#oh sage oh sage. im still just a bit mixed on you but damn did you warm up to me

[antirepurp]

ok im ready to sit down and give some real thought to frontiers beyond nonsensical first-impression fueled gushing let’s go gamers

im not here to discuss the gameplay tbh like it’s good and fun and all that jazz but im more of a story kinda guy y’know. anyway.

reflecting on the story while watching the credits gave me sort of similar vibes to the first sonic movie in the sense that, all the building blocks and the ultimate vision were there, but the pacing was just a tad too fast to explore everything to their full potentials. the beginning felt definitely more fluent in that regard, thought this could also be just my experience in wanting to explore/get all the memories and THEN do all the plot shit in one go lol. i do think the ending needed a little something more special, i was hype to be in space but then it lasted a grand total of a single cutscene which was... not as cool as it could have been. same thing with sage, and my goodness i have a lot of thoughts about her

i seriously wish they had explored the whole corruption thing more! it seemed like such a huge deal but then it sorta. got thrown aside at the last moment. like okay fair how else would they have solved this issue without using resources to like idk create new playable characters for a single segment in which they save sonic or something? but i would’ve liked more, hm, spice in the whole situation. maybe the corruption overtakes sonic and, for a while, the story would force us to act against our friends. perhaps sage would be the one to stop sonic when he begins to threaten eggman’s safety, perhaps she is the one who gets shlorped into the corruption to stabilize sonic, perhaps the two of them are, for a brief moment in time, the same entity, and defeat the... whatever the final boss was together uh. it was some, corruption shit right? was that ever really addressed like the mechs and shit were ancients�� tech and there was another threat which was the fucking thanos planet or whatever?? and that planet was like possessing the mechs through cyber space?? did they actually address this or did i take too long fucking around to remember the plot anymore

regardless im overall fine with the story though! i can see why people would have issues with it, it’s far from perfect, but still a step-up from the 2010s sans sonic boom. i loved the interactions with amy and tails specifically, seeing the former become a more fleshed out character from what she’s used to and having a lot of things with tails addressed as well, especially forces. knuckles was a bit more history focused i feel but i think that fits him honestly

sage though... i was left craving more interactions with her and eggman, more direct ones anyway. the egg memos and the occasional cutscene was fine sure but i feel like something is still missing. either way im a sucker for sentient AI characters, i love how both her and sonic operate morally grey grounds for the most of the game and both see one another as enemies more or less (even if sonic is a lot friendlier towards her.) she’s a very interesting character and i do want to see more of her, im very much a fan of the implication that she might return in the future, and that it’s implied that frontiers leads up to a more cohesive narrative within sonic games from what we’ve had! i mean it would be a fucking shame to throw a character like that away, especially with the character development she brings out in eggman as well.

im not entirely sure how i feel about the ancients being aliens, it’s a bit... well, we had aliens before so did we really need more of them i guess? that said i am fucking obsessed that since the ancients are related to chaos, and chaos is related to chao, that chao are just heavily fucking mutated ancients that became babies it’s fucking hilarious to me akjsdhajds

the last thing that like actually bothers me is the goddamn mural that appeared in the sky and in the end on eggman’s machine, i severely wanted it addressed but we never really got that? i mean it has something to do with cyber space and the ancients but the hell is it? also i lowkey hate that every time i see it i read it as “up” but that’s just me aksjdhd

ah. i probably will have more thoughts later on after i’ve let my brain soup sit around for a while. but frontiers is good, pretty fucking good. and sticks confirmed please show her in a mainline game soon i miss her so much

[chibi-encubierta]

Trials of Mana, Session 7: “Benevodon Rush!”

Apparently Tumblr ATE the real session 7 post I made past Sunday...  It is not published nor in the Drafts or Queue.... weird.... Luckily I got  half of the text because I write some notes on paper, save screenshots and then make the post :D So... I’ll write everything I can remember of this session again (UUUGGGGHHHHH I HATE YOU TUMBLR!!) ===============

My brother told me that this part was “pretty fast” as the dungeon were ultra short and there is no need to grind for anything at all, that he just escaped every single battle after lvl 42, So here we go! Let’s see if I can beat them all in one sit.   - In the end I decided to go with Land Umber first because I hate poison damage so much and those slimes are the worst... I hate them!!!

Woah, pretty! Don’t take me wrong but it would be more pretty if the gems were different colored. you know, like a rainbow :D, still like this.

...Mmmm I wonder if Defense Down+ Lighting Saber+ Werewolf Kevin can... YEP THE BENEVOLON DIED IN LIKE 6 HIT! (is this hard mode?) And finally got 2 “??? seed”!! I'm lvl 42 and still cannot change class because I didn’t have these damn seeds. Well  just my luck, got items for the classes I don't want hahahaha

===============

Now let’s go for Fiegmund!

Aaaaand is down! (Same Strategy: Defense Down+Fire Saber+Werewolf Kevin) =============== - Already got to lvl 44... I need  more “??? seeds” right now... Probably going to grind them because I got all the items for the classes I don't want! (the 3 of them!) . .. ... ...... Ok, finally got all the items I wanted, time to class change!... AT LVL 48 OMG!!

Dragon Master, Fatal Fist and (smol Satan) Sage. Oooohhhhh yeaaaaahhh

Just posing with the fresh team before this place get totally destroyed. I love my team :D

===============

And now more Benevodons, This time lets go for Xan Bie!!!

                                        Skrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeekk!! 

(I never expected this one to be a screamer... Welp is some kind of bird soooo) aaand the same strategy works again! (defense down+ Ice saber+Punch it like there is no tomorrow with Beast form, now this has become easier with the extra combo given with the class and saber to all of the Sage)

===============

Same Kevin! I cant wait to kick Deathjester Goremand so hard into whatever hole he came out from Mavolia since the part he almost ate Kevin pure cinnamon roll soul (thanks again Ludgar). ===============

mmmm... I want to go for the Lightgazer now, you know, a real challenge without a saber against it, lets do it!!

The puppy likes places with environmental enrichment, cute af!!!

Ugggh I hate that this one heals itself, turns you into cute moogles... And does light saber on your party, luckily I got a Sage for... WHAT DO YOU MEAN THIS TUMOR IS INMUNE TO FIRE!!?? aHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH oh, is dead, nice four more to go!!

=============== - Time for those Damn Damn Drums again. WOOOOOOOO!!! I love what they did with the Woods of Wonder!! Mixing sidescroll with normal ma....OHH already reached Mispolm!!? Nice, time to beat it.

I just love how in almost every cutscene of the God Beasts Kevin has a serious face >:(  but then he says something like this! I just can’t express enough how he is the biggest cinnamon roll of the game (and can actually kill you). Already did a separated post about this when I was playing, hahahha Kevin want to eat this Pumkin... aaand he ate it :D

=============== - I really don't know if I picked a broken op team with this combo, remember how to play this too well or just have overleveled for this part at all, anyway...

===============

Next Benevodon.... mmmm..... Dangaard!!! Sure why not Lets gooo gogoo! (Is kinda cool that I don’t have to repeat the entire Corridor of wind and can just skip to the boss room).

AT THE SPEED OF NYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM

I love how Flammie here went from >:)

to  ^w^, she is just the cutest, just lovely. Lvl 54...okeeey... I might be a little bit too overleveled for this part?.... That was... fast and easy; And I have not even unlocked attack saber II yet!!  Ups!? I blame de “??? seeds” for this. =============== 

That leaves Dolan and Zable Fahr left for a beatdown, but for you-know-what-reasons, it is time for Dolan!!!

                  AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

(I’m still totally biased how this Benevodon have one exclusive theme but the rest just some other bosses themes)

Wow this was a hard battle!!! I liked the battle overall, and avoiding attacks was difficult!! Only one left... And I just noticed I NEVER bought anything of the NEW equipment from Josephine and Chikeeta OMG!! (only pre upgrade)

===============

- Time for another place with Damn Damn Drum !!!

like, have you noticed how many times this Melodie appears in the game? Including the part of the prologue with Hawkeye??? I’m not complaining I love that theme and I also know they wanted to keep this as a 1:1 Remake but I think they could have changed this one Damn Damn Drum with “Illusionary Fragment” as both: A prelude to “Ancient Dolphin” and a “cameo/easter egg” of Heroes of Mana, but then I remember:

will put this one on a separate post. ===============

Time to go to Pedda!!

hahahhaha... You don't know how hard was this with no instructions reach the city (I always flew away to other cities to restore the team), now faerie literally goes "GO TO SLEEP IN PEDDA" hahaha!

Dude, let me tell you the forbidden story of how Pedda got destroyed and you are actually dead. - Wait there is no seed pot in the Pedda Inn??? Why?? - I bought weapons and armors from the kitties... and now IM BROKE AF!!! No money for Pedda equipment. =============== Aaanywayy TO THE JUNGLE OF VISIONS WITH NOT NEW EQUIPMENT!!! WOOOOT! I think it is really cute how Kevin tells Charlotte that he will help her to save Heath.

Hello darkness my old friend 🎵 Im not scared, not like the first time I played this game so many years ago.

hahahah...

NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE                              

                                     DARKNESS INTENSIFIES

THIS IS FINE, THIS IS TOTALLY FINE (not even the spawn of Satan was spared).

fgfghjjjfgkj!!! Second game over of the playthrough! This is what happen when you get distracted pressing “Ctrl+Print Screen” and let go the controller. =============== I think this was the  entire post. Hope that this time Tumblr doesn’t eat it. Next Session: “We will actually buy the new Armour and Weapons before the Rematch with this God-Beast”

[quackspot]

i started thinking about that gay bastard oc of yours. platano. can u tell me about him

omg u wer thinkgin about platano..... mr banana man... mr 4011. i am obsessed with the banana code srry i just got back from work (it was good :-D)

any way. um. im going below the cut. he kidnaps people and he murders people and i hate him because he’s also a massive weeb so. hm

HISTORY OF PLATANO... yea his name is spanish for banana

his father, pablo, will probably get a name change someday but i literally never think of his father since the only thing he did in platano’s backstory was disappear 

since platano’s world has characters based off like. fruits and vegetables (there aren’t really any limit to what the characters are based off of. it was in my lazy google translate name phase so we have like... a gay character named arcenciel who becomes dadlike through my powerful canon-changing touch. also arcenciel wears the colors of the rainbow as often as he can i haven’t figured out a good design for him since i’m not used to using more than 5 colors. he also owns a hat factory)

i think arcenciel and platano are friends they met when platano was like. 17 probably and arcenciel would be around uhhhhh ummmmmmm 21??? idk man but in canon he’s probably around 30 . yes i m saying “in canon” because i wrote a really dumb and horrible story back in 2018 arcenciel used to have HUGE internalized homophobia and i turned that into a running joke and i dislike that so that’s a reason why i’m not sharing the fun little story i wrote for my friends

(the best part of that story is when arcenciel threw his light-up rainbow heelies at platano, thus starting the boss fight which the main cast LOST.)

ok back to the topic at hand. platano.

i have a whole doc named platano where i just wrote drabbles about him so i’m going to summarize them

the first one was his friend, percisi (my only cishet oc he’s very short and very aggressive while also dressing in a soft-colored turtleneck since he’s based off of peaches) using a misunderstood form of satanism to summon satan. guess what percisi and platano summoned satan for. it was a manga update! wow

i won’t say the mangas name it was an inside joke

so platano was like “hey satan can i have this manga now please please” and satan went “sure just kill people for me” 

that determined platanos job for the next 7 or so years <3 wonderful. 

(it was basically me writing a backstory for a scene to happen in the main writing i wrote for my friends. he killed someone because someone else in the building was trying to summon satan. very confusing but okay i guess.)

i think right after that i wrote about platano meeting his boyfriend, sage, for the first time. i have horribly mixed feelings about their relationship since it’s very. Hm.

so platano kidnaps people to watch anime with him because all his friends left him and his best friend, mangue, is too busy being a dictator over the Land of the Fruits. i shit you not fruits oppressed the vegetables. i wrote that dynamic between the two because i was learning about the revolutionary war in US History. something like that at least

(the Land of the Fruits is not the official name)

on the topic of kidnapping people. guess who his favorite person was. sage. it was sage. so he tried to take sage often but they probably discussed Proper boundaries since everyone else tried to run away. hmm i am now going to write a bit right now 

“Platano,” Sage started. “Why do you keep kidnapping me? It’s rude and I hate it.”

“What else am I supposed to do?” The yellow-haired fool leaned on his sword, digging the tip deeper into the ground. 

“ASK ME IF I WANT TO HANG OUT??” 

“I can do that?”

“You keep making my dads worried.” Sage looked around the area, fidgeting with his hands. 

“Oh. Okay. Want to hang out? Watch some anime?” Platano paused for a moment, but managed to say “Maybe kiss?” before Sage got to answer.

“I- KISS??? We can watch anime together. We can go now.” 

Sage ushered Platano through a portal as fast as he could. 

His dads were never worried.

hmmm maybe that’s alright idk i’m a little tired so it’s probably a little out of character. sage probably isn’t that loud but i think it was trying to be the dynamic of “oh, we’re not dating” when they kiss every sunday at 5 pm by a romantic river scene 

he’s a character who is, at his very core, horrible and bad. he is portrayed in a way i DESPISE but i’m too lazy to correct it. his interest in sage actually started with me going “hmm i think platano would draw sage like this” then sauce giving me fun facts about his oc, sage, yea sage is sauce’s oc <3 epic win . so sauce gave me fun facts about sage and i was like “time to doodle these in platanos ‘art style’” when in reality it’s just the mockery of people just getting into an anime art style, with the chin so pointy it could cut a cake 

i might reread my old writing from 2018. i gotta agree with the judges for that year i did not write very well

it mightve actually been made in 2017 which would be FUCKIN CRAZY im gonna check rn 

yea it was started in 2018. february 14th... huh . finished it completely in june of that year it was 41 pages total and it’s not even double spaced how did i write something without double spacing it

OH MY GOD BOB IS GOING TO HIJACK THIS RANT JUST FOR A LITTLE

so bob is a fluffy little anthro cloud with a grey top hat and bowtie. he is amazing. i love bob. bob is another one of sauce’s character and mangue (mentioned earlier) was made by my friend jamie 

(you can always ask for their tumblrs but i’d ask them if its okay to share their tumblrs. i might just look at them and reblog their stuff cuz i like their art!!! maybe jamie posted a drawing she made recently on her blog but tbh i don’t think she would she’s more of a twitter user)

ok so im skimming thru UMG which is the story it stands for “Universe of Magic Gardens” and it was originally made for a prank on ponytown so people would go “what’s UMG” and my friends and i would be like “ur mom gay xDDDDDD” or something like that . horrible but i’m glad i’ve changed from . that.

here’s a bit i actually like AKLJFISJFIO

“What the actual FUCK, Ilkie?!” Arcenciel cringed in fear. “Put it back- it’s too ugly.” He pointed at Platano, whose arms were crossed. 

why is it bolded. anyway.

i just saw a part where eau used y’all... water cowboy moments <333 i really need to make refs for all of those old characters. all of my umg-related characters have to be my oldest-living ocs. 

i cant believe this is making me genuinely reread my old writing just to go “WJHFSIDAJKSFIOJ WTF????” 

some of the lines on it sound like something you would hear on like. a school bus or somethin 

looking at umg like “wtf how did i add so much Meat to this writing” bc most of my writing now is mostly quotations to progress the story (like the quickie i wrote earlier. i could add meat to it but im  tired lol)

OK THIS IS MORE GENERAL BUT MY FAVORITE THING ABOUT THIS WAS WRITING HAIKUS FOR PORTALS. after you visit a place enough times it’s kind of just an instinct to open a portal there so you don’t have to recite a haiku 

uhh ok here’s another bit becuase im feeling like living la vida loca.  ur biggest regret should be “can you tell me about him” by this point bc i’ve written too much to go back now

He landed on his face once he was outside of the hat. Meko quickly walked over to the guest room, opened the Portals for Dummies book, and flipped to a page. It looked devious.

“Banana, mango,

Each tasting amazingly.

A taste of evil.” 

Meko did the dance on the page, it consisted of something that looks like it’s from an anime. A portal opened, the familiar scent of bananas and mangoes coming from it. With some hesitation, Meko stepped in. He quickly made it so only his head peeked in.

it wasnt bolded this time but i like it bolded. ok i understand how i added meat it was just shitty expired meat ALKFSJSHDAIUJKFEIODSJAK . it wasnt even that much meat DAMN. it just looked like more.

actually that’s all i will write. i could  do more w platano but yea at his base he is a blonde twink who kills people because he wanted a manga but now he’s friends with a dictator. woo! wow. amazing character writing. i cant wait to get motivation to rewrite everything and make platano a good villain (he will still be very interested in anime sadly. idk why around that time i liked making characters who were obsessed with anime i didn’t even watch it much myself. i think it was because i wanted to put capes on them)

[arkus-rhapsode]

Fairy Tail 100 Years Quest Chapter 16

Well, this was a surprise. I can officially say that after reading thins, the Dragon Eaters are better final villain group than the Spriggans.

Our cover page is Laxus emitting Lighting. Cool.

So we open on the climax of the last chapter’s fight, with Wendy’s top burned off thanks to the intense flames.

Hi Lucy, would’ve been real great to have had your help!

Anyway, Lucy summons Gemini of all spirits to get Wendy clothing from the celestial spirit realm. I have to ask, why Gemini? You’re still in the virgo outfit, you’d think this be more her thing on account of Virgo being the one who originally gave up clothing.

Gonna agree with Carla here. What even is that outfit? Some gothic lolita thing, but it’s got these diamond patterns for the sole purpose of showing off her naval.

Oh and Gray is here too. Its sad that the guy who throughout the story was the most fashionable is still in his trunks.

Gray lands and gives his one liner, but Skullion with just a word tells Madmorl to stand up and he does.

So I’m gonna give credit here to Hiro, who I think realized last chapter that Natsu’s use of fire dragon king K.O-ing Madmorl in this fight when he had already shown Madmorl taking a fire dragon king fist like its nothing, seems to show Madmorl as being able to withstand it. Though they do imply that Madmorl is not in the condition to fight later in the chapter.

Now in my defense of my rant last week, I still stand by what I said about Madmorl’s high defense shouldn’t have taken any damage last fight, especially after watching his endure Natsu’s fire dragon king’s demolition fist. However, if we go by the theory that the armor dragon is a variation of metal like iron, then that means like iron, Madmorl’s armor it can be heated up and he is not fully in a metal form like Gajeel’s scales so its possible that Madmorl’s fleshy bits got burned regardless of his resistant armor.

We cut to Erza and Kyria and we see the ship melting and Erza has re-quipped into her Flame Empress armor. Not gonna lie, when I saw that, I got a nostalgia trip. Seriously, I was really happy to see the armor again, not only cause of time, but because Erza is finally using what her actual magic is, ARMOR!

However, in terms of clothing Kyria seems to be losing hers thanks to the heat. Seems like only the women’s clothing is being affected, while Skullion’s outfit is just doing peachy-keen. 

Hey umm, why didn’t you eat Natsu and Wendy yet? Kyria said she was keeping them alive to appease her pet Erza, but for a group that hunts dragons you think Skullion and Madmorl wouldn’t put up with that, and eat them regardless of what Kyria wanted. It is possible that they can only eat them in a certain place, as I keep going back to, Skullion mentioned this “dinner table” and I thought that be important.

So I hope that salamander your referring to is your attack, Erza, cause Natsu did jack-shit to effect your fight. It’s not like in this melting environment Kyria slipped and you capitalized on it. Maybe she’s referring to when Kyria leaves this battlefield and thinks the dragon slayers could finish the job? I’m pretty sure its not because Erza seemingly handled Kyria just fine.

Also here’s where I got to bust out the nitpicking, so the attack is fire based and that makes sense, since the flame empress armor comes with a sword that can use fire. But she’s not using that sword, she’s using Belserion the dragon slaying sword. Now we know Erza can mix and match weapons and armors as with her with Ajeel where she had the wind god armor, the wind god sword, and the sea empress sword. But the thing is, the wind god sword emitted wind because it was the wind god sword, but Belserion is not a fire sword yet it is emitting fire.

Now you could say its the armor, but its not. The armor is basically a separate entity as is can be alternated with different weapons. This means that Flame Empress armor still has the same ability as always, it resists fire. But instead of dual wielding her flame empress sword, she’s using her belserion. Why? Belserion is enchanted with the Sage Dragon Magic which doesn’t seem to have anything to do with fire.

The only thing I could think of is that maybe this means that sage dragon slaying magic is like enchantment and it basically allows you to enchant any other magic into it like Irene did with Deus Sema. That’s likely what the case was, but it’s still hideously broken. Seriously that sword is basically anything with that skill. Or maybe I’m over thinking this and the simple answer is, it looks cool.

Though we see Kyria live through this attack which I have to ask why does she need slaying magic? Cause non-slayers can hurt and almost kill slayers. I mean look at Tartaros, Torafuzar was beating Gajeel’s body into, Jiemma was blowing up Sting and Rogue. Back on Tenrou, Bluenote squashed Natsu. I mean, Dragon slayers aren’t really like dragons if you get what I’m saying. They can still be beaten by non dragon magic.

We cut to the top of the ship where we get a stare down. However, Skullion decides to start a chat about the Water God when Natsu says thy’ll handle it. Skullion wonders if they’ll kill him and says its no different than eating them.

With the loss of the Water dragon god’s power, there is no point in eating him and given their current standing Skullion actually acts smart and actually retreats. While also likely threatening the other dragon gods as they are dragon eaters.

So they leave saying they have more Dragon Eaters though Im not sure why everyone is so surprised. They have 4 dragon slayers at their guild and these guys were just 3 with none confirmed as the master. I guess they’re referring to power, but the only people who can’t keep up with the dragon eaters are Lucy, Happy, and Carla because they’re the weakest.

That said, the fact Kyria and Madmorl after taking these big shots are still moving, actually shows them as being a threat. Like I said this at the beginning but these guys are honestly better than the spriggans. Mainly cause they weren’t hyped as being on the level of the number 1 wizard saint, actually can withstand a confrontation with FT, and actually win a fight against them. It also helps that we can be gradually introduced to them instead of giving them a set number.

So Skullion infinity war teleports away leaving their ship.

Did everyone just have a brain fart? We just had Natsu produce a flame so hot that it burned off people in the near by vicinity’s clothing. What are ships usually made out of folks? Wood. And what did we see happen to the ship as an effect of Natsu’s fire form the last chapter, it melting. So what happens when wood burns? It turns to ash and charcoal!

I get the idea, but talk about poor use of a plot point here.

Also Gray says no maker magic is that precise, I’m guessing what he means is how it looks like wood without resembling ash at all. Because Gray and Lyon made a ship out of ice with their maker magic. Also no one has brought up the idea that maybe Skullion, who can teleport away in Ash, just ash teleported his ship? Guess the obvious questions aren’t being asked today.

If this was just supposed to be a joke by Erza I get that, but man this just feels so out of place.

We cut back to the Water Dragon’s temple where his usless assiatant is watching over him. And before anyone calls that mean, this bitch has contributed nothing to the plot, didn’t even raise a finger to protect the water god, and got mad at the people who actually tried to protect him. I guess you could say as his adoptive daughter, she was acting on her emotions. But she left and barely said a word or gave her prospective when the Water dragon god was explaining everything.

Anyway something has apparently arrive and we end with this image.

Does the water god have to choke a bitch? Yeah we know he isn’t going to harm her.

Post chapter follow up: You know, for all my nitpicking, I actually like this chapter. It makes the villains seem more competent, it tries to fix my issues with last chapter, and its honestly trying to make build up for villains which is something only Zeref really got.

My main negatives are mainly minor. Usually any character acting questionable or the ability of magic being inconsistent. But at this point, I will take my victories where I can get them. Madmorl wasn’t beaten by something we know he can survive. Good. Erza’s sword continues to not make sense, but god damn it was nice to actually see her use a goddamn armor this sequel.

Also shout out to the pacing, for balancing a good amount of action and plot. It did help it was trying to tie up loose ends. This is honestly the first time in a while that I’m actually interested in what’s actually happening in the quest part of the 100 years quest.

Final Verdict: 7/10

Villains Might not be deep, but they are competent

Good pacing

Got me excited for the dragon god plot

Questionable inconsistencies

[gaylortruther]

(many) tag games

saw someone else do this so i figured i’d go through all my tag games in one looong post instead of spamming you all with a bunch of separate posts!

i’m gonna tag everyone now and yall can choose which tag games you want to do or whether you want to do them all (or whether you want to do any)!!

thanks to everyone who tagged me in all of these! i LOVE being tagged in tag games and i am always up for more! <3

tagging THE SANCTION (including ppl that i haven’t gotten up on the page yet im sorry abfjffsdhsjbjsdf it will happen SOON):  @newdivinities @wolvesofarcadia @maskedlady @victoiirres @sancta-silje @bumblebeesonpaper @wasting-ink-not-youth @horrorspell @ya-lady-tauriel @awritinglen @purpleshadows1989 @ivonoris @theforgottencoolkid @the-ichor-of-ruination @grotesqu-e @lucacangettathisass @tea-ndi @hazeywrites @lunar895 @thewordsinthesky-andstars

[LAST LINE TAG]

TAGGED BY  @melwrotethat AND @hazeywrites

thank you both for the tags! these are the last few lines of the prologue-excerpt-thing i wrote for the page i’m working on for WHERE THE CELLAR MEETS THE SKY

Somehow, Collin hears them. Silently, she rolls up her sleeve, and Rowan feels the Collin Sutherland they knew is somewhere far, far away. The tattoos are black, geometric in design, two on each arm, and eerily similar to the ones Rowan has just discovered on their own left arm. They're sure if they were to roll up their right sleeve, they would find more.

"I should have told you a long time ago," Collin whispers. "I didn't know you were a part of it, but I should have guessed. I didn't want to put you in danger."

"I'm not- I don't- in danger of what?"

The waves crash onto the shore, and in the distance, a seagull cries, sending Collin into action. She grabs Rowan's hand and starts pulling, dragging them back behind the house.

"Come on. We don't have a lot of time, we have to get going. I can tell you everything on the way. I don't know why he brought me here instead of straight to the veil, damn it-,"

"Wait!," they say, wrenching their hand out of her grasp. "Just- stop! Where are we going?!"

Collin's eyes flash bright, despite the lack of sunlight. "Home."

yeah, a bit long, a bit unedited, but *shrugs*

[SPELL OUT UR URL USING SONG TITLES]

TAGGED BY @tea-ndi

thank you sage!!! <3

hard feelings/loveless | lorde

another one of those days | cavetown

let’s fall in love for the night | FINNEAS

ocean eyes | billie eilish

honey and milk | flower face

i know | king princess ft fiona apple

dreamz | sara king

iloveyou | BETWEEN FRIENDS

nobody’s home | gnash

greek god | conan gray

sycamore girl | rex orange county 

and there you have a small sample of my music taste! add in literally every taylor swift song (dont judge me), some lo-fi tunes without ANY words whatsoever, and the occasional fall out boy or panic at the disco goddamn absolute banger, and you have my XANDERS JAMS playlist on spotify. ENJOY

[11/11/11 TAG]

TAGGED BY @awritinglen <333333333333333333333333

thank you for tagging me len!!! your questions were so fun!! i’m doing this for WHERE THE CELLAR MEETS THE SKY

Name all OCs in your WIP

OMFG okay,,, wait do you mean full names?? POV characters as of rn are Collin Aisling Sutherland, Rowan Tilley (doesn’t have a middle name) and Avery Bristol Charter. then the next most important one is Isaac Michael Rosewell, even though he’s the antagonist. then the side characters that are still very featured are Noah Rosalyn Pratten, Reese Iseul Radley, and Sage Emarosa Delgado. THEN we get into the very very side characters, Willa Robinson and her son August Robinson. then we have Avery’s parents, Alaric and the late Octavia Charter. and thennnnn we have Beldane Moreno, Avery’s uncle and Collin’s grandfather (undecided abt that last name but going w it for now). i promise it all makes sense. i promise anfnfsjnfdjsfd

Name at least one hobby your Main character love

i’ll give this one to Collin, she is a musician! Avery’s mother always taught her music before The Accident (dun dun dunnn) and after Collin was abandoned in the Nigh she threw herself into music. she plays guitar mostly, but she secretly loves piano the best out of every instrument she knows

3 sentences about your current WIP

OOF. im so bad at summaries why would you do this to meee abfhshjbsbshfjsbf. “A determined believer wants to return to a home that never wanted her. Almost 4000 miles away, an incisive, intellectual outcast of a dreamer muses over getting out of their hometown. And infinities away from them both, a teenage revolutionary disappears into thin air, on his way to bring back his past and fix his (and everyone’s) future.”

Is there a romance in your WIP and did you plan it from the beginning?

yes! there are three! they are definitely a main focus of the plot, but not THE main focus. Reese and Rowan were definitely planned from the beginning. Collin and Noah were, too, but they weren’t originally enemies to lovers, and they are now (hehehehehe). and Isaac and Avery were DEFINITELY not planned from the beginning. in fact, Avery was originally paired up with Sage, but it’s literally so much better this way and i’m so glad it’s been changed. Isaac and Avery has been planned since about when Isaac’s character was thought up, one year into planning WTCMTS.

What genre(s) is it?

a mix of dystopia and urban fantasy. and it’s YA, borderline NA because some of the characters are 19-20, but i still think YA is appropriate because of the style of writing.

What’s the aesthetic of two of your characters?

fun question! Collin’s aesthetic is very emo-punk, with a splash of yellow towards the end of the series. piercings, blue hair, rips on clothing, dirty converse, smudged eyeliner, safety pins. the yellow comes in as part of her character arc, as she learns to accept that her childhood memories are tainted and not actually perfect utopia. Rowan is way more minimalist (sometimes). they’re into the bookstagram type aesthetic, and mom jeans with sneakers, jean jackets, plants against a white wall, colorblocked windbreakers, rain against a car window.

When did you start your current WIP?

WTCMTS was started in august of 2017 

How far along are you in the process (i.e 1st/2nd/3rd draft, worldbuilding)

still worldbuilding, unfortunately, for personal reasons

Who’s the hardest character for you to write?

OOOOOOF. sage or rowan?

What music genre best decribes your main character(s) and whats their favorite?

Collin - alternative (favorite band would be like twenty one pilots, p!atd) 

Rowan - ichillwave (clario, rex orange county)

Avery - emo (fall out boy, all time low)

Isaac - indie alternative OR instrumental lofi (jaymes young, birdy)

Noah - electropop (lorde, halsey, charlie xcx)

Reese - folk rock (the head and the heart, of monsters and men)

Sage - indie pop (lana del ray, florence + the machine)

Are you working on more than one WIP?

yes! i have four currently but only two are important lol, ILLUNIUS and WHERE THE CELLAR MEETS THE SKY (this one). WIP PAGE

MY QUESTIONS

how did you come up with the title for your WIP?

is there anything you want to change about your WIP but you are hesitating on?

do you have a favorite character? a character that is your baby?

write a tinder bio for one of your characters.

how do you feel about epilogues? does your wip include an epilogue?

what changes does your MC go through over the course of the story?

what is the most significant insignificant thing that happens in your story? don’t explain why it is significant if it spoils things ;)

do you know what will happen after the ending of your wip, or would you rather not picture it?

how long does your wip span? is it a novel? a series? does it have prequels or spin-off wips?

what is a major internal conflict for your MC? 

do you include flashbacks in your wip? do you like writing flashbacks?

[HOW TO KNOW YOU’RE IN A ______ NOVEL TAG]

TAGGED BY @writevevo​ AND @wolvesofarcadia​

thank you both for this tag! it’s so much fun and both of your novels sound like novels that would be very interesting to be stuck in :D

inspired by this post

HOW TO KNOW YOU’RE IN A HALOHIDINGS NOVEL

you’re an older sibling and you have a younger sibling. you’re extremely bitter towards your younger sibling for stealing opportunities from you, damning you to a life you never truly wanted. your younger sibling adores you and just wants to please you. they never meant to do it. 

you’re stuck in constant, wistful wanderlust, never feeling like you truly belong, never fitting in anywhere, not with friends, not with family, and when you finally find the place you’ve been looking for, you realize it’s nothing like you dreamed or remembered.

you’re not heterosexual. no one around you is. no one is cisgender either. where are they? no one knows. 

you have a peculiar capability dancing under your skin. it trickles from your pores and muddles with your mind. maybe you asked for it, maybe it was predestined, maybe you never wanted anything to do with it. whatever the reason, it’s there, and you don’t know what’s you and what’s it. maybe you’re not meant to ask. maybe you’re meant to succumb. 

your memories are as fickle as the rain, coming and going and breaking through the clouds, shattering the fog and disappearing with the sun. you can’t recall what you’re doing here, or where you’re meant to be instead. what’s your name?, they ask. you don’t know.

there are two worlds. one world is blissfully unaware of this, or at least, as unaware as any world of millions and millions of people can be. no secret can be kept forever, they tell you. you are desperately trying to keep the secret.

the one closest to you, despite your abhorrent denial of this fact, the one you would trust with your life, will betray you. because of their decision, their selfishness, you will either lose them, or lose yourself.

THOSE WERE SO FUN OMG. they all mostly apply to both of my major wips, which is probably bad. oh well LMAO

SORRY THAT WAS SOOOOOOOO LONG hope at least someone does one of these tag games lol <3 

xander out

[wee-chlo]

Everything Is Going To Be Okay: A Villain AU AU, Part 1

Inspired by @im-fairly-whitty and @slusheeduck ‘s  Villain AU, a heartwarming tale about family and love and- hahahaha I’m kidding, it’s tragedy.

When Miguel Rivera, the great-great-grandson of esteemed and beloved musician Héctor Rivera, was twelve, he was cursed and went to the Land of the Dead. There, he discovered the truth about his family’s bloody, crime-speckled past. Convincing Hector that he intended to keep the secret, he was sent home… and now, fifteen years later, he’s back.

This is a happy ending, but happy endings aren’t necessarily good ones.

Rated PG13 this particular chapter for mentions of suicidal ideation it’ll cool down to something closer to PG/G in coming chapters.

Miguel Rivera, great-great-grandson of the esteemed and beloved musician Héctor Rivera, died alone in his sleep when he was twenty-seven. He hadn’t been a public figure for nearly a decade and had been estranged from most of his family. Friends were relatively few, and so it took almost two days for his body to be discovered in his apartment in Monterrey, Mexico.

At first, the common theory was suicide. Rumors about what had happened to him on that Día de los Muertos fifteen years ago still churned and rumbled despite the family’s attempts to quiet lingering doubts about the official story. Word in the tabloids was that Miguel suffered from night terrors, panic attacks, and fits. There was a rumor that he was a paranoid schizophrenic, that he’d attacked his family and been disowned for it, that he was a dangerous predator that the family was trying to protect. No matter how many magazines and paparazzi were sued for libel and slander, another would crop up with something new, something even more salacious and hurtful.

Coco knew better.

She knew her brother, even if the calls had become more infrequent and the visits to the Rivera home had stopped when she was twelve. Her brother wasn’t dangerous, wasn’t crazy. Just… scared. She didn’t know why. He never talked about that night he disappeared and then reappeared at dawn, hysterical and sobbing. No matter how many therapists their parents had sent him to, no matter how many times the topic was broached, he remained tight-lipped about it, allowing people to come to their own dramatic conclusions.

He’d left home when he turned eighteen. Coco had been six, but had very dim, half-baked memories of her brother and parents arguing about it. He visited on her birthday, Christmas, and up until she was about twelve, he visited for Día de los Muertos. Then, one year, he said he wasn’t coming back.

The memory of that argument wasn’t vague or half-baked. Sometimes she thought her ears still rang with her Abuelita’s outraged yelling. The phone had been slammed down so hard it cracked and after that, Miguel was the black sheep. Coco, Mama and Papa had received calls, letters, emails, but no visits. Sometimes, he’d call the house and ask to speak to Abuelita, but she’d never take the call.

In the last year before his death, he, Coco, and his parents had engaged in a long and complicated game of phone tag. Instead of direct conversations, they’d leave messages to each other. Coco got the impression that Miguel did it on purpose, deliberately calling when he knew they wouldn’t be able to answer so that there wouldn’t need to be a conversation. In the weeks afterward, she listened to his last voicemail over and over and over.

Hey, sorry I missed you. Uh, everything’s fine up here. Keep an eye out in the mail, yeah? Your birthday present should be getting there soon. Tell Mama and Papa I love them, and, uh… tell Abuelita that too, okay? Love you. Bye.

When they first got the news that he was dead, it had sounded like a suicide note. Apparently, they’d found quite a few in his apartment from varying times. The autopsy said otherwise. Miguel had been on medications: Valium, Ambien, fentanyl, and lexapro. He’d had alcohol in his system, not a lot but enough to indicate that he’d drank some the night before. And he’d had a genetic heart condition. The mix of long-term anxiety and insomnia, combined with the medication and alcohol, had killed him silently and painlessly in the night. A freak accident. A tragedy.

The landlady had sent Miguel’s things to the Rivera household. Most of it would be given away or donated: clothing, bedding, kitchenware. But among the rubble of her brother’s life was a little box of evidence proving every stupid mumbler wrong: notebooks full of songs and music, old photos, a laptop with a family photo as the lock screen.

A shoebox filled with printouts and copies of every email and letter that the family had sent to them. Every Christmas card, every birthday letter. Clippings of the things that Rosa and Abel had been doing, the review of Rosa’s first play and Abel’s second album.

They hadn’t sent the suicide notes. Apparently, those were being kept until suicide could be officially ruled out. But buried in the box of letters sent to him was a letter he’d written but not yet sent. It made the bottom drop out of Coco’s stomach.

I don’t even know what I’m doing anymore, he wrote, his handwriting shaky and cramped. I feel like I’m just wasting time for nothing. I could be with you all, and instead, I’m doing this. And it’s pointless because I’m not even going to do anything with it.

Just destroy that stupid laptop, would you? Nothing in there worth talking about anyway.

--

Miguel Rivera woke up dead.

Slowly, things came into focus. He was warm, bundled up in soft blankets. He heard something very distantly: voices, muffled and soft as if through water at first, then crystallizing.

“Should it take this long? I feel like it shouldn’t take this long.”

“The doctor said it’s normal for people who die that way. Calm down, mi amor.”

The voices were familiar. One he’d only heard from video clips and old newsreels but the other…

Pepita? Take care of him, will you?

He jerked away with a gasp, the memory knocking him out of the in-between state and back to… back to…

Oh.

His brain seemed to work in sections, processing things bit by bit, clunky even after the sudden rush of emotion that had hit him like electricity. He was in bed that wasn’t his, in a room that wasn’t his. The walls were sage and pastel yellow, the decoration minimal and sterile. Sunlight flushed in from an open window to his left, and to his right were two well-dressed skeletons, greying dark hair immaculately styled, their clothing tasteful, their expressions equal parts concern and shock. One was a woman with long hair, dressed in elegant purple, who could only be Mama Imelda. Sitting next to her…

“Hola, Papa Héctor,” Miguel said, the words sounding thick and clumsy to his own… ears? “Been awhile.”

“Migue,” Papa Héctor said warmly, reaching out and taking Miguel’s hand in his. “Oh, m’ijo, it’s so good to see you. I wish you’d taken a bit longer though…” He sighed, giving Miguel’s hand a squeeze. The feel of it was strange, bone rubbing on bone. The sight made old memories dredge up again, and he had to fight down the urge to wrench his hand free.

“But you’re here,” Mama Imelda said, sitting on the bed next to him. “You’ve been here for almost a day now, recovering. And you’ll need to recover for a while longer still.”

“A day?” Miguel’s head felt like it was full of gauze and cotton, even as his thoughts began to move at a steadier pace.

“You died in your sleep, chamaco,” Papa Héctor said quietly, shaking his head and looking so sad, like his heart was breaking. “Ay, Migue… It’s good to see you, but it didn’t have to be like this. It didn’t have to be this soon.”

Miguel couldn’t bring himself to say anything. It was too surreal. Dying in your sleep is what old people did, people who’d lived until they were in their seventies, eighties, nineties. It’s how Mama Coco had died, and Papa Julio. You don’t die in your sleep before you’re thirty. That’s not how it works.

“We’ve been so worried about you, m’ijo,” Mama Imelda said, cutting through the fog of confusion. “You stopped coming home for Día de los Muertos, you didn’t have an ofrenda up. No one knew what was happening. There was talk about you hurting yourself. We didn’t know what you would do…” She trailed off, and when Miguel looked up, she was giving him a rather pointed look. It took a moment for Miguel to realize what she was getting at but when he did, he almost laughed in their faces, it was so ridiculous.

“Go ahead. Ask. I won’t get mad or anything,” he said.

Héctor and Imelda shared a glance, and then she said, “The book.”

The words fell between them with all the delicacy of a pair of rocks. Miguel gently pulled his hand free of Héctor’s and peered at it. Funny, the joints didn’t look like they did in the biology books.

“Wasn’t much of a book,” he said, his voice sounding funny and distant. “Mostly notes. Newspaper articles. I got a couple of autopsy reports, but I had to be careful, you know? I didn’t know how picky the curse was and if I popped up back here… might have been a little awkward.” He couldn’t make eye contact with them. He didn’t know what they’d do, or say, or think. He’d had this whole speech prepared for years, worked on it every single spare moment, but now here he was and instead of something mature and reasonable, words just came out like vomit.

“You were good, I’ll give you that. Damn good. I mean, once I knew what the thought process was, I could catch the names. But then it just opened this whole new thing. I mean, how many victims, for instance? Don’t even know. Depends on how generous you’re feeling, I guess. Might be ten. Might be dozens. Sure, you might not have killed every one of them but it’s not like people didn’t throw themselves off of bridges or drink themselves to death after you dragged their careers so far into the muck that they couldn’t break out.”

“Miguel-” Héctor’s tone was almost pleading, but Miguel had been waiting for this moment since he was twelve and no one was going to stop it now, not even Héctor Rivera. He still couldn’t look at them, but there wasn’t much else to look at. He flopped back onto the bed and focused on a crack in the ceiling.

“But you know, I could never prove anything. You were damn good. I could never prove a thing. I just… knew enough to keep me up at night. Enough to make me feel sick. I couldn’t stand to be there anymore, in that house. I had to get out of there, but hey, can’t say anything because if I do, poof,” he made a tiny explosion gesture with his hands, the bones clicking together. “Back here. With you. So what else was I supposed to do? What was I supposed to do? Just pretend I didn’t know and everything was fine? Pretend like Ernesto De La Cruz didn’t exist-”

“That bestia doesn’t deserve your pity, Miguel,” Imelda said firmly, standing up from the bed. “He’s gone and done with now, and the world is the better for it.”

“Maybe,” Miguel admitted. “I wish they were all like that, I really do. I wish it was all that easy, but they didn’t all have to die. It’s like you just… got used to it.”

“Miguel,” Héctor said, his voice quieter now but firmer. “We never did things like that lightly. It was never for lack of trying anything else or going different routes. We did what we had to do for our family, to keep our children and their children safe.” He sighed. “You said you understood that.”

“I was twelve,” Miguel snapped back at the ceiling. “And I’d just watched you gloat about murdering someone and then watched that some person get snatched by a giant glowing cat monster. I lied.”

The silence that followed was heavy and dark. Miguel didn’t know how a heart that didn’t exist could still be pounding but he could feel it rattling his ribcage, felt himself tremble despite the blankets tucked around him.

“Miguel, look at me.” Miguel gritted his teeth, gaze fixed upwards. “Miguel.” The note of warning reminded him so much of his own father that he turned instinctively.

Imelda was standing behind where Héctor stood, her hands resting on his shoulders. They made a striking pair, he had to admit. Like something out of a Gothic romance, stark and dark and resolute. Like a painting of a king and his queen standing in judgment.

“We need to know that you can be trusted, Miguel,” Héctor said, folding his hands in front of him. “You’ve… spent a lot of time on this. And we know you never said anything when you were alive. But we need to know that that’s going to continue.”

“And if it isn’t?” Miguel asked, knowing the answer, and knowing his own. Héctor sighed again, and Miguel thought he saw Imelda’s hands tighten their grip on his shoulders.

“Then it’s the same as before, Miguel. You stay with us and we keep an eye on you until we know you understand.” Miguel blinked. “We’re not going to hurt you, Miguel,” Héctor said, sounding absurdly exasperated, as if he wasn’t talking to someone who knew exactly what he was capable of. “You’re our family. We love you, and we want you to be happy. We want you to be here, with your family. We want you to come home. But we can’t let everything this family built-”

“I’m not going to say anything.”

Héctor stuttered to a stop.

“I’m not,” Miguel said again. “I wish I was lying. I really do. I wish I never met Ernesto De La Cruz. I wish I never knew anything about all the things you’ve done. I wish…” He felt a lump form in his throat, which was so stupid because he didn’t even have one anymore, and when he spoke again, it came out a cracking croak. “I wish I could love you the way everyone else does. I wish I was going to…” Miguel whispered. Before he couldn’t bring himself to look at Héctor, but now he couldn’t bring himself to look away. He wished it didn’t feel as good as it did to finally get to talk, because it was Héctor, but Miguel had been alone for so damn long…

“I wish I was going to say something. But I’m not. Because… because I don’t want anyone else to feel the way I do. I can’t stand it. I can’t stand how dirty I feel. I couldn’t do that to anyone else. I couldn’t. I’m not…” He closed his eyes, covered his face, blotted out the horror on Papa Héctor’s face, the grief on Mama Imelda’s. “I’m not strong enough.”

“No, no, Migue, no,” Papa Héctor said, all the sternness and firmness gone like fog to sunlight, and Miguel felt him slip an arm around to pull him up into a sitting position. Papa Héctor’s hand gripped Miguel’s shoulder, pulled him closer so that he was in a half-hug, and it was enough to make Miguel shatter like so much glass.

“I just wanna go home,” he sobbed, curling into a ball against Papa Héctor’s chest. “I don’t wanna do this anymore, I don’t, I don’t-”

“It’s okay, m’ijo,” Mama Imelda’s hand touched his back, ran up and down his spine soothingly. “You don’t have to. You’ve been so strong, Migue. This isn’t weakness. It’s the right thing. You’re protecting your family. You’re home now.”

Home. With family. People who cared. People who’d loved each other.

People who’d killed for each other.

“It’s over, Miguel,” Papa Héctor said, tucking Miguel under his chin. Miguel felt Mama Imelda press closer, wrapping her arms around him and Papa Héctor both, a secure embrace. “It’s done.”

There was a time when Miguel thought that those words would be a gavel coming down. He hadn’t expected them to be a promise, aching with apology and forgiveness and love.

Papa Héctor’s hand smoothed back his hair carefully, and Miguel felt a distinctly foreign sort of drowsiness fall over him like a blanket. He relaxed by inches until he was putty in their arms, listening to Papa Héctor hum something aimless and soothing.

He wished he was stronger. He wished he had more of a backbone, more guts. He wished he was strong enough to make the hard choice, the painful choice. But really, it had never been a choice at all.

“Get some rest, Miguel.” Mama Imelda’s voice was warm and loving. “We can talk more later.”

[pyropsychiccollector]

Drabble: Natsu got turned into a small child and now everyone's debating who should babysit him until he's back to normal.

            The FairyTail Guildhall was rife with chatter as its members were gathered around thestage in the main hall. A handful of people knew what this gathering was about,but the majority only knew that Makarov had called them all together to discusssomething of “monumental importance”. Up on stage, Makarov coughed thrice toget everyone to quiet down. To the majority not in the know, Makarov’s face wasschooled in poker face fashion; but to the few who knew what was about to be “discussed”…Well. Things were going to be very interesting very shortly.

            “As many ofyou know, Team Natsu recently returned from an assignment.” Makarov got thatmuch out before a random Guildmate piped up.

            “Does thishave to do with why Natsu and Erza weren’t with them?”

            Being thepatient Grandfather figure he was, Makarov nodded sagely at the mage.

            “Well.Natsu, yes,” Makarov corrected himself. “I needed Erza for an S-Class job, andshe’s not back yet. She’s completely unrelated to why I’ve called you here, solet’s focus on Natsu. While on the job, a dark mage got a lucky shot off on thepoor lad, but fortunately the man was captured and arrested, so he will begetting the punishment he deserves.”

            Understandably,out of everyone present, Lisanna seemed the most distressed with this news.

            “Is Natsugoing to be okay?!” Her worry was reflected on the faces of her siblings, whowere next to her. Makarov nodded sympathetically toward the Takeover mage.

            “Yes, yes,Natsu is alive and well.” Makarov then turned his head away slightly andscratched his cheek sheepishly. “He’s just… been reduced to the age of ten.”

            “Oh. Well,that doesn’t sound so bad.” Cana said out of reflex, before her mind caught up,and she spewed out the booze she was drinking. “NATSU’S FRIGGIN’ TEN?!”

            Cana’sexclamation kickstarted a chain reaction of cries of disbelief. Makarov calmlywaited them out, as he, too, was skeptical until he saw the little spitfirehimself. And he was every bit the hellion that the Titan mage remembered. Why,it got Makarov to wondering if Natsu had matured at all within the past decade-ish. He was inclined to answer with ahearty ‘no’.

            “Simmerdown!” Makarov barked out after he let everyone react to the biggest piece ofnews. “This is not a joke. Natsu is well and truly a child again, and I can’thonestly say how long this will be the case. The Spell could just wear off, or itcould just as easily be permanent, and Natsu will have to relive his teenageyears. Levy and Freed have both been filled in, and they’re looking into it aswe speak.”

            Laxus, who’dbeen pretty quick on the uptake since seeing that Freed wasn’t with the ThunderLegion, raised an eyebrow at his Old Man.

            “So themeeting’s not about updating us on Natsu or getting us to help undo the Spell.What’re we really here for…?”

            That seemedto snap many people out of their initial shock. Their Master did not doanything without a reason – at least, not the really important stuff. TeamNatsu had been back for a few days, and Makarov had not said anything, despitethe inquiries to Natsu’s whereabouts. One could just write this off as theresearch taking too long, and Natsu’s absence becoming a little too concerningfor everyone, but many knew Makarov better than that. The man was a genuineGrandfather to them all, but he was not without his faults or schemes...

            Some werealready looking toward the exit.

            “Ah, well,now that ya bring it up…” Makarov rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “… Ineed somebody to take custody of Natsu. I’ve done all I could, but the brat is goingstir-crazy being cooped up in my home. Didn’t wanna do that, but I thoughtmaybe the research wouldn’t take that long, and we could sweep this whole messunder the rug. He probably won’t be as much of a headache if ya let him runaround a while, but he’s not staying under my roof anymore.”

            Makarov’stone was light, but many a mage’s face had become ashen by the end of hislittle rant. Chibi Natsu was confined to a house for more than one day. ChibiNatsu had enough pent-up energy on his best days, Macao and Wakaba rememberedall too well. Makarov was basically playing Hot Potato, and only the reallyeccentric ones were going to be crazy enough to take Chibi Natsu into theirhome for an indefinite amount of time.

            … Or Natsu’sclosest friends, if you want a friendlier term.

            “NOT IT!” Achorus of voices piped up, and a wave of people stepped far away from thestage, leaving a handful of people to fight for the “honor”.

            “I hate toadmit it, but it’s kinda my fault Flamebrain wound up like this.” Gray sighedas he massaged his temple. “Used ‘im as a human meat shield for that attack,and look what happened. If no one’s gonna watch out for him, I will.

            Lucy shookher head ruefully.

            “I couldhave had Taurus block the shot, but I was preoccupied and thought Natsu couldtake the shot. I don’t like it, but… Natsu should probably stay with me. Imean, you probably don’t know much about raising kids.”

            “I canremember how Ur raised me ‘n Lyon just fine!” Gray shouted indignantly. Lucysweatdropped.

            “Yeeeah. Idon’t want Natsu to have the same stripping habit. If he’s with me, I canprobably get him to stop eating like a pig, too.” The blonde deadpanned. Graygrunted, but nodded in begrudging agreement.

            “Whoa,whoa, hey! Back up there, Lu-Lu!” Cana made exaggerated hand motions. “You didn’tgrow up with Natsu, so you don’t know what he was like! You’re better offlettin’ one of us watch him.”

            “Plus, Idon’t think you’d earn enough to feed two mouths.” Mira chimed in. “Three,counting Happy~.”

            Lucynarrowed her eyes and grumbled about ‘hitting below the belt’. Lisanna flailedher arms slightly.

            “This Natsudoesn’t even remember me ‘dying’, so I’d like the chance to raise him! Y’know,almost start over, in a way.”

            “A Real Manprotects his family!” Elfman flexed his muscles. “Natsu’s our responsibility!”

            Canasnorted.

            “You and Lisanna,I could trust. But Miss Barmaid will probably make him cry, like the good ol’days.”

            Miraoffered no verbal response, but she did offer an ominous smile that might ormight not have promised Cana excruciating pain. Makarov eyed Macao curiously,as he had backed up with the crowd.

            “You don’twant to raise Natsu?”

            Macaosweatdropped.

            “I love thekid, but he and Romeo are about the same age now. Romeo doesn’t need to becomemore like Natsu.”

            “Nothingwill stop him from coming by the Guild.” Makarov ‘helpfully’ pointed out. Macao’sshoulders sagged.

            “I know.”

            Juviashuffled forward with a conflicted expression.

            “Um… Juviawould not mind watching over Natsu-san!” Her features were schooled into aneutral expression, though Lisanna knew her bestie well enough to see she wasquite taken with the mental image of ‘Chibi Natsu’. And to be fair, Natsu wasadorable as a kid.

            That didnot stop the youngest Strauss Sibling from puffing her cheeks in frustration.Natsu was hers, damn it!

            They wenton like this for quite some time. Lucy and Gray seemed to agree to some ‘jointcustody’ system, as between them, they could probably get the little spitfireto be more mature. Probably. The Strauss siblings were still fiercely makingtheir case, and honestly, it would make a lot of sense to let them take care ofthe Pyro. Cana and Juvia still showed interest, too, and even Jet and Droygrudgingly stepped forward to represent Levy, who had told them to representher in her absence.

            And justwhen it seemed as if Makarov was going to give all interested parties jointcustody of the Dragon Slayer, the Guildhall doors slammed open, revealing Erzawith her hand latched onto the scruff of Chibi Natsu’s scarf.

            “Wouldanyone kindly explain why I found Natsu running around the market… as a child…?”Erza inquired with narrowed eyes. Truth be told, she’d nearly had a heartattack when she verified Natsu wasn’t under some Transformation. Yet that worrywas mixed in with curiosity, anger towards her stupid, stupid Guildmates forleaving the Dragon Slayer unattended, and a deep-seated need to Punish whoeverput Natsu in this state.

            A deadlycombination, that.

            “O-Oh,Erza! You’re back!” Makarov was sweating buckets. If she’d come across Natsu,then the boy had most certainly escaped Lucy’s apartment. Makarov had electedto store the boy there until this little meeting was over with, as there was noway in hell Natsu was staying in his home.Makarov wouldn’t have a home to go to, if that happened.

            But it wasperfectly fine for the Dragon Slayer to stay in Lucy’s place for a bit.

            “Look, here’show it went down…” Gray sighed as it seemed like Lucy and Master were tooscared to explain the ‘accident’. Maybe she’d Punish him for using Flamebrainfor a human meat shield, but at least she’d find out now instead of later. ‘Causethere’s no hiding anything from Erza.

            By the endof Gray’s explanation, Erza had gone eerily still, and many feared what shewould do, after the Ice mage had ceased talking.

            “… I willtake care of everything.” Erza replied simply, much to everyone’s relief. Tosome people’s disappointment, too, but Erza had That Look in her eye, which signaledthat it was ill-advised to argue with her.

            Only Natsucould defy her when she had That Look, and he was currently trying to slip awayfrom the scarlet knight’s iron grip.

            “Are yousure you’ll be alright, Erza? Natsu is ahandful.” Makarov sympathetically remarked, earning many an indignant squawkfrom the crowd.

            Unsurprisingly,Erza did not back down.

            “I think it’sbest if I do it, actually. I know him best.” Her gaze softened as she turnedslightly to look down at the squirming Dragon Slayer. Most didn’t question Erza’ssoft spot for the Pyro, but there were a few women that registered that as achallenge.

            They wouldnot let Erza win that easily, afterall~.

~*~

Note: Not nearly enough Erza-chan for my tastes, but Erza raising a de-aged Natsu warrants another drabble entirely~. I know procellasdracon and I have talked about this idea in our threads; even the reverse situation, with Natsu raising a de-aged Erza. It'd just be cute to picture it~. De-aging - a cliche plot bunny, but an amusing one, all the same. ^___^