#so this is. i hadn't even though about ti yet tbh

[sandwich2451]

u mean the world to me so that you know <3

If you ever are self-publishing or illustrating a paperback, an absolutely essential tool is this page, which gives you the exact pixel count of a book spine based on its page count, and/or a template you can use for the correct width/height ratio.

[fuckentoastybitch]

My VN List!

I'm listing them according to ones I've played and ones I plan to play (as well as brief notes about either my opinion on the game or why I'm interested in them, formatted like this.)

This is for my own personal collection tbh, I just need to put them all in one place.

A. Have played:

The Arcana. Played since I was 16, all time favourite and Julian is my husband. This game shaped my interest for fantasy settings and magic. BUT! As a long time fan I must warn new players that trying to get the full experience for this game is difficult because of its coin system. The only reason I manage to keep playing for years is because I literally take a year's worth of breaks in between routes and logged in every. Single. Day. to collect coins and keys. It's literally been 6 years and I still haven't 100% the game yet cause I simply didn't have that kind of energy and time to do that anymore, but I still love the characters very deeply till now.

Blooming Panic. Second all time fave. Fell for Quest first, fell for Toasty hardest, for some reason is obsessed with xyx. I've revolved my entire personality around BP since 2023.

ERROR 143. Fun! Micah is technically not my type but I really like the general aesthetic and humor of the game. Iirc there are still more content to come to the game so I am very excitedly and patiently waiting.

3 Seasons. This was short and sweet. I think what I liked the most about this was the unique character designs, especially Rye and Briar's. I heard the dev's are working on more content on the current LI's + Briar's route, I'm really excited for those.

Our Life: Beginning & Always. Our life was INCREDIBLE, to put it simply. The entire game and story was very well thought out that it even made me reflect on my own life at each phase along the game. It gave me a really strong sense of nostalgia and reminded me of my own feelings during every change I had experienced. I actually wanted to make a whole post about OLBA but I got busy and already forgot everything I wanted to say, ehe. I still have to play the DLC and get the remaining locked CGs though.

Assignment Due: Project Blue. THIS GAME IS ADORABLE. I already made a blog post about what I like about it and I will again emphasis on how this game felt like it was made specifically for me. I love Asher so much aaaaa. I heard rei, the dev is working on another game for Eden, I'm looking forward for that, too.

Coffee Talk. Coffee talk was so so good! I need to play more non-romance VNs too cause this was so enjoyable in terms of its storytelling, setting, gameplay and design. Every character had such a nice story that tied up nicely, even the MC who's supposed to be just an observer throughout the entire thing. Also the cozy vibes and music is a 10/10 would recommend.

A Date with Death. This one's so cute too! I played only one route last year and just picked it up again recently. I have only one route left to finish and the new DLC!. Anyways yes the Grim Reaper is very babygirl I can attest to it.

seekL. THIS IS SO GOOD. SO SO GOOD. If you didn't see the one week phase where I basically went insanely obsessed with seekL, you missed out. Hacker man save me.. save me.. hackerman..

B. Want to play:

Lost in Limbo. Really pretty art and interesting concept. The theme seems very fantasy/magic centric which really pulls me in. But this game is still a WIP iirc

When The Night Comes. Technically I'm currently playing this one, but only the intro and hadn't touched the game in months cause I've been busy. Again, the fantasy setting caught my interest aaand I just met Ezra but I already love him. Will continue this as soon as I can!

Infinite Blue. I've played the demo! Very mysmes reminiscent lol. The game looked very cute so far and Brooklyn reminded me that I'll never run away from my old man liker allegations. It's already out so I def gotta play it soon.

Coffee Talk Episode 2. Don't really need an explanation for this one except that the new characters I've seen so far looks really cool.

Tavern Talk. D&D inspired Coffee Talk! If it's not obvious already, I LOVE fantasy settings so even though I've never played D&D, it is right up my alley and I wish I could play it someday. I've been eyeing the production of this game for a while so I'm really excited that it's finally out!

Obscura. This one looks really REALLY cool but I haven't actually read into what it's actually about. The art alone looks good enough to get my attention. Really curious about it, I hope I'll play it soon.

Intertwine. Just from looking at the 2023 Otome Jam entries overall I thought this one looked most visually appealing to me. I love the color scheme, and the aesthetic reminds of the string of fate myth (that probably is the theme)

DATA BR<3ACH. I'm usually not a fan of cyberpunk setting but this one seemed pretty intriguing to me visually!

Innerlog. By Jenny V Pham! I enjoyed Error 143 so I have no doubt I'll enjoy this one too.

Andromeda Six. My impression of this one is "space D&D" lol. I can't believe I haven't played this one yet.

TOUCHSTARVED. I can NOT believe only the demo is out cause the quality looks like it should've been a long existing popular franchise. One thing I'm a little hesitant about playing this game is because it's goth themed and in case you haven't noticed, a lot of the media I like have a softer, more pastel aesthetic. lol. But that's a personal preference and yet I definitely need to play it sometime soon.

Cupid's Chatroom. There's really not much to say. Pink aesthetic? Mysterious chatsim that appeared out of nowhere? My cup of tea 100%

Na Daoine Maithe. I've played the demo of this one and it is sooo interesting. I like myths but I've never really read into Gaelic ones. The art is so pretty and the story so far is very intriguing. I can't wait for the full game.

Swiped!: Double Shots of Love. FINALLY AN INDIE VN WITH OLDER MALE LOVE INTERESTS DFKJFDSJKD I played the demo, it was really really cute! The professor LI was made to call me out lol

Wake Me Up If You Need Me. A game made by rice! Someone who I've seen around in the fandom and who's really talented at making songs and audios. I had no idea they made a game but I just found it recently and I have to play it.

Keyframes. It looks really good but I'm interested mostly cause I found out Charlatean (Toasty's VA) is in this kjsdhfgkjd

Rekindle. I follow the lovely artist that's creating it and the DEMO IS OUT!. I saw one (1) art of Jules and he is EXACTLY my type so I'm already looking forward to this game.

Our Life: Now & Forever. Baxter's OL game! I already loved Cove's so I'm really really interested in this version of the game. Plus, I actually really like the autumn aesthetic compared to Cove's beachy style.

Hummingbird's Crown. Has a very interesting premise: a time loop mystery. I'm definitely interested in this one for its story potential rather than the romance, I love me a good mystery.

Aaand that's it. Thankfully "( – ⌓ – )

There's actually a few more that I added in my twitter bookmarks but those are relatively new and I haven't decided if I really want to play them yet. I'm following the devs though so that interest might grow over time. These lists are long enough as they are already, haha.

[selfproclaimedunicorn]

For the OC heraldry game, Azure 1, Gold 2, and Black 3 for Ella!

Azure 1: Does your OC have a guiding principle by which they live their life--such as duty, self restraint or vengeance? Has this ever been tested by circumstance or challenged by another person?

I'd say that Ella's guiding principals are love & loyalty. Primarily to her family, but that kind of intense love can be pointed in the direction of a friend. A lot of what she does can be tied back into whoever she's showing this kind of devotion to & what she's decided to tie her love & loyalty onto.

This does get tested in some major ways throughout her arc, & I wouldn't say she ever wavers, but the tether these principles are tied to gets shifted around when her mother is murdered, when she confronts her dad later, when she finds out about Laenamon, when her favorite cousins respectively act like a freak & a half, with the whole Evyn Waters situation, when the stuff at Driftmark happens. And like, these are just the things I have happened or have been planned so far (no one ever ask me what the middle of my outlines look like). TBH, a lot of Ella's arc is finding where to place her big emotions & how to deal with them.

Or 2: Does your OC have any wishes or desires of which they are ashamed or otherwise wish to keep secret? Or do they loudly proclaim their every wish to those around them?

Everyone is gonna know what she wants whether they want to or not. I think she'd be ashamed to admit she used to want her parents to fix their marriage & for them all to be a big, happy family, but at the time that she was experiencing that want she was definitely gonna let people know about it. She was maybe quieter about that desire when she was a teenager, but, like, if you asked you were definitely gonna know about it/she wasn't gonna lie or hide it.

In terms of things she wants/desires/wishes for now there's not really a whole lot at this particular moment in the fic. She wants justice/vengeance for her mom, but her family wants that too. Otherwise? She's kind of getting everything she wants. She has a hunky simp boy toy malewife, she has a son she loves to bits, she gets to keep living at Runestone, she has her dragon, she has her brothers (even if one is being fostered atm), she's surrounded by friends--she wishes that the friend breakup with Laena hadn't happened, but that's more a "she shouldn't have done what she did" thing & she's not really ready to move on to fix that bond yet.

Sable 3: Is your OC comfortable in expressing their grief? Such as by crying at funerals or memorial events? Or do they always keep their emotions intensely private? Or perhaps not express them at all?

Babygirl has such a complicated relationship with grief & its expression therein.

She's good at expressing it in the moment, but she kind of also never got over that little kid thing where all your emotions feel like the biggest, most intense, extra version of that thing because you have never felt something so big in your life considering you haven't been doing this "alive" thing for too long. RIP Ella Royce, you would have loved modern psychiatric medicine & getting a proper diagnosis for the mood disorder you most definitely have.

She'll cry & carry on for however long she deems appropriate/believes that the cause of her grief is fresh, but she also gets incredibly overwhelmed by negative emotions so after a while she's going to run from it. She'll cry at the funeral & when a situation has just happened, but afterwards she's going to try to find some way to try to move on because "I want to be done now."

When her Grandfather Yorbert came home from being Jeyne Arryn's regent because he was sick, & she was having to watch him die, she started writing her fantastical, escapist self-insert history OC. When her Aunt Aemma died, she went back to those stories & actually finished writing them even though she hasn't touched them in at least a year. When her mom died she threatened to burn down King's Landing & then ran away from home so she wouldn't be at the place that was the source of her grief.

So, like, she's very good at the initial catharsis, & about as comfortable with it as one can be, but she's not good at when you have to process the feelings that come after that initial out pour.

[infriga]

Finished watching Bodies. Not bad! I liked the characters and was glad they eventually got a happy ending. The minority theme between the detectives ended up not really playing as big a part as I expected thematically or narratively, but I still thought it was neat. I think they could have tied it in more to the utopia Elias wanted to create, maybe Elias could identify with them and want to build a better world where people like them could be treated better, and then he could see how he's actually stepping over the corpses of people like them, those ostracized or mistreated by society just like he felt he was. And then that could play back into him realizing how everything he ever suffered through was actually ultimately orchestrated by himself in order to uphold the loop. But as is I'm not gonna complain about the main characters being minorities cause it did still add a lot of interesting depth and flavour to them and their individual stories.

I will say, there were a lot of plotholes by the end, even for a time travel story. How was Iris in 2023 if the stuff that led her to the Throat never happened, and if she had been sent to 1890 in the first place? She hadn't aged so it couldn't have been the version of her that originally went back even assuming she was unaffected by the timeline reset for whatever reason, and she wasn't 30 years younger either so it couldn't have just been a younger version of her, plus she knew Shahara's name. How did Elias exist in the first place to start the loop if he only existed because of the loop? The "it existed so it exists because it's a time loop" explanation doesn't really work in this case since we see first hand that time can be changed and is not set in stone, so something had to have caused the time loop to begin with, right? But if that was the case then the loop would just start back up again without preventing the original thing that caused the loop in the first place, and yet the loop DID end when he decided not to blow up the bomb, which is pretty blatantly framed as him committing timeline suicide. It's not even a case of multiple timelines because we see an immediate effect on people within the current timeline when small past stuff is changed, and the full reset only happened when the loop was ended. Before the reset we see both Elias and future Shahara vanish into thin air and other characters react to it, showing that the loop ending is actively changing and resetting that timeline specifically, not making a new one that split off from the past. So that means it's one timeline and changing the past changes everything in the future. People who were affected the most even seem to sense something about the world and each other, though they otherwise don't remember anything from previous versions of the timeline. Except Iris maybe?? Why did Dafoe split up and end up in multiple times but nobody else did? Why did the giant building billboard still have "KYAL" on it? And why was it there in 2023? I'm assuming it was still 2023 in that scene since Shahara hadn't aged. And so on. I would think maybe those discrepancies involving Iris and the billboard are there because they're baiting for a second season related to maybe something that did cause the original loop, but it's a limited series so supposedly no second season is intended. Maybe it's just meant to be mysterious and intriguing and not really meant to make sense because timeywimey shenanigans, idk.

But even with all that, I still liked it. The good characterization and interpersonal drama carried it pretty hard tbh lol. I think Elias's character was the weakest, I would have liked to see more of his internal struggle, more moments shown of him changing and becoming a better person over time and feeling bad about the actions he needs to take to set up the loop. It would have made his sacrifice hit harder if I didn't still kinda hate his guts by that point. I actually felt worse for his mom when he just Marty Mcdied in her arms but I guess her loss was short lived since the timeline reset right after that lol. But aside from that the detectives were all very compelling and I was invested in their stories and happy to see their doomed narratives become undoomed by the end.

[my-name-is-bunnyfoxy]

About this post: https://www.tumblr.com/my-name-is-bunnyfoxy/729290480682172416/whats-your-favorite-iteration-of-raph-mine-is?source=share

Where would u place Rise Raph? Lke, 4th maybe? I know u did a list ranking Raphs (and Leos too), but I don't know remember where you placed him.

Also, what ask were u talking about that u sent Pumpkinpie that talked about IDW Raph, and/or IDW Raph x Alopex? I tried to find it, but I didn't.

I do admit I still love IDW Raph, IDW Alopex and that ship (I also love IDW Casey still, I know pumpkinpie doesn't like him as much anymore), but I get why people may not like them and/or that ship anymore. Tbh, I actually (probably) like Leo with Alopex more. Not nesscarily shipping them, but just them together. Because I love both characters, and they got an interesting and tragic history together (i.e.; both of being traumitized by Shredder and/or Kitsune), and so I really like stuff with them. And I am still hoping we get more good canon IDW stuff with them. As well; as more fan stuff w/ them. Raph with Alopex and/or x Alopex is still fine and/or cool though.

Poor IDW Raph being placed last by u now. I do prefer IDW Leo and Mikey myself too. Like, Leo is my favorite, then Mikey is up there too. And Donnie and Raph were basically tied for me (though sometimes one would be over the other), and sometimes tied with Mikey. Anyways, I love all of them. But IDW Leo; wow. And IDW Mikey. I have other favorites/loves in IDW too. Like Karai, Koya, Jennika, Venus, etc., etc. But among the main 4 turtles it is Leo. Then Mikey. And just in general, Leo is my top favorite (yes, I am biased for Leo, I won't deny this. So ofc I love him so much. But Leo is geninuely so great in IDW). And Mikey (Mikey is also so good too) is also still really up there too. In that case. But I do still love IDW; he is a complicated boi (too/as well). And I don't think I would place IDW Raph in my top 3 or at least Top 2 for Raphs, but I don't think I would place him low, and defin. not last. However; if you do, that is totally fine though. DIfferent opinoins and stuff. I am curious to understand a bit more why u decided to put him in dead last for ur ranking of Raphs.

(Also; thank you for answering my ships question(s)! I am happy u love 2012 Leopril and Caseynardo so much too! And that u are liking MM Leopril so far. I hadn't really thought about Rise Cass x Leo that much. Though yesssss, I think they would/could have been really close in the Bad Future Timeline. Romanctically or not. And I think they could have/can have some fun, interesting potential in the present too. Just generally. Not just romantically. I was surprised to see u talk about Rise Leo x April too. Honestly, I think that relationship is very underrated. Both as a ship or not. Like, I love Rise April x Donnie too and their relationship in general, but I really do like Rise Leo and April and/or Rise Leo x April (I am putting both for these things, because sometimes I just like their relationship in general. And it doesn't have to be romantic. Or it could be romantic and/or become romantic), and I think it is really underrated. Esp./Even more compared with Rise April and Donnie and/or Rise Apriltello (I still love them too though).

Also; yes, yes I love Caprilnardo. I love both April x Leo x Casey and April x Casey x Donnie myself. :)

First of all: I LITERALLY GOT EXCITED WHEN I FOUND YET ANOTHER CAPRITELLO I ALMOST SCREAMED REEEE- I'M NOT ALONE!!!

Now to everything else:

The Raph ranking

Honestly those two ranking lists I did I consider them outdated. Because I'm gonna admit with full shame that uhhhhhh- I didn't watch ALL of the TMNTs and there are some TMNTs I still haven't finished. So I find my old post more based on things I heard, red or the clips I saw. I will remake them when I see a good handful of TMNT.

Now onto Rise Raph, possibly 4th or 5th. Like said, 90s Raph is coming up. Plus as much as I love Rise Raph and how much focus he got, I really wish we saw more of him having like emotional damage or something and the reason why he is struggling being the leader is because he is incapable of controlling his emotions and there are many things that he lacks. I still love him in the finale and his character development and what we got from him. I just wish we got more but oh well, I'll take what we have gotten and what we will get later if the show comes back.

About the ask and IDW Raph

Sadly I'm having a hard time finding the ask. BUT. I have a big reason I dislike Raph x Alopex and why I no longer like IDW Raph. For the longest time I thought she was 2 years or so older then him and they met when she was at least an adult and Raph was also close to being an adult.

BUT THEN I FOUND OUT ALOPEX WAS 12 WHEN SHE MET RAPH WHO WAS 16 AT THAT TIME.

I did a bit of research and it's illegal and weird for a 16 year old to date a 12 year old. I wouldn't have cared if they had that age gap as adults but knowing that that is not the case makes me feel gross. I thought Next Mutation Raph sucked but now they share the same spot. Also Emily mentioned how Raph gets worse as the comics go on.

I don't know much about IDW so this opinion of mine comes from what I have learned and found out about.

Now to a bit more light hearted. I do enjoy and love IDW, even though I haven't red any of the actual comics or got them. I know quite some stuff like for example the things you mentioned.

I LOVE Leo and Mikey. My favorite ones! Leo's brainwashing was upsetting and blatant emotional damage, and Mikey MAN. He's my 2nd favorite Mikey right next to Ronnin Mikey. Just DAMN. He wasn't a coward and stood up to Splinter and basically told him to shut his mouth. MIKEY!! MY MAN IS AMAZING!

Also I will forever love Jennika and Venus. This comic series gave justice to Venus and brought back a character that deserved better. I will forever love both of these beautiful gals. Jenny is awesome and so is Vee Vee.

Now onto that last part, No problem! :3 Also I kind of decided that after I posted my answer I changed my mind. Rise Aprilnardo gets a 9/10 for me. It's close to 10 very close. AND YES IT'S UNDERRATED!!! Also i'm surprised to find a Rise Apritello shipper awh man.

Also like mentioned at the start, ANOTHER CAPRITELLO AND CAPRILANRDO SHIPPER YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Okay that's all. This post is very rushed since I have a whole ton of studying to do this week.

[just-some-sorta-person]

Aa this just reminds me of when Nagi called Reo weird for taking an interest in him, which is a more roundabout way of expressing a similar sentiment

(Nagi is so shocked that someone enjoys being around him, and his look afterward is so soft when he says doesn't wanna play soccer but its fine cus its with Reo. I feel like he was really touched, and thats when their friendship was really solidified in his mind)

Back then, things were simpler, so a simple "I like being around you" was enough. Also, they hadn't known each other for very long, so its not like a more complex answer was necessary or would fit.

To the questions “why did you take so much interest in someone like me? Why do you do so much for me? Why do you care so much about me?” At the very start of Epinagi, even though Reo has officially switched his dream to "You and I will Win the World Cup" he still mostly views Nagi with this intrigued curiosity instead of the utmost fondness we see later, since they still barely know each other. Since he needed someone to play with to make his soccer dreams come true, pairing with Nagi is still ultimately part of his plan to win the World Cup. So at the start of their relationship, maybe the answer is because Nagi is an unrealized soccer genius, and Reo wants to realize this genius so that they (and he) can win the World Cup.

Later on, as they become friends and interact the answer probably changes. We know that by the start of Blue Lock, Reo's goal changes from winning the World Cup to making Nagi the best striker so they can win the World Cup together - not just as a necessary step toward winning the world cup, but as a necessity in and of itself. This is evident by how Reo falls apart when he thinks Nagi abandons him. In-between the start of their relationship and the breakup, maybe the answer is "Because I have fun with you, because you're my treasure and we're going to win the World Cup together." In terms of the further whys, "Why is hanging out with me fun, why am I your treasure" I dont get the feeling that Reo would have thought about it much because there hasnt been much reason to question it? Maybe something related to how Nagi freed Reo by making his World Cup dreams a possibility, a sense of gratefulness and endearment. Would Reo explicitly connect his care for Nagi to their relationship outside of soccer? Idk, on one hand this does seem to be the case, but on the other hand, Reo seems to see their relationship as one based on soccer, given the way he assumes everything is over btwn him and Nagi when they stop being on the same team.

After the breakup though? These questions ask about Nagi's importance to Reo, and in the past this could be tied to soccer, but now that Reo is in Bluelock, Nagi is not at all necessary for Reo's dream of winning the World Cup, and yet Reo still cares. This was true before the breakup, but I think the breakup makes this impossible to ignore.

In the past, Reo needed Nagi to boost his team and give him a chance to prove himself, but now the only reason why they should aim to win the World Cup together is emotional attachment. Just like how the only reason they should have teamed up in the 3v3s was emotional attachment, since to get better they should split up.

So if Reo answers "We promised to win the World Cup together" and "He's my treasure" questions come up of "why together? Why do you still need a treasure in a place as opposed to that mindset as Bluelock?" Because both concepts no longer help him win the world cup, if you subscribe the the Blue Lock Ideaology. To which tbh I think Reo would get frustrated and have to confront that he just inherently deeply cares about Nagi but not want to admit that cus he's hurt. Asking Reo "Why do you need Nagi to need you" would be so tough because I think the answer is "Because I needed him" and thats just too vulnerable to say about someone who hurt you so bad.

What about after the make-up, like post-chapter 207? I feel like they haven't fully discussed stuff enough. Reo kinda just swept all his own feelings under the rug, probably feels even less secure in their relationship than before, and just wants to act like everything is fine maybe? I feel like in this state, he would probably dodge any kind of feelings questions and give shallow answers about Nagi being his treasure cus admitting how much he cares about Nagi would probably hurt now more than ever if he doesn't think the care is reciprocated...

I say all this stuff but at the same time idk I've written too much and my brain is now mush. I reserve the right to change my mind later lmao

What do you reckon would happen if Nagi ever actually asked Reo “hey Reo, why did you take so much interest in someone like me? Why do you do so much for me? Why do you care so much about me?”

Would Reo’s brain just short-circuit because why does he go so far for Nagi? Like, sure, he sees Nagi’s potential. He wants Nagi to be the best in the world. He threw out all of his own personal character development just for Nagi. But, like, WHY? This has to go beyond a mere ‘investment’ or a ‘sunken cost fallacy’ by this point. Sure, that’s what it was in the beginning. Nagi was an easy way for Reo to excuse getting into football. Now though? No one in their right mind would ever do this much for someone who treated them so badly when they weren’t even friends for that long before Blue Lock (as in, they weren’t childhood friends or anything). Reo had gone through his whole arc and developed into an individual capable of pushing to the very top of Blue Lock. Then Nagi comes along, says one thing and suddenly Reo has reverted back to square one?!

If Reo ever tried to actually lay out his logic path after the MC match or smth, would he just come up utterly confused because even he isn’t fully aware of why exactly he’s so drawn to Nagi? He just is.

It’s because he’s in love and stupid but some people aren’t ready for that conversation.

[help-im-a-gay-fish]

Brightly Shone The Moon That Night. A Dark-Cream Christmas story.

The following is a slice of life story about my Dark-Cream family at Christmas. It exists in a universe different to @zu-is-here​ cannon. In this universe positive emotions are not fatal to Shattered so Cross and Dream didn't rush to break the curse. It splits off around 'things will never be the same' or 'the price of happiness'. The twins were created before the last 3 chapters of Dark-Cream were drawn. Any changes to the story or changes to the characters should be accepted as being part of an alternative timeline. Thank you. Enjoy. Original cross and dream belong to jakei95 and joku blog. Original shattered dream belongs to @galacii. This design for shattered is based off the one by @zu-is-here and the Dark-Cream story is also by @zu-is-here​. Most of the Story will be under the cut.

"isn't this a bit much?" the gloopy one said, as his partner wrapped a scarf around his neck.

"nope" the former guard replied "can't have you getting frost bite my love"

Dream simply rolled his eyes. "but I can't really get cold? Or even hot for that matter"

"what are you talking about? you're always hot" Cross replied with a sly smile. This earned a confused look from the smaller skeleton, as Cross carefully tied the scarf and gently folded it under Shattered's jacket. Though it became clear to Cross that Dream had twigged what he'd meant a moment later, evident by the creeping gold blush spreading across his face.

The golden guardian playful punched Cross in the shoulder. "Shush you, keep in clean in front of the little ones"

At that Cross couldn't help but smile and turn his head to his two daughters. The two were in their cot, all dressed in snuggly winter clothes, waiting for their Dad's to be done getting ready. Celest was dressed in a cosy jumper with a little bobble hat, while Luna wore a full bodied coat. Their consistent look of confusion and wonder changed into toothless smiles when their dad looked at them. (idk how teething works for skeletons..... Teeth magically form or something......also tbh they should start teething soon) it warmed Cross' soul.

His attention was drawn back to dream by the sound of metal being placed down on wood. He looked to him, seeing that he'd removed his crown band and set down on the bedside table. Dream then sighed and sagged his shoulders. "it.... It feels wrong not having something on my head"

Cross chuckled.

The 4 of them where taking a trip out today. This was something both Dream and Cross had agreed was a good idea.

Cross' eye lights travelled back to the little ones. They seemed so innocent right now, as if recent events hadn't happened. As if the last two weeks hadn't been difficult to get through.

Celest's code had been burning her a lot, to the point where she'd screamed when either of them had tried to hold her, or even touch her. As for Luna, her throat had become clogged with more gloop then ever before. So much Shattered had to use a tentacle to pull some of it out. She had surely been 5 seconds from suffocating.

It had been a fortnight of sleepless nights, screaming babies and a large amount of arguing. The stress of the situation had pushed them very far apart. Many things had been said, old wounds jabbed at, tears shed. But after a lot of long talks they had sorted out each fight. They were a lot stronger then some petty arguments. There was no room in their relationship for emotional strain......not anymore. The two loved each other, it had just been a difficult time.

In recent days, the twins seemed to have recovered to a stable state. Back to the laughing, smiling, Cow lovers. Cross never thought he'd be so happy that they'd started playing with their cow collection again.

After a long talk with his finance, the two concluded that they'd all been stuck in the void space for way to long. Even with the few rooms and furniture, it's not like there was much to do there and a serious cabin fever had developed. So while the twins were in a good place, they had to take the opportunity to spend some time together as a family.

Cross once again looked back at his partner. Only to need to do a double take. Dream was wearing a hat now. A festive white one with golden stripes running across it. It was reminiscent of a classic Santa hat, other then the colours. The fabric had black stains in several places due to where Dream had touched it. Though despite that Cross recognised it all to well. To his dismay, he felt his face slowly get warm. Their first kiss.

He could remember it clearly in his mind, the mistletoe, the hotel, Gaster sniggering in the corner. But mostly, Dream. The sweet, positive skeleton from back then was very different to the one who stood before him now. But he wouldn't have it any other way.

Remembering that day caused his blush to darken. It had truly been one of the most embarrassing, but best days of his life. Though a part of him wondered how Dream still had the hat. After everything, the hat had been saved.

"you've still got that hat?" he said, in a half teasing tone.

Shattered smirked at Cross' flushed face "of course, so many good memories".

A stream of positivity ran through him and with it, it brought a sudden, but expected twinge in his soul. It was a sharp pain, like a knife being slowly pressed in. Dream tried to ignore it but he visually flinched causing Cross to come over.

"positivity again Dreamboat?" he questioned.

Dream nodded "it's alright, I'm used to it" The guardian sensed some sadness from Cross, even if he kept a natural face.

"I'm OK Crossy, promise!"

Cross sighed and gently kissed Shattered's forehead. "if you say so my love"

With that he walked back over to the twins so that he could get their carriers. Dream sighed slightly. It was strange seeing Cross in an outfit different to his guard uniform. So much so that Dream already kind of missed it, not that Cross didn't look handsome is what he was currently wearing.

The last time the family had left the void to go shopping, (which is really a story in itself) they had been stared at from all angles. Every man, women and child. Monster or human, had taken part in watching them. Like animals in a zoo. Cross had insisted that it was the twins they were staring at, since his children were so beautiful that of course people would stare. But in the end both him and Dream knew the real reason.

They were staring at them.

He couldn't really blame them though, how often do you come across a monster with heterochromia wearing what was best described as fancy dress, accompanied by a slime covered skeleton in heels and a crown? Many things had changed since the apple incident, but people staring as he passed had not.

Today they both wanted a peaceful day with their babies, so they had opted to wear more normal clothes. Cross had traded his normal cape and jacket for a puffy white winter coat which he wore a red jumper under. Dream had opted for something similar, though a deep brown colour as to not show the stains so much. It felt odd being in a new outfit, but also very nice. There was only so long someone could take being in tight trousers and shirts with big collars.

The former guard straightened up, clutching a harness in his hands.

"these were definitely a good buy" he said, as he walked back to Dream.

Dream raised an eyebrow "did you really 'Buy' them Cross?" he said is a inquisitive tone.

Cross' body tensed and his partner gave him an sharp stare. Even without his emotion sensing ability, Dream could read Cross like a book.

"uhhhhhhh.......yes?"

"sure" Dream replyed, with slight amusement in his voice.

A nervous chuckle came from Cross. "look they were a good thing to get ok?....... Very helpful for the little ones"

Dream gave him an unsure nod. He still wasn't exactly well versed in child care, so he wasn't really sure what these harnesses where even for yet. Since he figured that the answer was probably obvious, he didn't ask.

"want me to help you get it on?" Cross asked, raising an eyebrow. Shattered wasn't the only one who could easily read his partner.

Shattered said nothing but nodded. His golden blush reappeared when Cross started to run his hands across and around his body to get the harness into place. His soul gave a tiny learch for a moment, but not one of pain.

He knew there was a part of him that wanted Cross to touch his soul again, It had been such a close experience for them both and had brought about a lot of pleasurable feelings. It was truly something he wanted to experience again. A feeling he almost craved. But he knew all to well, as his eye sockets fixed onto the cot to his right, that the potential consequences made it impossible. He was just going to have to live with these unmet desires. Just as he was sure that Cross lived with similar ones.

"there all done"

Dream jumped. Snapped out of his thoughts by his future husband's voice.

Now the harness was all attached. Not too tight, but not too lose. He could see that he now had a pocket on his chest which he guessed the baby sat in. Clever. It was kind of like a kangaroo pouch.

Cross strapped a identical carrier around his own chest and walked over to the babies cot to collect his daughters.

Luna smiled wide at the sight of him. The older skeleton matched her smile and slowly picked his child up. Luna giggled and kicked her tiny feet out as he did. Her tentacle flickered around the corners of her mouth as she laughed. Cross could feel his own joy fill him at the sight. But he nullified it for his partner's sake.

Speaking of which, he turned back to Dream.

"you wanna take Celly or Lu Lu?" he asked.

"I'll take Luna" the smaller skeleton replied "since you are already holding her". He held his arms out in an awkward, slightly unsure way.

Cross gave a soft, knowing smile "Its OK Dreamboat, I'll help you get her in the carrier"

Shattered sighed, irritated by his own incompetence and nodded.

With that Cross carefully attempted to slip the wriggling baby into her carrier. Which wasn't easy, as she cheerfully shifted her legs around. In fact Cross had a slightly hard time keeping hold of her.

After much difficulty, Cross managed to feed her legs through the leg holes and sit her safely inside. The whole time, Dream remained mostly still, he didn't want to do anything in case he ended up hurting Luna.

Once she was buckled in, Cross took a slow step back to admire his handy work. Luna bounced excitedly in her carrier and her Papa looked almost comically uncomfortable by all her movement.

"do you want me to take her Day Dream?" Cross said, upon noticing Dreams unease around the wiggling baby. Dream shook his head "no, its fine" he replied as he relaxed his shoulders. "you get Celest and we can go"

Cross gave a nod and turned back to the cot. As he went to pick up his slightly younger daughter, he noticed that she had in fact fallen asleep. Cross sighed - not again....

For most parents, the time when the children slept was a time of bliss, and after a fortnight of little sleep, Cross almost agreed. But his child had a habit of falling asleep suddenly and for long periods. Dream had told him that when this happened her energy levels were low, showing that her body couldn't regulate itself fully.

With another sigh, Cross carefully picked up the sleeping baby and slipped her into the carrier. It was very hard to wake her when she was like this, but he was still extra careful. Not waking a sleeping baby was basically a universal law, though he would have to if she was asleep to long. After double checking that she was safely inside and her head was supported, he walked back over to Dream.

"any particular preference for an au Dream boat?" he asked

Shaking his head, Dream replied "Not really, just try and get a pacifist timeline"

With a nod, Cross extended his arm. There was a spark of magic at his figure tips and his knife materialised. He dragged it through the air in a fluid motion, as he did it split the air as if it where a piece of cloth. It was a causal splitting of space and time. Simple.

Luna watched her dad with a look of wonder. Her silver eyes where wide and bright.

"gahhhhh daaaaag" she cooed and reached for him.

Cross glanced back at her with a smile "just you wait Princess, when you are older I'll teach you how to do this"

These words hung heavily in the air for a moment, as Cross carefully finished opening the portal. The same thing was on both Cross and Dreams minds.

If you get older.

With a sigh and a snap of his fingers, the knife was gone and the portal was open.

"After you" Cross said, stooping into a slight bow and winking at his fiancé.

Dream covered his mouth with his hand and fake giggled. "Oh what a gentleman" he said with a large smile across his face before walking forward and entering the portal.

The first thing that hit Dream as he reached the other side, was a cold crisp breeze. The chill made him feel grateful that he was wearing his boots, even if they were old and an obnoxious shade of yellow.

The breeze blew lightly causing Luna to shiver. There was no wind in there home, so this brought a welcome change to Shattered. He took a deep breath into his non existent lungs.

It was evening. Strange? He figured that their sense of time must have been thrown out a little. They did live in a void after all. However it was a pleasant evening, with sky littered with stars and a full moon.

Shattered allowed himself to bask in the fresh air for a while, as he heard footsteps behind him and the portal close.

"Oh it's good to be outside again" came Cross' voice from behind.

With a nod, Shattered turned around to face his partner. Luna wriggled more in her carrier, looking around at all the new things she'd never seen before.

"someone is excited" Cross said, leaning down and kissing his daughter on the forehead. She giggled and very nearly headbutt him as he did. Chuckling, he pulled away.

The guard looked around "looks like we're in a small town... If I had to guess its the surface"

The two of them started to look around, trying to find something to engage with. It wasn't long before they spotted something.

Both skeletons attention was caught by something in the near distance. A large crowd of people. Among them were people in hats, jumpers and coats, carrying bags and cups of hot drinks. A vast amount of stalls and stands were among them, not to mention fur trees in fancy dress and lights. Hundreds and hundreds of lights.

"a Christmas Market!" Dream said, his voice hinting an excitement "I've never been to one! I forgot that it was this time of the year"

His excitement felt like a balloon filling inside him. Only to be burst when his soul gave a sting inside his ribs.

But Dream couldn't help but feel a little happy, this was such a good thing to come across, perfect for their trip out.

Cross tilted his head "how do you know what Christmas is my love? It's more of a human custom".

"well that's easy" Dream said, a slight smugness in his voice at the fact he seemed more knowledgeable then Cross about something.

"Christmas is a time where positive emotions take hold, even in the darkest of times, positively rules here"

He eye lit up slightly as he spoke. Even if Dream was corrupted, and technically not the positivity guardian anymore, he was still happy to talk about it. It reminded him of easier times.

"as the former positively guardian it was only natural for me to learn about the festival...." his voice turned somba for a moment "Heaven taught me...... remember?"

There was another heaviness in the air at those words. A unspoken guilt and regret and then a thought. Dream now possessed the very power that had killed him.....

The gloopy one sighed and straightened the baby carrier. Luna gurgled as he did so.

"he would have loved to meet these two wouldn't he" he spoke, his voice twisting in its somba state.

"yeah... But it's ok" the guard replied, taking Dreams hand.

"in a way, he is here" he said in a soft tone, running his finger across Dreams ring. A smile ran across his face before he realised Shattered's hand.

After a short moment of silence they were disturbed by a soft noise. Celest had woken from her sleep. She wriggled and shifted against Cross' chest, her tiny voice gurgling.

"Nice of you to join the party Sweet pea" Cross said, upon noticing.

"we should probably get going, before she falls asleep again" Dream stated in reply. Cross nodded.

The family started to walk together towards the market. As they approached the air was filled with the smell of food and the sound of cheesy pop songs. The emotions of the people around them where starting to fill in.

The first thing that Dream felt was a lot of emotion around him. He was going to need to take a moment to get used to it. From what he could feel it was primarily positive, but then he felt something else.

To his right he felt anger and frustration. That wasn't the kind of thing that he expected this time of year, so he turned his head slightly. There was a human and a monster stood in the huddle.

He caught a few words of what they were saying.

"typical every year you leave gift buying to the last minute" said one.

"it's not completely last minute" said the other.

"it's the 23rd! How is that not last-" and then he was out of ear shot.

"23rd?" Shattered said to himself "huh.... It was my birthday 2 days ago". He counted on his fingers for a moment, trying to figure out how old that made him.

"it was!? Oh my goodness that's right!" came a voice from his side. It was slight panic from Cross. Uh oh.

Dream waved his hands in a jazz hand fashion "woah woah woah, before you go flying off the handle, we both didn't realise-

"I'm so sorry my love!"

Shattered groaned. Here we go.

"I can't believe I forgot! I'll make it up to yo-

Dream cut Cross off with a peak on the teeth. Cross jumped and his face flushed.

"......... Cross, I'm going to have hundreds more birthdays... Its OK if we skip one" the guardian whispered before nuzzling his gloopy face against him. "presides.... We had more important things to worry about"

As if on que both twins cooed.

A little smile creeped on to Cross' face. Dream mirrored it.

"now let's stop standing here go to the market" he held his hand out "it's waiting for us".

With a soft smile, Cross took his hand and they started walking again. It wasn't long before they finally reached the market.

The market was busy.

Both humans and monsters were walking around, talking happily. Children of all ages were rushing around with chocolates in their hands and candy canes in their mouths. Positive emotions were swirling like the snow in the wind. A warm blend of joy, song and family.

The smells of cakes and and pies were everywhere. Hot wine, ginger, cinnamon, dried fruit and nuts. Coffee, chutney, jams and cheeses.

For Dream it was like being spun in a giant bath of spice. The smells did not help his developing headache. There where positive emotions everywhere, every angle.

He let go of his partner's hand and stumbled slightly. The emotions were threatening to make him collapse as they came at all sides. Being in a void space for so long meant he'd gotten used to only Cross' emotions being around. But now there must have been 100 people at lest.

With the surrounding area becoming a blur, the sky and ground became one and he felt something hit his back and press it.

After a moment of silence he could hear the sound of a baby crying from off in the distance. Someone was calling his name but he could hardly hear it as the crying baby got closer. But eventually both got clearer.

"Dream! Dream are you OK!? Can you hear me?"

It was Cross.

"C.... Cross?" he said, looking for his partner's face. He eventually found it, hovering above him.

"why....." he said reaching his heavy arm up "why are you flying?"

The former guard gave him a confused expression. A moment later, Dream realised that the pressure on his back was in fact the floor and he was laying on it.

"you collapsed" said Cross with a pained expression. Cross' worry and stress washed over Dream and snapped him back to reality. The crying baby was very close. In fact it was coming from his chest.

Dream pushed himself onto his elbows and looked down. Luna was crying and wriggling in her carrier.

"oh.... OH!" Shattered said as a sudden and huge instinct hit him. Something he'd not really felt up till this point. Caring not about his state, he pulled her out of the carrier and rocked her in his arms.

"shhhh shhh it's ok, I'm sorry sweetheart, are you hurt?"

If Dream hadn't just collapsed, Cross would have felt happy at the sight of him comforting Luna. The tiny skeleton quieted down, but her non-existent lip was still trembling. Shattered inspected her, happy not to find any marks that would indicate she'd been hurt by the fall. Probably just scared.

"what happened my love?" came Cross' voice again.

"emotions" Dream bluntly responded, before attempting to get to his feet. He hadn't gotten far when he felt his partners hands grip his and help him pull up. He'd barely just gotten to his feet when things started to blur again and his head started to once again throb.

He fell forward slightly into Cross' chest, the guard put his arms around him to support him and keep him steady. He had to be careful to make sure the babies didn't get squished.

Cross' fiancé give out a low, pained groan and Luna give a wine of discomfort.

"Keep hold of her Dreamboat, I'll find somewhere where you can sit down" he softly said, looking around to find a seat. Luckily he spotted a park bench not to far from them.

Cross slowly and gently guided Dream backwards until Dream's legs brushed against the bench and he was able to slowly sit down. He sank his weight against the wooden frame, his limbs felt heavy and his head felt horrible. After a short time he started to adjust. Feeling himself coming back into reality, Shattered adjusted his hold on Luna to make sure he didn't drop her. Cross kneeled in front of them both.

"we can always go home if it's to much for you"

Immediately Dream shock his head, which he regretted a second later as the dizziness ramped.

"no Crossy, we both agreed we needed some time out of the void. ...im sorry that I'm ruining it"

The tall skeleton lightly gripped Dreams shoulders and looked him dead in the eyes.

"you are not ruining anything"

He kissed the bridge of Dreams nose.

"you have made everything in my life better, don't forget that"

A smile ghosted Shattered's face at those words.

"you know.... You're blind, unconditional love for me is really cheesy" he said, his smile turning into a smirk.

"I do try"

The couple shared a laugh and Dream felt himself feel a bit better. He didn't feel great though. The emotions around him where still dizzying.

Behind Cross he could see the market. It truly did look like fun and he felt bad that he'd soured the mood. He continued to rock Luna and she turned around in his arms to burry her face into his chest.

"you should....." Shattered paused as another wave of dizziness hit him "You should go ahead of me, I'll catch up"

"Absolutely not" Cross stated firmly "I will not leave you, I refuse"

"Cross" Dream said in an equally as firmly manner "I can look after myself for 10 minutes, it will be fine..... I want you to go have some fun"

The guard's expression softened and he stood up again, running his hand across the back of his skull unsurely as he did. "I.... I don't know"

Dream rested Luna in his lap and reached his hands out, Cross took them.

"Cross, I want you to go ahead, I'll join you soon, I promise"

Letting go of Dreams hands, Cross sighed. "Alright..... But I'll come back in 15 minutes, if you are still here then we are going home"

Dream nodded slowly "Deal"

After a few more unsure moments Cross started to back away from Dream. He went slowly in order to give Dream time to tell him to stop. After he didn't, Cross turned and walked in the direction of the market.

As Shattered watched Cross walk into the market, he felt his daughter start to fuss in his arms. His golden eye travelled down to her again. She looked a bit confused or upset. Her emotions weren't developed enough to be easily readable by Shattered. But from what he could sense she was distressed by her dad walking away.

He looked back at Cross again, as the guard inspected what seemed to be a stand of various pastries and cakes. There was a sad, yet nostalgic smile on his face.

Shattered watched as he exchanged some words with the vendor and took Celest's little hand and waved it. Clearly he was introducing them. The vendor seemed to coo at the baby a little and Cross straightened up proudly. Probably bragging about something cute Celest had done recently.

After a few more words he put some coins on the counter and was handed a paper bag, containing what Dream had to assume was a pastry of some kind. He waved good bye to the vendor and started to walk away.

As he did, he took his food item out of its bag and went to take a bite. He locked eyes with Dream mid-bite and gave him a slight deer in the headlights look. After finishing taking his bite, he smiled and waved to his lover. Dream waved back.

It was clear from Cross' expression that whatever he was eating was very tasty and it caused Dream to wonder how much food Cross was going to buy tonight.

Luna fussed again as her father and sister got further away.

Luna and Celest had been almost inseparable since day one, Shattered was still a little unnerved by it. They were always most comfortable when together. Knowing this, Dream told himself that Luna was fussing because she was parted from her sister. But another thought came to him.

What if she was sad about Cross leaving?

It was a stupid thing to think, both babies had been apart from Cross before and not responded this way. Yet the thought wouldn't leave him. It was the kind of thought that bounces around your head and burrows into you the moment you try to forget it.

The first time he left them with me for an extended period of time, I'd tried to....

A chill ran over him followed by a long twang of guilt, which caused him to tighten his grip on his daughter. Cross still didn't know about that night and he wasn't sure he could ever tell him. What was wrong with him? He acted like he cherished them these days (or at lest most days), but how could he when he'd thought of doing such a thing? When all he'd felt upon seeing them for the first time was nothing. His eyes stung and threatened to start crying. In that moment he felt tempted to call Cross back and have him wrap his arms around him. But he couldn't. Not while Cross didn't know.

"I'm sorry that I'm not the best parent to you Mi hija"

The words left his mouth as barely even a whisper. They sounded if he'd not been aware he said them. As if he'd not fully intend to say them out loud. His throat was dry and his soul was burning and twisting.

Cross says you are getting better.

One part of him said

But who's to say they will live to see you be better?

He answered to himself.

He felt the fabric of his jacket get tugged slightly. This drew his attention back to Luna.

She had turned in his arms slightly and was looking up at him with wide eyes. If Shattered hadn't known better, he'd have thought he could sense her worrying. Her tiny fist was curled in the fabric of his coat.

"paaaaaa gaa?"

Dream sighed.

"I get a lot of things wrong..... And I'm going to keep getting things wrong, I might be wrong most of the time"

The former guardian continued to speak in a near whisper, his finger stroking the tiny creature's cheek.

"but I'm going to get some things right as well...... And I'll make a deal with you"

Luna's face scrunched up a little. It was almost amusing to see, as if she was thinking really hard.

"if you and your sister keep on fighting, I'll keep on trying" Luna turned her face into his hand and chewed his glove.

"if you stick around long enough, you'll see a day when I get things right most of the time.... You want to see that right?"

"maaaaaa"

"deal?"

"gahhh gahh"

Dream laughed slightly "I'll take that as a yes"

He looked away from her again. Cross had completely disappeared from his view now, probably off stuffing chocolates. Since Dream wasn't someone who needed to eat, he didn't fully understand, but the sweet and warm smells in the air were very pleasant. He'd not eaten a thing for at least two and a half years, maybe he could try a little something. Carefully he slipped the tiny skeleton back into her carrier and fastened her in.

"Should we go check out the market mi pequeña estrella?" he asked, finally getting back to his feet. His daughter gave a gurgle of approval.

"then let's go shall we"

The atmosphere of the market was all together jolly. As he walked into the heart of it, his head throbbed again, but he didn't feel dizzy. He'd adjust to it fully soon.

Despite what he would want to admit, he felt a very slight anxiety without Cross by his side. He was in no way dependent on Cross, but he was so used to having him near, it was strange to have him absent. To not be able to feel his energy or be able to hold his hand.

No Dream! He thought. Don't be such a baby.

He patted his daughters head with his hand absentmindedly, feeling the fabric of her bow slip down slightly as he did. She giggled and a smile creeped onto Dreams face as she did.

A stand caught his eye. It was a stall of what seemed to be jewellery. As many of the stalls were, it was adorned with colourful lights and decorations of all shapes. Though this one in particular stood out to him. He wasn't sure why, but he decided to approach it.

The monster running the stand stiffened as he approached, but he paid it no mind. He could see the jewellery much closer now. Each piece seemed unique and hand made. There were bracelets, earrings, rings and necklaces, shimmering in all different colours. He greatly enjoyed looking over each individual piece, until his eye socket landed on one.

It was a necklace. Gold, set with a blueish purple stone. There was a small crescent charm on the chain as well. Dream stared at it and knitted his eyebrows. For a moment he wasn't sure why it caught his eye. But as he moved his hand up and traced his thumb across the stone, he realised. He then retracted his hand is if he'd been shocked. He stepped back and folded his hands together, but his sight remained locked on it.

Where are you? Are you even still alive?

A long sigh left his mouth as he forced himself to think of something else. But as he turned to walk away, he glanced at it again. It was almost like he couldn't bare to leave it.

I'm being silly, I'm a man, why would I need a necklace anyway?

With that, he tore his eyes away and proceeded to the next stand. As before the monster running it tensed slightly.

This vendor was selling what seemed to be plastic toys and figures. These weren't home made and seemed to be just the same old toys you could buy anywhere. There was doll house items, human figures and animals. He was so busy looking over the collection, that he didn't notice as his daughter reached for her favourite animal. He was only alerted to what she was doing by a slobbery squish sound.

She had suck the head of the toy into her mouth and was chewing on it.

"Luna no!" Shattered said "I don't want to have to buy that"

Carefully his pulled the plastic cow from his daughters mouth. A thin trail of a mix between gloop and saliva followed it. He had no idea how one baby could produce so much spit so fast. He wiped some off on his coat, but it didn't come close to cleaning it. Yeah....... he was going to have to buy it. He had a small purse of gold coins that Cross had given him. He hadn't asked where Cross had gotten the coins, it was probably best not to.

As he handed it to the seller and asked for the price, the slimy coating ran onto his fingers. Yuck. Not that he could really talk though, he was almost completely covered in something worse.

Dream expected to feel anger or disgust come from the stall owner. But instead he could only sense fear. His eye locked with the eyes of the monster behind the counter. It didn't take long for him to realise. Cross might have treated him like he was the most beautiful and sweet skeleton in the multiverse, but that didn't stop his appearance from being...... Striking at best.

He grimaced and handed the monster the money he owed and took back the toy.

"have a nice evening" he said, trying to sound friendly.

"y-you too sir.... Merry Christmas"

He turned away from the stall and walked back into the market. After inspecting the toy to make sure there was nothing small that she could choke on he handed it back to Luna. She happy put it back in her mouth, flicking his hand with her mouth tentacle as she did.

Shattered felt a burst of joy from his daughter, which made him light headed for a moment. After collecting his bearings he smiled.

"Adorable idiot" he said leaning over and kissing the top of her head. "now let's go find Daddy shall we?"

It wasn't a market that was too large, just a fair amount of stalls and stands and a handful of people. There was no doubt that he and Cross stood out, so it shouldn't be to hard to find his partner.

If I where cross.... Where would I go?

The answer came to his mind not even a second after asking it.

Chocolate...

As he'd noted before, there was a vast amount of edibles all around him. Mostly foods of the sweet variety, commonly fruity cakes and pies. But it wasn't long till he saw what he wanted. Out of the corner of his eye socket, he spotted what he was looking for. Just as he'd expected, chocolate.

Humans and normal monsters, seemed to be fascinated in forming chocolate into many different shapes. Animals, people, stars and bells. Shattered supposed that they got more pleasure consuming the sweet substance when it involved biting the head off of a defenceless reindeer, or mutilating a Santa or two.

He approached the stall of chocolate items. It was a pleasant smell, reminding him strongly of Cross' coat. There was no doubt the guard would have come here. He just had to find him.

Meanwhile, as Shattered looked for him, his mate was busy in a hearty conversation with his daughter.

The guard slipped a snowflake shaped chocolate into his mouth, having finished off the pastry long ago.

"now what should be get for Papa as a late birthday present hmm?" he asked Celest as she blew a spit bubble. "Something simple, you know he doesn't like flashy things"

Celest continued to blow a spit bubble and watched it as it expanded. "why is it that he must be so difficult to shop for....

His voice trailed off as he continued to ponder the question. What to get someone who didn't like material things. Other then his scarf, his ring and his crown, Dream never held onto things. Maybe he could get him a new accessory, like a new piece of jewellery or something. He continued to think and slipped another chocolate into his mouth. As he did this, without him noticing, the tiny skeleton had popped the spit bubble and was now reaching for the candy cane sticking out of his shopping bag full of goodies. She grabbed it and without hesitation, plunged the bright stripped stick into her mouth without a care.

After not even a second her face screwed up and she recoiled. She let out a wine of regret and disgust, which alerted Cross that she was distressed.

"No sweetie , that's pepper mint" the guard sighed, plucking the now sticky candy from his daughters hands. He put it on the counter of the stand they were stood next to. A stall selling Christmas fauna such as Holly, pinecones and mistletoe.

As he set the candy down, he saw daughters face still looked unhappy. "that must have tasted horrible" he said, dabbing the spit from around her mouth with his sleeve.

"we'll get you some nice warm milk when we get home ok?" he said in a baby voice, bouncing her slightly to try and cheer her up. It worked and she giggled. Cross sighed in relief, crisis averted.

He thought back to his question about presents. About Dream. It had been a little while since he'd left him. It would probably be a good idea to go back.

"Now if you are done sampling my treat bag Celly, maybe we should go check on-

"hey" came a voice from up close to his left. He jumped. After a second he realised he recognised the voice and turned to meet Dreams gaze, some chocolate still on his cheek. He was about to say something about how it was go to see that Dream was feeling better, when Dream spoke.

"wanna prove you aren't just a 20g wager?" the golden guardian said, with a slightly sly smile.

For a moment Cross was confused. Had the emotions caused his partner to go loopy? Before he could ask, Dream pointed his finger upwards. Feeling more confused, Cross glanced up. He could now see that they were in fact stood under a mistletoe. Quite a few actually. The sight of the white berried plant made his cheeks flush. He'd fallen right into Dream's trap. How had he not noticed.

He swallowed what was left of the snowflake the chocolate in his mouth "uhh um.... Uh"

He locked eyes with Dream again, finding that he'd taken a step closer. Taking a gloved hand and cupping Cross' cheek, he said.

"I'll take that as a yes"

With that he gently pulled Cross' face closer, till the gap was closed between them with a soft kiss. Cross' soul fluttered as Dream leaned in more to kiss him stronger. The taste of chocolate in his mouth was soon replaced with the flavour of bitter apple sauce. But he didn't mind it, he much liked apple sauce. Unfortunately the kiss wasn't long lived. The two were forced to separate after feeling their daughters starting to fuss, since they were being pressed between them. Dream stepped back slightly, giving his children room and took a breath of winter air. The euphoria from the kiss surged through him, as it had been a while since they had and therefore felt really good.

In fact, It had been a while since they'd done a lot of things. Including telling Cross that he........... That's something he needed to fix and fix straight away. His eyes locked on Cross.

"Te quiero, mi soldado" Dream said, with his face dusting gold. He looked away and pulled his scarf over his face slightly.

Cross returned his blush and smiled "yo tambien Te quiero, mi sol"

[inner-sunshine]

The Freebirth of Baby A:

After an eventful day of sightseeing in San Francisco with my husband's family, the night of April 25th was a bit restless for me. I was pretty worn out from walking all day, uncomfortable from being, at this point, 41 weeks 2 days pregnant.

I woke up multiple times in the night, experiencing a lull of back pain and overall tightness in my stomach muscles.

Weeks before this night, I had been excited, ready, then put off when my previous (what I didn't realize was prodromal and perfectly normal) labors fizzled to nothing.

However, something was different about this night. Falling asleep felt instantaneous, like my body needed me resting, yet I woke up a few times to use the bathroom- my body cleaning itself out to fully prepare.

I woke the morning of April 26th with what I recognized were actual waves- contractions. They weren't regularly spaced nor very painful, moreso uncomfortable, like gas pain.

Hosting company, I cooked breakfast for everyone occasionally pausing to acknowledge the waves of my womb.

My mother-in-law noticed something off about me, I think how I was more into myself than my usual social self, and I told her I didn't want to jinx anything, but I thought I was in early labor.

My husband's family wanted to continue sight-seeing parts of the Bay Area (they were visiting from Chicago where we are originally from) and left the house about midday. Only my husband, L & B (my sons), and myself remained.

Looking back now, I'm thankful that they wanted to give us some space because I needed a few hours to get into a more internal mindset to keep my goal on track -- delivering my baby at home.

The boys played while I bounced on an exercise ball, opening my hips and swaying with the waves of contractions. At this point they were still pretty far apart, about 12-15 minutes, and pretty short in length.

After nearly 2 hours of that (about 2pm), I was becoming impatient and a little frustrated because not only were my contractions not picking up, it almost felt like they were slowing down. (Though now, I feel this was all in my head)

I told my husband I wanted to go out and walk around, coincidentally it was when Toys R Us was closing all their locations and the one local to us was having a huge sale, so we went. I figured we could get something for the boys to get involved with in case I either A; do have the baby at home, or B; need to transfer and my MIL has to take the boys. I paced around the store while the kids picked out play doh, toy trucks, and sidewalk chalk.

Leaving the store I tell my husband I want to go home, right now. We had planned maybe stopping somewhere to eat, but even though my contractions hadn't changed much, something changed within me and I just wanted to be home. I followed my instincts.

We got home, a bit after 3, B was really weepy so I decided to lay down and try to nap with him. We were both tired. My body told me to rest and I obliged. I was (well, tbh, still AM) breastfeeding B and thought getting a quick feed in would probably help me progress and relax us both. B fell asleep, and so did I.... for about 20 minutes.

I woke up to contractions that felt a lot more intense than they were previously. I decided to get in the tub to get some relief, especially for my back, for me, is where I feel most of my labors. I timed a couple contractions and they were only about 10 minutes apart. I thought I had a ways to go, hours at least- and by this time it was about 4:30 PM.

I'm not one to condone cervical checks during labor, to be frank, they don't mean anything progress-wise and can potentially irritate an already busy cervix. Alas I was curious, so while in the tub I checked my cervix and to my surprise-- it felt incredibly high up, so high I couldn't even reach it to see how dilated I was. I was so frustrated, at this point I really thought baby wasn't going to be born until after midnight.

I started feeling a little discouraged; I was tired and thought I hadn't even made it halfway, I cried a little. Then, I laid in the tub and just closed my eyes, trying to ground myself while breathing as deeply as possible. My favorite birth affirmations filled my mind and I calmed myself down, confident again.

About 5pm now, my husband's family returns from their outing and I was still in the tub... just as things totally pick up.

Within 20 minutes my contractions went from 10 minutes to 4 minutes apart and they lasted about 50-70 seconds long. It started becoming difficult to communicate through them, all my focus was on breathing and resting in between. I opened the drain of the tub and turned the faucet on as hot as it would go directly on my back as the pressure became more intense.

The boys came into the bathroom to see what was going on and my husband explained that the baby in mommy's belly is going to come out. L asks if it hurts. I say yes, but I am going to be okay once the baby comes out. They sat and watched for a little while, then went back to play with their cousins.

A powerful surge washed over me and I instantly felt nauseous, I knew what this was and what it meant -- I was in transition; the baby was definitely coming and SOON. (As I said before, this is why one should always decline cervical checks during labor, upon checking my cervix and feeling I had "not progressed" it threw off my whole mood when really I was only about 30 minutes from hitting transition)

I popped out of the tub and vomited into a bowl that my husband brought into the bathroom earlier. He was incredible. I cannot even explain to you how in sync he was to what I needed, without me even saying a word. Indescribably linked.

I stayed on the bathroom floor for maybe 2 contractions after hitting that transition and my instincts spoke to me again. I needed to be somewhere soft. Baby was coming and needed to be caught somewhere more suitable. I obliged and after my next moan through a surge I told my husband I needed help getting into bed.

Mind you, I had planned to have the baby in my bathroom. I had deep cleaned it, set up the space and supplies so everything was accessible in that room. Still in only a few minutes, my husband had all my towels layered on my bed & a bin of supplies on my dresser. Between surges I quickly crouched on my bed on all fours; what was comfortable at the time.

Literally the next surge was so intense and had more pressure behind it that my water broke into my hand. It was warm, I looked down to check it's color -- clear, almost tinged pink. No meconium, not that it is necessarily bad to have stained waters (it's really a non issue), but it was something I wanted to pay attention to, personally, being over 40 weeks.

My next 2 surges brought my body into FER (Fetal Ejection Reflex) and I was pulled into a more tripod stance, on my knees with my left hand supporting me and my right hand covering my vaginal opening, ready to catch.

I stopped being aware of what was going on around me, my eyes were probably open, but I wasn't seeing anything or processing anything other than the visualization of my baby's descent out of me and into this world.

Surge came and I felt the top of a head pop into my palm. I lightly smoothed my fingers over it, it was soft, warm, and I felt hair! So much hair. I say out loud; "I feel a head and it has hair!" My husband was behind me with his hands on my back, he says; 'I can see it! Almost here! Come on, boo!'

I'm in a lot of pain here, the "ring of fire" is in full force and my surges are at their most intense with maybe 10 seconds of break in between.

1st surge after crowning: I deep belly moan and FER pulls my body together. My hand now completely cups baby's head. My vaginal opening is b u r n i n g .

2nd surge after crowning: Deep in my belly once again I moan like a cow as my body pushes for me. My hand leaves baby's head as I feel it pass, then shoulders and in one fluid motion baby is out -- 5:40pm -- I lean behind it to get a look & assess.

I notice it is grey-purple in color, grimacing, and hands & legs were moving. Very good signs. Babe only had vernix in their hair and under their neck, but I think that's because babe was so far along gestationally, their fingernails were pretty long already too.

I pick baby up and open their legs to find I gave birth to yet another boy. "IT'S ANOTHER BOY!!!" I yelled. I hold him to my chest upright and rub his back to see if I could get him to cry, he had not yet, though I could see him grimacing and hear him clearing his airways to breathe. It kinda sounds like when we have congestion in our throats right after coughing.

After a small snort and cough, he lets out a nice, loud cry and I laid on my back completely soaking in the rush of endorphins exploding in my brain.

I did it! I grew my baby and delivered him... me and my husband... Just as he was made; he was born. In the bed that we still sleep in together.

L ran in shortly after hearing his brand new brother cry to come take a look at him. He tells his grandma that mommy's baby came out!

Baby A latched right away and I began to feel my stomach tightening again; it was time to deliver the placenta. I laid Baby A on the bed, squatted and pushed with the smallest amount of force and it came right out. I placed it in a bowl we had put aside and sat on a fresh towel to monitor my bleeding. I relatched Baby A and inspected my placenta (for science lmao) while I waited for Baby's cord to turn completely white and limp -- the ideal time to cut. It took probably a solid 20 minutes.

I sterilized a brand new pair of kitchen scissors (I literally bought them just to cut the cord) with rubbing alcohol and cut Baby A's cord, leaving about 2 inches still attached. I took a piece of thick sewing thread, dipped it in the rubbing alcohol and tied the cord as tight as I possibly could manage about 1.5-ish inches away from what would one day be his belly button.

There he was. Guided by the voice of his father, born into the hands of his mother, and immediately greeted by his older brothers; in the sanctity and safety of his own home. Just as he should have been.

Born 4/26/18

5:40pm

9lb 15oz, 21.5in

"the birth of you was nothing like the birth of me" ❤

[milkybonya]

Don't worry about the wait!!! Im sure you're very busy abroad! I think you said you're in Korea right?? That's gotta be so amazing I can't even imagine what it's like over there. I hope you're having a lot of fun tho 😀 You gotta enjoy your time over there bc it's limited yanno!

But on another note bestie did you wanna kill me with those Jihoon arms pics 🥴 bc it worked 🥴 He's such an enigma to me like his sweet smile?? But then the arms?? And it isn't really duality bc he has both of them at the same time and I'm just confused like how 😭😭 and I looked up Romy (I hadn't heard of that yet!) and oml it's so cute 🥺🥺 just like he is 🥺 I'm so soft I really like him sighhhhhh not another 💔 the hyung line is really killing me. Just waiting for Junkyu to destroy me at this point.

I didnt get to comment on all the members in my last message bc I always get worried sending long asks bc Tumblr sometimes deletes them djsjsj but I honestly have noticed something special about every single member so I gotta make sure to tell you about!! Mashiho stood out to me very quick bc of his part in the I love you... Bridge? Oml he looks so cute doing his part and I really like his voice omg I can already recognize it and it's just so nice it's sweet like he is 🥰 in one of the interviews all the other members kept calling him cute and saying everything he does is cute and I'm like tbh true lol also I mentioned Junkyu above but omg I didn't realize he was the iconic annyeonghaseyo meme until like 2 days ago I'm so dead 😭😂 he was one of the first members I could recognize actually he's just that cute 🥰 he's also very funny in the videos I've watched I can always count on him to make me laugh and tbh I love that sm also also for the longest time I could only tell him and Doyoung apart bc I was like Doyoung is a younger and somehow even cuter version of Junkyu jfjdjsjs they always make him adorable in the music videos and ahh Im always 🥰 over him jdjsjs I watched the my Treasure MV recently and they all looked so adorable and the purple suits?? Amazing. We Stan.

I dont think I've mentioned haruto since my first message bc I went into yoshinori and eventually hyunsuk brainrot but I'm always so shook by his performances he's just so talented but also so young like?? How bestie?? Already?? He has such a charisma when rapping that I love. I love love love when him and Yoshinori rap back to back bc their styles are so different and contrasting but i love them both so much in their own way I guess. And then finally Jeongwoo always impresses me with his voice. Like I said with yedam I don't focus a lot on vocals when I listen but he's got such a sweet voice. I love his parts honestly. He's also got that cute charm like junghwan 🥰 long story short treasure are all rounders (but we already knew this)

This has gotta be getting very long now Tumblr pls don't delete 🥴 I hope you have/had a nice day whenever you read this!! 💙

i am in korea ! i'm so busy everyday because indeed my time is limited :< i'm doing my best to make the most of it !

those Jihoon pics killed me too and as evil as it is,, i guess i wanted to share the suffering 😭 he is truly insane ahh AND ROMY IS THE CUTEST

omg have you seen treasure box era Junkyu?? all teumes are in loveeee,, this is just one of his famous photos from that time heh

Mashiho is so cute omg but i hope he'll be able to step outside of th cute box whenever he wants,, like i hope he doesn't feel tied down to it in any way??? altho he is just the cutest 😭 he even walks in squish ahh

Haruto is someone i really look up to even though hes younger than me :") i admire his confidence and honesty?? hes just so cool,, i hope hes staying hydrated tho,, hes known for onLy drinking soda LOL but my treasure is probably my favourite mv along with jikjin :")

Jeongwoo is so talented but i feel like he doesn't realize it and i just wanna be LIKE SIR YOURE SO AMAZING !!!!!

Yedam is just,,,, hes not even human like i refuse to believe it ;") hes an angel !! ahhhh

i hooe you have the most lovely day/night and thankfully tumblr didnt eat your ask hehe,, i enjoyed reading it sm :")

[darkpoisonouslove]

No prob! ;)

Oh, yeah, that would definitely be awful. This is exactly why Bronwyn was right to be so mad at Maeve. Maeve was just so overconfident that she could control the situation (the parallels with Bronwyn) that she just put both Addy's and her own life on the line. Fiona could have easily turned on her - maybe not on the boat but after she got rid of the others. And with Addy tied up, she was alone against Fiona. Not to mention the possibility that Addy could have decided to risk her own life for her friends and throw herself at Maeve and Fiona despite the gun. Either Addy could have gotten hurt or something could have happened to Maeve. I don't believe Addy would fight her too hard regardless of everything but the whole mess that season began because of an accident with that same gun. Addy didn't mean to shoot Jake either and yet... Maeve's plan could have gone so horribly wrong. Though, tbh now I want to write a fanfic where Addy accidentally shot Maeve non-lethally to see what will happen next, how it will impact the group dynamic. While Addy would def have trouble looking Bronwyn in the eye, especially after it becomes clear Maeve was trying to help them, I think Bronwyn would have still been angrier at Maeve. But also what about Addy and Janae? I mean Addy's her best friend and Maeve is her girlfriend. That would have also been super dramatic.

I feel that if they'd leaned more into the pressure Cooper feels on that front, I would have been even more invested in him and his story. Though, I have to say that I do like how they decided to focus more on his relationship with Kris in the show than in the book. Kris is so great and they're really cute together!

Me too! It's possible that that was evidence to be used against Bronwyn though if someone else was dead and they believed she was the killer. That version is also awful but I'd much prefer it.

I do think that Fiona knew so much because of Maeve. She did have to earn Fiona's trust somehow and if Murder Club made a move that she hadn't warned Fiona about, it would become obvious that she's not really on her side. Tbh I feel that even if there were more time to discuss strategies, Maeve still wouldn't have shared her plan and she'd have a pretty good reason not to. They decidedly do not listen to her and Bronwyn constantly tries to exclude her and keep her away so I can see how she decided to just act and then explain herself later.

Even if Addy had agreed to the plan beforehand, it would still be risky because she could always fail to act natural at some point and tip Fiona off about what's really going on. But Maeve giving her a sign when Fiona was already there was totally out of the question.

Yes, that change is one of my favorites! And imagine how that would develop if Bronwyn got accused of murder in season 3! She just started letting go of her need to control everything and now she's going through what Nate went through in the first season? She'd probably backpedal and start trying to control things again. Or it could go in the opposite direction where her parents and their lawyer are trying to have her present a certain image again but she refuses and thinks it's better to be her real self, maybe even try cooperating with the police a little this time (if possible).

I think we've exhausted our already existing characters. His secret probably would have involved someone we hadn't met yet like they did with Fiona in the second season. It would have been interesting to see how far his family would go with a cover-up in comparison with Murder Club. They are very rich so they'd have more influence over people and events for sure. It would have been great if Jake's secret somehow ended up putting his family versus Murder Club. Like say if our friend group needed to reveal his secret to keep up their cover-up of other truths but Cole would fight them to keep it hidden.

Ooh, you watched One of Us Is Lying! I love that show! I read the book last year and I thought it was pretty good but then I watched the show and while I don't like some of the changes they made, I think the show is actually much, much better! It treats all the characters as people, not just our 4 main characters. It was definitely a big surprise and I'm glad to see you've enjoyed it too!

Yes!! Just finished it last week after watching it over a few months! I wasn't expecting to enjoy it half as much as I did, but the mystery each season really kept me on my toes! It was so hard to keep from binging it. Definitely gonna check the book series out! Do you know if the book series continues from the shows s2 cliffhanger? That finale was incredible, but the cliffhanger to finding out it was cancelled!! It's a shame the characters aren't as fleshed out in the books. I loved how the show got me to like characters I initially didn't. I'll probably have to mix book canon with tv show canon where possible.

I'm glad you enjoyed it! I gotta know, who were your favourite characters/ships and what were your favourite parts? Did you guess the murderer in s1 and/or in s2?

[latin-dr-robotnik]

Different anon but I feel like a lot of it comes down to Faye "daring" to be a complicated female character that isn't what she appears to be on the surface. She gets a lot of hate or dismissal from a lot of male fans of the show who only act like they love her but don't have a problem with calling her a bitch just because she takes up space on Jet's ship and is the opposite of what every "proper" woman should be like, and even with her anime outfit, she's clearly more than simple fanservice fodder. It's weird how much she's misinterpred though because even the anime clearly paints her out to be complicated and emotionally vulnerable, enough for any viewer to see that and sympathize with her, whereas Julia's viewing is very muddled and what we know of her through Spike is very different from what we know of her through Faye's first meeting of her in reality, yet I've seen people act like she's the only "proper" woman in the series....

Thank you anon for your input, I understand perfectly what you're saying and I agree wholeheartedly. It's interesting how to this day the misinterpretations of Faye are still quite a bit of an issue... which I also agree is weird considering -if by that point you (the viewer) still hadn't picked up the fact there's more to her than meets the eye- she goes through that incredible arc during the second half of the anime.

True, it's very hard to ignore all those scenes where she finds out she was lied to by people (bah, men) taking advantage of her precarious position, when she watches the Betamax tape over and over again, processing all the information on her own and, even worse, when she finds out her home is completely gone, barely some rubble remaining all those decades later (that shot of the old mansion being nothing but a faint outline of where the walls used to be is so powerful). It's constantly hammering down the point you just can't take her for granted...

Yet here we are.

It's funny, because after those episodes focused on her you're left with a pretty anticlimatic Julia reveal plus a rather awkward set of events leading to her death, which also seems to be shoved aside pretty quickly for such a major event (or so it seemed). Faye's own comments about Julia feeling like "just a regular woman" strike me as subtle hinting that the point was somewhere else all along, even if Jet and her still believe there's something magic to Julia and believe it's keeping Spike tied down to the past. And, sure, that's the same realization plutomango explained in great detail, but two decades should've been plenty of time to realize the character debate was severely derailed by "who's better at being a proper woman" shit. It's inappropiate in general and a particular disservice when it comes to such a complex piece of fiction like Bebop.

(Tbh, discussions of Julia's character in general are above my pay grade, so I won't really delve too much into it.)

Anyway, I'm still looking around for more comments about both characters. The Twitter fellow I had a bit of a clash the other day with had "Julia did nothing wrong" written on their bio, and I think the problem never was what Julia did, but what fans made out of her instead. Literally going feral against alternate takes on the story and concepts doesn't help though lol

[chaikachi]

First of all, I cannot believe you analyzed this, this is incredible. Thank you for taking the time. 🥺💕 Second, confirmations and corrections below the cut so this doesn't get too long cause -big surprise - I went on a tangent!!

a) Yes, he's covering her eyes in an act of protection from the tragedy and suffering she's already faced as well as what she hasn't yet. The petals on the bottom are to signify that there's additional fear from both of them that she will follow in Summer's footsteps.

b) YUP. 💯

c) YUP, YUP, YUP! 💯

d) "Oscar's eyes also being obscured by view like Ruby's, by her own weapon, an extension of herself, as Ruby has also sought to protect Oscar in the past,..."

YUP 💯

"but his tears also visible like Ruby's. Whether that's because he knows shielding her eyes and being overprotective is wrong and hates himself for it, or is crying because of her presumed death,"

Not quite. I didn't intend for Oscar to hate himself for wanting to protect her from all of this. Wanting to do so is an incredibly valid thing to feel. Acting on it? Not so much. This idea, stemmed from their talk in the dojo.

"How are you okay with any of this?!"

This line, for me, always carried with it more than just what was said.

"How are you okay with any of this... because I'm not, and you shouldn't have to be."

Both of them are just kids. One of the things that's foundational to their relationship is the admiration and respect they have for one another over the differences in their calls to action. Oscar has always respected Ruby for choosing to fight. Ruby respects Oscar because he didn't choose it, but he still faces it with everything he has every single day...

Or at least, that's what it felt like back then. Now I'm not so sure. I think Ruby might have had less say in her fate than we realize - and I don't just mean because she's a SEW. This is partially because now that she's started this fight, she can't run from it... but it's also from a theory that I'll talk about briefly at the end. I probably won't go fully into until CRWBY gives me some more crumbs to work with though.

thus why he also has his hand on her scythe, as Ruby inspires Oscar and he aspires to be more like her, and so in her "death" holding Crescent Rose symbolizes him trying to carry on where she left off.

This wasn't the intention with that framing and posing mostly because I feel like it's already symbolized by Oscar's v6-8 costume. I didn't really see it until after the v8 finale, but if we go by Remnant's lore of dawning clothes in the colours of people you admire or care about, then his v6 upgrade screams his respect for Ruby. From the red accents, to including a trim of silver on his collar even though the rest of his metals are bronze. From the silhouette of his coat imitating the shape of her cloak, to his funky sleeves that mirror her outfit at the time... and lastly, but most importantly, the red patch on his shoulders.

At first I thought it was just rooted in the inspiration she gave him and he put it there of all places as a small allusion to her hood specifically... but now that v8 is over I feel like it has more weight narratively. What was once just a physical representation of the admiration he had for her, has become symbolic of the mantle of leadership she was carrying transferring directly onto his shoulders in her absence.

e) YUP. 💯

f) Oscar's eyes being obscured to both us the viewer by Crescent Rose and him obscuring Ruby's eyes represents him not wanting either Ruby or us, (by extension, the rest of the world) to look at his eyes, the windows to his soul, because he's afraid that if Ruby might look she will no longer see him, Oscar, as he does not know how much of himself has changed because of Oz. (Especially because of the "I won't be back before I'm gone" lyrics tied to the piece. But that could also refer to Ruby coming back after everyone believes she died)

TBH, I hadn't really thought of that (probably because I'm in denial about the merge 🙃) but I can absolutely see that playing in here.

His eyes are covered mostly for the earlier mentioned reasons. By choosing to protect her, he is choosing to deny the truth that is right in front of them. It's also an homage to both Ruby and Oscar's recent arcs over the last two volumes about trust and truth. Ruby hid the truth from Ironwood because it's what she felt was the right thing to do. Oscar, didn't completely agree and was too blinded by Ironwood's authority that he didn't see the harm his choice had on Ruby... or the path that trust led him toward - being shot off a cliff and ultimately further separated from her. This piece, and this part, is also a bit of a dual metaphor. I think a good 80% (or more) of this piece is about Oscar and Ruby's dynamic, their arcs, and their separation... but it's also a bit about Oz. Oscar holding Ruby's scythe is symbolic of him trying to support her as best he can and share part of her burden... in Oz's, it's symbolic of the weapon his quest put in her hand in the first place. Both Oscar and Oz covering Ruby's eyes is an act of protection... but from Oz, he's not just trying to keep her from harm. It's also protection from the truth he had kept from her.

I didn't tag him in the og post because people tend to go a bit feral when you acknowledge Oz's place in "RG"... but to deny his role in it all is a disservice to every character involved, imo. Because within RG there are four relationships at play at all times. Ruby and Oscar. Oscar and Oz. Ruby and Oz. And all three of them collectively. It's hard to show his part in this given Oscar is the main focus but I tried to allude to him with the border (inspired by Long Memory's motif). The line "I won't be back before I'm gone" is mostly a reference to the mutual support that is fundamental to their relationship and that neither have been able to receive the right amount of because of the distance that keeps separating them. Be it physical or emotional. Be it because of their own choices or external circumstances. They can't seem to stick together for long before being ripped apart again. It's hard to rely on each other when every time one of them turns around, the other is no where in sight. That doesn't remove their shared desire to support each other as best they can, though.

Also something about how Oscar stands with the moon behind him and Ruby standing in a pool reflecting the moon's light, reflecting each other's light? Like the moon and sun? (Especially with how Fairytales of Remnant has a story about how Remnant's moon was originally the sun, and the current sun is an imitation of its own light crafted through human ingenuity, like the Silver Eyes/Long Memories' Kinetic Energy)

Oscar standing between Ruby and the Moon ties in with the theory I mentioned earlier (that is heavily inspired by The Gift of the Moon fairy tale) - that Ruby's role in all of this might not be entirely her own choosing. If we look at the narrative as a whole, we can see Oscar and Oz are constantly symbolized by the sun while Ruby is symbolized by the moon. Their fight, however, is against Salem who is associated with darkness, or more specifically, the night. In Jinn's vision, she says that "In time, (Salem) would find her adversary" and we're shown Oz's face... before he walks off screen and reveals Ruby standing behind him. The sun and day don't get rid of the darkness of night. They just chase it away in an eternal game of cat and mouse.

"How do I destroy Salem?" "You can't."

...but the moon? The moon is a reflection of the sun that lights up that darkness. A literal beacon of hope. Oscar standing between her and the moon is just another layer to him trying to shield her from her responsibility and her fate. The reflection is to show that Ruby is a mirror for that light, and that no matter what she does or where she goes, it will always be a part of her.

Oscar's tears are - of course - about the suffering they face... but they're specifically coming from a place of sadness and frustration. No matter how much he wants to shield her from this, he knows he can't and is powerless to stop it. /thank you for coming to my TED Talk All in all though, you get an A+ for the analysis cause this was amazing and you got a large portion of it spot on. Thank you, again for taking the time and I genuinely don't know how to express how happy this made me 🥰💕

also @ma-lemons, i know you'll probably wanna see this xP

“Blind and the blinder breathed you in until the dawn I’ll tell you now, I won’t be back before I’m gone” x

It’s been 23 days since RWBY went on hiatus and I am still thinking about them.