#this post was prompted by moonlight chicken

[soujux]

I just now found out that some parents or families with deaf children don't always study sign language? That makes me so sad? Although, I know that it must be difficult, but I think I'd do anything to make it easier for my loved ones when it's within my capabilities.

[nyttvera]

moonlight chicken is so funny because everyone treats Jim as if he is a senior citizen going around walking with a cane when he hasn’t even reached his 40s

[dribs-and-drabbles]

Most memorable items of clothing in bl series in 2023

In order of their airing/me watching them:

I'm thankful I've gotten into the habit of noting which shows I watch and when otherwise I wouldn’t be able to remember. As it is, first on my list is Bed Friend, which kind of sets the tone for this post since it features the best and the worst outfit choices for Uea. The waffle robes and cat ears vs the fake sleeves shirt.

Next is a quick shout out to Por in My School President, since the show started in 2022 but did finish in 2023, and basically all of his outfits. The man is a style icon. But this stripy polo shirt takes the biscuit for me. I need to have it.

On to Moonlight Chicken and this one is a combined effort between Heart and Li Ming. @telomeke prompted me to write a little about it, but essentially the two shirts together are saying 'you're my other half'. Urthe / Tomato sauce.

The Gloves! Need I say more? (Alright, for those of you who don't know - how could you not?! - they're from Chains of Heart).

And now not strictly an item of clothing but an accessory, the most straight ankle bracelet you'll ever see in a thai series. Totally platonic, not gay AT ALL. In Midnight Museum.

In July the different Thai production companies took stock of three versions of the same stripy linin shirt – the cream long-sleeved, the brown short-sleeved, and the charcoal short-sleeved - and proceeded to clad every actor they could in one of them within a three and a half month period (six shows*, eight different characters). We had couple-shirts with both Kawi and Pisaeng and Mew and Top wearing them, and Namneua in Wedding Plan wore all three. (*Step by Step, Be My Favourite, Hidden Agenda, Wedding Plan, Love in Translation, and Only Friends).

Staying in July for a while, and speaking of weddings, Kawi rocked on up to Pearmai and Not's wedding in Be My Favourite in this brown houndstooth shirt and black pants outfit - an almost exact replica of Ray's outfit in the original pilot trailer for Only Friends. I waited with baited breath to see if Ray would still wear the outfit in the actual series...and he did! Not only that, I then realised Uea had already worn it in Bed Friend earlier in the year.

In a surprising turn of events, Be My Favourite – and Krist – turned out to actually be Quite Good. Perhaps distracted by Krist's puppy eyes, we weren't entirely ready for the first appearance of the Dudes shirt – itself a wonderful comment on the narrative since Kawi was figuring out his feelings for Pisaeng – but it was a delight to see it again on Nick in Only Friends, and offering a different narrative comment.

This next one may only be notable for me, but when I was doing my dedicated scan through of oh so many shows to collect items for the communal wardrobe, I noticed this sand and grey sweater amongst the many other items of shared clothing which appeared in The Warp Effect and then very briefly on Pisaeng in Be My Favourite. Not long after, the trailer for Last Twilight dropped and I spotted it again immediately. I've also since noticed it in a speed scan of The Shipper. Not only do I think it's a pretty neat sweater, but I loved the effect it gave in Last Twilight, which I wrote about at the end of this post.

This is getting long but I'm going to keep going (this might be the only 2023 wrap up I do so I'ma make it count).

If you've been following me for a while (or since the BBS days), you’ll know how rabid I go when I see a pair of the yellow-soled Mustard brand shoes in a show. The most recent being in Hidden Agenda worn by Zo…but they're not the ones on this list. Oh no, it's Joke's blue-soled shoes which made me sit up and scream this time...meaning even their shoes were colour-coded in this show. Oh how I wish I could buy a pair of each.

There were many fabulous outfits in Laws of Attraction (especially Charn's) but Tanthai's green rope shirt wins out for me. Green seemed to be used in the show to represent the lies and secrets Tanthai was forced to keep because of his father, and he was metaphorically bound and trapped in these lies and his life. Ah perfection!

I've mentioned a lot of brilliant items but there have also been many awful ones, and the one I can't seem to stop thinking about (or horrifying over) is the Droopy Tits shirt (or Nipple Protector, whichever way you want to call it) which first appeared in Dangerous Romance and then The Jungle just three days later. I'm surprised we haven't seen it again to be honest, but I imagine if we get more spoiled rich kids we probably will.

These next two aren't specific items but more of a shout out to the whole wardrobe design of the shows.

First, Only Friends, with Mew and Ray's transformation to Ray and Sand's (respective) wardrobe choices, as well as the inversion of colours to highlight differences in relationships, and the use of colour-groupings to separate characters (<- a post i have yet to write). I wish I could write more about it…but life is just too busy to give it the time it needs.

The second is, of course, Ai Di and Chen Yi in Kiseki: Dear to Me with how they always share a colour in their different outfits. @respectthepetty details this perfectly here, so I don't need to. I am however still feral about these two and can't wait to do a full re-watch of the show.

And lastly, much like Baseball Mom in Bad Buddy two years ago (and to be honest many of Pat's other shirts), Aof recently gifted us another absolutely ridiculous but brilliantly poignant t-shirt slogan in Mhok's Fart Proudly shirt in Last Twilight, which I went into detail about here. Just A+

Thanks for sticking with me through all that! Any others that stood out for you or that I missed?

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

Rose Recaps 2023 - Thailand

Ok. Let me just get this out of the way. If there were awards for "started of great but forgot what it was about by the end" Thailand would win them all. No other country can touch them. So when I was going through my list of watched Thai Bls there weren't all that many to choose as favourites. but I'll try to be kind.

The one about family

Moonlight Chicken

First and foremost this show is stunning. This really cannot be overstated. I really enjoyed all the different relationships represented here and that the idea of family is what you want it to be. I love all of them, and Wen did absolutely nothing wrong.

Favourite Moment This conversation left me in tears.

The one hated by so many but not me

Dangerous Romance

This was me whenever there was a new episode.

I'm not gonna say people were wrong. Everybody has the right to their own opinions. But I never expected anything else.

This show gave me exactly what I expected of it. They made a romantic version of the trailer for christ sake. The ost video that came out the day before the premiere was a love fest with the softest song sang by Chimon. I agree that the first 2 episodes were different and for some, misleading about the direction of the show.

Not for me though. I got what I wanted. Chimon and Perth on my screen being boyfriends with some drama sprinkled in for good measure. And with the amazing bonus that was Marc and Pawin together again and the character of Auto that I just adored. I actually enjoyed all the characters in this one.

Favourite Moment

The one that is beautiful

I Feel You Linger In The Air

The amount of screenshots I took while watching this would fill a hard drive. It's just gorgeous. The way they played with the spaces was just such a treat.

This show was almost perfect. I had a couple of issues with it midway through and I felt that they dragged the goodbye a tiny bit much but overall I really liked it. These two are very special but overall there were a lot of characters to root for and enough of them to hate, which I appreciate.

But also WHERE IS THE SPECIAL??? I need to watch it!

Favourite Moment

The one that was I was ready to hate and then didn't

Be My Favourite

Confession time. I didn't like Krist. Watching SOTUS was something I endured but didn't enjoy for the most part. I know I'm not alone in this. But also. I didn't like Fluke. In anything. He was the only thing I didn't like in Not Me, and I skipped most scenes of his couple during Dark Blue Kiss. No particular reason tho. I just didn't enjoy watching him. So the bar was set pretty low on this one for me.

And then what happened? I loved Kawi. Like immediately. And surprise surprise, I liked Fluke. Immediately. It's like I was on an alternate universe and I couldn't believe my eyes.

With that said, it was not even close to a perfect show. It started off really strong, I enjoy the way the relationship grew, I loved that the characters were being honest with each other and being mostly kind to one another. Some moments felt really grounded. And then it kinda fell apart for me. But this is a positive post so I'm not going there.

Favourite Moment: The whole montage.

The one with the redemption of Mame

Wedding Plan

I already explained what I went through with this show here prompted by this episode of @the-conversation-pod. You should all go listen to this and all the other episodes because both @bengiyo and @shortpplfedup are brilliant and funny in convenient audio format.

Anyway, in the end I loved this show so much and took me a minute to come to terms that it was actually that good. The characters are actually multidimensional and the woman have depth. Groundbreaking stuff.

Favourite Moment

The one with all the cuteness

My School President

Not gonna lie, not a huge fan of singing in my bl. But this was great. From the beginning the fact that it made constantly remember my beloved Love Sick was an unexpected and delightfull bonus. I was living for Tinn's expressions, Tiw just being delightfully loyal and the epitome of sharing one brain cell group of friends. Not to forget the parental relationships that were some of the best of the year. I even liked the singing.

Favourite Moment

The extra one

Our Skyy 2 - A Tale of a Thousand Stars

This happened. It was perfect. That's it.

I watched more than 40 thai shows that came out this year, I'm not counting the ones that are still on, and these were my favourites. Mostly because some of them were the ones that I had the least to complain about.

That's it for my recaps. I still wanna gif some stuff today and it's late so I can't review this post again so if there are mistakes, don't tell me. It'll haunt me.

Have a good night💜

[zelinktines24]

Zelinktines 2023 — Master post

A big 'thank you' to everyone who participated in zelinktines 2023! 💕 A fandom event without the people who bring it to life by creating cool things is pretty boring, so Kudos to all the amazing creatives below! Please check out their work and blogs.

Lips - Chicken by @michpat6

Silk - Always her by @zelzenik; Silk&Leather by @aurathian; Silk and Moonlight by @cooking-with-hailstones with art by @bahbahhh

Leather — Silk&Leather - by @aurathian

Secret - The Secret of my Heart by @linktheacehero; You by @alkturos

Oh, no! - Desire Path by @bahbahhh

Stable - Stable by @theclam-beforethestorm

Mask - Art by @sciencelings-arts ; Art, art, and fic by @linktheacehero and @aheavenscorner

Warmth - The Promise, chapter 3 (E-rated) by @zeldaelmo ; did she know? by @greyennui ; we dance when the heart remembers by @anretoga

Dimple - no small thing by @greyennui

Pet - Art by @deiliamedlini

Sugar - Sugar by @silentprincess17 ; Sweet Talk by @ladyhoneydee

Quirk - One little scare ought to do you some good by @louwhose

Magical - Magical by @zeldaelmo ; Magical by @theclam-beforethestorm

Pictures - Art by @linktheacehero; Art by @hazethestrange

Is that a yes? - Is that a yes? (E-rated) by @cooking-with-hailstones

Fruits - forgive me, I love you by @eissibee

It's been a while - coming to her senses by @mistresslrigtar

Nervous - Nervous by @flutefemme

Meet cute - Meet cute by @louwhose

Meet weird - A chance encounter at the blood clinic by @cooking-with-hailstones; I met you in a closet by @the-knightmare; Meet Weird by @theclam-beforethestorm

Matchmaker - Matchmaker by @braidymaidy

Formal Wear - Art by @aquaticpal

Butterfly Kisses — A new Tradition by @mistresslrigtar

Anonymous — Reading between the lines by @louwhose

Getaway — Getaway by @theclam-beforethestorm

Don't forget that you can add your fics and art to the collection on Ao3:

My thanks go also to @aquaticpal, @itcantbe, and @deiliamedlini for fighting stubborn docs and other inconveniences with (and for) me.

If I've forgotten an entry (totally possible, this was a lot), send me a message @zeldaelmo and I'll add you.

I will also add late entries as they come, so don't be shy to tag @zelinktines23 even if it's June or Christmas.

💕💕💕

Psst... Wanna know a prompt for 2024 already? It's... 'the worst pick-up line'!

[dropthedemiurge]

Fun statistics time:

- In 2022, I wrote 50k words on AO3. In English (not my native language)

- In 2023 per September, I already wrote 57k words.

- THIS IS LIKE A COUPLE OF BOOKS yet it's all slash fanfics about characters from Thai BL/QL/gen series xD

- I even worked for a few months writing articles about my obsession with some of these shows. Like professionally. Made some directors/crew of those shows happy^^

(i actually speedran learning how to write in english because my writing was clumsy at best if you look at my previous fandom and first fics on ao3, and now I'd like to think my fics are not that bad)

But damn. The way Not Me, Bad Buddy, The Eclipse, Be my Favorite, Moonlight Chicken and Only Friends just inspired the heck out of me??

I'm personally shocked. I literally picked up writing and drawing again because in my other kpop fandom the creative community has gradually died down, and here I'm like. Friends! Prompts! Fests! Meta posts! Fix-it fics! Character studies after every episode! Crossover AUs! Comics! Arts from pretty pictures!!

(tbh my drawings became worse in a sense that I do fast sketches after episodes or photos that inspired me and don't do heavy illustrations that take a long time; but also I write 3-4k fics in one sitting and I guess that's what my creative soul wants to focus on🍀)

Damn. I love you guys (my discord friends especially) for enabling me and I love these shows (even tho I interact with them and actors not in an intended fanservice way probably) and I didn't expect to fall into something like this. But that's truly what I needed.

[amethystsoda]

Sebastian (stardew) - romance update 3!!!!!

So first up, my wild summer seeds all bloomed so I could do a TON of foraging!!!

Second...

hehehe sleepy boy...

Next, I remembered to give Sam a pizza on his birthday, so I was able to get our friendship level up a lot!!!

I also finally went to the railroad area with the spa and :0 first clothing change in game??? cutie

Since I could finally get into Sam's room!!!!! band practice!!! :D

(Seb on the keyboard like ^^^)

at that point, because of the birthday pizza, both boys were close in hearts 😳 you've got some competition Sebby~~~

BUT WITH 6 HEARTS SEBASTIAN ASKED ME TO PLAY SOLARIAN CHRONICLES WITH HIM AND SAM

😏😏😏😏😏 (but he also picked the Wizard which is so cute with Sam saying he was a keyboard wizard earlier)

I didn't get screenshots of end conversation but Seb was like "hey you did good, I didn't even finish my first run!" and my character did the happy :3 emote

LOOK AT ALL THOSE CHICKENS HEARTS

you little dweeb aksjhdakjhd (Still looking at that Vampire theory at this point) (Also no Sebastian swimsuit hours :((( booooo)

OH OH SO NEXT IS THE MOONLIGHT JELLIES!!!!!!

(he's sooooo silly and cute!!!!!)

(I definitely irl teared up, this was so beautiful. I just wish my farmer could have watched with Sebastian ;w;)

As the Fall season started, I checked my mailbox and MY MAN LINUS FINALLY MAILED ME THE SASHIMI RECIPE!!!!

I finally got my house upgrade too and was monitoring growth times for crops better, so I was able to make a lot of farming progress and actually cook recipes!!! I can make my minecraft husband (/j) Sashimi any time!!! :DDD

At this point, me and Seb were at 8 WHOLE HEARTS!!!! :D

(I'd never seen him upset before, I wanna give him a big hug!!!!! I'd gotten the prompt too where the dad lectured me about getting close to Maru, so I'm getting the terrible vibes from Demitrius...)

(Also, idk was Seb's dad Japanese??? Or is he just an otaku who likes manga and sashimi??? I'm really curious, I should go see if the Dev's have ever revealed that lore)

anyway, Happy Fall!!!!!! I will be back with another post, starting with the bouquet!!!! :D

[earthmixsclowderofcats]

BL checklist

Finished :

- cutie pie

- cutie pie 2 you

- kinneporsche

- love in the air

- love by chance 1

- moonlight chicken

- naughty babe

- the sign

- two worlds

In progress

- a tale of a thousand stars

- battle of the writers

- the loyal pin

- love sea

- meet me at the blossom

- my only 12%

- my stand in

- only friends

- step by step

Watch list :

- affair

- ai long nhai

- bed friend

- between us

- big dragon

- a boss and a babe

- dead friend forever

- deep night

- hidden agenda

- HIStory series

- jack and joker

- love mechanics

- love sick

- manner of death

- my beautiful man

- my personal weatherman

-the on1y one

- sunset vibes

- tharntype

- triage

- unforgotten night

- wendee gooday

- y destiny

BL kink meme

What is a kink meme

Dreamwidth FAQ

[wereflamingo-in-thai-dramaland]

Yuletide sign-ups are open with multiple Thai drama fandoms in the tagset!

Yuletide is a multi-fandom small fandom fic exchange, with a 1k word minimum and a tradition of dear writer letters with fun prompts and ideas (they're optional though, so you might be assigned someone who didn't write one). There are quite a few Thai fandoms in the tagset that you can request and/or offer, including Not Me, The Eclipse, Moonlight Chicken, Laws of Attraction, GAP (but Sam is not in the tagset????), Only Friends, and many more.

I'm definitely requesting Home School and The Shipper, maybe something else too (you can request 3-6 fandoms so I have enough with my third one which is not Thai, but I could request more).

If you don't want to sign up and be matched, there's also the pinch hit list, so you can see the request and decide if you want to take it or not, and the tagset app and letter post to look through if you just want to write treats. Not all the letters are up yet (mine isn't), but there will be more!

Sign-ups close on Saturday Oct 21st at 9 PM UTC. If you're new to the exchange, leave yourself some time to read the rules and prepare your sign-up. You can edit it even after submission as long as sign-ups are still open.

[sollucets]

writing masterpost

does what it says on the tin. last update 7/24/23

general ao3 link

my fic tag on here

ocean eyes’ specific fic tag

the sky full of stars (on our way up) series tag

please mind cw tags in the fics themselves! be well 💜

the eclipse:

series: the sky full of stars (contains choices, unknown star, on our way up)

fic: choices

e12 akkayan and the path to public affection. approximately equal parts genuine emotion about coming out and constant flirting. t, 8500 words

fic: unknown star

postcanon akkayan on what would be their graduation day. very sappy soft h/c content here. t, 3200 words

fic: on our way up [wip]

slice of life style domestic postcanon akkayan. aye goes to college & akk goes to therapy: the fic. currently at 21k words (7/24/23)

fic: listen close, i'll say it loud

several grouped prompts on the theme of akk and aye's long-distance relationship post-our skyy 2. t, 6900 words

fic: celestial navigation

crossposted various akkayes from prompts. usually but not always soft & fluffy. t, 7100 words as of 7/24/23

💜

between us:

fic: stay close

canon-compliant, gentle and tentative hair care intimacy fic for winteam. soft with slight h/c. t, 5100 words

fic: your quietest feeling

episode tag for e9. soft and sad and extremely exhausted nightmare h/c for win. made several people cry, t, 2000 words

💜

moonlight chicken:

fic: horizon line

heart/li ming h/c written in response to the e7 preview. hugs & crying on the floor of leng's apartment

💜

only friends:

series: not the doorways we had hoped for

prerelease giga-angst bad decisions only friends fanfic centering my baby boy & favorite chewtoy san, set to richard siken quotes. various ratings & 11500 words overall.

contains: wish it was mine (t, raysan, light physical h/c) + but none of them are ours (e, raysan, emotionally painful pwp) + to be like him (m, santop, failure hookups)

💜

shadowhunter chronicles:

fic: midnight hour

canon-compliant, between book 3 --> red scrolls of magic. soft h/c moment for new relationship malec. t, 4800 words

fic: shining through

5+1 things that’s actually 6+1 re: alec being made to wear colorful clothing. canon-adjacent if not compliant, very sweet. t, 15500 words

💜

redacted asmr:

series: rest with your vampire mate [m4a] [post-inversion]

sam aftershock & some associated events. t, 12000ish words over all parts

contains: wolf out of water (darlin & william), mind in the moment (darlin & sam), part of the promise (darlin & sam, darlin & david, angel)

series: your boyfriend tells you he’s magic [m4a]

unconnected set of redacted magic reveal fics. t overall

contains: plausible deniability (asher/babe werewolf reveal, early canon, 2500 words) & bring me a dream  (elliott/sunshine pre-relationship magic reveal, 4400 words)

fic: ocean eyes [wip]

canon-adjacent poly sam/darlin/angel/david development fic featuring my listener ocs. lots of significant eye contact and yearning. t, 28000 words (in january 2023)

fic: synesthete

caelum & freelancer have a conversation. pre-DAMN. softe with slight h/c. g, 2100 words

fic: circuit breaker

post-inversion, william watches lovely for an afternoon. h/c. t, 3300 words

fic: painkiller

geordi/cutie, extremely gentle headache h/c. fun text formatting. t, 1700 words

fic: refractions

gavin/freelancer pre-confession pining on an aquarium date. overcautious m rating, 4200 words

fic: riparian

brachium pov w/ elliott/sunshine, realizations about the bond beyond death. t, 2000 words

fic: no exit

avior/starlight, pre-canon & pre-relationship. tentative trust & void experiments. t, 3200 words

fic: cinnamon

avior/starlight, post-canon domestic niceness because they deserve it. t, 3300 words

fic: floodgates open

my rasmr ficlet assortment; i started crossposting these to tumblr at the huxlasko chapter. non-tumblr snips in this collection include cute milo/sh, angsty darlin, & some gav/fl flirting. all of the prompts i did in may 2022 are in there

[remnant-roses]

Rosegarden Week Day 4: After the War

A fic idea I had during the mid-season hiatus, but didn’t have time to write, but now it fits the prompt so...

I meant this to be a one-shot but it’s past 1 am and I need to sleeeep so now it’s a two-shot and I’ll post the second half Friday.

________________________

“I think I’m... done.”

He’d expected them to argue, to try and convince him to stay. But standing before them, his small frame battered, bloody, and broken, they averted their eyes. Even Ozpin remained quiet.

He’d kept their secrets, prevented Salem from using the relic, endured torment for their sakes. He’d suffered for them. He’d had to take lives for them. And it had shattered him. He felt hollow.

He just wanted to go home.

And they let him.

He allowed Ozpin to take over, to tell them the last things they’d need to know about the vaults, the relics, the war to save humanity.

And when the dust settled in Atlas, when the refugees poured out into the other kingdoms, he went with them, just one more body, lost among the masses.

He didn’t even tell them goodbye. But even through the numbness that gripped his soul, he felt a sting of regret when he thought of her face, silver eyes brimming with tears.

______________________

Just don’t... ever talk to me again. Just let me be normal. Please, he told Ozpin as he boarded the train that would take him back home.

There was no reply, but the guilt and sorrow that radiated off of that other inside of him was answer enough.

Ozpin would let him abdicate, even in the height of this conflict. Even when it looked like humanity was balanced on a knife’s edge.

Let this war pass him by. They could fight it without him. And if they couldn’t win, in time, the burden would roll on to his next incarnation. But Oscar... he’d given all he could. He didn’t have anything left.

______________________

He knocked on the farmhouse door, and felt like a stranger even on his own doorstep.

His aunt cried, off and on, for days after his return. First tears of relief, of joy, and then tears of worry and grief, and then of frustration and anger.

He understood. He wasn’t her son, but she had raised him, loved him, and he’d left her all alone here.

He told her what he could. Not everything, not even much. But enough to make her understand why he’d left - the voice in his head, the war for humanity. She’d seen the broadcast in that brief moment that global communications had been reestablished. She could grasp the basics - that he’d been caught up in a conflict for the fate of the world, and that it had chewed him up and spit him out. Left him broken.

He couldn’t bear to tell her any more, dreaded the inevitable probing questions, but then she surprised him.

She understood. She gave him space to think, to heal, in his own time.

And he loved her for it.

_________________________

It was seven weeks before his wounds closed fully.

The scar tissue pulled at his skin as he threw himself into the work of maintaining a farm, like a waking manifestation of the pain that still haunted his dreams and left him gasping for air when he woke.

He ignored it with a resolute determination, letting himself get lost in the monotony of tilling and plowing and tending livestock. It was backbreaking work, but he welcomed even the pain. It filled the empty hollows of his mind and left no room for reflection... or memories too painful to bear.

To think, he’d once resented the repetitive nature of work on the farm. He’d dreamed of adventure, of new and exciting vistas, of being important.

If only he’d known.

But at nights, he’d climb onto the roof of the barn and stare at the sky and think of a girl with eyes like moonlight, and wonder.

Was she still fighting? Was she even still alive?

Did I make the right choice?

__________________________

The seasons came and went, and war did not come to the fields of Mistral. Nothing of interest had ever happened here.

_________________________

It was 11 months since his return, when the CCT system came back online.

He hadn’t noticed right away. He’d been working in the fields, and there was no point in taking a Scroll out there when it had no signal.

But as he walked in the house that evening, he was greeted by the sound of tinny, faraway voices pouring out of his aunt’s living room, and then...

There she was, on the screen, her red cape and pale skin washed with blue in the light of the projection. Her hair was a little longer, her eyes a little sadder, but it was her.

She was saying something about the CCT, how exactly they’d managed to restore it, but the words wouldn’t process, they swam in his head until it was just noise. There was only one thought that mattered.

She’s alive.

“Isn’t it wonderful, Oscar,” his aunt was saying, “the world can talk to each other again...”

It was then she noticed the white-knuckled grip he had on the back of the sofa, and the tears streaming silently down his face.

He told her that night, told her everything. About RWBY and JNR, about the attack at Haven, about a drunk old crow, about crashed trains and snowstorms, about the fall of Atlas.

About the belly of a great black beast, and the torture he’d suffered at the hands of humanity’s greatest enemy. About the hollowness he’d felt when he left, and the crushing guilt that had slowly come to replace it.

She cried, and he cried, and she held him, and in the background, news reports played clips of familiar faces on repeat. Still out there, doing their best, without him.

There was one thing he left out - no need to tell his aunt about silver eyes and a kind smile, about how much it hurt to know that he’d left her behind, specifically.

That much, at least, was still his own.

He still watched the night sky, but now the questions he asked himself had changed.

Do they hate me for leaving?

________________________

He only heard from Ozpin twice in his time at the farm.

Once, about a month after the CCT was restored, when a Grimm had nearly gotten the drop on him.

Behind you, Oscar.

The voice was gone as quickly as it had come, without even an apology for breaking his pact of silence. But it had given him just enough time to see the Beowulf coming, to get his pitchfork up to block the jagged teeth as it lunged.

It took him an embarrassingly long time to dispatch it, even though it was merely a single beast, even though just 10 months before, he, or any one of his companions, could have killed it in mere seconds.

He was rusty.

And he was letting himself wallow, something every Remnant child was cautioned against. Hell, he’d probably drawn the Grimm in with his own guilt and self-pity.

He took up training again after that, practicing against hay bales and scarecrows in the early mornings before his daily duties began.

He wasn’t going to let himself be a beacon of despair. He wasn’t going to endanger his aunt, or himself, like that.

_______________________

It was a year and nine months after his return, the second time Ozpin spoke to him.

He was at the feed store, loading bags of dried corn into his aunt’s beat-up truck for the chickens, when Ozpin uttered a single word:

Oh.

And then he was gone.

Not gone in the way he’d been for the past two years, where Oscar had always been aware of a silent presence in the deepest corners of his mind. But fully, completely gone.

Oscar expected the sky to rip open, for people to scream, to cry, for something, anything, to look different. He pulled out his Scroll, checked the news. Nothing.

Something had happened. But life continued around him, unchanged. The clerk at the feed store gave him a funny look. He was blocking the loading bay.

He drove home in a daze, tears blurring his vision, and told his aunt to turn on the TV.

It took three hours for the news reports to start rolling in. Humanity’s greatest enemy, defeated. Faunus and human together, standing united. A mysterious silver light seen in a ruined continent to the west.

He and his aunt watched the footage in silence for hours, and he found himself searching for a red cape, for a mop of long blonde hair, any hint of what might have truly transpired.

When he climbed on the barn roof to watch the night sky that evening, his questions had changed once again.

They’d done it.

But what had become of them?

Of her?

 (to be continued)

[3pirouette]

Steggy Events Masterlist

Posting this to help myself (and you) keep track of everything that’s going on! And to have all these in one spot as I finish them up. 

Steggy Bingo ‘21 (See Above Graphic)

Fake Dating – Hello, Darling Dirty Talk – Oral Sex – She Wanted Chicken – Empty and Full  Neighbors AU – Humping – What Number? Sword – My Kingdom for a Sword Soulmate AU – A Tiny Infinity Bucky Barnes – Six Dates, Times, and Places Work Romance – The Honey Trap Howling Commandos – Sentence Prompt B – 40 Weeks Fantasy AU – Comfort – An Experimental Design (Chapter 2) Coffeeshop AU – Chester Phillips – An Experimental Design (Chapter 1) Sharon Carter – Virtual Insanity: Career Opportunities Sentence Prompt A  – Domestic Bliss and International Espionage  Moonlight – Roughing It Sentence Prompt C  – Of All the People... Science Experiment – An Experimental Design (Chapter 3) Domestic Fluff – Nobody’s Baby: Menace Clint Barton – The Good Doctor: Learning Curve Slow Burn -  The Captain and the Missus

Steggy Week ‘20

Day 1: Domestic Bliss : Backyard Bliss

Day 2: Cliches: Nobody's Baby

Day 3: Modern Day: Sunrise

Day 4: AU: 'Till I Come Marching Home

Day 5: Outside POV: Cherish the Present

Day 6: Headcanon: The Mending

Day 7: Free Choice: A Chance Encounter

Day 8: Quarantine: A New Purpose

Steggy Week ‘21

I did it! I wrote something for every day of Steggy Week 2021. Woohoo!

Day 1: Favorite Era - The Captain and the Missus Chapter 1 (WIP)

Day 2: Favorite Moment - Not One Thing

Day 3: Favorite AU - Fighting Doesn’t Make You a Hero Chapter 2 (WIP)

Day 4: Favorite Headcanon - Great Rivals

Day 5: Favorite Trope - The Good Doctor: Learning Curve

Day 6: Our Favorite Family - Nobody’s Baby: Menace

Day 7: Free Choice - Six Dates, Times, and Places: Five, Four, Three, Two...One

Steggy Week ‘22

Thanks @steggyfanevents for another great Steggy Week!

Day 1 (Sunday 7/24): Inspired by – There's a Chance We'll Get By

Day 2 (Monday 7/25): Favourite era – The Captain and the Mrs. Chapter 2: Planning and Packing (WIP)

Day 3 (Tuesday7/26): Headcanons and meta – Singing in a Storm

Day 4 (Wednesday7/27): Trope or genre – ❌

Day 5 (Thursday 7/28): Domestic bliss – In Full Color A Nobody's Baby Companion Story

Day 6 (Friday7/29): Multiverse / What If…? – The Prices We're Willing to Pay (WIP)

Day 7 (Saturday 7/30): Free choice - The Person She Puts On

Steggy Week ‘23

Day 1: Headcanons and Meta - The Paradox of an Old Man

Day 2: WIPs and Updates - The Captain and the Missus Chapter 3: Getting on the Right Track (WIP)

Day 3: AUs and Crossovers - The Infinity Leap

Day 4: Family and Friends - In the Bleak Midwinter Chapter 2: Give Him My Hear (Now Complete)

Day 5: Missing Scenes and Favorite moments - Theater Etiquette

Day 6: Multiverse/What If...? - The Prices We’re Willing to Pay Chapter 3: The Avengers (WIP)

Day 7: Free Day - Untitled AU Tumblr Only Preview

[harryandhishook]

Don’t touch what isn’t yours! - Chapter 17 - FINAL

Fandom: Dream Daddy

Pairing: Damien x Robert,  past Joseph x Robert

Setting: Maple Bay

Warning: Not really for this one, just fluff

Summary: Damien has been dating Robert for a while and their life is becoming slowly more and more domestic but unfortunately, someone has been watching and doesn’t like it one bit.

Words: 1464

Requested: I remember seeing an old posts about some really dark prompts and I thought about the cult ending of Dream Daddy so I jumped at the chance … then got really carried away (Btw, I wanted to contribute to the cult ending stuff so don’t @ me for this, normally I wouldn’t write Joseph like this)

Side note: That's it, that's the end of the story, also I know I said that I would upload these on Saturdays but apparently the universe just wanted to bite me on the ass and say nope, definitely Sundays, kept being dragged into doing things but it's uploaded and finished, hope you liked it :D

First // Prev

The day of Lucien’s graduation was here and it was one of the biggest days of his life. It seemed that Ernest couldn’t stop teasing his boyfriend over the silly gown he was wearing, well, that was until Hugo got revenge by making Lucien put his graduation cap on the youngest Vega’s head to take a cute picture, there was just one thing missing and that was slowly being helped into the school hall, Damien, one arm wrapped around Robert while the other held tightly onto a crutch and amazingly, not in a Victorian suit, just a casual shirt and slacks … doctors’ orders, which he was not happy about at all, but apparently too many clothes could hurt his recovering body, especially moving too much to put them all on.

“You must be proud of him, Damien, he’s really come a long way from being the rebellious teen a few years ago” Hugo commented as he shuffled in from behind the Victorian to watch Lucien happily fuss over his boyfriend from a distance who tried to look like he wasn’t impressed but the tiny little upturn of his lips told a completely different story,

“Yeah, more than I could possibly imagine, I guess I’m just glad I actually get to see this for myself instead of looking through photo albums” the Victorian commented, watching with nothing but love and awe in his eyes for his son, “and a bit of shock since he’s actually graduating with his year … but mostly proud” he chuckled, looking over at Hugo who was smiling incredibly wide at his friend beside him, “What?” he asked, confused at the smile his friend was sending his way which captured a chuckle from the teacher,

“I’m just really glad to see that you’re smiling and joking again … and apparently using Roberts humour, it’s definitely bringing back some light to the Cul-de-Sac again” he commented before turning back to the large gathering of students only to spot Lucien sitting happily on Ernest back as he walks him around the hall, who knew Ernest was strong enough to give someone a few years older than him a piggyback ride, “So, how was the proposal?” he asked with a cool demeaner but his entire aura screamed excitement,

“Oh … you know … graveyard picnic, a few amazing but definitely made up stories by Robert, a moonlight dance and Betsy giving me a ring with a beautifully handwritten note on her collar, the usual” Damien teased, trying to keep a nonchalant expression on his face but it didn’t last long as he quickly and definitely eagerly showed Hugo the ring itself, “It was the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me … did you know about this?” he asked as the teacher admired the absolutely beautiful engagement ring,

“Well, I didn’t know what he was going to do but I did know that he had been planning on asking you, mainly because Lucien had asked him if he was going to chicken out in front of us” the elder Vega explained before pulling back with a joyous smile pulled across his face for his friends, “I’m so happy for you, however, graduation is going to be starting soon so you might want to start heading over with the other parents to be seated” with a soft pat to his arm, Hugo scurried off to round up the students and persuade Ernest to be on his best behaviour as Robert pressed a kiss to Damien’s cheek, helping him through the hustle and bustle of the excited entourage of parents,

“I’m definitely rubbing off on you too much, you’re stealing my humour … needs a bit of work though, love” Robert whispered as they were directed to their seats, sitting down to wait for Lucien’s moment. The gruff man interlaced their fingers without even thinking as he leaned over to whisper, “He’s proud of you, you know, he’s proud of how far you’ve come and the fact that you get to see all this, he couldn’t be prouder of you” the man whispered to his Fiancé, squeezing their hands together gently. A weight was placed gently on Roberts shoulder as Damien lovingly laid his head against his lover, smiling lovingly as he allowed his imagination to run wild through his future life with his soon to be husband and his son.

The day continued on, his son walked up on stage with the biggest smile on his face to basically prove to anyone who doubted him that he made it and once it was over, once everyone had happily thrown their hats and practically danced around like they had just stopped the end of the world, everyone left to celebrate by having a drink or two … well, the adults went to have a drink, the kids went to pretend to drink alongside them. Hugo insisted that taking photos was a must so nearly every single one of them were forced into taking graduation photos, that included a family one so as Damien and Lucien sat on down on a little hill together, Robert watched on from a distance with a smile on his face,

“Oi! Cryptid hunter, get over here, this is a family photo” Lucien screamed towards the grumpy rugged man, earning a soft chuckle from the Victorian next to him,

“Yeah, exactly, family photo, you and your dad” Robert replied, arms crossed across his chest as he casually leaned again a wall nearby, he knew he shouldn’t intrude on this family moment, he wasn’t family, he was just the guy his dad was sleepi-

“Dad, get over here, you are family, you’re marrying my dad and in all honesty, I’ve had some definitely not nice wake-up calls in the house so get over here and join in” the emo argued which caught Robert crazily off guard as he pushed himself up off the wall, dropping his hands down to his sides,

“Did you just call m-“

“Ugh, yes, now get your ass over here, don’t make me spoil Frozen 2, I know you haven’t watched it yet” Lucien threated which seemed to cause the entire party to erupt into laughter as the man in question practically sprinted to the hill, skidding on his knees until he was pressed up against Lucien’s side, arms wrapped around the boy,

“Take the picture before my allergies play up, I can feel them flaring now” Robert demanded, trying to hide the fact he was actually feeling normal human feelings but it didn’t stop him from leaning into his soon to be step-son with a defeated yet loving and proud smile on his face.

And soon, the day came to an end, Damien was now wrapped around Robert’s back as the gruff man carried him back to their car while Hugo carried the crutches, but it seemed like two young things were missing,

“Wait, where are the boys?” the teacher asked, pausing the two lovers on their journey to turn back to find them,

“They weren’t too far behind us a few minutes ago, where could they have gotten too” Damien asked, using his high viewpoint as an advantage to find the two mischievous boys, “They couldn’t have gotten far” he mumbled to himself, a few little worried thoughts passed over him as he search but the little shake from under him seemed to stop the search as he realised the shake was from a chuckle,

“I think I’ve found them” all eyes turned towards the side of one of the school buildings where the two boys they had been searching for were currently standing, voices too far to be audible but from the way each of them were delicately moving their hands to touch each other did not need any explanation

The three parents watched at Lucien stepped closer, raising a hand to push a strand of hair from his boyfriends face, slowly leaning in as Ernest wrapped his arms around the emo’s neck before their lips touched and they shared their first kiss,

“Hugo, take a picture right now, I never want to forget this moment … and it’s great blackmail material” Damien whispered as Hugo was already raising the camera to commemorate this occasion … and also to have some blackmail to use against Ernest at any point in time, that and baby photos.

And that’s it, everyone was happy again, Damien and Mary were safe and were able to be the brother and sister they always were, Lucien and Ernest were together, Robert felt like he had a second chance at being a dad and the neighbourhood was back … partially … to how it was before, the Cul-de-Sac full of gay dads, a mother and crazy children, the perfect life.

[firjii]

Chapters: 1/1

Words: 1206

Fandom: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Rating: General Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Female Hero of Kvatch | Champion of Cyrodiil/Martin Septim Additional Tags: arocace relationship, MartinLives!AU, PTSD, Post-Canon Fix-It, Bosmer, Older Woman/Younger Man, tense switching

Summary: Alive but not entirely well some time after the canon events of Oblivion, Martin and the HoK have settled into a quiet retirement in an attempt to heal their various traumas and support each other in ways that few other people could. Written approximately in the style of some in-game documents rather than as one specific scene.

Plain text version under the cut...

The shadows come back easier than they can be banished, but Martin knows that. He’s seen it from the start.

She’d come to Kvatch so suddenly, so randomly, so accidentally. Even seasoned soldiers would have had difficulty understanding what had happened there. By all rights, she should have died: a wood elf with more experience in running away than fighting, a sporadic archer at best, a mage who could only be called a mage because she excelled at a single spell. And some would say she was getting on a bit, even by elven standards. But she knew a great deal about potions, so she’d survived, if only because she’d been weighed down with flasks and herb pouches when she’d gone through the gate.

He’d watched her struggle after that.

With nothing else to compare such an experience to in her life, she’d veered from shock to disbelief to cockiness and everything in between. Common people had looked on her after that with fear, wondering if she’d sided against them, with or without realizing it. She’d hated their suspicion, but nothing in the rumors was beyond what she’d wondered herself. Soldiers and battlemages and bards had stared on in admiration, curious to know the specifics of the tale. She’d hated their gazes but had only rarely squirmed in discomfort. She’d fully realized that if it had been someone else, she’d be among the adoring throngs.

She’d often referred to it as a dream. Martin had lost count of how many times he’d seen the disconnect in her: wanting to be prepared, but learning in secret, furtively, often alone, all because she’d also been in denial about anything like it ever happening again. The impossible couldn’t happen twice – could it?

Martin barely made it out alive in the end – the Hero isn’t the only one who has nightmares.

But she knows this. She never once denies him his time when his eyes become gloomy and dour because a daydream has turned into a flashback or a nightmare. When he wakes in the night screaming, she simply wraps another blanket around him and holds his hand until he falls asleep again. She does it because it is no more or less than what he would do. She does it because it’s all that can be done sometimes.

More than occasionally, their nightmares synchronize on the same night. When it happens, they draw arms around each other, if only to remind each other that they’re not alone in the darkness. They’re not in another realm or another plane anymore. They’re in Mundus, on Nirn, in Cyrodiil, in the little cottage that Martin so carefully chose for them.

On those nights, they seldom fall back asleep easily. Instead they listen for the signs that they’re home: the cattle and goats murmuring amongst themselves the next valley over, the odd bark from a dog, the chickens in the backyard that Martin so painstakingly picked out for them. She’d often remarked that pets were somewhat unusual in Valenwood but that it was the first fact about human culture she’d heartily embraced. He’d thought against getting a dog – they were too much like wolves. Cats and several other small creatures made her nervous. But she was fond of birds. Chickens are just enough to keep her mind busy without being overwhelming, and she enjoys learning all the uses for eggs in Cyrodiilic cookery.

She won’t go outside any more than she needs to. Cities make her panic. Traveling, no matter how gradual and quiet, has made her faint – more than once. The sight of open fields and hills usually makes her sick.

But after awhile, she lets Martin leave for short intervals – an hour or two to speak with a farmer, an afternoon to retrieve herbs and mushrooms, a half day in a town or city. She gladly listens to his stories. He makes a point of only telling her interesting or funny or happy things. There’s no need to mention that the Imperial City is still scrambling a bit to keep things together. There’s no need to tell her that harrowing near-misses of other sorts still happen throughout Cyrodiil.

Instead, he fills her mind with jolly jokes he overheard during lunch. He remarks on the unusual wares he’s starting to see in the shops – at times a sign of reestablished trade with the far corners of the province, at others merely proof of the chaos and banditry that comes with decimated villages and ruined estates.

He also brings back a few more books every time. She appreciates all of them, from history accounts to recent political commentaries to poetry and novels. She claims to be illiterate, but he’s seen her methodically examining books often enough that he knows she simply prefers it when he narrates them for her.

She smiles, and for awhile – maybe only a moment sometimes – her shoulders aren’t quite so hunched forward, her hands don’t quite fidget about so much, her face isn’t as sickly. Her eyes dance when he comes to an exciting part in a story. She rarely speaks, but she always listens. In time, she even prompts him to re-read certain volumes.

And he always smiles to see it.

They are strangely bound together now: more than comrades, less than lovers – not that he minds – and always, always a careful balance as subtle as one strand of a spiderweb yet as steadfast as the moon cycle. Few people understand it, and even fewer can see that it will be their way of life until they die. Martin knows enough to admit that it is as unavoidable as it is fitting. And why should he want to avoid it? Why would either of them want to avoid it?

Gradually, he finds her sneaking moments at twilight for fresh, cool, sometimes rain-tinged night winds. Sometimes she doesn’t entirely cross the threshold of their home – sometimes she only opens a window – but her face feels the moonlight and open air.

And he always smiles to see it.

She cares for him as deeply as he cares for her. She’s even shown glimmers of craving him. Such it was from their first days traveling together after Kvatch. Yet she still fears too much. She still crumbles too often. She usually shudders if she is embraced, even if the attention only comes from a mild little tot seeking to admire the hero who has become the focus of so many stories.

In the ten years they have known each other, they have only shared a kiss thrice. He is content to let her lead, and if she never asks for more beyond that, she will still be perfect in his eyes.

But in time, she holds his hands when he offers them, the simple reminder of another’s presence enough to scatter the storm clouds in her eyes for awhile.

And in time, she asks him to brace her when the storm clouds consume her a little too much. Quiet times indeed, entire hours spent staring at the hearth, her face ever a melding of heaviness and exhaustion and desperate fear – but softened at the reminder that he can and happily will share her load.

And he always smiles to see it.

[toasted-gold]

marigold’s birthday, year 1

she’s made quick friends with most of the town already, given that it’s only been two seasons. 

jas, vincent, and penny all surprise her with breakfast. surprise her right at her doorstop, actually! jas hands over some soggy pancakes, and vincent gives her two crispy, sunny-side eggs, and penny hands over two handmade cards from the both of them. 

they each had taken one half for themselves and drawn all over. she thinks she can make out what looks like fruit trees and an axe, though she’s not quite sure. it warms her heart throughout the day, anyway. 

after they leave, she checks her mail. a neat package seats underneath, posted from a bakery she remembers visiting before she moved away from the city. the card inside the box is signed by her mother, with a note of ‘Oh, I do wish you’d come home soon.’ 

a letter sits inside of the mailbox, from her dad she receives a simple note of: “great job out there, kiddo”, and a check for a couple thousand coins. 

marigold pushes the cake all the way at the back of the fridge, maybe to give away later, and she hides the check in her nightstand to cash it out once she needs to buy more crops.

speaking of- a farmer’s work is never done. 

imagine her surprise when she comes across a burnt peach tree, then. 

it still smolders, probably struck sometime in the night during that vicious thunderstorm, but she’s sure she can find use of the thick coals that drop from the branches when she shakes the them free. 

on her way to town after marigold finishes watering the crops and petting the chickens, she runs into elliot, who is prompt to drag her to leah’s house for a late brunch.

he gifts her with some bok choy, and a poem to go along with it, while leah offers her a fresh salad, made from leah’s very own garden. she offers to make a sculpture, if marigold is willing to sit still for a few hours, but she’s able to wiggle herself away with a promise to help her move some of her heavier art-pieces, if she ever needs it. 

back in town, she is quickly swept away by the band- sam, sebastian, and abigail. they sit her down on sam’s squeaky bed and set up a camera before they rock out to a song they’d thrown together the week prior, as soon as they’d learned her birthday was coming up. 

they promise to burn her a personal CD, and she convinces them to sign it as well, as a momento of before they get famous.

as marigold continues about her daily chores- checking in with the villagers and subsequently getting surprised that they remember her birthday, she gathers quite a few gifts that way down on her horse, Tomata.

from grannie evelyn she gets pumpkin soup, and the recipe for it at the same time. from grumpy george she gets a warning not to get too sunburnt out there. back in his day, they didn’t have sunscreen- grumble grumble. 

alex, able to catch her before she leaves, passes her some glazed yams. he admits that he get help from grannie evelyn, but marigold appreciates the effort immensely, anyway. 

from haley and emily she gets a peculiar set. haley gives her a plain radish, bought from pierre’s shop that morning, and, matching it in color, emily gifts her a bundle of quartz- to��‘cleanse her spirit’. 

from jodi and caroline she gets two big, motherly hugs and offers to come over for dinner anytime of the week. 

linus hands her a hand-woven basket, for berry picking. willie gifts a new fishing lure, even though they both know she’s awful at fishing. 

maru and demetrius, who catch her just after marigold’s finishing a bundle in the community center, give her fertilizer. it’s implied that they want to see how well their ‘special blend’ works on the soil, but the world thrives off of symbiotic relationships, so she hooks it to Tomata’s saddle and carries on with a smile.

when she stops by the saloon in the afternoon, pam greets her with a tall pint of beer, which marigold is quick to gift back and instead order a root beer. gus hands her a plate of freshly made crab cakes- on the house, of course!

on her way around the corner, to visit mister wizard and see if he’d enchant her sword for her for free, she runs into none other than her boyfriend, of course. 

well, ‘runs into’ is a strong word. 

she spots him just past the lamppost, and hastily clasps the mermaid’s pendant around her neck. she’s been holding onto it for a while, and her luck seems to be going grand on her birthday this year, so maybe...

the town’s clock strikes on the hour, and shane’s pace picks up. must be in a hurry. 

she hides it beneath her dress instead, for another time, and acts as nonchalant as can be as he passes. if he’s startled by her sudden appearance when he rounds the corner, he doesn’t show it. 

he smiles warm, reaches into his pocket, and offers her a necklace.

it isn’t a mermaid’s pendant, but it’s shimmery and rainbow- a prismatic shard snugly entrapped in a silver cage. it’s stunning. 

“happy birthday, marigold.” he says, stuffing his hands in his pocket. he was ever so shy, even though he’d more or less cursed her out when they first met, just for looking at him. 

she’s able to urge a kiss on the cheek out of him, and when he rushes off to catch pierre before the general store closes, he’s blushing bright red. 

later that night, when she’s finished sorting through her gifts and has treated Tomata to an extra helping of hay for being such a good steed, she flops into bed and kicks off her fancy dress shoes, relishing the fact that tomorrow she’ll be back in her country boots. 

wait- tomorrow!

when she sits up and stares across the room, her calendar is staring back at her. there, at the end of the month and circled numerous times in bright blue circles, is the 28th. dance of the moonlight jellies. 

her primastic necklace knocks against the mermaid’s pendant as she digs them both from underneath her dress, and a coy smile claims her lips. 

a late birthday present, then. she was patient enough for that.

[nomanicsdak]

New Post has been published on http://manicdak.com/?p=2291

Daggers for Daggers

and More Bears

First a little catch-up on what I’ve been up to as Alexios the mercenary. First, we set sail from the island of Achillies after having attempted a conquest battle and failed it about a bajillion (the official number) times. I fight for Sparta; I die. I fight for Athens; I die. Also, there is another mercenary after me, I realize on my one time making it halfway through the battle. You can tell because not only is the red hat meter in the bottom corner, but they appear in the middle of battle screaming at you to come and fight them. Then they chase you around until you are dead, and since everybody else is also trying to get you during a battle, it’s best to just pay your bounty or find the other mercenary ahead of time and dispatch them one on one.

Charge!

None of this matters because I am leaving this battle for another day and heading to another rando island to avoid my main quest some more. Here I come upon not one, but two animal caves. My least favorite locations to complete, because, yes, I do want a platinum trophy, thanks, but I don’t really like fighting animals unless I have to. I’d rather just let the other guys fight them, or avoid them. OH, well. Now this island contains not one, but two big old white alpha creatures to defeat. A bear and a boar! The boar is slightly easier, because it is alone, and as we learned before, for some reason bears roam in packs in this game.

He’s gonna get me

Today I learned, just now as I am writing this, that a pack of bears is actually called a Sloth or a Sleuth (as in slow, not as in bears are good at being detectives.) Now, if group of bears is a Sloth, then what is a group of sloths?? (A bed or a slumber is the answer. Bless you, internet.)

Bear asides aside, I decide to go do one of those daily quests that get you some of that rare ore to buy stuff in the store which I’m probably never going to do. Legendary gear? Meh. I pick up a bounty for 5 sharks. I wonder where to find some sharks and just go swim the hell out into the ocean. I find a shark, but it keeps swimming away. Then I go to bed, because I’m tried.

Flailing in the Deep

 The next day there’s still time on the shark timer and I find three at a shipwreck which I dispatch handily, but I run out of time before I can locate more sharks, so it is all for naught. Alas. However, I find a secret tomb on the far side of the island while I’m looking for killer fish. Neat!

In the Tomb looking out

After tomb raiding, I go back into town to defeat the leader and attempt to trigger a battle. I haven’t managed to get Athens’s power down far enough for that yet, but I did initiate a quest, because I don’t want to leave the island with an exclamation point.

So, here’s the story, there’s a group called the dagger that I have to defeat. This guy, whose name I forgot and I can’t find on the ‘nets, but I luckily screen capped his dialog at some point; His name is Agapios—Well, he’s a slave working with the magister (magistrate?) to uncover this dagger dude. I pillage the gang’s hideout on the dock and we find out that the dagger’s leader is called the “Kingfisher” and he is this dude’s brother! *gasp*

Agapios does not believe this shit. Literally. He want’s me to prove that his bro is really dead and not a bad guy, but I actually prove the opposite of that. He’s totally the Kingfisher, leader of the Dagger. I have a thought that he is one of the cultist leaders I’m looking for, so I’m getting amped for this quest. This does not last long, because there comes a time in the gamer’s life where they stumble upon a quest and learn the hard way that they really should have made a manual save before they jumped in and made all the wrong choices. This is that time.  I mean aside from that time I doomed my home island to a plague death that is.

In the sidequest to the sidequest I meet a couple that runs a theatre, also they take care of orphans. Clearly these people must live, because they do not suck unlike half the people I meet. They are getting the shakedown, so I have to go take care of the dagger agent who is in charge of this.

I managed to talk to dagger dude. He was just extorting the theatre people for his family.  I guess some other higher up dagger is putting the screws to this guy too, so I don’t want to kill him, but there’s nothing I can do to convince him to leave the theatre couple alone. I tried to just punch him unconscious and recruit him for myself, but he never wakes up. He’s alive…but won’t get up. Restart.

Next time I approach him, he just attacks me. Apparently, I was lucky to get the talk prompt on my first try.  Anyway,  I must do what I must to advance the quest. We won’t mention that if you do it while at his house, his wife and kid come back home and it is tragic. I get back to the theatre and trigger a cut scene. Another dagger thug is now is holding the theatre couple hostage. Everything I do leads to them being dead. The thug is making me choose which one lives with malicious glee. Like, he is literally squealing with laughter about this horror.

It’s not funny, you maniac!

Whether I choose one or the other or neither…both end up dead. (Because the NPCs won’t stay out of the fight! Seriously, why does the AI have them punching geared up agents of evil with their bare hands when they could be running and hiding under a bush or something?) Several restarts later, I decide to cheat and see if it’s even possible to save everyone. It is. I can snipe the baddies with arrows! Good news.

The bad news is, I have overwritten every autosave with my attempts to figure this out for myself. Woe! I have to leave it with the orphans now double orphaned, because my closest manual save is two entire levels ago when I decided I wasn’t going to do the conquest battle, and I really don’t want to undo all my progress so far. Alas. At least the couple told me where to find Kingfisher before they were gone. 

Before I forget, the cherry on the top of this fail sundae is that even chickens are attacking me now.

But first, I feel like I must finish all my side-sidequests. I have to go visit Agapios’s contact up on a hill. She wants me to get a treasure from a shipwreck before the Dagger gets it. Turns out the treasure is a Dagger meant for sacrifices to Apollo. The Contact thinks this is the most hilarious thing. (The dagger wanted a dagger? Hahah!) I manage to defend her from more thugs that magically spawn, and now I’m off to face the Kingfisher!

So, the big reveal, which I mentioned earlier, is that yes, the big bad is my Agapios’s not dead bro. When I break the news, he just runs away, presumably to go save this bro. Some bystander guard wants to go stop him, because—slavery, but the magister (magistrate?) is just like, nah. He’s free now, let’s go fish for some Kingfisher. We make it to Apollo’s temple and face down the head of the Dagger. I choose to tell my now free friend that his bro is beyond saving, and the fight is on!

I also choose this point to fall asleep again, because I am le tired, and it is late! Next time I will find out for sure if this dude was a cultist. I’m guessing no, because that is my luck. There is also a really, extra shiny glowing question mark on the map of this particular island that I must check out! Tune in next time when I find out that it is actually just a bear jamboree and nothing to do with the finding these cultists I’m supposed to be finding!

Assassin in the Moonlight

Whale Shark

Over the Cliff

more scenic vistas

Why does this donkey have such a big head

Found a Buzzard

Turtles ahoy!

Don’t be Fooled

What are these ladies up to

Whale Breech

Sometimes They Help Me

Why are you punching me, townsfolk?

Lookin’ like Man at Arms

Dolphins