#sorry for the lack of a readmore I’m on mobile

[alittlebitgoofy]

Loveless - (dakota/starlet)

Hi remember me saying I’d post on Christmas? I didn’t lie for once. Big Aromantic vibes in this one or I’m just projecting idk

Ao3 link

Fil coming back to the flat with a grin on his face and lipstick on their neck said all it needed to and Danny launched into an all out assault asking for the details.

Why did the topic of romance make her so uncomfortable? Why couldn’t she just be normal and feel like everyone else did. What could a partner do that a friend couldn’t? It made no sense and just reminded her of being an outsider as she always had been.

“You’re trying to live through me because you can’t get any” Fil laughed, Dakota glancing up to see Danny staring back in shock.

“Excuse you! I’m irresistible!” Danny barked back, the loud scouse accent making Dakota jump slightly.

“You sure are,” Cheddar nodded

Their relationship always confused them, they’d known each other for a long time being from two close by cities and being queer. Dakota had seen them kiss many times, sure, but figuring out what it meant was beyond her.

“You’re also cocky,”

“That is also true.”

Snickering at Cheddar's comment was a bad idea in hindsight as Danny’s eyes narrowed on Dakota, a sly smile growing on their lips as her heart leapt into her throat.

“Oh Dakota, what about you? You’re always very quiet on the topic of relationships. Are you secretly dating someone?”

The attention turning to them made the blonde want to bolt out of the room then and there but that would be too suspicious. What the hell could get them off her back but not clue them in on their inner turmoil.

“Uh, I’m just not very interested in dating. It’s too complicated. I'd rather use my energy on other things.” She put on her best uncaring act, not making Cheddar give her the look. It must have been a success even if they were fooled.

“Like rocks?”

“…Maybe.” Honestly geography was easier to understand than romance. At least there were textbooks and essays on it.

“Wait, you and Starlet aren’t dating?”

“No, why would you think that?” The geniune confusion in her voice took everyone aback, staring at her with the most how the fuck look she’d ever seen.

“What?”

“Okay one of you two tell her because I don’t think I can answer this without exploding.”

“How did you not realise you two act like a couple?”

“Oh Dakota, dear.”

Dakota could feel herself close to tears at the looks she was being given, everything was overwhelming why couldn’t they leave this topic alone.

But what was she doing wrong to give them that impression? Her and Starlet were close, sure but romance wasn’t on her mind; she was just their best friend.

“Okay, for one she always calls you darling and honey, no one else just you. The way you look at her like she’s the only person in the world, you’re always holding hands and cuddling when we have movie nights. The fact she’s here half the time sleeping in your room. It does kinda give relationship I can’t lie.” Fil spoke up, weary as Dakota stared back in wide eyed shock.

“We’re just friends, you can do all that stuff with your friends.”

“You can, sorry for assuming that.” Cheddar spoke softly, noticing the defensive tone in the blonde's voice. Dakota could feel herself about to crack, giving an unconvincing “it’s okay” before shooting up and leaving the flat with only the cardigan on her and her keys.

She needed space, focusing on keeping her breaths slow and steady as she sped down the stairs and out of the building, walking aimlessly around campus and cursing herself for not grabbing something warmer as the autumn air crept around her. At least the sunset was pretty, sight calming them enough to text Starlet and ask her to meet them on the bench that overlooked the whole of their campus.

Sitting there and people watching was one of Dakota’s favourite things. Staring as people came back from studying but feeling that same sinking feeling in her stomach as people kissed and held hands.

What was wrong with her? Why was this so foreign? Was she broken?

Starlet arrived just in time to stop her spiralling, putting a supportive hand on their shoulder and pulling Dakota into a warm embrace.

“Are you okay?”

“They asked me about romance and I panicked.”

“Oh god, I got that too.” She sat down next to Dakota, keeping their hands intertwined as she turned to face her.

“Am I broken?” Her voice cracked, the feelings she’d been holding back breaking out as tears clouded her vision.

“No, you’re just different than them. You’re not the only one. Everything you’ve said, I feel it too. Relationships are so complicated why do they have so many unwritten rules that make you a couple? Why can’t people just be friends?”

“I know right! I can get everything I’d get out of a partner from a friend.”

“You can! It’s so stupid how everyone is so focused on only one type of love.” None of if made sense to Starlet, that was one of the things her and Dakota had bonded over. Romance was so confused what was the point?

She then noticed how Dakota shivered as a strong gust of wind blew by, quickly plucking the hoodie out of her bag and passing it to the taller girl.

“I’m fine.” Her words were hollow as her body continued to tremble as the wind picked up again.

“You’re shivering, put it on.”

“But-“

“Dakota.” Starlets voice was sharp, making her shrink back and slide the hoodie on, thankful for the warmth even if it was hard to accept help sometimes.

“Hey, when it’s cold you become Dakota Shiver,” Starlet grinned, laughing as Dakota shoved her side lightly.

“You’re so stupid,” Dakota smiled at her fondly, a sight that always made Starlets smile grow wider. Her face just exuded joy sometimes and it was her favourite thing to see.

Dakota leant into her, letting Starlet wrap her arms around her torso to keep them close. She appriciated the silence, nestled up against the one person who understood her. Her mind wandered, wondering how she got so lucky to find someone on the exact same wavelength. Maybe that was what drew her in at first, a magnetic force of being kindred spirits and deep down knowing they were exceptionally compatible.

Her eyes fell on the smaller blonde, noticing the small smile on her lips as she gazed off, her thumb gently caressing the spot it rested on her thigh.

Dakota’s thoughts lingered on her earlier point, getting everything she could want from a friend, soemone who wouldn’t assume that her affection was flirting and not just a platonic display of love.

Someone like Starlet. Who got it.

Dakota kept her eyes trained on her, unconsciously smiling when her gaze flicked down to meet her stare.

Starlet raised an eyebrow, half expecting Dakota to say something though they stayed silent, contemplative or something.

She sat up, only then realising how close their faces were, Dakota’s desire for touch won out as she leant forward and planted a kiss onto Starlet’s cheek.

Starlet felt her whole body warm at the act, returning the gesture to a smiling, giggling Dakota who wrapped their arms back around and returned to the spot nestled against her chest.

“Don’t need a partner, I’ve got you.” She murmured, staring up at Starlet with a warm gaze.

“And I have you too.”

[chaseprice]

hi!! hope i’m not a bother. i just came across u and i wanted to ask something,,,

basically, i joined the life is strange fandom in 2018 so i never got to experience the pre-bts era, meaning i didn’t get to experience what rachel was like to the fandom back then or see the different interpretations of her.

i did some digging and i found some fan content of her from 2015-2016 & i’m absolutely infatuated with all aspects of the fanon version of her, especially her personality & how she looked. i totally wanna embody her. also the love is strange vn was so interesting to play, i love how she was written. i’d love to know more!

i stumbled across ur blog while i was doing my digging and i saw an old long post of urs saying how bts didn’t live up to the fandoms expectations, as almost everyone perceived her differently.

sorry for all the yapping LOL but what i basically wanna ask is,,, how *exactly* did the fandom perceive rachel back then (2015-2016). what were some popular headcanons for her? things you guys even considered to be canon? what were some of your own *personal* headcanons? (can be silly, realistic,,, just anything you thought resonated with her)

do you have any favorite arts from that time period that you thought really captured her? what were your hopes for the prequel/rachels character before it was released? what did you want to see in terms of story? was rachel’s style, appearance, & personality extremely different than what you expected? what did you expect?

i assume that rachels treatment in the fandom was different then than what it is now. whether it’s better or worse, i’m not sure. i was hoping u could answer that too😞. recently i’ve just been seeing constant hatred or lack of care for her character so i’m starting to think that if bts was written differently and based on the fandom’s interpretations instead, the hate now wouldn’t be this bad.

from my digging it seems like you guys had alot of fun sculpting rachel’s character on your own, and the interpretations were probably more realistic than what decknine put together.

anyway i’m sorry for the yapping essay on this random saturday, most old lis accounts are dead & i didn’t know who else to ask☹️. just trying to relive what you guys experienced the best i can. hope i’m not bombarding you with this. thank you so much if u respond !!

hiii u def did not bother me, i am not in a position to answer all of these questions, but although it makes me feel ancient, it's cute to see so much passion for rachel and pre-BTS fandom opinion, so i'll try answer some and for the rest (art, hcs, etc.) im just gonna have to direct you to my archive* (will continue under the readmore)

*(tumblr archive is so broken on mobile so you gotta go on pc for this, but also there's so many gifs from that time so it will Definitely slow down your browser). i was insane and 17 years old so like, just excuse all of the cringe content i guess. you can click tag and filter it by either #lis #rachel amber #amberprice or whatever to try and find stuff like art. and i got into lis sept 2015 so that's like, as far back as it will go, but i was fully lisbrained from 2016 through 2018)

to be honest, in alignment with pre-bts thought lmao, rachel is whoever you want her to be. there was less of 'this is a correct objective fact about her personality/history' and more 'yeah, this is an idea the fandom really likes and has become fanon, most likely because it is a nuanced and entertaining and realistic interpretation of what we have seen of her character in lis1' which means people whose opinions conflicted with that might've be contested/laughed at/unpopular, but they weren't wrong per se. there were plenty of people i'd criticise (and ridicule) back then for implying that this teenage girl was evil, and being a teenager myself back then, i'd call them morally reprehensible and cancellable and whatever, but tbh, as an adult now, i can just see that it was simply a boring interpretation of her character informed by misogyny

i'd disagree with the notion that fandom treatment of rachel's character was better before bts, back then there were plenty of people seemingly excited to characterise her as emotionally manipulative, a cheater, deserved what she got, etc. as well, bc tbh, the story did leave room for that interpretation, but it left room for so much more as well. i feel like bts just really locked in on a certain story they wanted to tell plot-wise, and didn't choose to explore a lot of the questions fans had about rachel as a person. it's hard to turn the ambiguity of a friendship turned situationship over a period of 4 years into a playable experience for an audience - so they didn't. regardless, it got people thinking about rachel more, putting a spotlight on her, hence increased attention both positive and negative. i feel like there's just a fundamental difference between what lis1 fans enjoyed about the potential for her character and how she related with chloe and the world around her, and what deck9 wanted to portray in bts (yes they hit the astrological headcanons, the charmingness, her rebellion, the emotional conflicts... but it personally felt hollow, contrived sometimes, i suppose). but there were a lot of people who loved bts (i enjoyed a lot of parts of it!). just, in my opinion, some of those were quite different people from who loved lis1, and with that wave it brought a lot of emotional immaturity to the fandom (like... ship wars, really? that was an insane change to fandom dynamics for me lmao, but maybe i was just spoiled by surrounding myself with people whose takes i respected)

anyway i highly recommend also that if you're hungry for that kind of content, read fanfiction on AO3 by the old fans - by Mogatrat (TON of rachel centric ones there), explosionshark and tippytypewriter, chicknparm (though Cusp is written post-bts, it's informed by pre-bts characterisations), vicepoint (me hehe), def many more good ones out there those r jus my friends so they come to mind first, e.g. i liked homecoming by kriegersan back in the day, but you could def find some more by sorting the lis ao3 page by kudos and reading the older ones that are highly rated featuring rachel. and lastly, my gf wrote a beautifully worded blog post called "The Assassination of Rachel Amber by the Cowards Dontnod and Deck Nine" which gets into some of this from a media crit perspective (not about fandom) in a very eloquent way thru comparison w twin peaks and i highly recommend that

rachel hcs that def started way before bts: skater rachel, stoner rachel, punk music listener rachel (but also like, fleetwood mac cranberries cocteau twins grungy hippy stuff rachel too), rachel's parents being distant and still living in california, curvy thick rachel, things that i've accepted as canon but were def created by diff people: bri explosionshark hc'd that rachel paid for chloe's sleeve, mogatrat (i think) hc'd that rachel initially went to get her nips pierced with chloe (that's a longtime fan hc now idk who started that one) but chickened out at the last minute, i think she also hc'd that chloe made the earring for rachel which is cute too

[every-aj-needs-an-angel]

hi!! i absolutely love your stories every time i see them on my dash but i’m always a little worried about the lack of attention they get, and i think it’s because there’s no cut in the post maybe? you know, how other writers will put a “read more” thing so the post will be cut and people can read on in a separate “window” if they want? i think that’s the convention and i think that would help you get out there, too, you know?

(you can add a readmore on mobile by writing :readmore: in a line and hitting enter, so the only thing in that “paragraph” is :readmore:, and then that should turn into a greyed out dotted line. on some versions of the app and on desktop there’s an icon for it, too!)

most people have the “shorten long posts” option turned off anyway i think? :D

anyway i hope this does not feel like an attack, i love your writing a lot!!! 💜 i just want more people to get to enjoy them too! hugs n kisses 💜

Omg I'm so sorry!! I'm so technologically incompetent I had no idea I could do that 🤦‍♀️

I'm so embarrassed I've been taking up so much space 😬 excuse me while I just go crawl in a hole 🙈

I hope I've fixed them all now and again I'm so very sorry

Thank you for letting me know and for teaching me how to fix the problem I appreciate it so much 💜

Honestly I don't expect anyone to read my daft little stories I was just posting them for the few people who like them and wanted to be tagged in the updates

I'm sorry

Thank you again 💜 hugs n kisses right back 💜

[rottenriku]

I’m back. Haven’t been on here in a hot minute…

Sorry for lack of Readmore, mobile isn’t exactly super friendly with those, unless I missed something if I did lemme know.

Fell down a Stranger Things hole and now I wanna cosplay Eddie or Steve… I think I’m a bit… what do the kids say now, thicc? For that. Also had my first audition in forever (small town theater, nothing major) still, if I can get my foot in the door somewhere that’s something. Gives me a reason to be excited. Got giddy thinking of the better half at a show, he’s never seen me act (thankfully…?) did get some compliments, pft… By no means trained to sing aside from a couple years with a college group for some practice but I can project if nothing else and I can carry a tune. We shall see if I’m acting or schlepping stuff backstage. 🤞 I don’t really care which I just wanna get back into theatre since I’m at least kinda competent near a stage.

[ardentieternum]

There was always something so bright about him. A fire, a passion, drawing you in. He was something out of a fairytale, a storybook hero with a smile that made your heart race, and when he turned that smile to you, how could you do anything but follow helplessly? And his smile was just the start.

His smile caught your attention, but you were never sure what caught his. It wasn’t instant, you didn’t even notice it at first, but slowly he began seeking you out just as often as you did him. You’d thought his smile would be your downfall, until it was his voice leaving you breathless. Even his adversaries would attest to his charisma, and being the sole target of that passion was nearly overwhelming. He’s a poet, a lyricist, spinning verses of pretty words with a genuineness that made your head spin, and you would have given him anything he’d asked for. All he ever asked for was your time.

You gave it readily. You wanted time with him just as badly. You let your eyes find his across the room when someone else had him for the moment, watched the tiny smile and discreet wave he gave you, that assured you he was thinking of you as well. And he always came back to you, always found a way to return to your side. He was never gone for long.

He was bright and overwhelming and perfect, and you supposed it was only natural progression that his hands were the next thing you started noticing. He was a gentleman, aware of himself and of you and careful not to let his touch stray outside what it would with anyone else, but that wasn’t enough to save you. The few scattered, friendly touches left you wanting more. The first time you took his hand was the first time you left him speechless, pretty brown eyes glancing at your joined hands in disbelief. You laughed at him, and he pouted over it, but he didn’t let go for a long time.

And after that, he got bolder. His touches were no longer simply friendly, and you very quickly learned just how tactile he was. His hands were soft, his touch always ever so gentle like he was afraid you’d shatter under his fingertips, yet he couldn’t keep himself from reaching out to you anyway. Your fingers laced in his, his arm around your waist, his hand in your hair- and then, finally, his hand cradling your jaw as he asked permission to steal a kiss. You never could say no to him, and you wanted it just as much.

And so, you let yourself fall. You let yourself believe all his pretty words and whispered promises, let the way his smile felt against your lips draw you deeper. He was blazing brightly and you willingly stepped into the flames, letting yourself get swept up in him. You let it continue, let stolen kisses turn to his smile pressed to your bare skin, let occasional visits turn into his clothes in your drawers and your toothbrush on the counter next to his. And it was good, he was good, caring and attentive and everything you could have wanted. He made two cups of coffee in the mornings even if you weren’t awake yet, leaving a note with a heart on it next to yours when he had work demanding his attention but didn’t have the heart to wake you. He made time for you even when he was clearly tired, his smile softer than usual under the weight of things he never talked about, claiming he didn’t want to burden you with his work. You allowed it, allowed him to keep this place of safety from the demands of the world, hoped he could as much comfort in your arms as you did in his. And his fire continued blazing even then, his brightness never weakening despite it all.

And then things changed.

If you’d have known, you would have been there, but if you’d have known he would have insisted you stay far away. But you didn’t know, neither of you, couldn’t have known of betrayal and fighting and deadly arrows. Part of you wished you’d been there for him. Part of you was grateful you didn’t have to see the blood. He didn’t come home, couldn’t come home, leaving a suffocating silence and an unwanted coldness in your room, one that sent you across the city to your own flat instead of his for the first time in ages. Just until you could safely go and find him, you told yourself. Just until then.

Eventually things quieted down, things settled, despite the lingering sense of unease hanging in the air. Finally you could replace your memories of him with the real thing, you need only find him, and he’d clearly hoped you would, leaving subtle signs for you to follow. You removed his little markers as you followed them, not wanting anyone else to realize what the little blue flowers led to. And then finally, finally, you found him. And you instantly regretted how long it had taken to come. He still burned brightly but that flame now soared out of control, a new heaviness in his eyes from pushing himself right to the edge over and over again. He still smiled when he saw you, but there was a worrying exhaustion behind it.

He still tried. Sometimes you wished he wouldn’t, wished he could see what he was doing to himself, that he’d understand your fear that a blaze so bright would soon stutter and weaken under its own force, but he was nothing if not determined. He pushed himself further and further, insisting it was alright, that he could take care of you, if everyone, and you hesitated, but you didn’t stop him.

You should have stopped him. You should have tried before it was too late.

You didn’t, though. You held onto false hope, and you watched as he continued on. You watched him struggle, and you watched him finally succeed, and you kept believing that this was it, that things would return to normal again. You watched, but you didn’t see. You didn’t see the lack of fire in those pretty brown eyes. You didn’t see that his smile didn’t reach his eyes at all. You didn’t see the resignation under the supposed victory, and you celebrated his success without him. You didn’t question it until the first explosion.

Your ears rang and your eyes stung with smoke, unable to look away as you watched him. He should have been celebrating with you, when did he disappear? Fear bloomed in your chest, you tried to call out for him, but you couldn’t make a sound, couldn’t do anything but keep watching as his own sword was driven through his chest. Ice flooded your veins and the world seemed to go still.

He was gone.

He couldn’t be gone.

He’d been gone for a long time, and you refused to notice.

When was the last time you’d told him you loved him. When was the last time you’d sought him out rather than letting him come to you, knowing the pressure he was under, that he’d put on himself? Did you even notice?

You didn’t hear the continuing destruction as you walked away. You didn’t hear anything but your own heartbeat, and the absence of his.

You made your peace with it, as best you could. You took his things and all the reminders of him out of your flat, packed them into a box and left them on a high shelf in your closet. You left the key he’d given you on his kitchen counter and closed the door behind you, brought all of your things back to yours and tried to move on.

-

And then he came back.

There’s a fire within him again, even if he’s changed. His eyes light up when they find yours, and you look away. You don’t see the way his face falls, the way he tries to hide it. All you can think is that you should have stopped him, all those months ago. That you’re the reason he was gone at all. You don’t tell him that. You tell yourself he doesn’t need you. You go home to your empty flat and push memories of soft brown eyes from your mind.

You still don’t see. You don’t see how his heart breaks all over again. You don’t see how his fingers twitch with the desire to reach out to you, to hold you again, just once more. You don’t give him the chance to tell you that he’s missed you, that it’s been years longer for him than it has for you, that he could never blame you for anything that happened, that he loves you.

He loves you, after all this time.

You loved him, once.

[shierak-inavva]

please ma'am i would like to know more about this 'obi wan gets sent to protect padme' au pls 👀

ok

ok so like, i’ve talked about this on twitter and i am gonna bring it here:

basically, my biggest gripe with the AOTC plot is why in the heck did a PADAWAN get sent on a high profile mission like protecting former queen and senator from naboo Padmé Amidala? even palpatine, at the beginning of the movie, mentions ‘master kenobi’ by name as a suggestion for a guard for padmé (and yes we know why, but still) so i went ahead and imagined a ‘what if’ for obi-wan getting sent instead of anakin—since on top of being a ‘familiar’ face that padmé AND her handmaidens trust and who already is a known name on naboo, obi-wan also already has bodyguarding experience under his belt.

now, factoring in that anakin stays at the temple for a bit and obi-wan DOES get like 3 days of vacation for the first time in....his life....then he gets a few days of just actually RESTING--in varykino, of all places, and with padme, who would literally let him rest anyway. so obi-wan gets a mini vacay. he gets to relax in one of the most beautiful places in the galaxy and padmé does, too--they talk about the battle of theed, about the senate, the jedi, about qui-gon, and for a little while obi-wan and padmé both get to just...breathe, and be...people. which is nice, and which tbqfh they both deserve.

there might not be a floating pear at dinner but there would be padmé watching him go through lightsaber forms in the early morning sun (either shirtless or yknow in some light clothes because fuck you i said so)

there's no balcony kiss, but there are some very lingering glances and smiles when the other isn't looking and some 'accidental' hand brushing...because they would ABSOLUTELY be slow-burn. obi-wan and padmé are both adults at this point, and both of them have obligations, obi-wan even moreso. but he's already known what attraction (physical and emotional) is like, what romantic emotions are like--he's not incapable of these things, he’s just reserved about them because he understands them, but his jedi teachings dictate restraint, and release. satine was still a figure in his life--he just made a choice, in the end, and do i think he regrets it? i think here and there he thinks about it, but i don’t think he fully feels regret over it by the time AOTC takes place. i think that comes later, when he sees her again during the clone wars.

now on naboo with padmé, he's faced with the same sort of emotions blooming up, and he would for sure think to himself about the choice with satine, about the jedi order, and about the repercussions there. so he might let himself get a little closer than he ought to, but ultimately nothing really WILD AND OVERT would come of it in AOTC, even if they'd been alone on naboo. there would be some very close calls, i think, for sure, but both of them are very good at keeping themselves guarded and very good at abstaining when necessary. again, these are two grown adults that have lived both of their lives with expectations weighing on them, and a certain behavior and standard expected of them. they aren’t two horny teenagers with nothing to lose and obi-wan would 100% respect padmé’s boundaries without hesitation while she would offer him the same respect, if maybe not so staunchly. padmé is for sure more flexible with her boundaries, but pair the two of them together flirting....i mean that’s a dangerous amount of chemistry right off the bat 👀

meanwhile anakin would be on coruscant and FRUSTRATED. not because he didn't get the assignment, though that would be part of it--the responsibility aspect—no, because they chose someone else to go protect padmé instead of him. hell, they could have sent mace windu and he'd still be frustrated and jealous as all fuck. but he still does as he's told. he just...looks into the dart. checks in more on the bounty hunter aspect of things because he’s SURE that’s a good lead after the zam situation. he's determined to prove himself, and if he can figure out who's trying to hurt padmé then she'll be impressed too, of course. and he wants that. a lot. obi-wan might have been sent to naboo but at this point anakin:

> is still VERY infatuated with padmé

> does not know about obi-wan’s romantic history and likely would assume he’s just boring her to death/that nothing would happen anyways

but instead of just consulting the council or the archives, anakin goes to palpatine.

palpatine offers NO help with the bounty hunter stuff.

but he DOES sow more seeds of jealousy in anakin's horny teen brain, and in the end anakin ends up jetting off of coruscant on his own. the movies just downplayed the everloving heck out of this but you KNOW palps was in anakin’s ear CONSTANTLY about obi-wan and padmé, stirring the pot.

now, anakin doesn't have the contacts that obi-wan does, but he's determined. i'm thinking he probably susses a few things out about the dart via the force; possibly with help from another master. kit? someone would help him focus if he asked. likely kit, or ki-adi, or plo, imo—he gets enough to at least send him looking for a bounty hunter and possibly towards kamino--but then the stuff with his mother comes up.

and he ends up on tattooine, with the lars family.

and shortly after the Sand People Incident™ is when he gets in contact with obi-wan--and padmé insists on seeing what's going on because she senses something is wrong and obi-wan agrees. (you can pry force sensitive!padmé from my cold dead hands) so anakin meets them at the lars homestead, tells them about his visions with the dart, about the bounty hunter and the feelings he got

and what better place than mos eisley to look for someone Seedy?

mos eisley has them run right into jango.

jango leads them to geonosis.

geonosis gets them all caught.

padmé is the one who sends a message to the jedi council about the geonosians and jango fett before she gets captured too--because you know they told her to stay with the ship while they investigate but then they took too long and she was like 'oh boy i better call the cops'.

the arena plays out like it did in AOTC, minus the secret kiss & love declaration. there’s a lot of ‘how did we get into this mess’ and ‘well you two took too long’ and ‘i told you i should have come in as a senator first’ and anakin trying to be very convincingly brave about ‘i’ll get us out of this’ which is aimed directly at padmé. honestly the rest of the movie would be VERY similar; i think whoever assisted anakin with the dart would wind up on kamino when anakin went to tattooine, and from there things progressed with the clones and the army gets to the republic.

but there's no clandestine wedding.

anakin returns to coruscant with the other masters, commended for his work helping the senator and with the dart. obi-wan and padmé likely have a small 'meeting' scene where she thanks him and he tells her he barely did anything—but there's some hand-touching, and some very meaningful looks, and they do kiss, just once. it's soft and quiet and not under the pressure of possibly dying or anything rushed by adrenaline or hormones, it's just a gentle kiss between two people who've had this building up for weeks; and in the end neither one of them apologize, but there's A LOT of body language that says they're into it and would kiss again--but obi-wan steps back, and padmé just smiles, and there's a shared understanding between them even if it's clear there's some amount of wistfulness.

“i hope your trip back to coruscant is safe, master kenobi," she smiles like nothing's just happened, nothing's different.

"and yours, senator amidala. may the force be with you." and he bows, smiling back.

but they do look back at each other again, and everything is different.

and then you get into TCW—and PLEASE imagine all of the tension there because these two AREN’T married, they ARE sneaking around but only a little; obi-wan isn’t near as brazen with things as anakin and he and padmé get enough time together in the first few seasons to really build some THICK tension between them. like i’m talking dangerous rescue missions, them having to fight their way out together, getting smooshed in tight spaces together, S O M U C H accidental touching, SO MANY almost-kisses....and then there’s the clovis stuff, which would play out way differently because obi-wan isn’t the jealous type at all and would absolutely trust padmé; and then satine shows up again and we get a whole arc of obi-wan dealing with these conflicting emotions and padmé coming very close on multiple occasions to just telling him she loves him but! supporting his decision no matter what and respecting his emotions, because she understands, and because she knows love is selfless and not possessive and she wants to be with him...if that’s what he wants, too.

but then satine dies—and she worries about him once he's back from mandalore, and there is possibly some very gentle and sweet comforting for the audience to enjoy 👀 the big season finale after that is maul holding padmé and another senator or two hostage and it's an ultra close call but maul dips out, bc it was just bait—and the season ends with him admitting as clearly as he can in Obi-Wan Terms™ that he loves her and padmé reciprocating. they kiss and it's very sweeping and dramatic, but now maul knows kenobi has yet another weakness uh oh...

anyways honestly all of this leads to ROTS being about anakin dealing with the jealousy that palpatine’s been feeding into: jealousy towards obi-wan about padmé, and about being overshadowed. it’s about anakin feeling like he can never have enough, about wanting more and more, about obsessive love and doubt—and when it turns out padmé is pregnant, anakin’s suspicions get confirmed and he turns to palpatine yet again.

IDEALLY padmé survives this movie and she and obi-wan go into hiding together with the twins, (or their child? i mean this is for sure up to interpretation for this specific au) and anakin/vader combs the galaxy for them, resulting eventually in padmé’s death and the separation of the twins, and giving some actual meaning to leia remembering her mother in ROTJ.

so yeah i just. have a lot of feelings about things and at any given moment i can and will talk your ear off about ‘what if’ scenarios like this hdkdjdk 😭💦

[kehideni]

This is gonna be an incomprehensible rant and i'm on mobile so i can't put readmore on it yet, sorry. I will when i get home.

This is a GW2 rant eventhough i will touch upon different things as well.

Here's the funny thing about Guild Wars 2:

Arenanet accidentally made the Commander into a character.

(Which i personally don't mind, but some people hate on GW2's story and i think it's because of this, even if they might not realise)

I (and funnily enough my brother too) realised this because of Caithe, if you believe. A little context for this because it's important:

My brother and i couldn't be more different if we were designed to be. From appearance to sexuality, to even our personality, we somehow ended up on the two opposite ends of "the horse". If we weren't blood related we'd be the two kind of people who'd never meet in life.

He inherited our mother's darker skin (which is why he is often mistook for POC) i inherited my father's white as death skin. If we stood next to each other you'd never be able to tell we are full blooded siblings.

He is a raging heterosexual i am a raging aroace.

When we were World of Warcraft players he chose undead warlock i chose tauren druid. (Interesting how both are Horde tho)

When we became GW2 players he chose human necromancer, i chose charr ranger.

And yet both of our very different characters' story came to be one at a point. We all know this and Arenanet had it's fair share of criticism because of it.

Where we both realised that our commanders are exactly one and the same is something different though, because what happens to your character after the core game might be identical but that doesn't write a CHARACTER.

What writes a character is their reaction to the things that happen to them.

In essence that's what @commanderyes does, he writes what his character reacts and thinks. That's what Commander Titania (@commander-titania)does too (and so they reclaimed their character and write their own stories that follow the events of GW2, their commanders have become separate from the Commander.)

My brother doesn't write a commander for himself, i kinda do and kinda don't because i leave the Commanders' reaction to the events what Arenanet gives them but i give the reasons for him (the "why" he reacts like so and so part)

To stay with @commanderyes 's example, he goes into details what his commander thinks and also gives you why. Sometimes those things align with what Arenanet writes for the commander, sometimes they don't.

But to get to the point: my brother has moved from our house long ago, sometimes he comes visit and when he does we talk about GW2 stuff.

One day he asked me if i noticed something strange about Caithe and the Commander. I at this moment wondered if he means what i think he does but i asked him to elaborate.

He says his Commander's (you know, human necromancer) relationship to Caithe seems off to him compared to the other members of Destiny's edge or even Dragon's watch.

We separatelly both came to the thought that Caithe was... err pushed towards the commander character more than others. (In lack of a better word)

And you know what? It just might be the two of us but there ARE signs that Arenanet sometimes forgets GW2 is an MMORPG not just an RPG.

The commander character is supposed to be you, just like in WOW your character is you. The difference is that in WOW your character is basically mute. Your character doesn't talk, they are only talked to. In GW2 your character talks, it has opinions, sometimes you can choose for them but most often than not their choices are prewritten, their reaction is given, their opinion is what Arenanet says it is.

Many for example hate Braham, like Mukluk. Mukluk's character though will always say he is proud of Braham and is shown to care for him no matter what Mukluk says.

Caithe was the first character where the Commanders' reaction to her separated the player from the commander.

When Caithe "betrays" the Commander, the Commander will always be angry with her, wether you -the player- feel angry or indifferent or even if you are aware that she was not in her right mind at the moment.

To take it further, the difference between Braham and Caithe in this regard is that Braham out of grief reacts TO the Commander to which the Commander gives a response.

With Caithe however the Commander is the one reacting to Caithe to which she has to give a response later. Just remember when the Commander needs to join the Shining Blade(funny how a charr has to as well) there is the final initiation event where the Commander is plauged with their doubts. In one part the vision of Caithe says something along the lines of "what is it about me that bothers you, really?"

And we never get an answer for that. Whatever Rytlock's or Eir's vision say are explained or refered to later. Even the one about Rox.

My aroace ass says that Arenanet accidentally forgot that not all players are fine with choices forced upon them, and they pushed Caithe towards the Commander (yes, in a romantic way) and my brother thought so too.

The both of us are fine with this. My brother because he is only here for the gaming and me because i think patching up the holes in GW2's writing is fun. But majority are not like that and for good reason. So the farthest they got with Caithe and her relationship with the Commander is a hella confusing co-parental one.

Ps.: i'd like to know your opinion about this because this way my line of thought is pretty one sided. But... you know, it's your choice ;P

[currentfandomkick]

Marinette did not sign up for this part 10: Mari plots plotting

So long time no post. I live. Ish. Also finally figured out readmore on mobile, so yay. Will take forever to edit posts now though. Explanation at the bottom First part here previous part here. Ao3 here

Marinette wanted to go on record that Mandeliev did not, in fact, give her an extra day or so to study for the test. Why? Instead, she was told she may do a paper on the application of physics in gymnastics and principles of evasion in urban areas and how to combine the two to maximize one’s ability to run away from akumas and other dangers.

Or as Nino put it: “I am tormenting you into running better, the eight page essay.”

Alya dubbed it the “Run Better Paper.”

Aurore said it should include more formulas when Marinette showed her the draft. (as Adrien would complain about lack of theories and how she should have used this advanced formula she’d never heard of instead and then Marinette would have to forcibly stop him from taking over her paper. Again.)

Kim had taken to keeping her in his hoodie, escorting her to the bakery and didn’t leave her alone until Adrien said it was his “Marinette Anxiety Watch” shift.

Which she would like to go on record, is just plain mean to say. She has Liar 100% under control when world ending things and metaphorical bomb drops aren’t happening to her constantly.

—-

Bruce tried to contact Diana and Arthur again. Hal was off world, and therefore useless.

Why?

As his missing son hadn’t contacted them yet. Was still in the Miraculous team’s custody. And he saw the footage of Robin—Damian—being hunted by a lving shadow, an element casting swordswoman, and a strategist that seemed to know exactly what to do to keep Robin cornered in battle. The living shadows—Chat Noir—tried to kill his son with Cataclysm.

That was when they were in public, and had Hal watching over them.

He didn’t want to think about what the kids might do unsupervised to someone that tried to kill Ladybug, openly stalked her civilian self, and apparently tried stalk her again, in broad daylight. And possibly may have revealed her secret identity…

From the comments, it seemed that the Parisians hadn’t connected his sons aliases to the pair, writing it off as “Copy-cat Vigilantes” thankfully. And none of them were revealing more than “so the Fashion Disaster tried to go after Chat and Ryuko’s civvie… Not A Smart CopyBird” was the most he was able to get.

His children, on the other hand…

——

“I Fucking KNEW IT!” Tim yelled. “I knew it was her!”

“But,” Jason smirked. “You didn’t tell us.”

“Soup girl, baby bat!” Cass said gleefully.

“Wait, we both talked to her—and you didn’t say you thought it was her either Cass!”

“So what I’m hearing, if my ears don’t deceive me,” Jason continued. “Is that you all lost too.”

“What—“

“Wait a minute!”

“No way—”

Cass shrugged. She was the least invested in winning. She got to meet soup girl, who is very nice and her parents are safe for Baby Bat.

“We don’t have proof,” Dick pointed out. “Didn’t you say something about her being a mouse?”

“I—”

“Well—”

“Yes.” Cass cut through Tim and Stephanie’s waffling. “She is.”

Dick rubbed his forehead. “How many secrets can one kid have?”

“Five?” Jason said without much thought. “Limit is definitely five.”

—-

“Let me get this straight,” Miss Sting began, watching Ladybug very, very carefully. Rena and Carapace were busy that night and couldn’t act as the team’s Common Sense Filter in person. and texts only went so far.

So the job fell to Aurore. To talk (probably Marinette) Ladybug out of a Very, Stupendously, Inconceivably Bad Idea.

“You want to trust Robin—the kid who tried to kill you—to contact his mother—an assassin—to talk strategy about how to take down Hawkmoth’s civilian life’s business, not kill him, and trust that they won’t kill you?”

“…I’m bringing Chat with me.”

“Ladybug.”

“What, do you want me to use a Lucky Charm to prove this is our best bet?”

“You know what?” Miss Sting threw her hands up. “Yes, yes I do.”

“Fine.” Ladybug threw her yoyo skyward. “Lucky Charm!”

A red, spotted ball with an 8 on it came down.

“… you have got to be kidding me.”

Ladybug shrugged. “Uh, Magic Eightball, is it okay to trust Robin with this?”

One shake later and the floating die window read “Without a Doubt.”

“Give me that.” Miss Sting scowled, shaking as she asked. “Should she bring someone besides Chat and Robin—like someone from our team or Wonder Woman or Aquaman?”

The ball answered “Outlook not so good.”

Miss Sting glared at the magic eight ball. “I can’t believe this!”

Ladybug shrugged. “Lucky Charms are Lucky Charms—and I gotta go.”

Miss Sting checked her beeping spinning top. Someone was just akumatized.

“Re-charge first!” Miss Sting yelled before swinging ahead.

—-

“Oh, hey, when’s Demon Spawn going to contact us?” Jason asked as other bats calmed down.

“He’s not answering his communicator.” Bruce growled. “Hal took it earlier.”

The bats paused at that.

“Well then. Trackers?”

“Disabled—what? We didn’t need anyone crashing the apology and he ran off before I could stop him,” Dick defended. He is not Damian’s keeper. Just his Batman (as yes Bruce, he is Damian’s Batman and Damian is his Robin. Current masks not-withstanding).

“Then how are we supposed to find him?” Stephanie asked as the room grew uneasy.

No one answered that.

“How’s this,” Tim began. “Me, Steph and Cass agreed on who Hawkmoth probably is, each of us has a different set of evidence for it—and I’m counting breaking into his evil Liar and the cameras catching him mid-act a few minutes ago as absolute proof.”

“I’m sorry, you did what!” Stephanie leaned over Tim’s shoulder to see. “Oh shit. Isn’t that guy—”

“One of her friends? According to their private Instagram accounts, more like partner in crime and possible Chat Noir. I mean, he’s the one that calls her his “everyday Ladybug” and voices Chat Noir in everything." Tim answered idly. “My money’s on him not knowing at all.”

Bruce twitched. Then began to add ‘stalking social media feeds’ to his to-do list tonight.

“So,” Tim stepped forward. “I suggest we send this to the Wonder Woman and ask for Robin’s comm to be returned, and failing that, I bugged the video so anything they play it on, we get access to its IP and can find where they are.”

“Have Oracle go over the bug, just in case,” Bruce told them. “In the mean time, the rest of you suit up for the night. Gotham needs its vigilantes.”

—-

Marinette wanted to go on the record that her plan (to keep the bats away) was going well. Deciding what to do with Mu—R—Damian. Damian. Damian and his offer, was a challenge.

For obvious reasons, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and Aquaman were against her asking a bunch of assassins for their help. Chat has more than a few reservations. Carapace, Rena and Miss Sting gave her looks for that plan.

But.

But it would work. She needs more information on how to make the plan burning in the back of her mind work. It’s a lot of chaos (and she may thrive in chaotic battles but this wasn’t her usual battlefield, and her team didn’t know who they were going up against for once). And Marinette? She needs to know its not just her doing this when its so out of her depths.

So despite literally everyone and their disagreements she had Chat on her right side with Damian on her left, meeting up with his Crazy, Semi-Immortal mother. And possibly his Immortal, former Black Cat candidate, grandfather.

Why?

As Marinette isn’t trusting the likely cult that makes up the Gotham Ghost Gang (Batfam if you like them) when she can get real advice and vague directions to immortal and allied (loyal and terrifying) assassins.

And yes, she wasn’t sure if Liar was wrong or right when they said it was a bad idea too.

But fuckit she’s already got Kaalki at her shoulder, looking a bit bored at the deserted rooftop that Kaalki chose for their meeting.

“داميان*,” the woman smiled at her son. “It’s good to see you.”

“Mother,” Robin greeted. “This is Ladybug and Chat Noir. Ladybug wished to speak to you about potential strategies to take down an enemy outside of battle without violence,” Damian stressed.

“I am well-aware of the Kwami and their Chosen, اِبْن.**” The woman spoke calmly. “The League of Assassins formed to act as the Black Cat to restore the world to balance and un-burden the Order with its maintenance.” The woman offer Ladybug her hand. “I am Talia al Ghul, and I am at your service, with or without violence Ladybug.”

Marinette took her hand. “Thank you Talia. Our target being directly exposed like I planned would have…” Ladybug trailed off, thinking over the ramifications not only to Adrien, but to the whole of Gabriel’s brand, workers and all that worked with them. “Some intense ramifications I’d rather avoid.”

Talia nodded her head, waiting for more information.

“I believe its possible to topple them without affecting their employees by uncoupling them from their business, but doing so is, well, stocks and economics isn’t my strongest point.” Ladybug admitted a bit sheepishly.

“I would suggest,” Talia began, “to create a bit of chaos in the stock market. Perhaps a rumor here and there, let investors pull out and grab the abandoned stocks quickly. Consolidate them under one owner and become the company’s owner.”

Marinette twitched a bit at that. “That… sounds complicated.”

“Oh, but it isn’t. My son knows just how to that, or did you forget our lessons?” Talia asked coolly.

Damian twitched at Marinette’s side. “I did not.”

“You know,” Chat chimed in. “I do know a few things about those things. If its general chaos, well…” Chat’s face twisted in a way Marinette forgot he could do after that Chat Blanc episode.

“… I will take that into consideration.”

“Anything else?” Talia asked, watching Ladybug and her son. Specifically, how her son seemed glued to the girl’s side. “I am certain my son is able to take out your target, if all else fails.”

Damian scowled at Marinette’s side.

“However, I do believe that whatever is happening, whatever has you active, might require a more… experience hand.”

Damian brushed against her side. Code for ‘Possible Danger.’

“Thank you for the offer,” Chat moved in front of Marinette. “But mi’lady and the Guardians have that much handled.”

Talia’s eyes shifted from Chat to Ladybug, staying on her. “Is that so?”

“Yes. I merely needed more information on how to execute this type of plan, that’s all!” Ladybug almost, almost slipped into Marinette while Liar, while silenced for the moment, prodded the back of her mind. “I want to minimize collateral damage as much as I can, to everyone. The kwami already said they get to chose the target’s punishment.”

“Ah, I see.” Talia relaxed then. “You are following the kwami’s wishes. I will respect their wishes as well, Chosen.”

Marinette categorized this interaction as one of the “not too horrible, but will avoid a repeat” once they left.

—

*Damian in arabic

**son

so we have Talia now as a Player, sort of. she plays by her word pretty well so hopefully its a cameo more than anything else.

any ideas on how JL will handle the video, and if Miraculous Team should see it and freak out or only LB and keep on the dl while JL assissts in her Chaos Plot?

End of update. Will have to repost from ao3 on my phone now as desktop tumblr is being exceptionally rude. Tags always open, just takes me a bit to do—sorry to vixen for vanishing from tags

TAGS:  @heldtogetherbysafetypins @laurcad123 @raisuke06 @chaosace @jeminiikrystal @toodaloo-kangaroo @kris-pines04 @bisha43rbs @izang @dreamykitty25 @emu-lumberjack @vixen-uchiha

[firespirited]

Chopstick curler from aliexpress.com/item/33044199384.html arrived, it has temperature control and is compatible with eu voltages. I've tested it once and me-proofed it = covered it with foam to protect from falls as it doesn't feel super sturdy like my curling irons which have been dropped quite a few times. It's 9mm wide, I couldn't find smaller with low temps and I need the lower temps for saran and nylons. I did 130°C 20 second curls on sarcelle's kiwi hair because I'm a bit wobbly today - it made 20mm wide curls. The built in system is made to go straight to 180°C so you have to press down multiple times and wait for it to stabilise around 120° before touching saran. It won't stay close to 100°C (boiling) as it's built to do 4 different temperatures: around 115-120, around 135, 180 and 200. Next test will be finding out if it can handle saran without accidentally going too high and melting it. will keep you posted. They do farenheit version for us voltages, they’re cheaper too. the keywords are 9mm hair iron.

readmore for longpost

So today i watched Daniel Shloss’ X and got gut punched quite a bit at the end there. Hannah Gadsby Nanette levels of oh lol then oof @.@ (Her second show Douglas is non stop hilarity from beginning to end, very quotable too. I know use “to pufferfish” quite a bit)

Sorry for the lack of reblogs, tumblr goes nope on desktop and goes yep on mobile but then “woopsie oopsie we might have to try that later uwu”. I prefer the first at least it’s honest.

Internet’s still borked, repairs promised by sunday but did a bunch of searching and the rot goes deep. The copper wiring is degrading and they “forgot” to do maintenance because there was going to be a big fiber optic infrastructure: everybody connected by 2020 project which would have made the copper cables obsolete, as far as I can tell they took the fiber project money and then stuff only happened in the big cities. Our region is particularly affected, our officials are having to harrang the company and last month they managed to get 600+ downed phone poles and their snapped cables back up in our small departement by getting the prime minister involved. I’m sure Orange will ask for more tax money when it’s actually time to put down fiber cables in 5-10 years: public interest and lots of employment and bla de bla. I wish governments did backsies, like “we’ll float your bank but it’s just a loan and we will come collect as soon as you’re safe, you can pay in installments if that works better for you but there’ll be interest, you understand of course”

Regarding the curler, something unusual but not entirely surprising happened : i put on the tight anti heat glove and about 10-20 seconds later was flooded with relief. I'm not good at recognising dull pain due to being in constant pain but apparently a tight glove makes my hands hurt a lot less. I need to shop around for the right pair, maybe try several or a combo for this autumn and winter. So that was an interesting find, bit of an eye opener.

Things would be great if they turn out to be not too much work: I treated myself to LitDH Midge looks like her hands are stained and her hair damaged but fingers crossed she’s not too badly wonked and a Violet Willow cheerleader head to replace wave1 who’s very grey toned in the face and just doesn’t spark with me. They’re just dolls. no big deal. but it would be nice to have pleasant surprises rather than unpleasant ones for a change.

Things I’d really, really like to work out just right: That cutie Jade is potentially, maybe, we’re still don’t have enough info, sis’s new dog adoptee. I'm not exactly in a state to do extra walks or training but sis needs her, she needs something, anything. She's been in a deep depression for a while. I personally think she needs a puppy to take all her attention and bond to her. But the right puppy is not easy to find, with adult dogs at least you know their temperament and Jade (8 yo griffon) is apparently very chill and sweet. I'd love for sis to also get her creative and consuming media mojo back. Right now she's so worn down but still trying to be upbeat and it’s heartbreaking because i’ve been there and it’s horrid but all you can do is be supportive and hope it passes sooner rather than later. I’d love for a clear sign that this is *the* right or wrong pet for her.

[chaelinsbitch]

i’ve been itching to get this out of my system bc i see it everywhere 😭😭 like okay, i know ppl end up marrying/loving ppl who share similar features to their family (as that’s who’ve they grown up with) but like when white men marry poc women? or when white men with white parents marry black women i can’t stop thinking abt how that got into their system and my mind spirals to the fact that do these men like these women bc of they view them as “exotic” objects or do they enjoy the power control of being a privileged white man? idk i’m sorry but interracial relationships including white ppl never make sense to me even if it’s a white woman and a poc man. i get that their surroundings influence them too likw maybe they grew up in a poc neighbourhood or something but other than that it doesn’t sit right with me...... then i start feeling like one of those old baba’s that preach abt how bad whites are😭 ok sorry i always feel the need to share my deep thoughts with you bc not many are up for convos like this 🙏🏼 have a great day tho😎

BDJDHDB LMAO I'm dying seeing this out of the blue 😂😂😂 the way your mind works is so beautiful <3 I'm on mobile rn but I'm gonna try putting this in a readmore cuz long pointless rambles so let's hope it works lol

nah but I was lowkey thinking about this topic the other day too lmao and tbh idk man. Clearly a lot of relationships have worked out for ppl in white/poc relationships so either the poc (I guess it depends on that person's individual experience growing up as well) so I guess there is a point of understanding on both parts in terms of one partys lack of knowledge of the others experiences (aka white ppl being open to being an "ally" and learning of their poc partners background and/or experiences) and it's def different I feel for ppl like us who have more cultural connections to their family's cultures than other poc ppl yk. Like with ppl who grew up essentially the same for the most part except for some aspects of their family/culture/skin it would be easier? Maybe? Idk fjdhdj Highkey honestly I would never be w a white person either LOL even w Brown girls Ive seen a lot of them end up w white guys and every time I'm just like..okay girl are u tryna #escape ur family and experience #freedom or whatever cuz idk why else u would get w a mayo.... Idk man. Like I know that there are white ppl out there who are I guess #woke (even guys? I guess?) So it's easy to be around them at some level idk???? Like idk even w friends I've had some good white friends but I've also had plenty that have been absolutely exhausting for a lot of reasons and I could not imagine living the rest of my life like that 💀 but Love is Love I guess idk bdjdbd maybe it doesn't help that I don't have much relationship experience either LOL. But yeah I mean (white) ppl who have grown up in more diverse communities I guess are more likely to be more open and such? But I've also seen a lot of ppl fetishizing their partners and their mixed children as well so :/ sorry my rambles are so all over the place idk exactly where I'm tryna go w it rn hdidhdb other than I guess at the end of the day it's about the ~people~ and ~love~ or whatever? (Love isn't real tho so 🤷‍♀️) but I also agree with u completely LOL we can both be babas on our rocking chairs preaching to all the children who we force to listen to us ♥️

[livvywrites]

[ id: an image reading #fff62: let me go ]

Okay so my sleeping schedule & brain fog FINALLY cooperated enough to let me participate in Flash Fiction Friday again!!! It’s been. A long time lol.

This is a tad bit experimental, and while I’m pleased with it in some ways I’m not sure it’s… perfect? Or exactly what I was trying to go for, anyway.

But! I’m proud of it :)

Thank you to @flashfictionfridayofficial for the prompt & the banner!! (& sorry for the lack of a readmore, i’m on mobile!)

((sorry for the re-post—ended up on the wrong blog))

—

The Phantom and the Once-Lover

“Do you think this is what I wanted?“ the Phantom asks, blood on her lips, dribbling down her chin. “Do you think this is the memory, the legacy, that I wanted to leave behind?”

Her Once-Lover does not meet her eyes. Instead, side-stepping the phantom; continuing her walk down the long and dusty road. She has a promise to keep.

The Phantom shrieks, but follows as if pulled by an invisible thread. “Let me rest!” she demands. “Unbind me from your thoughts—unbind me from this world.”

“You asked me not to do that,” the Once-Lover replies. She pushes a stray strand of hair back where it belongs. Her hair needed rebraiding days ago… but she cannot bring herself to sit and complete the task. Sitting means stopping. She doesn’t want to stop.

Her beloved asked, choking on her own blood, not to be forgotten. The Once-Lover promised—and she will do everything in her power to keep it.

She started with their home, filling it with tales of their deeds; tales that would spread far and wide, told and retold. But that was not enough. Not for the Once-Lover.

So she set out on one last great adventure, to the place where land meets the horizon.

They say there you can find a great expanse of water, and by that water is a city. A city of grandeur and wonder, the likes of which hasn’t been seen since the Great Collapse. There, they say there is a Record Hall, of stories from time immemorial.

If she can get there, she can record her beloved’s tale among those stories histories—and ensure her beloved’s memory lives on for millennia.

And when that is done—her journey will take her to one final place. For further down the coast is said to be a Spirit Door. To enter is to leave the land of the living behind forever, and join the dead in their hall.

If she crosses through, she can be with her lover again—her real lover, not this phantom left behind. For this is not her lover, even though it wears her dying shape. Her beloved, even in death, could never be so cruel as this.

Of course, it is possible that these tales are lies, and her journey is all for naught. She will instead reach the coast, or never reach anywhere at all, and be consigned to the fate of a husk—wandering the world forever, slowly rotting away into dust.

She’s passed more than a few of them on her journey; their sightless eyes and ambling step something that was once eerie and repulsive. Now she fills only pity—and no small amount of dread.

“I didn’t know what I was asking,” the Phantom says—pleads, really. “Please. Let me rest.”

“Soon,” the Once-Lover replies.

The Phantom wails, and blood dribbles further down her front. It disappears before it hits the ground.

“I hate you!” the Phantom spits. “Just—let me go. Forget I ever fucking existed.”

The words sting, but the Once-Lover ignores her; hiking her pack further up her back, letting her footfalls grow heavier and more determined. No matter what trials she faces, she will not give up. She will find the City and the Doors—or she will rot away and become a husk.

Either way. At least this ends.

—

read on my site here!

forever tag: @aslanwrites | @alternativeforensicscientist | @idreamonpaper | @half-explored | @quilloftheclouds | @tragedyshow | @firesidefantasy | @run-journalist-run

[atrillies]

I want to talk about one of Oscar’s character inspirations for a minute....

‘The Little Prince’

This is going to be long cause fuck if I’m bad at explaining stuff but the plot of the book will be in black and my thoughts and explanations will be in blue.

(also idk how to do readmores on mobile sorry 😂)

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The story is set in a desert and is a conversation between the Prince and the Narrator (who is a adult pilot who learnt as a child that adults are unimaginative, stubborn and lack understanding)- and the story itself is about how children are more open to change than adults.

I would first like to mention that Oscar and Ozma seem to share a lot of similarities in character inspirations etc. They share similar features of tan skin and darker hair, share the same voice actor and represent a begining and an end. I’d argue that both of them seem to share character inspirations with Princess Ozma/Tip from ‘The Wizard Of Oz’ series and with ‘The Little Prince’.

In this case I would like to note that the story takes place in a desert, and that Vacuo is the only country that we have yet to explore. The leader of Vacuo, Theodore is likely based on Dorothy Gale (someone who both Ruby and Oscar also share character inspirations with), it is stated in the return of Oz that Dorothy ‘lost her way home’ which could parallel to the Prince and Narrator being lost in the desert.

You could also argue for the Narrator being bitter and thinking adults as being inherently bad people coukd parallel to Salem and her loss of faith in humanity and the gods.

Anyway in this story the Prince talks about his home planet, one that is very very tiny, where he lives alone tending to a garden so it doesn’t get over grown and caring for a sentient rose who claims to be the only one of its kind and is rather vain. He leaves the planet because of the roses attitude and then visits planets inhabited by a single person representing a flawed aspect of humanity.

Again this could very well respresent Ozma, who once lived in a sort of ‘paradise’ world and now after dying and being resurrected is thrust into a new much bigger never ending world. The rose here could represent Salem and how he cared for her carefully, but given the fact it is specifically a Rose it could also represent magic such as the maidens and the silver eyes. Especially as these powers could be seen as very unique.

One of which is a king with no subjects who still demands obedience. One who is a narcissist who wants nothing but flattery and praise. One is a drunkard who drinks to forget the shame of drinking. Another is a businessman who claims to own the stars and that he has to count them in order to give good business. One is a man ordered to light and extinguish a lamp each day and night, but each day lasts only one minute. Another is a geographer who knows nothing of his own planet as he never explores and only waits for others to describe things to him.

All of these sound like they coukd have been past lives of Ozma. We know that Ozma reincarnated as a Drunk and a King for example but even some of the others could seem likely. Perhaps the business man represents a life where he tried to control the magic of others and the relics, and the lamplighter represents how futile his overal quest is, etc.

The geographer tells the Prince to visit earth, where he learns that the Rose isn’t unique like it claimed. He meets a flower that explains the folly of man, a snake that tells him it can take him home and a fox that once tamed provided endless support and comfort and helps him to understand life’s meaning.

Again, claiming that the rose represents magic could acclaim to him having met someone with silver eyes, only to find out more of their kind exist. The flower could represent a character teaching him to overcome mistakes, and the fox a character who provides unconditional support after a period of hardship unlike anything anyone has offered him before. Finally the snake could represent either Salem or the Gods and their temptation to destroy the world via judgement day and end his curse.

Then he ends up in the desert with the Narrator, where he asks him to draw a sheep and is satisfied with the narrators vauge answer of a crate (with the sheep inside). After eight days of talking to each other they run out of water and search for more, then once finding water they split ways with the Prince explaining to the narrator that he will find happiness in the stars as he will know that his friend lives on one of them, before being bitten by the snake and vanishing. Leaving it vaugegly unclear if he ever did return home.

The sheep drawing here could simply act as a nod to Ozpin asking Oscar to describe Haven academy’s office in v4, but of course it coukd turn out to be something different. And then Prince finding solace with the Narrator could potentially parallel Ozma helping Salem to understand her mistakes and help her rekindle her humanity.

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Anyway this is very badly explained and organised and whatever cause I’m god awful at explaining stuff but yeah here’s some hot theory takes ghgh.... sometimes symbolism doesn’t have to be tied to once character.... like both Salem and Ozma fit elements of a part of symbolism while fitting others elsewhere and that’s fucking valid babeeeyy

[wiinryrockbell]

SHOW PICS OF YOUR ANIMALS 👀👀👀 please... 😇✨

what's the photo limit? idk I'm bout to find out tho

Marcy... we found her in our garage last may..? at around 3 months old and now she is a spoiled housecat who would not survive 5 minutes outside. She's p socialized and not feral like she was but she still gets set off by loud noises or sudden movements sometimes, and scavenging is still an integral part of her personality (see the picture where she has a green paw: she got into one of my paint pigments...) but she's very soft and silly and we love her so much. She got an ear infection a few months into having her and it cleared up but unfortunately her head is permanently crooked, hench her inquisitive look at all times.

Rose... a fashion model. Fucks? None given. Look? Impeccable. She's our older outdoor cat who we found with one of her kittens (who died a few years ago, RIP) on our neighbor's front lawn like 9 years ago? So we grabbed her and she'd obviously been dumped but we took care of her and she's the main cat who will sit on your lap when she's inside. Her nail are like knives with knives strapped to them and they hurt so much but she's so soft and I love her sm...

MY BABY GIRL... ELEVEN. Yes I named her after El from Stranger Things. In 2016 I was working at a vet's office and long story short, I brought home a 3 day-old kitten with the intention of fostering it, but that first feeding that night I realized I was gonna end up keeping it. Oops. El is temperamental, has the ugliest meow, does not enjoy being held or loved except on her own terms, regularly visits neighbors to hang out with them, and does not like Marcy unless they're beating the snot out of each other (playfully). I love her so much. She's my baby.

Kiwi!! We got him from our old piano teacher. I have no idea how old he is and neither did she. Loves to chew on my many earrings and I love to give him kisses and scratches.

I have found the picture limit so the dogs are coming in a sec. Sorry for the lack of readmore mobile sucks

[katal0gue]

Sorry for the lack of readmore I'm on mobile but sex cw

There's a lot of NSFW topics I want to talk about (for fun not bc I need answers/advice) but I feel awkward doing it on my personal social media beyond like joke y light references to stuff but I'm not in any NSFW groups and I'm so fucking socially awkward and the idea of making friends and feeling comfortable talking on like r/sex or whatever sounds like itd be hard for me at this point.

[beingatoaster]

I can't sleep again, so it's time to phone-post pointless snippets of stories I'm never going to pursue because my brain is only in it for two or three scenes

but anyway (sorry for the lack of readmore I'm on mobile):

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The explaining is the easy part. Geoffrey explains that the man was chained to the wall, the outside wall, where the elements and the wild ghosts could tear at him, and Tristan adds that he'd been beaten, and they have the success of the rest of their mission to bolster their argument, so Jeanne just nods and says, calmly, "God job, both of you, rescuing him," and that's the end of it. She won't harangue them about an impulse decision when it actually worked out well.

Figuring out what to do with him isn't so easy. Jeanne has been working on that, it turns out, because of course she has. It's been less then eight hours and she already has a written medical report, to go with the much longer one that Morgaine dragged out of them during her debriefing. One with some interesting information in it that neither of them had the time to notice while they were breaking him free.

"He's got magic," Jeanne says. "Or used to have it. Possibly strong enough that it was his profession, which would be inconvenient, because his magic's been completely burned out."

"Like, from overuse?" Tristan asks, cautious. "What kind of magic did he have originally?"

"Support magic, the healing mage thinks," Jeanne says. "Grounding and supplementing. He says he works with groundcasters often enough to recognize their patterns."

"Fuck," Geoffrey says, feeling his chest clench.

He remembers the lines of pain on the man's face, how he'd quietly, almost incoherently, begged them to just finish him as they were pouring disruption magic into his shackles. No wonder it had made him flinch and cower, if he was suffering from a recent burnout. Their magic would have been trying to pour into him, using his scorched-raw channels, and they hadn't even realized it.

Which makes for another question. "Who would burn out a groundcaster?"

"How would they burn out a groundcaster?" Tristan chimes in, focused as always on the tactics of the situation. "It's pretty much impossible to do it externally, they just channel whatever you're pouring or pulling. Even when Mom-"

And he stops, there, because it's a too-raw wound, still, even four years after. For all three of them, but especially for Tristan.

Geoffrey takes pity enough on his twin to finish it for him. "-it didn't burn Ma out. She did that to herself after."

"And it's a stupid waste of a groundcaster even if you could do it," Tristan goes on, now that the hurdle is past. "They're rare, and you can ground and pull through them even if they aren't willing to cooperate."

"If you're a bastard," Geoffrey adds.

"Well, yeah, but we already knew they were bastards."

And of course it's Jeanne, who doesn't have any magic, who understands it only in theory, who's already got the answer figured out.

"My guess, which will have to suffice until he's awake and coherent enough to question him, is that no one else burned him out," she says, setting the report back onto her desk. "Knowing his powers could have been used against his will, and knowing that those people are bastards, I imagine he burned himself out to avoid being misused. It would explain why they felt such need for punishment."

Geoffrey's chest tightens again. It's a brave thing, if true, and it makes him feel even worse.

He must be making a face, because Tristan frowns at him. "What's that look for?"

"I could have hurt him," Geoffrey says, and then corrects himself, hurries to cover his answer. "We could have. With the shackles."

"We probably did. It's better than dying of the beating out in the rain like that, though. Or being ghost-eaten."

Tristan doesn't sound bothered by it. He never really does. He probably wouldn't be fixating like Geoffrey is on the memory of the near-miss, the sharp bite of panic when a flash of lightning, in the last split second, had made the poor man's chains gleam, shown him to be a prisoner and not a ghost or guard. He can still feel a faint buzz in his own magical channels from the speed at which he'd reversed the spell.

"Tristan's right. What matters is that he's alive," Jeanne says. "His magic is secondary. We'll get him on his feet again, and if he hasn't got non-magical skills, we'll teach him some. Now, if we can take a look at the southern defenses-"

And that's it, problem taken care of. But Geoffrey can't help thinking about the man's battered face, the pain distorting his fine, lean features, the way he'd locked eyes with Geoffrey and asked him, plaintive, why he hadn't finished the blow. He's pretty sure he'll be thinking about it for a while.

[smitten-miqitten]

Repost because idk how to desktop but can’t do readmore on mobile :/

Era’s past reveal fic

The Past, pt 1

Ao3 Link

Era had been suffering a series of splitting headaches not unlike those preceding a vision from the Echo. However, no such vision was forthcoming, leaving her to fight against the pain with no relief in sight. Cid worried over her, trying in vain to ease her suffering, but nothing he could do or provide was of any help. After days of fitful ‘rest’, she was finally overcome in her exhaustion, falling into a sleep so deep it in of itself was worrisome. Unwilling to let her alone, Cid held her fast to him, slowly but surely drifting off as well.

….……..

Cid found himself standing alone in a snow laden forest, the cold of which curiously lacked the bone-deep chill inherent to the locale. The edges of the area seemed to blur and fade into nothingness, solidifying only once he focused his attention in one direction or another. Breathing deep, he was overwhelmed not with the scent of the surrounding pines as one might reasonably expect, but of lavender.

Strange.

As he took in the scene around him he spied an odd blue light emanating from the distance, bouncing off the falling snow in a misty cerulean fog. A faint, intoxicating music drifted on the wind, calling him toward it. As ever, curiosity bested him and compelled him forward as surely as the music, his surroundings increasingly bathed in soothing blue. The ground and trees and snow all started to devolve into gradient around him and a great Crystal came into view. The forest and all it held dissolved impossibly into a deep blue void before the Crystal, telling him in full certainty, in the odd way dreams do, that this was far from reality.

A dream. Of course, he was dreaming. Cid berated himself for not arriving to this conclusion sooner, though, given his experiences, one might forgive him for having trouble discerning the fantastical from the real. 

He paused to ponder this revelation, only to have a young Miqo'te girl run into his shins full tilt. She was frantic, evidently fleeing the Crystal in the distance. In terror she moved to hide behind him but, growing brave, instead stood in front with arms thrown wide, guarding him from the tendrils of light that pursued her.

The girl, too, cannot be real, as she is unmistakably Era – though she couldn’t possibly be more than 5 or 6. Her head barely reached past his knees, her tiny body all ears and fluffy, stubby tail. Turning her head towards him, large and twinkling periwinkle eyes gazed into his own with fear and determination. She would quit this place, but was not about to leave someone else to fall victim to whatever unearthly intentions the Crystal bore.

 But of course she wouldn’t.

Not knowing what else to do and hating beyond reason how the scene made Era tremble, he picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder, making hastily back toward the woods where the scenery carried more of the weight of reality. Tendrils of blue followed for a time, but grew weak and ceased as they passed beyond the treeline.

The pervasive feel of danger fading, Cid adjusted his hold on the child, cradling her so that she might be more comfortable. True to her apparent age, much of her earlier bravado had vanished and her eyes brimmed with fitful tears, though she stubbornly would not suffer them to fall. This youthful Era inexplicably took no issue with her rescuer being a complete stranger, knowing, as (or because) Cid did, that he was no threat. 

“Thanks”, she squeaked, in a tiny voice that was both Era’s and not. This voice gave rise to a thought that had been nagging at Cid since he had fallen asleep: This is more than a dream.

Though Cid took great pride in his mind and imagination, he was under no illusion that he could dream up an Era so lifelike. She was here, with him somehow, despite appearance and circumstance. Everything around him smacked of both hyperbole and truth, as if he were participating in some abstract amalgamation of her childhood. As if to punctuate this point, a number of buildings were quickly coming into view in the distance. Her home, he thought with a certainty he could not begin to explain. The buildings gave him uncomfortable pause, however. The architecture and green hued lights were unmistakable; the town before him was Garlean. 

“Whatever were you doing all the way out there? You’re from the town ahead, no? ” Cid asked, though he knew he already knew the answer. Nothing and everything felt like a mystery here.

He suspected, as strongly as one does when they know they’re right but cannot definitively say so, that the Echo must be involved. It must be. The telltale migraines should have been his first clue, but when they failed to reveal to her whatever it was they meant to show he assumed she was simply ill. That the air smelled of lavender should have been the second; it was the smell of her, her presence and her influence. How and why the vision, if it even was one, was feeding back to him was utterly beyond his comprehension. The only precedent he had was when she recovered his own memories, but this vision surely had nothing at all to do with him or his memory. 

“I was looking for snowflowers and I got lost. Tutor did warn me not to wander but… the big Crystal called me. Like she was my friend, like she knew me. She’s really pretty, all big and blue and sparkly, but the way she looked at me was so scary. I don’t like it.”

“Well, I think we’re well shut of the blasted thing now; I’ll not let it hurt you while I’m here. Let’s get you home, little miss.”

Era nodded, smiling, and snuggled in closer, gripping the collar of his coat.

“Please don’t tell Mama and Papa I wandered. Tutor said not to, and if Tutor says so the Viceroy says so. They’re ever so scared of him.”

“The Viceroy takes personal interest in your family?” A province then. She grew up in a province. Northeastern Ilsabardian, if the surroundings were anything to go off of, in the mountains. Cid wasn’t quite sure how to feel, his stomach twisting uncomfortably at the thought of what she must have endured at the mercy of his homeland. A guilty part of him was not unhappy that she did not remember.

“Umm hmm. He thinks I’m clever. Cleverer than the other kids, though I don’t agree. He said that if I stay smart, and be good, that I can go to the capitol when I’m bigger.”

Fat chance of that now, huh. They had reached the streets now, eerily empty, lights lit everywhere but not a soul around. Era pointed an itty bitty finger toward a modest home just off of a large, gated complex undoubtedly meant to house the Viceroy in question. “My lips are sealed. And…and you’d like to visit? The capitol?” Though Cid bore little love for Garlemald, it had on occasion crossed his mind that he’d have liked to show his former home to her.

“Not really.”

She hardly missed a beat. Cid fought back a laugh.

“I study ‘cause if I do he’ll keep being nice to Mama and Papa. I dunno why, but he’s not nice to everyone else. That’s why the other kids don’t like me, I think, but Papa says ‘there’s no help for the jealousy of others’.” She mimicked her father’s deeper voice, failing spectacularly with her much squeakier one.

Cid supposed she was right. “Aye, but you seem pleasant enough to me. I’m sure they’ll come around.” So she’d been but a puppet for other’s convenience since childhood…

They were nearing the doors of the small house, the light emanating from the windows warmer than that of those surrounding it, undampened by the cold metal and dark stone. Inviting. Safe. He could leave her here without worry, he knew, but… to leave her to whatever abuse she was bound to face as the favorite of a provincial viceroy… though there was no avoiding it, he struggled with the thought. To hand her, his very heart, as tiny and fragile as she was now, into such arms…

“Aera! Oh my darling, we were so worried!” a woman’s voice rang out from the hastily thrown open door, the Miqo'te mother rushing toward the pair and wresting Era from Cid’s hold.  A stern looking man, the father, followed not far behind. Era was the spitting image of her mother, and her father, though white haired and tan, bore uncanny resemblance to a certain Ishgardian Count.

“Mama! Papa! I’m really sorry.” Era (no, Aera) clung tightly to her mother, ears pressed back and voice sincere in its apology. Looking back to Cid, she smiled at him with a warmth he knew all too well. “I got a little lost on my way back from the library, and this mister found me and helped me home. Can he stay for supper?“ 

Not wishing to impose upon the family, Cid started to protest, but his curiosity and the cacophony of “Please? Pretty please?” falling from the child’s lips got the better of him. He merely smiled, shrugging at Era’s fervor. She seemed very keen that her newfound friend not vanish into the aether, and given she likely had no others he thought it fair.

Her mother eyed him warily, the center lens of his goggles to be specific, but after a brief, wordless consult with her husband she assented, asking his name and welcoming him. The smell of lavender grew stronger as she ushered him in, mingled now with the familiar scent of ceruleum, of all things. Hardly a common pairing.

Walking through, the scene dispersed into light.

……………………………………….