#third of the way through and he barely has any dialogue

[skelly-words]

Knock First Next Time

(NSFW Levi x Reader)

MDNI 18+ only

I just woke up and this was in my drive, bro, idk it's crazy. I don't even wanna talk about it anymore, just read the tags and don't look at me.

Reader has a cooch

Tags: excessive porn, Levi being a loser, Monster fucking-ish, double penetration, anal and p in v, tail play (is that a thing), biting, choking, undiscussed kinks (but bffr it's fine in fantasy), he has two dicks and they're blue with bioluminescent cum, that's my tag

Synopsis: You walk in on Levi playing eroge, pls just read the tags and don't make me explain it.

Wc: 4.2k

“Levi?” you yell through the door to his room. “You skipped lunch so I brought you something.”

You knock persistently at the wood. It’s late in the afternoon and nobody has seen Leviathan all day. Most of the brothers aren’t worried about him, citing his commonly reclusive behavior. Even if this is regular, you want to make sure he at least remembers to eat even if he is wrapped up in his new anime or RPG binge.

“I don’t know if you can hear me or not but I’m coming in.” You knock a couple of times in warning before you swing the door open.

The lights in his room are so dim you can barely see his silhouette as he sits, hunched over, in his gaming chair. Levi’s playing some kind of RPG. An erotic one judging by the big-tittied anime girls and multi-colored tentacles moving across the screen. And it would be nice if you had respected his privacy and left his room, but that would be boring and predictable. You calmly set the plate and sandwich on the edge of his bed as you approach the back of his chair.

As you get closer, you can hear muffled sound coming from his headphones. No wonder he couldn’t hear you knocking. You stay quiet and out of his peripheral vision, slowly reaching to lift the left side of his headphones away from his ear.

“Wow, Levi,” you whisper into his ear. “I didn't know you were into tentacle hentai.”

“No!” he shrieks, frantically trying to close out of the game. He’s too shocked, shaking so badly he can’t get the mouse to the exit button before you’re pulling his chair back from his desk. “That's not what this is. It isn't what it looks like.”

“Really? ‘Cause it looks like you blew us all off to play eroge all day. Just wait until your brothers hear about this.”

“No, please don’t, it’s not in like a weird way. It’s an RPG. I can’t resist a good RPG even if most of the art and story arc is erotic.”

“How respectful,” you say half-sarcastically. You’re equally unimpressed and entertained. “You’re making me interested. Talk to me about it.” You lean against his chair, tilting him back to look up at you. 

“No!” He says for the third time.

“What? Is that your new favorite word?” You tilt your head to the side to see if he looks any less embarrassed sideways. “Can I play with you?”

You have ulterior motives when asking, but Levi doesn’t seem to pick up on that. He shakes his head and buries his blush in his hands. 

“Absolutely not. Get out, and please don’t tell my brothers. Especially Mammon, he’ll extort me for money. And I can’t handle the teasing from Asmo…” He keeps mumbling about whatever, but you aren’t really listening to it. 

You pull his chair further away from his desk to make room for you to stand in front of him. The art style is interesting, and you click through some of the dialogue, but he’s too far progressed for you to understand the story at all. For all you know, the excuse that he’s playing it for the plot could be total bullshit.

“Hey, stop that.” Levi stands up and snatches the mouse from you, unintentionally clicking the story along. He’s recovered from his brief heart attack enough to get up from his gaming chair, but not enough to notice how his body effectively traps you against his desk.

The screen changes to the actual gameplay, which is somehow more lewd than the story portion of the game. A woman is spread across the center of the screen with a slimy blue tentacle pressed into each of her holes. There’s a slightly smaller tentacle too that wraps up the woman’s leg and lays across her clit. A timer bar steadily decreases across the top of the screen. 

Levi’s frozen. You probably think he’s such a fucking pervert now, and it doesn’t help that he can feel himself getting hard while standing so close behind you. It’s even worse that he’s going to have to lose this level now, ruining his perfect run of the game.

Your hand overlaps his on the mouse as you drag the cursor to the pause button. His fingers still don't move, hovering the cursor uselessly over the button.

"You're gonna run out of time," you keep a playful lilt to your voice. "Either pause it or play."

He debates for a second longer, doing whatever mental gymnastics he usually goes through to figure out how to proceed. He barely misses a beat. The cursor drops away from the pause button. You don't really pay attention to the gameplay itself, focusing on feeling his hand beneath yours, the lewd sounds echoing from the abandoned headphones looped around Levi's neck, and his growing boner pressing against your lower back.

"You're good," you say, half-impressed and concerned with the dramatics of the female's orgasm. The level finishes, and Levi keeps his perfect record with a three-star score.

"Do you still want me to show you how to play?" It's the boldest thing he can manage to say, which isn't saying much when it comes out so pathetically. He's begging as if the answer is hopelessly 'no.'

"Sure."

You can feel when Levi exhales, relieved, against your temple. His hand twitches beneath yours on the mouse as he drags the cursor to exit the game and start a new save.

Apparently, his whole spiel about playing for the story wasn't complete bullshit. He points out important plot points and shows you different strategies, but it's hard to concentrate on anything he says.

As his nerves dissolve, replaced by pure nerdiness, he pulls his chair back up to the desk, sits down, and settles you in his lap. You doubt he's completely aware of what he's doing with how engrossed he is with the game. When he's teaching you how to play, he has complete tunnel vision.

Levi lets you hold the mouse, reversing the roles so that he's guiding your hand. His unoccupied arm wraps around your waist, pulling you closer to him with a gasp whenever you come close to losing.

You find yourself surprisingly into it, despite never playing an eroge before. Your left hand stays glued to the keyboard, sprawled across the controls as you concentrate on the game. You're literally sweating as you struggle to finish the level (or make the level finish, either way).

A yellow banner unrolls across the screen, and the protagonist frowns at your one-star win.

"Shit, that was kinda intense." You sigh and lean back into his chest. Intense is an understatement. Adrenaline was making your hands shake and breath stutter. It didn't help that Levi was being so generous with his touch. If you didn't know better, you'd think he was pulling you against his bulge on purpose, but he was probably just being absentminded.

"It's fun, right?"

"Yeah, and the art is pretty hot too. It's fucked up that you need both hands to play, know what I mean?" You let go of the controls to pry his arm from around your waist. It starts off with you innocently playing with his fingers as he contemplates what you’re talking about. While it's obvious, he tries to find an alternative meaning.

"Help me out, Levi?" You bring his hand down to rest on the front of your shorts.

He stops breathing and he freezes. A few seconds pass as his brain takes a second to catch up. Even when he relaxes, there's still tension in how he holds himself.

"Are you sure?" he asks.

You roll your eyes at his question and go back to clicking through the next segment of the story.

Levi's touches begin hesitantly, barely brushing you as he unties the drawstring of the loose shorts. You try to stay cool. Somebody has to, and with the way he struggles to untie the simple bow, it's not going to be him.

"C'mon, Levi." You'd been playing for at least an hour, becoming more and more wound up by the erotic imagery the entire time. Maybe at the beginning, you were being purposefully suggestive to tease him, but now it felt like you actually needed him to touch you. Not that you were into tentacles or anything. You especially weren't turned on by the way his tail had loosely wrapped around your ankle at some point.

"You're not even playing anymore." He tried to sound smooth and confident, but there was still a shake in his voice and hands. Even the hand guiding yours on the mouse felt a little sweatier.

You clicked through the rest of the story quickly, skimming over the text and pausing for longer when particularly provocative characters or lines flashed across the screen.

Levi's fingers slipped down the front of your shorts as you started the next level of the game. You'd barely managed to win the last level, and your gameplay only got sloppier as his index finger pushed your underwear to the side. The tip of his middle finger slipped up your slit, stopping when he felt your clit.

You squirmed in his lap, spreading your legs across his thighs.

"Pay attention. You're losing." He critiques your technique further as the pad of his finger loops lazily over your nub. He's back to being fully immersed in the stupid RPG.

You can't pay attention when he slips his finger lower to tease your entrance just to make you wetter. He plays with your pussy so easily. You don't notice anything weird about it until you moan and he laughs, mumbling, "Just like the game."

"Are you fucking kidding me, Levi?" You're not mad that he's doing it, more pissed that it's working. He's following the motions you should be doing on the desperate, slutty, moaning woman on the screen.

"What? I'm giving you hints."

You lose that level, but Levi doesn't. He gently coaxes an orgasm out of you with a finger on your clit. You cum around nothing, staring enviously at the character stuffed so full on the screen.

"It's too bad we can't recreate the whole thing." You try to sound nonchalant, but your legs shake a little as you turn to face him. You straddle his lap as best you can without the armrests getting in the way.

"W-what do you mean?" He stutters now that it isn't a game anymore. His eyes flick from the red losing screen to your face.

"Don't play dumb." You can feel his bulge against the front of your shorts as you lean closer to him. It's hard to keep eye contact when filth spills out of your mouth. "I wanna be full like that."

"Are you serious? 'Cause-" He cuts himself off with a hand over his mouth.

"What?"

"I don't wanna say it. It's so gross." He speaks between the small gaps in his fingers.

"I'm into slimy tentacles, how gross could it be?" You gently pull his hand away from his mouth. "Tell me."

"U-um, I, er-" He clears his throat and shuts his eyes, as if not looking at you makes it easier. "I have two, um, well you know. But it's not normal, so if you think it's weird don't feel bad, okay?"

"Are you shitting me?" It's your turn to cover your mouth. "Sorry, I meant, can I see?"

He nods, dropping his head and hands to untie his sweats. You push his hands out of the way when he gets slow and loses his first wave of confidence. It's impossible to pull his sweats down in the cramped position forced by the gaming chair. After thirty seconds too long of struggling, you huff in frustration.

"Let's just go to your bed."

"The tub?"

"Yeah, the tub." You start to wiggle off his lap, but he stops you.

Levi roughly grabs your thighs. He's clumsy when he stands up but makes up for it with the fact that you weigh next to nothing to him. Your hands balance on his chest, working upwards to hold onto his shoulders.

His tail slips higher to notch in the bend of your knee as he takes unsteady steps towards his bathtub. The cool porcelain bowl is almost overflowing with pillows and plushies. Your legs loop over either side of the tub as you spill out of his arms. You sink into the tub, submerging in the pillows as you would in water. Your hips stay lifted in the air, legs held up by the tub and Levi's cool fingers.

You can hardly feel his shaky touch as it creeps up your thighs, not until he brushes the hem of your shorts. He's so light and cautious, afraid for you to regret your decision and run, every movement is testing the water.

"Don't tease me, Levi." You gently tug the sleeve of his hoodie, dragging his hand between your thighs again so he can feel how warm you are. And as if he could ever resist you after that, you softly whisper, "Please, I wanna see you."

With a groan, his hand slides higher, cuffing the crease of your thigh. The loose leg of the night shorts bunches up to show off the lacy blue panties that barely cover you at all.

"I don't even know what to do with you." His other hand palms his bulge through his sweatpants, thumbing over each cockhead through the layers of material.

It's hard not to laugh, not meanly, but Levi's so cute like this. His hands fall to his sides, tightening and relaxing like he needs something to hold onto. He's focused on how you move while you slip the shorts off your legs.

He fumbles with his sweats, still as clumsy as he was before. There's a light tremble to the motions of his fingers as the knot comes undone and his pants slide down.

Levi kneels between your thighs in his light gray boxers. You're caged in by his arms, still clothed in your dark shirt. His hips slot against yours, and you can feel how much precum has soaked through the fabric of his underwear. The stickiness between you makes a mess of your panties too; it slickens the friction against your sensitive clit. His hips set a steady rhythm of rutting into you, shallow breaths beating against your neck with each rough roll.

"Okay," he says between breaths, "but you can't freak out."

Levi leans in to hesitantly kiss you. His left hand slips down to his boxers, shuffling them down and around his thighs. The kiss is a distraction, capturing your attention with the slide of his tongue against your bottom lip while he presses the head of his dick against your thigh.

You gasp into the kiss pulling away to watch him push your panties to the side. The flushed purple at the tip of his upper cock fades to a blue that almost matches the lace trim digging into the crease of your thigh. The tip of his lower dick is buried inside you. Precum drips onto your navel as he fucks further into you, forming a snail trail up your abdomen to mark how deep he is.

Your tight tank top bunches higher and higher around your waist, inching up with each thrust until the material is scrunched under your tits. Levi's mouth latches around your nipple through the thin cotton, soaking it through with his spit as he sucks on you. He tugs the strap off your opposite shoulder, letting his fingers trail down your chest. The cool touch makes your nipple stiffen as he rolls the bud between his thumb and forefinger, a sharp exhale leaving your lips.

Levi's mouth becomes greedier as you moan freely. The seal of his mouth muffles his own sounds as his dick hits deeper, finding spots that make your hips buck back against him.

"I want both," you whine. Your hand drops to where his neglected cock slides up your tummy through a light-blue puddle. It throbs in your hand as you milk him for more precum until the slick drips between your fingers.

"Fuck, you were serious?" Levi pops off your tit to look down at you with a lopsided grin. The hand cupping your breast leaves, crawling down your stomach to collect some of his mess on the way to your butt. In the low light of his LED strips, the streaks on your skin almost glow.

He lets you keep him warm while he preps you. Hips stay flush with yours while he focuses on pushing his middle finger past your rim. He's so slow and gentle, groaning into your ear as he slides deeper. It's too slow and methodical, so torturous that you're breath catches with each push and pull.

Your messy hand slips lower, leaving the tip of his dick to help him out. The tip of your finger presses alongside his as he fucks into you.

"Shit, Levi." Your words come between hot pants. "I need one more."

"What a fucking filthy mouth." He laughs softly and catches your lips in a kiss. You're perfectly pliant, letting him fill you up, even his tongue tasting you too. A third finger stretches you open and you whimper into his mouth as your muscles adjust.

A sick squish comes from between your bodies, matching the milky stains that dotted the pillows beneath you. It takes all of Levi's self-control to keep his hips still when you're tucked under him like this. Thighs spread out while he fills up your cute pussy.

His breath catches as you tug his wrist away, pressing a kiss to his jaw.

"I think I'm ready, baby." Your hand wraps around his to guide it higher, up to the base of his lower dick. "Just, go slow, okay?"

"Uh-huh." He nods into your neck as he begins to pull out of you. The tip of his dick throbs when he taps it against your rim. "Fuck, I'm gonna cum so fast."

"I-It's okay," you stumble when the point of his tail bumps your clit. It's a shame that you're so empty, his pre dribbles out of your slit as you clench around nothing. "Me too."

The smooth scales of his tail raise goosebumps on your thigh as it moves across your skin. It winds down the crease of your right hip and up around to the left. He uses it to lift your hips up better and take the pressure off your legs. You can tell it's a good angle before he even pushes in. The head of his cock sinks into your ass, there's barely any resistance with how slick your pussy left him. His warm breaths dampen your neck, maybe some of it's spit with how it drips a little toward your chest.

You rub the tip of his neglected dick up and down your cunny, just enough to make him whine. His tail hikes your hips up and he sinks into you, not all at once, but enough for a sharp moan leave your split lips. He slows to a gentle grind, trying not to let out anymore embarrassing sounds in your ear, trying not to shove more into you no matter how good it feels.

His teeth sink into your neck, biting down to muffle the groans while he tries not to fuck into you.

"It's okay," you breathe out, "just go slow."

"Mmhmm," Levi hums, tongue laving over the indents of his teeth. The first roll of his hips is generous, and he bites back any noise when his dentition digs into you. Your moans pitch up as he fills you one inch at a time. The scales on his tail are cool to the touch, just like his fingers. The thin end flicks your clit up and down, making you leak and squish around him.

Your cunt is twitching as forces more dick into you, drooling down to lubricate your ass as you get closer. Just the way he bites you, grunting between gritted teeth as he ruts into you, has your poor pussy sucking him in more.

"You did it, baby." Levi's smile presses into your neck. He sits up on his knees, leaving a parting kiss on your lips as he pulls back. His hands trace the swell in your tummy, the fuzzy hair at the base of his cock bumping your swollen nub as he grinds into you. "I didn't think I'd fit."

A soft giggle trickles, rose-scented and sultry, out of your pretty mouth. "You fit fucking perfect."

A grin tugs at his mouth and he pulls back a little. The drag is delicious. You can feel every vein and ridge on him as your holes clamp down from sensitivity. He kisses you slow, shoving into your g-spot from the angle he has you bent at.

"You're so so tight," he murmurs against your mouth, taking shaky breaths between kisses. It's like you don't want to let him go and he'd be content to stay buried inside of you.

Levi doesn't let you reply, licking into your mouth when you try to speak, consuming your broken words when he bites those petal-sweet lips. Spit pools in the corners of your mouth, drooling to match the juice curving down your butt.

He has to swallow more of your moans as he starts to move. His hips start with a stutter because he wants so badly to stay stuffed inside of you, but he finds a rhythm. You cling to his shoulders, nails leaving angry crescents in his milky skin.

Your legs tremble each time Levi fills you up, squeezing into your tight ass while your pussy eagerly slurps in every inch of his heavy cock. They slip around his waist to lock in the back, one ankle crossing over the other so he can't possibly pull away. And he doesn't want to, whispering filth to you between tender kisses.

"Thank you," Levi groans as he rocks into you. "Thank you for being such a cute toy." His hands get greedier, slipping around your butt and gripping dimples into the fat.

He's smothers you with his lips until you're dizzy off his taste. Stealing more than just your breath, the swell of your bottom lips catches on his canine.

You cup Levi's jaw, drawing your thumb over his adam's apple on your way down his neck. The curve of your hand settles around the base of his throat as a warning.

"You think so?" Your voice is testy, but Levi doesn't seem to notice.

He nods, eyes too glazed over to really be listening. "Perfect fucking slut, all full of me." His breath fans over your wrist as he looks down at where you're holding him.

"Try again."

You keep him just a hair away from reaching your lips, digging the pad of your thumb into the hollow between his collar bones. There's barely pressure at first. He fucks into you harder, locking eyes with you while his dicks turn up your guts. As if that was the right answer, he leans in to kiss you again.

The palm of your hand flattens against the front of his throat, pressing him further away. You keep him held back, even has he strains against you, choking himself on your hand for a kiss.

"Gimme a kiss," his voice is thick, cut up too by the gentle squeeze of your fingers. "Please, baby." He punctuates each word with his cock, hitting you better with the heel of his palm flattening your stomach. He massages over the faint bulge. A thin string of saliva drips from his mouth to yours as he feels himself inside of you, prodding against his hand while you squirm beneath him.

A low rumble starts to build in his chest as he tries to get close to you, even to lay his pouting lips on your cheeks or forehead. His sounds are choked by the hand around his throat. He's almost silent as your fingers tighten around him except for a few strangled gasps that slip through.

You can feel Levi’s dick throb as his pace grows frantic, pushing you into the pillows like he can nestle any deeper. There's a hazy look in his eyes, partially obscured by the sweaty smear of his bangs. He's so cute it makes your grip loosen, bringing a pretty flush to his cheeks as blood rushes to his head. All that extra oxygen makes him whimper as he begins to spill out inside of you.

"Shi- Fuck I'm cumming." Levi's hands tighten around your waist as his thrusts become stunted and sloppier. His groans go straight to your pussy and the next swipe of his tail sends you over the edge. Your hips buck to meet him halfway as his slick begins to leak out of you. His cum glows a pale blue, running out as you tighten on his cock.

This time, you don't stop his kisses. Your fingernails scratch through the hair at the base of his neck, curling and tugging on it harsher than you mean to. The roll of his hips doesn't stop until you're both shaking and oversensitive. His breathing is heavy and getting slower as he comes to a stop.

Levi's breathing almost stops too when he looks down at the mess. "I'm sorry." His face pales as he pulls out of you. Rivulets of his release drip out, glossy and translucent to leave a cool shine to any skin it got smeared on. Your underwear is stretched to floss, sticking into place between your soaked pussy lips when your thighs snap shut. The love bites he left are beginning to darken as well, threatening to stain various shades of red and purple. "Like really seriously sorry."

A/N- nite then <3

<lightly edited bc I didn't do his orgasm justice>

[world-of-aus]

The Arrangement - Chapter 4

Pairing:Mobboss!bucky x Reader

Chapter Warnings: Angsty Dialogue

Authors Note: I apologize immensely for the delay but my mental health has absolutely tanked in the last three weeks. I have fought enough to feel a semblance of normal and was able to put this chapter together. I hope you all enjoy, and look forward to the groveling and ass kissing our guys gonna do. Love, and many thanks, happy reading. 🤍

Bucky thinks he finally understands vividly the phrase ‘so close, yet so far’.

The two of you have been married a little over a week and it’s as if nothing has changed, he still barely see’s you despite the two of you living in the same house. You’re asleep when he arrives, and you’re gone when he wakes, and despite his best efforts, you’ve managed to avoid him at every turn.

He knows there is no excuse you could give him, no longer any reason for you to still be actively avoiding him the way you have. And while he’d give just about anything to have you at least talk to him about what troubles you, to enjoy his presence the way you had the night of your wedding, he doesn’t want to push when your discomfort is so obvious.

So he gives you time.

The first two days he gave you all the space you could have possibly wanted making himself scarce, but as the third came and went as did the days that followed, he found his patience running quite thin, an underlying hurt brewing deep within his chest.

Your close friends had all but advised against his plan to confront you.

‘She just needs time pal, she’s working through a lot of emotions, don't get a hot head because she’s coping in the only way she’s known, let her come to you when she’s ready.’

‘Listen, I’d avoid you too if I had to marry an ugly mug like yours.’

‘She’s conflicted B, she’s had her happiness ripped from her before, she’s been placed in uncomfortable situations without having anyone check up on her well-being, she’s putting herself first for the first time in a very long time. Don’t mess this up, because she won’t be the only one you lose this time around.’

He had taken their words to heart, but that wasn’t going to stop him. He just wanted to talk to you, to feel a sense of normalcy in your shared marriage, he wanted you to be happy, genuinely happy. Bucky wanted you to want to be in this marriage not because it was asked of the two of you but because it was something you genuinely wanted. He knew it was a lot to ask of you, but he would do so anyway.

Or at least he was going to try.

You're finalizing emails to meet with the other heads sometime this week when a knock stills your fingers on the keys and draws your gaze from the screen. You call out for them to enter, you weren’t sure who you were expecting but you hadn’t been expecting him. You only barely manage to conceal your shock.

“Bucky, what are you doing here?” You question unable to help the way your eyes flicker to the time on your desktop, you were certain you had mastered the times you arrived home. Your eyes flicker back to his, “I was just about to make my way to the house I would have met you there.” You lie.

He offers you a smile that barely meets his eyes as he closes the door behind him, your heart races in your chest as he closes the distance between the two of you. You watch as he rounds your desk, he stops to lean against it, his eyes taking you in.

“Is everything okay?” you worry somethings happen, with his sudden appearance.

“I don’t know y/n, is everything okay?” he questions in return.

“Well yes,” you answer, “I was just -” He stops you mid statement, he doesn’t want another lie from you.

“Don’t,” he shakes his head, “don’t do that sweetheart, don’t hide behind another lie, we both know you’ve been actively avoiding me since our first night home after our wedding, and you’ve been doing so since we signed that contract Monday, and somehow that feels worse than when you would cancel on me when I was with your sister, at least then I wasn’t catching on to the lies you made to get out of it.” Your eyes shut on a shaky exhale, “Talk to me,” he pleads, worried you’ll continue to shut him out, “tell me what I can do to make this right. This isn’t what I want for our marriage I don’t want -”

Your eyes snap open, “and you think this is what I want, you think this is how I wanted our marriage to go?” you question looking up at him in disbelief. “There may have been a time where I envisioned vividly what our marriage would be like but – I,” you shake your head unable to speak on that night right now. “I don’t know how to do this,” you continue, “I’m not even sure how to feel because before all of this,” you gesture between you, “I was certain with all finality that you’d be nothing more than someone I called a friend, my brother in law, my sisters husband and I was finally coming to terms with that, I was finally starting to feel okay with it. But just like that night I’ve had the rug ripped out from right under me yet again and I’m scared Bucky! I’m scared that it’ll happen again, that I will get too close, get too comfortable – fall in love – and with a snap of a finger it’ll all be taken away. I can’t go through that again.”

I don’t think I’d survive a second time.

“Tell me what to do, and I’ll do it,” he knows he’s pleading again, but he wants to do right by you, he wants to right his wrongs. “You’re my wife now y/n your happiness is above anyone else’s, I made vows to you that evening, vows I intend to keep. Please tell me how to fix this.”

The tone of his voice almost breaks you, has your resolve crumbling.

“That’s just the thing B, I don’t know.” You answer truthfully. “How do I come out from behind her shadow if everywhere I look it reminds me of her, of everything she had, everything she took from me that should have been mine. I can’t even look at you without being reminded -” you shake your head looking away from his cerulean blues as you press your fingers into your eyes willing away the sting of tears.

You feel your chair being pulled to where he knows kneels before you, gentle hands prying your from your face. You can’t bring yourself to open your eyes, “y/n, sweetheart look at me,” he murmurs, “please.”

Your eyes slip open, to find his waiting gaze, “you are my wife. And ill be damned if you feel anything but. Please give me the chance to give you the marriage you deserve the one you are worthy of, I know you don’t want too, and maybe I shouldn’t ask, but let me try, let me try to be the man that is worthy of you.”

He can see the hesitation in your gaze as you look down at your intertwined hands, “what if she comes back? Decides she wants you back.”

He runs his thumb along your wedding band drawing both your gazes there. “I made a promise to you, I recited my vows to you,” your gazes find one another, “I am faithful to you. My wife.”

“But what if -” he chuckles shaking his head, “There are not what ifs, I’m. Yours.” He’s squeezing your hands in his, “give me a chance, give us a chance, let’s try.”

Your hearts beating like a wild drum in your chest, “Okay. Let’s try.”

[motimatcha]

"nostromo"

PART 2. White crow.

parts: one | two | three | four | five

dbd Xenomorph (alien) x fem!reader. attention: murder

“Let me introduce myself, my name is Ellen Louise Ripley. I am the only survivor of the Nostromo crew.”

Ellen spoke without pride or enthusiasm. Her voice was filled with bitterness and sadness, with the horror and fear of facing a monster from the depths of space one on one. Ripley looked like a woman who couldn't be broken no matter what the odds got in her way, and that made you respect this strong woman.

The fire from the fire was crackling steadily. The thrown firewood slowly turned black, turning into coals. The flame did not warm, but gave everyone present a phantom feeling of calm and safety. The territory of the survivors, fenced off by a white soothing fog, did not allow killers and creatures from other universes to reach the fire, but many still preferred to stay, if not in groups, then at least in pairs. Because it’s so safe, because it’s so comfortable. So profitable.

And among all this multitude of people, you alone felt out of place. White crow among black crows. It would seem that you could maintain a dialogue with each potential team member, taught and learned something new, but you did not have the same mutual understanding as Dwight and Claudette . You couldn't talk to Mikaella and Honas about enchantments any more than your basic knowledge of totem blessings allowed.

You were yours. But you were a stranger and in case of danger, they would be the last to save you.

“I will share with you my knowledge regarding the Alien or Xenomorph , as it is also called. This is a new... killer, as you call them here, who has a number of abilities.”

The conversation around the fire began to gain momentum. From time to time you asked your questions to Louise in order to better understand what to expect from the Alien. The information was, to put it mildly, depressing. You sincerely wanted not to compete in the tests against this monster, but everything was the will of the Entity and a little of your luck.

For the next three trials, you come face to face with the xenomorph . Perhaps he remembered you and holds a grudge, otherwise you cannot explain to yourself how it happened that in the first test you were sent to meet with the entity in the first place, the second time you were allowed to leave through the gate as the only survivors, and the third time you have successfully stumbled upon a hook.

In every unnatural-looking shadow, you saw the outline of a xenomorph's vertebrae . You heard his cry when he got caught with his paws or tail, seemingly behind his back. You could feel his saliva on and under your skin as the sixth test passed, and the creature from outer space continued to pursue you.

When for the seventh time, having completely resigned yourself to your fate of being an eternal victim of the Alien, you are incredibly lucky. You were ready to go to Ghostface , if not kiss, then something like that. And although the latter would be glad to get his first victim so soon, the other survivors looked at you more than strangely and would have suspected you of colluding with the maniac if they did not know your situation.

Laurie patted you on the shoulder sympathetically whenever you managed to cross paths.

“I’ve never felt so disgusting,” Claudette said irritably , sitting down on the edge of a fallen tree near the fire. You sat a little further away, so you could hear her words. “All this time it stood almost behind us, while we... while we...”

“Let’s be honest, we were lucky that we at least escaped without injury,” Jake Park, who apparently underwent the test with Morel . “It wasn’t pleasant for me to run through the bushes with my bare ass.”

“Do you think I really liked it?”

The guy wrinkled his face and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers. You, interested, eavesdropped on someone else's conversation, trying not to frighten off the source of information; It will be better for you if the couple believes that their most interesting conversation was left without due attention.

You shivered when clouds of cold fog touched the bare skin of your legs and pulled them towards you, bending them at the knees. Wrapping your arms around yourself and adjusting the jacket thrown over you, you looked at the sky: beautiful and cloudless, strewn with stars - almost the same as you saw on the Nostromo , except that the satellite was much larger or closer to the surface of the planet.

Jake about something . Her active gestures and talking face clearly hinted that the girl did not agree with the words of her boyfriend, but the latter was unshakable and calm to match the emotionality of his partner. Soon their quiet conversation died down, and you understood only one thing: a stranger was watching them while the couple had sex.

Funny. And scary.

Ellen said that the xenomorph is evolving.

“It looks like my next test will be with you,” Ripley sat down next to her , oh which you thought a second ago, smiled warmly, and then looked at the stars. “I liked looking at them too.” In childhood. I dreamed that I would explore space and make discoveries, but...”

There was a moment of silence, which became awkward with each passing second. Did the girl deliberately leave the sentence unfinished to make you feel uncomfortable, did she want you to ask your question, or did the silence seem tense only to you?

The wood in the fire continued to crackle rhythmically, breaking the silence in the clearing. As you watched the once glowing scarlet wood turn to jet black, you couldn't help but notice the analogy with human determination and faith. You believed that the xenomorph would someday leave you alone when he satisfied his desire to take revenge on you, reveling in the feeling of the chase.

Faith, like a weak flame, faded away.

"But"?” you ask, hinting to hear the continuation of the story.

“When I thought that death was about to take me away and I would get rid of this nightmare, I ended up here. And he too.” Ellen shrugged. Her tired gaze turned to your figure, slightly trembling from the cold; Louise herself did not care about any weather, be it the stuffiness of an abandoned cemetery somewhere in the desert or the bone-chilling cold of Ormond. “Honestly, I thought that the monster would hunt me more than others, but watching you, I made a small assumption...”

You raised an eyebrow in surprise and anticipation . You were very interested in other people’s words, but at the same time you felt somehow uneasy. If a stranger really needs something from you, then you can safely assume that his pursuit will never end and someday his razor-sharp fangs will end up in your body. The prospect of becoming his prey did not please you at all, but so far you have managed to escape even while being possessed by him.

“So, what's your guess?”

The former officer is silent. The look of her dark eyes slightly alarms and frightens you, and the next moment the girl will turn into her sworn enemy and attack you. The acidic blood will burn through your skin and reach your bones, with its claws it will open your stomach to tear and devour your insides with its sharp fangs. Fear bubbled in your chest.

“The next time you meet him, pay attention to whether the monster has left its scent on your body. Saliva, blood...”

...The xenomorph is behind you. He hisses when he receives a blow to his chitin-covered head from the boards. A nail driven into the wood manages to scratch the strong armor, causing green poisonous blood to spill. You scream when drops of acid fall on your legs - running immediately becomes painful and difficult, a stranger can easily catch up with you and hook you with his tail. But when you turn around to see if the killer is following you, you find that he is simply standing still and watching, and then walking in the opposite direction of you...

...The viscous saliva of the xenomorph spills across the floor in front of the locker in which you hid. The secretions of a creature from deep space are mixed with your blood, flowing down your arms and legs after a recent attack - the xenomorph's tail brushed your side. With a sharp movement, the monster opens the iron cabinet door, but instead of immediately picking you up with its main weapon, a huge paw hits the back of the cabinet next to your head. The big head creeps closer to you, and you think that your end has come, that now the second mouth of the xenomorph will make a hole in your head. The xenomorph's saliva running down your cheek makes you think about a lot of things...

“Suppose, if it was, then what?..”

Ripley sighed heavily before giving her answer.

“Then I have bad news. He chose you as his mate to create a new colony here.”

Finding yourself on the Nostromo again no longer seemed something scary to you, rather than meeting one-on-one with a xenomorph . The faint hope that in today's test there will be some other killer, and not your personal nightmare, was dispelled to dust as soon as one of the points of movement of the monster was noticed. The control center located directly in front of the generator gave the alien easy access to attack from behind without being noticed. Your hands trembled weakly from fear, but you went to the generator at your own peril and risk.

You retrieved and installed the remote fire turret before sitting down to repair the generator. Fearing the worst-case scenario and knowing your luck, you specifically made the fruiting of the Entity to successfully and quickly repair the generators in order to quickly escape from the cage created by the Entity. Your comrades: Meg , Ellen and Claudette , should have tried to buy you as much time as they could.

“Most likely, his next step will be courtship. For these creatures, it is the presentation of corpses as an indicator of their strength, so that the future couple will evaluate the abilities of the future partner.”

Ripley ’s words came at the wrong time, because you almost miss the reaction check, almost blowing up the almost finished generator. A nervous chuckle escapes your lips, but then you have to hold your attention as soon as the turret begins to warn you that the killer is close.

Having finished with the generator, you took the turret and moved to the next point, marked for you by the Entity in red. It was difficult and long to move with the installation, but it was better to do so, constantly knowing whether an alien was nearby, than to run away and evade the attacks of its tail. The generators marked in red formed a good triangle, depriving the killer of which was your first priority - the ideally close location of all three points allowed you not to waste time.

The fire turret began signaling almost hysterically as soon as you approached the generator and installed the equipment. In a couple of seconds, you reach the nearest stone shelter, which completely hides your figure behind it, before a tall xenomorph figure appears from the control room . He screams heart-rendingly, as if in pain, and you yourself also wince, either from the unpleasant sound, or because the creature is somewhat pathetic. With one blow, the creature destroyed the turret, which brought it out of its crawling state, depriving it of its main weapon, after which the killer looked around in search of the next victim.

The perfect weapon was so evil that during the long chase he failed to catch a single survivor, and now he was completely set on fire by the turret.

Not finding his next victim, the alien returned back to the dungeon, but you understood that it was too early to leave the shelter - perhaps the xenomorph was only hiding, and in fact was sitting near the exit from the tunnel, waiting for the brave man who had installed a weapon here. Long minutes pass and only then do you decide to return to the strong point, get a new fire turret and start repairing the generator.

When the generator was half finished, Meg's scream was heard . Most likely, the creature touched her with its tail or claws, then there was the sound of falling boards and another scream - acidic blood fell on the girl. You couldn't go help her even if you wanted to because your main task was fixing the generator.

This is how helplessness feels.

A heavy feeling settled in your chest. As if if you were there, you could help, but being obsessed with the xenomorph , he simply would not pay his attention to you, continuing to chase other survivors until you are the last one left. And one Entity knows that a creature from deep space will rise up, who also wants to make a new colony with you.

It is impossible to have children in the world of the Entity. This is an indisputable fact proven by many survivors, but hardly the stranger knew about it, otherwise why does he continue to haunt you? Unless, of course, the reason lies in close communication with Michael Myers. Thinking about this, a faint shadow of a smile appears on your exhausted face. The picture in your head of how a silent killer telepathically conveys some instructions to an extraterrestrial being, and he shakes his head and wags his tail like a dog, amused you. Perhaps you had simply gone crazy, but now it was difficult to imagine the xenomorph as a serious threat.

Until the moment you come face to face with him again.

Suspiciously quickly, Ellen is hung on a hook, and she comes to the point of fighting the Entity. The girl, who is not quite used to everything, loses several times in the fight, and you can clearly hear her bones cracking and crunching. This makes you feel uneasy, but you forcefully hold yourself in place and finish fixing the generator. Wounded Claudette is forced to run from the killer, and Meg is too far away to save Ripley . At your own peril and risk, hoping that the killer does not decide to change course, you run up to the brunette hanging on the hook and save her from the clutches of the Entity.

“Thank you,” the survivor nods gratefully as you begin treatment. The toolbox remains lying nearby while, armed with someone else's first aid kit, you heal the wounds of the former officer. “Next time, don’t take risks. I have no more attempts to save myself.”

Biting your lower lip, you could only nod obediently, agreeing with the words of others. If the girl is telling the truth, then it really won’t be possible to save her and the next hanging will send her to a meeting with the entity. I wonder if others have at least some attempts to save themselves or are you the only one who can still try to get off the hook? After saying goodbye to Ripley and picking up your tools, you go to fix the next generator.

A body that fell nearby made you scream in fear, and then the generator exploded, illuminating the area with hundreds of sparks and revealing your location to the killer. You froze, like a rabbit in the face of a boa constrictor and don’t know what to do: run, attracting attention to yourself and, perhaps, the stranger will be distracted by you, abandoning his prey. But the stranger who notices you is only watching.

“...presenting corpses as an indicator of one’s strength...”

Excruciatingly long.

“...so that the future couple can evaluate their abilities...”

You don’t even know where this creature’s eyes are, but you can say with certainty that the gaze of the alien monster is sliding over your figure.

"...future..."

The xenomorph slowly pierces Ripley's body with its tail. Lifts him in the air, turning him to face him. You see the grimace of horror on Ellen's beautiful face. A second later, the xenomorph's second mouth pierces her head, leaving a large hole in her forehead.

"...partner..."

With gloomy calm you watch the alien creature. It throws a lifeless corpse at your feet, as if it is appreciating its work. You can clearly hear that unspoken “are you satisfied, my future couple?” in the shrill squeak of someone else. You manage to stand still with all your willpower, especially when the monster comes inappropriately close to you. You feel the iron smell, heavy cold breath above your ear, and viscous saliva mixed with blood that flows down your shoulder below.

The xenomorph suddenly turns its head to the side when it senses the presence of another survivor. It was Meg, who came out at the wrong time from around the corner of the Nostromo wreckage. Her gaze darted from Ellen's corpse to the xenomorph standing next to you.

originally there was a paragraph in this chapter where the reader reflects on the outcome of his ordeal, but does not remember how it all ended. this is due to the fact that I am an adherent of the theory of amnesia of survivors and killers. Unfortunately, I had to abandon this, but I do not exclude the possibility that references could remain somewhere in the text.

[idonttakethislightly]

Can Heavy yell louder than Masumi? Does it matter?

(This is for @jkjones21, in a way- he asked me to write about a certain page of The Power Fantasy and I'm taking it in a completely different direction than he suggested to me. He did have a good observation about the power lines and cicada as iconic anime/manga motifs, but I don't actually have anything to add to what he said.)

Okay, so from a certain perspective, you could say these two images are proof that Heavy can yell louder than Masumi, because of the way font size works in comics. I think that's an overly reductive point of view, but I want to start with it because it's a simpler version of what I actually feel like is going on, so here goes.

In the third panel of the first image, we see Masumi from so far away that she's barely visible, and her dialogue font is small to show that we can barely hear her. Then in the fourth panel, we see her closer up, and the big font size (coupled with her angry posture) make it clear that she's actually yelling at the top of her lungs, she was just too far away to clearly hear before.

By comparison, in the third panel of the second image, we see Haven (an entire city) from far enough away that Heavy isn't even visible from where he's standing on one of its balconies- but despite the distance, his dialogue font is still really big. If you can clearly hear Heavy yelling from far away, but Masumi's voice gets muted with distance, he's louder, right?

Except nothing in comics is real. You're not visually representing a world that consistently exists, you're representing a story that shifts in emotional meaning. The aesthetic effect of Masumi's voice there (at least, its effect on me) is that for all her emotional ferocity, she's just a small angry blip in an overall peaceful world. In the context of the story, her taking the human-scale perspective of "How could you murder hundreds of people?" is immature compared to Etienne's cynical pragmatism. And the visuals back this up by deflating her anger through making her look small.

And then Heavy... I don't want to say "he's louder because you're supposed to take his anger more seriously," because that's not quite true. This is an out-of-context excerpt as of today (five more days until issue #6!!!!) but I get the sense it's being played for comedy. Heavy's louder than a person that far away has any right to be, because the force of his anger is hyperbolic.

...it's not really about who's literally more loud. It's not even about who's more angry (not that you can measure anger on a scale, even.) It's about how the reader is supposed to interpret each character's anger- and the weird thing is, Masumi's small-font anger and Heavy's large-font anger are both coded as ineffectual. She's not as loud as she seems to think she is, and he's so loud it becomes melodramatic and funny. They've both got very real things to yell about, and I'm sure they take themselves seriously... but the narrative is undercutting both of them, for effect. (Again though- I'm interpreting the second image out of context! Or I guess you could say, the second image's caption is offering a different context from when I'll actually see the whole issue.)

Oh, and my headcanon? Heavy can yell louder in terms of literal decibels, but Masumi has an ear-piercing scream that's like a zillion times more alarming.

[chaoxfix]

Hello! For the hurt/comfort dialogue prompts: #29. "Do you know how to use a first aid kit?" + Tails

here u go!!! this was a lot of fun to write, i decided to go with classic!sonic and modern/older!tails <3

///

Tails is halfway through an errand – dropping off seed packets to Vanilla to repay her for the flowers she donated for Amy’s birthday – when a portal appears out of the sky. 

A blue hedgehog drops out, which is just par for the course. When Tails was younger, he probably would’ve been worried and called out for him. But seeing as this has happened at least once a month for the last several years, Tails no longer wastes the adrenaline. 

Instead, Tails simply reacts. He flies a little faster than usual, and as always, hopes to catch Sonic before he hits the ground. 

(Not that he’s all that worried even if he doesn’t get there in time. Sonic has a tendency to break falls with his face, and it’s never done serious damage before, even falls from space. Tails doubts it’ll start hurting him now.) 

Still, as Sonic falls, Tails can’t help but think it’s odd timing. He wasn’t really expecting Sonic back yet, seeing as he was visiting the Wisps. It doesn’t take that long to travel to and from Planet Wisp, but Sonic was planning on spending at least a few days there. For once, they really weren’t expecting any trouble from Eggman. Though of course, that’s always what Eggman wants them to think, so maybe Tails should’ve known better. 

Either way, Tails will probably get an explanation once his brother has safely touched down. 

…It’s not until Tails actually catches Sonic that he realizes his mistake. 

This, it would appear, isn’t Sonic. Or at least, not his Sonic. 

Tails probably should’ve guessed it, seeing as he came through a portal. Speaking of, he glances up at the portal just in time to see it close, long before Tails ever would’ve been able to fly him back through. 

Then, he glances at the little hedgehog in his arms, and does some basic deductive reasoning to find that there’s no way this version of Sonic is the free spirited nineteen-year-old he knows and loves. 

For one, this Sonic is less than half the size he’s supposed to be – probably closer to a third. If that didn’t give it away, the short quills and round belly do. Even though Tails has seen Sonic’s younger form a few times, he never stops being surprised at just how small he is. Er, was. Seeing him up close, it’s always hard to believe Sonic was fighting Eggman at this age. 

This age being nine, at most. Give or take a few years – Tails was never great at identifying hedgehog growth patterns.  

Deductions made, Tails gently deposits Sonic on the ground in front of him. Thanks to Tails’s latest growth spurt, even at his full height, Sonic could stack three of himself and only just barely make it to Tails’s chin. Sonic doesn’t even seem to realize it’s out of the ordinary. Instead, he just squints up at him, hands on his hips. 

Right. Shorter Mobians hate it when bigger ones don’t respect their stature. Not wanting to be rude, Tails takes a seat in front of him and waves. “Hey there.” 

Sonic – Mini-Sonic, he decides – doesn’t answer. He only looks marginally less suspicious now that Tails is sitting. 

“Don’t worry, we’ll get you home again in no time,” Tails says, trying to sound friendly, remembering just how out-of-sorts Mini-Sonic had been last time he’d been flung into an alternate timeline. “It’s nice to see you again, though! What tossed you through a portal this time?”

Mini-Sonic just frowns at him – like he’s the suspicious one. 

“It’s okay if you’re upset,” Tails says. “I would be too, if I was in your shoes. But you can trust me. As soon as you’re ready, I’ll take you back to my lab and we’ll start working on a portal to get you back home.” 

Somehow, that’s the wrong thing to say. Mini-Sonic’s quills raise defensively, and he takes a pronounced step back. Almost, Tails realizes a beat too late, like he’s about to run off. 

“Wait!” 

On reflex, Tails reaches out and takes his hand. It’s only because Mini-Sonic is so tiny that Tails manages it. Mini-Sonic, try as he might, is just not fast enough to escape Tails’s grasp. Tails counts his lucky stars. He definitely wouldn’t have been up for chasing down a miniature version of his big brother today. 

However… When Tails actually grabs him, Mini-Sonic does not seem thrilled. He doesn’t look scared, exactly �� but there’s an annoyance, a wariness, that Tails isn’t used to. He pulls against Tails’s grip to no avail. It’s almost funny how little a difference it makes, how hard Mini-Sonic seems to be pulling and how easy it is to keep him in tow. 

“Just tell me what’s going on, okay?” Tails says, not yet letting go. “I promise I’ll help.”

That’s when Tails remembers – embarrassingly late – that Sonic is years away from being able to talk. And he’s not entirely sure that this Sonic is fluent enough in sign to hold a conversation even if he did have both hands free. 

Not how Tails saw his Monday going, that’s for sure. 

He sighs. It’s bad enough that his Sonic’s somewhere out in space again, nowhere to be seen. 

But the fact that Sonic’s younger self is here probably doesn’t bode well. No offense to the little guy, but he never shows up unless Sonic’s in an awful lot of trouble. 

Still, it’s impossible to be mad at him. Especially since this version might actually be even younger than usual. Sonic’s usual younger self is usually still a couple of years older than Tails – but now that Tails has grown up a little, this one almost seems to have shrunk, even taking into account Tails’s own greater height. Sonic was definitely a bit of a late bloomer as far as hedgehog species go, but this one barely makes it up to Tails’s knees. 

It takes Tails a moment, but he finally realizes that just because he’s met a younger Sonic… doesn’t mean that this younger Sonic has met him. 

It’s entirely possible that this one is from even earlier in the time-stream than the ones he’s met.

Meaning Mini-Sonic probably has no idea who Tails is.  

Tails stares at the little hedgehog in front of him, and realizes he’s way, way out of his depth. 

That’s also when he notices the tiny red spots on Sonic’s socks. Tails frowns, and follows the red up to his spindly little legs, where there’s a purple patch of sticky fur just above his knee. 

“You’re hurt,” Tails says, feeling even guiltier for grabbing him now. “How bad is it?” 

Of course Sonic didn’t want to be manhandled. He never did anyways, but especially not if he was hurt and didn’t recognize Tails. He barely handled manhandling now, as an adult. 

Mini-Sonic still couldn’t talk though, and still showed no sign of recognizing Tails. And as much as Tails would’ve liked to let him go, Mini-Sonic just kept glancing between Tails’s hand and his easiest escape route, meaning that if he gave him even an inch, Mini-Sonic would shoot off, never to be seen again. 

Tails sighs. Time to do this the old fashioned way. 

“Chili dogs first,” he decides, and easily scoops up mini-Sonic – quills digging into his arms and all – “Then a first aid kit. We’ll patch up your leg, and hopefully by then you’ll realize I’m not trying to hurt you, Sonic.” 

Finally, Sonic’s ears prick up. Tails realizes it’s the first time he’s called him by his name. Duh – no wonder Sonic had reacted so poorly. 

“I know your name because I know you,” Tails says, and watches Sonic’s face turn doubtful. “...In the future,” Tails corrects, “Which is where you are. The future.”

(Under his breath, he mutters, “Chaos, how does Silver deal with this?”) 

Sonic’s doubtful frown doesn’t budge. 

Tails wishes he knew how to convince him. 

Still… even if it’s not good that Mini-Sonic doesn’t trust him, Tails can’t help but chuckle at the way distrust looks on his big brother’s tiny face, chubby cheeks and all. 

It helps Tails stay coolheaded, too, as he flies in the direction of the nearest city, hoping he’s got enough cash for some chili dogs. He’s flying a bit higher than he needs – hopefully the height will be enough of a deterrent to keep Mini-Sonic from biting and clawing him until he wriggles away. Truthfully, Tails is just surprised that Sonic hasn’t done so already. He always imagined Sonic would’ve been a bit more of a gremlin as a kid.

It’s weird that he’s so calm. Tails decides maybe it has something to do with the portal he went through, or the fact that he’s injured. 

“Don’t you worry,” Tails says, unable to resist the urge to rub between Sonic’s ears. Huge, shiny black eyes look up at him, clearly unused to the affection, despite how basic it is. “We’re getting you something to eat first, then I’ll fix up your leg. Or – you’ll fix yourself up, if you don’t want me to. Sonic never says much about his early years, but I figure you probably already know how to do it, right? I mean, clearly you have to, no way you got older without ever figuring out how to wash out an injury and patch it up, and…” 

Mini-Sonic tilts his head at him. 

“You know – patching up injuries,” Tails says, and taps the uninjured skin near Sonic’s knee. 

Mini-Sonic, for all that he seems to mostly understand him, just blinks. 

“...Do you know how to use a first aid kit?” 

Mini-Sonic just scrunches his brows at him, and Tails realizes that his Monday has just gotten even longer. Once the normal-age Sonic gets back, he’s going to need to answer a lot of questions… 

But first, he reminds himself with a deep breath, chili dogs. He might know nothing about raising kids, but at least he knows Sonic well enough to have a cheat sheet. Tails has a feeling he’ll need it. 

[snapsnzips]

The end of an era, or a lifetime

The many flavors of grief and coping

Playing through Trespasser for the second time, talking with Leliana especially, where she talks about her memories from Origins and before, takes me all the way back too 2010 when I played Origins for the first time. She was beautiful in her baby-faced earnestness. I've loved having her in my DA:I life so much.

I know I still have Veilguard to play through, but, as of this writing, the Veilguard/Bioware team is disbanded, mostly fired. There won’t be any more Dragon Age and I grieve. It’s strange because I didn’t think at all about Dragon Age for 10 years or more except in nostalgic terms. But I’ve rediscovered my love for the lore and stories of Thedas and I grieve that just as I rediscover it, it’s ending.

I'm still processing my grief and other emotions from playing through Inquisition in December and those feelings are all jumbled up with these feelings.

I played through Inquisition 4 times in a row and it's still what I want to do at night when my brain is too tired to do anything else. I open up the game and walk around Thedas with my friends. I know it's time to move on and let them rest but it's really hard to give them up.

This last fall/winter I did this:

Did a thorough playthrough of Origins and realized I still remembered everything, even dialogue responses.

Did a half assed playthrough of Awakening because I wanted the blood magic tome to do another playthrough as a blood mage in Origins

Started a playthrough of blood mage origins and got bored, moved on to my first ever playthrough of DA2

Made it halfway through DA2, realized I had some wrong outcomes from my origins import and became increasingly anxious because I hadn't paid as much attention as I should have in Awakening (Anders...) and also Nathaniel died because I guess he didn't have enough gear in end game.

Restarted Origins for a meticulous playthrough of Origins and Awakening. Both for the lore and to get the Nathaniel quest. If I knew what I know today, I'd have put Anora on the throne and kept Alistair for myself so I could see him more in DA2. Alas, I can't live through another playthrough (although I set it up like that in my Dragon Age Keep for import into DAI for maximum heartbreak).

Restarted DA2 for a full playthrough, had my heart broken by Anders

Started Inquisition, hated it, went back to DA2 some.

Replayed DA2 a few weeks later when it went on sale on Steam and I could play the DLC (I was playing on my original pre-order disc from 10 years ago).

Went back to DA:I, modded most of my issues away, started playing it and eventually fell in love with it. The Dawn Will Come will always be a truly iconic moment for me. Eventually had my beating heart ripped out of my chest by my romance choice, skipped the other DLC because I needed to play Trespasser instantly for my mental health.

Instantly started a new game so I could get the romance Cullen and I both deserved

Played a third time as a human woman for something different, because I wanted to experience the Iron Bull romance.

Started a 4th playthrough as my canon elf to do a completionist run (I'm 67/69 achievements now too) and start recording footage for therapeutic video making

I actually just finished an EM/Dorian romance playthrough, with just bare minimum power so I could see that story as well.

Dance with Dorian mod. Worth it.

I'm still working on footage for some music video ideas I have and it's really hard to let this game and these characters go. I spent this weekend researching and modding ME1 Legendary because I've never played that story. I'm not sure I'm ready to make new friends yet. But I feel like I need to try.

I'm avoiding Veilguard because I don't think I can care about a new player character. I only care about closure for my Inky. Until I can care about this Rook person and their friendships and connections, I will wait. Surely the emotional hold my inquisitor has over me will fade with time. Won't it?

[duckprintspress]

"A Truth Universally Acknowledged": Our Fifth Teaser Post

The crowdfunding campaign for A Truth Universally Acknowledged: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice is about two/thirds done, and we’re more than halfway through our teaser posts! The campaign ends December 5th, and our special Flash Backer Level (with a massive discount on all our anthologies, old and new!) ends December 2nd. We’re so close to our base funding goal – almost 90%! – so if you’ve been thinking about taking a peek, there’s no time like the present. Maybe you’ll be the backer who pushes us into officially funded!

Two of our authors, Téa Belog and nottesilhouette, opted to do related stories – not in the same settings or about the same characters, but about similar themes. In the final book, we gave the creators the option to write a paragraph or two about the inspiration behind their pieces, and Téa and nottesilhouette talk a lot in theirs about how their pieces are in dialogue with each other. As such, we’ve of course included both their teasers in the same day’s post!

Story Teaser: Téa Belog

Title: unwound thread and wilted roses

Excerpt:

It wasn’t something she ever expected, not before Bingley and his party went to stay at Netherfield. Despite all the barely disguised offers, batted eyelashes, and pointed looks, Georgiana never expected her brother would actually fall in love.

William never cared for courtship or marriage; he never had any inclination toward romance. His friends, while few and far between, were loyal and platonic and nothing more. In Georgiana’s eyes, he was never looking for romance in the same way others were. And maybe most importantly of all, he never seemed unfulfilled or restless in the way that some people did when they were searching for love. Or even just marriage. Despite the grand fortune bestowed upon him, William never mentioned looking for a wife.

And that… that had been a relief.

Art Teaser: Flore Picard

Title: Girls’ Night In

Story Teaser: nottesilhouette

Title: tell that to my tell-tale heart

Excerpt:

“So proline has restricted phi and psi angles given its 5-ring structure—you can see how it’s an outlier on the Ramachandran plot here.” Mary points to a tight ring, curled up on itself, tiny compared to the way the other amino acids sprawl out and take up space across the plane of the graph. “And that restricts its ability to bond with other amino acids.”

Immediately, Lydia blinks back tears.

She feels ridiculous, sobbing over protein folding patterns, but god, proline’s just like her for real. Bent all wrong, all sharp corners and stolen valence electrons. The way proline twists up into itself, the only amino acid to bond the protein backbone twice—it’s like it’s holding its own damn hand, no space for anybody else.

Art Teaser: mcdad arts

Title: Follies and Nonsense

Story Teaser: Em Rowntree

Title: We Can All Begin Freely

Excerpt:

“Come,” she says, “let’s dance.”

“I cannot dance,” Charlotte says. “I’ve been crying.”

“Perhaps that is the best time for it,” Caroline says, and her tone has its usual velvet sarcasm, but her expression is the most earnest Charlotte has ever seen it.

“I do not know if I can,” Charlotte admits.

Caroline says nothing, only begins the dance with a smile. Charlotte cannot help but follow, though she tries to move stiffly, tries to maintain propriety; she tries to show that she knows how odd and uncomfortable she must look, so she cannot be caught off-guard and vulnerable by a joke at her expense from Caroline. But her body has cried away its stiffness and its shame for tonight. Her body moves softly, easily. Her body asks for more.

Visit our campaign page now!

[knightobreath]

so... iii18, right? let's get into my theories. these all tie together in some way

mephone4s's return, or attempted return

My main theory coming out of this is the idea that Walkie is going to attempt to upgrade mephone4 back to 4s. this is mostly backed by potential foreshadowing. not only are there several references to 4s in the episode, but it is also possible that his voice can be barely heard during a point in mephone's dialogue. (EDIT: This was likely just me being overanalytical and not actual evidence. My bad!)

the amount of foreshadowing could lead to him reappearing as a construct or replica (i.e. springy's toys), but I think the second piece of evidence points to him returning through mephone4.

a bit more on this would be the fact that iii references season 1 a lot. think about tyler and the amount of times characters jumped off a cliff. iii was supposed to be the return to s1's tone, wasn't it? a parallel or reference to the finale is almost expected. especially since that already happened, as helpfully pointed out in the episode

i don't know why this would be the plan of action, possibly just to get rid of mephone. maybe I'm misreading the foreshadowing, im not sure.

walkie talkie is a meeple device or at least affiliated, and springy is a meeple generated construct

so there are a lot of questions when it comes to walkie talkie.

why does she want to take over the show?

why is she trying to delay its end?

why is she hiding her appearance?

how did she learn about iii in the first place?

where did she get the means to do any of this?

Walkie is obviously Cobs with a girl filter My theory is she is a Meeple device, or at least Meeple-affiliated. It would explain why she wants to keep the show running, as Meeple do profit off of it, and why she'd want to keep it at season 3, as s2 was decidedly anti-meeple.

Her being a meeple device would explain why she never shows herself or shares any details on her identity, as she would immediately lose trust with mephone.

also that "all we need is revolutionary technology!" line from episode 17? that was very interesting.

on top of that, she somehow knew practically everything about the third season before the airing of any in-universe episodes. importantly, she knew about the location of it. if my theory holds, that could easily be explained with her having access to meeple tech and therefore being able to track mephone.

regardless of her means, she's been watching.

as for springy, my main piece of evidence to him being a meeple-generated construct is how he glitches. he doesn't glitch like a robot, he glitches like a construct.

to show the contrast, i added mephone glitching. you can see that the glitch effect is only applied to his software, while springy and the glitched construct tree have the effect applied to their physical forms. (Ignore the fucked bitrate for the springy screenshot, youtube does not like the glitching)

on top of that, springy has his weird philosophies, fixation on robots, corporate everything, and suspicious spaceships.

i am of the belief that walkie may have orchestrated the sponsorship to get either closer to everything happening or more control.

I would go on, but I'm starting to lose steam, and I'm beginning to forget stuff. please add on if you can think of anything, or can debunk/criticize my theories. i would love a discussion

[juliasdowntonstuff]

The Great War, chapter 3

In favour of not letting the editing get too out of hand (which it already has, this is nothing like the original chapter) I thought I'd just go ahead and post the third chapter, titled "Not much. Not to me, anyway.", on fanfic and ao3. Once again, this is using original dialogue from Episode 6.

"I will not criticise a mother who grieves for her daughter."

Normally, this would have surprised Robert, and normally he might have commented on it. The fact that his Mama chose not to criticise Cora, which had been all she had been doing for 30 years now, was remarkable. The circumstances, however, were such that he would rather forget about all of this. After all, his wife — his darling wife who had not even so much as batted an eyelid at any other of his misgivings in the past — wanted nothing to do with him. Even just being in the same room filled her with so much pain and anger as resentment seemed to radiate off her; so much so that even he noticed. He simply could not see a way this could change in the near future. "I think she's grieving for her marriage as well as for Sybil."

It was a thought that had occurred to him countless times by now, and how could it not when this hardship coming between them exceeded any of the ones before? How could he not when it seemed so much more insurmountable than anything they had to face in the past? At night, when he lay awake in his narrow bed, entirely unable to fall asleep with the weight of the world pressing down on his chest as if to suffocate him, he tried to think of how he could possibly turn things around, how he could win her back. But nothing he thought of would ever be enough with the way things currently were between them, he knew that much.

If his nonchalant tone surprised her as he talked about his marriage, then she did not let it show. Her appalled expression at his words and what he was insinuating, though, was quite enough already. "Robert, people like us are never unhappily married."

At that, Robert could not help but scoff. He knew only too well about everything that was expected of a marriage for people in the aristocracy, and he knew the lengths some of his peers went to in order to keep up pretences and stay afloat through a crumbling, loveless marriage that had ultimately run its course a long time ago.

He should not talk like this, not to his mother, but he could not help it any longer. Keeping up this facade he had put up for more than two weeks already was draining, and right now he was past caring about it. "What do we do if we are," he all but sighed as he walked back to the empty seat opposite her and unceremoniously sat back down. He had not meant for it to come out like this, and he certainly did not expect his mother to respond to it, and so quickly as well.

"Well, in those moments, a couple is unable to see as much of each other as they would like."

The words Violet carefully uttered needed a little while to sink in as his eyes were fixed on the embers in the hearth to his left, and he did not particularly care for the meaning barely veiled by her concerned tone. "You think I should go away?"

"Or Cora could go to New York to see that woman."

At that, Robert could only barely contain yet another scoff. His mother's disdain for anything American and especially his wife's mother was quite something. So much so that even in moments like these, she could not keep from letting it show.

Upon seeing her son lounging quite forlornly in the armchair, she added truthfully: "It can help to gain a little distance."

[asinasura]

lari wynncraft brainrot wall of text incoming !!

[ spoilers for the realm of light quest line, from the first to the fifth quest. ]

[ disclaimer: this is all my brain's personal interpretation. it may be shit and dumb, and super disjointed, one thought after another after another, but it's mostly just to get my thoughts out lol. also i trust people will be chill regarding this, hopefully ]

anyways, everything is under the cut.

i'm really hoping that the ending of RoL V wasn't the end of lari's character, but considering the wiki says it's "up to player interpretation" if she dies or just loses connection is disappointing, to say the least. i'm really, really hoping that they have a quest where we rescue her, or something, as how it stands currently bummed me out. not in the way i felt seeing my favourite characters die, but in the way patchy the pirate felt when he got hyped just for the tape to be spongebob walk cycles. consider everything, for a moment, from RoL I - V. we see lari as how she "normally" is, then she slowly loses her mind due to her own saviour complex, and then in a moment of weakness tries to fight us before being let back into the realm of light. i feel like, until the fifth quest's conclusion, the quest line was great !! it showed us lari, her flaws, ( she's neurotic, stubborn, pathetic, loyal to a fault regarding her morals, has a saviour complex, and refuses to self-reflect ) the mistakes she's had until now, and felt like it was setting up for something great. who knows, maybe i'm being stupid and the current conclusion to the quest line is setting up for something, but the wiki leaves me kinda hopeless...

here's how i viewed it: lari, a somewhat tired and frustrated elf tries to do her best to keep the corruption at bay. one day, the player character asks for her help, and that's where we see one of her main flaws as a person ( note: as a person, not a character but a person in-universe ) she is stubborn to her pacifistic morals, and is shaken up greatly upon realizing she's taken the life of the grootslang.

second quest, we see lari even more frustrated as the light she has relied on is now ( essentially ) ghosting her. the times we see where she does try to reflect is through speaking with the light. when we, the player character, come along, it fucks up her view of herself because we're given the role she has worked hard to achieve and hold onto. she's been fighting the corruption for a while now, and partnered with her saviour complex i wouldn't be surprised if she was questioning her worth. while not in the 2nd quest itself, it seems like she has been questioning her worth Since the 2nd quest, as seen by the following dialogue taken from the wiki:

while i also understand the importance of the third quest, as it shows more of lari's history alongside dullahan, i think this quest works well in showing that lari is largely stagnant. she is not improving as a person in any substantial way, again: lack of self reflection. the biggest example of how she refuses to self-reflect is seen in dullahan. yes, lari is why dullahan is the way he is, and yes it is largely her fault he is in his current state, but not once does she reflect and think "what could i have done differently ?" it's possible she did at one point, but it's clear any effort she has made to prevent making the same mistake isn't major enough to note. perhaps killing the grootslang could count, but then again killing it wasn't her intention.

onto the fourth, perhaps my favourite quest regarding lari's character. ( sidenote, i'd consider the fifth to be up there had the ending not been... y'know. ) we are nearing the boiling point of her frustration. she's more unstable, she's barely keeping it together. when she is given one thing to do, retrieve the canned abis, the player character does it for her. this is the straw that breaks the camel's back, as she has a full-ass meltdown, attempting to kill the player character in a moment of weakness. then, she's rewarded for it. a moment of weakness, where she acts on impulsivity is where she is rewarded greatly. finally, we have a change in lari's character: she reflects on herself after the conversation with the guardian of the forest. she thinks why, despite all her efforts, did it take her this long and this close to killing someone was she rewarded. i think her improvement is best seen at the start of the fifth realm of light quest.

now, if the wynncraft team were to add more onto the story, then i wouldn't mind the abrupt way lari was written out, since her absence is ultimately temporary when everything is laid out. as it stands though, if this is how lari's character concludes, then i'm sawing my head off with a bonesaw

at the beginning of the quest, she apologizes to the player. she acknowledges what she has done to dullahan, an issue that she was seemingly running from and blocking out of her memory. she's more composed, and is even willing to forgo her pacifist morals for the light. she's even willing to go as far as trying to kill bak'al, fully prepared to take his life. and so, how does the story reward her ? her constant falls on her face before the player character comes along and assists her in finally trying to fix some of her flaws; she isn't neurotic, she self-reflected, she let go of her personal morals for the sake of the light, and she has ultimately improved from how we saw her in the previous quests... how is she rewarded ? by having her fate be up to the player's interpretation, not in this dimension any longer, just in one portal, a little goodbye note, and poof ! bye bye lari. i truly hope that they have plans for her in the future, truly truly, as this would be such a disservice to lari as a character. if anything, i would have been more pleased if she left the player alone after the monoliths were all fixed up, saying something along the lines of "glad i could help but i still have some things to fix up back in gavel. this time, though, it'll be different" and then she'll teleport out or something. it'd feel a bit more conclusive, at the very least.

this isn't to mention my slight disappointment with how we, the player, don't actually *see* her develop from RoL IV to RoL V, especially since it isn't clear whether she has or hasn't developed as much as it may seem. for all we know, she's just putting on an act ( actually, i think it'd be really fun to deconstruct her as she slowly loses face that leads into the *real* betterment arc, on-screen this time >:3< )

[blackcherryvelvet0909]

The Start of Something New (Silver/Gold)

Note: This contains Canon/OC and spoilers for Diasomnia Chapter 7. Possibly a bit ooc for Silver (restudying his dialogue/speech patterns currently)

“And that’s where I am currently.” Gold hopped over a root protruding from the ground as she walked along. “Thanks a bunch for the study guide you lent me - it’s gonna come in handy for finals.”

“Of course,” Silver - her friend and current strolling partner - replied. “Let me know if you need any more help with certain subjects. We can set aside time to review before your exams.” 

“Aw, you don’t have to! You’ve got your own studying to do; I’ve heard the exams for third years can be a real pain.” 

“As have I.” Silver sighed in mild exhaustion. “I’ve been told that Professor Crewel’s final project is especially taxing. Even the slightest mistake can cause the potion to turn…one slip and I either have to retake it or repeat my entire third year.” 

“I know you’ll do well,” Gold reassured. “From what [Name] has told me, you’ve gotten a lot better at preparing that stuff since last year. You’ll knock it out with little problem, I know.” She lightly tapped Silver’s wrist with her middle and forefinger. “Just be sure to show me the final product once you get it back from Crewel. I’d love to see it!” 

A small smile graced the fair man’s face as he glanced down in her direction. “I’ll be sure to.” 

For a couple minutes, there was silence between the two as they navigated through the woods and back to campus. Gold had needed to procure a flora sample for alchemy class; as she was still largely unfamiliar with that part of the island, Silver had offered to accompany her. It wouldn’t be right to let her get lost. Silver had come by to visit her at Ramshackle earlier to deliver her the aforementioned study guide anyway. As one of the housewardens at Night Raven College, it was his responsibility to help his underclassmen in any subject or area, no matter their dorm affiliation. That, and Gold was a very dear friend, so of course Silver would help her in any way he could. 

“Have you heard from your dad lately?” Gold asked, breaking the brief silence. 

Silver’s smile returned as he nodded. “Yes - yesterday, actually. I got a postcard in the mail, along with a letter and a few photos. Father and mother are visiting Port o’Bliss, at least at the time they sent the parcel. They also sent some souvenirs and snacks for Sebek and I.”

“That’s so nice!” Gold ducked under a low hanging branch as they approached a clearing in the woods. “I’m happy they’re enjoying their retirement.” A playful grin stretched across her face. “Or is it a prolonged honeymoon thing?” 

“A bit of both,” Silver chuckled. “They’ve made themselves at home in Red Long Country, but they’ll travel about from time to time. Father has seen most of the world, but mother has barely seen a fourth of it; Father wants to let her explore it before they truly settle down.” 

Gold let out a hum of agreement. “They deserve it after all they’ve been through.” As they stepped into the clearing, the sun above mildly shaded by clouds, Gold made another comment. “It’s also nice to hear you calling Persy your mom, too.” 

“It took some getting used to,” Silver admitted, “but she is married to Father, so that’s who she is.” He let out a brief laugh, “Though she was that long before then.” 

“I could tell. When Sebek told me last year, a little bit after I got here, that he and Persy weren’t married and she wasn’t your mom, I was surprised! You treated her like one from the get-go; at least now it’s official and doesn’t feel off anymore.” 

Silver nodded in agreement. “They sent Malleus a package as well. I delivered it to him shortly after I retrieved mine; I’m sure Sebek and I will find out what’s in it later.”

As Silver and Gold passed through the clearing and entered the woods again, they came upon a small pond, about Silver’s length and a half of hers. The sun’s rays that peeked through the leaves above made the clear waters glitter like diamonds. Birds chirped from the high branches; bushes rustled as wildlife went about their own business. There was little need to worry about any of them threatening the two - Silver’s uncanny connection with the fauna of the world decreased that possibility significantly. If they left them alone, they’d leave them alone. It wouldn’t be too surprising if one of those birds, maybe even a squirrel, came down from their perches to pay the young man a visit, however. 

“Did you see all those flowers that came in the carts today?” Gold asked.

“I did,” Silver replied. “They’re for the upcoming dance, I think. There were a lot of them.” 

“You think it’ll be bigger than last year’s?” 

“Possibly. As Malleus is spending his fourth year as a student teacher, he might have a hand in coordinating the event - Andromeda, too. I think they would enjoy something like that together.” 

“As long as they’ve got the budget,” Gold joked. “They might make the other professors’ blood pressure go up if they spend too much on it.” 

“Malleus isn’t above dipping into his own funds to make he and Andromeda’s visions a reality.” Just as Gold expected, a little red bird fluttered down and came to rest on Silver’s shoulder, chirping a greeting. Silver gave it his attention and petted its feathered head gently with his finger. “It’ll prepare them for what’s to come in their future.” 

Gold sometimes forgot they were all in the presence of a future monarch and his queen consort. The Draconias had more money than she could ever dream; by extension of a pending marriage, it was Andromeda’s, too. Just a tenth of their money would set Gold for life. Seven, the prospect made her want to vomit. Maybe one day she could earn enough to live comfortably similar to that. “Do you have your outfit picked out for it?” Gold inquired, changing the subject before she got too caught up in the what-ifs. 

“I do.” Silver watched as the bird took off back into the canopy of trees before he continued. “Father set aside funds for me to get a suit tailored to my measurements, among other things.”

Man, some people really were set, huh? 

“That’s good.” Gold stopped to lean against a tree, granting herself a brief respite beside the pond. “I’ve still got to come up with what I want to wear. I got the concept down, and I’ve made sure it aligns with the dress code. Now I just have to come up with the money.” 

“Will your paychecks from the lounge be enough?” 

“They should be…at least I hope. Most of the shops around here are pricey, which I expect from a college town. I could order one online, but it’s a little risky cause I won’t really know the fit, quality, stuff like that until it gets here. I’d like to try a potential dress on first before buying it, you know?” Gold sighed to herself as she thought about everything that could go wrong. “I don’t want to have to return it and risk a replacement or alternative not getting here in time for the dance.” 

“And if it comes to that?” 

Gold shrugged. “I guess I just won’t go. The dance isn’t mandatory, so…I could just hang out at Ramshackle until it was over.” 

Silver’s expression turned to concern, disappointment, at the prospect. “I’d hate for you to miss it. I know you want to have a good time with the rest of us. What happened to your dress from last year?” 

“I still have it, but…” Gold looked a little embarrassed to admit why she couldn’t wear the dress, but she didn’t want to leave the man guessing. “I’ve apparently gained a little weight somehow. It’s a bit too tight in my waist area now; it’d be too risky to wear, not to mention uncomfortable.” 

Gold didn’t look like she’d gained weight, at least to Silver. She wouldn’t lie to him though. With a determined look in his eye, he said, “If your checks won’t cover a dress here on the island, I’d be happy to give you the amount you needed to pick one you liked.” 

Gold’s brows raised, eyes widened, heart clenched in guilt and surprise. “Silver, no, it’s okay. It’s just a dance, I-” 

“A dance you really want to go to.” Silver to a step closer to her, now standing in front of her. “Please, Gold, I really don’t mind. I have more than enough left over for food and other things I need.” He mumbled under his breath, “Sometimes I wonder if Father spoils me for how much he gives me.” 

Gold overheard that and let out a small giggle. Silver glanced down at her and smiled - a soft, genuine smile. This guy really was the princely type, wasn’t he? Yeah, he was an actual prince from a kingdom long since passed, but still, he really seemed to have stepped straight out of a fairytale. Gold let out another sigh, this one of relent. “If I feel my checks won’t cover it and the stuff I need, I’ll ask you for a loan.” 

“You promise?”

Gold laughed this time. “I promise, I promise!” 

“Good.” Silver’s hand brushed the back of hers. “And it wouldn’t be a loan - it’d be a gift.” 

“You know, you really need to be careful with stuff like that. Someone could take advantage of you one day.” 

“Maybe,” Silver leaned in a little closer, “but I know you never would.” 

There was that odd feeling again. It always came up with Gold when Silver was this way with her. Not in this exact scenario, per say, but when he was kind and gentle towards her. The qualities a good few of her friends shared, but Silver was just…different, somehow. It was hard to look him in the eye without her heart skipping a beat. That handsome smile of his haunted her many a night, too. Gold wondered if this was the effect he had on everyone else; she should ask around later. 

“Well, whatever happens, I’m dreading wearing heels.” Her feet ached just thinking about it. “I know they look good, but they really begin to hurt your feet after a while.” 

“I don’t believe you have to wear heels,” Silver pointed out. “They’re not part of the dress code; I recall it only states you have to wear formal footwear.”

“I know, it’s just…a girl wants to look pretty, you know? Vil knocked everyone out of the park last year with his; while his are more downgraded, Riddle pulls them off like no one’s business.” Gold shifted her feet, which were nestled in her dark brown loafers. “Everyone who wears them just looks so good! And they look even better when you’re all dressed up. I just wanna look cute.” 

“You still would without heels.” Excuse her, what? Gold whipped her head around to look at Silver again, eyebrow raised. “I’m serious. I don’t believe heels are what make a person look good. If someone wants to wear them with their clothes, I think it’s fine - but it isn’t the thing that makes them look pretty or cute. It’s the person themselves.” 

Gold smirked and gently elbowed Silver. “Oh, so you’re calling me cute, huh? You think I’m soooo pretty?~” 

“Yes.” 

She could have choked. For a moment, her heart stopped. Gold forgot to breathe altogether for a few seconds. Silver was just going to say that out loud, so matter-of-factly and not expect her to balk?! Her cheeks were burning, she could feel them. Silver took a step back as his expression fell. “I’m sorry, did I offend you?” 

“No, not at all!” Gold protested. “I just…didn’t expect you to answer like that.” 

“Do you think you’re ugly?” Silver seemed shocked at the very idea. “You’re not, you’re-” 

“I know I’m not!” Gold interjected, as politely as she could. She really didn’t want Silver to explain how he viewed her and make her blush even more. “It’s just,” she let out an awkward laugh, “you’re so honest it’s almost unbelievable. You need to be careful saying stuff like that.” 

“Why?” 

How pure can one man be? Lilia really had to be doing something with his kids to make them this way. Was it the food? Maybe it was the food - it realigned some of their brain cells in a certain way. “Um, well…” Gold tried to find a good way to explain it without being weird. “I guess…I guess someone might think you like them.” 

“But I do like you.” 

“Well, yeah, as a friend, but I meant in a more…intimate way.” 

“Ah!” Silver gasped as he flinched. Was that…was he blushing? From embarrassment, clearly. “I…” He turned his head downward, Gold now unable to view his face. “I apologize if I made you uncomfortable.” 

“No no, you didn’t,” Gold giggled. She reached out to pat his arm. “It’s okay, I know you didn’t mean it like that. Thank you for the compliment.” 

Silver didn’t respond, just kept staring at the grass. He was quiet for so long Gold began to worry. Then, just as she was about to ask if he was alright, he raised his head and faced her again. “Well, in any case, don’t feel pressured to wear something that hurts you. If you decide to wear heels and they begin to hurt your feet, you can take them off and I’ll carry them for you.” 

Gold laughed again. “And what would I do then? Just walk around barefoot?” 

“You could borrow my shoes, if you wanted.” 

Gold laughed a lot louder this time, imagining herself wearing Silver’s shoes and Silver wearing whatever heels she picked out. “Everyone would be staring at us!” As she calmed herself down, a lint of her laughter poked through her next sentence. “But hey, you look better in heels than I do, so maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.” 

Silver sniffed in amusement. “You think so?” 

“I know so! I remembered when you rocked it at the Fairy Gala. The heels weren’t too big, but you pulled them off really well!” 

Silver chuckled again. “Thank you. I’ve worn larger heels a time or two before then. They were father’s…I guess you could say I was curious about how they felt.” 

“Well, consider me confident in your heel-ing abilities.” Gold raised her arms above her head in a stretch. “Now if I can just learn how to dance properly, we’ll be golden.” 

It was Silver’s turn to raise a brow in question. “You don’t know how to dance?” 

“No, I do - you’ve clearly seen me dance a good few times. It’s just certain ballroom ones I have trouble with. I learned the foxtrot when I was little, and have danced a dramatic version of the tango once, but other than that it’s like I’ve got two left feet.” Gold flexed her fingers as she dropped her arms back down to her sides. “I’m going to watch some videos online and try to learn from there. Maybe I’ll drag [Name] and Grim into being dance partners.” 

Silver seemed to contemplate something for a moment as he stared at Gold. A few seconds later, he voiced his thoughts. “Father taught me how to dance since I was a child. I believe I’m pretty good - would you like me to teach you?” 

Silver, ever the man of charity. And with no ulterior motive in sight; aside from Kalim and [Name], maybe Deuce, that was quite rare. “Really? You wouldn’t mind.” 

“No, I don’t mind.” That fair smile of his returned to grace the world with its presence. “I’d love to dance with you.” 

Yeesh, at this rate Silver might as well be dubbed “Most Likely to Be Prince Charming” in his yearbook photo. Gold made a note to put a word in with whoever was in charge of that later. For now, she let her heart flutter once again as Silver offered his hand to her. “Here?” she asked, glancing about the forest area where they currently stood. 

“If you like.” 

Yep, definitely plucked from the pages of a fairytale. “Alright.” Gold took his hand, feeling the leather that fit snug around his palm and fingers. “Waltz me silly, housewarden, sir.” 

The man laughed as he pulled her to him and rested his other hand on her waist. “Just Silver is fine, thank you.” His hands were strong, firm, yet as gentle and soft as their owner. Silver handled her carefully, protectively, as he guided her on how to step and where. When he stepped back, she stepped forward. When he stepped right, she stepped right. And so on and so on. Round and round and round until there was nothing else in the world but the two of them. 

Gold was so caught up in the dance, in Silver’s hold and gaze, she didn’t notice he was humming until minutes later. She listened closely to the tune, smooth and soft, almost like a lullaby. Gold had never heard Silver sing before, let alone hum. It was…soothing. “What is that?” 

“What is what?” Silver asked, seemingly knocked from his own thoughts as he abruptly stopped. His movements stalled, too, and Gold immediately missed it. 

“That song, the one you were humming. I’ve never heard it before.” 

“Oh.” Silver looked flustered. Did he even know he’d been humming? “It’s a song Father taught me when I was young. Malleus knows it, too, as does Sebek. It’s a lullaby from Briar Valley - I believe Queen Malenore was its creator.” 

“It sounds really nice.” 

Silver made a small noise of amusement. “I’m not as good as father; sometimes I even find myself making up my own words.” 

“Keep going,” Gold urged. “I like it.” 

Silver’s expression softened to something like endearment. “You’re sure?” 

“Mhm.” Gold squeezed his hand, hers still safely held in his gloved one. “You sound nice.” 

There he goes, making her feel like she’s going to collapse under that smile. Somehow Gold kept her legs steady as Silver guided her back into the waltz, fluid and slow. The calm breeze, the occasional chirp of birds and rustle of trees and bushes, the sound of their feet stepping along the fresh green grass, were Silver’s orchestra. His humming slowly morphed into hushed lyrics, scarcely audible to Gold’s listening ears. It was beautiful - he was beautiful. She wondered if he knew. 

I know you

I walked with you once upon a dream

I know you

The look in your eyes is so familiar a gleam

And I know it’s true, that visions seldom are all they seem

But if I know you

I know what you’ll do

You’ll love me at once 

The way you did once upon a dream

The third time Silver repeated the last lyric, Gold nearly stripped over her own feet as she missed a step. She gasped out as she stumbled. Silver caught her before she could fall, wrapping his arm tight around her waist to steady her. The movement brought Gold against his chest. His hold and build was strong, as she knew it was, but…again, there was a difference to it than it would be with Jack or Sebek. Silver was so close now, the tips of their noses inches from touching. His warm breath cascaded over her lips, as hers did his. Likely in her scramble to find something to break her fall, Gold’s fingers were now laced with Silver’s in the hand she still held. 

For a moment Gold beheld the whole of Silver’s perfect features, handsome and beautiful. Then, at some point, her gaze solely focused on his aurora colored irises. They were like a brilliant sunset, just as the night was beginning to glimpse the sky. In seconds those eyes went from wide to hooded as Silver stared back at her, just as entranced by her pretty hazel pools. They reminded him of woods in the light of sunrise, browns and greens basked in a golden light. The beginnings of words danced across his lips, mumbled nonsense, until he finally found what he wanted to ask. 

“...Are you alright?”

It took a good minute for Gold to process what he’d said. “Y…Yes.” 

“Good…” For a few more seconds, they remained unmoving, locked in their embrace. Then, slowly, Silver relaxed his hold on her waist. He blinked a couple times to regain his barrings on the world. “Can you stand?” 

Gold nodded her head as she moved away from Silver’s warm chest. She shifted her feet once, twice, before releasing her hand from his bicep, which she’d apparently been holding. It didn’t feel too bulky under her fingers, but not too lean either - just right. She adjusted her school uniform as Silver straightened his dorm uniform. There was palpable silence between them once more, but not like others they had before. This one held an unspoken, unknown tension neither could place. 

Gold was the one to finally break it. “Sorry for using you as a break for the fall,” she said, tittering awkwardly. 

Silver shook his head. “No no, it’s alright. I wouldn’t have wanted you to injure yourself.” 

“Like I told you,” Gold quipped, “two left feet.” 

“You did well,” Silver assured, yet there was a muse to his tone. “With enough practice, you’ll be able to handle yourself just fine.” 

“I’m so happy I have a good teacher.” 

“And I’m happy to help.” 

Another pause in conversation. One simply gazed at the other, not a thought conjured. They only beheld the other and basked in the feeling of happiness that overtook them at the sight. Then Silver glanced up at the sky and said, “We should get going. From the sun’s position, it will be dinner time soon.” 

“Good, cause I’m starving!” Gold announced, trying her best not to feel awkward anymore. She peeked in the pocket of her jacket to make sure the flora sample she’d taken earlier hadn’t fallen out. Nope, still there! Thank goodness. She patted it as she added, “And I’ve gotta get this to the fridge as soon as possible. Crewel said it could spoil if it was out in the heat too long after being plucked.” 

“To Ramshackle, then?” Silver asked, though already knew the answer. 

“To Ramshackle,” Gold repeated. “And then to the cafeteria.” She paused, then looked up at Silver as he came to stand beside her again. “Do you…want to walk there with me? To the cafeteria, I mean.” 

His grin was radiant. “I’d be happy to.” 

Idle conversation filled their little bubble as they began to walk, all about nothing in particular. Though try as they might, neither could totally keep their thoughts from straying. For Silver, it was to how soft Gold felt in his arms; how she looked even prettier up close, and how nice she smelled. He thought about how wonderful it felt to have her compliment his singing. For Gold, her mind went back to remembering how strong his hold was; how handsome he was; how he found her pretty and cute and was willing to do so much for her for nothing in return. It felt so weird, yet so lovely how he made her heart soar whenever he was around. Each was so, so very happy to have the other in their life. 

Was it really just friendship? It was, of course it was, but…there was a certain sweetness that strayed from the norm. Who would make a move on the other to explore it? 

Silver. 

“Is there someone you’ve asked to the dance?” Silver asked, casually. 

“Nope,” Gold responded. “I just planned to hang out with our usual group. You?” 

“No.” 

“Well, I’d take the leap if I were you. There’s no telling how many would love to have you as their date!” 

“Yes…”

Gold stared ahead as she walked on, scanning the area for any possible obstacles she’d have to avoid tripping over or knocking into. When she turned her head to look back up at Silver, he was gone. Her brows furrowed as she turned around to search for him. There he was, a small several steps behind, crouched down in front of a small outcrop of pretty flowers. Silver looked over each carefully before picking one: a purple lilac. He stood swiftly as he examined the bloom in his hand. 

“That’s pretty,” Gold commented as she took a few steps towards him, expression relaxed, yet curious. “What’s it for?” 

Silver didn’t respond. Instead, he turned to face forward and walked up to Gold. His gaze was centered on her as he stretched out of hand, lilac gently clutched in his fingers. It was an offering - a silent question. Gold eyed the flower, confusion clear on her face as she glanced back up at Silver. The man felt his stomach tie itself in knots, his heart pumping in his chest, his nerves begin to buzz. Nervous, yet determined and sure of what he wanted. 

“Gold…Callidora.” The sound of her real name caught the woman off guard. She now certainly had his full attention. Silver lowered himself onto one knee, just like what he’d seen many a prince and knight do in many a storybook from his childhood. He kept direct eye contact with his friend…the one who held this intimate affection he’d been oblivious to for a long time. This is what he had to do. This was the first step to something new - he only hoped she returned the feeling. 

“Will you go to the dance with me?”

For a moment, Gold said nothing, body and mind held in stunned silence. Silver’s expression was sincere, serious about the entire matter. This was no joke, not something he was doing on a silly whim or flight of fancy. All possibilities of what this could mean flew about in the young lady’s mind. First a thought of a favor, then one of simple friendship, and then…once more, there was only him and her in the entire world. Callidora didn’t have to think to put a grin on her face. She slowly reached out and took the flower from her friend - her man of interest. 

“I hope you’re ready to wear heels,” she said between the beginnings of giddiness. 

[aaeds]

I've had it with HS^2

I don't make fanart or content for this fandom anymore, but after putting on "Let's Read Homestuck" in the background while I've been working I've returned to having a few Alpha kid WIPs. I have also returned to scouring the tags for cool fanart and opinions.

This is not the fandom I remember back when I was reading the comic partway through Act 2.

I cannot say I'm inspired by Homestuck^2, and to roughly quote another user - I don't know who the audience for this comic is for. The epilogues themselves were a disaster and the Candy/Meat timeline idea appears to exist to create even more drama with lackluster stakes.

There's no real clear 'goal' or core to the story besides...the fact there are two universes. And we have Ultimate-self villains.

It reads like bad fanfiction, that's nothing new - the problem is I don't think the authors are writing with irony. The series has turned into a ship-heavy metal bat beating older fans to death with teen drama and character assassination.

The current team clearly has no interest or plans for Jade for example, and in the recent update with Aradia and Robo-Dave discussing time travel - it really seemed like her body being on the floor was an excellent time to rehash several existential conversation points we ALREADY had in the original Homestuck about stable timeloops, dead Daves and how he uses his Godtier powers.

Outside of several unnecessary pages of dialogue, it was disturbing that no part of Ultimate Dave would help move Jade off the fucking floor while he and Aradia sleep in lawn chairs watching her until she became 'The Muse' It is so out of character. Pre-retcon Dave died protecting her body, Davesprite destroyed his relationship with both John and Jade knowing they would be reunited with the 'real' Dave. He was a true knight when he felt it was appropriate and mattered. But now we have a Dave who is back to having an existential crisis about his powers, life and death - and his sexuality. By bringing up dead Dave's Marriage from the epilogues. He didn't even mention Jade by name, presuming the reader read at least the wiki article on the disastrous self indulgent mess.

But that was all he had to say on that dead Dave. Just about not loving Jade. No one else, doesn't even bring up Karkat or Terezi, let alone any of his friends. Talking about Sollux for half a second I'm convinced was just to bring up a failed marriage and apparently 'not wanting to be gay'? This isn't Dave anymore, and if that's the point I want to know why we as readers should care because I promise you coming fresh off Act 6 for the third time these are not the same characters. Davepeta had a better outlook on what it means to experience doomed selves, whether they were chipper about it because of Nepeta's influence is neither here nor there. No matter what Davesprite did, it was in character for what Dave would have done because he knows himself. When it meant self sabotage so his friends could go back to the Alpha timeline Dave, that was a circumstance, and an act any Dave would have made because of the way he thought at 13 years old. That doesn't mean he didn't change, or would never change.

I don't think the furthest ring has rattled the kids in a glass jar hard enough to give them critical brain damage through every doomed timeline that they're different people. At least not in the way Robo-Dave is, or frankly anything in the Epilogue.

I'm done with the writers treating Jade as a dead animal to stuff Calliope into for a milquetoast attempt at a plot device without treating that as a joke in itself.

No Homestuck isn't a serious comic, but there's a reason Cascade broke several websites while Beyond Canon can barely drudge a handful of tagged UPD8 replies. Its audience is small and unchallenged. We don't need to bring back the use of the hard R to be invested in a storyline, but if all you're interested in in a piece of media is gender identity and sexuality well you've got it. That said, neither are a genre on their own.

HS^2 lacks one and direction and it's just going to keep dragging its carcass through the dirt until every unseen pairing in panel is churned through the fanfic machine.

[sonosvegliato]

Do you have an idea of when the third installment of To and Athlete Dying Young will be released? I need to know what day I need to put on my calendar because I've reread the second fic so many times and still each time I reread it it makes me feel sick to my stomach in the best way possible, but this is the first time I've actively sought out your Tumblr to learn more about your fics and you and I'm so excited for the third installment I've constantly been stimming for the past three hours ;o;

Ahahahahahaaaaaaaaa I am no longer hands deep into it I am full body in the cement. I am descending through the earth's crust. I am doing research on paintball for you. Please be safe when keeping with the Topeka potato tradition, the midwest is a scary place and sometimes we get dumped there for thanksgiving because our not-dad's butler says you gotta get outta the house but the himbo you recruited as your manservant won't let you plot revenge while he's still got the chickens to feed and your dumb not-brother has betrayed you by setting the human papershredder on you in the middle of a Steak and Shake like the utter audacity---

This will all make sense in approximately a few months. I've rewritten this thing so many times it has its own Google doc. Its own. I've written every fanfiction I've ever written for every fandom on one gigantic Google Doc but early though the laurel grows gets its own google doc because it thinks it's a special baby that deserves 209 pages of which 170 of them are me throwing them into the virtual incinerator and laughing at the confetti that comes out.

I'm so honored you looked for more on my Tumblr! I don't use it too much except to reblog fic rec lists, but occasionally I'll put some deleted scenes up that I know won't be used...maybe I'll start posting some of the 170 pages I chewed up and spat out and made into the Mona Lisa because I am LEONARDO DA VINCI over here dawg

I am continually working on early though the laurel grows, the last installment of To an Athlete Dying Young, but she is looking to be a hefty girl in more ways than one and as I am ripping apart her insides with my bare teeth and rearranging her within my jaws I don't want to start posting chapters when it's likely they'll change.

I'm so honored people are waiting for this? I've been writing To an Athlete Dying Young pretty much nonstop for over a year now, and I only want to share the best with you! Unfortunately I don't have a calendar date, but the work is moving and moving very fast. I'll give more updates (and more deleted scenes, there are a LOT) as I get closer to the finish!

A deleted scene dialogue as a treat:

“You’re remarkably clear-headed about this,” Bullock says, almost appreciatively.

“Well,” Tim remarks, knocking his temple with his knuckles. “Helps that it’s attached.”

Bullock’s mouth pulls. It’s gone as soon as Tim notices it. “Do you know of any reason someone might have a grudge against your guardian Bruce Wayne?” 

Besides the fact that he runs around as Gotham’s number one fearmonger and some criminals run just at the mention of him? Besides the fact that his son/current enemy number one came undead and now has some sort of blood vendetta against him? Besides the fact that Bruce Wayne is the Batman, and vice versa?

“Beats me,” Tim says.

[t1oui]

would any of you be surprised if i said i had another fic idea. lol yeah no probably not anyways on with it (after a few notes) 1) this is based in the same universe as my last few posts, with slytherin harry and percy, but with some changes. they're pretty much the same, though. 2) this post is structured much more like a short story, with snippets of scenes, dialogue, and inner thinking, but i think you'll enjoy it nonetheless. with all that out of the way, here's first year (or third year, depending on how technical you want to be):

james and lily potter are dead. everybody knows this. even deep down, somewhere, somehow, they know it. so they're really not sure how to feel when they wake up as 13-year-olds in bodies that aren't theirs and find out that their best friend, mass murderer sirius black, has escaped from prison.

lily does not know who she is, or where she is, and she definitely doesn't know why she's an only child with two parents who keep calling her hermione. but at least she's going to hogwarts, and if this has happened to her, she has no doubt that james has somehow been roped into it, too.

meanwhile, in a barely-together household somewhere far, far away (okay, not that far away, but you get the point), james wakes up with red hair and freckles and six siblings and two parents who seem to think he's a weasley, and he can't help but think that if there's one person who will be able to communicate with redheads, it's his wife. if only he knew where she was.

on september first, james finds himself being hauled down to king's cross station with four of his six-too-many siblings. he finds himself wandering through the express, unsure where to go until he's being pulled into a compartment and he looks at the girl across from him, staring him down with a critical eye. he doesn't know her, but he knows.

lily watches him without comment for a moment. then she says, "this is a strange arrangement," and they laugh themselves hoarse. they don't feel like laughing, really, but they're not sure they're capable of doing anything else.

it's a few minutes later when lily stands and leads him through the train. "you need to see, james," she says, and this time, neither of them laugh at all.

on their way, they pass by another compartment. the door is open, and a boy is leaving, and he bumps right into them. it's james's - ron's - oldest brother at hogwarts, percy. he's wearing slytherin robes and a head boy pin, and he's bidding goodbye to a group of people, but james only sees one of them. one with messy black hair and tan skin and green eyes, and a scar shaped like a lightning bolt on his forehead.

"bye, percy!" he calls happily. "good luck!"

percy smiles. it's the first time james has ever seen him do so. he scowls when he bumps into james and lily, though, and he gives a tense, "ron," before shaking his head free of whatever else he might have said and heading opposite them. lily grabs james's sleeve and forces him to keep walking, because apparently, this isn't what she wanted to show him.

no. that's at the very end, and the sight of it makes james want to throw up. lily pulls him into the compartment and intertwines their fingers, squeezing his hand.

remus is asleep. he should only be 34, if harry is james and lily (hermione and ron's) age, but he's never looked worse. his face is sunken, and he's too skinny, and he has more scars than ever. his hair is graying, and lily and james don't want to think about why.

they spend their train ride in relative silence, and when they hear a commotion down the hall, they find themselves running from a dementor being chased from their son's compartment by a patronus in the shape of a crow. percy weasley stands in the doorway, scowling, before a worried expression overtakes his face and he rushes out of sight.

remus wakes, startled to find two students watching him so intently. something about them feels familiar, but he's sure he's never met either of them before. he decides that he's just tired and tries to fall back asleep. he doesn't, and though he pretends to, he can't shake the feeling that somehow, the kids know he's lying.

on their way to the castle, james and lily find themselves startled by the fact that there are creatures pulling the carriages. as james is about to ask if lily knows what they are, he hears ron's name being called by ron's sister, ginny. she's standing with a smiling blonde girl wearing funny glasses, and james tugs lily over to them.

"i can see them, too," the girl, luna, says, and it takes a minute for james and lily to realize what she's saying. her voice is dreamy, far away, but her eyes hold much more knowledge than the eyes of someone her age should. she smiles. "don't worry. you're just as sane as me."

as james and lily sit beside remus on a carriage up to hogwarts, watching luna read a magazine upside down, they decide that this comment is not very reassuring after all.

lily and james are gryffindors. so is ginny. luna is a ravenclaw, and she bids her friends (new and old) goodbye at the entrance to the great hall before skipping off to sit between two girls, one with curly brown hair, a head girl badge, and a tired smile, and the other with straight black hair and an excited grin. they wait for harry to find them, but he never does. eventually, they find him sitting between percy weasley and a younger blonde boy who looks suspiciously like a malfoy at the slytherin table. they don't say anything. they rarely do at this point.

as dumbledore begins to speak, introducing remus as their new defense against the dark arts professor, it's all james and lily can do to keep themselves from cheering. but then dumbledore begins to speak about sirius black, and they don't need to restrain themselves at all.

"as many of you have already heard," dumbledore says, "mass murderer sirius black has escaped from azkaban."

they don't say anything to each other all evening, too busy trying to force themselves to keep down their food, but when it comes time for them to part ways and head up to their dormitories, they hug like their lives depend on it. maybe they do.

(once james gets upstairs, he's greeted with the loud laughter of a skinny black boy and a smaller sandy-haired one, alongside the shy smile of someone who looks oddly familiar. dark hair, easygoing expression... james doesn't have to look at the name on the trunk to know it's a longbottom.

"getting pretty close with ms. granger, are we?" the sandy-haired boy, seamus, asks. james rolls his eyes, playing along.

"just you wait," he tells the boys. "you haven't seen anything yet."

they howl with laughter, not noticing james leaving the room to change into his pyjamas until he comes back and closes the curtains around his bed.)

for the majority of that year, nothing happens. james and lily research whenever they can - classes aren't that hard, really, if you've already passed them once, though it is a bit jarring to find snivellus at the front of the potions room. they read all about their (harry's) story: sirius black, their secret keeper, betrayed them to voldemort, killed peter pettigrew, and was sentenced to life in azkaban. this time james really does throw up, right there in the library (much to madam pince's annoyance), because he knows they got it all wrong.

it is two weeks after that particular study session that james wakes up to find sirius standing over him. he doesn't even recognize him at first: his hair, which he used to care so much about, is tangled and matted. his clothes are ripped and dirty and look - sickeningly enough - like prison robes. his eyes are wide and crazed, his grin merciless, but he drops his knife when he looks into those eyes. those eyes that he knows so well, that azkaban can't erase from his memory... dropped into the head of a 13-year-old boy he's never met.

james does not alert the professors of this event, but he does tell lily, and she simply squeezes his hand and tells him they'll figure it out. it's not much, but they don't have anything else.

it's after class one day when remus - professor lupin - asks them to stay back. they worry they're in trouble, or maybe their cover has been blown. maybe it would be good for remus to know who they are. but he doesn't. he simply pulls an oh-so-familiar piece of parchment out of his desk, hands it to james, and says, "if you cannot return this to me by the end of the year, please give it to harry potter," before sending them on their way.

james half expects to see his own name beside lily's when he opens the map, but he won't say he's surprised when it reads hermione granger and ronald weasley right outside remus lupin's office. his eyes stray to the slytherin dormitories, where harry potter is sitting in the common room with percival weasley and marcus flint. he also reads the names draco malfoy, blaise zabini, and pansy parkinson, but they're not huddled as close to harry as the older boys are.

soon enough, that fateful night arrives. james has given the map to lily, hoping that she'll come find him if anything happens since he can't climb the girl's stairs. sure enough, he wakes up one night to her standing above him, the map being pushed into his face.

"harry, percy, and marcus just left the castle," she says. "peter's following them."

it didn't take them long to figure out that ron's rat was peter, even without the map, but by the time this was realized, he was long gone. in the forest, probably, or hogsmeade. hiding somewhere out of their reach. peter must've seen something in their eyes, too, just like sirius and remus had. lily pulls james out of bed, and they creep towards the front of the castle.

it's just their luck that the head girl herself catches them. "what are you two doing out of bed?" she demands, narrowing her eyes at james in particular, and he remembers that he's the brother of her best friend; a member of the family who made percy weasley feel like an outcast for his house. he doesn't speak as he holds up the map, pointing to harry, percy, and marcus's names so close to sirius black's. penelope clearwater curses, glancing up at the kids in front of her, and then flicks her wand and sends a fully-corpreal patronus in the form of a weasel dashing up the stairs as she follows them outside.

they watch in horror as the map displays the picture playing out in front of them. marcus flint is grabbed by a big black dog labeled sirius black, and penelope - and oliver wood, who the patronus was sent to retrieve - no longer feel like sneaking. they jump out from the shrub they're hiding behind, and james and lily watch in awe as penelope actually runs faster than oliver to get to the whomping willow. they follow close behind percy weasley and harry potter, who are dashing after their friend.

"stay here," penelope tells james and lily, and they wait for her and oliver to disappear from sight before they follow them in. stay here? james thinks. as if.

the two stumble into the scene to find sirius standing across from the group of wide-eyed teenagers. they don't dwell on how the man's eyes, slightly out of focus, stare at them for a beat too long. they watch as percy weasley keeps himself stationed in front of harry, and oliver wood holds up marcus flint, whose leg is bent at a funny angle. penelope's eyes flash with anger when she sees james and lily in the doorway to the shrieking shack, so obviously ignoring her instructions, but instead of yelling at them, she pulls them behind her.

"what do you want?" percy demands, his voice cold. harry is holding onto him like a life force. sirius struggles for a response, glancing at lily and james again as if asking for help, and when he does, percy shouts "expelliarmus!" and sends him flying backwards.

this is when remus shows up.

"you switched," he says, intently focused on sirius. "you didn't tell me you switched." he's trying for a glare, but his eyes are sad and he looks tired and he's stumbling a bit, and lily grabs james's hand and nearly breaks it when she squeezes because it's the full moon.

"yes," sirius says, eyes wide with fear and recognition and hope. james and lily didn't stop to think what it must be like for him, knowing remus was out there believing the lies. this is all my fault, james thinks, and though he knows lily knows, she doesn't tell him it's not. "i'm sorry we didn't tell you, but there was a spy, and -"

sirius does not finish before he's being tugged into a hug, and harry gasps.

"you traitor," percy all but growls, taking a step forward, out of oliver and penelope's reach. harry clings to him, but now he looks unsure. "we trusted you."

"and you can still trust me, percy," remus says gently. he's leaning on sirius now, and though it must not be obvious to the others - not even lily - james can tell when remus is hiding his pain. "i think there's been a misunderstanding."

sirius and remus explain the story - sirius, mostly, considering remus only just found out the truth himself. percy looks like he doesn't quite believe it, but he doesn't have any evidence that says they're lying, especially when the rat in the corner is dragged into the middle of the room ("is that scabbers?" percy asks, incredulous) and is forced to transform into a tiny man who simply smiles at them and runs off again as remus collapses.

"run!" james screams, as if the others aren't. penelope, after shoving james, lily, and harry out the door of the shack, has begun helping to pull marcus along. percy brings up the rear, despite harry's loud protests. remus and sirius burst out of the shack behind them, neither of them human anymore.

james and lily run, watching as percy sprints ahead of them to usher harry forward.

"percy!" penelope screams, pointing. "pettigrew!"

sirius, as padfoot, turns away from the spot where remus has run off into the forest and begins bounding towards the scruffy looking rat scampering towards it himself, but he stops when percy does, pulling out his wand. james and lily stop, and harry stops, and penelope and oliver stop, making marcus hiss in pain when his broken leg hits a stray root.

peter doesn't. not until percy, hesitating for only a moment, shouts, "imperio!" and the rat goes still.

nobody knows what to say as percy breaks the deafening silence with a shaky voice, commanding, "transform." they don't say anything as peter appears before them, staring directly at james and lily with wide, terrified eyes like he's asking for help.

as percy takes a deep breath, telling peter to "go to headmaster dumbledore and confess everything," they don't speak. they simply follow behind, james watching padfoot as he sprints into the forest in search of moony.

sirius black is not forced into hiding. peter pettigrew is taken to azkaban. percy weasley's quick thinking got him into a body bind, the daily prophet wrote.

james and lily potter are dead, but ron weasley and hermione granger return to their families for the summer, wondering what fourth year will have in store for them and their not-so-little (all too grown up) boy.

[ganonfan1995]

I've thought it through, and I'm not really sure when I'm going to pick NHFOM back up.

I really wanted to see it through, but if I'm being honest, it was a project I started during a point in time where I was feeling 100% myself (both mentally and artistically) 2022 really slonked my shit stupid style, and recovering from all the trauma and misery has been a long loooong journey for me. Trying to revisit it now, while I still love the characters and the AU I built up around it, has been really complicated for me. On one hand I still think the material holds up, but on the other hand I've really lost a lot of the jokes and I've been struggling to connect with them. (maybe it's the depression, maybe its maybelline)

While I've been doing a lot better in this year, 2023, the further I move away from NHFOM the more I feel a bit alienated from it? I'm not sure how to describe it, it feels more like an obligation rather than something I'm excited to do.

That's all to say, is that I'm going to post the outline I had written back in 2021 for the first chapter of NHFOM. I might still pick this back up, but it feels weird to let it just rot in my google docs, unread and unloved. So if you're curious as to what Link and Ganondorf get up to, it'll all be under the cut. NOTE: The way I write comic outlines is VERY bare bones. These are mostly quick ideas and lack any sort of dialogue/structure outside of general pacing and ideas.

NO HYRULE FOR OLD MEN

Aryll’s Birthday:

Link convinces Ganondorf to allow him to send a letter to Aryll for her birthday.

The Soup:

Link tries to recreate his Grandma’s soup, destroying Ganondorf's kitchen in the process.

Heroes Clothes:

Ganondorf convinces Link to dress in Time’s clothes. They do not even remotely fit.

Link of the Past:

Ganondorf and Link drinking and reminiscing over OOT events, Link is trying to play along.

Thank god they’re both trashed. 

The Bandana: 

Ganondorf reprimands Link for being so careless about his appearance and asks him to get a haircut.

It’s revealed that Link has MPB and Ganondorf shares a culturally significant hairstyle w/ him in solidarity. 

Miniblin:

Link befriends a Miniblin? I don’t have a joke for this one, it’s just cute.

Ganondorf’s Day Out:

Link discovers the portal Ganon uses to teleport between worlds, he follows him in disguise and learns about his “secret hideout”

Therapy:

Ganondorf is having his monthly therapy session with a bokoblin, distressing over Link and contemplating why he’s different now.

Link is fishing naked w/ Miniblin

Helmaroc King:

Aryll discovers that Helmaroc King loves fish and forms a bond with the giant bird. She breaks a deal to send letters to Link once in a while in exchange for a tuna.

The Boat:

Link notices a weird red boat with a face hanging out around the tower. He and miniblin decide to take it for a joyride.

Hero in Training:

Sick of his devil-may-care personality, Ganondorf convinces Link to take up some serious training. Link immediately throws his back out upon lifting a mock master sword.

Princess Zelda:

Upon learning more about the Triforce, Link purposely misleads Ganondorf in his quest to locate the third Triforce…Because he doesn’t want to move out.

The Desert:

Ganondorf recites his “my country lay in a vast desert” speech. Link interrupts to ask what a desert is. 

Family Dinner:

Link makes dinner, Ganondorf is late and Link chews him out for his lack of appreciation towards him.

Ganondorf feels bad and surprises him with breakfast in bed. (this one is just gay)

Daddy Issues:

Ganondorf inquires about Link’s family, Link reveals that he never had a father and was raised by his grandmother. Link is surprised to find out they both have that in common.

The Boat Pt. 2:

King of Redlions stressing to Jabun that he thinks he may have discovered the Hero Reborn who has since been captured by the Demon King himself. Also tries to explain that…maybe it’s okay actually.

Cutaway to Ganondorf and Link playing a drinking game?

Aryll’s Visit:

It’s Link’s birthday this time, and Helmaroc King has a surprise planned for Link on Aryll’s behalf.

She reprimands him for still not changing his outfit.

Queen of Pirates:

Following rumours of a sunken kingdom, a mysterious Pirate Queen finds herself lost in Hyrule. Link scrambles to get her to leave, but she threatens to return and rob him and his ghostly king blind.

Minitime:

Link doing some introspection, discussing w/ Miniblin that, even though he’s evil���Maybe Ganondorf isn’t all that bad?

General Malaise:

Ganondorf has locked himself in his room for far too long, Link busts in to give him a heavy hitting pep talk.

Poetry Night:

It’s poetry night in the Tower, and everyone has something to share. Link prepares something that leaves Ganondorf legitimately moved.

Blinded with Science:

Ganondorf tries some new spells out to see if he can relieve Link of his triforce…prematurely. It does not work.

Accidentally Holding Out For A Hero:

Link follows Ganondorf to his hideout again to find the place besieged by the Pirate Queen’s crew. Link accidentally does something heroic to keep Ganondorf from harm and Tetra out of his grasp.

Streetwise Hercules:

Ganondorf finds himself in emotional turmoil after Link’s show of heroism, the urge to utterly crush him returns. Ganondorf is in an oddly optimistic mood. 

Tennis Practice:

Link is in his weekly training w/ Phantom Ganon, Link has a lot on his mind. He questions his attractions to his captor while beating Phantom Ganon effortlessly.

Adventure of Miniblin:

Caught unaware, Ganondorf vents his emotions over Link to Miniblin. Miniblin is later found by Link who does the exact same thing. Miniblin is not capable of common speech, and is sick of the lack of communication between Link and Ganondorf.

The Duel: 

Ganondorf approaches Link and passes him a note that says: “Do you wanna spar? Y/N”

The Duel Pt.2:

Link and Ganondorf find themselves evenly matched, both exhausted from age and lack of physical activity. Link convinces Ganondorf to join him in his weekly training sessions w/ Phantom Ganon.

The Duel Pt. 3:

Ganondorf joins tennis and finds the activity to be actually kind of fun and quite the workout. Admits he might not have given Phantom Ganon enough credit and offers him an additional day off from his duty.

The Outfit:

Aryll sends Link a new outfit, Ganondorf finds it to be too titillating and begs Link to change back.

The Nightmare:

Ganondorf is plagued with bad dreams and has difficulty falling asleep, Link offers him a homemade remedy, Grandma certified. (It’s 1:5 warm milk and rum)

The Boat Pt.3:

King of Redlions approaches Tetra, he has devised a plan to “rescue” Link from the demon king but he needs her help.

Miniblin Musing:

Link, playing with miniblin, asks Ganon where these things come from anyway. “I am not explaining the Dark World to you right now.”

Namesake:

Link has to explain that “Link” is just a really common hylian name. Some famous dead guy or something.

[sonicjustbecause]

Sonic and Shadow being brothers is actually hinted in SA2. Never specifically said but hints are placed everywhere.

SA2 is a peculiar game, not just a piece of art.

It is a high context game. This does means that following the dialogues and barely paying attention to the rest (typical of low context American/Northern European cultures excluded Finnish culture) is not enough.

In SA2 every single pixel, every single polygon is there for a reason. I think even the differences in few lines between English and Japanese dubbing is done on purpose. If you follow everything, all the pieces of the puzzle come togheter.

The 'Teria' scene was strongly wanted by Yugi Naka. Is him who asked Ryan to do the war cry.

Well, where I start? I watched this video on YT.

It is a long analysis of the story, taking in account everything I mentioned above (the surrounding, the cinematics etc). The author choose to play in Japanese but the English version was shown when necessary to complete the puzzle. (Personally I didn't see all the differences some people say, overall, I just got the same vibes from each character. The characters are so well developed and diverse.

Except those few key points that if taken in account togheter will tell us a lot about Sonic and Shadow's origins, following just ONE version you'll miss what Shadow and Gerard are trying to tell you - Rouge helps -).

In the video, the author advice to pay attention to the connection between Sonic and Shadow, visible from the start.

The first thing most already know is underlining how much Sonic and Shadow look alike. Through dialogues but especially though action. Like the journalists calling Shadow 'Sonic', like Eggman and Amy mistaking Shadow for Sonic at first... Unlike what many assume, everybody can see the differences between Sonic and Shadow after the first look, infact nobody gets wrong anymore when they are known enough.

Another thing is Sonic learning to use the chaos control. The chaos control is describled as a rare tecnique that is not that accessible. Indeed even Knuckles, who is the guardian of the chaos emerald can't access to the chaos control.

Shadow is already proficient to use the chaos control, but Sonic is quick to understand how to use it. The third character who is able to use the chaos control is the bio lizard. Honesty I don't know if the bio lizard is smart or not (I think it is not). Whaterver is the case, it is quite proficient at it.

The byolizard scream, having both Sonic and Shadow's voice might be another hint.

One interesting thing is how Sonic and Shadow complete each others. Sonic is really tired after using the chaos control for the first time. The same is for Shadow using the super transformation, another way to use the chaos power, Sonic and Shadow being the only ones able to transform.

Rouge mentioning that Shadow memories might be fake, Shadow does not deny and does not confirm this (English and Japanese).

Gerard claiming having full control on Shadow's memories (Japanese). Shadow calling Sonic 'Ultimate Lifeform' (English). The last three or four pieces of the puzzle and the picture is almost complete.

The author of the video suggested that possibly the original Shadow was released long ago and the calico hedgehog we all know is a incomplete copy who got the memories (and possibly the personality) of the first Shadow inplanted. Things happened. The Gun raid on the ARK happened. Just not to him.

Also, toward the end Sonic and Shadow seems to understand each other even without talking, leaving Knuckles dumbfounded. It is a thing that requires a deep connection.

The autor of the video didn't say anything else. we have to complete the picture. Only, it seems to hint who was the first Shadow:

Sonic is the character who has the most mysterious past of all, aswell as the most mysteryous himself (in the period SA2 came out). Without any accessible traces of his memories, he must have built his cheerful personality from his experience on Earth. We don't really know what happened to him, except fighting against Eggman, meeting Tails, Knuckles and Amy.

Sonic's body, unlike Shadow's can deal with chaos energy just fine. No inibitor rings or sort, everything flows flawlessly. Maybe the downside might be him having hard time to stay still?

Other hints that weren't mentioned but I got:

Shadow's approach to Sonic is a little bit too bold, compare to how he is reserved around the other characters. The second time he meets Sonic he lets himself get distracted from his objective, remembering what he was going to do only when Eggman calls him to tell him the island is going to blow. I think Shadow already know or suspect he has an older brother.

Sonic and Shadow connecting quickly. They being very open to each other when fighting against biolizard. The hand clasping. By the end of SA2, Sonic is so shaken by Shadow's death that he cries.

Can't help with the credits, unfortunately...

SA2 had to be the testament for Sonic. It is possible since sega was no more and they wanted to tell Sonic's mysterious past. The two being brothers was possibly going to be explicit if the game was really final. But new games came out and the brother things was smartly hidden under the rug and forgotten, Shadow's playful side was erased to set him more and more apart from Sonic.

Some timid jokes about this are shown in Sonic Prime although clearly it wasn't the intention. Shadow denies everything and no more jokes about this. The brotherly relationship is there anyway.

Sonic and Shadow were meant to be brothers originally

Not twins. Sonic was supposed to be the older of the two.

Not the first time I heard about this.