#theres still three more parts to this story.

[sassylegshayne]

support your local caffeine dealer: chapter two

I hope y'all know that when I said slow burn I meant it. here's part two, aka, meeting friends, lots of blushing and cute/awkward feelings. 1.2k words!

series masterlist🫶

Shayne looked forward to his busy schedule for the day, knowing he'd have less time to spend dwelling on his thoughts filled with you.

Things didn't exactly pan out that way, though. Each time the man took a sip from his cup, he felt a small pull of a smile at his lips. As he wrapped up on another shoot, heading back toward his desk, Damien shot him a text, asking about lunch plans.

He knew where he wanted to go for lunch but.. would it seem weird? No, he'll be fine, your shifts probably over by now, itll be a completely normal lunch.

He couldn't stop himself from hoping you'd still be there, but also dreading it because it probably didn't look too good for Shayne; suddenly going from visiting the shop every few days, to twice in one day... all for one reason.

Damien's voice carries on as the two round the street corner, Shayne peering a bit through the window and, yes.

There you were. And there came another smile this stranger brought him.

The bell jingling as the pair enter the small shop breaks Shayne's trance. It seemed relatively quiet for a weekday afternoon, though Shayne hadn't really been around this time before.

Damien asks Shayne about a couple of the menu items before the line shuffles forward, allowing your eyes to fall upon the pair.

Did your smile just get a bit brighter?

You and Shayne had the same thoughts on your minds as you tilt your head a bit.

"You do come here often, Shayne," you quip, chuckling a bit as he feels a laugh bubbling in his chest as his cheeks grow pink. Damien chuckles, looking to his friend with his brows raised.

"Wow, dude, I can't believe you might be the worst regular they have."

Shayne rolls his eyes, barely holding in a laugh he knew would be far too loud for a place like this. After a few seconds, he raises his hands in surrender.

"it's a cute little place, okay? very cozy, very warm." Shayne drawls out with laughter before calming himself again.

Damien says a few apologies on behalf of Shayne to you across the counter. You shake your head, still laughing at the duo.

Shayne spaces out a bit whilst his friend orders, his mind racing. He couldn't tell how he felt, if you thought it was funny, or maybe youthought it was ridiculous. He feels a nudge at his side, his eyes meeting yours almost made Shayne melt yet again.

"Sorry, I'll have whatever you made for me early, that was great.." He smiles a bit at you, the butterflies returning to his stomach. You nod, feeling your cheeks grow warm as you look down to ring it in.

"Do you wanna get some food?"

Shayne shrugged, chuckling a bit. "Surprise me."

You nod, ringing the two up before they find a seat.

Damien looks to Shayne with a poorly hidden smirk and his brows raised.

"Wanna talk about that, bud?"

Shayne raised his brows back, knowing his cheeks were still a bit pink, and the laughter he was holding back only made it worse.

"Talk about what, Dames?"

By some devine intervention, you approach the table with their drinks. You greet them, a warm smile across your lips. Shayne shifted in his seat a bit as Damien grinned up at you, the both offering thanks before you left.

"Spill it, there's something going on with you and her. Maybe not yet, but somethings brewing." Damien finished with a wink, prideful with his pun.

Shayne sat back a bit, relaxing into his seat as he took a sip, reminiscing on the flavor a bit before answering.

"There's actually nothing going on, seriously. We just met this morning, I asked her to give me whatever she liked because I was bored, and I really liked the drink." Shayne shrugs, quickly looking to his cup as he takes another sip.

He couldn't tell if it was worth it to spill to his friend about how he was feeling, maybe Damien had noticed something that Shayne didn't, maybe he thinks you feel the same.

Or maybe this is ridiculous, because, like Shayne said, you two had met this morning, he was feeling very strongly, very quickly, maybe he just had a crush, and it'd be gone in a week. He panicked; he'll give it sometime before he bombards Damien with everything he'd have to say, navigate this on his own for a bit.

You couldn't help it. Stealing glances at the boys table as you greeted and helped other customers.

You rushed through the last few customers as you see their food finish up, moving a bit quickly to grab it.

Since when would you do this for anyone, let alone a stranger?

But when does a stranger become somebody to you? Maybe these few interactions, these few minutes together can be something to you. His blushed cheeks and rosy nose as he holds in a laugh you're dying to here.

"BLT for Damien, and for Shayne.."

You break yourself from you thoughts, sliding the plates on to their tabletop. You look to Shayne, smiling softly as he sits up a bit, matching your smile back.

"Anything else I can get you guys?" You look between the two as you speak.

Damien shakes his head, Shayne mirroring his act. The two give you a small chorus of thanks, making you chuckle a bit.

"You two enjoy, I'm guessing I'll see you around dinnertime, Shayne."

You shoot him a wink as you walk back toward the counter, hearing some laughter behind you.

Damien cackles quickly, caught off guard by your comment, staring at Shayne who seems to be almost permanently blushed with how pink his cheeks were.

"I want you to know right now that I won't be here for dinner, I'm not that bad." Shayne attempts to defend himself through laughter.

"I really think that whatever you claim isn't going on with her, should be going on. I like her."

Shayne rolls his eyes, the boys falling into a different discussion or two as they eat. The two chat a big longer, Damien constantly catching Shayne's attempts to glance in your direction, but choses to keep it to himself. As the two begin to leave, you offer them a small smile and wave as you work, turning your back to them.

"Have a good day, but I won't be here tonight, so no need to wait around."

Shayne smiles brightly, chuckling nervously as he leans against the counter a bit.

"What a shame, I really was hoping to surprise you a third time. I was planning on giving you something gross."

You laugh, watching as Shayne sighs into a laugh, shaking his head softly, his thoughts falling to his job, more specifically Eat lt or Yeet It.

"Then maybe I'll come by for two meals again tomorrow, guaranteed good things."

You offer him a shrug, rocking on your heels.

"Then maybe I'll see you tomorrow, Shayne."

"Maybe I'll see you tomorrow, Y/N."

[sonknuxadow]

they werent lying that knuckles series barely has knuckles in it

[quaranmine]

in addition to writing i better get drawing if i want firewatch au out in any reasonable period of time. chapter one is basically ready to go, and has its one piece of art completed, but chapter two is shaping up to potentially have three or four pieces in it, and i don't have any of that done

because, of course, the wip drawing i do have goes in chapter three instead. since i'm smart in my planning like that

[arolesbianism]

Hi guys guess who's literally shaking rn from excitement

[gigifujijifu]

Ok so I first wrote a mess in the tags but by the end of it I realized the actual answer, for me, is not just following impulses for who I want to play but also: spreadsheets.

My boyfriend and I make spreadsheets almost as a hobby. We have... a lot of alts, so to make it easier we have spreadsheets for things like which alts we've done holiday events on, and which trade-able cosmetics we've unlocked on who so we can pass extras around without having to log into everyone to check (not that I collect anything in a completionist sense with so many alts).

I also made a spreadsheet that lets us mark which WT stickers we need that week and it will flag which ones we have in common with each others alts so we can pair them off to do them more efficiently if we want.

I realize it's excessive but it's a kind of fun project and I love all of my characters and my bf dearly so playing with them no matter who I'm on or with is fun and there's always something to do.

people who have alts on ffxiv

how do you do it /g

[shigayokagayama]

What are the biggest losses between the manga and anime? I just finished watching mp100 and I'm curious what the manga has!

ok biggest losses are kind of hard to define because like. anime and manga are two inherently different mediums and there are a good amount of cuts that improve pacing and then a good amount of cuts that people sort of argue over the merit of so im just going to go for biggest differences. i would also highly recommend reading the manga just because it is a pretty different experience tonally along with the minor plot differences and cut scenes + theres a bunch of omakes that both flesh out characters that dont get too much focus and have some really good bits in them. putting the rest of this post under a cut bc i ramble

mogami arc

this one is kind of inescapable i feel like but the anime version of the mogami arc had a LOT of things trimmed for a couple different reasons. season 2 already got an extra episode in order to do the fire scene as a cliffhanger so with the way things shook out the director had to choose between a. cutting a bunch of stuff out of separation arc to make it one episode so mogami arc couid stay three episode or b. cutting a bunch of stuff out of mogami arc so separation arc could stay two episodes. imo they made the right choice, whats even the point of adapting mob psycho if you dont get confession arc right, but some of the cuts to mogami arc will be dearly missed and others will be fought over to the end of time. cuts include:

minori being established as a brat in a video everyones shown and the video being part of how reigen deduces shes possessed (reigen deducing her possession in the manga is generally just a lot better done and after you read the manga the scene in the anime feels so awkward because you know whats missing

the psychics deciding to band together to beat this little girl to death to save themselves and shinra stepping between them to protect her and getting utterly thrashed, not by mogami, but his fellow psychics

reigen trying to convince mob to leave without him and call for help while he distracts him which leads to this

the general mogamiland section lasting a lot longer and being more brutal (notably the stray cat mob feeds getting killed in front of him)

mob getting fucking torn to pieces by spirits during the fight instead of ambiguously dying offscreen

generally would recommend if nothing else reading the manga version of this arc and confession arc because i feel like these are the only two where you lose like. a significant amount of the story and themes from the cuts. speaking of....

2. WHY THE FUCK DID THEY CUT THIS I WILL BE MAD UNTIL I DIE

maybe its just because i reread this arc on its own probably 50 times before the anime came out but this is the only arc where the cuts actively piss me off because there is absolutely no reason they had to do it. they cut a bunch of important shit, left in things that didnt need to be there, and added scenes that contribute literally nothing to the overall point. if they just did any one of those things or combo of two of those things i wouldnt be as mad but it feels like they put a bunch of filler in then speedran the actual story

cut #1 that pisses me off: HOMOPHOBIA?????

THERE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A HEART IN HIS EYE. WHY DID THEY NOT INCLUDE THIS. THIS IS THE CULMINATION OF TERUS ARC. THIS IS HIM SEEING THE PERSON HE HAS IDOLIZED AND DEIFIED IN HIS HEAD AT THEIR LOWEST AND STILL CHOOSING TO LOVE HIM, AND THROUGH THIS HE IS CAPABLE OF BEING LOVED EVEN THOUGH HES NOT PERFECT BECAUSE NO ONE IS. WHY WOULD YOU CUT THIS?

cut #2 I NEED WHOEVER CUT THE DIALOGUE FROM THE FIRST PANEL IN PRISON

the lack of inclusion of the first panels dialogue along with the cuts to the mob and shigeo conversation (WHICH WE WILL GET TO) make me think the person who adapted this arc fundamentally misunderstood what was happening. this line. is. THE POINT. THIS ISNT SOME SEPARATE SCARY THING. THIS IS MOB. HE IS CHOOSING TO DO THIS BECAUSE HE IS SCARED AND ANGRY AND HURT BUT HE IS IN CONTROL OF HIS ACTIONS AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN.

cut #3 HE DOESNT WANT TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR HIS ACTIONS

this entire conversation is so good and i was looking forward to watching it voice acted for so long and its just. gone. for me the "i am shigeo kageyama who are you" reveal felt like a gut punch because the opening being "i knew i would be needed" made me go "oh hes like possessed or his powers are sentient or something" and this conversation was the slow unraveling of my view of these as two separate people and instead as a scared, traumatized teenager who has convinced himself that the parts of himself he hates are something else outside of his control instead of an intrinsic part of who he is because if he's convinced that the parts of him that are able to feel desire and frustration and anger and malice are him then he'll lose all these relationships he's worked so hard to cultivate as his perfect, non confrontational self. and of course that isnt true. all his friends and loved ones are making their way to the center of a damn hurricane because they see he's in distress and want to help him. but he cant see that so he pushes them away. ugh. mob. protagonist of all time.

cut #4 WHY WOULD YOU CHANGE THE COMPOSITION OF THIS I CAN LITERALLY SEE HOW THIS WOULD BE ANIMATED IN MY MINDS EYE W

can you imagine how beautiful this would be in motion. just. god.

cut #5 HE WAS TALKING OUT LOUD. REIGEN HEARD ALL THIS

:(

cut #6 the bowling arc

so the scene where reigen takes his shoes off is supposed to be a lot more solemn bc like. taking your shoes off before killing yourself is a trope in japanese media (ive heard it started in media and bled over into real life but i might have it backwards?). reigen knew he was probably going to die. anyway i cant take this scene seriously because of this edit

the bowling arc.

cut #7 WAAAAAAAAAAAA

WAAAAAAAAAAAA *sniff* AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

cut #8 homophobia again

rip pensive fruity tea sip

cut #9 mob threw the cake directly in reigens face on purpose

i literally experienced every stage of grief realizing this got changed. why. its so perfect. why would you change this.

3. World Domination arc

so WD arc is in a very interesting place where it had a lot of scenes cut but unlike the other two most of the cut content youre like. yea probably best not to include that. ill start with the good content that got cut then go into the weird content

serizawa got his power drained by toichiro. i am quite sad this scene didnt make it in because its sorta heartbreaking

teru fighting off the claw assassin is shown and we see that teru can both make shadow clones AND hold a barrier while attacking, he seems to be the only esper with this ability!

the reason dimple could tell mob's family was alive is that there was no sense of grudge at the house which would have been left behind by people passing in a violent manner

mob briefly goes unconscious during the start of the toichiro fight and dimple possesses him and says "shit"

dimple possessing mob shoots shibata with a gun

we get mukai lore.

it doesnt make any sense and just raises more questions but we get it.

toichiro has a team of telepaths to recap where everyone is because this arc took an entire calender year to update

literally everyone shows up to fight shimazaki. i cannot stress enough how many people show up to fight shimazaki. it would be faster to list espers who dont show up to fight shimazaki

the middle school delinquents show up and start fighting the claw grunts literally completely out of no where and this is never brought up or referenced ever again

when mob and ritsu get home ritsu says all their stuff is in boxes and they need to hurry and redecorate the house before their parents get home which implies that shou packed the entire households worth of belongings into boxes and hid it somewhere before lighting their house on fire which is such a funny mental image that i cant even be mad at it. loony toons ass plot point.

4. other random interesting cut things

takenaka is just generally more of a bitch during alien arc. "ah i think they took him" remains one of the funniest goddamn panels in the manga

peak

alien arc overall is a lot funnier in the manga, i have a slight preference for the manga version just bc theres a lot of really good bits that didnt make it to anime but the anime version is so heartfelt and nostalgic it makes me happy

between omakes and small things that got cut or changed for the anime teru just feels way more fleshed out in the manga. like. anime teru is a completely different person. its hard to explain if youve never read it.

the all girls school part originally went right before the ghost family stuff and was the beginning of mob's existential crisis about why spirits and people get different treatment but tbh it works well where it is i just wish it werent. like that.

the scene where ritsu and teru shake hands was teru draining ritsus power which he seems to have learned to do from encountering ???%

teru.

ow

thats all i can think of off the top of my head, im sure ill realize i forgot something some time after posting this but. yeah. read the manga its good

[reidmania]

sharpest tool | s.reid

(chapter five, i know it wont work)

‘I left you here, heard you keep the extra closet empty in case this year, i come back and stay throughout my twenties. What if I won't? How am I supposed to put that gently? And down the road, you will love me until you resent me. Mm, mm, mm, i’ve had the thought, tried to work it out through anxious pacing. what if I'm not, worth the time and breath I know you're saving?’

summary; spencer wasn’t prepared to be confronted by the realism of what he had done, he wasn’t prepared to see that penelope had been hanging out with you.

warnings; mentions of ghosting, spencer’s perspective guys!! this is quite angsty icl, theres no real indication of why he did what he did (unless u can see all my hidden clues) fem reader, like always. if u guys have any assumptions or guesses about WHY spencer did what he did, drop them in my asks, im so curious.

taglist; @gghostwriter @lavonee @guiltyyassin @spencersinonlygf @criminalmindssworld @iknwreid @fortheloveofgubler @yokaimoon @sapphirecobalt-1 @eddiesdrummergf @livvyliv15 @lover-of-books-and-tea @sebastiansstanswhore @bloodredrubyrose @sp3ncelle @nemobee777 @jencole214 @hazzarules @ameerakane20 @lucere @cultish-corner @psyches-reid

2.4k words

SERIES MASTERLIST

The bullpen hummed with its usual rhythm—the tapping of keyboards, the muted sounds of phone calls, the faint rustle of papers. It was a familiar backdrop, something Spencer could usually lose himself in, find comfort in. Today, though, it all felt distant. His fingers hovered over his keyboard, but his mind wasn’t on the profile he was supposed to be writing. It hadn’t been for days. Instead, his thoughts kept drifting back to you.

Two weeks. Fourteen days. Three hundred thirty-six hours, and still, not a single word between the two of you.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. He hadn’t planned to cut you off. Everything had been going well, hadn’t it? The late-night phone calls, the texts that made him smile at odd moments during the day, your smile in the morning after he had stayed the night, the way you had slowly become a part of his routine. You were more than just someone he talked to—you were someone he had started to let in, fall in love with.

Spencer hadn’t meant to ghost you. He’d had no intention of leaving things hanging like that. But now, two weeks later, the silence felt like an unbridgeable chasm, and the thought of contacting you filled him with a strange mix of fear and guilt.

"Spence, you good?"

JJ’s voice pulled him from his thoughts. She was standing beside his desk, her phone in hand, a playful smile on her face. For a moment, Spencer blinked up at her, disoriented, as if surfacing from deep underwater.

"Yeah," he said quickly, though the word came out more like a reflex than an actual answer.

JJ’s smile didn’t falter, but there was a glint in her eyes that told him she didn’t believe him. "Well, Penelope sent me something you’ll get a kick out of." She tapped her phone, scrolling for a moment before turning the screen toward him. "Check this out."

It was a photo—a bright, colorful snapshot of a shelf lined with bobbleheads. Not just any bobbleheads. Your bobbleheads.

Spencer’s heart thudded in his chest as he recognized them instantly. There was the Star Wars figurine, the baseball player, the goofy doctor who bobblehead you’d joked reminded you of him. He could practically hear your voice in his mind, laughing as you told him the story behind each one. You’d shown him your collection months ago, one of the first times he came to your house, your face lit up with enthusiasm as you shared that little part of yourself with him, it was when you were both still friends, yet he had noticed the way you had began letting him in to the small things, all the things that made you, you.

But now, it wasn’t you sharing it. It was Penelope.

Spencer’s mind scrambled to piece together how this had happened, why Penelope had this photo. You hadn’t mentioned anything about meeting her, but then again, why would you? Penelope hadn’t said a word to him either. How had she ended up at your place, seeing your collection?

JJ, still smiling, didn’t notice his silence. "Penelope is having a girls night with a friend" she explained, her voice light and teasing. "And apparently, that friend has a whole shrine of these things."

Spencer’s stomach twisted. He hadn’t realized that your world and his had collided so suddenly. He hadn’t prepared for it. And now, here it was, right in front of him. The life he’d stepped away from was continuing without him, and it stung more than he wanted to admit.

"Hey," JJ said, her eyes narrowing slightly as she studied his reaction. "Why do you look like that?"

Spencer’s throat felt tight. He managed a stiff nod, his voice barely above a whisper. "Uh- its... It’s hers." He didn’t need to say a name, the team hadn’t met you, but they knew about you, enough about you.

JJ’s eyes widened in surprise, and she lowered the phone, her playful demeanor fading into something softer, more curious. "Oh�� I didn’t realize. Penelope didn’t say who it was."

Spencer glanced away, the weight of her gaze heavy on him. He didn’t want to talk about it. Not now. Not with JJ, and certainly not here, in the middle of the bullpen where the rest of the team could overhear.

"Spence, is everything okay?" JJ’s voice was gentle now, her concern clear. "You’ve been kind of… off lately. Does this have something to do with her?"

Spencer shook his head quickly, trying to brush it off. "No, it’s not that. I’ve just been busy with work. That’s all."

But JJ wasn’t convinced. "You sure? You never really said a word about her since… well, since you started talking to her. But now it feels like something’s changed— you’ve been so weird lately.."

Spencer wanted to mumble about how now there was nothing to smile about any more with the lack of your communication, but he chose against it. This was his doing. Before Spencer could respond, Derek wandered over, holding a coffee in each hand, his usual swagger in full force. He caught the tail end of the conversation, his sharp eyes flicking between JJ and Spencer.

"What’s going on?" Derek asked, handing one of the coffees to JJ and leaning against Spencer’s desk. "You two look serious."

JJ gave a small shrug, but her gaze lingered on Spencer. "Penelope was hanging out with a friend who has this crazy bobblehead collection. Turns out, it’s Spencer’s… friend."

Derek’s eyebrows shot up, his curiosity piqued. "Oh, that friend, huh?" He grinned and elbowed Spencer lightly. "The one you’ve been keeping all hush-hush about?"

Spencer forced a smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. "Yeah. That one."

Could he still stay that? You were everything to him, friend sounded like the wrong word to define you, but with what he did, maybe a nothing, would be a better word to define what you were to him.

That felt so much more wrong.

All of this was wrong.

Derek chuckled, but there was a hint of concern beneath his playful tone. "Man, you’ve been acting weird lately. You wanna tell us what’s going on?"

Spencer shifted uncomfortably in his chair. The last thing he wanted was for the team to pry into his personal life, especially now. Especially when he was still grappling with the fallout of his own decision to pull away from you.

"I’m fine," he muttered, his voice a little too flat.

"You don’t look fine," JJ said, her worry deepening. "You can talk to us, you know."

Spencer opened his mouth to respond, but the words stuck in his throat. How could he explain? How could he tell them the real reason he’d ghosted you without giving away too much? The truth was too raw, too personal. It wouldn’t be fair to tell them and not you. He just couldn’t tell you.

But how could he explain that to them? To you? How could he admit that the reason he’d cut you off wasn’t because of anything you’d done, but because of the fear that had wrapped itself around him like a vise, squeezing tighter with every passing day?

"It’s… complicated," Spencer finally said, his voice barely audible.

Derek exchanged a look with JJ, both of them clearly unsatisfied with his vague answer. "Come on, pretty boy," Derek said, leaning in a little closer. "We’ve all got complicated lives. What’s really going on?"

Spencer clenched his jaw, the tension in his chest building. "I can’t talk about it."

JJ’s face softened, her voice lowering. "When was the last time you spoke to her?"

Spencer’s heart skipped a beat, and for a split second, he thought she might know. But she didn’t press further, didn’t push for details. Instead, she just watched him, waiting for him to say something more. He couldn’t answer the question like she wanted him to. He deflected

"I just…" Spencer hesitated, his eyes flicking between JJ and Derek, both of them watching him with quiet concern. "I don’t want to hurt her."

JJ’s expression shifted, a flicker of understanding passing across her face. "You’re not going to hurt her, Spence."

Spencer didn’t respond. He couldn’t. Because the truth was, he was hurting you, he would get you hurt,—whether he wanted to or not. For the record, he really didn’t.

Derek sighed, crossing his arms as he leaned back. "Man, if you care about her, you owe her an explanation. Ghosting someone like that… it’s not fair."

Spencer flinched at the word "ghosting." He hadn’t meant for it to feel like that, but he knew that’s exactly what he had done. He had disappeared, left you hanging with no explanation, no closure. And you deserved better than that.

But how could he reach out now, after two weeks of silence? What could he possibly say that would make up for the way he had just dropped off the map? He knew he had hurt you, broken promises to not only you but to himself.

JJ placed a hand on his arm, her voice soft but firm. "You don’t have to tell us everything, Spence. But you should tell her something. She deserves that."

Spencer swallowed hard, guilt clawing at his chest. He knew JJ was right. He knew he owed you an explanation, something to help you understand why he had pulled away so suddenly. But the thought of opening that door again, of letting you back in… it terrified him.

Because Spencer knew, there was no coming back from the promises he had broken.

[jeffthekillerzblog]

a major plot point or like the entire thing about my au is just the creeps moving on and having their own character arcs throughout the years and finally heal from their past trauma

(rest is me rambling about my au...u don't have to read if u don't wanna its pretty long)

Jeff's arc is big on him finding his brother and coming to terms with what really happened. jeff is so incredibly stubborn and a big (very) egotistical. he finds it hard to open up and after what happened he feels that there's no point opening up anyway bc he's literally a famous asshole serial killer who's messed up SO many people's lives. another big thing about his arc is just owning up to his actions and apologizing to the people he's hurt. for example, nina. he led her on, treated her terribly for no reason, and was overall just an asshole. after they get into an argument he'll eventually apologize bc like he didn't HATE nina, he's was and prob still is in a terrible mindset and copes in such unhealthy ways. IDK OK I'm rambling but my point is he does eventually apologize to nina not because he needs her or like wants to use her again. he apologizes because he genuinely misses her and BOOM they become besties again after jeff properly apologizes and ya. BUT basically jeff's arc is him finally finding liu after all these years and yeah he apologizes to all the people he hurt (or the IMPORTANT ones) like nina, liu, and EVENTUALLY... jane. but that's WAY into the future (besides nina) he's way too full of himself to apologize now.

Nina's arc is her getting over JEFF. her love for Jeff began when she met him. she already admired him, but he turned into a full on crush. he did lead her on, and it hurt her a lot. shed spent tons of nights alone when jeff was supposed to be sleeping next to her, and she just felt so lonely, especially since jeff was so neglectful. She talks to clockwork about it and they help her realize her self worth and comforts her (she's terrible at it). Nina starts hanging out with Nat and toby more often, and it makes her feel SO much better about herself. Eventually she does get fed up of jeffs bs and they get into an argument and nina decides to leave. she kicks him out of her apartment and she doesn't let him come back. (she does....when he apologizes.....) She eventually learns to love herself and realize she doesn't need a stinky man's validation. Theres also a bit of her coming to terms with her own trauma, but I haven't fully fleshed that part out yet.

BEN's arc is probably my favorite. he's lost all his memories of his past life, and now after he accidentally found out he's NOT just a computer AI program, he decides to take it on himself to find out who his family was, how his life was, and how he died. I wont say as much bc I want to keep it a surprise, but in summary it fucks him up LMAO

ok that's it. OBVIOUSLY the rest of the creeps are healing as well BUT I have not fleshed out their stories yet...oops. so its just three for now. Except MUCH more stuff about the trio bc I love them with my all.. if u have any questions feel free to ask :3

[ganondoodle]

(Original art) Xaror, any pronouns, species (?), age (?)

short summary about them; they act as both an antagonist and an ally since they are only really interested in what they want or whats fun to them, they are immortal and call themselves 'death itself' since they have a special connection to souls (being the only one able to communicate with them) and the ability to seperate souls from their bodies in such a way that nothing can harm the soul afterwards their main goal is to .. bother and disturb the 'celestials'*, which they hate, as much as they can, breaking into their palace, freeing prisoners, destroying research, destroying the place, and most importantly, making as many souls unusable to them as possible-

they dont want to destroy the celestials though, they cant fight them anyway and this game of doing 'good' only with the goal of annoying them is their most treasured activity, so Xaror doesnt intend to stop them from killing or hurting anyone, only from harvesting what they are actually after (though Xaror doesnt actually care as little as they think they do about people, and has a soft spot for demons)

most of their appearance is later into the story; Zaphira (the empress) had been in coma and the medical facility she was treated in was destroyed by Shargon (orange eyed demon who acts as her bodyguard for the first part) in an attempt to save her from her estranged relatives taking over her country after they heard of her decline in health, she is believed dead but washes up on the shore of the mountain Xaror resides at years later (it has a reason, too much to write here) and they slowly nurse her back to health, the reason they give for it is that they found their first encounter very fun, thats all (is it?)

(more lore under the cut bc this is already so long .. im trying to keep it short q-q ......... this is stuff i have been working on since i was a kid so uh, some things might be cheesy but i cant change them anymore ..)

just to get some basics out of the way; theres three worlds, the celestials palace, human world and demon world, each are their own planet connected via different gateways

*celestials (possibly not final name, loosely based on angels) are the last remaining "survivors" of their planets demise, when their world died the most powerful among them cannibalized the weaker to sustain themselves until there were only less than 10 left, who each turned into different beings from it and dont resemble their own people much anymore, they built a palace from what was left on their world that protects them from space as its atmosphere collapsed shortly after- however they still needed something to live off; they discover the human world and are delighted to find rather short lived people with powerful souls, the best kind of sustenance for them (now), they aim to herd them like cattle, but a problem arose when it turned out another world has long been in contact with the human world; demons

demons are semi immortal creatures that act as protectors for their world, protection they extended, more or less secretely, to the human world ensuring them a long and secure life- the celestials need them to die at their whim though (demons are few in numbers, hard to kill and rarely have offspring, not an ideal target); as they worked out a plan on how to get rid of demons one of the celestials, Xanthriel (time) grew somewhat fond of people as they spent alot of time in the human world to observe and research them; in the end turning on their own completely, but losing the fight against Uriel (knowledge)

Xanthriel was supposed to be executed for their betrayal, but it doesnt work, instead they are splintered into many parts after a lot of struggle, most body, memory and most strength is one part (ending up as motionless forever bleeding corpse kept locked up in the palace), the rest is some time later gathered together and reforms as a seperate, weak mockery of them, they embody Xanthriels emotion- Xaror, without memory, strangely cut to pieces (hence all the missing limbs and broken halo) but driven by an unstoppable desire to disturb the celestials (they live seperate long enough to each become their own person, at some point Xaror discovers Xanthriels body after all and they merge back together, though as they are now two, Xanthriel only takes over once directly after merging, stays silent for a long time and lets Xaror be themselves, only later revealing that they are there at all .. hiding perhaps- i rarely have specific ideas for voices, but Xanthriels is like, like coarse rocks being violently rubbed against each other, less voice more noise)

(also, the celestials use Xanthriels blood from the day of their execution to create a plague that nearly wipes out all demons, only the youngest of them survived, effectively robbing them of everything, culture, history, knowledge etc- as demons rarely have children, like a complete restart of their society, they disappeared from the human world, and over time being largely forgotten as actually existing- the celestials wanted them all gone however, so they kept kidnapping them to try and find somethign that would work similarly against the young ones too (and then in general, bc the only usable blood of Xanthriel was from the day of their fall, and that has long since been used up) one of the young ones was Shargon, he was the only one still alive from his group

(also, the celestials use Xanthriels blood from the day of their execution to create a plague that nearly wipes out all demons, only the youngest of them survived, effectively robbing them of everything, culture, history, knowledge etc- as demons rarely have children, like a complete restart of their society, they disappeared from the human world, and over time being largely forgotten as actually existing- the celestials wanted them all gone however, so they kept kidnapping them to try and find somethign that would work similarly against the young ones too (and then in general, bc the only usable blood of Xanthriel was from the day of their fall, and that has long since been used up) one of the young ones was Shargon, he was the only one still alive from his group (he wasnt the strongest or special, he was jsut the last in the row and always got the lowest dosage) when Xaror found them in yet another break in into the palace and got him back to the demon world .. where he was promptly blamed for the others that were taken and treated like a pretender/fake/spy bc what he got put through changed his eye color (something that demons cannot change in any form) to one that does not exist among 'real' demons (orange ... notice the inner color of Xarors broken halo? :) ), some even suggesting killing him, but none of them were brave enough to do it (they were all kids still) .. except Eadrya (the big blue-ish one, largely regarded as the strongest demon alive) but Shargon managed to escape, and since then lived largely in isolation- this is part of why he is so hated, and why he starts to spend so much time in the human world after rediscovering the pathway there)

[scoobyrooster1]

She's Mine [Intro]

Qimir x (she/her)!reader

Summary: Events take place after episode 8 of the acolyte. You are Qimirs new acolyte after agreeing to train under him. But, first you both must escape to the outer rim and outrun the Jedi who now hunts you. A precarious situation arises when you suddenly owe a debt to the local gunrunner... but it could be just the opportunity you've been hoping for. Warnings: None so far Notes: I plan for this to be a slow burn story between you and Qimir. Future heist plot on canto bight. Haven't officially decided on a permanent title yet. Probably needs more edits lol.

^ Nice ambience for the intro

Master List

She's Mine [Intro]  She's Mine [Part 1] She's Mine [Part 2]

______________________________________________________________

You and Qimir had been on the road for months now. Vernestra couldn’t put out an official warrant on you both—not without raising questions she didn’t want to answer. Instead, she relied on something more insidious: whispers, rumors, just enough to keep you glancing over your shoulder but never enough to reveal her true intentions.

So now you found yourself sitting in a mossy dive bar waiting on a pilot that could be your last chance to escape republic space. He was 20 minutes late and it had been one hell of a day. Your patience was wearing thin.

You felt someone sit down at the stool next to you. Not giving them any notice ----until they spoke.

"Oi. Ale for me and whatever the lady wants."

You stifled a grunt, eyes remaining fixed on your drink.

"Not interested."

The bartender, unfazed, slid a glass down the bar landing directly into the strangers hand with ease. He took a full three chugs before wiping his chin with the back of his hand.

Exhaling he exclaimed. "Not interested?... Handsome fella like me? Sure you are."

"Its been a rough day." You grimaced, still not sparing him a glance.

"Well its about to get a little more difficult."

You could feel him shift beside you. Instinctively, you unholstered your blaster and aimed it directly at his crotch. You were now face to face with Ian Skynyr. Notorious playboy and smuggler.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." You whispered.

He only froze, eyes widening on where your blaster now rested. His shoulders slightly relaxed almost as impressed as he was shocked.

"Easy"

"Like I said its been a long day and I'm not especially forgiving on those. So get lost."

"One of my men is in a bacta tank thanks to you."

You recalled what had transpired a mere few hours ago.

Some thug saw you walking through the bazar. Cloaked, your figure appeared small and unthreatening. He assumed you'd be an easy target. He assumed wrong.

Qimir had found you standing over the aqualish male, his breathing labored, knocked unconscious with far more hidden injuries.

All Qimir had said to you was, lets go. No emotion shown on his striking face.

"If he wanted an easy pocket to pick he shouldn't have cornered me."

"Listen sunshine, you put me in a bit of a bind here."

"Not my problem. I know your line of work and I'm not looking for that kind of heat."

Neither you or Qimir could take that right now.

The stranger didn’t back off. He leaned in, just enough for you to catch the scent of engine grease and blaster residue.

"Oh I think it is, don't think I don't know exactly why you're sitting here."

You suppressed a laugh. Of course.

"So I can assume you intercepted my pilot."

"Theres now a debt to pay. Im here to collect."

"I wouldn't bet on it."

"Right... Only a certain type of woman wears with an LL-30 blaster pistol strapped to her thigh."

"And it only takes a special kind of idiot to steal from her." You retracted the gun back to under your cloak.

He cracked a smile.

"The job I have lined up that you so gracefully mucked might actually be of some interest to you."

"I highly doubt that."

"You and your friend need to get to the outer rim no? Something about avoiding the order? I can provide that for you both so long as you pay whats now owed."

You couldn’t hide the shock on your face.

So the pilot had a loose mouth. But you knew Qimir would later curse you for your own.

"I don't owe you anything."

"Deny that little fact all you want. What you can't deny is that the republic has been slowly tightening its grip on hyperspace routes. Good luck finding another freighter that can slip past their patrols unnoticed."

You frowned.

He wasn’t wrong. Vernestra wouldn't risk the upper hand she now had on the two of you. It was easy enough to establish stricter checkpoints in the name of peace and safety. Finding another ship capable of making it past their checkpoints undetected and unquestioned would be next to impossible.

You sat there. Silent. Weighing the options in front of you. Even though you had your finger on the trigger and every reason to pull it, you squirmed underneath the predicament he now faced you with.

He watched the gears turning behind your eyes, carefully calculating your next move.

"Well." he sighed "If you're that confident, I guess its easy enough for me to find another replacement."

He slowly stood, nudging the now empty glass towards the edge of the bar.

"Good luck out running the damned Jedi."

What were your chances of another opportunity like this? As damned as the circumstances were.

Before he could step out of the cantina you turned.

"Wait."

Ian inclined his head to you, smile spreading across his stupid face.

Qimir was going to kill you.

_____________________________________________________________

[jwirecs]

RECOMMENDED BTS FICS OF SEPTEMBER 2023💖

hello, hello! here are my bts recs of september! hopefully these beautiful stories get more recognition as well as the writers 💝

** anything in parentheses and bolded are my thoughts that can be disregarded if needed **

🔞smut || 💔angst || 💕fluff || ✅completed || 🔄ongoing || 💯favorite

Head Over Skates || @mercurygguk🔞💔🔄

↳ in which jeon jungkook is the captain of the hockey team and one of the biggest fuckboys on campus. you hate his guts and he knows it – that's why he's more than determined to make the most of three weeks of project work. you're convinced it's going to be the end of you.

My Heart Did || @aseaofyoongi🔞💔✅

↳ as soon as senior years comes to an end a lot of teens shed who we were and strive to be flourish into a more polished version of themselves. although, broken hearts aren’t so quick to heal what happens when thoughts reveal all we need to know?

Bad Idea || @back2bluesidex🔞💕✅

↳ Accepting Jungkook's invitation to watch him train topless was such a bad idea.

Don't Tell Me That... You Forgot || @sweetiestokkie💕✅

↳ (short summary that i have come up with since there wasnt one, but oc plans a secret birthday for jk. so we have a lil ol angy jjk.)

Just The Tip? || @joon4eva🔞💕✅

↳ you and namjoon are left alone together for a little too long. or: in your childhood home, you learn just how much is really "just the tip" with namjoon.

My Flower || @i-am-baechu💕✅💯

↳ Men don’t get enough flowers. That’s why whenever it’s Namjoon’s birthday, Y/N always sends flowers (someone please get me a boo so that i can give them flowers.)

Socks || @hisunshiine💕✅

↳ (theres no summary but if we talking about socks, his god dam toe socks lives in my mind rent free and i need it to start paying rent.)

Take Care Of You || @kookslastbutton🔞💕💔✅💯💯

↳ To keep your fiance from burning out you suggest a weekend getaway to Gapyeong, a charming town about an hour outside Seoul. You've specifically asked him to leave his work equipment at home but like a deep rooted habit, he still brings it with him. You're left with no choice but to find a way to get his attention back.

When I Say Forever || @kookslastbutton🔞💕✅💯

↳ Today’s your wedding day and the slightly shy yet handsome, doe-eyed stranger who chased after you when you dropped your wallet on the street three years ago just happens to be the man standing before you today.

7 Hybrids Moved In With Me || @lillsisamarshmallow💕💔🔄

↳ When the dog hybrid who visits her bakery starts taking extra food Y/N follows it through the alleys to find out why, but what happens when she stumbles upon an empty alley only to find 6 more hybrids and some very familiar pastries?

Entangled || @caelesjjk🔞✅💯

↳ Jeon Jungkook is Spider-Man.

Hold Me Together || @casuallyimagining💕🔄💯

↳ a collection of drabbles and headcanons featuring seokjin, yoongi, and namjoon and their significant others.... all of whom have chronic illnesses. each piece can be read on its own or as part of a series.

Leaked || @btsficsandsuch💕💔✅

↳ Req by OP's Followers: Hi ,I love your writing so much . Can I request a ot7 × platonic fem reader where they became friends accidentally and she is also their fan but something happens like a misunderstanding of sorts and she is blamed or something then when the truth comes out they ask for her forgiveness but don't make her forgive them easily also include an accident in between story if you can. Sorry if it's too confusing .have a good day

Stars Around My Scars || @vanteggukie💕💔🔄

↳ people are not always what they seem. you learned that the hard way, when you caught your boyfriend cheating, the night that was supposed to be one of the best ones you ever experienced. but on the same night you also learned that in everything bad, there’s always a little bit of good.

Rainy Days || @rklve🔞💕💔✅💯💯

↳ your life choices left not only yours, but jungkook's heart broken in peaces. now you're back in town, and just like pluto, even if it's cold and dark, he tends to orbit around his sun forever.

Taste Of His Own Medicine || @btsficsandsuch💔✅💯

↳ You suddenly have to leave to go back to your home country for a few months. Yoongi decides to ignore you so you decide to show him how it feels when he realizes you’re gone.

The Back Up Plan || @btsgotjams27💕✅💯

↳ one drunken night leads to an agreement that if you and jungkook are still single by 30, you'd marry each other. the only thing is jungkook has been doing everything he can to keep you single.

Aphrodite In War || @jungblue🔞💕💔🔄

↳ Everyone knew about the war that had been brewing on the edge of campus for the past two years. Sorority versus Fraternity; a showdown for the ages. However, when the escalating antics between them yields the consequence of possible suspensions for both chapters, the presidents of each house must come together to try and figure out how to end this battle… Which is kind of hard, considering they were the ones responsible for it in the first place.

Basic Needs || @gggukniverse🔞✅💯

↳ missing sex while being stuck in your apartment with your two roommates during quarantine is being the worst nightmare you could've imagined. fortunately, you're not the only one who's touch starved.

Safety Net || @pradaksj🔞💕💔✅

↳ on new year’s eve, you and jungkook reflect on each other’s entire year together. 

Heart-On || @junghelioseok🔞✅💯💯

↳ your one-night stand definitely isn’t relationship material, but maybe—just maybe—your manager’s son is. (this is part of their serendipity series, make note that its not connected. do check out their jjk fic thats part of this series!!)

Territorial || @bonny-kookoo🔞💕🔄

↳ Who would've known that the big bad wolf isn't actually all that bad?

Do check out all of the other BTS Fics that i have reblogged as well!!

** if there is any fics that you guys would like to recommend, please do! i am slowly running out of fics to read **

[ranfordgallus]

I dont know when will i post the first part of episode three but yk its gonna come, considering its from a fanfic of mine when i was shit at writing fanfics (still do) im trying to change the story to make it more sense because the fanfic is just....its like shock value to me, theres not much story...just gore

While....yeah there is gore in my comic, its not for shock value though unlike my fanfic LMAO

when im done making the overall story for ep 3 ill start drawing

[hearts4werka]

Missing

Summary: it’s been six months since your sister went missing, everyone gave up on the investigation but you’re determined to find her no matter what but someone comes along the way… Genre: Stalker, missing person, thriller, horror, crime investigation, dark aesthetic, stalker romance? (We won’t know yet) Warnings: mention of dark topics that may trigger some readers (idk which exactly, write them in the comments) ends on a cliffhanger. Read At Your Own Risk! authors note: this is my first fic and ive always been a fan of horror and stories that have me on the edge of my seat so writing this was a pleasure. English is not my first language so minor grammar mistakes might occur. Hope you enjoy!

This is part 1 of the ‘Missing’ series!

Its been six months since my sister disappeared, vanished out of thin air without a trace left behind.

I tried to get the police to continue investigation after three months but they always say the same thing ‘she’s probably dead’ or ‘there’s no possibility she’s still out there alive’ so I decided to try and collect more information by myself since I believe I can find her and finally reunite which her after so long from being apart from each other.

A month ago on the anniversary of my sisters disappearance, I found out I have a stalker and it started to make my anxiety worsen which only adds onto the struggles in my life I have to deal with and a mixture of thoughts racing through my mind at once, I could feel myself loosing control and desperately trying to grasp reality at times, to deciphering what is real and what lives in my head becoming harder and harder every day. Feeling myself slowly loose my mind in this dark world I’ve been placed in.

My best friend Nora was helping with the investigation while the police was operating but when they called quits on the case, she went with them and left me to be alone on the case.

My brain refuses to believe she’s dead, she’s out there and I’ll find her no matter what. No matter the price I’ll have to pay

| - 🍂 - |

Im sitting in my living room after a long day of work, reading the front page of the mornings newspaper titled “Young adult vanished without a trace in the town of Boston” they ended her investigation three months ago and still write about her in the newspaper since they’re clearly out of interesting stories.

It’s full of conspiracy theories of what could have happened to her, there’s even one that says there’s a possibility she’s been abducted by aliens? I shake my head in disbelieve reading through that article. I call complete bullshit. People still believe in aliens these days?

Ive been through numerous newspapers and articles I could find on the internet but it was always the same thing, she’s probably kidnapped or have been killed by her potential kidnapper. I’ve gathered so many newspapers in the span of the few months that a pile is starting to form on my coffee table.

I push my sliding glasses up the bridge of my nose when a sudden feeling of being observed washes over me. My gaze rips away from the newspaper to try and find something or someone but I find nothing in the darkness while the only source of light is a single lamp next to the couch along with the moonlight pooling through the windows.

Theres no one in the room besides me and the shadows taunting me for still having hope that she’s out there, what if she really isn’t alive anymore? I’m ripped out of the spiral of my thoughts with a single buzz of my phone. Checking what it could be I see it’s a message from an unknown number, by the content of the message there’s only one person that it could be. My stalker.

Unknown : Still searching for that little sister of yours?

Looking around the dark room I once again find nothing, I gaze back down at the message and type out a response, the noise of my nails hitting the phone screen echo and spread around the space surrounding me.

Me : Leave me alone.

After the message got sent, I drop my phone next to me on the couch and return my focus to the newspaper. Flipping through the pages to find anything useful, I’m desperate at this point for any kind of information that might help.

Slowly loosing hope that I’ll find anything in the newspaper, one article in particular catches my eye…

[arolesbianism]

Thinking abt my salmonid ocs again... I need to design them soooo bad but at the same time I have yet to decide what to do with their clothes as while the traditional battle salmon pant would suffice my need to do needless extra work for the sake of worldbuilding is powerful indeed

[yuurei20]

Strange question but!! Yk how the villains are treated as heroes? How on earth did the heroes stories work if they, uh, yk, dont have the villains? Like i briefly remember TWST!Jafar hijacking Aladdin’s plan to fake being a prince, so theres not rlly any more “aladdin” story, but im curious how other stories went if u know! Are the OG heroes still treated as heroes, etc etc, that fun stuff

Hello hello! Thank you so much for this question!!

The different interpretations of history that seem exist in Twst are fascinating, and one of my favorite things is the part in Book 6 where Lilia seems to insinuate that the Disney stories that we know might not actually be what really happened, because history is written by the victors:

These "classic" stories--were they, too, twisted to suit an agenda? Is the truth closer to what is taught as history in Twst, or is it somewhere in the middle? It is so interesting to think about!

For the most part it seems that the heroes from the stories we know are not turned into villains in Twst, and the deeds that are attributed to them were actually done by multiple characters from different folklore:

For example, Harveston has stories about miners and customs based on "a young lady who made a wish at a well," a "traveler" who cleaned a stranger's home and then a tale about "some princess who wished to fall in love right away," as if the young lady, princess and traveler are three separate people.

While basing their traditions on the miners, the lady and traveler, they also deify the Fairest Queen, as if they are all independent individuals with no overlap.

One of the more interesting parts of the Fairest Queen's history, in particular, is that there is actually a "dastardly villain" in Harveston folklore that stalks a woman who is then saved by forest creatures.

The huntsman is--just like the queen--not a villain in the Twst universe. Who was who, and what really happened? 👀

For the Scalding Sands, it seems that the unnamed princess and the sultan from local stories are just as revered as the Sorcerer of the Sands himself, with the sultan known to be the person who named the Sorcerer as his vizier and retaining their connection from the story we know.

Much like in Harveston, the history of the Scalding Sands seems to attribute what we believe to be the history of just one character to multiple individuals: Kalim talks about the Sorcerer saving his country from a street rat, who was a swindler/charlatan/usurper who tried to trick the sultan and princess, in a rare case of a "hero" being vilified.

But they also have folklore about "a poor but kind-hearted young man" who shared his food with children, and whose marriage to the beautiful princess they celebrate every year with a festival.

Whereas the Disney movies make the charlatan and the kind man into one person, in Twst's history it seems they were two different people.

Diasomnia is very big on the Thorn Fairy, and they also talk about the human king who feared her, the princess whose birthday she was not invited to (Silver: "Was their king raised in a barn?") and the three presents that the princess received.

Lilia talks about a trio of fairies that were not able to break the Thorn Fairy's curses and also put an entire kingdom to sleep, while Silver comments on how Lilia is consciously, intentionally emulating the three fairies from that tale with his cooking.

Silver and Malleus discuss "some faeries" raising a child for 16 years without magic, but they do not seem to know why they did so, and it is unclear if they believe that those faeries and the three faeries that put the kingdom to sleep are the same or different people.

Heartslabyul seems to separate Alice into two different characters as well, referring to a 1-km-tall giant that the Queen of Hearts tried in court and a child that got lost in the castle as if they were two people.

The only reference we get of the "heroes" of the Lion King tale are Jack referring to the King of Beast's "rascal of a nephew" and Leona mentioning that he deposed his brother "to build a better, wiser kingdom."

While the characters seem similar to the stories we know it's possible that the timelines are slightly different, with the rebirth of the pridelands being attributed to the King of Beasts himself rather than his nephew.

The history of the Sea Witch in Twst might be the most fascinating: the characters reference the Sea Witch taking someone's voice for a contract and making a shapeshifting potion to facilitate love between a mermaid and a human, but also turning herself into a human and being proposed to by a prince the next day, with no acknowledgement that the human from the first tale and the prince from the second might have been the same person.

They also talk about the eels flipping over a boat and a mermaid princess who had trouble walking on land, but there is no mention of the princess being in the boat in the eel story.

Octavinelle even acknowledges that the Sea Witch once made herself huge and sunk a ship with a whirlpool and "some even labeled her a monster," saying that she was later lauded as a compassionate figure after turning over a new leaf. (While the less-than-pleasant deeds done by the Sorcerer, the Fairest Queen and the King of Beasts in the stories that we know are never mentioned.)

Silver's tale from Halloween seems to be an exception to this rule. Everything done by the "hero" in the tale we know is still attributed to the hero in the story that Silver knows, and the enemy army is still the enemy army.

To the initial question: it seems that the heroes from the histories that we know are still being regarded as heroes in Twst (though they tend to get separated into multiple people), while the characters that we know as villains are also highly regarded. This sometimes includes their pasts (in the case of the Sea Witch and the Queen of Hearts), being separated from their pasts (in the case of the Hunter) or with no mention of their pasts (the King of Beasts, the Sorcerer of the Sands, the Fairest Queen, the Thorn Fairy).

(Not a lot of information about the King of the Underworld when compared to the others! Idia mostly just talks about how charismatic he was. Ortho suggests something about "the truth" about him being closer to Idia's own situation than they have been taught, but Idia is not convinced.)

Also: there is a reference to a hero rescuing his ladylove from the Underworld in Book 6, so it seems the hero in that tale remains a hero in Twst as well!

[writingquestionsanswered]

I’ve been reading some craft books and online posts about the world building because my story is an urban fantasy set in present day US, in a fictional town, and theres not a secondary world where the fantasy happens, it’s all in the real world, except the magic is a secret that only certain people know about, but all of the resources I find about world building only talk about fantastical worlds that exist by themselves and not the kind of more subtle world building that I’d have to do. Do you have any tips?

Guide: Creating a Fictional Town in the Real World

Step 1 - Choose Your Location - There are two ways to go about choosing a location for your fictional town. One is to go the "Springfield U.S.A." route, ala The Simpsons, and be vague about the specific location (borough, parish, district, county, region, state, or province) and instead give a broader geographic region... "the East Coast," "the Pacific Northwest," "Central Canada," Northern Scotland," etc. The other option is to go ahead and put your fictional town in a specific location. Just figure out where (for example, somewhere outside of Des Moines, Iowa) and go to Google Maps, click on satellite view, then start zooming in on big empty areas. Choose a place big enough to fit a town. Yes, in reality it's probably farm fields, pasture, or someone's property, but that doesn't matter. You don't have to actually show it on a map. It's just a plausible spot to build your town. Now you can measure how far it is to other places, you know what highways to take to get to it. You can even do street view to get the lay of the land, see what the landscape looks like and try to envision the buildings there. You can also use what's there to create parks, popular recreational areas, and anything else your town needs.

Step 2 - Choose Your Inspiration - Even when you're creating a fictional town, it's still a good idea to use a real town (or two, or three) from that general area as inspiration for your town. For a fictional town in Des Moines, I would zoom in on the map to find a nearby town of similar size... like Elkhart, then I can take a look around to see what it's like. Just looking at the map, I can see they have a couple of churches, a couple baseball fields, a very small main street/downtown area with a couple shops and restaurants, a post office, a few different neighborhoods, and a cemetery. This would be a great model for a small fictional town outside of Des Moines. And, as I said, you could look at a couple other sand combine them. Once you have your inspiration town/s, you can walk around on Google Maps street view, go to the town's web site, watch a tour on YouTube (if one exists), or look up pictures in Google Image search.

Step 3 - Start Planning - This is the really fun part! First, you might want to draw a basic map of your fictional town using your inspiration town/s as a guide. This doesn't have to be a pretty map... just a basic line drawing to help you envision where everything is. Think about some of the basic things this town might have, like the ones I listed in step two, and any other things you might want your town to have, like maybe a library, a hospital, a city hall, school, and maybe a movie theater. It might even be helpful and fun to put together a collage of pictures to represent your town so you've got something in mind as you write about it. You can even choose representatives for specific locations in your story, like your MC's house, school, and their favorite hangout.

Step 4 - Naming Your Town - Start by looking at the kinds of town names that surround your town. Look for common naming conventions... suffixes like -ton, -ville, -dale, -burg, -wood, -field, etc. Words in a particular language, like a lot of French-inspired town names, or towns with geographical terms (lake, hill, valley, river, canyon, gap, etc.) My guide to Naming Locations has additional tips.

Step 5 - Populate Your Town and Give it a History - Last but not least, make up a little history for your town, again, using surrounding towns as inspiration. Who founded it? When was it founded? What's the town's main industry? What are the people like in this town? What jobs do they have? What do they do for fun?

Here are some other posts that might help:

Five Things to Help You Describe Fictional Locations Setting Your Story in an Unfamiliar Place WQA’s Guide to Internet Research Happy writing!

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