#they're like em dashes but at the end

[sorrygotthesesacks]

Confession time (?)

I am obsessed with MMD videos on YT.

Like, I often find one I really like, and I'll watch it over and over (and over) again for the sheer joy it gives me. But other times, a video will really stick with me and give me Thoughts and Ideas.

I completely get that these videos rely on existing motion/choreography from an existing video, and sometimes that choreography doesn't work for all of the characters (does Idia being OOC in the Butter MMD make me appreciate how spot-on Cater and Lilia are in the same video any less? Hell, no. Cater and Lilia are absolutely the stars of that one.)

But this one. This one. This is probably the most on-the-nose video for Silver and Sebek. Like, this is the one I am most obsessed over.

I don't even know where to start, so my thoughts will be all over the place.

I think Silver and Sebek are chosen perfectly in their respective roles. Silver is more fluid at times, and that makes me think of how he bests Sebek in most of their battles. They both trained in swordsmanship and martial arts under Lilia (still love that Silver's talent is swordsmanship and Sebek's is martial arts, and that both their strengths are things that they both have trained in together).

We know how incredibly strong Sebek is. This is the guy who did all the woodchopping in Harveston. The guy who carried a cotton candy machine to Idia's food stall to have it repaired. The guy who fetched a lanternblossom from a sheer cliff, using only his own strength and no gear, and was able to because Lilia made climb a cliff 10 times a day for three months.

That Sebek.

And yet Silver still bests him more often than not.

So the video had me thinking that, similar to how Vil easily threw Floyd in Camp Vargas, Silver uses more than his physical strength (and we know that he is physically very strong - even before his broomquet interview). I mean, you know that with all the time he and Sebek have spent training together, he can read Sebek, and probably knows what Sebek is going to do before Sebek does it.

But the idea of Silver being more fluid and flexible and using that to his advantage is also, well, kinda sexy, too.

Places in this video that I'm particularly obsessed with is any time the video "zooms in" on their feet (like at 0:34 in the video. Or 1:24. Or 1:53). I don't know what it is about that. The way they move together? The way they are headed in the same direction, or move in sync? I mean, I can see that without focusing on their feet, but there is just something about seeing their feet, I don't know what it is.

(Already have this thing about hands, where one character is touching the other, or they are clasping hands, or one is touching the other's hair. Now it's the way they step together, apparently.)

Side note on their shoes: I just love that Silver wears fucking loafers - something he can slip on easily when he oversleeps, where Sebek wears what looks like a low boot, with the pants covering the tops of them - very sleek looking, very in line with the pains he takes to look his best.

Other spots that make me, for lack of a better term, squee, occur at 1:43, immediately followed by linking arms at 1:50 (and into the shoes again at 1:53). And being back to back at 2:44.

Yeah, I totally get why someone would see that original video and immediately think "Silbek."

Finally, and this must be taken with the veriest grain of salt, because I am 100% relying on the internet and google translate, but I wanted to know the title and lyrics for the song.

And found this explanation which just feels so Silbek to me.

[dyrewrites]

Pale Blood - ok, who broke the narrator

~ * ~

It was wrong, everything. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

The barrier isn’t meant to break, nor was It meant to be set loose—granting a new wish—a wish I had never heard before.

I don’t understand—what is It planning—does It know mine?

I need them, all of them, I planned and prepared.

But if the barrier is open, the Goddesses will all come in, and It will get out.

It wants to get out, It wants in the Wylds. It’s never been in the Wylds.

Not in all our loops, all our foul games.

Why would It go there? What is there but monstrous flora and...

And.

No, no, no! It can’t. It can’t!

Everything will be for naught if It does.

It’ll start over, all my work, all of my planning.

That was Its plan. It needed the barrier broken so It could reach the wyrm.

A wish so great, repeated at the close of his lids every halfnight, and again every morning. With such power It could...It could have anything.

It knew. It knew my plan and used it—used me.

Again, I am undone.

I will be forced to live it all over.

~ * ~

[mothocean]

Watching a video essay on equestria girls dolls atm and man i want a trixie doll so badly

[lyneira]

♡ surprise attack! ♡

-> how would the genshin men and obey me guys react when you suddenly hug them from behind?

Is initially worried

Lucifer, Barbatos, Ayato, Zhongli, Cyno, Albedo, Tighnari

You catch them by surprise when they feel your arms wrapped around them all of a sudden. With the way you were holding them so tightly and how you nuzzled your face into their back, they wondered if anything bad had happened to you or whether you were upset and needed comfort.

"Y/n, is something the matter?"

"no...I just wanted to hug you"

They'd let out a relieved chuckle and hold onto your arms wrapped around them, taking one of your hands and pressing a kiss to your palm, appreciative of your affection and glad that you're fine.

Feigns irritation

Satan, Scaramouche, Diluc, Alhaitham, Dainsleif

Their fight or flight mode was activated the moment you embraced them from behind and oh boy were they ready to fight. Though, once they realized that it was you, they eased up.

"Y/n, please", they'd groan. They would try to put up a slightly irritated face, but deep down, they loved it. They loved being held by you, to feel you hold onto them so firmly, full of tenderness and confidence. Your hugs assured them that they were worthy of such love and that, yes, there was someone out there who loved them deeply. You loved them deeply and that meant oh so much.

So really, they just didn't want to admit how much they would melt each time they were in your arms.

Gets flustered

Leviathan, Mammon, Xiao, Gorou, Thoma

They would blush right when they felt your embrace as it would have startled them. Were you trying to give them a heart-attack? Hugging them out of the blue like that.

And if you were to tell them how much you loved them right in their ear, too? Just let them perish already. They can't comprehend how you could be this cute.

If you want to tease them a little, let your hands roam over their torso, pull them in closer towards you, and feel as their body begins to heat up even further. They're glad that you're behind them so they could hide their flustered face from you, hehe

Immediately hugs you back

Diavolo, Belphegor, Asmodeus, Itto, Kazuha, Venti, Childe, Kaveh

They adore that you want to hug them, but they want to hug you too! Will turn around to give you a proper hug and squeeze you tightly, placing multiple kisses on your cheeks while they're at it. If you aren't gonna hold back your affections, then he isn't going to hold back his either! 😌

Would be unfazed

Beelzebub, Solomon, Simeon, Baizhu, Heizou, Kaeya

They wouldn't say a word nor complain. They're very much used to your antics that they would simply let you be. They'll let you cling onto them like a leech while continuing whatever they were doing. Whether it was reading a book, eating, or working on some documents, they'd do it all while you were attached to their back. They weren't going to deny any attention or affection from you even if they were busy.

And if their task ever required them to have you off their back, they'd simply adjust your position while still enabling you to hug them.

But, if you dare to do your best to distract them by leaving kisses up and down their back, then be ready for the events that will follow. They won't hesitate to turn you around and return the favor directly up front 🤭

Bonus:

Ends up giving you a piggyback ride

DIAVOLO, Beelzebub, ITTO

When you suddenly come clinging onto their back, they thought that it could only mean one thing: you wanted a piggyback ride. So they scooped your legs up, held them at their sides, and began to dash around, catching you by surprise. (It would be a fun and pleasant surprise nonetheless)

Now you'd better give them a destination to head towards before they end up getting the both of you lost because they'd be running with zero sense of direction, lost in the fun they're having with you.

a/n: I didn't want to make separate posts for either fandom so I just combined em :D

© 2023 lyneira. PLEASE DO NOT COPY, PLAGIARIZE, OR REPOST MY WRITING ONTO OTHER PLATFORMS

[samcrosfaith]

COOKIE DISASTER

Happy Lowman x random fem!oc because I suck at writing character x reader, sorry!

a/n; please feel free to leave requests in my ask box for Halloween and Christmas One Shots. Happy and Jax only please because I'm not good at writing the other characters lol. If you have a specific wish/look/backstory for your OC, please let me know— otherwise I'll come up with something.🎄❤️

If you wanna get tagged in these, just let me know in the comments and I'll add you to the tag list!

this one was requested by @marleyelona

tag list; @ravennaortiz

word count; 1379

Happy's cursing echoed through the house as he pulled the baking tray of burnt cookies out of the oven, burning himself when one of the towels slipped aside, adding to the chaos. Had he known that baking cookies would end in this disaster, he probably wouldn't have done it.

Okay, no, he would have. He woul've done it anyway for his wife's sake, because he would do anything for her. Even baking cookies.

Grunting, he shook his head, sighing and looking down at the many dark cookies, his hands resting on the countertop. How could he mess up such a simple task?

These were Isabella's favorite cookies, a reminder of her recently deceased mother. Isabella was still grieving, unable to imagine life without her mother since the women had an unbreakable bond. And every year, a few days before Christmas so that the cookies were fresh, his mother-in-law would bake an extra tray fo Isabella and himᅳ for her daughter with an extra dash of cinnamon.

His head whipped around when he suddenly heard footsteps behind him. With all the chaos, he hadn't even noticed that his wife had come home from work early.

"Want to tell me what you're doing?" Her eyebrow raised and a hint of amusement in her Spanish accent, she approached, curiosity flashing in her brown eyes. "You baked? Are you sick or something?"

But Happy just grumbled as she put her hand teasingly against his forehead, turning around to grab a beer from the fridge. "Was going to make something for you. Didn't work", he muttered, his mood at its lowest.

"Hey, what's up?" Isabella frowned, then her eyes widened with a small gasp, her chest swelling with love as she realized, despite the burnt smell and cookies, what his plan had been. "You made Mama's cookies. Hap..that's so sweet."

"More like fucked 'em up", he huffed as he sipped his beer. Happy picked up one of the rock-hard cookies, tapping it against the counter. "Hear that? Can't even give them to the birds anymore."

They had been together for over a decade and she had never seen him bake. The fact that he made the effort was something she appreciated.

So instead of letting his frustration drive her away, her lips curled into a smile. "Now you're exaggerating, they're not that bad", she insisted eagerly as she gently brushed some flour off his shirt with the palm of her hand. "Have you ever seen me make these cookies in all these years?"

"No, but why would you? Your mom always made them", he grumbled, not quite following her. His features softened a little though as Isabella wrapped her arms around his waist. "Sorry I messed them up. I know how much you miss your mom and this is the first Christmas without her. Just wanted to give you something from her."

"Right. But the real reason I've never made them is because I messed them up the first time I triedᅳ me,a professional baker", she said with an amused glint in her eyes as Happy's eyes narrowed a little, just a little. "So you did pretty well considering you have no experience."

She placed a hand on his cheek, smiling gently as she ran her thumb over his stubble. "See, that's why I fell in love with you back then. You've always been so attentive, even if you don't look like it. Thanks for trying, baby, it means a lot to me."

Happy just grunted, instinctively pulling her closer after seeing a spark of sadness flash in her eyes. Putting his bee aside, he wrapped his arms tightly around her, inhaling the scent of her shampoo.

He wasn't going to give up that easily, after all, he still had five days until Christmas.

ᅳ

The next day, Happy was standing in the kitchen again, his brow furrowed in thought. This time it had to work, if only to see the sparkle in Isabella's eyes again.

The kitchen was just as much of a mess as yesterday, the dough looked no different and the SAA was on the verge of despair. As if that wasn't enough, the container with the baking powder fell over, the white powder landing on the work surface.

"Really?!" Grunting, he ran a hand over his face, whirling around when he suddenly felt something on his shoulder, as if a hand was resting on it. "The fuck..", he muttered under his breath when no one was there.

Who else could be there? Isabella was at work. Was he losing his mind now? Great.

His features sharp and his ears pricked, he looked around the kitchen again. And there it was again, the feeling on his shoulder. This time firmer, like an encouraging squeeze. It wasn't necessarily a bad, uncomfortable feelingᅳ in fact, the opposite.

As strange as it was, Happy's muscles relaxed and something inside him told him to look at the recipe againᅳ which he did. And that was the moment when he really thought he was losing his mind. The baking powder was the ingredient he hadn't put in the dough yet and had already forgotten it yesterday.

There was a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach, even a shiver ran up his spine after he added the baking powder and the pressure on his shoulder suddenly subsided and for a moment he even thought he heard a satisfied hum.

Being Happy, he tried to find a logical explanation for it, he was probably just tired and overwhelmed. But deep down he knew that what was happening hadn't been a coincidence.

In the end, the cookies turned out perfect. The smell of cinnamon, apple and other Christmas spices wafted through the kitchen while Happy waited for his wife, the incident from this morning still in his bones.

But when Isabella finally came home, he met her halfway in the hallway and smiled slightly as she slipped out of her high heels with a contented sigh and walked towards him with a perfect swing of her hips.

"Hi baby", she chirped against his lips before stealing a kiss from them, the kiss deepening for a moment as Happy pulled her closer. "Mh...what did I do to deserve this?", she asked as his arm wrapped around her waits.

"Can't I greet my Old Lady properly anymore?", he asked with a grin, rubbing the pad of his thumb against the thin fabric of her black dress.

"Hey, I wasn't complaining", she said, her eyes shining with mischief. "We might as well move this whole thing to our bedroom", she whispered as she ran the tip of her long fingernail over his chest.

"I gotta show you something first", he croaked against the corner of her mouth before placing a few kisses along her jawline, feeling himself getting hard. But that would have to wait. "Kitchen. After that I'm going to fuck my wife."

Isabella cleared her throat, her cheeks flushed and her teeth sinking into her lower lip as a pleasant heat rose between her legs. "You better hurry up."

"So needy, huh?" Chuckling, he grabbed her hand and pulled her into the kitchen. "Try it. I have no idea how, but it worked."

"You tried it again?" Like a child at Christmas, a smile spread from ear to ear when Isabella saw the full plate of cookies and they really did look almost exactly like her mother's. "It even smells the same as hers always did", she remarked, perplexed.

Happy watched closely as she took one and tasted it, the soft smile with the wistful look in her eyes showing that she immediately remembered her mother. That was all he had wanted.

"That's.." Isabella shook her head, laughing in disbelief. "They're perfect, almost like you had help from my mom."

This time, when it happened again and Happy felt a weird feeling on his shoulder, he remained calm, although he was now sure that things were happening here that definitely couldn't be explained.

"Something like that", he shrugged with the slightest of smiles, relieved to see Isabella happy about his gesture.

And his wife had made sure to show him how grateful she was too. Let's just say, the night was short.

[tacky-optic]

SINNERS, ALL OF 'EM

the seven deadly sins + the gang = way too much overthinking

Lupin's Gluttony The world's his for the talking, yet he can never be satisfied. That'd be a real bummer if he were anyone else, but that hunger for more challenges, more adventures, seems to only add more fuel to an already roaring fire. He's a Glutton for a lot of things: Punishment, mainly. But also attention and experiences. His curiosity is insatiable. The only issue with Lupin's Gluttony is that he isn't inherently wasteful, which is a pretty glaring caveat. In that case, the big question would be "does the damage he leave in his wake outweigh that which was stolen in the first place?"

Jigen's Sloth/Envy "Man, I'm too old for this shit" incarnate, with a little dash of "I'm still going to silently judge you from my dark little corner, though" on top. It isn't Sloth "I'm gonna take a decade to get to this" so much as it is "I'm gonna do what you want me to do so rapidly and effectively that you're gonna think twice about waking me up again after I get back to my nap." But he really doesn't do jack-all if it isn't Lupin-related. If it were just him all on his lonesome, he'd kind of just rot. He is indifferent to his effectiveness. Bored, even. His loyalty to Lupin is an inherent aversion of his responsibilities as an individual.

His Envy brings him to action. He's a man of a lot of subtle wants and no willpower to take them, but with the right motivator, he'll bring down armies. Fujiko is a pretty good spur-on, as well as anything that remotely puts Lupin in the line of inconvenience or danger. If it's for one of his very, very few friends, he'd go through hell and high water just to get them a decent sandwich or something. Just be thankful his Envy's benign instead of malicious...

Goemon's Pride Mr. "Once again, I have cut a worthless object". There's literally an entire movie about his ego getting so utterly shattered that he gets all cagey/stabby mode about it for the rest of the movie, on top of training so hard he rewrites his entire goddamn nervous system just so he can do said stabby better. It's fantastic. To dedicate oneself so fully to one skill, then to restrict it to your own judgement as to not tarnish it, feels like the antithesis of humility. Pride, in a biblical sense, is to sever oneself from God; to become so wholly individual and confident in said fact that you forsake conventional belief in favor of your own. So congrats on netting the literal Worst sin, Goemon, you've earned it. God ain't shit when you can cut through anything.

Fujiko's Greed Does... does this even need elaborating. She's a woman that knows exactly what she wants and exactly how to get it, plain and simple. Why settle for anything less than the best?

Zenigata's Wrath/Lust What a wombo-combo, damn. This guy's the definition of love/hate. He's a man simultaneously impassioned and overwhelmed by his emotions, yet they lend so heavily to his professional and personal effectiveness that without them, he wouldn't be him anymore. Wrath and Lust go hand in hand, in a roundabout sort of way. It's about loving something so much that you want to crush it. A brutal dimorphous expression of emotion. To long for something to intensely, so vehemently, that it guides every action, fuels every decision... Underneath it all, would it even be possible to know what you are if that drive is all that defines you? Could you even call that living? We're talking about a guy who unironically wears heart boxers and almost exclusively eats cup noodle, people. This symbolism's very disturbing...

That's A Wrap You can always argue other sins for each of the cast members, of course. Lust for Lupin, Wrath for Jigen, Envy for Zenigata-- whatever. At the end of the day, they're all objectively terrible people. It's semi-safe to say that outside of religious contexts, the seven deadly sins have grown subjective in common culture/media. So why not take liberties? I sure as hell did. It's a goddamn miracle these managed to turn out so succinct.

[miloformula123fan]

Could you do fic for James Vowles with wife reader? With her being in the Williams garage, she witnessed Alex and Danny incident at the Japan GP and was so worried about them that she ended up going to James at the pitwall for his comfort. He decided to hug her while calming her down and going to both of the drivers to make sure they're okay. Just something fluff and little angst. Add something if you want to. Thanks!! :)))

what is it with me only getting these fics out like 2-3 weeks after the race, anyway, it's again so short but my mental health is suffering right now, so, and im happy with it the length it is.

Please keep requesting - y'all have awesome ideas we agree on a lot of stuff :) - my guidelines are here, and if you want some prompts, they are here.

also feel free to come in and start chatting to me in my asks, would love to get to know y'all better

and if you want to be added to my taglist let me know :)

---

“Come on Logan, show ‘em why you deserved to be in the car last weekend.” 

Logan nodded as he pulled his helmet on and gave a thumbs up and a fist bump to Y/N. It was her first weekend at the grand prix, as she preferred to stay at home, and let James call her to give her an update. But James had been pleading with her to come ‘just once’ and after the disaster weekend they’d had in Australia, she had braved the timezone and flown out for Japan.

She sat down on the folding chairs with the rest of the pit crew, while PR managers and assistants and anyone who liked James, which was 90% of the garage, was trying to persuade her to sit on a more comfortable chair. She shook her head smiling, insisting she was fine as long as she wasn’t in the way, on the folding chair, with the pit crew. 

James shook his head fondly, gazing at his wife as she chatted to Alex’s race engineer, before he slung his headset on and walked out to the pit wall.

Unfortunately the joy in the Williams garage lasted all of about 1 corner. A cheer erupted as they all got through turn 1 okay, but it was yelled too soon.

“As they make their way through AND OFF INTO THE WALL, off into the wall goes the 2 cars, and a big crash into the tire barrier,”

“Yeah, that’s going to be an immediate safety car, a heavy impact for Ricciardo and Albon…”

“Red flag, red flag.”

Y/N could see the anger as the mechanics grew angry, yelling stuff, but it all felt muffled underwater, as the camera cut to a replay of the crash. She sat there, staring as she watched Daniel and Alex’s cars clobber the barriers again.

So much for good luck this weekend. She watched as Daniel hopped out of the car, and she saw that Alex was having a little trouble due to the tyres almost balanced perfectly on his halo.

She heard the other cars filtering into the pits and as the pit crews dash around the cars Y/N escape through the garage and up to the pit wall, where she spotted James chatting to some of the other mechanics. She quickly crossed the pit lane and hopped up to the pitwall.

“Hey darling, what are you doing here?”

Y/N didn’t know what to say to that. What was she doing here? She looked at her husband trying to convey all of her current thoughts through her eyes. Thankfully he seemed to get the message and embraced her in a hug.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry, they’re both fine, they’re both okay. The red flag is because the barrier is destroyed and they’ll be here before the end of the red flag, okay? I’m sorry darling, that must have been terrifying to see that crash, especially when you have no information. How about you stay here, I think Alex and Daniel will come from there,” he pointed somewhere, Y/N wasn’t paying attention properly “so they’ll walk past here and you can see that they’re completely safe and sound.”

Y/N nodded at that, and snuggled in further to her husband’s embrace as he asked about tyres for Logan’s restart and discussed new strategy, keeping an eye out for the 2 drivers.

come walking down the pit lane. She careful extracted herself from James’ embrace, he nodded as he saw the 2 drivers arriving.

Y/N ran over and embraced them both in a hug, ignoring the commentators comments of ‘mom’ and ‘awwww’ and she pulled them in close and started rambling

“Oh my god, are you okay, that was a big crash, are you sure you don’t need to go to the medical centre, wait, hang on, what’s the test, uuhhhh, how many fingers am i holding up?”

“2, Y/N, relax, we’re okay.” Daniel put a hand on her shoulder

“Y/N breathe okay, I know that was a big crash and that I think was your first big crash while being here, so I’d imagine it's a little scary, but it’s okay. We’re both okay, Daniel and I in one piece.” Alex pulled her into a hug, before releasing her.

Y/N didn’t trust her voice, just nodding and furiously wiping away at the tears falling down her face.

“C’mon, I’ll get you back to James and then by the time the red flag is over, I’ll be back from media and we can watch the race together, okay?”

Y/N nodded again, smiling more than she was as Alex led her back to James.

“Keep her safe until I get back, yeah boss?”

“Oh come on Alex, you don’t trust me with my own wife?”

---

taglist: @leosxrealm, @tallrock35, @wolf-knights, @janeholt3, @pear-1206

[the-grey-hunt]

Hidden Whispers: Green Text In Ghost Trick

(grabs you and shakes you by the shoulders) WHAT DOES IT MEAN. COME WITH ME ON THIS JOURNEY

So last night I was playing ghost trick, as you do, but more importantly, I was playing it myself for the first time and paying a lot more attention to the words as a result. And something kind of...odd...happened in the submarine.

That green text isn’t Lynne, or it would be a continuation of her black text with her sprite visible, instead of her text breaking off with an em dash. It explicitly isn’t Sissel, who wonders if he’s hearing things. So…who, or what, is it?

Let’s examine our evidence. First: Where does green text already appear in Ghost Trick?

(screenshots taken from my switch and from this playthrough)

In chapter 6, Detective Rindge speaks in green over the radio:

And later, in Rindge's four minutes before death, we see that from his perspective, he's in black text and the Chief (over the radio) responds to him in green:

(above screenshot taken from Secret Sleepover Society's playthrough because I didn't get to see this text in Lacry's)

In chapter 7, the conversation Rindge hears through the "ladybug" is also green...

...including in the "new present", when he hears the chef instead:

This tells us that one use of green text is to indicate that we are hearing someone who is out of Sissel's normal range. (We know that Sissel can't be too far away from humans if he wants to hear what they're saying, such as in the restaurant when Beauty and Dandy leave the trunk behind.)

But these aren't the only instances of green text. There are two others:

In chapter 14, the text of the meteorite monument is written in green. This means that green text can also indicate the written word, information that is being conveyed to Sissel (maybe read aloud to him?) from a format he isn't able to access.

This is also supported by the second example I mentioned:

In the Final Chapter, when Yomiel repeats Fiansissel's note, the text of the note is in green. It's the written word, something Sissel can't "hear", being transmitted to Sissel in a way he can understand.

And there's one more example of green text...

When Yomiel has a flashback to what Lynne said to him in the destroyed Yonoa, her text is in green. Again, it is something Sissel is hearing when he wouldn't normally be able to hear it (after all, Lynne isn't there! This is in the park, after he leaves Lynne and Kamila behind).

So if green text indicates Sissel hearing/understanding something he shouldn't be able to...

...what IS he hearing in that clip? He knows he's hearing something; he's surprised by it; it's something he thinks he could dismiss as his imagination.

The answer is both obvious and so convoluted it's taken me this long to even realize there was a question:

Yes. That's right. It's Ray. (also yes, that's right. I'm putting the 'keep reading' cut HERE.)

Q: BUT HOW?!?!?!?!?!

A: Not only COULD it be Ray, it HAS to be Ray. The green text in that clip is a reference to an "unstoppable (M/m)issile"!

Not only that, in order for Ray to catch Sissel like this in the ghost world at the very end, he had to have been in the park to speak with Sissel in the ghost world.

As we've seen, ghosts require proximity to be able to speak to each other. Sissel can't talk to a ghost (powered or unpowered) unless they're close enough for him to reach; he doesn't speak to Missile once Missile-leaf has blown away until he physically encounters the leaf again.

Ray had to be in the park when the "new future" was made in order to talk to Sissel here. In order to reach the park, he had to be brought back with the others when they rewound to Yomiel's death. In order to do that, he had to have been on the submarine to journey with them to the control room.

(It was a crowded torpedo, is what I'm saying).

Q: It could be regular Missile speaking. After all, his ghost was there.

A: If present Missile and not Ray was speaking, it would be black text—his ghost is close enough for Sissel to hear, as he's still right there with Kamila!

Q: But Ray was in the junkyard—

A: Was he? Ray stops responding to Sissel as the night goes on, if you keep visiting the junkyard. If you try to talk to him before going to Lynne in Temsik Park (around midnight/1 AM), there's only "...".

Ray had made it to the submarine before in his timeline; he knew how to get there. Was he losing strength and "unable" to talk, or was he not there at all to speak to Sissel? Did he leave hours beforehand to make sure he would get to the Yonoa in time?

Q: Wouldn't Sissel have noticed Ray was gone?

A: Is there *any* point in the game where Ray's "spiritual flame" self is visible in the lamp? There would be no visible difference.

Q: Wouldn't they have noticed him on the torpedo?

A: They didn't notice Yomiel.

Q: How does that even work? With not being able to see the flame, or not realizing another ghost is there, and wouldn't Sissel have seen Yomiel's flame in his body in the very first scene—

A: Listen this post is already long enough.

And there's one more piece of evidence I've been holding out on:

Ray-timeline Sissel, quoted by Ray to Sissel, speaks in green text. A piece of speech Sissel wouldn't normally have been able to hear, but is hearing through another.

And...why green, anyway? Isn't it interesting that there are multiple colors of text in this game? Besides the "normal" black text, there's green, there's red, and there's...blue.

Red text, Sissel's color, is used to denote clues, parts of dialogue or narration that are important to Sissel's quest and help guide him along the path towards the truth behind "the mystery of me".

Blue text, the color of Yomiel's ghost world, indicates 'private thoughts' that, nonetheless, affect the people Sissel interacts with. Something "secret" reaching out and ending up in other characters' heads anyway (because after all, it's not speech but 'thought' beamed directly into a mind...)

And then green text. Text that reveals important knowledge that, despite all the obstacles in the way, is conveyed to Sissel anyway. The color, essentially, of lore-drops, tutorials, and the "hidden truth" revealed.

Of COURSE the green text in that one mysterious moment is Missile. *It's his color.*

[luvlyycy]

Can I request a kof x reader? I'm desperate

GIRLY, MY LOVE, MY LIEGE MY EVERYTHING. I GOTCHUUU , i wrote uhh.. short scenarios for a few guys cus i like every man and woman in kof. <3 also, you cant top any of these men so.. they are all topping (men in here : kyo , iori , k dash , yashiro) n a bonus at the end..

KUSANAGI . KYO — (≧▽≦)

His smile stretches as he watches you attempt to stuff his cock into you, your palms flat against his chest. His hair is messy— still adorning his signature headband, gloved hands sliding up and down your hips.

" Awww , won't it fit ? " he mimics the face of sadness as he watches your face twist with frustration— "Ugh, Kyo— C-can—" this bet was stupid. Kyo and you had made a bet, saying that you couldn't possibly fuck yourself on his cock as good he could fuck you.

"Can you.. help me.. p,,, please??" you say, wiggling your hips on his dick for emphasis.

He lets out a dramatic sigh, "God, I guess I could." he grins. You lost the bet, as always.

YAGAMI . IORI — (｡uωu)♪

"My hands? You like my hands?" he stares at you as you nod. He looks at his hands, nails painted black, the middle finger painted red. "How much?".

He never thought asking you that would result in this debauchery— two fingers stuffed in your mouth as he fingers you with the other hand. Your eyes are rolled into the back of your skull, drool running down your chin as he pumps his fingers in and out of you—

"You really like 'em?" and you once again nod, quickly and messily. "Gah— mmngh, g'nna cuhh— nn!"

He doesn't smile but— you can tell in his head he is,

"Cum then, cum all over my pretty hands."

K , DASH — ヽ(･∀･)ﾉ

"You can take more than that—" he huffs, hands on the sides of your head as he drills his cock into your stretched out hole as you shake your head no. You had already squirted six times on his cock, what more could he want?

"I haven't came yet. I want more." he breathes, beads of sweat sticking to his caramel skin as he leans down to press a soft kiss to your lips— drool sticking to his lips as he pulled away.

"K— .. 'm cuhh—mm— innggg!!!"

He stifles a small laugh as he watches you writhe beneath him, sucking his cock in deeper and deeper before you begin to squirt— now pushing his cock out but he continues to push his cock in, regardless if your pussy pushes him out or not.

"I have to cum inside."

NANAKASE . YASHIRO — (≡^∇^≡)

"Fuckin' look at that— Pussy's cryin' f'me." he laughs out as he fucks you from behind, one hand on your ass and the other in his hair. You cry out his name into your pillow, only for him to grab onto your hair and pull your head up— lines of drool still sticking you to the pillow.

"Sl,, slower— puhhh— lease. Please!"

"Slower?? Aww, but your pussy loves this— so" thrust, "fucking–" thrust, "much!" . He's rewarded with your shuddering body as you begin to cum on his cock, further emphasizing his words.

"Thought ya said slow down. Poor baby. Pathetic lil cunt wants more n more of me! So fucking cute." he huffs in your ear, your small hand reaching up to wrap around his neck, thumb caressing the heart charm on his choker. "it's,, too— muhh— chh.."

"Too much, ya say? Yeah fucking right. Says the one cummin' on me like a fucking whore. I doubt it's too much— Think it's jus' enough."

☆ bonus ! ☆

VICE & MATURE — (○_○)！！

Vice licks on your neck as Mature is seated between your legs, thumb circling your clit as she tilts her head at you. She lets out a soft giggle— "Look at you, making a mess." she shakes her head in disbelief, mimicking a saddened tone. Vice giggles into your ear as she grabs onto your perky nipples, pulling, twisting— before latching onto one, her body leaning on one of your arms. Your cries of overstimulation are overlooked.

Mature reaches over with her free hand to caress Vice, nails dragging against the plump flesh of her ass as the red head continues to abuse your nipples.

"Ah, they're gonna cum again Vice. C'mere." Vice listens as if she were a puppy, but not before spitting down on your abused nipples and smiling cockily at your fucked out face.

Mature places her hand around Vice's neck, caressing her before pulling her in for a sloppy kiss— now using three fingers to pump into you.

They both turn towards you, Vice a bit more enthusiastic than Mature as she presses more kisses to blonde's face— red lipstick sticking to her delight.

"Aww, you're cumming—" Mature giggles out, as Vice leans her head against the crook of her neck.

sorryyy for being so late !!! please consider asking for more characters !!! i write everyone except rugal (maybe..) !! <3

[the-way-astray]

Alright. I'm on anon so Katie can't call me a traitor for calling her out, but here's some things I noticed that make that a CLEARLY Katie fic. (Sorry Katie. Love your fics.)

Stria buried her head in her pillow, wishing she could take back the way she’d handled quite possibly the worst social interaction of her entire life.

"Quite possibly" is a phrase Katie uses all the time. Usually in the form, "quite possibly the (superlative) (noun) of all time." I'm not sure if it makes a lot of appearance in her fanfiction, but I talk to her a lot, and I've heard her use this phrase frequently.

“You told enough people.” There was a semblance of the smirk she hated, just like everything else about him. “Things get back to me, you know. I hear all the rumors. I just… I don’t know you, Stria.”

"Semblance of the smirk." This is a classic Katie movie, and it gets me every time. For some reason, in a scene, noticeably, his smirk is missing, and then it comes back for a moment, but in a small way. It makes me kick my feet and giggle, and I'll admit, while she does do it frequently enough that I've noticed, it's somehow written differently every time to the point where it doesn't feel like it's becoming a cliche. I definitely saw the phrase, though, and went, That's my favorite KOTLC author! (Sorry Shannon... her Keefe is better *dodges rocks*)

“You needed a reminder, huh?”

“Hardly.”

This doesn't even count as proof. I can't point to any one thing. But Katie wrote that.

Okay, now we get into Katie AND Shannon's favorite overused punctuation! (It's really not that bad, actually, when I'm reading it, but when I look for it it's like, wow. That's a thing.)

"I just… I don’t know you, Stria.”

Ellipsis spotted

and now he was… what, flirting with her?

Ellipsis spotted

She should have just verbally listed a few random things he did that she just liked—perhaps his ridiculous jokes.

Em-dash spotted

And now she had her head buried in her pillow, because… why had she done that?!

Ellipsis spotted

She was being hailed by… the one person she wanted most to not be hailed by.

Ellipsis spotted

"I mean, half of it is just you being mad that I have a personality, and the other half is…” Keefe winced.

Ellipsis spotted

"These conversations… who told you about them?”

Ellipsis spotted

“Uh… it’s hard to explain. I kind of walked through the fourth wall to get here, so…”

Ellipsis x2 spotted

“You don’t care about me… but you keep a comprehensive list of all the reasons you don’t like me.”

Ellipsis spotted

“I… what?”

Ellipsis spotted AND it was "I... what?"

“I don’t even want to know. Listen…”

Ellipsis spotted

“Do you want to, you know, meet up for—”

“No.”

“—smoothies—”

“Nope.”

“—in Atlantis?”

“I said no.”

Em-dash x4 spotted, AND it was interrupted dialogue

Okay, so maybe she wasn’t entirely apathetic, but she didn’t like him. She would never like him. And that would certainly never change.

Katie LOVES to end chapters with ironic unreliable narration. Actually, the unreliable narration in this, both from you and from Keefe, OOZES Katie's style. She's not the only one to ever write an unreliable narrator, naturally. But I just know. Again, I've read all her fics, including the ones she wrote with Isa. I've even read her fics outside of the KOTLC fandom! (It's funny because they're super well written, in my opinion, but they're also written like KOTLC. It's like Shannon Messenger writing Star Wars fanfiction. It's very funny. You should try reading it sometime.)

Again, I'm anonymous so Katie can't pin me as a traitor. Katie, if you're reading this, I swear I love you and your fics, and I love it when you uses overuse ellipses and em-dashes! Never change! I'm onto you though. You love to have mystery identities, but I know your writing when I see it.

anon, this is fascinating as shit, and i've definitely noticed shannon's excessive use of ellipses, em dashes, and italics myself. katie has admitted to me several times that her writing style emulates shannon's (and i've noticed it myself, shannon herself could've written that cheating fic). shannon also loves keefe's smirk for sure, and the "quite possibly" thing is definitely something i've seen pop up in kotlc at least a few times. as for that one quote ("you needed a reminder, huh?" "hardly") that you said you couldn't really pin down what felt so shannon/katie about it for, i think i got that one. it's the "huh". shannon loves the word "huh", both as a casual "huh" in response to something, as well as an end to a question like in this case. so i can definitely see where the katie allegations are coming from for this one. she was my first suspect as well.

however. i'd also like for you to see the new evidence that has popped up in my inbox, from the never change author themself (this is from the notes at the end of chapter two, which they have sent me) (i'll post it soon):

basically the argument is that katie got her writing style from shannon, and this anon also appears to have gone down that same route of kind of emulating shannon as well as katie herself. so maybe the fact that katie and shannon write in such a particular way is evidence against katie, not for, since shannon has such a voice that it rubs off on a lot of people when they read canon kotlc or katie's works.

or maybe this anon is lying and they are purposefully trying to emulate katie to throw us all off. who even knows.

i would read katie's star wars fics but i unfortunately would not understand shit. i haven't watched even a single movie and i have no idea what the plot is about besides something something outer space something something lightsaber something something "luke, i am your father". so. yeah.

@myfairkatiecat tagging you because. why not. also you wanted to know what this anon's resume is so here you are.

[sunnylandsworldwithwords]

No shame! here’s proper punctuation with a simple format and the dictionary definitions because i used to be that writer who was where some of you are now. 💖

1. Full stop

A full stop is the punctuation name for a mark that is used to show the end of a sentence, as shown in this punctuation example:

'Lucy went clothes shopping. She bought a lovely new skirt.'

Full stops are used to indicate that it is the end of a sentence, usually communicating a complete point or thought. It highlights a new sentence is about to begin.

2. Commas

Commas is the punctuation name for a mark that aregreat for breaking down sentences, combining two clauses or showing us when to pause.

'Despite the fact I hate maths, I quite like learning about fractions.'

This shows how commas can add emphasis and tell the reader when to pause. Sometimes, commas can be misplaced. This is called a comma splice, where two independent clauses are connected by a comma, when they should really be separated with a full stop or semi colon or connected with a connective.

3. Question marks

Question marks simply indicate that the speaker is asking a question. They're used at the end of question (or interrogative) sentences.

'Do you still want to keep your teddy bear?'

4. Exclamation marks

Exclamation marks is the punctuation name for a mark that can change the meaning and tone of a sentence. They still end a sentence, but they can add emotion - whether that's excitement, anger or nervousness!

'Look, it's a cat!'

'I'm so nervous about my SATs exams!'

'I can't believe you just said that!'

All three of these sentences convey very different emotions using an exclamation mark, so it can be confusing. Yet imagine if they used a full stop instead - these emotions would be much harder to read and understand.

A sentence which needs an exclamation mark is called an exclamatory sentence.

5. Colons

A colon is the punctuation name for a mark that is used to connect two clauses.

'Never go out in the sun without sunscreen: you#ll damage your skin.'

They're also great for introducing a list of three or more things.

'I'm visiting four cities this summer: Rome, Florence, Paris, and Seville.'

6. Semicolons

Semicolons get a bad reputation for being difficult, but in truth, they're super handy!

You can use a semicolon to join 2 main (or independent clauses) which have equal importance. For example,

'Katie was hungry; she hadn't eaten all day.'

Semicolons show a closer relationship between the clauses than a full stop would show.

7. Apostrophes

Apostrophe is a punctuation mark that can be quite confusing for many children, but it's really important that children learn how to use it properly.

Apostrophes are used to identify something that belongs to someone or to show a letter or multiple letters are missing from a word. Yet as simple as this sounds, many children and adults often misplace or forget apostrophes, even putting them somewhere they shouldn't be altogether. The following sentence shows how to use an apostrophe for contractions, where letters are missing from "were not", "of the clock" and "cannot".

"We weren't meant to leave before 4 O'clock, so we can't go yet."

Apostrophes can also be used to show the possessive form of a singular noun.

"The student's job was to make sure no one touched the pet rabbit's breakfast."

With plural nouns where the word already has an 's' at the end, an apostrophe just gets added at the end.

"The girls' toy truck had broken."

If the word is plural and doesn't have an 's' at the end, again one can be added.

"The women's business meeting had been delayed."

One of the most common misuses of apostrophes is putting them in words which are just plural and don't show possession or contraction. For example, words such as pencils, ghosts, houses, or guests never need an apostrophe.

8. Dash

A dash is the punctuation name for a mark that used to separate words into statements. There are two common types of dashes: en dash and em dash which vary in length. The en dash is twice as long as a hyphen and is most commonly used to signify a range between two words or numbers, for example the date range:

1990-2014.

Meanwhile,the em dash can be used in place of a comma, parenthesis, or colon to enhance readability or emphasize the conclusion of a sentence. For example:

She gave him her answer—No!

8. Hyphen

This list of punctuation marks isn't exhaustive, but it does contain the most commonly used punctuation marks with names. For example:

Sarah had a part-time job that she worked on a Saturday

9. Parentheses

A parenthesis is a word, phrase, or sentence that is inserted into writing as extra information using brackets, commas or dashes. For example:

'James (who was terrified of heights) was going to ride the biggest rollercoaster in the theme park

When a whole sentence is written inside a parenthesis then the full stop will be included inside the parenthesis, for example - Please read this story. (You'll be amazed.). However, if the majority of a sentence is written outside the parentheses, then the full stop should also be used on the outside, for example, You are late (aren't you?).

10. Brackets

Brackets is the punctuation name for a mark that is a curved symbol that looks like () and they are used to separate non-essential or additional information from a sentence. For example:

She finally answered (after taking five minutes to think) that she didn’t understand the question.

11. Quotation marks

Quotation marks is the punctuation name for a mark that is the primary type of punctuation used in quotes. These are inverted commas that are used as either single (‘ ’) or double (“ ”) sets. They are used either to mark the beginning and end of a title or quoted passage. For example:

Walking across the beach Mary said, "the weather is very sunny today".

12. Ellipsis

An ellipsis(plural ellipses) is a punctuation mark made up of 3 dots. Ellipses are commonly used to indicate the omission of words, lines or paragraphs from a quoted passage. For example:

'Today...we are proud to announce our new product.'

Dictionary version [better version In my opinion]

What is a typographical symbol?

The term typographical symbol, or any other number of phrases, refers to a character or symbol that isn’t considered to be a punctuation mark but may still be used in writing for various purposes. Typographical symbols are generally avoided in formal writing under most circumstances. However, you may see typographic symbols used quite a bit in informal writing.

Typographical symbol examples

The following examples show some ways that a writer might use typographical symbols. Keep in mind that some of these sentences may not be considered appropriate in formal writing.

The frustrated actor said she was tired of her co-star’s “annoying bull****.”

For questions, email us at anascabana@bananacabanas.fake!

The band had five #1 singles on the American music charts during the 1990s.

My internet provider is AT&T.

Period (.)

A period is used to end a declarative sentence. A period indicates that a sentence is finished.

Today is Friday.

Unique to them, periods are also often used in abbreviations.

Prof. Dumbledore once again awarded a ludicrous amount of points to Gryffindor.

Question mark (?)

The question mark is used to end a question, also known as an interrogative sentence.

Do you feel lucky?

Exclamation point (!)

The exclamation point is used at the end of exclamations and interjections.

Our house is haunted!

Wow!

Comma, colon, and semicolon

Commas, colons, and semicolons can all be used to connect sentences together.

Comma (,)

The comma is often the punctuation mark that gives writers the most problems. It has many different uses and often requires good knowledge of grammar to avoid making mistakes when using it. Some common uses of the comma include:

Joining clauses: Mario loves Peach, and she loves him.

Nonrestrictive elements: My favorite team, the Fighting Mongooses, won the championship this year.

Lists: The flag was red, white, and blue.

Coordinate adjectives: The cute, happy puppy licked my hand.

Try out this quiz on the Oxford comma!

Colon (:)

The colon is typically used to introduce additional information.

The detective had three suspects: the salesman, the gardener, and the lawyer.

Like commas, colons can also connect clauses together.

We forgot to ask the most important question: who was buying lunch?

Colons have a few other uses, too.

The meeting starts at 8:15 p.m.

The priest started reading from Mark 3:6.

Semicolon (;)

Like the comma and the colon, the semicolon is used to connect sentences together. The semicolon typically indicates that the second sentence is closely related to the one before it.

I can’t eat peanuts; I am highly allergic to them.

Lucy loves to eat all kinds of sweets;lollipops are her favorite.

Hyphen and dashes (en dash and em dash)

All three of these punctuation marks are often referred to as “dashes.” However, they are all used for entirely different reasons.

Hyphen (-)

The hyphen is used to form compound words.

I went to lunch with my father-in-law.

She was playing with a jack-in-the-box.

He was accused of having pro-Britishsympathies.

En dash (–)

The en dash is used to express ranges or is sometimes used in more complex compound words.

The homework exercises are on pages 20–27.

The songwriter had worked on many Tony Award–winning productions.

Em dash (—)

The em dash is used to indicate a pause or interrupted speech.

The thief was someone nobody expected—me!

“Those kids will—” was all he managed to say before he was hit by a water balloon.

Test your knowledge on the different dashes here.

Parentheses, brackets, and braces

These pairs of punctuation marks look similar, but they all have different uses. In general, the parentheses are much more commonly used than the others.

Parentheses ()

Typically, parentheses are used to add additional information.

I thought (for a very long time) if I should actually give an honest answer.

Tomorrow is Christmas (my favorite holiday)!

Parentheses have a variety of other uses, too.

Pollution increased significantly. (See Chart 14B)

He was at an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting.

Richard I of England (1157–1199) had the heart of a lion.

Square brackets []

Typically, square brackets are used to clarify or add information to quotations.

According to an eyewitness, the chimpanzees “climbed on the roof and juggled [bananas].”

The judge said that “the defense attorney [Mr. Wright] had made it clear that the case was far from closed.”

Curly brackets {}

Curly brackets, also known as braces, are rarely used punctuation marks that are used to group a set.

I was impressed by the many different colors {red, green, yellow, blue, purple, black, white} they selected for the flag’s design.

Angle brackets <>

Angle brackets have no usage in formal writing and are rarely ever used even in informal writing. These characters have more uses in other fields, such as math or computing.

Quotation marks and apostrophe

You’ll find these punctuation marks hanging out at the top of a line of text.

Quotation marks (“”)

The most common use of quotation marks is to contain quotations.

She said, “Don’t let the dog out of the house.”

Bob Ross liked to put “happy little trees” in many of his paintings.

Apostrophe (‘)

The apostrophe is most often used to form possessives and contractions.

The house’s back door is open.

My cousin’s birthday is next week.

It isn’t ready yet.

We should’ve stayed outside.

Slash and ellipses

These are two punctuation marks you may not see too often, but they are still useful.

Slash (/)

The slash has several different uses. Here are some examples:

Relationships: The existence of boxer briefs somehow hasn’t ended the boxers/briefs debate.

Alternatives: They accept cash and/or credit.

Fractions: After an hour, 2/3 of the audience had already left.

Ellipses (…)

In formal writing, ellipses are used to indicate that words were removed from a quote.

The mayor said, “The damages will be …paid for by the city … as soon as possible.”

In informal writing, ellipses are often used to indicate pauses or speech that trails off.

He nervously stammered and said, “Look, I … You see … I wasn’t … Forget it, okay.”

I don’t do not own any information listed above. This can all be found on google/chrome/safari

Divider credits go to @cafekitsune

[jumpywhumpywriter]

Sadistic Hero vs Terrified Robbers

Warnings: sadistic hero playing cat and mouse with robbers, toying with victims, intentional injury (dealt to criminals), humiliation

This event takes place many years after Shadow's alliance with Thomas, when they have finally started getting along better and working together to stop criminals on the streets. Random side-story unrelated to and not included in my main trilogy.

"They're heading Northbound on foot, looks like they're making a dash for that old storage warehouse on 54th. If you cut through Maple street you can cut them off before they get there." Thomas was typing madly at his desk, fingers becoming a blur as he searched maps for the best routes and tracked the two target's locations, while monitoring Shadow's alignment against their coordinates, to tell her the fastest route.

"They just took a right turn on 55th down the alley! Now's your chance to get them!" He practically shouted into the comms, feeling a rush of excitement run up his spine. This was more entertaining than video games, the news, or anything else he could have imagined. He'd always wondered what it would be like to work behind the scenes and man the comms for a vigilante just like they always did in the movies... but he never thought he'd actually get to do that.

And yet here he was, doing illegal vigilante stuff... with a Falkry, of all things. It certainly made things more interesting to have a legendary creature on your side to help stop crime. Almost half of the criminals fainted on sight in shock after seeing Shadow in the flesh. And Thomas couldn't blame them; she was terrifying.

Today's catch would be two armed thieves that had just finished robbing a small family-owned business, and were on the run. They were obviously inexperienced, as they had robbed the store at knifepoint instead of gunpoint, and had chosen to flee on foot instead of in a car, two critical oversights that they were probably already regretting deeply.

It was solidly night, and Shadow blended well amidst the darkness in her black leather suit. Her ghostly white wings were the only thing that could give her away.

"Ah, I've got eyes on." Shadow's voice came crackling through Thomas's computer.

"Go get 'em Shadow!" Lucas was standing behind Thomas watching scenes unfold from the sideline, and mostly enjoyed the excited energy that filled the air whenever Shadow was on a mission.

"I'm going, okay?! I don't need a cheerleader," she snapped back. She glided near-soundlessly down around the back of a building at one end of the alley the criminals would soon be coming through, and positioned herself right behind the corner.

Game time, she thought, preparing herself for action. She didn't have to wait long before the sound of fast footsteps and hard breathing reached her sensitive ears.

"Do you think they're following us!?" A labored voice panted.

"No, I think we lost 'em," a second answered.

Heh heh. Idiots. They have no idea what they're in for, Shadow thought smugly. Their night’s about to get a whole lot crazier. She waited until the two men had almost reached the end of the alley before she stepped around the corner to face them. Both of them came to comically screeching halts, wearing identical expressions of astonishment and shock at the sight of the Falkry.

"Good evening, humans. Have any plans for tonight, besides robbing more stores?" Shadow purred smoothly, smirking.

"What is--" the first man started, then cut himself off. He was wearing a black backpack that Shadow assumed held the treasure they had stolen. The man quickly regained his composure and dropped the backpack on the ground, pulling out two sizable knives and brandishing them threateningly in warning at her, even though his hands were trembling. His partner did the same.

"I-I don't know what kind of monster you are, but if you try anything, I promise you'll regret it!" The first man said. Shadow found it amusing how hard he was trying to appear confident and capable, but she could hear the nervous edge to his voice, along with his racing heartbeat, which gave him away.

"How about this: I'll give you some free wisdom and lessons of life that might help you in the future before I take you both down. That is, if you even have a future after going to prison." She chuckled coldly, and started counting on her fingers. "Firstly, don't make promises you can't keep. Secondly, don't make threats unless you are able to make good on them. Thirdly, don't threaten the dangerous predator who can kill you in a heartbeat. And fourthly, don't bring a knife to a ninja fight. Oh, and almost forgot the last one: Never antagonize me. It always ends very badly. For you. Any questions?"

The second man unexpectedly rushed at her with a shout and his knife raised high; perhaps a side effect of his small brain and sheer stupidity, combined with the effect of the adrenaline flooding his veins, Shadow figured.

What an idiot... She sighed and shook her head in amusement before gracefully dodging to the side and casually tripping him with a foot as he barreled past, sending him sprawling on the hard asphalt.

The first man was apparently equally stupid, as he tried to use his partner's move as a distraction, so that he could attack Shadow from behind. Both of them must have obviously failed school to have such a low IQ.

I don't understand their specific kind of stupid, but I do admire their total commitment to it, Shadow thought, ducking the first man's attack while the second scrambled back to his feet.

Two on one. I like those odds.

"I think you missed the life lesson about 'not' antagonizing me," she chuckled. She was toying with them like a cat playing lazily with a mouse. It wasn't often that she came across criminals willing to take a stab at defeating her. Most of them either fainted on sight, or flight instinct kicked in and they ran away. But in the rare case like this one where her enemy decided to fight back, she saw it as a perfect opportunity to test out her own skills as a warrior. It was good practice, to keep her skills sharp.

Shadow's hands instinctively twitched toward the two daggers nestled in their sheaths at her hip, but she decided against it.

I'm not trying to kill them. I just need to incapacitate them. Which shouldn't be hard, considering that these humans have ant-sized brains. It'll make this fight more interesting if they have weapons and I don't anyway.

The two thieves ran at her from opposite sides, and Shadow snapped her wings out, striking both of them hard in the face, enough to leave a nasty bruise and send them staggering backward in a daze.

"Had enough yet?" Shadow taunted mockingly. The second man was definitely out of the fight, leaning against the alley wall and wiping blood from his nose, which was either fractured or broken from the force of the blow Shadow's wing had delivered.

The second man, on the other hand, decided to make one last half-hearted attack, stumbling clumsily toward her and waving his only remaining knife weakly in the air.

Oops... I think I hit that one a little too hard. Shadow was pretty sure she'd given him a concussion, judging from how he was having a hard time walking in a straight line and was looking a bit disoriented. She sometimes 'accidently' forgot that she had the strength of a Falkry, whereas these were just humans. Regular ol' humans.

Shadow sighed boredly, effortlessly catching the man's wrist in her hand as he took a swipe at her. She squeezed hard; not hard enough to do any serious damage, but just enough to make it hurt, so that he dropped the knife uselessly to the ground.

"I think I've had enough of this now," she muttered under her breath. Then she grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt and slammed him into the alley wall, lifting him up so his feet dangled off the ground. The man's eyes widened in terror at how the tables had flipped, and the fear was plain on his face.

Shadow grinned darkly, tilting her head from side to side, pretending to contemplate choices. "Hmm... to kill, or not to kill. That is the question." She barely managed to bite back her laughter as she watched the man's face instantly pale.

I'm having way too much fun with this.

She would have enjoyed toying with him a little longer, but she was beginning to worry that he might have a literal heart attack because of how fast his heart was beating. So instead she knocked him out with a sharp jab to the head, before carefully lowering him to the ground. Then she turned her attention to the other thief, who was trying to stumble away. With a single beat of her wings, she closed the distance between them and delivered a solid blow to the back of his head. With both criminals unconscious, she walked unhurried over to the backpack and unzipped it to find several stacks of cash.

"Not a bad haul," she said to herself. Getting an idea, she used her unnatural strength to rip the straps off the backpack, and used them to tie both of the thieves' hands together. Then she used a couple more straps and tied one of the mens' feet to his partner in crime, then stepped back to check her work.

This will be rather interesting when they wake up, she thought in amusement. They wouldn't be able to run away since they were tied to each other, and she could only imagine how hilarious it would be to see them sprawling all over the place in an attempt to escape before the police arrived to arrest them.

I call it... 'art!' She chuckled to herself. She could already hear sirens coming in the distance, and so she melted back into the darkness of the night and disappeared without a trace. She imagined the police would be fairly confused to find the two thieves already taken out, and tethered to each other in such a strange way.

I basically did their job for them.

Masterlist #1 - all my main whump stories

Masterlist #2 - all stories specifically involving Shadow and Thomas

@scoundrelwithboba @lumpofsand @isikedmyself878 @iamheretohurt @fleur-a-whump

@ay5ksal @otterfrost @sausages-things @togzy

@whump-till-ya-jump @cravesunconditionallove @whumpwritinglover222

[random-gamer1942]

This morning I randomly remembered my first ever fanfic thingy that I made a few months ago, an sbg wild west au. It was supposed to be a one-shot, but I got some sudden inspiration, so I'm reposting it here and continuing it

Trainwreck Graveyard

(1/7) The train that was

The sun sat high in the sky, broiling the dry land below. Standing on this scorched earth was a silent figure. Twin flame-colored braids going down until her waist, just barely resting on the twin six-shooters holstered to her belt - like sticks of dynamite ready to blow after the wick's flames caught up to them. It'd be hard to tell just what she might do with those things if it wasn't for the star-shaped golden badge on her uniform

Though many others awaited the locomotive, none dared approuch her. Few ever did, and of those few, even fewer didn't end up regretting it. If her cold gaze didn't scare them away, the cold steel of a barrel between their eyebrows would. Sure, some would call it harsh, but if it scares away outlaws that's simply what must be done

Choo chooo, the approuching train broke the quiet atmosphere that usually seemed to follow her. As it came to a halt and it's doors opened, the crowd started pouring into the different cabins, with many taking the spots they had grown accustomed to

But when the woman with hair red as the morning sun found her usually mostly empty cabin, two strange faces sat there, almost waiting for her

One was a large man with dark hair, who attempted to avoid eye contact. The other however, adorned with hair light as the sands of the desert, looked straight at the figure approuching him. And when met with her cold gaze, he returned a warm smile

They're clearly travelers, she thought to herself. She decided to just sit down and hope that they wouldn't start a conversation. I mean, they surely wouldn't be foolish enough to-

"Howdy there Miss, pleased to meet ya. The name's Aiden, and this here's my cousin Benjamin. He don't speak much, but don't mind 'em. Say, what might I call you?"

He didn't seem like a bad guy per se, but that smile of his unsettled her

"Ashlyn, sheriff 'round these parts. I'd prefer if you didn't-"

"Sheriff? That could be interestin', oh I bet ya. Doncha think so, Ben?"

"..."

"Well, could be excitin', right? Wild chases, held at gunpoint. Might even get arrested!"

How casually he said these things, with that same smile on his face, were concerning. She had to get him to settle down before he did anything he'd regret

"You. I don't take kindly to strangers taking my seat, starting all sorts of chatter, 'n speaking over me. I suggest stayin' silent for the rest of the ride, if you value getting to see another mornin'."

"Ooh, curious indeed. Well, how're ya gon' make me?" He squinted his eyes and smiles just a bit more

"Well, lemme put it like this...", she drew the pistol out of her right holster, letting it spin around her finger once before placing the barrel in front of his forehead, "...whether you shut that trap of yours or not, you'll end up silent somehow."

He leaned forward slightly, his forehead now touching the suprisingly cool metal of the revolver. "Oh, will I now? In that case, please show me Miss, cuz I clearly ain't picking up what yer puttin' down."

She flinched when he moved closer. She'd seen many cowardly back off, and some stubbornly stand their ground, but get closer? Did he have a death wish or something? It didn't make any se-

BOOM

A loud explosion rang through the cart. The sheriff dropped her gun and clutched her ears, barely able to stand upright

"Oh, seems like our cue to go", the man said, with his red eyes glinting in the midday sun. "I did truly enjoy our little chat, sheriff. Hopefully I'll cya soon!"

He grabbed his cousin by the wrist and dashed to the back of the cart, which now had a giant hole in it.

The sheriff grasped for her other shooter, but by the time she was looking past the barrel, they had already jumped onto a set of horses and rode off

And it was then that our sheriff realized her quiet life just might get a bit more interesting...

(2/7) Ready to go

[fountainpenguin]

"It was a cup of good intentions... a tablespoon of one big mess! A dash of overreaction, and I assume you know the rest..." (x)

---

New Dog's Life chapter today! ~ 3rd Life series fan-season

Chapter 28 - “Slow Burn (Bdubs, Scar, Charlotte)”

❤️ Read on AO3

💛 Start from Chapter 1

💚 More Pixels Imperfect fics

---

Scott needs medical attention. Scar and SnifferMyFeet do their best to offer it... even if it means putting one of them on the line. Meanwhile, Bdubs and Grian discuss carrots and vacation plans.

(First 1,000 words under the cut)

---

BdoubleO100 - Phantom

Status: Riled up

Captain of New Star Station's phantom hybrid flock

💙  🧡  💚

"Aha!" Bdubs grabs Grian by the wrists, yanking him forward. He pulls him, twisting him through a dopey dance in the kitchen. Grian yelps, socked feet twisting and gripless, and that just makes it better. "You want to be cringe and free!"

"I could do without the cringe," he protests, flapping his wings as Bdubs spins and prances with him, "but I do wish for love."

"Well, being truly known's the same thing, isn't it?" He swings Grian around to the other side. Grian squawks, pixels thickening and flipping over in his face. Purple flecks glitter underneath. He may as well've been run through a storm drain and flushed out the other side. "Tell you what! I'll love Etho if you love Mumbo, deal? Junglemate's honor!"

"Bdubs, that's not a deal."

"'Course it's a deal! It goes both ways; that defines it. Whadaya think? You wanna seal it?"

"… Yes."

"Let's do it, then." And he laughs, 'cuz it feels so good to love. It's what captains do, you know. When all hope is lost, look to the captain. Put all your faith in 'em, even when it looks like they're steering the wrong way. Captains always guide you back towards the light. Didn't you know Minecrafters like to move in circles? It's a way of stalking prey. "Always, and 'til the end!"

Grian catches a grip on the floor. "Bdubs? Bdubs, I hate to ask, but… What was the reason? Why didn't being romantic work with Etho? I mean, what made you feel like being queerplatonic partners made sense? How did you know?"

Bdubs' tail twitches at the end. Mossy shawl is crooked now, plushy bits tucked too tight against his neck. He pulls it around again. "I think being romantic would've worked a while, but this is what felt right. Just better this way long-term. Now, enough about Etho-"

"Do you ever regret it?"

Wow. Parrot stereotypes are true, then. Once they get their talons in something, they latch on tight and don't like letting go. Of course, that's mostly when they're dead. It's not his business, but Grian's watching, and Grian's a less experienced player, and he came from another world. Bringing him into the rest of the flock and teaching him things is what a captain does. "No? I don't regret choosing Etho."

"I meant the QPR," Grian says impatiently, taking his bar stool again. "I mean, that's a big conversation to have, right? And once you say it, it's hard to walk back and change your mind. I mean, what happens if you feel ready to be romantic?"

'Ready,' huh? Geez. Tell me you really don't know what's up with me and Etho without telling me you don't know anything about us.

Mm, scattered possibilities on how to answer that one. It's like a deck of cards strewn across the table- stat poker at its worst. Bdubs gazes back with his tail gently waving.

"Is this about you?" he asks in easy deflection. Grian's wings jump. "Communication's always gonna be your best bet. I think if you wanna change up your lifestyle, you can tell your partner straight, so long as you realize they might end things with you there- You get me?" He gestures to his wrist-comm then. "I mean, Brittney and I swing different ways all the time. We just let each other know when something comes up or we wanna see someone else."

Brittney's good. Doesn't expect him home too much; she knew what she was marrying into. He was already captain of New Star by the time they woke up with shared rings.

… It's nice though, huh? For the first time, he really eases his shoulders back, no longer compensating for heavy wings. Martyn's acting captain tonight. It's not his first time, though it usually doesn't last for long.

He may have burned his wing pixels off, but other than fly, Bdubs can do whatever he wants. As far as Martyn knows, he finished the delivery route. And the fact that he didn't isn't his problem tonight. If Martyn's too busy flirting with Cleo to catch an insubordinate flockmate in the act, well, consider this a lesson learned. He still glitters with white sparks wherever his bare skin faces upwards, like on the backs of his hands.

I can do… whatever I want. Isn't that something? Under the full moon, even! Usually he'd be bare-chested by now, wrestling Martyn while a crowd looks on. If Martyn enacts a challenge, anyway. He sometimes likes to. Bdubs' fingers brush the red feather hanging at his chest. He didn't give much consideration to wearing it. He just played along. This is Yes, And? This is fun. And he's out here doing whatever he wants.

Grian looks on, curious as ever. "I mean, you want him, don't you?"

"Do I ever! And got 'im right here!" (Not here here, but you know how it is under the wing).

"Aren't you disappointed?" Grian asks, foot twisting against the bar stool's little foot rest. He slouches against the counter. Maybe birds just like to perch on things. "I mean, you can't carrot with Etho now, if you're queerplatonic."

What? "Yeah I can." And this time he's more firm about it: "Etho and I can do whatever we want. Don't look at me! It's like you and Mumbo spawning a spark together when you're not dating. Raising kids together is fine." His eye twitches even as he says it. See, that's where the problem started.

Bdubs isn't really looking to be a dad right now. Right now, the flock comes first. He's saving his energy for when he, like Impulse and Jewel, takes his beloved's kids under his wing. Well, the players and cameras synced up to those kids, anyway. Four's a lot. Two's a lot, and it prob'ly won't be much longer before they're here- They're getting big. He gets emotion bleed of 'em on the regular, when they sit themselves in Daddy's lap or hang on his shoulders to watch him play.

Raising four kids someday ('cuz who doesn't take the cameras under their wing too?) is gonna burn him out. That's when he's gonna be so weak, Martyn takes his place as flock captain. Heck, Bdubs will throw the fight if he has to. The flock comes first, and once he's got his own, his time as captain's gonna run dry. Brittney and the kids are gonna be his flock then.

That's the schism between him and Etho, see, which is none of Grian's freakin' business. But Bdubs can't see himself raising server-restricted sparks this late in life when his real, Between dimension family is gonna get a whole lot bigger in a couple hundred years. He doesn't need babies. And Etho, who huddles up alone more often than he should, wants a litter he can lick and snuggle and hold.

It didn't end their friendship. It's just dangerous to dance around. They agreed a long time ago carrots were off the table. Bdubs is pretty sure Etho's never gotten his love hearts up before, and that makes him all the more unpredictable. Too wild. Unrestrained. It's just not worth the risk, 'cuz if an accident happened, Etho would whine and plead for him to stay. Void, he loves Etho. But accidents come easy, and Joel's living proof of it- Hermes is just one example…

Bdubs does not talk to Etho about Joel. Or Cleo, for that matter. Yeah, he'll play up his role as kid in the Clocker family, but he sheds it like a snakeskin when he's not in the mood. Except for "family dinner nights," where he's expected (and MCC watch parties by extension), he doesn't roleplay Clocker stuff in Between. Not in the teasing, flowery way that Etho, Scar, and Cleo do. On-server is full of emotion bleed- Scar got it right when he picked a puppet skin this season.

But Between is where he's real, and he's not gonna waste it roleplaying as the lowest member in the pecking order. Except for when it's fun.

[Full chapter on AO3 - Links at top]

[lonesome-greenery]

as a kid, there were a few writers that I really enjoyed reading from:

brian jacques

c.s. lewis

trenton lee stewart

k.a. applegate

kate di camillo

tony di terlizzi

and i can pretty clearly see how these guys have influenced my writing

jacquesian school of writing -> describe the important things in vivid detail, give your characters accents and different ways of speaking, include songs and innocuous details, food is an important part of the world and don't think your characters can get away with not having at least one meal scene, treat every character with at least a modicum of compassion even if they're "pure evil"

lewis school of writing -> sometimes you just have to outright say something and it can't all be subtextual, leave certain things up to the reader's imagination, if you can write in a matter of fact way then people might just end up believing that your writing has at least a kernel of truth to it even if it is bizarre, you can have a paragraph long sentence using semicolons and em dashes but that doesn't necessarily mean you should, you can and should convey a lot about a character in just a couple of short sentences

stewart school of writing -> puzzles are really fun to include in your writing, kids have important stories that need to be told and they're often underestimated which is part of what makes them perfect for particular adventures that adults don't find as important, you can give your characters a 'thing' and still have them read as characters and not caricatures

applegate school of writing -> hey kid, you ever heard of body horror? that's going to stick with you and your writing for a hell of a long time before you figure out why it's there, complex political backgrounds to stories and child soldiers with a huge sense of responsibility but frightened of ever revealing that to anyone? that'll be there too, and you might not be ready for it yet, but there's definitely going to be some queer subtext to your stories before you realize that and make it overt later on

dicamillo school of writing -> sometimes a story is about grief and change and that's going to make the whole story melancholy even though there's so much joy to it too, have young characters, but don't be afraid to have older characters who genuinely care about them present too, the landscape and world of your story can and should tie into the themes of what you're writing, it's good to write your characters having a good cry, food again, but in a very particular thematic way of showing up again and again

diterlizzi school of writing -> fairy tales and stories are a whole lot of fun to play around with, you can draw what your characters look like and have a lot of fun with that and maybe even get that slipped into your books, sibling relationships are very important to include, let bad things happen to your characters and have that have longstanding consequences in the narrative, sometimes your world building can get a bit bizarre so have some fun with it and let it get ugly sometimes, if you don't want to make a conlang, figure out some universal translator to make the different languages you wish you could include at least implied

[nothingxs]

FFXIV Write // Steer

The air was choked with heat and smoke, the din of clashing steel echoing through the paths and corridors as soldiers pushed on further and further. The initial frontal assault on Castrum Meridianum was always just one part of a two-pronged attack, and now that the so-called Warrior of Light had upheld their end of the deal and the magitek barrier had been disabled, what was once a feint now became a real threat.

And so, it was up to them to make do on the threat. It was up to us.

"I wonder," Ilysa shouted over to the rest of us, "how much longer do you think before the Empire surrenders this position?" She held her planisphere (so much as one ever does) to her right, running alongside us and looking down to find a line of soldiers who had pressed the rest of the Flames.

"Ain't bloody likely!" Renolt shouted right back, keeping his pair of blades close. "They know how important th' position is, they won't surrender unless they're made to!"

Dameron and Nenera had nothing to add to that, following up behind me. I was about to check with them before Lanna, who had leaned ahead, had made to duck behind cover and motioned to the rest of us to do the same.

"It's a big unit," they called out to us. "From here, four magitek armors. Couple of dozen soldiers. They want to clear us out." They turned to look at me. "It's on you, Red. Our men could overrun theirs, but not with those armors with them. What do you say we give them hell?"

I remember feeling myself grin as I looked to the others.

"Right. Ilysa, give Ren and Lanna a little boost. Dameron, you rain some hell to give Ren a shot at one of 'em. Lanna, see if you can't briefly commandeer one of their machines to cause problems. Nene, once Lanna's clear, burn 'em." I drew my sword and readied my shield, confirming my instructions with everyone with a nod.

"Right, Red," Ren fired back as he started to pull some throwing daggers from his belt. "So what are you gonna do?"

"I'll be right there with you."

What followed always was a bit of a blur.

It's hard to really key in on things; we've always just trusted each other to have each other's backs. I saw Ilysa draw cards and pass blessing both to Renolt and Lanna. As soon as Dameron's massive fireball caused the Imperial ranks to shake for just a small moment, one of Ren's daggers had found purchase right through the neck of one of the pilots.

Nenera and I moved to draw attention, getting quickly behind cover and providing enough of a distraction for Lanna to swing around, quickly leaping up to the disabled pilot's machine, reaching in, grabbing the controls and letting loose on the Garleans themselves. Dashing out from cover and cutting through the line of soldiers with other Flames at my back, Nenera's Ruby followed through and unleashing hell upon the remaining armors as Lanna fell back.

And amidst the chaos, pressure from all of us on the now-scattering force was all that was needed. A few well-placed cuts to fuel lines and joints from my sword and the encouragement of levin, wind and ice joining soon after the explosions were the only things we needed to disable the machines. And so, we charged ahead.

Or in any other case, we would've charged ahead.

A small pain that I'd dismissed in the back of my skull, now radiated throughout my head. The deeper we got into the Castrum, the deeper the feeling had got. I had dismissed it as a lack of rest, but this wasn't just a headache. It felt like I was being pulled.

Pulled away.

As we advanced, I stopped, and clutched my head, and looked ahead in the distance. My breath caught and I was filled with what I could only call dread. Ilysa and Nenera, who had been tending to the lightly wounded in the back, caught on, and Nenera was with me first.

"Cel, love, what's the matter? Why've you stopped? Are you hurt?"

"…Something's wrong, Nene." My eyes were fixed forward.

"Well, it's war; I'd hope—"

"No. Nene, listen to me," and I crouched to meet her eye level, hands on her shoulders, though I could still not bear to look anywhere but into the depths of the Castrum. "Something is wrong. Something feels wrong. We need—we have to retreat."

"Retreat? Love, are you mad? Th—"

I had finally turned to look at her.

She never told me what it was in my expression that convinced her. I just remember her looking at me with some level of horror, swallowing, and nodding.

I sounded the call to retreat. Our men seemed confused, at first, but the urgency of the call convinced them of its seriousness.

We'd started to fall back. I like to think it was the urgency with which I was waving men back that convinced them it was serious. Our men had stopped to help the wounded to get back, as well. Among the wounded had been a few Garleans as well, and several Imperial soldiers had advanced… confused as to the sudden ceding of ground. Still, they didn't chase, choosing to gather their wounded.

The pain in my head suddenly felt like it might split it in two.

I yelled to my men to hurry.

One of the Imperial officers met my eyes in the confusion.

I yelled at him to run.

We were told there was a flash of blue and white, right after. None of us remembered.

All we remembered was waking up outside of the Castrum, our wounds being tended to, having been too close to the blast.

...did those Garleans make it out...?