#this is gonna be like the horizon info dump

[always-anxious-skychild]

- Eris and Echo are twins. They didn't fall from the same star like most think but they're just fall at the same place, at the same time.

- As moths, they're quite inseparable, always holding hands in their adventure.

- At first, Eris always tried to keep up with Echo's life... wearing the same color of clothes, trying out the same hobbies as he did. Some time after, though, she learned that she could do and try things alone. Therefore, she wears mostly reds, her favorite color.

- They do still share the love of music. Being born in the Season of Sanctuary, they are both saddened by the fact they missed Season of Rhythm but are overjoyed at Season of Performance. Echo was quite honored when he was chosen as the leader of sub-group for the Performance Troupe.

- And you can guess who was jealous by that. :)

[damned-punk]

Observation Duty (Heat x Reader)

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Content Warning: description of kissing

Content Description: gn!reader has feelings for Heat and the Kidd Pirates scheme to give them some alone time

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As you trekked back to the ship after shopping with House, you ran through what you were going to wear during your night shift. Every so often, you traded jobs with your crewmates in order to accommodate them if events or a change in plans clashed with their ship duties. Tonight’s schedule consisted of you trading assignments with Hip, leaving you and Heat guarding the upper deck which worked in your favor particularly well as you’d had your eyes on the tattooed man for sometime. There never seemed to be a great time to have a meaningful conversation with him, only short words exchanged in passing. You hoped that things would remain peaceful tonight so that you could get to know him a little better.

As the final rays of sunlight settled beneath the waves on the horizon, you made your way to the mast and awaited his arrival. Admittedly, you were a bit nervous to have all of this alone time with him but you were equally as excited to have the opportunity to spend the time with him. The deck was totally empty, the crew occupying themselves with an array of activities elsewhere, making Heat’s footsteps appear louder than usual. He postured himself against the mast to your right, smiling at you as a greeting.

“Probably gonna be a long night. I don’t figure much will come from this empty coast.”, he broke the silence and you hoped he was right.

The Victoria Punk was docked in a cove that was shrouded by wilderness. The closest town required a decent bit of travel and it was very unlikely that the docile people of this island would randomly strike a rebellion. The two of you watched the stars as a pass-time, pointing out constellations every so often.

“What’s your star sign?”, you asked him, determined to find his assigned constellation.

“What the hell is a star sign?”, he asked dumbfoundedly, his response causing you to stifle a laugh.

“It’s part of your birth chart.”, you started to explain, “When’s your birthday?”

“December first…”, he trailed off, curious as to where you were going with all of this.

“Your star sign is a Sagittarius. Ironically, it’s a fire sign.”, you replied scanning the sky, “The Sagittarius constellation is right there and mine is just over there… They aren’t all that far apart actually.”

He was listening to your words but he was most certainly not looking up at the sky. He was admiring how your face lit up as you info-dumped about all the interesting details that you possessed in the realm of astrology. If it had been anyone else, he would’ve been more likely to tease them but he wouldn’t dare interrupt this moment. He’d had an interest in you from the day you’d joined the Kidd Pirates, but he didn’t want to overwhelm you. Everything was too new and he’d feel much more vindicated in his approach if he could’ve ensured that you were settled and comfortable.

When he’d looked at the schedule and saw your name written next to his, he could hardly contain his smile and earned quite a bit of teasing from Wire in the process. In fact, the whole issue of Hip needing to trade shifts with you in the first place was the result of Heat’s ramblings to Wire. He knew better than anyone that Heat was far too reserved to approach you under usual circumstances so he knew the responsibility was on his shoulders to give Heat the chance that was needed. It was sweet that everyone was so tightly-knit on the ship, but it left such little room for secrets.

You glanced back at him after mapping out the stars and awkwardly glanced around as you’d caught him staring. He did the same and the whole situation became increasingly suffocating. The words were right on your tongue but the fear of rejection loomed too high. Heat felt the same way, irritated at himself for his own reservations.

“(Y/N)…”, he said your name quietly, prompting you to give him your attention, “I’d like to try something, but only if it’s alright with you…”

“Alright… I trust you, Heat.”, you furrowed your brows, a bit confused as to where this was coming from all of a sudden.

Your words sounded incredibly intimate to him, it made him feel so warm to hear that you trusted a man like him. It gave him the final push he needed to lean over in front of your face and press a soft kiss to your forehead. This left you stun-locked for a solid few seconds, Heat eagerly awaiting your response. The air was thick in his lungs as you brushed your soft lips against his own, urging him to take things further. He rested a hand on your waist, your own making their way to his shoulders as he finally pressed a kiss to your lips. You mimicked his intensity, riling him up until he began sucking your bottom lip. Before things became explicit, you parted from him for air and felt a very heavy weight lift from your shoulders as he smiled down at you.

“Get a damn room.”, Killer jokingly yelled, trailing down the hallway after retrieving a late night snack.

The two of you could only laugh at being caught, what a wonderful night to be on observation duty.

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[corntort]

OK POLARITY THOUGHT INFO DUMP

bear in mind lectro can't really sing Super Well he just challenged void because it'd be fun and he can still hold a rhythm. he just wants to kinda riff off of voids (quite literal) supernatural ability to sing incredibly quickly and with actual pitch and melody.

he's generally really competitive and just wants to see what the guy is made of! obviously void sees this as kind of an insult because. well she's void. that's just how it's gonna be

at around 0:56 is when void kind of makes it apparent he's gonna take this seriously. there's no other way he will take it. and void kinda goes "eh... i meant to just have fun.... but yknow what? i'll match your energy. sure. let's get Serious bud!"

1:50 is where the seriousness reaches it's peak. lectro, while he cant sing, he is a lyrical genius and can rap off the top of his head really good, whereas void can struggle on the lyrical front a little but can hold a tune very well and this is where theyre REALLY IN IT. void to the point of almost getting heated enough to start growing instable. lectro, noticing this, puts an end to it at 2:25, which leads me to my next point!

2:25 is where lectro offers a kind of musical peace offering, singing to void the leitmotif to event horizon, to which in void's opinion is his most prized work. to kinda imply "hey, i'm a fan of your work! this battle has only made me more impressed with your skill!

with this void kind of snaps out of it, singing his melody back to him with his usual ego back in full swing, going back to his usual smug facade

void then sings his other leitmotif (also from event horizon) to kinda test lectro, and of course lectro does know it, he is actually an admirer but in more of a "i understand your skill and style" kind of way

this loosens void up the most with this, and then he starts actually having fun with lectro, starting to kind of admire him and both appreciate his knowledge of his own music. obviously. he has to get the ego stroke first

after that it just is a fun little battle! theyre both obviously still competing but its just fun jabs and playing off eachothers style

3:12 is when they just ramp up the fun, when void starts letting loose and singing those higher notes, ruffling his hair and letting himself get lost in the tunes (that doesn't go unnoticed by lectro) so when lectro repeats his notes and song its just a good ol time

when that verse ends theyre just circling eachother and riffing and dancing along to the music and getting up close and personal but not as a challenge just as a sense of comraderie and giving into the joy and the moment

void starts deeming this a good point to wrap up, reprising his event horizon motif to end it off on the best note he can (and OBVIOUSLY what better way to end it off than a modified motif from his own music? duh?) lectro obviously happy to oblige

he remixes the tune more, while still keeping the essence the same to end the song off with a nice final verse, and lectro joining in for a final duet with a shared long note, that void cuts himself off to leave lectro singing by himself, where when it clicks he's singing alone he lets out a sudden choked laugh, and the song is done!

as i said before im not super keen on crossover aus (i really like stories standing on their own, finding their own strengths through itself) but this song is really good i couldn't help the urge. and i love lectro and im a void kinnie so WHO CARES!

[meggannn]

i saw another "Garrus accepts Shepard in ME2 when they come back, why can't Ashley/Kaidan" post the other day and was gonna reply, then i realized my response was less about discussion and more about info-dumping/being right, so i decided to just make my own post. so here is the long explanation of why I don't and never will hold it against Kaidan/Ash for reacting as they did on Horizon just so I can point to it for later

I'm not gonna go too far into Garrus’s POV to Shepard's resurrection, just the VS's (Virmire Survivor's). I want to add crucial context for the VS's Horizon POV that is rarely mentioned in these sorts of comparisons, which is: TIM has been spreading rumors about Shepard being alive and with Cerberus that the VS is fully aware of by the time Shepard's boots hit Horizon. if you accept the comics as canon, then TIM's actually been seeding those rumors since before Shepard even woke up on the operating table. (see this panel in which one of TIM's Citadel operatives gets caught pre-ME2 trying to steal classified info about Shepard. TIM is pointedly not too bothered about it.) when you talk to Anderson and the Council at the Citadel, they both already know you're with Cerberus. how? you certainly didn't tell them. it was TIM, and he confirms this himself as well after Horizon. (Joker also says "[Horizon] was probably a set-up" if you talk to him after the mission.)

so the VS hears these rumors pre-Horizon. Kaidan says he asked about Shepard, and Anderson stonewalled him. by the time they're posted on Horizon, Kaidan/Ash have been hearing "Shepard's with Cerberus" for weeks, possibly months. if you’re the VS, you probably don’t want to believe someone you trusted to lead you into hell, maybe even trusted enough to break fraternization regulations with, would 1) lie to you about being dead, and 2) work with a terrorist organization. but then they get there and find out not only are they fucking alive and didn't contact you (not knowing they COULDN'T contact you because THEY were also stonewalled by Anderson); not only that, they're now trying to recruit you to said terrorist organization. they’d be questioning everything they thought they knew about their old CO.

the VS meeting Shep on Horizon after Shep saves the colony is not a "holy shit, you're alive!" moment like it was for Garrus's rescue. it's a "fuck, you're alive, and you have a Cerberus crew with you just like I hoped you wouldn't" moment. a "the rumors were true, I just didn't want to believe them because that means you're either a traitor or compromised" moment.

imagine after Anderson dies at the end of ME3, he suddenly shows up in ME5 going “Hey Shepard I’m back, also come join my team in my mysterious quest, let’s talk it out together in this private room over here and you’ll see my reasoning.” do you think I’m an idiot, Leviathan? we-as-Shepard saw Anderson die ourselves—like the VS was on the SR-1 when it crashed. the player would be 100% in the right to think the real Anderson was dead and this was a mangled copy of his corpse the Leviathan or some new fucking thing was puppeting from afar.

for Garrus, who was just told "Shepard's dead" after the fact but didn't see the crash, Shepard being alive is an unexpected miracle he doesn't want to think twice about. (Garrus was drowning on Omega, but Shepard arose from the dead just to save his life; Shepard knows what to do; Shepard can save him from his fuck-ups. Garrus is finally free from the burden of being a poor leader and can fall back on following someone else; everything is right again in his world if Shepard's at the helm.)

but for the VS, some small part of them may even be hoping the rumors aren't true, that Shepard's NOT alive, because if they are, it means Shep lied to them, or isn't who they thought they were.

then, for the VS to be told on Horizon “you’re overreacting, of course working with Cerberus is the only logical conclusion here!” honestly? sounds like radicalization.

“I was dead for two years!” = of course you were, that was Cerberus brainwashing time, baby. Shepard, how do you really know what happened those two years? was it really just "reconstruction"? maybe the real Shepard IS dead. (especially after the Citadel DLC confirms Cerberus did make a Shepard clone, we know the VS actually has a point.)

“fine, but then why doesn’t Shepard just explain stuff better?” this is less into characterization (because Shep is a player character and people can headcanon their Shep's rhetorical skills differently) and imo gets more into what the narrative is telling us. I see this criticism of Bioware's writing on Horizon (and I can't believe I'm defending Bioware writing) but I personally like that the player isn’t given decent, successful counterarguments in this situation. because let’s face it, the VS’s concerns are valid, and nothing Shepard can say or do on Horizon really can placate any of them. sometimes you just get outplayed; sometimes fights or arguments are just unwinnable even when people are trying their best.

would a persuasion check have helped? maybe, but that's not the point. it goes against our RPG brain where we're often wired to think every path is open to us with the right attitude or enough red/blue points. the Horizon reunion is two hurt people who are upset at each other, not realizing/acknowledging they've been put in an inconsolable scenario. they're both victims of stonewalling, one by Anderson and another by TIM. the Horizon convo was never going to be a “victory: squadmate acquired” scene because the deck was stacked against Shepard + the VS before they both even set foot on the colony. Shepard never got a chance to control their return narrative: Cerberus controls their team, their ship, who knows what, who they recruit, and when. TIM also knew that the VS was stationed on Horizon, as he confirms in the post-mission talk. the VS reunion was always going to be a car crash. and that works out great for TIM—Shepard is cut off from former Alliance allies, painting Cerberus as their only path forward to beating the Collectors.

but even if, for RPG purposes, Shepard had been able to reach out to the VS first… it’s still completely valid of them to question the situation lol. Liara had a hand in it so she ofc she wasn’t surprised at the return; Wrex adopts a typical krogan attitude of “you’re not dead? well that’s weird, but I’m a thousand years old, I’ve seen weirder.” there’s a reason Garrus accepts Shepard returning so readily and Tali/Ash/Kaidan take time: they’ve got healthier coping mechanisms and better support systems. Garrus cut himself off from his friends and family and is living out a Spectre fantasy on Omega. they others have moved on; Garrus hasn’t. he’s desperate for Shepard to come back, and why wouldn’t he be? Shepard was there when he felt like a hero for the first time in his life. if Shepard's back, he can be a hero again. but for the VS, Shepard returning means something is awfully, awfully wrong.

[damascenery]

hi there! 👋 my name's cozy, and this blog of mine started as a dialogue dump and evolved into a bookblr, writeblr, post-graduation studyblr of sorts. basically, it's just a place for me to be a nerd about the things i love to learn about, which is everything, so really you never quite know what you're gonna get. it's an adventure for both of us 🧡

what do you read?

mostly fantasy, but i do hope to expand my horizons a lot! in terms of fiction, i want to get more into mystery (cozy and traditional), horror, historical fiction, political thrillers, romance, and middle grade lit. in terms of nonfiction, i really like learning about anything, so the sky's the limit! i'm a biologist, so definitely anything within that realm, but i also enjoy math and tech and other sciences (from a much more layman perspective though lol). i also really want to study more history, especially in west asia bc that's where i'm from and i want to learn more about my heritage! also poetry, philosophy, psychology, politics, sociology/social justice, linguistics, and a smidgen of theology (exposure therapy for the religious trauma). so! a super wide range. i especially try to prioritize diversifying my reading, so i'm always open to book recs!

what do you write?

i write pretty sporadically, but i primarily am writing fanfics right now. i dabble in whatever interests me, but the large projects i have gathering dust brewing right now are for the elder scrolls and for a crossover hilda/gravity falls fic (i have quite the range). i do hope to eventually get back into original writing, and i've got more plot bunnies than i can count, but most of them revolve around arabian mythology and west asian historical fiction/magical realism. most of my writing (fic and original alike) has themes of racial and ethnic oppression, solidarity in the face of hardship, grey morality, the importance of hope, good old fashioned power of friendship, and general anti-nihilist, anti-colonial, anti-doomer shit. also lots of romance and found family, because i'm galaxy brained like that.

i might also occasionally write essays or things compiling some info on a topic of interest if the adhd hyperfocus mode makes me go insanely deep in a rabbit hole.

currently reading

emily wilde's encyclopedia of faeries by heather fawcette

flamefall by rosaria munda

how to read now by elaine castillo

fresh banana leaves: healing indigenous lands through indigenous science by dr. jessica hernanzdez

the 100 years war on palestine by rashid khalidi

[therealdeathoracle]

Hi Death!

I have biology finals coming up and a major topic is…*drumrolls* evolution!! Here’s your chance to infodump me with everything you know about evolution, if you’d like to :)

OMG OK YES ILL INFO DUMP

I’ve studied eyes a lot so I’m gonna start there: pupils fascinate me a lot because of how heavily they impact our vision. Human's have rounded pupils, that we all know, but it allows us as a general predatory species to see pretty far into the distance in daylight. Other animals that have pupils like us, such as wolves, are top predators in their habitats so they don't need to worry about being hunted, so the lack of night vision and not having a wide field of view isn't something that would negatively affect them, at least not severely. Then there's vertically slit pupils that are common in cats and venomous snakes. These pupils expand to become circular in bright light, it's because of this that those animals are fantastic ambush predators. The ability to change the shape of their pupil allows them to see in a wide range of light even in the dark. And then of course there's horizontal pupils which are almost always found in animals that graze and have their eyes on the sides of their heads. The shape of that pupil allows for the ground to remain in very sharp focus while having an incredibly wide field of view. They're perfect for prey animals to keep an eye out for predators on the horizon and escape with ease should there be one. Now there's a lot of fascinating pupil's I've learned exist outside of those three commonly known ones. For example many fish have crescent or W shaped pupils. These allow for light to be absorbed in various parts of the eye rather than just in one. That allows them to see with a lot of contrast while negating the distortion that is naturally caused by the reflection of light in water. Or there's horizontally slit pupils which are found in prey-like amphibians such as frogs and toads. Just like with vertically slit pupils they expand to allow for more light to be taken in throughout the day and night while they forage, but because they are horizontal they allow the animals to easily spot vertical motion above them so they can evade predators attacking from above. And then there's vertical beaded pupils which frustrate me so much because I haven't been able to find much of anything about them. These can be found in some geckos, they look just like a normal vertical slit pupil but they have these bumps up and down it that create this beaded look to them. Those bumps are supposed to aid in perceiving distance and aid in adapting to hunting in a variety of environments.

Irises are also really interesting, although I haven't done a lot of research on them, so I only know with humans and not much else, if it even is different among other animals. The color, while hereditary, are determined by its ability to reflect light. So the lighter the color is, the more light gets reflected and vise versa. However, melanin is the pigment that decides how much of that light gets reflected, but melanin is brown so how do we have a variety of colors that aren't brown? Once again that is melanin! Despite being a brown pigment it can create colors that are even as light as blue in eyes, this is because of how the light gets reflected. Less melanin in your eyes causes your iris to be seen as blue, while more can cause it to be green, and a large amount turns it brown. Albinism has an interesting affect on it because it leaves you with a complete lack of melanin, most people with albinism have blue eyes because they still produce a very small amount of melanin. There's even a chance at being albino but still producing enough melanin to create hazel, green, or brown eyes. However if there is a complete lack of melanin then the iris will be viewed as red because of the light reflecting off blood vessels in the eye, and in incredibly rare cases if an albino person produces melanin in their eyes but not enough to turn it blue they can combine it with the reflection of their blood vessels and cause them to have very light purple eyes

I was going to add more but I feel like I've already written a lot here so if you'd like me to share about some other stuff then let me know, I hope this all made sense though!

[villanize]

a repost / rehash of an old ramble-y info dump i did for misha on his old blog. it's something i reaaallly love since it has a lot of in-depth talks of his character so i wanted to save it here and expand more on it.

details about:

sixth generation heir to the roche family; a well known family of mages that specialize in electricity magic. youngest sibling out of 6 total. 

born & raised with the intent of being the heir. forced to train as a mage since youth but eventually became obsessed with the desire of obtaining this power. more or less, he’s finally accepted this as what he wants to himself rather than what’s expected.

hated the idea of living by his family ideals over his own but he quietly sucked it up and kept quiet about this until after the moment he became the heir.

studied hard, trained hard and as a result was very spoiled which influenced a lot of how he is now.

lives by a very ‘for myself’ kind of mentality, trust in people is very low, even his family.

and onto the ramble-y portions:

misha is someone who sets these impressively large goals for himself. he’s always seeking to expand his horizon and push his limits because he strongly feels he is capable of doing it but when it comes to the time let’s say he finally does this.

he would celebrate it for a whole two minutes before going “well now that i did it, i need something new”

to him it’s all about the journey and that’s where he has the most fun with his duties but when he finally reaches that point of achieving something he panics. he wants these things with his whole being but when it happens it’s like hah?

i think it’s a lot of how he was raised too. a very ruthless environment. he has a really rough family in that he can’t view any of them as such. i’ve always imagined they were all raised to go against each other.

at some point they stopped being his siblings and more someone who might get in the way of him obtaining what he wants the most. and this isn’t just one-sided on his part, i feel to some extent they also are the same.

a younger misha finally gets a hold of producing electricity, ecstatic and he goes to share but all he gets is ‘okay, you’ve done it so what? is that all you got?’ sort of vibe i feel like.

and this mentality is what clung as he’s grown. perhaps it’s kinda gotten worse to where he’s always forcing himself to do new things so he has a vast majority of skills and abilites under his belt. but the moment he hits a wall, there’s no denying he’s gonna fall into this despair because he sees it like… if i can’t continue to advance i really have no use.

which is even funnier because misha is someone who absolutely loathes self doubt because he’s very confident in himself. so its like how can i actually be this weak?????? then stfu i'm not weak at all i can do great things back to but i need to do even more greater…..

i'm not sure how he’ll develop out of this thinking but it’s such a large staple to his character.

he always wants more. he is never happy long term with anything. he does have some people in his life who i feel is able to influence him into like feeling good about what he does but also that’s just the part of him that’s weak for compliments and hearing the verbal of confirmation of yeah ur amazing

it amplifies his ego and makes want to go even further to hear those same words again!!

[guardian-of-local-forest]

Hi everyone :]

I'd like to make some online friends cuz i need friends sm TwT . I'm an online extrovert lol.

I guess I will list some stuff about me and PLEASE if you find me interesting, dm me and let's be mutuals :]

Name: you can call me Nat, but i'd love to give nicknames to each other

Gender: non-binary

Sexuality: pansexual

Pronouns: they/he/she

Age: 19

Birthday: 3.11.

MBTI: INFP

Enneagram: 4w5

Location: Europe

Hobbies: journaling, reading books, birdwatching, writing, listening to music, learning new things, going out to forest, thrifting hhh, playing Minecraft

Favourite stuff:

Animal: birds, dogs, snakes, cats

Colour: blue, green

Season: autumn

Aesthetic: dark academia, goblincore

Planet: Jupiter

Star: Sirius

Movie: Dead Poet's Society

Series: Loki, The Mandalorian, The Ancient Magus' Bride

Bands: Twenty One Pilots, Palaye Royale, Black Veil Brides, IDK HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME, Bring Me The Horizon, Waterparks, My Chemical Romance

Flower: poppies

School subject: literature, biology

Some more, random, stuff I like:

rain, storms, stars, wind, mountains, fast rivers, dried leaves&flowers, moss, trees, forests

coats, hoodies, flannels, sweaters, baggy clothes

plushies, little toys, dies, crystals, buttons, shiny trinkets, feathers

old books, poems, tea, annotations, writing letters, candles

10 facts about me:

I have a dog named Ariel

I've never broken a bone

Next school year I'm gonna leave for university, hopefully in another country!

I want to love women the way women do and love men the way men do, you get me, right?

I have lots of interests/hobbies, but occasionally drop them and forget about it. Then pick them up again and hyperfixate on it for like 3 days.

I have 3 siblings

I have 4 dog plushies

I can easily identify any bird even when it just flies by

Mobius is my comfort character rn

Last summer, I bought more than 10 books

Well, that could be my introduction :]

Please, DON'T message me if you're planning to be weird or hateful.

DO message me if you want to share stuff with me, do info dumps, maybe vc someday, vent to each other and just be online besties :]

Just dm me and we can exchange our discord nicknames, I'd prefer to chat in there ^^

[ofweirdestship]

New Horizons!

Hi, I’m Rage and I deadass went on a nine-day trip to see my best friend & writing partner in person on June 2nd. So I JUST got to watch both of the currently released episodes of New Horizons just now.

I’m not gonna pretend to be spoiler-free, unfortunately that just won’t work if I’m going to get things started over here again, but for the courtesy of this post I’ll be putting the info regarding it below the cut.

While this post will not be pinned, I will reblog with updates with each released episode. This blog IS canon-divergent from the point right before Identity pts 1 & 2 in season 2, however I’m going to see what I can/will retain of the story within my own canon. I will be posting a refresher course on my canon-divergent story as an accompanying post to this one.

Electric Sheep: This one’s a keep, with changes. Contending for the canon, this takes place in the Star Trek/Federation universe, thus features some of the Starfleet crew featured on my main blog, @starbcrn-kids. I am retconning Gordon being “uncomfortable” with Isaac due to this-- because of the circumstances the Orville crew has been through with him in my particular canon, even considering his initial betrayal, NO ONE who was on the Orville crew prior to Identity would EVER doubt Isaac if he did come back around and help them. They’d feel the pain of it, but they would trust him again. HOWEVER, I will be keeping Marcus’ response, and this timeline of events does properly intersect with Charly Burke joining the crew when she does (speaking of, this post will also act as her tag dump, don’t mind me). I don’t intend to change any part of Charly’s story or character as seen thus far. I like her so far even if I don’t agree with her and I’m interested to see where she goes.

Shadow Realms: Ew. But, keep. I don’t see much I’d have to do to adapt this one into my timeline tbh. Besides actually placing it, anyways.

Mortality Paradox: HOLY SHIT Y E S. Keep, just a matter of where I put it.

Gently Falling Rain: Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. OH MY GOD??? OH MY GOD!! OH! MY! GOD! Okay. Okay. I’m okay. OHMYGOD. Okay. This one I will be keeping BUT I’m not sure how. Because of the timeline of my canon, this takes place in my Trekverse, with my Trek muses, and the reality of the situation is that there’s no way in hell that would have gone down like that in my canon, which I don’t like, but I acknowledge nonetheless. I have no idea what’s going to happen or what’s going on. What I know for sure is I will have to WRITE this story OUT within my canon to figure out what went down. It’s the only way to place it correctly in my story. Stay tuned, I guess?

A Tale of Two Topas: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. Ahem. Keep! No changes, just fit it in where I can. No change is necessary, this episode was perfect.

Twice in a Lifetime: As emotionally moving as this episode was? Discard. None of what happened is necessary as literally the only character/relationship development that happened (Gordon’s, Talla/John, and Isaac & Charly) either unhappened (Gordon) or could be inserted anywhere for the same effect. And frankly, in a show canon sense and as a viewer, while I personally LOVED that we circled back to Gordon falling in love with a girl from 2015, and showed that what could have been, I hate how Gordon becomes regarding her. I absolutely cannot stand what he is with her. I choose not to perceive the circling back beyond the show-canon narrative, and since I’m canon-divergent, I’m disregarding the episode itself and re-inserting major developments that didn’t disappear elsewhere in my own canon.

From Unknown Graves: I AM A FUCKING MESS. I HAVE BEEN COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY FUCKING EMOTIONALLY DESTROYED AND I DON’T KNOW IF I WILL EVER RECOVER. Keepn’t. I think this one, like Gently Falling Rain, will require a rewrite within my canon to figure out what’s going on. It shouldn’t need a ton of changes (the Janisi plot should remain completely untouched, for example) but some things will be going differently or may diverge from future plans (Isaac’s emotions. I can see they may revisit this and work this out on their own, but with my OC additions I may end up altering how that goes). UPDATE (07/21/2022): I have written the retelling of the ending of this episode within my canon.

Midnight Blue: Being totally honest with you, I couldn’t stomach watching this episode in full. I watched about 20 minutes of it in total-- watched the beginning up till Haveena asked Topa to help her with communicating with her smugglers, watched Haveena with Dolly, and then skipped to Gordon telling the Moclans OFF and watched the end. I physically couldn’t stomach it, but piecing together my understanding of what happened, I’ll be keeping this episode canon and glossing over talking about events I didn’t see.

Domino: WHAT JUST HAPPENED. NO, SERIOUSLY, WHAT. THE FUCK. JUST HAPPENED. I am-- I am emotionally destroyed, I can’t stop fucking crying, I don’t understand anything, I have been shattered. What the fuck? What the fuck was that!! Ohmygod. And I think the worst part is... this is a keep. I have to. I don’t know that I want to, but I have to. Just. Just don’t touch me right now. Thanks.

Future Unknown: Um, is this even a question?! Keep! Though it may require the tiniest bit of editing for my canon. As far as my reaction? ... I can’t fucking process this one, actually. I mean, in nearly every episode, I was able to compare something that happened to my actual rp shit. But this week’s was so wildly comparable I don’t even know how to put anything into WORDS. I loved EVERYTHING about this but I’m in shock. I’ll come back to this later.

[winged-sky-otaku100]

Sorry I just need to-

Agshdncjnfjf-

MSM 2017 oc times?? If that's alright with this tiny fandom-

Please click and/or press on it for better quality!

First of all hewo - it's @weirdotaku1000 / @winged-sky100

I tried making an art acc but that didn't work out too well so ig it's this one.

Second of all-

Hewo to the small msm 2017 fandom, I revamped an MCU oc for this cause why the heck not- :D

Am I a little nervous about posting this? Yes-

Am I gonna post this anyways? Also yes-

Without further ado, meet Nyx, my beloved [which is also partially part of an au thing too]:

NO NO NO NO NO WAIT I NEED TO EXPLAIN SOMETHING FIRST HOLD ON HOLD ON HOLD ON HOLD ON-

Because I am dumb and I know more about Greek Mythology rather than Norse Mythology, Nyx is - kinda like a reincarnation/ "Next Nyx" of the Greek Goddess Nyx- but like - her power stuff is also super nerfed + she needs to learn how to use them so y e ah- stuff happened when she was a baby and more will be explained later bc I don't want this to be too long but she ended up on Asgard + was adopted by Odin because I'm unoriginal and this is, again, a revamp on my old MCU OC so y e e-

NOW it's time for the info dump:

She lives with Tony Stark due to the request of Thor - Thor trusts him enough to take care of Nyx.

Instead of Frigga dying because of the Elves when she was 12 in the MCU, Frigga's death was more recent, along with Loki's fake death [but bc this is a different universe Loki is good and he didn't attack Earth bc I said so, and also bc I haven't heard of Loki being bad on Earth-17628 yet]

Nyx's fear response is freeze bc that's what happened when Frigga was killed, she was hiding and she saw it happen.

She can control the fear freeze she instinctively does but only up to a certain point.

She hates questions about what happened with her staying on Asgard.

She does answer questions about Loki and Thor though bc she has some tea on the both of them- 👁🍵👁

She gets into Horizon High right after the Stark Expo - she was there and she met Peter, Miles, Anya, Gwen, Flash and Harry that way. Stark was also at the Stark Expo to check out some schools to see which one would be good for Nyx to go to bc she grew a liking to robotics when she was recovering from everything at Stark's place.

Nyx is very curious about everything and pretty quiet/nervous around new people.

When she gets excited about something she will ramble about it.

She is allergic to most make-up. She asked Gwen to do hers for a dance once and when she got there it was itchy and it felt weird so she asked both her and Anya to help her get it off - she had red blotches on her face so never again for rn-

She is Asexual Demi-Panromantic - she found that out while hanging out at that one smoothie place with Harry and Pete one day.

After she gets used to everyone/friends with the main group she gives a lot of hugs-

She's still trying to find out more about her powers n stuff bc she's the Greek Goddess/next personification of the night in Greek Mythology.

Apparently in Greek Mythology she has prophetic powers so I'm just reducing it to a Heimdall sight + spidey sense kind of thingy-

Also I'm nerfing most powers too bc in Greek Mythology Nyx is more powerful than Zeus-

I'm keeping the "Zeus fears Nyx" part though-

She calls Miles, Peter, and Harry her best guy friends, and she calls Anya and Gwen her best girl friends.

She's still new to Earth + she isn't used to the atmosphere so for the first few months [maybe even the first year] being on Earth she gets sick often

She already knew about Peter being Spiderman before he told her. Living with Tony Stark has it's perks

Coffee Coffee Coffee Coffee Coffee Coffee C-

Norman Osborn gives her bad vibes and she doesn't shut up about it at Tony's place whenever he's brought up

"Everyone here is a t r e e-"

Discovered Tumblr memes once- her humor was never the same again

She asks Harry and Peter for help a lot because she trusts them the most with stuff-

Plans to visit Athens one day

Aunt May became a new mother/aunt figure at some point-

And Tony Stark a new father figure

And that's all I'm willing to share rn-

Also also also-

Drawing that picture and trying to sorta copy the shows style was pain-

33 hours and 42 minutes on IbispaintX [breaks and lack of motivation/burn out time not included]. AGSNDNFJFNFJ-

Pain-

But also fun-

But p a i n-

Anyways I hope yall are good with this- agsjdnfh-

I'm gonna try and post more later so things are less confusing for her character. If I remember to, that is- and if I don't procrastinate/get burned out/lose motivation-

Anyways I hope yall are having a good day/night- uvu

• Ray / Sky •

[drabbles-of-writing]

Society au is just so INTERESTING, it just draws me in! idk why i am just captivated and i cant get enough, can you info dump us please i need more info

I’m glad some people like this au sm!! its a personal favorite of mine ngl

Luz has found that, often, between each town theres often just...nothing. just rolling hills, mud, maybe a small dirty stream or two, and telephone poles (half of which lost the wires connected to them long ago). the most foliage she ever sees is in the clump of forest by Bonesborough and around labs, whether or not they’re abandoned. and the cornfield but we dont count that bc Luz is pretty sure the only thing keeping that corn going is sheer demonic spite. this means that typically, unless you learn to keep low and avoid bright flashy colors, everything is very easy to spot on the horizon. Luz and her friends have spent so long out there they’ve learned to move close to the ground and can hit the dirt in a millisecond if needed. they’re both unnerved but also thrilled whenever they stand out in the open with nothing to hide them. bc on one hand, oh god, anyone could see them. but on the other hand, if they’re purposefully standing out in the open, chances are there really isn’t anything dangerous nearby for a LONG while. and its fun to do things you normally don’t have the comfort to be able to.

Luz, Eda and King like to explore the abandoned towns around the Boiling Isles. not the farms or the watchtowers, but actual ghost towns, often ones that had bigger buildings than Bonesborough. running across buildings and slipping into alleyways to see what they can scrounge up. usually its junk, but Luz likes exploring and seeing what the towns used to be like. finding toys, trinkets, furniture, and the like that Eda steals (”not like the owners are gonna want this back wherever they are”, as Eda would say) anything she mildly likes. Luz notes that most of the towns look like they were never disturbed. like these people were all going about their lives and then suddenly vanished in the middle of the day. Luz wonders what happened to those towns. she also wonders what happened to the towns that look like they were ransacked and turned upside down, just short of the buildings being burned to a crisp in a riot. but sometimes she’ll find a pet that managed to survive and fix them up before setting them loose around Bonesborough. sometimes her neighbors will take in the pets they find, and Luz supposes at least something could be salvaged.

Gus keeps a handheld recorder and has Logs and Entries on his days in Bonesborough and working with his friends to stop the scientists, which he later uploads to his computer. Willow complains and says its dangerous to log stuff like this, since someone could find his recorder and figure out everything. to quell this, Gus always hides his computer in a new spot in his room and never takes it with him on missions, as well as putting a self-destruct device in it, should he find that anyone stole it. he and Amity later bond over having log entries, since Amity has her diary that became a journal of all she does. theres no self-destruct in the journal, but Amity also hides it in a new spot all over the lab all the time and has come to terms with the fact that someday she might have to burn it. but for now, she and Gus bond abt it and Luz is v proud of her friend & frenemy(?) getting along.

in an old abandoned lab theres one of those really slow elevators thats completely made of chain-link with a chain-link guard around it. Willow and Gus use it like Normal people but Luz is overly dramatic for no reason whatsoever so the first time her friends were poking around the lift, she decided to grab onto the chain-link guard and climb up it to the second floor like a feral squirrel. and then refused to look Willow in the eye when they figured out it was an elevator. Luz has now made it her mission that, every time they visit that lab, to scale up the chain-link like the bastard she is bc shes stubborn and thinks it looks cool. she did it to show off to Amity once and Amity is Very ashamed to admit it lowkey kinda worked

[eb0y-gumi]

I decided to draw my Animal Crossing New Horizons residents as if they all lived in some weird college town together. I gave them backstory and the personality I feel like ACNH kinda dumbed down and took away.

As much as I want to info-dump about the stories I’ve given them, I’m sure no one wants to read it, so I’m just gonna leave it at that. ^_^

[mobius-prime]

34. Special - Sonic & Knuckles

Previous / Table of Contents / Next

Is everyone ready for the Kenders-est issue yet? Not only did he have a hand in writing every story in this special, but he did the pencils for one of the stories for the first time. He's back to writing about his favorite character in the universe, Knuckles, and for the first time we're gonna be getting some backstory for him.

The issue begins with another intro page, characteristic of Penders-headed stories, which gives us a little more info on this canon's version of the Floating Island (not yet referred to as Angel Island). As mentioned before, the island is held aloft not by the Master Emerald but by a Chaos Emerald. The island is mentioned to be one of the very last places on Mobius to be untouched by the war raging below on the surface. The page also mentions that Knuckles' role as the island's guardian is passed down from generation to generation, a claim that I don't recall any other canons ever making (the games just refer to him as having this role with no knowledge of how he ended up with it), a detail which will be expanded upon later on, thanks to Kenders' neverending obsession with the echidnas.

Panic in the Sky!

Writers: Mike Kanterovich and Ken Penders Pencils: Art Mawhinney and Dave Manak Colors: Barry Grossman

The Floating Island, which apparently has always floated somewhere on the other side of the ocean, has started flying wildly off course, terrifying local Mobians and alerting the Freedom Fighters. No one has apparently ever heard of this thing before, but it's headed for Knothole, and considering all other massive things that head for Knothole tend to be deadly, that's not a good sign.

Of course, Sonic and Tails recognize this thing from their excursion onto it not that long ago, and fill everyone in, though why they didn't tell everyone all about their adventure and entanglement with Knuckles before now is beyond me (well, I know logically why - they needed an excuse to recap for the readers). Sonic and Tails decide to fly in to investigate, and thus we have our first showcase of Antoine being an accomplished pilot, which essentially makes half the entire cast pilots at this point. Also, the Floating Island has machine guns now!

Antoine flies them above the horizon line and out of danger, and they airdrop in only to immediately be attacked by several different bots, which the story is very unclear on whether they are from Robotnik or like, automated defense systems for the island or something. Sonic ends up going tumbling off a cliff, only for Knuckles to make his appearance and immediately try to murder him by stepping on his hand. What the hell, Knuckles?

Luckily, Tails is there to distract him, and after some brief fighting, Sonic is able to stop Knuckles from swinging his fists long enough to point out that the island has flown wildly off course, and that Knuckles is basically being a giant reactionary idiot. Seriously, Knuckles, how the hell did you somehow not notice your entire island being retrofitted into a giant fortress despite being its guardian? Talk about not doing your job.

Knuckles leads Sonic and Tails to the Chaos Chamber, where the Chaos Emerald sits. Interestingly, unlike the games where the Master Emerald need merely sit on the island to magically provide the lift to make it float, in the comics the Chaos Emerald actually provides literal power to a system that allows the island to defy gravity. However, an energy siphon has been installed to draw power towards Robotnik's guns and engines instead, so he can use the island as a method of obliterating Knothole. Again, despite being the island's guardian, Knuckles somehow noticed none of this. Robotnik's face appears and explains his plan to them over a screen, and then he makes an absolutely incredible facial expression on a backdrop of the ashes of civilization.

He doesn't even look like he's evilly laughing, he looks like he's taking an extremely painful dump or something. What the hell happened here, pencillers?

Anyway, Knuckles, ashamed by his failure, takes the emerald and shatters it, removing both Robotnik's power source and the source of the power keeping the island afloat. Robotnik chooses to abort rather than fall with it, thinking that he may still win the day after all.

I have to halt everything for a moment to discuss his claim right here, that the island is eight miles high. Now perhaps this is just a reference to the song Eight Miles High (I wasn't aware of it before now, but it popped up a lot while I was Googling information for this), but let's take him at his word and assume that the Floating Island really does hover at an altitude of eight miles (that's about thirteen kilometers for my non-American readers). That's approximately 42,000 feet in the air, which is the absolute maximum limit for modern commercial aircraft before the engines are no longer able to maintain lift. At that altitude, our planet's atmosphere is far too thin to breathe, and most people will suffer from hypoxia within seconds, and probably suffocate within a few minutes at most (for reference, Mt. Everest's peak is 29,000 feet above sea level, and even trained and prepared mountain climbers have to bring bottled oxygen and are at great risk of hypoxia and death at that kind of altitude). Now if we assume that Mobians have similar oxygen requirements to humans, and that Mobius' atmospheric conditions are similar to Earth's (two assumptions that are reasonable to make as later issues will reveal), absolutely no life should even exist on the Floating Island at all. Sonic and Tails would have suffocated within seconds of ever setting foot on it, and Knuckles wouldn't even be alive to watch them die, let alone attack them.

But whatever, it's a comic. We are dealing with a world where portals to alternate universes open and close on the regular, after all. Knuckles, once he's sure that Robotnik is gone, pulls out… another Chaos Emerald! Turns out he simply made a switch with a fake to fool Robotnik and then destroyed the fake, and thus replaces the real, unharmed emerald to halt the island's descent. Another quick bit of math - if we assume that the island's terminal velocity takes a little longer to reach than a human's (I have no idea how to calculate how fast something of that much mass would be able to fall, so I'm working on a lot of assumptions here) then we can say it would probably have taken nearly three and a half minutes to crash to earth had it been allowed to fall, yet the next panel shows it halting at what seems like a mere few hundred feet above the village - again, probably just for the dramatic effect, but I find it amusing that Knuckles might have waited almost three minutes playing chicken with Robotnik until he bailed, before replacing the real emerald.

With the day saved, Knuckles rejects Sonic's offer to join the Freedom Fighters, because he needs to pretend to be a lone wolf for a little while longer. Sonic and Tails return to tell the others what happened, and wonder what Knuckles will do in the future…

Fire Drill

Writer/Pencils: Ken Penders Colors: Freddy Mendez

…luckily, we don't need to wait long to find out, because every story in this issue is about Knuckles! This is the first story penciled by Penders himself, which is noteworthy, especially as he becomes a more frequent artist in later issues. Also to note is that Barry Grossman no longer has a monopoly on the coloring - we finally have someone new for the first time since the third freaking issue! Welcome to the party, Freddy!

While there's not a lot of plot to this story, it does contain some interesting tidbits. Knuckles is chilling on his island as normal, when a loud explosion startles him. He traces the explosion from the beach and follows footprints into the Sandopolis Zone ruins, believing the troublemaker to be Sonic and ready to throw hands once more. He faces several traps within the ruins, such as falling rocks, a tripwire-activated axe, and a sand trap, but things don't really get interesting until these few panels:

He mentions family for the first time - a father - which not even the games hint at. The way he speaks, we can assume his father hasn't been around for some time. However, this seems to follow what the intro page said about this duty being passed on between generations - clearly, his father was a guardian before him, but for whatever reason, he and the rest of the echidnas have disappeared…

Anyway, after facing a few more traps and trials, Knuckles emerges from the ruins to find that the footprints seem to lead off the edge of the island, and assumes that Sonic has had his fun and vacated the island. However, we the readers can see that that's not the case - a mysterious silhouette is the real troublemaker, and apparently, they were the one testing Knuckles… but why?

Lord of the Floating Island

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Harvey Mercadoocasio Colors: Freddy Mendez

This is really just a plot meant to establish what exactly Knuckles tends to do on an average day on his island. Knuckles is flying around - because he can just do that in the comics, I know he can usually glide in other media but he just straight up flies here - when the wind buffets him around and he spots a young kangaroo hopping around in fear. Unlike in other canons, the Floating Island is actually quite populated - Knuckles isn't alone there but acts as guardian of not only the Chaos Emerald, but all the island's Mobian inhabitants. He swoops down to pick the kangaroo up to protect it, and while they wait out the storm they spot what's causing it - a solar eclipse, because that's how eclipses work.

Interestingly, Knuckles refers to "the moon" rather than "one of the moons." I can't remember at this point whether Mobius having one hundred moons was retconned in later issues, but either this issue acts as the retcon, or else Knuckles is merely referring to only one moon that regularly causes the eclipse or something. In addition, we get to see the first appearance of the dingoes, which become regulars in later issues but for now are treated like some kind of mindless stampeding mob, despite them clearly being Mobians as well with shoes and gloves.

Anyway, in the end, the eclipse ends, the winds die down, and the kangaroo's mother finds him again, thanking Knuckles for his role as guardian. It really kind of acts like he's a one-man police force for the entire island, which I suppose isn't entirely inaccurate for this canon.

[minijenn]

Keys to the Kingdom FAQ

Because ya’ll are curious and because I figured why not drop a big info dump on ya’ll about my upcoming KH fic since we’re all collectively excited about it. So yeah, here’s a whole bunch of information about it in the form of an FAQ, cause FAQs are fun and because its probably the easiest and quickest way for me to hand this information out. So here ya go, its all under the cut for ya to feast your eyes on and enjoy: 

What is Keys to the Kingdom?

Basically put, Keys is something of an AU of Kingdom Hearts 3, sort of a “what if” story in several ways, keeping the best of what I liked of 3 (and believe me, I liked a LOT of it) while changing certain parts to fit my own original plot (that I came up with before 3 even came out tbh) and scrapping other parts of it entirely (aka the parts I wasn’t too crazy about). I’m not really writing it as a fix-it-fic as much as I’m just sorta writing it for fun :) 

What is the plot of Keys to the Kingdom? 

Without spoiling things, Keys is set in place of 3. Its all kicked off after the end of DDD, only instead of merely being tasked with unlocking the power of waking, Sora, Donald, and Goofy also set out across the Disney worlds to find thirteen special Keys.While the X-Blade is the Keyblade that summons Kingdom Hearts, its said that whoever possesses all thirteen of these Keys will gain absolute control over the Kingdom itself. With the clash between the thirteen Seekers of Darkness and the seven Guardians of Light on the horizon, Sora, Riku, Kairi, and all the others work to secure these Keys, and Kingdom Hearts itself, from falling into Xehanort’s hands while also looking to save the lost Keyblade wielders: Aqua, Terra, and Ventus. Along the way a bunch of other things happen, from Sora looking for a way to help Roxas gain his own body (while eventually learning about Xion and looking for a way to help her too), Maleficent and Pete devising a new plan to conquer all the worlds, Vanitas more or less acting on his own to join with Ventus to create the X-Blade for his own purposes instead of Xehanort’s, Lea and Kairi training to wield their Keyblades while also looking for a way to help Namine, and, perhaps most worrying of all, Sora struggling against a darkness everyone had thought he had been successfully rescued from... ;) 

Who’s going to show up in Keys?

Golly, just about every KH character there is really. But if ya want a specific list, here ya go (note that this doesn’t include Disney world specific characters, tbh those are fair game) Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, Mickey, Aqua, Terra, Ventus, Roxas, Xion, Axel, Xehanort, Namine, Yen Sid, Vanitas, Maleficent, Ansem, Xemnas, Pete, Young Xehanort, Repliku, Dark Riku, Xigbar, Saix, Larxene, Marluxia, Vexen, Demyx, Luxord, Ienzo, Ansem the Wise, Eraqus, Hayner, Pence, Olette, Foretellers (Ava, Invi, Gula, Aced, Ira), Master of Masters, Merlin, Chirithy, and probably more idk we’ll see 

What Disney worlds are going to show up in Keys?

Just to list them out by movie/show, here they all are (by order of appearance): Hercules, Toy Story, Up, Moana, Big Hero 6, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Tangled, Coco, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Princess and the Frog, Ducktales 2017 (sort of, its less of a world and more just characters from it showing up), Aladdin (specifically Aladdin and the King of Thieves), Gravity Falls, Lilo and Stitch (post movie), Frozen, and Winnie the Pooh. 

What ships are going to be in Keys?

Sora/Kairi, Roxas/Xion, Aqua/Terra, Namine/Vanitas, and some hints of Sora/Riku, Roxas/Namine, and Lea/Isa sprinkled in here and there. 

What is Keys going to be rated? 

Keys is gonna get a solid T rating, since its gonna go to some... pretty dark places later on in its run (namely it’ll involve blood, severe injury, psychological horror, possibly some swearing, and possible character deaths, I make no promises about anything) 

What is the tone of Keys going to be like?

Ya’ll know me and I how I love that sweet, sweet angst. So yeah, Keys is gonna be an angstfest, but that won’t be the only thing it’ll be. It’ll also involve all of the silly humor we all know and love KH for, as well as some tender moments of romance and whatnot, plenty of action, a ton of adventure, and like I said, some moments of genuine horror and perhaps even tragedy, tbh anything’s game here. 

Can I see a chapter list for Keys?

Yep, you can see that right here. 

Where is Keys going to be posted?

I’ll be posting chapters of it on Fanfic.net and Ao3 (and links to those chapters as well as the chapters themselves will be posted right here on my blog)

When will Keys be posted in the first place?

I plan on having the first two chapters posted sometime together sometime in March. 

Are you still going to write Universe Falls too?

Fuck yes, I am, there’s no way I’m digging myself out of the UF trench now. This is just a project to run in tandem with UF, just so I can give myself something extra to do for funsies. 

Are you going to draw art for Keys? Can I draw art for it too?

Ya better believe I’m gonna draw stuff for it and hell yes! I love getting art on my fics and I’d love to see either art or hell, even drabbles based on it if ya’ll wanna give that a try! It would be fun! :D 

*insert spoilery question here* 

SPOILAHS imo I ain’t here to give my entire plans away hahahah 

[intim3ate]

Wrapped in Fog | Reaper/Soldier: 76 [Overwatch]

This is the first time he's fought Soldier: 76 face-to-face.

...Isn't it?

My Secret Santa gift for the always wonderful Ashe! 

It’s also my first official R76, even though I really like the ship. Hm!

AO3 Link | Commission Info | Leave a Tip?

Reaper is cornered, backed against a wall. He stands mask-to-mask with Soldier: 76, shotguns scattered across the floor, yanked and torn from his hands as soon as he could summon them. The vigilante’s pulse rifle has long since been abandoned as well, and they fight now with nothing but their fists.

For every punch he throws, Soldier: 76 has one to match. It’s strange, fighting someone so evenly matched with him, when normally Reaper is able to dominate anyone who gets in his way. He is confident in himself, perhaps too much so, but that steady confidence at last wavers when Soldier: 76 nearly gets a hit on him.

It’s like the man can read him. It sets his teeth on edge.

Something about this is… familiar. Like he's done this before, like he's had this same fight with the same person, but he knows that can't be. This is the first time he's met Soldier: 76, isn't it? It's far from the first time the vigilante has caused problems for him and for Talon, but they've never met each other face-to-face like this.

...Have they?

He hesitates for a moment, unsure of himself, and that's all the opening Soldier: 76 needs to shove into Reaper and force him to the ground. The vigilante settles all his weight on top of Reaper, shoves a knee into his sternum, and pulls out his sidearm to press it to his jaw. In the half-second that Reaper still tries to comprehend what's going on, Soldier: 76 reaches down and tears the skull mask from his face to throw it aside.

"Yield," Soldier: 76 barks. "Or I'll shoot."

Reaper snarls. He grits his teeth and starts to dematerialize, to let himself turn to smoke and slip away, but something stops him.

There's something there. Something about this man, about the gruff way he speaks, like he's growling or barking out his words without meaning to. Like years of yelling  

 It was so hard to hear him over the gunfire and explosions, but Gabriel didn't really need to hear the words to know what the other man was trying to say when he felt a big, strong hand squeeze his own.

  had grated on his vocal cords.

"This isn't you," the man says. "I know it's not."

Reaper glares up at him. He sees the tendrils of smoke wafting up from his own body curl around the other man's mask. He reaches up for it, hooks his claws around the latches. "What do you know?"

He pulls. The mask comes free and Reaper drops it, letting it clatter to the ground. The sound echoes out and Reaper stills, goes cold - colder than usual. He looks up into the face of Soldier: 76 - the face of - of -

He doesn't know.

But there's something there. There's something prickling in the corners of his mind almost like recognition. Like he should know who this man is. Like he knows those eyes, boring down into his, searching for something. Maybe even the same something Reaper himself is searching for.

But it’s fog. Mist. Wrapping around his mind, licking at its corners like the smoke that swirls around and inside his body.

How fitting.

He reaches up and traces over one of the scars on the man's face, the clawed fingertip of his glove leaving no mark as it drags along its length. He wonders if he was the one to give this man those scars. He could have been. Easily.

 There's fire. An explosion. Rubble everywhere, but he can't go back to dig through it and save the lives of the people buried beneath. He can't go back for his friends. Can't go back for him. Can’t go back for Ja--

The man's eyes soften. He's in pain. Reaper doesn't care. He's too transfixed by the way Soldier: 76's eyes follow the movement of his hand. How stupid he looks, going cross-eyed just for a better look.

Reaper retracts his hand and watches. Waits. He doesn't understand why his heart is beating so fast. Why he feels warm all of a sudden, like the weight of Soldier: 76 pinning him in place is a comfort rather than a threat.

Maybe that's why he hasn't tried to get out from under him. Why he hasn't turned to smoke and wrapped himself around the man's neck

 "Gabe, careful. You're - mmm... gonna leave a mark."

 to strangle the life out of him.

It feels like hours that they stay there, completely still. Reaper searches the man's face, every wrinkle, every drawn line of it. There are answers in his eyes. On his lips.

Maybe that's why Reaper kisses him.

He leans up and kisses the vigilante, closing his eyes because for some reason, it just feels right (how can it feel right?). And it's like fire enveloping him, like electricity coursing through his veins, like a bucket of ice water being dumped over his head and soaking him through, all at once.

The smoke dissipates.

And he remembers.

 Gabriel ran back to the rendezvous point, grin spread wide over his face and heart thumping in his chest. He saw him, at last, nothing more than a shape on the horizon, and then suddenly there he was, running, and then he was there, gathering Gabriel up in his arms and kissing him like he thought he'd never see him again.

 He remembers.

 Rough fingers traced down the length of his chest while soft lips kissed and sucked at his neck. He buried a hand in short, just-cut blond hair and tugged at it, coaxing him on. "Get on with it already," Gabriel whined, a tinge of laughter dancing around the edge of his voice.

 He knows this man.

 Fingers clenched in the sheets beneath him. His brows knitted together and his eyes squeezed shut as a soft moan rose from his throat, strangled, as if he were trying to hold back. Gabriel leaned down and pressed a kiss between his bare shoulder blades. "It's okay, Jack. I've got you. I've always got you."

 Jack. Jack Morrison.

 Jack felt heavenly around him. Suitable, considering how angelic he sounded moaning and gasping as he twisted and writhed beneath Gabriel. It was almost a shame when he muffled himself by pulling his lover's lips down to meet his own.

 And he -

 They fell to the bed together, one on top of the other in a mess of sweaty skin and tangled limbs. Gabriel buried his nose in the crook of Jack’s neck and inhaled, letting himself get lost in the scent of the man he loved. He could hear Jack laugh.

“Gabe,” he said, quietly, a hand coming up to rub his back. There was a smile in his voice, and Gabriel thought he had never been happier than he was in that moment. “Gabe, I…”

 He is - was - is - Gabriel Reyes.

 "Akande tells me you ran into some trouble a few months back in Egypt."

Moira's drawl was as calm and smooth as ever. She sat at her desk reading over a file - his file - and gestured for him to sit on the chair across from her. "Something about sentimentality and old soldiers. I'm sure you can fill in the gaps."

She put the file down and smiled up at Gabriel, fake sweet to hide her excitement. Her fingers steepled and she leaned forward, too excited to restrain herself. "If you would like my assistance, I'm sure I can find a way to make sure that it doesn't happen again."

 And he hadn't had a choice.

 Moira plunged the syringe into his arm. Out of the corner of his eye, Gabriel caught Amelie - no, Widowmaker - watching as the anesthetic slowly began to course through his veins.

"There. In just a moment, you will be well on your way to forgetting."

He watched an impossible flicker of emotion - of horror - cross Widowmaker's face.

No, he corrected himself. Not Widowmaker's face.

Amelie's.

 He pulls away from Jack's lips slowly and opens his eyes. Jack's flutter open, too, and they stare at each other a moment. It’s a long moment, in which neither of them speaks, but they can hear the words in their heads - in their hearts - anyway.

Finally, Reaper - Gabriel - breaks the silence with a fragile whisper: "Jack."

And he swears Jack is about to cry. Jack hasn't cried in years. Maybe decades. Something about this, about the man he's loved more than half his life, about to cry with relief while holding a gun to his head, makes Gabriel laugh.

It's loud and uncontrollable, sounding foreign even to Gabriel. He hasn't laughed like this in years. Reaper does not laugh like this. His laughter is cold, forced, the product of a persona he has forced upon himself. But this - this is real, this is him, and for the first time in years, Gabriel feels like himself again.

And in spite of himself, Jack laughs too. He laughs, raucous and free, and it occurs to Gabriel that perhaps he hasn't been the only one acting his part for this long.

Eventually, they stop, and Jack slides off Gabriel's body to sit next to him. He reaches out, hesitant, to take his old lover's hand, and Gabriel meets him halfway.

“You know I’ll have to go back, right?”

“I know.”

Gabriel sighs and allows himself to lean to the side to rest his head on Jack’s shoulder. A hand comes up to rest on the crown of his head and just stays there, heavy and comforting. Smoke flickers around Jack’s hand, but does not try to touch it.

“I’ll be waiting for you.”

 Jack stood in the hangar, eyes roaming over the rows upon rows of caskets. Gabriel gave his hand one last squeeze before stepping away, off to Italy to seek justice for his fallen comrades.

“See you later, Jack.”

Gabriel didn’t look back. He didn’t need to. He didn’t want to see the worry etched in all the lines in Jack’s face as they said their goodbyes.

“I’ll be waiting for you.”

There is no doubt in Gabriel’s mind that when the time comes, when Talon finally falls, finally pays for all they have done, Jack will be by his side. But until that day comes, he must return to his cover. Until that day, he will carry with him the comfort of knowing Jack has forgiven him. That he's still here.

He will go back with a full heart and a renewed drive to end this war at last.

“See you later, Jack.”

And Gabriel will never allow himself to forget again.

[mc-dude]

home

The sky is overcast, when it finally happens.

He thought it would be clear– the sun would come out, clouds would part, birds start singin’, etc., etc.. Had envisioned that the weight would lift off of his chest and he could finally take a unhindered breath for the first time in seven years, imagined some kinda cosmic entity would descend from the sky and tell him rest now, gabriel. You’ve done enough.

But there’s only a light drizzling of rain and a pile of bird shit precariously close to his coat, the fumes of distant smouldering buildings melting into the skyline. He snorts. Typical. His right heel clunks against the perforated concrete as he swings his leg out and in, out and in.

The world never gave a shit about him or his fucking problems, and it’s not about to start now.

A purple clad thigh settles down a respectful distance away from him.

“Well, that was almost disappointing,” she sighs, haphazardly waving her hand in the air in emphasis, “how easy they fell.”

Gabe huffs, leaning back on his forearms, eyes still trained on the billowing plumes of smoke in the distance. “It’s a lot easier to behead someone once you’ve removed all their limbs.”

“Eugh, asqueroso,” she pinches her nose. “I’m glad I can count on you to provide the vivid imagery as usual, amigo.”

His nose itches. It’s something he’s long ignored, the constant mending of his skin, the way it destroys and rebuilds itself over and over in a disgusting mockery of biology. The constant pain has become something of a reassurance– it means he can still feel something. He leans back on aching wrists, angling for a distraction.

“Did you dump the info online?”

“Por favor, who do you take me for? I did it ages ago. It’s trending on every news site worldwide.” She pulls up a holoscreen, shoving it in front of his nose. “This one is even calling for a post-humerus pardon for one Commander Gabriel Reyes.”

“Hmm. A bit late.”

“The common folk are always such, amigo. Can never see what’s right in front of their noses.” She reaches over to boop his nose. Gabe swats at her hand without any real vigor.

“So,” she starts, hesitating just long enough for Gabe to know whatever she’s about to say he’s not gonna like. “What are you gonna do now?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugs. “Die, I guess.”

“Dios mío, you’re always so fucking dramatic.”

Gabe ignores her. He always thought this fight would end with his (second) death, splattered against the floor of some forgotten warehouse, alone and forgotten. Now that it‘s over, he doesn’t know what the fuck he’s going to do.

That’s a lie, an annoying voice whispers into his ear. You know what you want to do. He tells that voice to shut the fuck up and flops back against the rooftop, hand rubbing at his temple.

“Here I thought you would settle into a nice retirement– ” Gabriel catches the incredulous laugh that bubbles out of his throat before it leaves his lips “ –get a nice quiet house in L.A., adopt a dog. Maybe take up cross-stitching.”

“Hilarious.”

“I wasn’t making a joke.” She stands up, stretching her hands above her head. He trains an eye on her as she perches on the edge of the roof, arms outstretched to keep her balance. Adrenaline junky, he grouses to himself. Gonna get her killed.

“You’re right, Gabe,” she says, quietly. Serious, for the first time in a while. It makes him lift his head to give her his full attention. “You’re done. This long war you’ve been raising, it’s over. You deserve a little R&R.” She turns to him, smirk on her face. She taps her lips with a finger as if in deep thought. “Maybe a vacation? Somewhere sunny with a nice view.” She points her finger in the air, eyes going wide with a wicked sort of delight. “I know this great place in Gibraltar–”

Just like that, his amicable mood sours. He throws his arm over his mask with a groan. “Shut the fuck up, Sombra.”

“No, I’m serious. Hear me out– you’ve exposed them!” She pauses, spinning around on the edge and walking back the way she came. “Well.. I did, because I’m awesome and the security on that omnic’s hardware was hilarious bad, but that’s besides the point.” She turns and spreads her arms wide, gesturing to the horizon. “They know now. Everyone knows what really happened, what caused the fall of you’re little club.” She takes a few steps closer to him and kneels down so that they’re on a more even level, her voice growing quiet again. “You don’t have to hide anymore.”

Gabe stares at her. Doesn’t have to hide. What a joke. His nose itches again. He wiggles it in annoyance. Tired red eyes glance back up at the overcast sky. A drop of water lands on the eye hole of his mask, rolls down until it hits his decaying skin and evaporates. A wisp of smoke rolls off the point of impact, fading into the skyline. The exhaustion hits him all at once.

“I’m tired, Somb.”

“I know,” she coos, patting the top of his hood with fondness. “And now you can rest. Reconcile. Relax.”

Gabe glares at her. “You think it’s gonna be that easy? Forgiveness doesn’t just happen overnight.”

“But they must have read the news, must have realised by now what you’ve been doing–”

“Who said I was talking about their forgiveness?”

“Gabriel,” she says softly, tentatively.

He sits back up, wraps his arms around one of his knees to rest his chin on it. The fires are starting to die down, now just a whiff of smoke lazily drifting towards the sky. He can hear sirens in the distance, muffled by the thick fabric of his hood.

“.. you know what Talon did to me. You read the files.”

“I recall skimming the procedures done to one Subject 002 while I was carefully reducing their supplies of relevant pharmaceuticals over time, yes.” She pauses. “.. but you remember, don’t you? Once the sessions stopped, once the drugs were so watered down they had no effect on you anymore.”

“Bits and pieces,” he admits reluctantly. “They’ll come back to me in dreams, sometimes. Never know if they’re fucking real.” He kicks at the wall again. “The anger stays, though. The betrayal. All those years of having them feed that shit directly into my brain. Those aren’t so easy to get rid of.”

“You read the reports yourself, Gabe. What they did to you, what they made you think. What they did to make Jac–”

He glares at her sharply. “Don’t,” he rasps, low and dangerous.

Sombra puts her hands up defensively. “I’m just sayin’. The data doesn’t lie.”

He sighs, the exhausting eating away at his bones like it always does, making him hunch over like the old fucker he is. “I know. But this–” he taps the side of his skull. “This does.” A whiff of smoke rolls off of the impact, sifting into the air like a disease. “Who knows what fucking side effects I have from the shit they did. Some kind of programming to hurt someone after some predetermined conditions are met.” He tries not to think about the way they found Gerard, lying in a pool of his own blood with a single bullet hole lodged neatly between his forehead, a peaceful smile on his face. Of course, of all the fucking memories he got back, that is the one he can remember with perfect clarity. “Maybe by killing them all I just triggered something,” he says darkly, cautiously, “and one day you’ll wake up to see me hovering over your bed with a shotgun in your face.”

Sombra tsks, disgusted. “Like you could get past my security.”

Gabe rolls his eyes. “Whatever. You know what I mean.” He kicks his feet again. “It’s better if i just– fade away. For everyone.”

“Hmm,” Sombra sits down next to him, neatly folding her feet under her legs. “For you, maybe. Not for the people who still care about you.”

Gabe huffs. “No one cares about me.” Sombra taps her chin.

“That’s weird, then what’s the recorded 248 hours of log files I found on a certain swiss doctor’s computer of her running simulations on how to reverse your condition? The last one was made, oh,” she checks her arm display, “two days ago, by the way.” She opens a holodisplay of a white lily and waves it in front of his face. “Or the flowers that get sent to your sister’s fabric store every other month? There’s no name, but I traced the account to a bank in Cairo.” Gabe tenses up, fingers curling into the concrete. It crumbles beneath his grip. “Or should I tell you about a certain old man with a receding hairline who visits your grave every third sunday of the month–”

“Enough.“

“Oh, and then there’s a certain renown hacker who has been assisting you with your fucking mission for the past few years, you absolute moron. I know we don’t talk about feelings much, but you have to know that I care about you.”

Gabe tries to uncurl from where he’s been cradling the panging in his chest. “You care because I’m useful,” he spits between clenched teeth.

Sombra laughs. “Just because you’re useful doesn’t mean I don’t care. What’s the point of friends if you don’t help each other out?” She leans over to bump her shoulder against his arm. The impact makes him wince. “Nice attempt to change the subject, by the way.” She leans in closer, wrapping her fingers around the cuff of his jacket. “What are you so afraid of, Gabriel? That they won’t accept you, or that they will?”

His hand is shaking as he reaches for his mask, unclipping it and unsteadily pressing his knuckles to his forehead. “Fuck.” He hates how fucking perceptive she is. He used to have so many secrets before he met her. Smoke drifts away from a hole on his face, a haze of nanites that remind him just how fucking hopeless his situation is.

“They’ll never accept me looking like this.” He feels a third eye erupt from his forehead, world tilting with an infrared hue that he'll never get used to. He trains it on Sombra (as if to say see?) who doesn’t even flinch, just shrugs.

“Pff, come on. I’ve seen pics from when you were younger, Soldier 24.” He instinctively bristles at the name. “You were super hot. I’m sure the good doctor will be able to fix you up.” She pats his thigh amicably and reaches for a pouch on her belt to pull something out, hiding it behind her back. “Okay, hold our your hand.”

Gabe narrows his eyes. “Why.”

Sombra pouts. “Because that’s what you do when you’re accepting a gift.”

“I don’t want any of your gifts.”

“Always so difficult. Here–”

Sombra reaches out for his hand and places a light metal object in it. Gabe turns it over in his hand.

“.. and this is?”

“A phone. Come on, I know you’re not that old–”

“Sombra,” he interrupts with gritted teeth.

“It’s secure. My own work, of course. All you have to do is hit número uno on the speed dial.” She pats his hand one more time and springs to her feet. “For when you’re ready.”

If his heart still beat he’s sure it’d be bleeding out of his chest by now. He tries to clear his throat, but when he speaks it’s a barely audible rasp. “Ready for..?”

Sombra smiles at him before spinning on her heel to the fire escape, one hand waving casually over her shoulder.

“To see your family again.”

Gabe watches her walk away. He glances back down at the phone in his right hand. His mask is still in the other.

He stares at the both for a long time, until the sun sets behind the distant hills and the moon peaks out behind a sudden gap in the clouds. The moonlight gives his mask an almost ethereal glow. It’s well-crafted; hand-sculpted carbon fiber, built in holographic display with all the latest tech. He vaguely remembers the day he got it, handed to him by some dead guy with a smug look on his face. A new face for the new you. We can’t have you scaring the populace, now can we, my dear Reaper.

Fuck, he hated that guy. The shotgun blast to the roof of his mouth was the least he deserved. He curls his fingers around the edge of the mask.

It’s transformed from something they forced on him to something he’s chosen to hide behind, something that keeps him safe from prying eyes. He doesn’t remember the last time he took it off, before now.

You don’t have to hide anymore. Gabe pauses. Considers.

“Fuck that,” he announces with finality.

He takes one last look at the mask before curling his arm back as far as it can go and launching it into the distance.

He lets his coat and gloves dissolve and tugs the hood from his hoodie up over his head. He palms the phone, chest clenched with indecision before powering it on and hitting the 1 button before he can stop himself.

The dial tone rings once. Twice. Someone picks up.

“.. Gabriel.”

Not a question, not a statement. Just his name, spoken from lips he hasn’t heard it from in years. His knees almost give out and he sags heavily against the wall, hand clenched over his mouth to muffle the sob that works its way up his throat.

“Are you ready to come home?” No nonsense, straight to the point. Just like she’s always been. Gabe lets out a shaky laugh and stands, wiping his palms on his pants.

“Yeah,” he makes for the fire escape, making sure his hood is tugged snugly on top of his head before opening the door. “I’m ready.”