threatened with that, he showed no signs of it. Instead he looked at you. His gaze was silent but asking. It didn’t take you long to construe what it was: Would you like to be the one to answer? It concerns your past, after all.

“Did you really save her from those fires?”

And thus, you tried answering in his stead, “Yes. As far as my memories are concerned, he saved me, but…”

“But what?”

Try to recall it. Try to recall it.

Years ago, you saw the giant tree and witnessed Erwin crying for the first and last time, after which he started avoiding you. He started locking the door of his room so you wouldn’t enter. You thought of ways to apologize, including searching around their house for an apology gift, leading you to a newspaper clip in his father’s room. You saw the headline news of your house being burnt to shreds. Then you remembered. You remembered what really happened in that house.

What happened? You already remembered what really happened! Why couldn’t you recall it?

You just woke up blaming Erwin all of a sudden. It came to a point that Carly brought you far away from him to ease your panic attacks. She got you checked by a psychiatrist. The professional said that your brain might be formulating memories that didn’t happen.

Then…? What happened next again…? How did your relationship with Erwin get fixed again?

Erwin eventually forced himself to your new home. He lived with you and made attempts to clear the misunderstanding. He recalled the truth to you, repeatedly so, and you finally succumbed to him when he saved you from the fires in the vacant lot—a fire instigated by random kids.

That’s what had happened, right?

Then why… Why do you have a dream about Erwin instigating that fire himself to convince you, albeit forcefully, that he saved you?

What exactly have you seen that day?

“Hey,” Isabel patted your shoulder to cut your thoughts off. “You okay?”

“I am not sure,” you muttered, “I’m not sure what I’ve seen that day,” you clasped both hands on your head, wide-eyed, utterly confused. “It’s as if my brain is making up something. It’s as if it’s intentionally painting Erwin in a bad light. The voices are speaking inside my head, full of warning, even if Erwin’s the last one to hurt me out of all the people in this world.”

REALLY? IS THAT REALLY THE CASE, LITTLE FLOWER?

“People who went through horrible situations could really have foggy recollection, you know? Your brain has a reason to be like that to protect you. Don’t beat yourself up for it. Don’t force yourself to remember.” Isabel seemed really worried this time. 

REALLY? REALLY? REALLY?

Isabel’s glare tightened at Levi. Erwin’s gaze was looking on you, then to Levi not long after, “Is that what would make you stay? Forcing her past out of her—making her remember the things she had forgotten to protect her sanity—would that really help you unveil the truth of how bastard of a father Kenny was to Furlan?”

‘Don’t speak as though Furlan’s death is not connected to her identity in the first place!’ is what Levi almost said; you could see the look of disdain on his face. But his face softened as soon as he glanced at you. You wouldn’t like to hear that from him. Erwin was right. Your past is not the primary reason he and Isabel joined the guerillas. It’s to uncover Furlan’s death. 

Levi sighed, exasperated, then gave you a bottle of water. “Isabel is right. Don’t force yourself too much.”

The days went by with Levi and Erwin seemingly in a rift between each other, yet they were still able to work efficiently for the next mission.

It came to Erwin that the Military Police distributed a huge intelligence fund to find Anna. This eventually resulted in rising worries of citizens, especially women, as they felt like someone was watching them. Some condemned the Military Police for it, but some defended it and said it was all for the prosperity of Eldia and that the royal family surely knew what they were doing.

You managed to build relations with the establishments where most Military Police hang out, which led you to befriend Marie, the owner of the bar nearest to the Interior Police headquarters, and she hired you immediately when you said you’ve been trying to find a job.

“Bloody hell, I feel like every woman I’ve been fuckin’ lately could potentially be Anna,” the MP soldier hiccuped as you poured him another drink, “and that I can’t let night pass without questionin’ ’em. It’s that or my promotion at risk, y’know?”

“It must be unfortunate to be a soldier,” you lamented. “Maybe I must be grateful I settled on a job like this.”

“I also am grateful, ya see,” he giggled and scooted closer, breath reeked of beer—disgustingly so, “’cause I get to have a beauty like ya pourin’ my glass after a long, long day.”

Fortunately, Marie swatted him away from you, “That’s my girl you’re touching there.”

“Oh, why so stingy! She’s the first woman ya hired since this damn business got movin’! Lemme have my share as yer best customer!”

“I sell liquor, not women—as if it’s even ethical to sell women,” Marie rolled her eyes and, as swift as ever, collected the used glasses at the counter. “Why don’t you find that wanted girl first so you’d have your long-awaited promotion? Flirting around won’t get you there.”

“Easy for ya to say because yer husband’s already a high-rankin’ dog!” he spat. “These damn women, suckin’ higher officers’ dick off—hic—but scold low-rankin’ soldiers tailin’ ’em.” This time, he sounded like sulking to himself, although Marie could still hear it.

Poor Marie. This bar was swamped by drunkard soldiers when their reputation changed from valor to perversion due to the intelligence mission, and yet this drunk man in front of you trying to mimic Kenny’s way of talking didn’t make the nuisance lighter.

“It’s already a woman’s burden to be tailed by the likes of you and yet you still have the guts to blame us.”

“‘Ya sayin’ something?!” the man shot daggers to the now enraged Marie, “Know yer place and just keep suckin’ yer husband off after his long long day of workin’ his ass off! Just for yer damned bar!” then he spitted on the counter. “Ya thought just ’cause ya got chance doin’ business, yer already superior to us, huh? I bet ya husband’s just lettin’ you ’cause of how good you are in bed! Know yer place and—”

The whole place is rattled into silence when Marie slaps the soldier, clearly offended, eyes shaking in anger. You thought how hard it must’ve been to her all this time, to have such barbaric customers in and out of her lawn. Perhaps that’s even the main reason why she wasn’t fond of hiring women until you asked her for help.

It was even more pitiful when a group of drunk soldiers came to rescue the man. They spat curses to the both of you, of how this whole operation of finding an unknown girl has been stressing their guts, of how they would still do it anyway because they’re men who merely wanted the prosperity of Eldia—the prosperity of the women who so despised them.

Just before Marie could request security, one soldier suddenly exclaimed, “Ah! You must be that person! Hah, we found her. We found Anna!”

It was as though a bucket of ice was thrown at you. But then, their inebriated selves were looking at Marie. They claimed Marie as the wanted girl just because she defended herself against blatant disrespect. No one seems to be functioning properly because of the liquor, hence none of them would cut the commotion off. “You see, one thing we know about Anna is that she’s a child born out of the Interior Police’s operation. Some soldier fucked a woman of a powerful lineage, a lineage so powerful that it could give the holy tree!”

“What are you trying to say?!” Marie shouted back, fuming.

“So the product of that operation must be affiliated to the military, one way or another! Right, right?! Don’t you think so?! We’re all stuck in this because someone in our ranks is a snitch! That’s it! We solved it!”

His remark seemed to turn on the lightbulbs of every soldier inside the bar. Their eyes start becoming more predatory—perhaps even more desperate, because their superiors are onto nothing but “Find her, find her, find her!” recently that every woman they come across salivates their desire to get this over with.

While you’re secretly communicating with the guerilla unit near the area so they’d arrive before the commotion starts, what he said bothered you to no end. No, it didn’t just bother you—it made you remember something, and it’s the first time you have remembered something you’re sure is accurate. 

“Once she turns ten, she’ll be the royal family’s property. Don’t you get attached to her,” he says.

“No way you’d tell that to a mother like me,” she quips, voice laced with honey. “Worry not, she is aware of it herself. Aren’t you, my cute little girl?” then pinches your cheeks.

“Yes, I do! Once I turn ten, I will bless the royal family with prospre—prospreri—prospreritri—”

“It’s prosperity,” your father spats. He seems about to scold you but ends up shaking his head instead. “Nevermind. Not like it’d make a difference if you were born smart.”

“Give her some slack,” your mother quips then fondly looks at you, “don’t mind him. Daddy’s jealous because you’re special.”

“I am?”

“Yes, you know why?”

“Why?”

“Because our bloodline is special! We’re saviors capable of finding the tree and awakening its bearer! Awaking the bearer means giving prosperity to Eldia!”

“Yay! Prosprerity!”

Your mother’s laugh gets even louder, and although your father still looks annoyed, you can see him holding back a smile.

“Miss Marie, pray tell, pray tell,” a soldier hummed, “where do the rebels stay?”

“You son of a—” Marie cut herself off and shot you a glance instead. “Go get someone to fix this.”

You nodded and tried to walk away, but another soldier cornered you, “Why do you think we could let you go when you’re working alongside this woman?” then his face turned sour, “You’re a damn rebel too, aren’t you? Look at how young you are, as old as that orange bitch!”

You very much knew who he was talking about, so your rage did something unhelpful to the situation: you slapped him hard, tears in the corner of your eyes. It enraged the soldier just the same, and so he ordered, “Cuff the two of them!” You tried to defend yourselves, but twenty inebriated soldiers were still soldiers; even if you managed to knock down five of them, someone would be swift enough to point a knife at Marie’s neck. That was your cue to stop fighting. The soldier smiled sardonically, “I see you’re a good girl.”

You let yourself be cuffed, nothing ringing in your mind but vital information you gathered while staying here.

The previous week, a customer working as a clerk inside the Interior Police said that Commander Kenny’s son was a needed sacrifice for the prosperity of mankind. He mourns for him, but it must not be mistaken for Petra who died at the same age. Petra was a life wasted. Had the rebels heeded the warning to give Anna over, no one would have been killed. You asked her then, “So it was a massacre, wasn’t it?” She shrugged and answered, “Is it really relevant if we’re talking about the rebels? The government had always wanted to get rid of them. Who would budge if it really was a massacre?”

Then, two days ago, a young soldier who had just been promoted to be a part of the Interior Police valiantly said, “Someone as powerful as Anna must be kept by the authorities, but look where she is instead, in the hands of the rebels! The royal family means no harm. They need her power for their citizens’ prosperity. It must not be held by the Eldians who could abuse it!” And so you asked him, “Do you know what Anna’s power really is?” Instead, he glared at you, “Are you not attending the church every Sunday?” When you shook your head, he sighed, deeming you lower than him. The young soldier told you everything Isabel and Levi knew about the prophecy and the tree. After thirty minutes of him rambling, you finally cut him off out of annoyance. “Do you know what exactly Anna’s part is?” You then realize that the young boy doesn’t know at all. He doesn’t know a thing, yet he still holds their words dear because they’re his fellow believers, and believing them means being loyal to the royal family.

When you and Marie were all tied and surrounded by drunk soldiers pretending as though they were inside an interrogation room, you asked,” Why do you think rebels exist, Officer?”

“Because they’re incompetent and aching for war, ruining peace for their own gain. Why? Finally admitting you’re one of them? Oh, we gon’ reward you real good, then.”

“The royal government and its cohorts are the ones ruining peace for their own gain. The rebels just retaliated to defend themselves.”

Another soldier pushed him away in a glare, “Yeah? So what is your relation to them?”

“They saved me.”

“Oh, poor girl. She must’ve been brainwashed, too,” the other one sitting on the counter, about to faint, murmured while hugging his bottle. 

“Do you know where Anna is? How about the Commander? What does he look like?”

You didn’t speak. That’s something they could never squeeze out of you. The drunk soldier, much to your and Marie’s surprise, hit your head hard with the bottle. You tried your very best to gulp down your scream, tried your very best to not let the pain know because Erwin trained you for it. You felt the blood drip to your cheeks and chin until droplets of it came down to your shirt. Marie’s screams made you dizzy.

In a span of a moment, you get the urge to sleep, but something uncanny makes you alert—the longer the blood permeates the room, the darker it gets. You thought you were merely feeling things because of the head injury, but you were sure everyone else had felt it, too. The soldier who hit you looked so utterly horrified not long after. He seemed sober again. The soldier who was about to sleep just stood up to scream. The glass bottles on the shelves started clanking against each other as the tables began shaking. The barely cleaned roof showered everyone with its long-standing dust just as if they were alive and as scared as you all were. It wasn’t long for Marie to faint, too.

Out of nowhere, everyone started kneeling at you, shouting their apologies, acting as though they just angered an otherworldly entity. You looked down at them, aghast, as the concussion in your head and the blood you were losing didn’t help you comprehend the situation at hand. 

The pin of the grenade was the rats under the floor, running and running as if an onslaught was happening inside their homes. The wind reeked of corpses, of anger, of suffocating entity taking control of every molecule in the space.

“T-the voice… it’s the same feeling when the voices speak…” you murmur to yourself. You did so repeatedly as the soldiers wept harder until the door banged open. 

“Why are they kneeling and crying?” Moblit exclaimed in horror.

“No! Why are they kneeling and crying while she is tied and bleeding? Oh god, Nifa! First aid kit, please!” Hange ordered.

“Oh, y-you’re here… Thank heavens.”

However, your relief was quickly replaced with horror upon seeing Erwin’s face. It’s always been like this. Back when you two were younger, your playmates have always been so scared to play pranks at you because the first time they did, young Erwin—as you quote them—had ‘made them see hell.’ Your head dripping with blood upon his arrival would obviously warrant a situation way worse than this. You might be safe now, but nobody else is—not with this sight.

“Who’s the one responsible for this?”

You refused to answer. Perhaps out of impulse, or perhaps because you finally realized how scared you are at Erwin all this time. The voices in your head may be the deeply rooted fear for Erwin the same way your former Mitras friends had feared him.

Erwin called your name and repeated the question.

“Don’t worry too much about this. More importantly, Marie, my—”

He walked towards you. The nearer his footsteps get, the more dreadful the atmosphere becomes. “Who did that to you?” 

Everyone went silent. The weeping became quiet strains. You were just about to repeat your remark—that there are more things to worry about—but then Erwin’s gaze turned to the soldier kneeling right before you.

The same officer who hit your head with the bottle.

“Commander, the place is starting to shake,” Nifa reported as she brought him the first aid kit.

“Is there an earthquake?”

“God, it reeks of corpses,” Hange pinched their nose.

“W-what?” Nanaba muttered in horror from the outside. “The rats are all over the road.”

“What the fuck is happening?”

“Fourth squad, check if the bar owner has incurred wounds. Treat her if need be. Miche, seize the soldiers. Do it quickly. Something strange is happening. Let’s leave this place all at once.” 

“How about her…?” Hange pointed at you only for their question to be answered immediately as soon as Erwin untied you himself and applied pressure on your concussion.

With all the strength you have left inside you, you try to bargain, “D-don’t hurt the soldiers,” but his face didn’t change; hence, you repeated, “Don’t you dare hurt the soldiers, Erwin.”

Despite the whole place shaking, more stray animals panicking, and people weeping in fear, his scowl was only due to your pleas. “I loathe this attitude the most. If you ought to be too merciful of your enemies, even to the point of not holding them accountable, you might as well sit still and never join any operation again.”

“They must pay for this. We both know they must… b-but—hah,” you stammered, clearly struggling not to let the dizziness take over your consciousness. “they have information regarding Anna. I heard most of it already so—”

“So they must talk about it before bullets strike their heads.”

“No,” you stopped him from addressing your wounds to look straight in the eye, “It’s not the guerilla’s move to get swayed by their emotions, yes? You—hah—you’re the one who told me.”

If he weren’t too livid, he’d be chuckling sardonically. You almost saw him do so. “I’m not fond of repeating myself.”

He’s primarily here to ruin anyone who dared to go after you—you didn’t forget that, but it irks you. Amidst your consciousness on the precipice of leaving, anger kept you awake. How helpless have you been all this time that he naturally thought this was something to be done? And why is he depriving you of dealing with your issues now that you can do so? 

“I must be the one to do that. Don’t take it away from me.”

There, you saw a glimpse of amusement in his features.

How sweet of you, really — he might’ve thought — how pathetically kind to try and save them by taking the punishment job in his stead. It’s not like you’re entirely wrong—you have all the right to subject all the needed punishment to those who laid their hands on you. It’s just that you lack something he’s been so full of all his life: resentment. He’s not just doing this for you. It’s to satiate his anger for those who dared, and while he trusts you with all of his life, he just knew you wouldn’t be able to do it the way he wants to.

“Are you worried that they’d feel pain?”

“No. Don’t try to change this—”

“Don’t you worry, silly flower. Corpses can’t feel more pain.”

“Erwin,” you warned.

“Sleep.”

“I’d seriously leave you if you do this.”

You almost saw his features falter. Before you fainted, you heard him mutter, “I’d like to see how that goes.”

The next thing you knew, you were on the infirmary bed inside the Underground, and news of what happened at Marie’s bar terrified every single citizen of Eldia, rebels alike. Believers of the prophecy increased just as the fear of the conquest horseman did. That was also the needed confirmation for Levi and Isabel because the captured soldiers spoke in a language they only heard from you before killing themselves. 

“You told me you wouldn’t kill them!” you stormed to the conference room where Erwin and the squad leaders were meeting.

“I didn’t,” Erwin said. “Go back to your room and rest. You’re still not in your best shape.”

“You killed them, didn’t you?! I told you I’ll deal with them myself!”

“He didn’t kill them. We were there. We did interrogate them, but before they could say anything, they sputtered shit and killed themselves,” Levi snapped.

After a sigh, Erwin asked, “Would you like to sit, then? That’s what we’re talking about right now.” His offer made you look at everyone who’s just as lost. Your face flushed with embarrassment. You didn’t even get to fix your hair before storming inside. You sad down beside Levi, and Erwin finally continued. “Not only did they babble in a language we’re yet to understand, they also had the same carvings written on their bodies.”

“The same carvings written on Furlan’s corpse,” Levi begrudgingly admitted.

“So, the prophecy really might be true…” Miche pondered. “Then does that mean their land grabbing in pursuit of Eldia’s prosperity could be justified?”

“Would taking lands out of their tillers be justifiable with some dark magic in our lands? How about how the royal family’s cohorts privately named the seized lands theirs? Would the power of the tree explain that?” Levi scowled.

“There are only things we confirmed in this fiasco. First, the prophecy must be investigated further, and second, the conquest horseman born out of that tree—whoever they might be—does not side with the royal family. We must also find them to know their motives, and…” Erwin looked at Levi, “…to avenge Furlan Church, the first casualty they had brought to our ranks.”

Seems like Levi and Erwin were able to fix their rift while you were unconscious but it doesn’t change the fact that the horseman slipped away from your hands—the very being that haunted you since god knows when, and it was there on that day. You also realized it as soon as the atmosphere got uncanny and the soldiers knelt before you—oh. Oh god.

“Okay, so now, before we dig deeper, does anybody know what the prophecy entails in the first place?” Hange asked. “Sorry, I’m not a churchgoer, so…”

It was Levi who answered, “The church said that the Eldian race was once called ‘Subjects of Ymir,’ and we contain a power brought by a giant tree. The people blessed upon it, however, used the power in vain and committed atrocities all over the world, and so the whole Eldian race perished. The Church believes multiple worlds stipulate the universe, and this one we have is just one of them. The Eldian race was supposed to cease existence as their divine punishment, but a bloodline who also got power from that tree saved us from it.” 

“And perhaps we can deduce that your bloodline is related to it, no?" Miche faced you. "Your counterintelligence report at Marie’s bar confirmed that a soldier admitted your upbringing was an operation led by the royal family where one of their men copulated with a woman of the same lineage.”

“And, as far as her recollection is concerned, said parents have mentioned giving her up to the royal family once she turns ten,” Moblit added.

“And! It just so happened that the fires happened on your tenth birthday!” Hange beamed. “Oh, you powerful girl.”

“It would seem as though I did it all by myself, no?” you chuckle blankly. “Burning people into crisps, inducing fear and suicide, carving on their corpses, among many other cruel things no sane human could do…”

“No, sorry,” Hange backed off, expression softening. “That’s not what I meant at all.”

Awkward silence permeated the room until Erwin cleared his throat, “To continue where Levi left off, the royal family wants the tree back in their grasp. One report we got from Petra's team before they were killed was that the previous king, Uri Reiss, on his deathbed, dreamt of the person who had saved the Eldian race through the power of the tree. His last words were, ‘Find her and her lineage, give them gratitude, for they used the tree’s power beyond their own gains.’ The royal family then deduced that by finding this lineage, they could use the tree once again. That’s the end of their report. Nothing has been found about the operation once it took place.”

The rest of the meeting was about recalibrating tasks inside the unit, considering that the prophecy was real. As soon as they finished, you followed Erwin to his room. You ensured no one would be lurking around outside, for you were about to say something that could scare them.

“The conquest devil is living inside me. I’m sure of it. That’s why they’re finding me.”

Erwin was silent, tormentingly so, and thus you repeat louder. “The conquest devil is living inside me. Everyone must know that the threat is within their ranks. You, of all people, must know what should be done at this point.”

“You see,” Erwin called your name, “while I wouldn’t deny that, I doubt it. You were not around the area when Furlan got killed, and Marie told us everything you had said. None of them could be used against you. Meaning, you didn’t say anything unusual of your character.”

“So all I have to do is prove that it’s inside me, right? Okay, then. Worry not, Commander.” Exasperated, you opened the door to dismiss yourself, only for Erwin to stop you. “Let go, Erwin.”

“They know what the voices inside you have been saying. Levi and I made a report out of it.”

You faced him wide-eyed, yet he looked at you gently, “A-and? What did they say?”

“It didn’t raise their doubts. In fact, they were filled with sympathy.” Your grasp at the knob loosened and Erwin got the chance to close the door again. He let you register the statement for a few minutes.

“They didn’t doubt me,” you repeated. “Not a single doubt at all?”

He held your shoulders against the door and gently asked, “Wanna know why?” You really are clueless as to why. Those alone are objective facts. How could they—

“Because they know you. And you’re dear to them just as they’re dear to you. When Marie explained how you defended the guerillas without fear, Nifa even started to cry. Isabel and Levi weren’t surprised, though.” His remark silenced you, your thoughts, and your horrifying claims about yourself. It was so apparent on your face that Erwin knew he won the argument yet again.

“I still wouldn’t remove the possibility that the conquest horseman lives inside me, but… yes, I understand.”

“Yup. Do as you please.”

That’s when you start getting embarrassed at the distance. Erwin is still pressing your shoulders against the door with a smile so sweet it makes you think how privileged you must’ve been to be one of his chosen people to receive a smile like that from him, knowing well not anyone could have it even if they hardly wished so.

“In the other world, what was my name? Is it Anna?”

“Strange enough, it’s not. Why do you ask?”

“Then, is my name in the other world the same as the one I go by right now?”

Erwin nodded, and so you beamed as it confirmed that your very being was not tied to poor child Anna's fate. “I like the name Carly had given me better. Glad to know I got that name in the other worlds.” You smiled at Carly’s memory. You regret not visiting her before this catastrophe happened.

“Indeed, the name you go by now fits you more, but Carly didn’t give it to you. You were the one who came up with it when she asked.”

That reminder plucked a thorn out of your heart. It made you smile wide and sweet, the very smile Erwin likes to see. “So, you told me you saw what that tree could offer. Tell me about it.”

Erwin smiled ruefully, “I told you. It’s how beautiful you look in worlds even beyond this one.”

“Seriously, I’m not kidding around.”

“Do I look like I’m kidding around?”

You rolled your eyes, hoping it could conceal the fluster instead, “Then, who am I aside from my beauty that goes beyond different worlds?” Hell, saying it out loud sounds so embarrassing. 

However, Erwin’s smile faltered, “After you used the power granted by the tree to save the Eldian race, your existence was subjected to death and despair. In every other world, you always end up dying miserably. Even now I see that you’re still being chased by it.”

“I’m the one who—” you covered your mouth in surprise, “I’m the exact person who did all that?”

“Yes, perhaps the royal family knows by now that you’re the person they’ve been finding for so long; that’s why their search for you got even more unrelenting.”

“God, how cruel. Why am I dying repeatedly after doing that much, then?!”

“Breaking divine laws, I suppose?”

“If that isn’t a beauty that goes beyond worlds, huh!” you huffed. Erwin, however, is still smiling as if he meant praise literally. It flustered you further. Is this due to your stress? Are you perhaps seeking comfort?

“Who were you in those worlds?” 

“I’m not sure. The worlds I’ve seen are just glimpses. The only thing clear is that you were the only one in your bloodline who used the power granted to your lineage and willingly carried the consequences tied to it.”

That’s sad to know, yet deep inside you, you’d still choose that path if that meant Erwin and all of your loved ones would not cease to exist.

“What are we in those worlds, then? Did we also know each other in childhood?"

“Uh… It's a bit more complicated than that.”

“Okay, what are we to each other based on the glimpses you’ve seen?”

He seemed to hesitate at one point, but perhaps saying it out loud made his smile return, “My lovely wife, that’s who you are back there.”

🔖@cadenza-damour @xiaotopia (hi u two it's been a YEAR [god i cant stress this ENOUGH] since ive updated this fic and i would totally understand if you'd want to get excluded from the tag list from hereon!! please gimme a heads up if this is the case, :) ty!!)

prev | GET TAGGED FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER

[hypnalogue]

For Graywall: 1, 3 and 4!

THANK U FOR ASKING ABOUT MY BOY AAAAA

fair warning i am too excited to Talk About Badger to bother editing this or waiting until I’m not stuck in a freezing cold room to write this, so this’ll be very off-the-cuff stream-of-consciousness sort of answers djjfkfjfkg

Aurene & OC ask game by mistfallengw2!

1. Gray definitely sees Aurene as a daughter first and foremost! His connection to her was stronger at the beginning than in canon due to his preexisting connection with Glint (being a Herald and also her having physically dragged him to Tyria via Gaia’s spell) so the second he laid eyes on that egg he knew it was going to become a huge part of his life. When she hatches he immediately understands her as someone he has to protect, then the trials bring him closer to her and he sort of begins to see her as like. Like if your best friend had a child and for some reason had to leave that child in your care for an extended period of time. Like that’s not Your Daughter but that’s like. Your daughter. By the way in-game those trials are a single instance, but in Gray’s canon it takes like a solid week.

3. Most of Gaia’s magic was lost when Djall consumed Her and the Earth, but a small amount was dragged to Tyria with Gray and persists like smoke in a room. Certain places on Tyria are havens of nature and healing magic all of a sudden, and the source is hard for Tyrians to pin down because the magic that’s causing it isn’t native to Tyria’s cosmic ecosystem. (This may or may not be causing Problems in certain places and certain people may or may not be associating these problems [kind of correctly kind of incorrectly] with Graywall)

In Gray’s canon, each time Aurene absorbs new magic, she absorbs some of Gaia’s lost magic as well. It doesn’t affect her appearance much, if anything she just looks a little bit more… Mordrem-y? Sort of? But her prismatic effects are a little bit color-shifted to the green side of the spectrum. Ever so slightly. She has memories of places she has never been, on a strange world with a shattered moon. Wherever her branded crystals grow, plant life flourishes. Like Zafirah seeing Balthazar in Aurene, Graywall sees a bit of Gaia, in some small way.

4. Gray has… Mixed Feelings on the Prophecy. In his canon, part of it specifically mentions the Earth being consumed for further events to even take place (him being spirited away to Tyria) so as you might expect he has negative feelings about that. But on the other hand he wouldn’t have wanted Tyria to be destroyed either. One world survives, the other crumbles. It’s an impossible choice to make, and one that he had no real say in at the end of the day. He did all he could to save his homeworld and failed, and as a result another world had the chance to thrive. He thinks about it every day, still, and still doesn’t know how to feel about it. There’s no one to blame for it, so it’s not like he could direct his emotions at a person. Even Glint isn’t responsible for the Prophecy itself, she was just a messenger and a tool by which the Prophecy was enacted. When I say Gray is dealing with a lot of difficult emotions, this is a huge part of what I mean. I cannot stress enough that on a cosmic level in his canon, his world had to die so Tyria could live.* And it fucks him up every day of his life.

As for Aurene, she struggles with anger and sadness. About those who had to sacrifice their lives, sometimes their whole worlds (physical and metaphorical), to fulfill it. Survivor’s guilt. The problem with a Prophecy woven into the fabric of reality is that there’s no one you can direct your emotions at. She’s glad that Tyria is safe, the only world she’s ever truly known, but every time she’s around Graywall she sees flashes of a different world, one that she knows had to be destroyed so that Tyria could flourish. She can explore these visions as completely as she would any other, and she sees Graywall and his friends fighting fate the same way that he did for Tyria. She sees him fail, completely and utterly. She sees herself, as Gaia, consumed by a world-ending darkness. The same kind of thing that threatened Tyria. And she knows that all of this had to transpire for her to even be alive. She’s grateful that the Prophecy is complete, but at what cost? She leaves at the end of EoD to rest, but also to process. Her whole life she’s been her mother’s pawn, for better or worse, regardless of what Glint or Gray or her or anyone else would have preferred. She’s an elder dragon, yes, but she’s also fucking 10 years old! She was forced to mature at a frankly dizzying pace and deal with things no ten year old should ever have to deal with. She needs time and space, to rest and to be her own person as much as she, as the last Elder Dragon, possibly can.

Both of them wonder how inevitable it was. If it had to be this way. If there was some way both worlds could have survived, thrived.

*Is the Prophecy really woven into the fabric of reality, or is that a story we tell ourselves to ease the pain of what we’ve been through? To make a narrative out of predicting people’s behaviour? Isn’t it easier, in a way, to say “It had to be this way”, rather than deal with the fact that it could have been different?

[siderealscribblings]

Will Furina slowly gain some more of Focalors memory in games of divinity since we already saw a bit of a flash back? Also is Furina still technically Focalors body and spirit or is she a new creation of Focalors in this AU like a homunculus?

Well seeing as how Furina is literally Genshin Jesus (the human manifestation of a divine presence sent to suffer and die on behalf of mortal sins, literally walks on water, gets betrayed to her death by a close friend in accordance of a prophecy, "dies" then is resurrected) I envision Furina as the fully human part of Focalors while Focalors' spirit is inside the

Oratrice ♪ Mecanique ♫ d'Analyse ♬Cardinale ♪

It's sort of like the question of whether or not a clone is a new person since at the moment they are cloned they cease to be a copy of the original and begin forming new memories and experiences. Furina stopped being Focalors when she was split off, but she may get flashes of Focalors' memories in dreams.

[thesecretdcblog]

Batman Ninja (2018) live reaction

I want to watch the new one but I've been putting off watching the first for a while so better now than ever

Reaction under the cut (warning: I will say lmao a lot)

- Cool animation of Batman with a katana and then turning into a cloud of bats

- I'm assuming that's Selina talking. Very nice voice.

- Gorilla Grodd is an interesting choice, I thought he was mainly a Flash villain. Not hating I think he's fun.

- Also he looks like Bigfoot

- Ooh purple light thingy

- Let's Do The Time Warp Again

- Lmao feudal Japan Joker goons

- Lmao no grappling allowed

- He just ran instead

- Opening credits are very fun, I love the music

- He still found somewhere to perch

- "Everything is offline" bitch the internet doesn't exist

- First look at Joker and Harley Quinn. Very fun designs

- First fight scene, very anime

- Is he drinking sake?

- "Seven to one, I'll take those odds" okay diva chill

- Hanging upside down under a bridge. Peak Bat behaviour

- Catwoman is so pretttyyyyyyy

- How did Batman end up in the past a full two years after everyone else?

- Nightwing!!!

- Poison Ivy is GORGEOUS with pink hair

- Disregard my previous question they just answered it lol

- Two Face being a vassal of the Joker feels wrong somehow

- So it's no longer a quake engine, it's been demoted to just time machine

- Fun history lesson

- I'm crying he shaved a BAT INTO HIS HEAD

- Alfred!!!

- He took so long to notice. World's best detective my ass lmao

- Alfred with a ponytail!!!

- Batmobile doubles as a submersible

- The building is now a jaeger

- Joker's moustache reminds me of future Goob from Meet the Robinson's ngl

- Now the Batmobile is a plane

- Now it's a motorcycle

- There's always a mother and child in trouble

- Sumo wrestler Bane was not something I was expecting lmfao

- Oh for fucks sake now its a bat mech suit

- Oh of course it's Harley

- Do Japanese bats carry rabies? Asking for a friend

- Ninja Batmen badum tss

- I wonder who these guys are

- Why is Tim blond? (Or brunet it's kinda hard to tell) That's the real question

- of course there's a prophecy

- Bruce looks so unimpressed lmfao

- The secret ninja settlement even looks like a bat

- THE SCREAM I SCRUMPT

- DAMIAN YOUR HAIR

- I'm fully aware it's a traditional Japanese hairstyle but it fucking made me cackle seeing it on him

- Actual Disney princess Damian

- 25 minutes in I completely forgot Gorilla Grodd was in this movie

- Next thing I know they're gonna put a bat symbol on the moon lmao

- Japanese macaques!!! I love them so much!

- Batman is the best at being bait... You could say he's a master baiter *gets jumped*

- SHE'S GOT A GUN

- Girl fight!!

- Send him into orbit!!

- That works too

- All of you can swim why are you freaking out just abandon ship lmao

- Catwoman my beloved

- Tim staying behind to yell at Bruce my beloved. He was telling him to get off the ship but semantics.

- Bruce: *gets blown up*

- Bruce: Stop telling everyone I'm dead

- Grodd and Selina both have valid points

- Bruce why did you wait until last to acknowledge your damn kids

- Oh I love this it looks like a video game cut scene

- Tim being a weapons nerd my beloved

- Alfred's only concern is feeding his family

- HELP IS THAT JASON

- He's just beating up some random couple that look nothing like the Joker and Harley at all /light sarcasm

- A red spider lily? Ominous

- Gorilla Grodd's Moving Castle

- The dog barking at the fortress is so funny

- Villain fight

- I'm still laughing at Jason

- Do they only have black horses

- THEY PUT MASKS ON THE HORSES HELP

- Not the robot transformation I'm actually gonna cry laughing

- This movie is doing So Much and it's great

- Bruce's horse has a mohawk oh no I'm gonna start laughing again

- (Deep breaths)

- "That was cool" understatement of the millenia

[hymnoire]

My Favorite Films / Gaya and the : movies that inspired the story of her.

Tagged by : @noiranamnesis Tagging : Anybody !

Midsommar (Ari Aster, 2019) Gaya once wore the crown of the Solstice Queen with smiling lips and dead eyes. The Queen is chosen during one of the bloodiest ceremonie at the House of Misericorde the same way it was in Midsommar. Anything they endured at the orphanage was never truly a celebration but a sacrifice. As she grew into her role, the rites started haunting her with migraines and flashbacks of what had been erased from her memory by Mother Supreme. The traditions meant to control her became the fire she used to burn the orphanage down once she understood what happened to her and her sisters.

Dune (Denis Villeneuve, 2021) When thinking about it, Gaya was groomed for a prophecy the House of Misericorde believed in, but never meant to fulfill it, just to serve it. Unlike Kaeleena, who embraces her role as a messiah-maker, Gaya learns to play the political game in the empire she’s placed into. She can also be compared to Paul Atreides as she rebels against the system that made her, but where Paul wants the throne, Gaya claims justice. Her ascension is not destiny or any religious bullshit Kaeleena pursues, it is revenge.

Black Swan (Darren Aronofsky, 2010) Gaya was sculpted to be perfect, obedient, graceful : a Swan. Everything the House demanded. But beneath the swan façade was the shadow of something darker. Her migraines, her dissociation, the flashes of buried memory, they weren’t breakdowns, they were breakthroughs. A bit like Nina, she loses herself to become herself again, reborn in blood and clarity. Yes, a death and a rebirth.

Possession (Andrzej Żuławski, 1981) There is something growing inside Gaya, something splitting her apart. The migraines, the visions, the rage, they’re not just symptoms, they’re signs. Her breakdown is not madness but transformation. Maybe like Anna in Possession, Gaya loses control only to become something stronger, stranger, and impossible to unmake. Similar take than Black Swan, in a way.

Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013) In her later arcs, Gaya keeps on evolving, something in-between : alien, observer, predator. As her human body turns machine, she begins to see her reflection not in mirrors, but in how the world changed together with her. A bit like Scarlett’s creature, she walks among humanity while quietly dissecting it since she's not part of it anymore. Her transformation is internal first, then visible, then weaponized, she becomes a weapon. Emotions become data... Data Kaeleena exploits.

Arrival (Denis Villeneuve, 2016) Becoming half machine didn’t make Gaya less human though, it allowed her to understand time and life differently, even if she can't say that out loud. Like Louise, she no longer sees life in a straight line, but as a tapestry of past, present, and what must be. It applies as she access new dimensions thanks to what she has become. Yes, her evolution into something beyond mortal gives her access to realities others can’t touch. With each war, she has a purpose and she knows she's going to fight for something Better, she has always been a soldier and will alwaus be. And even as time bends around her, Gaya remains constant in her goal : Justice.

[temporalbystander]

I know it goes beyond saying at this point (and yes I mean beyond and not without) but Union Cross and Dark Road did something so amazing that I don't think I've ever seen pulled off successfully in other games. Making an OC canon.

Now I bring this up because I just got done rewatching some old reaction videos if a let's player who is my gold standard of commentary, voice over and ad libs. Nicob. Just gotten to the part where the darkness reveals itself and my mind flashed forward a bit.

Before I go on did anyone else forget that the Master of Masters used the leaders, specifically Ventus, as sacrificial lambs? The darkness says it picked Ven because that's what it saw in the Book of Prophecies. We later find out that the MoM was well aware someone was watching over his shoulder and write what would eventually screw the darkness over. Part of which involved controlling Ventus.

Anyway my initial point. In most games where you have an OC trying to fit into established canon you get two responses "OMG I'm with all my favourite characters doing amazing stuff!" Or, the one that I'm saddened people experience, "why am I this random no name faceless person? Let me be the hero!" (Not sure if that says something about people with "main character syndrome" or if it's just the difference between liking the characters or the story/violence.)

The kingdom hearts mobile game though? Sidestepped this perfectly. At first it was so far in the past it didn't really matter how canon we were, besides there were a bunch of other characters that we'd never met before that were just rife with new potential theories. But eventually it ends and, having just come off KH3 where Xehanort puts his heart into everyone? The clips off the upcoming dark Road lead everyone to the same conclusion. "Our created character is Xehanort? Wow we screwed up, should never have chosen reincarnation.

Fast forward a couple of months and we are going through Dark Road, rolling our eyes whenever Xehanort brings up memories or lessons from union cross. Like "we get it, we know what you're thinking about, we're having the same thought. This is just like what happened in Union Cross, we did play the same game after all."

And then what happens? We get to the end of the game having been told how empathic Xehanort is the entire time and... Nomura pulls the damn rug out from under us. "Oh don't be silly, you didn't become Xehanort that would be ridiculous. Instead you're just the one raising him on destiny islands and may be important in missing link."

Just like that everyone accepted it. "Oh thank God we aren't Xehanort." "Another KH game it looks so good for mobile!" And none of these reactions, or at least none that I saw, were the incredibly valid "wait. We raised Xehanort? Wow we REALLY screwed something up."

[cigarettesandinevitablebetrayal]

Cigs' Playlist Prompts

Special prompt set I've been meaning to do. All of these lyrics are pulled from songs off the character playlists I've made. Inbox me one that interests you and I'll freewrite at least 1k words based on the characters I associate with it. Bonus 1k added if you wanna guess whether it's for Rashad, Remus, Seongwon, Mateo, Corin, Cassian, or Miro - correct or not (there's 4 per character - none for Loren or Alek, tragically, as they're too new).

Turnaround will be a bit, so feel free to come off anon, if you'd like to be notified. Prompts below:

I should have told you from the start // That I've got glue inside my heart // I'll stick with you until it's final beat - Weird by Elliot Lee

You read it wrong // A bold faced fever // You've stolen everything you believe - Cairo by San Fermin

Tonight you'll make your toast // Oh, to better days when all had seemed so right // I hear your heartbeat thumping // Screaming, "Honey, don't let me go" // I know you want to stay // But I'm already gone - Love Murder One by Coheed & Cambria

Get the fuck off my stage, I'm the Sandman // Get the fuck off my dick, that ain't right // I make a play fuckin' up your whole life - HUMBLE. by Kendrick Lamar

And in the wreck of all we burnt // Stands a piano like a wound // I play our song to see if it's in tune - Ruin by The Amazing Devil

All I see is red all around me // My chest was tight like I'm drowning // When I sleep, my thoughts are like lightning // When I breathe, it feels so exhausting // Like I'm incomplete; slowly falling - Starlight by Akera Sky

But the teeth come out when the camera flashes // We said we'd always be the same // But we lost each other in the game - LA Hallucinations by Carly Rae Jepsen

They tell me I'm hellbent on revenge // I cut my teeth on weaker men // I won't apologize again - Good Girls by Chvrches

They sent your heroes to the guillotine // And now they're loading up their magazines // Misinformation is a beauty queen - Guillotine by Barns Courtney

I needed revolution // I never had a war in mind // And now the river runs dry and the fall is deep // The truth is dark and it makes us bleed - Don't Pray for Me by Within Temptation

It's the thinnest line // They hung you out by // You were holding my hands and saying // What if I only ever took what's mine? - Steal by Maribou State

Sometimes it feels like we're frozen in time // Floating in space, lines undefined // We can't free ourselves from chains // Our love forever changed - Reveal by Rabbit Junk

Mass destruction and mass corruption // The souls of suffering men // Clutching on deaf ears again // Rapture is coming // it's all prophecy and // If I gotta be sacrificed for the greater good // Then that's what it gotta be - Pray for Me by The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar

But if you let me be your skyline // I'll let you be the wave // That reduces me to rubble // but looked safe from far away - The Ghosts of Beverly Drive by Death Cab for Cutie

I ain't never scared and I ain't never horrified // I just look down at my Rolex, it said it's the darkest times // I ain't never terrified, I ain't never petrified // You know I see dead people, I just tell 'em, "Get a life" - Scared of the Dark by Lil Wayne, Ty Dolla $ign, and XXXTENTACION

She's been watching for a century // With hatred and with scorn // If you know the hunter's coming // Then you hide or keep on running // 'Cause she's slain the gods before - Godhunter by Aviators

Tell me who's stopping this // Then I'm dropping the bitches that's gon' top your list // All 'em talking, they sitting, just popping shit // Use to listen but, bitch, I am auditing - Who's Better? by DaddyPhatSnaps

Dragged further away from the shore // And deeper into the drink // Rotting like a wreck on the ocean floor // Sinking like a siren that can't swim anymore - Swimming by Florence + the Machine

Cover me in all your platinum // I'm wanting how they look at you // I'm tired of feeling numb - No Problems by ONICKS

Who will burn who // As I catch you // Burning through seven nights // When not all is right - The Viles by Blaqk Audio

And I walk // And I walk // Knowing every last one of them is painted in light // As I make myself acquainted with the saint of never getting it right - Blossoms by The Amazing Devil

No moments alone // No moments to share // In search of a key // You know is not there - Loreley by Lord of the Lost

People are fuel // Everybody burns // Just a little push and maybe some will learn // What a life is like // What it's like to burn - Cover My Traces by Reach

Well I drank, sipped, sucked it up // Threw every last shred of hope in the cup // Then knocked it back // World fades to black // Not quenched until I drown - Delirium Tremendous by Felix Hagan & the Family

There's only two ways to make it in this town // One is to be brilliant // The other is to drown - Neon Medusa by The Midnight

You're in the walls that I made with crosses and frames // Hanging upside down // For granted, in vain, I took everything // I ever cared about - The Death of Peace of Mind by Bad Omens

And how does it feel now // You've scratched that itch? // You've pulled out all your stitches // Hubris is a bitch - 100 Years by Florence + the Machine

Somewhere on the road you changed // Shot down by the life you chose // A losing game // And now that you're on the ride // Mirror, mirror, please don't watch me cut my ties - Catch Me If You Can by The Scarlet Opera

[ark-inkweaving]

About A. R. K.

hello! my name is Aziren, and between university exams and assignments I'm an aspiring fantasy writer. i'm also a DM for a multitude of TTRPGs outside from D&D, but still mostly fantasy. i've been a fanfic writer and a worldbuilder for years now, so i hope you'll enjoy my works

my main wips are Revolve, alongside its own custom TTRPG system Trick of Life, and In Destiny We Trust (Not). i try to post stuff about them semi-regularly, from worldbuilding to trope discussions to character intros. i also write for Flash Fiction Friday, so look out for that

my askbox is open for any ask games, and i'd love to be in any tag games!

[masterposts, wip intros and taglists under the cut]

Frequent Tags

#ark writing tips: advice about everything writing

#ark writing resources: circulating writing resources, because real writers don't gatekeep

#ark.txt: random thoughts, events and life updates

#ark writes: pieces of writing by me

#ark draws: pieces of art by me

#diary of a suffering writer: where i talk about my experience with writing

#diary of a suffering artist: where i talk about my experience with art

#ark reblogs: anything that gets reblogged from others, you can find here

#ark originals: any and all talk about my original works goes here

#ark replies: when i get asks, here you'll find the replies

#ark ask games: ask games i'm participating in

#ark tag games: tag games i'm participating in

#flash fiction: Flash Fiction Friday entries

Wip Intros

Revolve

the gods of the elements are dormant, but for the continued existance of all the Realms it's better if someone can wake them up

wip status ✵ drafting genre ✵ low fantasy subgenre ✵ grimdark target audience ✵ new adult tag ✵ #ark revolve other ✵ queer fiction, not a lot of romance, political & social intrigue ✵ see more ✵ get on the taglist

In Destiny We Trust (Not)

Zeno comes from a family of spirit hunters, but he's the only one his grandpa won't trust to become one. so he takes matters in his own hands. it becomes a problem when his best friend turns out to be a medium

wip status ⛧ planning genre ⛧ urban fantasy subgenre ⛧magical realism target audience ⛧ young adult tag ⛧ #ark destiny other ⛧ queer fiction, romance, superheroes ⛧ see more ⛧ get on the taglist

The Lost Sea Symphony

Talia is a monster in human skin running for safety across the glitching servers, and the voice only she can hear is saying that she'll find safety in the sea

wip status ⚔ planning genre ⚔ high fantasy subgenre ⚔ epic target audience ⚔ young adult tag ⚔ #ark lost sea symphony other ⚔ queer fiction, romance, pirates

The Mortal God

Aren would be happier if there wasn't a prophecy about him, because the hunters never believe him when he says he's trying to control his powers and not to kill the king

wip status ⚙ planning genre ⚙ gaslamp fantasy subgenre ⚙ epic target audience ⚙ young adult tag ⚙ #ark mortal god other ⚙ queer fiction, no romance, found family