#so you'll notice the same basic plot beats here

[generic-sonic-fan]

I Can't Take All This

Summary: A corollary to “I Can’t Accept All This”. 

Metal Sonic finds itself buried under the rubble with Sonic, and is forced to contemplate the most extreme execution of its prime core directive.

(Or: what if it was Metal Sonic buried alive with Sonic instead of Omega?)

Word Count: 1677

(Inspired by the lovely @ramblingsofasandvich!)

Metal Sonic’s processor could not even begin to chart a path of egress before the rubble fell. 

Catching the falling debris with its arms joints locked above its vital processor was a decision made in the next three frames of its continued existence. It flexed its elbow joints to prevent them from snapping. Its legs sheared off at the knee joint instead. Now its foot and calf plating lay in front of it, tactile sensors refusing to reconnect no matter how many times it urged them to. 

Its every other sensor was tuned to escape options. It did not need to devote precious processing power to the calculations to know that its frame would only withstand another half an hour bearing this weight, and that was a generous estimate. It probed the wreckage above and to every side for weaknesses or natural cavities in the collapse formation. It found none; at least, none accessible, even if its turbine could achieve maximum spin-up and airflow in these conditions. 

And it registered, upon turning its scanners to the floor, that Sonic the hedgehog lay only five feet southwest of its position. Heart rate, elevated; breathing, erratic; alive. 

The only barrier separating them was a metal panel. This panel was not load-bearing and only a quarter of an inch thick. Easily pierceable. Metal Sonic ran simulations of the various tearing motions with its claws that could achieve a breach. All of which, though, required releasing its hold on the ceiling. It could not flee to Sonic’s cavity for shelter should it pursue that course of action, as his cavity was not a natural result of the debris formation, but rather-

But rather-

Metal Sonic flinched its head forward as its operating system was whipped with a reprimand for its direct disobedience of its prime core directive. Its arms shook. This motion translated into the greater debris, knocking particles loose from the ceiling. One large particulate landed on Sonic’s head, rousing him from an unconscious state. 

“Hello? Help? HELP!”

The organic hedgehog rose from his prone position. A surge of tactical protocols flooded Metal Sonic’s already overwhelmed processor. It calculated, in two-point-three seconds, every possible angle of attack Sonic could utilize should he choose to tear through the thin metal plating, and it concluded that it would have no defense. This would lead to near-complete chassis loss and require extensive repairs from Dr. Ivo Robotnik to remedy. 

. . . or it could release its hold on the ceiling. 

“Is anyone there? I’m here! Help!” Sonic screamed. 

Sonic would be crushed in an instant. His skull would cave, his ribs would snap, and his viscera would be squeezed into whatever miniscule gaps remained. Metal Sonic had run similar simulations thousands of times before. The outcome was certain.

Similarly, though, its own frame would be not just lost, but obliterated; titanium torn, copper and hydraulic fluid spilled into open air, every last trace of its code arcing down the nearest conductive surface to be lost to the ground below. “Repair” was not a concept that existed after this outcome. Neither was “restoration”. The closest was “rebuild”, and that was if Dr. Ivo Robotnik could even find enough salvage to make the operation worthwhile. 

This was no mere processor wipe. This was complete annihilation.

“Come on, come on, Sonic! Calm down! Think! I have to find a way out of here.”

Metal Sonic was once more whipped with punishment from its prime core directive for allowing itself to disassociate in the presence of its enemy. Its frame shook. Something snapped in its left shoulder joint, causing its arm to slam into the pit of the socket. The resulting vibrations in the ceiling structure caused Sonic to whimper, a unique sound that Metal Sonic saved to its memory banks for later analysis before it could stop itself. There should be no future analysis. It should fulfill its prime core directive.

Another, secondary core directive surfaced in its processor, whispering something about self-preservation. Metal Sonic seized this directive and brought it alongside its prime core directive. Combat circumstances allowed for the secondary core directive to be violated if this meant fulfilling the prime. But these were not combat circumstances, it reasoned to itself. Sonic was trapped and incapacitated. These were not combat circumstances, so therefore it must consider both directives. 

The rationale was weak, but enough to allow it to forgo an immediate decision while its subroutines detangled the paradox. 

“Okay, let’s try this. . .”

Sonic was pawing at a wall of loose debris. This debris, though not load-bearing, held back a wall of gravel-sized pieces. The gravel supported other concrete chunks throughout the structure above, the shifting of which could impact the load Metal Sonic was bearing. Sonic was digging, and fast- it did not have time to calculate whether the impact of the shifting gravel would be negative or beneficial. 

It tested its vocalizer and released a negative ping. 

Sonic ceased his movements. “Hello?”

After a few seconds, Sonic continued. Metal Sonic released another negative ping. 

“No, wait, I know that sound. I know that sound. Who- Metal?”

Sonic knew it was here.

“You’re trapped here too?”

Sonic could easily tear through the metal plating separating them. 

“Metal, if you’re in here, gimme another ping.” 

Sonic would destroy it. The ceiling would collapse. They would both be obliterated.

“I’ll- I’ll get us out of here. Don’t worry about it.” Sonic panted. “Don’t worry. We’re okay. I’m okay. Are you okay?”

His voice diminished the longer he spoke, and his heart rate spiked. His breaths became shallow gasps. It matched an emotional state Metal Sonic had witnessed from Amy Rose when it had first captured her. The colloquial term was a “panic attack”. 

It was. . . remarkable, to register such a drastic fear response from Sonic. 

This observation was interrupted by a snap in its right shoulder joint. Its other arm was forced deep into the pit of its socket, now uniform with its left. The consequent shaking dropped a watermelon-sized rock onto Sonic’s lap. The impact did not break any bones, but it would leave him severely bruised, and caused him to begin openly sobbing. This was another unique sound that Metal Sonic recorded to its memory banks. 

It would not have much longer to record things to its memory banks. With both of its shoulder joints having failed, its arms now impaled into the walls of its center chest turbine. The load would force these walls to fail in fifteen minutes, and with that, send the debris tumbling down atop its processor. 

Why did it delay the inevitable?

Self preservation, its secondary core directive whispered. But what difference did fifteen minutes make?

Metal Sonic let go.

At least, its processor sent the command to its actuators to release, only to find both its left and right shoulder joints inoperable. 

If it was programmed to laugh, perhaps it would have. 

It began calculating methods to wiggle its arms out of their sockets, before abandoning this pursuit. What difference did fifteen, now fourteen, minutes make? Sonic was going to die. Its purpose was going to be fulfilled. It no longer needed to strain its processing capabilities towards this end. It no longer needed to exert its physical form or make determinations about the limits of its chassis. Its purpose was complete. Its existence was now unnecessary.

It should find itself finally able to rest, with this conclusion. 

. . . it should not be scrambling to find any other solution. 

Metal Sonic scanned every inch of the ceiling above for points of weakness and found none. It scanned the walls around it for natural cavities to flee to, and found none. It scanned, and scanned, and scanned, and found only the same unforgiving concrete and the same panicking hedgehog. It reviewed all of the lines of rationale its short-term adaptive processing had generated since the collapse, analyzing each bit of logic for any hidden clues or missed solutions, only to be led to the same conclusion. 

Suddenly, there was a massive shift in the rubble above, and the load Metal Sonic was supporting decreased. Another vibration swept through the space around it. Then another. Then another. 

The ceiling was lifted off of its hands, revealing Dr. Ivo Robotnik’s Eggmobile hovering above. He released the chunk from the claw of his crane before lowering the glass dome surrounding him with the press of a button.

“Well, well, my finest creation! You certainly have a habit of wanton destruction in your attempts to destroy Sonic. Still wasn’t expecting you to bring the roof down on top of yourself though. I’ll see if I can tweak that habit during your next-” 

Metal Sonic flicked its cameras in the direction of Sonic in an attempt to warn its creator of what he’d just done, but it was already too late- Sonic jumped to his feet, scrambled up the debris, and disappeared beneath the open sky before Dr. Ivo Robotnik had uttered his last syllable. The man ducked beneath the walls of the cockpit as the shockwave rocked his vehicle.

When the Eggmobile steadied, he peeked his eyes over the side. “Huh. You didn’t tell me you managed to trap the rodent down there with you!”

Metal Sonic had not engaged in any communication with the outside world after the collapse- the layers of concrete had blocked any signal but the strongest, most bare of distress pings.

Distress pings. Metal Sonic checked its communication feed and found that it had given off the signal automatically the moment the roof had collapsed. If it had disabled this ping, its creator would not have stumbled upon it, and Sonic would finally be dead.

“Eh, that’s alright. There’s always next time.” Dr. Ivo Robotnik shrugged as he returned to his controls.

He lowered the crane claw and grabbed Metal Sonic’s frame. Upon safe retrieval, protocol was to enter standby mode to limit processor activity. Metal Sonic allowed this mode to dampen its awareness as it was hoisted into the cabin of the Eggmobile.

It could analyze its utter failure later. 

[coddda]

Hiiiiiii. Episode 25/26 lawlight analysis rant thingy here. I don't know how to write an intro for this so let's just get to it LOL

I think one of the reasons that the rain/foot scenes stick out so much (the. Sheer insanity of a Foot Massage Scene in an anime revolving around two guys trying to kill each other aside 💀) is the fact that the anime specifically suffers a bit in terms of adapting a few of the "emotional" moments in death note.

And I don't mean "emotionally impactful" exactly. For example I think the adaptations of scenes like Raye and Naomi's deaths were very impactful and the atmospheres of their final scenes were great, but I mean more from a characterization standpoint (if that makes sense). Being more focused on mind and logic games, Death Note as a whole isn't as invested in individual characters' deeper feelings as it is in its action (which isn't necessarily a criticism per say, it's simply part of the nature of a mystery thriller series). But just because they're fewer and farther between doesn't mean there are none at all. In the manga we do get to see, for example, how much Light actually cared for his family and especially Sayu, and how he actually felt more conflicted and suffered lack of sleep/appetite when he first used the Death Note.

The anime specifically as an adaptation is pretty good at adapting the main mind fuckery and action of Death Note, but its lacking in properly adapting scenes like the ones I mentioned above is a criticism I see somewhat often, and it's pretty fair imo. Compared to all the other adaptations, it certainly seems to fall short on an emotional level: the musical has entire songs going in depth about the characters feelings and relationships, the 2015 jdrama is. Insane and has its emotional moments in spades (because it's a TV drama, which are more focused on portraying emotional conflict and the like), even the 2006 movies has its emotional beats and L Change the WorLd is. Well. Oh Man.

Anime Light to a lot of people is like. Light but he's "already evil" (which I have my own thoughts on but I digress). Light but after using the Death Note for like 2 minutes he's already like "fuck yeah time to kill criminals". Basically the anime doesn't take as much time to delve into his less cynical sides or really delve into his already vague and harder to decipher feelings in general, he is noticeably colder from the get-go here, etc.

But that's part of why I think episode 25 manages to stand out so much tonally (apart from it being, y'know, the episode L literally Dies). I love the episode so much and could probably rant for hours about how much I love the artistic choices made in it but what I'm trying to get at here is that it's one of the very few moments where the show tries to go deeper into specific character's emotions, and one of the very few moments where the show Attempts (emphasis on "attempts" because, well, you'll see in a bit) to get more in-depth into Light's feelings apart from his cynicism/apathy/justice. ness.

L in these two scenes in episode 25 is, well, pretty damn open about how he feels. It's usually interpreted as him knowing that he's going to die, and you can see it. He visibly looks/sounds lost, somber, etc. He never really had much to hide around Light to begin with (since he doesn't really care about hiding himself the same way Light does) but especially not now and it Shows, and I personally thought it was pretty cool to delve into his thoughts/show how he feels this way. The somberness can be felt throughout the entire scene, even people who don't already know the plot of Death Note from the manga could probably tell that he's about to die.

In the manga, once L starts suspecting Misa again and Rem realizes what Light is trying to do, it goes straight to Watari and L's deaths, but the anime instead gives a distinct and unexpected pause in the middle of this where L contemplates his own death. It's fucking great, and the shift from straight action to slower emotional weight makes these scenes stand out a lot, since, like I said, the show usually focuses more on the former. But it's kind of ironic, too.

Not only does the anime open up L's feelings more in these scenes, but it also tries to dig deeper into Light's feelings as well through L. And it's really funny honestly because while, yes, these are the more "emotionally open" scenes of the anime Light still manages to be Incredibly avoidant and contribute almost nothing to the entire ordeal.

L is visibly upset -> "Yeah Ryuzaki, you're not making any sense at all" (Not addressing the obvious conflict from L)

"Tell me, Light. From the moment you were born, has there ever been a point where you've actually told the truth?" -> "[The most stale, over-explained, avoidant answer to a "yes/no" question that you could ever hear + blatant attempts to reframe the question]"

(L's half-smile here kills me) "I had a feeling you'd say something like that" -> [Nothing]

"I'm sorry" -> [Nothing]

"It'll be lonely won't it? You and I will be parting ways soon" -> [Nothing]

^ From this point Light continues to say literally Nothing for the rest of the scene. I'm not even joking, from then on the rest of Light's voicelines are reduced to nothing but vague noises of confusion.

Everytime L calls Light out as a person ("Has there ever been a point where you've actually told the truth?" / "I had a feeling you'd say something like that." / "Won't it be lonely?") he doesn't actually acknowledge anything. Out of those three lines, he only answers verbally to if he's ever told the truth, and even then it's the most blatantly people-pleasing answer ever, as it usually is with Light. And I don't think it's because Light just. Doesn't care about any of what L's saying at all, or that he doesn't know what the hell he's talking about (questioning Light's authenticity as a person, saying it would be lonely when they part), instead he's choosing not to acknowledge any of what this means about himself or him and L at all. He's like a fucking wall.

And like, for the truth question in particular, the show makes sure that you know it's not something that Light just. Doesn't care enough about to answer. The hard cuts to silence are a very rare but extremely effective way that the show conveys an extremely important moment (see: Light regaining his memories, Matsuda noticing Light opening the warehouse door before he escapes (not as much of a "direct" cut to silence but still)), and cuts to multiple angles/framings/zooms of the exact same shot are also used for the same purpose (see: Light hugging Misa when she was crying, Matsuda aiming his gun to shoot Light, Light regaining his memories Again). Just like the scene where Light gets his memories back, the moment L's question finishes the show utilizes both. That question cut Deep. There's is a solid Almost 5 seconds of silence before the sound of the rain gradually starts fading back in, and honestly that should be telling enough as is (but of course Light doesn't actually admit that. Or anything at all really, so). Oh also another fun detail! We do not see Light's face At All (except for the shot where you can see his mouth moving but not his eyes), for the Entire time that he's going on his spiel to L. We Will Be Revisiting This Later, by the way. This is not, in fact, the first time you're going to see this detail from Light.

The only sort of reciprocation that we see from Light during Any of these two scenes is when Light dries L's hair while L dries his feet. Biblical meanings/references aside it's interesting because it's the only time he directly does anything "for" L in these scenes, but even then he doesn't try to pass it off as anything meaningful really the same way L does ("You're still soaked", a purely neutral and factual statement. It doesn't Add Anything compared to L's. Sin atonement loneliness grieving stuff. While Light is showing his own reciprocation to this more personal moment he also tries to keep it impersonal enough that it doesn't actually have to mean anything deep). And when L says "I'm sorry" after he once again gets no response from Light. It's also after this that L gets that pained look on his face, like he knows that at this point he's not actually going to get anything meaningful from Light (again, very significant and rare from L in the show. We've seen him in distress (see: when Ukita died, hell, when Watari dies), but even then he mostly manages to keep his usually neutral expression), we never see him "look sad" like he does here):

I just think it's interesting that this is one of the few scenes in this particular adaptation of Death Note where they try to open up the character's thoughts/feeling (especially considering the fact that they. lowkey blunder in adaptations of original scenes from the manga), and L himself is being rather open (not that he ever really tries to hide what he thinks nearly as much as Light), and yet all Light contributes to it in return is like. Actually nothing. Bro fumbled it. There is no resolution to any of this, to any of what L asks at all, to any of the many opportunities for a meaningful conversation, and the only thing even relatively close to an answer that you can get from Light is what you can infer from how he acts in the episode after L dies, where he's just going through the motions, but hardly acting as if he's actually living at all.

(Honestly I think the transition from this scene with the taskforce to the subsequent scene with Misa says enough on its own. Light's expressions and tone says everything:)

(Oh sidenote but. This shit again:

"Light, this is our first date in forever. can't you enjoy yourself a little more?" ('Why don't you seem happy? We can finally be together since L is dead') -> No response, Light instead changing the topic to him wanting to move in with Misa without changing his mannerisms at all

Also there's that one detail again. You pretty much don't see Light's expression when he speaks here at all, except for one shot of his eyes, which is quite literally the exact same shot they used when he "saw" L, just altered for the new setting. You have No idea what he looks like when he's responding to Misa, although it's probably fair to assume that it's the same empty stare he has for the whole Two Shots where you can clearly see his whole expression in the entire scene.

Something something Light Yagami bad at feelings I think you get the point though)

I guess Light's Kind of showing what he's feeling now? He'll admit to himself that it's boring without L, but no more than that. Light never actually admits to anything "significant", and L's dead already anyway, so what would that even do?

And then we get, uh. Basically nothing from Light. For the next 5 Years. Except that he joined the NPA, so, uh, yay? Good job, Light you totally nailed it! Thank you for allowing us as an audience to delve deeper into your inner thoughts and feelings as a character so we can find out more about you as a person! Very helpful! Thank you for not sabotaging one of your few dedicated opportunities to look into yourself as a person and reflect on your relationships with others and being 100% honest with yourself! We stay winning guys.

Anyway, this got way too long for a scene that's over a decade old, and I've probably just said everything that everyone else has already said in this fandom before. But unfortunately this has been living in my head for way too long and I must scream. I just think this episode's neat is all :)

tl;dr Part of the reason why the rain/foot scene (tbh episode 25 in General) stands out so much is because the Death Note anime specifically was a bit robbed in terms of its more emotional character moments compared to the other medias, which makes more somber/introspective scenes like the ones in episode 25 stand out a Lot in comparison. But it's also incredibly ironic because it's one of the few moments where the show (or specifically L) tries to look deeper into Light's character, but because he is so avoidant for the entire duration of these two scenes he adds basically nothing at all. It's almost funny. Mostly sad. It's also very gay. Aand post

Okay actually nevermind one more thing I talked about how the jdrama is supposed to be more emotionally in-depth because it is a TV Drama and just for the record, same thing happens there! I could probably do an entire analysis of the Blue Scene in this context like I did with episode 25 but I'd literally be here forever, so uh, just take this iconic line as my main example:

Same Thing. L's statement "I wish we could have met some other way" is personal. It's his own wish, his own regret that he is expressing to Light. While Light's reply obviously has that same regret implied it's also phrased in a specifically impersonal way. It's closed off. "This is the only way we could have met" it closes off the topic and simply renders L's wish as ultimately futile. Light does not say that he Also wishes he could have met L a different way even if it was likely impossible, instead it's a cold statement of cynical fact.

Idk just. Something something L being able and Willing to be more openly sentimental/emotionally open towards Light/about Light vs. Light's inability to be honest with anyone including himself and his own nature preventing any form of meaningful reciprocation. Something something self-sabotage, y'know the drill. God don't even get me Started on how sincere L's tone is when he says "It'll be lonely won't it?"(at least in the eng dub) in the anime I could talk about his tone in that scene for ages. Also yes all of this relates to L Change the WorLd too by the way. Don't ask how it just does okay.

I do think that scenes like these (rain/foot scene, The Blue Scene. Uh. L Change the WorLd The Novel Adaptation) show, at least in those adaptations, that L does genuinely care for Light, and show that he values him as a friend not just in the mindgame-equal sense but also just like, a more sincere sense you know. Idk if that made any sense and that's a whole other topic for another day but you guys just have to believe me on this one alright please please believe me buries head in hands. Okay post over finally thanks for coming to my tedtalk hope you enjoyed my very-unnecessarily long analysis of the week

[fishsticksloser]

Hiya!! 🌙⭐ Space anon here! I got inspired by lil 🐺 anon and I wanted to request theirs but the opposite! Basically someone who looks like a cinnamon roll but will destroy you and your ego in 5 minutes or less if you do anything to tick them off !

Ofc you don't have to, have a wonderful day you awesome human being!!!

(If you did this already oh em gee I am so sorry)

Looks Like a Cinnamon Roll...

RotTMNT & Casey x gn!reader

Warnings: aged up, slight mention violence (like the busting of kneecaps)

A/N: This was requested by 4 people at very different times... The other requests will be at the end. :) My first hc with Casey... Woo!

Donnie

Loves your sweet exterior

But he loves your violent, daring personality

You 2 protect each other

He knows very well that you pack quite the punch

As he's accidently scared you a few times (man can literally teleport I swear)

Never again

He is a little scared of you

The first time you showed him how violent you could be

♡_♡

Both of you were pretty similar in that sense

Absolutely will help you beat the crap out of someone

We all know he's not against hurting someone to get what he wants

Leo

You're so cute and sweet to him

Then he saw how quickly you'd fight to protect your loved ones

or when someone insulted you

That was not the plot twist he imagined

Still absolutely enamored by you

Training buddies

Honestly he's never been more terrified than the first time you showed that side of you

But let's be real

He can get like that sometimes too

Mikey

Every underestimates the 2 of you

Both of you so sweet and kind...

Remember S1 Ep 11B? "Pizza Pit"?

Mikey definitely has a violent side

So he doesn't mind that you can be violent

Of course, Mikey prefers a more relaxed style

And always sees the good in people, but when he's really upset

You 2 are a force to be reconned with

Raph

Everyone is always scared of him

He's huge and an alligator snapping turtle

Which means his jaw strength is even stronger than a normal turtle... Which is terrifying

But who they should really worry about is you

Sure you look sweet and cute on the outside

But Raph has seen what you're capable of and knows to stay clear

He will try to get people to take back what they said/did so they didn't have to face you

It rarely works

Casey Jr.

Literal definition of this boy

He may look sweet, but he will absolutely bust kneecaps

He grew up during the apocalypse, fighting is what he's done his whole life

But he's really sweet any time there's no danger

So when you're the same way?

He doesn't even seem to notice

If you ever ask for help beating someone up, he's there

He'll help train you too

He wants to make sure you'll be safe no matter what.

[rosicae]

Writing tip or something - planning scenes

Writing difficult scenes is always a struggle. Here are some tips to make the process a little easier, and more importantly, actually get something done instead of staring at a blank page for two months (guilty).

First, let's start where you left off. Maybe they're exploring the dark woods trying to find their lost cat and they come across a beast. Great! Battle scene time.

The first thing you need to ask yourself is what you'll get out of this battle. The main points, or plot-twists, if there are any. For example: Maybe the cat turned into the beast and they only realise as it lies dying; maybe one of the main characters die; maybe they find a key in the beast's skull; maybe they spare the beast and it becomes their friend; maybe the beast just dies and that's it. I'm not judging, there's a plethora of reasons you'd do anything in stories. Most scenes should have some sort of lead, whether it be key or death or kiss or whatever, depending on what sort of story you're cooking, but it's up to you.

So, figure out your main point. For simplicity's sake, I'll go with: “They kill the beast, they find a key”. Finding the key will be a clear lead to their next move. But for now, let's focus on the current scene.

You're going to want to order the events. Writing scenes like this off the bat can be pretty hard, so let's just go with what we know first.

I'm not joking when I say a lot of my scenes start out sort of like this.

Now, to build upon this beauty, we have to dig into each segment. Let's start with part A!

PART A - “Rosi encounters a beast.”

What sort of beast is it? A slimy tentacle monster? A catfish-pirate? A deformed bear? Dracula?? Your decision will affect the entire scene, so really think about what you choose. Monsters are super fun, so be creative if your story allows it! I'll pick a duck-faced bear spider hybrid. What does that do? It might help to draw your monster if it's a struggle to think it through. Here's mine!

As you think about their appearance, see how you can use it to their advantage or flaw. You might even already have ideas for certain moves during their fight, or what could be the fatal blow. We'll talk more on that later though.

Next on Part A, how did she encounter it? Was she up in the trees trying to check the sun's direction when suddenly it barreled into her and threw her down the tree? Did she trip over a log only to realise it wasn't a log but an angry treant? Is the forest cursed and monsters just keep chasing after her for no reason??? Maybe she's holding a tracker and the evil villain is sending the monsters after her.... it's good to think about, in the long run. For now though, let's just stick with: "she bumped into the beast"

But try to make it fancy. What was her reaction to bumping into it? Why would she bump into it? Maybe she wasn't looking while she was running and kept bumping into trees, but then one tree was actually the monster. The monster is clearly very fluffy (would probably make a good blanket), so let's make that a clear point.

So now we've got:

“Rosi was running along the forest without properly watching where she was going, when she bumped into a tree - but it was fluffy and warm and beating, not a tree. It was a bear duck spider beast. OOOO! SLAP SLAP!”

Slap slap being ���the beast slapped her in her confused daze”, because who wouldn't be surprised if a tree was actually a duck-bear hybrid? This happens to be a perfect initiation to begin battling! On to part B!

PART B - “She fights the beast and kills it.”

This is absolutely the hardest part. It'll take careful consideration and pacing and- oh whatever let's just slap in every action thing we can think of. Even if you think it isn't good, even if it's just little phrases or actions or fancy words or teeny tiny segments you aren't sure about, it's good. Just do it.

-beast slaps her in her confusion/daze and she hits her back against a tree, much pain

-beast snaps its flappy duck beak and honks a bunch, muddling her brain

-rosi throws rocks at it

-rosi somehow breaks off its spider legs, unbalancing it

-beast uses its spider legs to crawl everywhere and be very agile and hard to fend off

-beast stabs her with its stabby legs

-maybe an injury from being slapped around

-rosi tries to run but it's always there

-rosi smacks its beak, very annoyed

-beast forces her to the dirt and pummels her with its stabby paws

-rosi evades its stabbies because the green drippy stuff looks like venom

-venom touches nature stuff and makes it wither

-beast lets out a bellow that shakes the earth and topples trees

-rosi avoids the trees to not die

-rosi scrambles to get up

-the most important thing is to somehow open its skull: plunge a verrryyy strong stick through its eye that tears out the key; or somehow trick it to stab itself with its venom spider legs and it withers and turns to bone/ashes and yay key (I like the second one so I'll go with that, but it's always good to list out your options!)

So I basically just took parts of the forest and parts of the beast's body and natural instincts of someone who is facing death and, adding some creativity, threw together a bunch of possibilites. It might take some practice, but once you're in the flow and have some experience listing this stuff, you'll get the hang of it in no time. Thoughts tend to be short and snappy in quick-paced scenes, so be careful not to go into a whole monologue about their past experiences, but absolutely show some reasoning to the complex things they do if necessary. And leave the monologing for when they're not being killed.

Now let's order them into something that sort of makes sense. It varies depending on what you want, so see if you can make your own unique battle scene out of this list!

-beast slaps her in her confusion/daze and she hits her back against a tree, much pain

-rosi scrambles to get up

-maybe an injury from being slapped around (tree + back + sudden slap = pain, this might be a good time to mention if they already have a flaw like having weak bones or an old injury, but if it isn't your intention to incapacitate them and you want to be realistic, have a reason for them not to insta-die without being op. Maybe she was just slapped into bushes and got little scrapes or a twisted ankle. Maybe she had a plushy backpack that took most of the impact. Remember where your character gets injured too, since pain usually hurts for a while and it's good to add that in wherever needed now and later. It can even drive the story along at times, like a life-threatening blow.)

-beast lets out a bellow that shakes the earth and topples trees

-rosi avoids the trees to not die

-rosi tries to run but it's always there

-beast uses its spider legs to crawl everywhere and be very agile and hard to fend off

-venom touches nature stuff and makes it wither (she notices here and thinks oh no, that is bad, can't let that touch me)

-rosi throws rocks at it (misses because it's agile)

-beast forces her to the dirt and pummels her with its stabby paws

-beast snaps its flappy duck beak and honks a bunch, muddling her brain

-rosi smacks its beak, very annoyed

-beast stabs her with its stabby legs (or tries, let's not kill her just yet if we're deciding on venom QwQ Maybe she uses a plank of wood to save herself last second)

-rosi evades its stabbies because the green drippy stuff looks like venom

X-rosi somehow breaks off its spider legs, unbalancing it (delete because the lower idea is better, but maybe earlier one of the rocks she threw can unbalance it a bit and it jumps on her to attack closer because it feels threatened)

-rosi somehow tricks it to stab itself with its venom spider legs and it withers and turns to bone/ashes and yay key (she tricks it by deflecting it with something strong, like a boulder behind her, she got out of the way just as it does a slash at her, and it bounces perfectly into itself

And just like that, ordering and expanding on every part, you've got yourself an entire fight! Obviously it isn't as easy as counting to ten and opening a pot to a finished piece, but if you just take ten minutes or, better yet, an hour, you'll get somewhere. All you need is the base.

PART C - “She finds a key in its skull.”

Keys are shiny, and if it's daytime, maybe some light can twinkle off it as it falls, or she could just notice it because who wouldn't notice a key trapped in bones? Either way, she picks it up, as you do (unless you want an eagle to swoop in and take it, in which case rosi will have to chase after it and climb a tree and try to take it back from its nest and blahdy blah but rosi doesn't feel like moving anymore after the fight, so let's go with the easier option for now). She might have to wrench it out of bones, but it's fine, she's already dirty from the battle.

So what's the key look like, hmm? Is it rusty and old, or fleshy but firm and warm as suited for being trapped in brains for so long? Or oozing in the same venom, and she has to wipe it off with special fabric only trolls deeper in the forest are capable of making, or throw it in a lake to purify it? Maybe it's short, or missing half that you have to find somewhere along the journey. What does it unlock? Rosi won't know now, obviously, but you'd better have an idea or there'd be no point to it in the first place. Maybe this entire journey is in her mind and she's finding parts of a key to unlock her memory which will be a door to her childhood house. Maybe it's a master key to the villain's castle. Maybe it was accidentally baked in a cookie the beast ordered from a special fish-headed-cat-run bakery, and the little workers will be scrambling around to find the key and be so grateful that rosi brings it back that they hail her as king of fish-headed cats. You never know :D...except you kinda have to, so please have some sort of idea even if it's small.

That's practically all you can do in this part, so next we're on-

PART D - “She questions the key, then goes off to seek reason for it.”

Assuming she collects the key, what are her thoughts? It's all down to personality. Let's say rosi loves keys, and she has a whole collection at home, and she loves shiny things. She'll probably squee at the sight of it and act very excited - "she snatched up the key and chirruped her glee (oh hey, that rhymes!), and after a quick inspection with gleaming eyes, she tucked it safely in her pocket alongside trinkets from the seaside."

Because, you know, obviously she was at the seaside before all this. Or whatever else she was doing. It's your call. It's their personality. It's an optional connection, but a valid one nevertheless. Careful though - if she carries too much, she might get weighed down and drown.

In her case, she doesn't really think too hard on the key. Maybe she's already fought plenty of monsters and gotten a nice treasure trove of stuff. Maybe she's an air-head. Cough. Either way, the obstacle is gone so now she can go off and do what she was doing before - albeit a little more cautious, provided she learns from experience. If there's a clear indicator of what the key is for, or if the character was actively seeking it out, that'll obviously give a different outcome - maybe they'll turn back the way they came (car keys), or head for the town of blue oak (blue key) if that is already in their knowledge database, or ask the next person they see and get guided or tricked.

Finally, let's put this baby together! Let's start simple for now and just slap together this monstrosity with whatever little stuff we think of in the moment and some proper tense. We can build it up later (not here lol I've spent too much on this but you can if you want).

~~Rosi's Magical Adventure~~

Rosi ran along the forest without properly watching where she was going, when she bumped into a tree – but it was fluffy and warm and beating, not a tree. It was a bear duck spider beast.

Fish. That definitely shouldn't exit.

The beast slapped her in her daze and her back slammed against a tree. Despite being in pain, she scrambled to get up. She staggered, feeling the pierce in her ribs, the ache in her feet, the scream in her head that told her to run. It was drowned out under the beast's bellow. The earth shook and trees toppled one after another. Rosi spun on her heel and ran, avoiding the trees that twisted her path.

Even when she thought she outran it, it was always a step behind, a step above, a step ahead. Its spindly legs granted it an agility she couldn't imagine matching. Not only that – wherever the ends of those legs touched, an iridescent liquid spurted out, withering blooming manes and wilting once-proud trunks in an instant.

She shivered. She couldn't let it touch her. Realising that her (flee, running, escaping – whenever you can't think of the right words in the moment, just think of whatever is the closest and use that until you find the right word, or you might waste an hour racking your brains when you could just keep writing) was futile, she pounced into a rolling stop by a mound of rocks. It disoriented the beast for but a moment as she scooped a handful of rocks and hurled them at it. Most missed, or melted into its ragged coat, but a few landed directly against its uppermost legs. It gave an unnerved honk and flung itself at her, forcing her to the dirt, pummeling her with monstrous paws and claws that snapped her skin as she raised her hands to defend her face.

It honked. She grimaced. Her vision blurred and brain muddled with every honk. On impulse, one hand shot out to smack its flapping beak. Its pupils contorted, enraged by her sacrilege, and its spindle-legs shot towards her.

Just in time, she rolled free and pulled herself up, evading the blows that scattered poison over melting green. One hit went into a boulder. The boulder didn't budge. It was ineffective. It sparked an idea in Rosi, but she wasn't sure, so she waited until it happened again, and again it hit a boulder and bounced without damaging the boulder. She danced her way around the clearing, then stopped directly in front of boulder, facing the beast with her lips twisted into a wry smile.

The stabby leg slashed her way, but she ducked out of the way at the last second. Unable to redirect its blow, the leg bounced off the boulder and went directly into the beast's skull. The venom was quick to engulf the beast. Its skin vanished like the trees. It was only (bones, skeletal structure remained) and it fell before her. (If you still aren't sure how to write a part, break it down even further, even if it looks stupid. Keep breaking down everything as much as you need, until everything is plain to see and there are no misunderstandings. Then add on, and keep adding on, until you eventually understand.)

Streams of sunlight (because a lot of the trees died, so now there's some light in the forest) glinted off a surface lodged in the bones. Realising the rusty old metal to be a key, she snatched it up and chirruped her glee, and after a quick inspection with gleaming eyes, she tucked it safely in her pocket alongside trinkets from the seaside. Then she turned and limped her way back home, wondering why she came in the first place as blood trailed after her.

~~The End~~

It isn't perfect – far from it – but it doesn't matter. It's a start. You can work with it. You can keep going. Finish the chapter by repeating this process over and over, then go back and polish it when you've let the experience sink in a bit. Who knows where you'll go??? (ﾟヮﾟ)/

I spent almost three hours on this instead of writing my own book, and I'm tired, so I don't know if this makes sense, but I hope it's helpful a little??? I tried not to make it complex as much as possible so people of many levels can understand and hopefully get something out of it;;;

It's the method I've been using for a long time, especially when I'm in a difficult part or just can't get myself to write anything. Start simple, get something done, and keep going.

….....which I realise is the complete opposite of what I'm doing. Oh gosh what have I done OAAAAAO

….also this is really long and I'm scared so I'm not even going to hard read it over or edit now that I'm done writing.

ROSI OUT

[alison-anonymous]

♡ lake house fever ♡ t.l.

Lake House Fever ♡ Tom Lucitor Imagine

Requested: no, BUT I PROMISE I WILL GET TO THOSE THAT ARE REQUESTING!!! I just keep getting new ideas, I’m so sorry :’(

Warnings: extreme FLUFF, slight angst but not too major

Summary: obviously the main plot line of Lake House Fever, only it’s the reader instead of Star and things are a bit changed up. Reader is a human who has been dating Tom for a long time against her parents’ will because she and him are undeniably in love with each other. The second time he invites her over to hang out with his family, and they end up stranded due to a storm with his mother who is just a little bit skeptical about his new girlfriend...

♡♡♡ 

To say that you were in love with Tom Lucitor might just be the understatement of the century.

Yes, you were a human.

And yes, you knew it was absolutely insane that you were in love with a demon hybrid who not only lived longer than you ever would, but was also the fucking Prince of the Underworld. There was no way that things would ever work out, right? This logic would have driven you away instantly, except for one fact that made your situation different.

He loved you too.

You and Tom had been dating for almost a year now, and you could feel it in your gut that Tom was the one you wanted to spend the rest of your life with. You've never been more certain about anything more than that. And he felt the same, secretly forming a plan to slowly ease you into becoming his wife one day and the Queen of the Underworld. They'd find a way to make the fact that you were a human work, I mean, Star had been teaching you how to cast very small spells that very special humans can perform. Most of them consisted of spells for protection, and one random one about conjuring a cloud bartender she had insisted on teaching you.

Yeah, they'd make it work.

Anyways, your parents definitely did not approve of your relationship for obvious reasons. But ever since the moment you and Tom had laid eyes on each other and it was like the whole world had frozen, Star knew that she had to get you two together. Despite your parents' constant nagging to end it, you forced their lack of blessings to the back of your mind and did your best to let go of your problems with your best friends and with Tom.

It worked every time.

Nothing made you happier than being with your best friends and the love of your life! And while the road may have been a bit rocky, the day that Tom invited you over to his Lake House with his family for some bonding time was going to turn out a lot more... exciting than you had ever imagined it would be...

♡♡♡

The inside of the lava suit you were wearing was growing slightly warm from your closeness to said lava, but with one look at your boyfriend as he joyfully glided along the waves, you knew you could suffer through the heat. Surfing was never really your forte, but once Tom had taught you some tricks, you basically became a pro just to go surfing with him. 

Balancing your best on the board below you, you gradually picked up speed until you were side by side with Tom, who, not gonna lie, looked pretty hot when he was shirtless. 

“Hey there gorgeous,” he winked, earning a slight blush to rise to your cheeks. 

“Hey yourself, hottie,” you flirted back, receiving a sly grin from your boyfriend. His three red eyes were laced mischievously as he glanced towards the shoreline where his family was resting. 

“Race you to the shore?” 

“You’re on!” 

He beat you, of course. Not that you minded! He was totally awesome at surfing, not to mention you got a great view of his backside as you were left in the waves... Shaking your head to snap yourself out of it, you soon realized that you had a prior obligation to get to. Guilt riddled your mind as you popped the circular helmet off of your head and handed it over to your boyfriend.

“Thanks so much for the fun time, Tom,” you smiled. “But I totally forgot that I have to help Star with a Diaz family dinner.”

His mother made what sounded like an angry sigh from her height above you, only making you feel a little worse. With just one look at your hunched expression, Tom was instantly able to read your mind. 

“Hey, it’s all cool, sunshine,” you felt the butterflies flitter at the cute nickname. “But you know, you could just stay here!” 

You considered it. You truly did consider it because, even though you loved Star, you would choose staying with your boyfriend over attending another Diaz family dinner any day. They were sort of... strange. But the last time you tried to skip out, Star made sure that you paid for it by forcing you into owing her a favor when she needed it, and that usually resulted in cleaning Lavabo’s lint trap or helping Star and Jana awaken the dead... it was terrifying owing Star a favor.

“I would love to, but Star can be very... persuasive,” you chuckled awkwardly. “I really should get-"

A sudden loud, earsplitting bang of thunder erupted through the sky, startling you so badly you jumped out of the lava suit. Up above, the usual tangerine sky had now began turning a fiery red with neon yellow lightning bolts throughout. You quickly latched on to your boyfriend's lavender arm, not even noticing him smiling at how cute you were when you were scared.

"Well, that looks like a pretty nasty storm," Dave commented, already beginning to pack up the lawn chair he had been sitting in.

"We better head inside for safety. Guess you'll be sticking around," Tom grinned at you, wrapping his arm around your waist and pulling you close. You felt you face flush red at the closeness and the exhilaration that never went away. In your flustered state, you completely forgot all about the dinner as you muttered a soft "okay" before following them all inside.

The sky didn't look any better inside their lake house. In fact, it almost looked worse! You were cuddled up on the couch next to Tom while his family was splayed out on the couches next to and before you. To be honest, you weren't quite sure exactly how they felt about you. You hoped they liked you, but the Lucitors were the kind who seemed mostly indifferent which made it even more nerve wracking for you.

Another surprise thunder bolt caused you to squeak and grab onto Tom's arm out of fear. He smiled softly at you and rested his hand on top of yours. Once you realized what you had done, the blush quickly returned, causing you to stutter.

"H-hey there," you giggled.

"This is quite a storm," Dave commented. "Looks like we're gonna be here for quite some time."

Hey, that means more room for family bonding! Sure it made you a little nervous seeing as you were a human in a room full of demons... but then again, Tom's dad was also a human, so maybe things would be okay.

Your thoughts were interrupted by a shrill shriek that appeared to be coming from behind a very scary portrait of an old... bat, demon thing?

"W-what was that?" You stammered, realizing a bit too late that being with demons also meant a lot of scary, sudden stuff. But when Tom snaked his arm around your waist and pulled you into his chest, the fear was instantly gone.

"That's just Relicor, he wants to play Scrabble with us." As soon as he finished talking, the painting squeaked open to reveal the exact same creature. He let out a loud squak and flew down to rest on the couch beside you, pointing at the Scrabble box that had miraculously appeared on the table. After playing a few rounds of Scrabble, and showing off your complex vocabulary skills, Wrathmelior was coming back from the kitchen when she spotted a huge photo album book.

"Great idea, Honey," Dave agreed after she made some sort of clicking sound you assumed was her speaking. Everyone rose from their seats to go find a larger table that we could all look at the pictures from. While you were following your boyfriend's enormous mother, you suddenly realized how difficult it would be if you ever had to communicate with her one on one.

"I wish I could speak demon," you sighed to yourself, not realizing that Tom heard you.

"I could teach you," he winked. "It'd be fun!" It was only when you realized the suggestive tone he had added to it that you turned beet red and playfully pushed him.

"You're an idiot, Lucitor."

"And you are beautiful, L/n."

You finally reached the dining room and pulled up some chairs so you could gather around the photo book. She started at the beginning, so baby photos was obviously the first thing you saw. You couldn't help but coo over the adorableness as Tom's groans of embarrassment filled the background. Baby Tom was absolutely adorable!!

"Oh my gosh, T, you were such a cute baby!" You cried, leaning your head on his shoulder. His heart began to race as he chuckled softly.

Wrathmelior turned the pages as we passed through Tom's childhood years and family reunions until she stopped at...

"Oh, here we go," Wrathmelior's sister spoke in her raspy voice, practically rolling her eyes. "The Star and Tom section."

Instant tension filled the room as you felt your heart tighten in your chest. Before you were dozens of pictures of your best friend and your boyfriend... on dates, at parties, on walks in the park, on family reunions or celebrations...

To say that it nearly broke your heart would be an understatement. Dave sent you a sympathetic glance as you tried to force yourself to look away. You didn't want to see anymore. Tom, clearly seeing your uncomfortableness, laced his fingers through yours and cleared his throat.

"Umm... Mom? Maybe we can skip this part?"

She shook her head no and was about to continue on looking at the section until she noticed how sad you looked. She heaved a slight sigh and began to turn the page, but by that point you had already stood up and politely asked them to excuse you.

Wrapping your arms tightly around yourself, you walked through the winding hallways and just as you were about to make it to the door, Tom's hand landed gently on your shoulder, whirling you around to face him.

"Hey- sunshine, what's wrong?" His eyebrows knit in concern as he noticed the puffiness in your eyes, like a dam ready to break.

"I-it's nothing," you sniffed, hastily rubbing your eyes. "I'm fine. I just... I think I should go."

"Why?"

His obliviousness sparked a tiny flame of anger inside of you as you shook your head, turning back to face the door. "Your mom obviously hates me. And from the looks of it wishes you were still with Star so... maybe..." You bit your tongue as tears began cascading down your cheeks. "Maybe you should just be with her instead of me."

You threw open the door and raced out into the firestorm, just being glad to get some fresh air and not even caring about the danger surrounding you. Tom was quick to follow you, grabbing your hand and looking around at the sky with fear. He might be fine, but you? You were human, you might die the second you touched the lava.

"Y/n, please, don't do this. That's not true! My mom just has a hard time with change... just, please, come back inside. It's not safe-"

Just then, the absolute worse possible thing that could happen happened. A huge wave of lava came crashing in and dragged Tom out into the water... or lava? A scream escaped from your throat as you watched him struggle against the choppy waves. His mother was screaming from the window and the panic was beginning to close up your lungs.

But he was your boyfriend. And no matter what, you loved him and would do anything to save him. So, you grabbed your surfboard and leapt on top of the waves, wincing in fear at the heat that radiated around you. One wrong move, and you were gone.

"Y/n no!" Tom's shouts were staccatoed as he bobbed in and out of the lava. "It's too dangerous!"

But you didn't care. Riding the waves, you did your best to angle the board towards Tom and just as you were about to reach him, a huge wave rose high over both of your heads and came crashing down.

The only sound to be heard was your screaming.

♡♡♡

About five minutes later, a large blue orb soon rolled onto the beach out of the lava, and soon dissipated to reveal you and Tom, lying side by side.

Tom let out a soft groan as he quickly sat up, and noticing your motionless body, quickly shook you.

"Y/n? Oh thank gods," he quickly swooped in to press a kiss to your lips once he realized you were okay. You giggled into the kiss until he pulled away and were about to sit up when you winced in pain.

He quickly wrapped his arms around your back to support you and inspected your leg. A huge, red gash was evident right by your hamstring. Just then, his family came rushing through the door and straight up to you.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Tom said, gracefully swooping you up into his arms. "Y/n got burned by the lava saving me. Do we still have that first aid kit?"

"Yes, come on, let's go."

About a half our after they had all patched you up and Tom had never left your side, the sky had finally cleared.

"Hey look," you pointed out the window from your position on Tom's lap. "The storm's over."

Wrathmelior turned to you and began leaking some sort of strange substance from her eyes. You had guessed she was crying and felt a heavy weight press against your chest, soon realizing how much danger you and Tom had both been in. You leaned against him even more and rested your head on his shoulder.

"You could have died," he softly scolded.

"So could you," you countered. "I would rather die than let you die."

Just as he was about to respond, his mom made another series of clicks and sounds. You sat there dumbfounded until Dave translated.

"She says that it was she who caused the storm and she is incredibly sorry that she was so judgemental towards you. My wife has a hard time when it comes to girls hurting our boy, so she gets a little... overprotective," he chuckled, scratching the back of his neck before offering you a warm smile. "But please know that we do appreciate you Y/n, and are very happy that our boy has someone like you in his life. Thank you for saving him."

"Of course," you smiled, feeling tears of joy form in your eyes.

Maybe meeting your demon-hybrid boyfriend's family wasn't so bad after all.

♡ a.a.

[ambssssssssss]

The Swan-Mills Family Discovers Kingdom Hearts

Part 1 of ?

I don't go here but anyway

One day, after the last curse is broken by True Love's Kiss shared between Emma and Regina, the two of them are at the Mills household with a tumbler of apple cider split between them debating on letting Snow plan them a huge extravagant wedding or just sneaking off to the courthouse one day, when Henry comes home. He's absolutely buzzing with excitement as he walks straight into the den and turns on his PS4 (he's probably more than a little spoiled by now, which annoys Regina to no end but he's still her little prince so she actually doesn't mind all that much) without so much as a hello to his mothers.

Emma and Regina follow him and blink curiously as the opening credits for a game they don't recognize begins to play. The style is a little outdated but it looks like the animation had been updated recently based on Emma's very limited video game knowledge. Curious, Regina picks up the case the game came in and turns it over in her hands.

"Kingdom Hearts?" She reads the title aloud, her inflection morphing as the words change into a question. Henry hums.

"I know everyone is pretty tired of the fairytale thing but I couldn't resist getting this. It looked like so much fun."

"I don't really think we can get tired of fairytales considering the fact that we're living one," Emma says, but her curiosity is peaked and she seats herself on the arm of the couch next to Regina. "But this game is about fairytales?"

"Kinda. It's hard to explain Ma," Henry eyes don't leave the screen as he sets the brightness, difficulty level, and controller vibration intensity. "But there's a ton of save slots if you want to play too."

"We'll just watch for now kid," Emma tells him , absently rubbing Regina's back with one hand. Henry nods and presses the button to start the game.

The family of three all find themselves almost immediately engrossed in the story of the game. The beginning is a little slow, though the choices and questions are interesting. Henry had accepted the staff and given up the sword, leaving the shield alone. The Heartless, the enemies Henry had to defeat, were actually pretty cute. At least, they were until an enormous, shadowy figure of the main character, Sora, appeared. Henry made a few comments on how the fighting style would improve as Sora gained more skills but Regina was more interested in the surface the character stood on. Each one depicted a different princess and Regina wondered what they might symbolize.

Another round of questions and Henry was told that his journey began at dawn and then the game finally, truly began. As Henry directs Sora to explore the place called Destiny Islands, Emma repositions herself so she's sitting on the couch cushion instead of on the arm. Regina settles against Emma's side with her legs tucked underneath her and her head against Emma's shoulder as they continue to watch. Henry, seated on the other end of the couch closer to the television, is leaving forward with the controller in his hands. His brow is furrowed in concentration as he races against Riku, for the 7th time, and loses again. Emma has to hold in a chuckle as Henry groans and begins the race again. Regina is relaxed in her arms and if not for the way she had maneuvered their hands together and was absently playing with Emma's fingers, Emma would have thought she had dozed off. Henry let out a little cheer as he finally beat Riku in the race and the family watched the next cutscene with interest. There seemed to be quite the mystery to solve, people in strange robes, and even the makings of a love triangle between Sora, Riku, and Kairi.

By the time Emma remembered that they were supposed to meet up with her parents for dinner like they did every Tuesday, Henry had already beaten the huge shadow figure for a second time, gotten a weapon called the Keyblade, and was wondering around a world called Twilight Town after a long cutscene that revealed more familiar Disney characters in the game. Thankfully, these were characters that Emma was certain were just fictional. She had no idea what she would do if she ever met a real Donald Duck or Goofy.

"Time's up, kid. We've gotta meet you're grandparents for dinner." Emma called when Henry found a save point and he groaned good naturedly but complied. After donning shoes and jackets, the Swan-Mills family made their way to Granny's diner chatting about the game.

"I think we should restrict this to a non-school night game," Regina commented as they stepped through the door to Granny's. Charming and Snow had already claimed a table for the whole family so they made their way over. "Clearly it is easy to lose track of time playing this."

That was an understatement. Regina and Emma hadn't noticed the hours passing, three of them to be exact, and they were only watching Henry play.

"What's this?" Snow asked curiously after pulling each of then into a hug one by one. Charming did the same for Emma and Regina but traded a fist bump with Henry instead as Emma greeted her baby brother.

"A new game Henry is playing," Regina answered as they all took their seats again.

Henry launched into a startlingly in depth run down of how the game came into existence, its reputation of having a hopelessly convoluted storyline, several branch off games that were not necessary to play but would fill in a lot of gaps outside the two main games, and the much anticipated release of the third game in the main franchise, Kingdom Hearts III.

"Sounds interesting," Charming said after Henry finished his long winded explanation and began to devour his food. Regina was glad that the explanation was over if only so Henry could eat his food while it was still somewhat warm. "And it's about fairytale characters?"

"Sort of. The game was developed by Square Enix but they collaborated with Disney for this. Most of the characters are either from Disney or another video game series called Final Fantasy."

Snow asked about the plot of the game but Henry shrugged his shoulders. In it's most basic form, the game was simply about light versus dark, good versus evil. Henry didn't know how much this game would delve into the shades of grey between good and evil but he was eager to find out.

"You'll have to let us know how the game goes," Snow said after they finished their meal and were walking out. Henrt nodded enthusiastically as he gave his grandmother a parting hug.

"I thinks its gonna be awesome," Henry said as he pulled away. Then he looked over his shoulder at his moms and smiled his most charming smile. "Even if nothing can be as great as your story."

Emma chuckled. "Nice try kid, but you're not getting extra game time tonight."

"As soon as we get home its homework, shower, then bed. You have school tomorrow," Regina completed, taking Emma's hand in her own as they walked out.

Charming laughed as Henry shrugged his shoulders, "Worth a shot."

The Swan-Mills family walked back to Mifflin street and Henry, as instructed, grabbed his bookbag and went up to his room to complete his homework for the night as his moms retreated to the study to finish the cider they had started earlier.

"He's right you know," Emma commented sometime later from her spot on the couch in the study. Regina, sitting at her desk and reviewing a few documents she would need for a meeting the next day, looked up curiously.

"What are you talking about darling?"

"Henry," Emma rose from the couch and made her way to Regina's side as she spoke. "He was right about us. No story will ever be better than ours."

"He was sucking up so we would let him play more video games," Regina rolled her eyes but still put the papers she was reviewing down in favor of pushing away from the desk and pulling Emma down into her lap.

"Doesn't mean he was wrong," Emma placed her arms around Regina's shoulders, one hand tangling in long, dark hair as the other caressed Regina's cheek.

"I suppose so," Regina tilted her head back slightly to look Emma in the eyes. "As long as our story has a happy ending, I think it will be the best one ever told."

"Our story has the happiest ending of all because it's not an ending. It's a beginning. The beginning of us."

Emma leaned down and kissed Regina then, slowly and surely and with the confidence that she'd get to do so every day for the rest of her life. As Regina poofed them up to their bedroom in a cloud of light purple magic, videogames could not have been further from Emma's mind.

[talkingismylifewrites]

So I saw in one of your replies you came up with a mob boss au. Would you ever write it and put it on A03 cos I would LOVE to read it. Also please say John's the mobster who's like "if you mess with Roger you'll die" so a rival gang kidnap Roger to blackmail John. But then Roger turns out to be trained in combat and beats the shit out them all and escapes and when John hears he's just like "I fucking warned you not to mess with him!"

okay this is a) a long time coming and b) was born from me watching all of narcos in like...a week

in fact, it legit started with me texting lo “maybe i’ve been watching too much narcos but.....” 

okay so our story begins with the knowledge that roger’s dad ran the mob

like roger is his heir and his son and his dad is the Big Kingpin

john’s dad is a shitty little lackey who has waaaaaaay too many debts so he grew up in the mob?? but lower ranks

and john sorta started getting involved when he was like 10 or so bc no one looks twice at the nicely groomed white kid right? and his dad was Desperate

and like he and roger had this whole Star Crossed Lovers shit bc a) roger was Not Allowed to be Gay and b) they weren’t ever supposed to have even met like completely different pay grades

BUT roger overheard him arguing with his dad over a better way to do a job that would be less dangerous and way harder to track but he got brushed off with a “the boss is always right you don’t argue john it’ll get you killed”

but rog was like.... shit no that’s WAY better

and ended up dropping a few lines to find out who this kid is cause... he’s smart and smart goes far right

like u gotta look Out for the smart ones, he knows that, his dad taught him that

(with backhands and cruel fists while teaching him chess, that one night in the barrel when he fucked up a simple plan when he was 13...)

(like rog is smart he’s just not Great at compartmentalization. so his plans start out great but go off the railed as he gets excited/pissed off) but like johns smart he picks up when he’s suddenly being tailed and is like Ok What Did I Do to one of them

and the guy panics and takes him straight to roger who is like..... how did u fuck up a simple tail, Jesus Christ

but yeah like he and john end up having a sort of clandestine friendship of sorts? in which roger essentially brings half baked plans to him and john Fixes them

which sorta turns into mutual pining

john is like this is my angry mob boss son best friend and roger’s like this is my evil genius best friend who kills people

but yeah basically roger’s dad keeps beating him when things go wrong, even if its not his fault

John is observant okay he was noticing the direct correlation between roger “getting jumped” and plans going wrong

So when it’s one of his??? That goes tits up (and tbh it wasn’t even like a bad screw up they just had a witness who was taken care of the next day) and roger like slinks into Johns apartment/office with the break down for John and his eyes is swollen completely close and he’s got a fat lip the size of a strawberry John immediately is ready for murder

And roger never admits it’s his dad???? who’s beating him???

because Taylors Should Be Better

Because why would he? It’s embarrassing but also it’s happened his whole life it’s expected of a mob bosses son (think the Baba Yaga scene in John wick 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻)

which then turns into john pounding him into the mattress and promising no one will Ever land a hand on him again when he turns up one time with a battered to hell face because something went Wrong on one of the plans (which. extra emotional effect bc it was one of johns)

and like a month later roger’s dad is mysteriously found shot dead

cuz John mentally is like okay. Plan Ides of March is a go. Moving it up three years he’s getting taken out tomorrow

And John KILLS ROGER’S DAD IN COLD FUCKING BLOOD

the only??? person??? roger would EVER take that from is his dad

like johns heard the stories about roger taking out men twice his size yeah? but roger never has any defensive wounds on his hand

John knows that roger can and will defend himself

He’s seen him in action

But he never raises a hand against his dad when he straight up could kill him with one hand tied behind his back

so john figures it out and a month later roger’s dad is dead 

and now they need a leader?? another boss

and they look to roger, but roger is like no

he knows himself well enough, he is not strong enough in terms of planning and plotting, he’s a good action man but not strategist

that’s john

so roger steps aside and is like john is going to run the show

obvi there’s a power void and there’s basically civil war but with roger’s ruthlessness and john’s genius they fucking take all the little fractions down and they take them down HARD

john sits on his throne with roger standing over his shoulder, knuckles bloodied and grin wicked

and everyone knows if you fuck with roger??? you fuck with john

and vice versa

once, roger got shot on a mission and it was like, the one time?? john loans him out for a plan that wasn’t his

and he’s fine it’s just a graze but John and him in their bathroom and Johns like hyper focused on cleaning the wound and he furious and harsh and is like you fucking dumbass did no one teach you to duck?? You fool you dumb piece of shit

and roger just gently cradles john’s face in his hands and lifts his head to look at him and kisses him so gently and he’s like it’s okay, i’m fine, i’m here

and john’s like you are never going on any raid or plan or anything that i have not PERSONALLY vetted 

the next day, the guy who’s plan it was is sniveling and apologizing on his knees in front of John and Roger; it was an accident, he says

and johns like “it’s okay. i understand, these things happen.”

and then just blank eyed shoots him in the femur

“these things just happen, you understand?”

roger just smiles from behind him, doesn’t even flinch in the aftermath

john and roger rule with an iron fist until one day things go tits up

and roger ends up taking the fall for john, and he gets sent to jail

john, in retaliation, goes on the warpath

Because he’s totally turned around the family business they’ve gone more corporate and it’s more like s legit business now?? They still kill people and rob and shit but they’re not monsters or criminals

And they give money back into the neighborhood and shit and donate to charity and kiss babies blah blah blah

But the authorities are like we need to show our strength against these villains so Rogers looking at like 25years to life

And John just kinda is like okay cool I can fix this

And it’s the biggest campaign ever he’s got the best lawyers on retainer he’s blackmailing people left and right he’s buying witnesses and finding loopholes like he’s fucking working the system and he’s gonna get roger out even if it kills him because in his eyes it was His Fault

Roger is like your honor clearly there’s been some sort of mistake

Because the only thing that places him there is a grainy cell phone video and a witness that’s not exactly clean

So like the case isn’t solid

But it’s enough for a trial like most of it is circumstantial

And John is like I would kill the whole world for you and Rogers like sounds excessive but same

the difference between roger and john is that john would kill the whole world for roger after sitting down and planning the whole thing for several weeks. roger would kill the whole world for john and not remember doing it after (though still probably not regret it)

Roger would act first think later

And John would be like oh I planned it all out two years ago in the shower

Just in case

so roger gets sent to jail and john just...looses it

like he has to get yanked off of miami when the verdict is read of two years sentencing because its not technically miami’s fault??? its just shitty

and meanwhile, roger is getting dragged off to jail and he’s like don’t worry, babe, it’s gonna be fine

(it both is and isn’t)

roger shows up in jail and within a week he’s running the joint, he’s got lackeys and he’s paid off the guards and its basically a vacation

meanwhile john is just burning his competition to the ground, he’s making people rue the day they ever crossed him

(they TOTALLY get conjugal visits that last longer than uhhhh usual)

bc you betcha ass they’d be So fucking possessive of one another. like roger rules that prison with an iron fist 

anyways, miami appeals on the basis of circumstantial, and he basically proves that legit ANYONE else could have done it and this is clearly railroading and obviously roger is innocent

and after 8 months, he walks

when he gets out???? john is there to pick him up

they drive off to a safe house outside of the city and they had wicked crazy dangerous hot sex and its just insanity

and when they come back??? 

its like people know to just flee when they see them

john, mob boss and kingpin, and roger his dangerous and beautiful second in command 

also freddie is roger’s bff, miami is their lawyer, and crystal is roger’s bodyguard who always gets into more trouble than roger but he once took a bullet for roger so he’s chill

ps anyone tries to kidnap roger??? gets dealt with a) by roger and if roger manages to let them get away then b) john. you’d rather be dealt with by roger, and not john