#when you try to access the line just above whats being shown it just jumps right to the top

[oflgtfol]

arguing with people on the college pulse survey app is such a terrible experience because you have people writing essays in this space

[itsclydebitches]

Can I point out how stupid it is that only at the end of V8 did anybody realize "oh wait there's more than these two arbitrary options for saving Atlas" and it was when it was too late? RWBY and Ironwood had access to an artifact called the Staff of Fucking Creation. It can pretty much anything as long as you've got the smarts to make it happen. You could've landed Atlas and made a shield. Or a giant robot. Or literally anything other than "Leave or Stay".

Personally, I'm convinced that the Staff is just another version of Amity. Meaning, like Amity was 100% unfinished in Volume 7 and thus not a resource that Ironwood could rely on, only to miraculously be ready to go when Ruby wanted it, the Staff is presented as an artifact with severe limitations in Volume 7 when Ironwood (the bad guy) wanted to escape, only to miraculously become a tool that could do anything — get everyone to Vacuo and give Penny a human body — when Ruby (the hero) wanted it.

What do we actually know about the Staff in Volume 7? Only that it was creating a power source that kept Atlas floating above Mantle. What did Ironwood want to do with the Staff? Raise Atlas higher. Those two pieces of information align with one another, implying that the Staff, for whatever reason, is only — or currently only — capable of moving this city around. What else do we know about the Relics? That the Lamp has a limitation of three questions per hundred years. Why would the Staff be any different? Many fans, given the dearth of information, extrapolated based on these details. Perhaps the Staff can also only create three things each hundred years too and we're currently on the third creation this century. Perhaps you can modify it — I want this power source to amp up a bit and take us higher — but you can't create something entirely new yet. Because why would the Staff function totally differently from the one Relic we actually know something about? More importantly, why, as you say, wouldn't Ironwood have considered another option other than rising really high? I defended that idea heartily because the story presents it as the only option available. It wasn't a matter of whether the option was good, but the fact that it was the one option they had, other than throwing themselves at an immortal witch. Surely Ironwood, a military and Kingdom leader, is smart enough to hit on the idea that the Staff of Creation can do more than just take them into the air IF it can do more than that at the moment... right?

Volume 7 told us nothing about the Staff, but heavily implied that little could be done with it while Ironwood was in control of the situation. They had two options: stay or go. That was it.

Volume 8 explained the Staff's capabilities literally minutes before Ruby needed to use it, oh so conveniently creating a new situation where the Staff was not only capable of so much more and lacked the limitations of the Lamp, but also functioned in a manner that perfectly allowed for Ruby's "twist" requests. When did the group have time to come up with the (supposedly) perfect wording to save Penny and get everyone safely to Vacuo? The answer doesn't matter because the Staff's abilities were created for their needs, rather than the writing forcing them to come up with solutions to the Staff's requirements.

I did the latest quest for my covenant in WoW the other day and one NPC has a line about how convenient it is that the exact person we needed is also the person who has just shown up. It's meant to be a gentle self-teasing by the writers, acknowledging how they've manipulated the plot in an unlikely way for conveniences sake and in doing so the setup (hopefully) becomes funny for the player, rather than frustrating. RWBY's writing is that cranked up to ten and there's no knowing wink at the audience to get us on the writer's side. The rules, limitations, and expectations of this world continually bend to benefit the group and the result is not just a frustration with their lack of growth as a result, but also an equal frustration at how stupid it makes other characters look, even though they're meant to be smart, knowledgeable, and following the world's rules at the time. Ironwood retroactively looks foolish for his choice, even though the choice is supposed to be about the sacrifice he'd have to make, not his inability to come up with other solutions. The group, meanwhile, looks even worse given their refusal to fight or come up with additional ideas, only to gleefully hit on a perfect solution precisely when the plot needs them to — we're nearing the end of the Volume, best have that epiphany now. But, of course, the story doesn't criticize the group for their own lack of creativity, nor is the fandom interested in criticizing them for not thinking up another use for the Staff within two days, compared to Ironwood trying to come up with a use literally seconds after Salem announces that she's on her way. Yet such details are ultimately inconsequential because RWBY was never interested in creating a fair, continuity-driven story that weighs hard choices, only in continually changing the rules to ensure that the group comes out looking the best. RWBY's stakes are too high and the problems too complicated to easily write solutions where the group looks smart, compassionate, and heroic despite those challenges... so instead we're given "solutions" based on a situation that has totally changed.

It's like watching a chess match where Ironwood looses badly and the spectators are desperately trying to figure out the rules along the way, coming to some basic conclusions about what is and is not allowed in a match. Except then the group's game begins and it's revealed that they can move their pieces in whatever way they'd like, no knights moving in an 'L' shape or bishops not being allowed to jump other pieces, etc. "Well why didn't Ironwood just move his pawn eight squares too? The idiot" comes the reaction, ignoring that he was very much playing a different game, one where he was actually bound by those rules.

[just-dreaming-marvel]

Out Of Time ~ 102

MASTERLIST

< previous chapter

Word Count: 4,000ish

Summary: A group goes to Korea. Tony convinces Bruce to help finish putting the Stone in the body.

Y/N was walking out to the quinjet with Fury, dying to ask a question.

“Are you going through with Theta Protocol?” Y/N asked, quietly.

“I am,” Fury answered. “I believe we’ll need it. Don’t you?”

“As much as I want to believe we can end it in Korea, I have a feeling it won’t end there.”

“Coulson contacted me. Tried to get me to convince you to stay out of this. Any idea why?”

“He’s worried.”

“Nothing to do with the sudden ability to create portals?”

“Nick—“

“I’m just saying, I don’t usually sit people out. But you should think about sitting this one out.”

“It’s too late. I’m already in this.”

“Alright, just… stay safe.”

~~~

Steve and Y/N were dropped off a few roofs down from Cho’s lab, for safety measures. They headed towards the edge of the roof and looked towards the lab.

“Two minutes,” Steve told Nat and Clint, who were on comms. “Stay close.” He glanced at Y/N before looking back at the lab. “You know, I really wish that you could just open a portal into the building.”

“You and me both,” she replied.

Steve jumped from roof to roff as Y/N used her portals to get to each roof. When they reached the lab building and entered, it was clear that Ultron and been there but also wasn’t there anymore. They found Helen on the floor, wounded.

“Dr. Cho!” Steve exclaimed as they ran to her. They knelt beside her.

“He’s uploading himself into the body,” she stated, clearly in pain.

“Where?” Y/N asked.

“The real power is inside the Cradle. The gem, its power is uncontainable…. You can't just blow it up… You have to get the Cradle to Stark.”

“First we have to find it,” Steve said.

“Go.”

They ran out of the lab and towards the highway. They began to climb up the ladder to get to higher ground.

“Did you guys copy that?” Steve asked through the comms.

“We did,” Clint responded.

“I got a private jet taking off, across town, no manifest,” Natasha informed them. “That could be him.”

“There. It’s the truck from the lab. Right above you guys. On the loop by the bridge. It’s them. I got three with the cradle, one int he cab. I could take out the driver.”

“Negative!” Y/N quickly said. “If that truck crashes, the gem could level the city.”

“We need to draw out, Ultron,” Steve stated.

Steve jumped down onto the truck, getting Ultron’s attention. Y/N rolled her eyes and formed a portal above the truck, accessing it that way. Trying to get through the doors of the truck, Steve and the doors are blasted back by Ultron.

“Well, he’s definitely unhappy!” Steve commented, hanging onto the door as it got dragged. “I’m gonna try and keep him that way.”

“You’re not a match for him, Cap,” Clint said.

“Thanks, Barton.”

Ultron blasted at Steve as he tried to enter the truck. Steve hit the windshield of the car behind them. Y/N ran and flipped into the truck, dodging a blast from Ultron by creating portals. The blast came through a portal behind Ultron, hitting him in the back.

Steve found a way back onto the roof of the truck, Y/N appearing at the same time to avoid a blast. Ultron hovered at the end of the truck’s roof.

“You know what's in that Cradle?” Ultron asked. “The power to make real change, and that terrifies you.”

“I wouldn’t call it a comfort,” Steve commented. 

He tossed his shield at Ultron. It hit Ultron and he started firing back. Y/N used the portals to use the blasts against Ultron, once again.

“Get in and protect the gem!” Steve ordered.

Y/N nodded. She appeared in the truck, where two Ultron bots were guarding the cradle. They began shooting at her. She used the portals again to her advantage, but she could feel her energy being drained. Natasha was now on a motorcycle, chasing after the truck. She noticed Y/N fighting off the two bots by herself while Steve was fighting off the main Ultron bot on the roof.

“Clint, can you draw out the guards?” Natasha ordered through the comms.

“Let’s find out,” Clint responded.

He flew the quinjet lower and fired at the main Ultron bot. That put the other two into protective mode, going after the quinjet.

“Thanks, Barton,” Y/N panted.

She went over to the cradle’s control panel, to see what she could do, as commotion continued through the comms.

“Heading back towards you,” Clint warned. “So whatever you’re going to do, do it now.”

“I’m going in,” Nat said. “Cap, can you keep him occupied?”

“What do you think I’ve been doing?” Steve responded.

Nat jumped into the truck as the Ultron bots lifted it off the ground.

“I can’t access the panel,” Y/N stated. “I can’t stop whatever’s happening. Unless…” Y/N looked at the Stone. “I could—“

“No,” Nat stated. “Not here. Don’t you dare and try to do something that could kill you in this truck.”

“But, Nat, I could protect the—“

“I said no, Rogers!”

“Okay, package is airborne,” Clint stated over the comms. “I have a clean shot.”

“Negative,” Nat responded. “Y/N and I are still in the truck.”

“What the hell are you—“

“Just be ready, we’re sending the package to you.”

“How do you want me to take it?”

Nat cut through the straps holding the cradle in place. “Uhh, you might wish you hadn’t asked that.”

“I lost him!” Steve suddenly yelled over the comms. “He’s headed your way.”

“Guys, we gotta go,” Clint said, lining up the back of the quinjet with the back of the truck.

“Nat, get on the cradle!” Y/N ordered. She slipped a small bomb she had from her belt and placed it on the wall.

“What?” She responded. 

“Do it!”

Natasha did as she was told and laid on top of the cradle. Y/N pushed it towards the opening. It slid out of the truck and into the quinjet. Y/N portaled herself out of the truck and into the quinjet just as the truck exploded. Suddenly, Nat was grabbed by the Ultron bot.

“Nat!” Both Clint and Y/N screamed.

“Cap, you see Nat?” Clint asked, panicked.

“If you have the package, get it to Stark!” Steve ordered. “Go!”

“Steve, do you have eyes on Nat?” Y/N asked.

“Go!”

“Damn it,” Clint muttered as he reluctantly took off in the quinjet. 

“I should have portaled both of us in here,” Y/N shook her head. “I should have done something to save her.”

Clint was silent, but his thoughts were loud and clear, “Yeah. You should have.”

~~~

Y/N portaled the cradle and Clint into the lab, but not herself. She wanted time to feel the guilt, and she didn’t need the looks of blame from Bruce and Tony just yet. She was also tired. She had been practicing forming portals but she hadn’t used them in combat like she had today. Leaning her head back against the seat, Y/N closed her eyes and tried to calm the noise in her mind. It failed as the loudest mind of all drew near.

“She can’t be blaming herself over this,” Tony thought. “He would have grabbed one of them to prove a point anyway. And, sorry Nat, better you then Y/N.” 

Tony came up and set a caring hand on Y/N’s shoulder, rubbing it with his thumb.

“Heard what happened over the comms,” he said, spinning the captain’s chair around. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“Clint blames me,” she replied.

“You don’t kno—“

“But I do! I know it because I heard it. Yes, he didn’t say it out loud, but in his thoughts he was blaming me. I—“ Y/N gripped her hair. “I can’t do this! This burden is too much! I don’t want it anymore!”

“Woah, woah, woah.” Tony’s hands flew to Y/N’s wrists. “Honey…”

“I can’t do it!” She cried. “I can’t do what they’re expecting of me. They should have let me die!”

“What are you talking about?” Tony tried to pull Y/N closer to him. “No, they shouldn’t have.”

“Stop! Don’t touch me!”

Tony’s hands suddenly flew off of Y/N. His eyes widened at the action that he had no control over.

“Sweetheart….” He gently called. “What did the Maximoff witch show you?”

A loud, painful sob ripped through Y/N throat as the vision she was shown flashed through her mind. So much death and destruction. Crumbling in on herself, she slipped onto the floor. Tony’s heart broke as he watched the strongest woman he knew fall apart. He slowly knelt down beside her, carefully reaching out to touch her. When Y/N didn’t flinch away from his touch, Tony gently guided her hands out of her hair.

“Y/N… please tell me what you saw.”

“Dust,” she replied, barely a whisper. “Screams… so many screams…”

“It wasn’t real, Y/N, remember?”

“It felt real…. So real…”

“I know the feeling…” Tony slowly pulled Y/N up and into him, cradling her softly. 

“I shouldn’t have been saved….”

“Whatever those alien objects are making you feel, I’m grateful that they’ve been saving you… or else I wouldn’t have ever met you… and I can’t imagine my life without you.” He held a kiss to her head. “We’ll figure this out. We’ll get through it… we always do…”

~~~

Y/N gripped Tony’s hand tightly as he led her back to the lab. Bruce was entering as well as Clint tried to open the cradle.

“Anything on Nat?” Bruce asked.

“Haven’t heard,” Tony answered, giving Y/N’s hand a light squeeze. “But she’s alive, or Ultron’d be rubbing our faces in it.”

“This is sealed tight,” Clint stated.

“We’re going to need to access the program, break it down from within,” Bruce explained. 

“Hm,” Tony hummed. "Any chance Natasha might leave you a message, outside the internet, old school spy stuff?”

“There’s some nets I can cast,” Clint responded. “Yeah, alright. I'll find her.” And he headed off.

“How about you sit here?” Tony guided Y/N down into a seat, kissing her forehead. “Does that work?” She nodded.

Bruce eyes were laced with concern, but moved on, not wanting to say anything that would set anything off. “I can work on tissue degeneration, if you can fry whatever operational system Cho implanted.”

“Yeah, about that…”

“No.”

“You have to trust me.” Y/N furrowed her brows.

“Kinda don’t.”

“Our ally? The guy protecting the military's nuclear codes? I found him.” Tony pulled up a consciousness.

“Hello, Dr. Banner, Agent Rogers,” JARVIS greeted.

“J?” Y/N gasped. She didn’t realize how much she could miss an AI.

“Ultron didn't go after JARVIS cause he was angry. He attacked him because he was scared of what he can do,” Tony explained. “So JARVIS went underground. Okay? Scattered, dumped his memory. But not his protocols. He didn't even know he was in there, until I pieced him together.”

“So, you want me to help you put JARVIS into this thing?” Bruce asked, pointing to the body inside the cradle.

“No, of course not! I want to help you put JARVIS in this thing.” Bruce shook his head. “We're out of my field here. You know bio-organics better than anyone.”

“And you just assume that JARVIS' operational matrix can beat Ultron’s?”

“JARVIS has been beating him from inside without knowing it. This is the opportunity, we can create Ultron's perfect self, without the homicidal glitches he thinks are his winning personality. We have to.”

“I believe it’s worth a go,” JARVIS added.

“No, I’m in a loop!” Bruce exclaimed. “I'm caught in a time loop, this is exactly where it all went wrong.”

“I know, I know. I know what everyone's going to say, but they're already saying it,” Tony said, moving to standing next to Bruce. “We're mad scientists. We're monsters, buddy. You gotta own it. Make a stand.” Bruce shook his head again. “It's not a loop. It's the end of the line.”

Feeling the sudden need to try something, Y/N stood up, the men eyeing her. She pressed her hand against the glass above the Stone and closed her eyes. She began searching it, as it searched her.

“You’re the only one,” it told her. “There’s no other option.”

“But what if I don’t want to?” She responded.

“Then half of the universe will die… I will be safe in this body, as long as JARVIS is in control and not Ultron. And I will help guide and protect you.”

“Y/N?” Tony called, growing concerned as the Stone had began glowing. “Y/N, what’s going on?”

“Just tell me one thing, when?” Y/N asked. “When does this all happen?”

“Soon,” the Stone replied. “But there are several things that must happen before then… You will be prepared though. We would not have chosen you if you weren’t going to be.”

“Y/N,” Tony called louder, coming up beside her.

With a light gasp, Y/N removed her hand and looked at Tony. “Do it,” she said. “Do it.”

~~~

“This framework is not compatible,” Tony stated. The men were experimenting with the cradle, trying to upload JARVIS.

“The genetic coding tower’s at ninety seven percent,” Bruce informed. “You have got to upload that schematic in the next three minutes.”

Suddenly, Steve and the Maximoff twins appeared in the lab.

“I’m gonna say this once,” Steve warned.

“How about ‘nonce’?” Tony retorted.

“Shut it down!”

“Nope, not gonna happen.”

“You don’t know what you’re doing.”

“And you do?” Bruce asked, clearly angry. “She's not in your head?”

“I know you’re angry—“ Wanda said, stepping up.

“Oh, we're way past that. I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade.”

“Banner,” Steve called, “after everything that’s happened—“

“That’s nothing compared to what’s coming!” Y/N shouted, surprising Steve.

“You don’t know what’s in there!” Wanda responded.

“This isn’t a game, Y/N,” Steve scolded. “How are you taking his side?”

“His side?” Y/N repeated. “This isn’t about sides, Steve! This has more to do than just us!”

“The creature—“ Wanda started but was cut off by Pietro using his speed to destroy the lab equipment.

“No, no. Go on,” Pietro taunted. “You were saying?”

Suddenly, the glass floor Pietro was standing on shattered, sending him to the floor below. Barton was there, being the one who had shot the floor.

“Pietro!” Wanda yelled.

“What? You didn’t see that coming?” Clint taunted.

The computers in the lab and the cradle began beeping. The sudden power loss was going to destroy everything they had done.

“I’m rerouting the upload!” Tony said.

Then a bang. Steve had thrown his shield at the equipment, trying to stop Tony. Tony called the suit to him, it quickly forming around him. He shot at Steve, throwing him down. Bruce went around to Wanda, holding her in a choke hold as her eyes began to glow red.

“Go ahead,” Bruce whispered to her. “Piss me off.”

Clint came rushing up the stairs, cocking his gun. Steve quickly jumped up and started heading for Tony. Tony heading for him as well. Y/N jumped in between the two men, getting frustrated at what was happening.

“STOP!” She shouted. Suddenly, everyone froze. Y/N could feel it was her doing, her energy draining. 

“Y/N, how are—“ Steve began.

“NO! You don’t understand, this is needed.”

Thor suddenly slid into the lab, making his grand entrance after 24 hours. Him and Y/N made eye contact.

“I know the truth,” he thought, directly speaking to her. “I can help.”

She nodded and he jumped onto the cradle. Thor lifted up his hammer and began to summon lightning.

“Wait!” Bruce yelled.

But it was too late. Thor hit down on the cradle with his hammer. He lifted the hammer once the cradle started beeping.

“Y/N, let us go,” Tony said.

“No,” she replied. 

Everyone eyed her worriedly, while still trying to watch the cradle. They grew more concerned when they noticed that she was breaking a sweat and trembling.

“Y/N—“

But Steve was cut off when the cradle burst opened, throwing Thor off from on top of it. The red body appeared on top of the cradle, housing the Mind Stone on its forehead. Y/N panted as she released everyone from her hold. They all stared at the body.

Suddenly, the body flew at Thor. Thor tossed him through the glass wall and into the room below. Thor and Steve jumped out behind him, on the defensive, as Tony quickly came up to Y/N.

“Honey,” he called, grabbing her to steady her.

“If you and Steve… ever try to attack each other like that again…” Y/N panted. “I’ll kill you both myself…”

She shrugged off Tony and headed down the stairs, Tony slowly following behind her. The red body was hovering at the main wall of windows, staring at its reflection. Thor had his hand out, telling Steve not to attack. Thor set his hammer down and made his way toward the body. It flew down, changing its appearance to seem like it was wearing clothes, stopping when it was next to Thor.

“I am sorry,” his voice sounded like JARVIS, “That was… odd.” He looked at Thor. “Thank you.” 

“Thor,” Steve’s authoritative voice rang through the room. “You helped create this?”

“I had a vision,” Thor started, glancing at Y/N. “A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life, and at its center is that.” He pointed to the Mind Stone.

“What?” Bruce questioned. “The gem?”

“It’s the Mind Stone,” Thor continued, glancing at Y/N once again as she tensed. Steve noticed as well. “It’s one of the six Infinity Stones. The greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities.”

“Then why would you bring—“ Steve started.

“Because Stark is right.”

“Oh, it’s definitely the end times,” Bruce commented.

“I’m not the only one who knows this.” Thor made eye contact with Y/N, causing everyone to look at her. “The Avengers can not defeat Ultron.”

“Not alone,” the body added, walking closer to everyone.

“Why does your vision sound like JARVIS?” Steve asked.

“We… we reconfigured JARVIS’ matrix to create something new,” Tony replied. He walked around the man, studying him carefully.

“I think I’ve had my fill of new,” Steve commented, shooting a glance Y/N’s way.

“You think I’m a child of Ultron?” The body asked.

“You’re not?” Steve questioned.

“I’m not Ultron. I’m not JARVIS. I am… I am…”

“I looked in your head and saw annihilation,” Wanda stated.

“Look again.”

“Yeah,” Clint spoke up. “Her seal of approval means jack to me.”

“Their powers, the horrors in our heads, Y/N—“ Thor stopped himself as Y/N frantically shook her head. Thor quickly continued, “Ultron himself, they all came from the Mind Stone, and they're nothing compared to what it can unleash. But with it on our side—“

“Is it?” Steve asked. “Are you? On our side?”

“I don’t think it’s that simple,” it responded.

“Well it better get really simple real soon,” Clint growled.

“I am on the side of life. Ultron isn't, he will end it all.”

“What’s he waiting for?” Tony asked.

“You.”

“Where?” Bruce wondered.

“Sokovia,” Clint answered. “He’s got Nat there too.”

“If we're wrong about you, if you're the monster that Ultron made you to be—“

“What will you do?” It questioned, silencing everyone.

“It’s not a monster,” Y/N responded, stepping forward. She kept her eyes on the Stone. “Trust me.”

“I don't want to kill Ultron. He's unique, and he's in pain. But that pain will roll over the earth, so he must be destroyed. Every form he's built, every trace of his presence on the net, we have to act now. And not one of us can do it without the others. Maybe I am a monster. I don't think I'd know if I were one. I'm not what you are, and not what you intended. So there may be no way to make you trust me. But we need to go.” 

Suddenly, the body lifted Thor’s hammer, handed it to the god. Thor took and at the body walked off as everyone stared in shock.

“Right,” Thor nodded. He walked over to Tony, patting him on the shoulder. “Well done.”

“Three minutes,” Steve ordered. “Get what you need.”

Thor walked over to Y/N, grabbing her arm as he led her away.

“Hey!” Tony called out, causing everyone to notice. “What are you doing?”

“We need to talk,” Thor responded, getting leading her away.

Y/N looked back at the rest of the team, who were hurt and confused. “We’ll be right back,” she said. Opening a portal, the two appeared on the roof of the Tower. “So… you know?”

“Yes.”

“About what though, exactly?”

“The Infinity Stones are what give you your gifts. They are what is protecting you.” Y/N sighed with a nod. “I’m getting that you haven’t told anyone the full extent of everything.”

“How could I? Tony had a vision of us all dead in front of him and that’s why we’re now going to fight a murder bot! If I told any of them that the Stones were saving me for a bigger threat….” She scoffed. “They would lock me up and throw away the key.”

“They wouldn’t do that to you. Stark and Rogers care a great deal about you.”

“They wouldn’t if they’ve seen what I’ve seen.”

“Are you sufficiently practicing your abilities?”

“I only learn about them as the Stones see fit.”

“Good, good.” He nodded. “Do you feel up to fighting Ultron, Y/N?”

“Please don’t doubt me too, Thor.”

“I’m not. I just saw how much of a strain that was, stopping everyone. I want to make sure you have your full strength before heading in.”

“I’ll be fine, Thor. We should get back to the team… They aren’t going to be happy about this.”

“I will help you, Y/N. They won’t be able to hurt you.”

Y/N gave a small nod as she created a portal and her and Thor entered the Tower again. Y/N drew back as she saw the anger in Steve’s eyes and the hurt in Tony’s. Noticing it as well, Thor protectively stepped in front of her.

“This needs to stop,” Thor ordered. “We have bigger problems than what’s going on with Y/N at the moment.”

“You don’t know what you’re—“

“I do know what’s going on here, Stark. And I know it can wait until after Ultron.”

“We’re just asking her to be honest with us,” Steve stated.

“And I’m just asking for some time,” Y/N responded, meekly. 

“I think you’ve had enough. How long have you known about the Infinity Stones?”

“Steve, please und—“

“How long, Y/N?! How long have you decided to keep things from this team? From your family? You are my twin, the only one I have ever really trusted! But now—“

“That’s enough!” Thor roared, lightning cracking. Thor’s Vision appeared behind Y/N before moving in front of her to protect her as well. “Like I said before, this isn’t something we should worry about now. Ultron first, this later.”

“Come on,” the Vision said, urging Y/N to move. She did, slowly following him to the quinjet.

next chapter >

NOTES: from now on the taglist when be added by a reblog. I will reblog it using my second account, @just-dreaming-marvel-2​. Just so that my main page doesn’t get too cluttered.

If you want to be added to the tag list, please dm me or send in an ask. 

[hallothere]

I broke down and wrote the essay. No, I did not and will not proofread it. I don’t waaaannaaaa

There’s Only One Winner For Isengard

In a perfect world, in a world with no meta requirements that could bend to the will of the player, we would roll up to Isengard level-capped, no debuffs, with one quest-marker on hand: Ruin Saruman’s day. But this is a pre-written sequence of events in which we are only along for the ride. We, the player, and a Ranger are shipped off to Isengard with only one conceivable goal: survive. On a meta level we know what Saruman is capable of. At level 70 or 80-something at best, even we are aware that we are no match for a wizard with a canon fate. Not to mention our Ranger companion! The Grey Company has been through enough (though we don’t know the half of it yet) and we are reasonably distraught at the possibilities.

This is why we, the player character, will lose the game of Isengard.

Beyond the meta rules of the game, where quest objectives are whatever the devs wanted them to be (looking at you, Mordrambor) the player character can not defeat Saruman in any way that’s meaningful. And (again on a meta level) in order for us to get to experience the action at Helm’s Deep and Rohan at large, we have to get out of Isengard. We’d get bored of waiting for Theoden and Co. We’d hurl insults or slap fish at Saruman and realistically incur wrath. Honestly, with the set of circumstances presented to us, who could survive imprisonment in Nan Curunir?

Only one of the Company ever could: Lothrandir of Suri Kyla. 

To begin with, none of the Rangers we have any real information on could have done it. Anyone who’s spent time in Angmar is at a disadvantage due to the prevailing dread (game mechanic or otherwise) that can be manipulated by Saruman. Any Ranger that has a major traumatic past is at a disadvantage (sorry Mincham) because if nothing else, Saruman has proven to be a master of illusion. Even Halbarad for all his leadership ability has a pretty exploitable weakness: eventually Saruman can crack the code with a vision of Aragorn’s demise, the one end Halbarad must fear above all others. Or what bond could more easily be exploited than that of a leader and his men? Lheu Brenin’s in the gang now after all. All Saruman would have to do was send for a few more incentives. 

But Lothrandir comes built with a few key advantages that make him the only Grey Company Ranger qualified to come out of this battle of wills on top. His specific strengths, mindset, and personality traits combined with the circumstances that the game sets up going into Isengard make him the clear choice of Rangers- if a Ranger you must have- to stay behind in Nan Curunir. 

Lothrandir wins because he changes the game. From ‘go’ our co-prisoner does something that either puzzles the player character or sends them into an anxious fit. Lothrandir declares himself fearless and sprints recklessly into the ring. Any way you figure it, this seems like a poorly calculated move. He doesn’t stop to survey the enemy. He doesn’t gather intel. Heck, he doesn’t even bide his time to see if he’ll be killed before he even reaches the dungeons. Lothrandir sprints right in without so much as a thought or a plan. Saruman doesn’t know it yet, but from that moment on Lothrandir has him on the back foot. 

Consider for a moment Saruman’s MO. He’s a wizard, and he uses a great deal of magic, sure, but time and time again we are reminded of the power of his voice and his words. He calls down a storm on Caradhras (in the movies for darn sure), he via-Wormtongue whispers poison into the ears of King Theoden. He doesn’t lead with any kind of grandiose display when trying to sway Gandalf. No, he leads with a persuasive argument. Later on, he nearly talks Theoden back around, after failing to wipe out all of Rohan. After killing the man’s son for goodness sakes. He nearly talks himself out of that one!

But Lothrandir has already changed this from a game of wits to a game of wills. There will be no vying for favor, or biding time, or compliance, or even giving Saruman a chance to ‘talk it over friendly’ first. He’s already spitting on the shoes of everyone he sees. The accomplishment in this is twofold, and it makes a major impact on the rest of his time in Nan Curunir. 

Firstly, by establishing a new game, Lothrandir sets Saruman up for a whole lot of assumptions. He does not display any signs of diplomatic ability, wisdom, or even common sense. He very intentionally projects an attitude of reckless disobedience. In the player’s own eyes, it seems as if he ‘doesn’t know any better’. This gives Saruman a clear path to take regarding Lothrandir. He assumes you can’t reason the typical way with someone who has shown zero inclination for listening. The player character demonstrates that the Grey Company (or least their associates) are capable of compliance. For all intents and purposes, this Lothrandir doesn’t appear to be. He’s contrary, fool-hardy, and evidently dumb enough to dive in headfirst and get himself killed. You beat that kind of guy into submission… don’t you?

But Lothrandir has changed the rules of the game. Saruman is no longer fighting with his best weapon, but with a tool to be found in any old villain’s arsenal. When he took the approach of reasoning with the player character and disregarding Lothrandir, he set the victor’s foundation on our snow-pilgrim’s greatest strength. 

Secondly, by establishing a new game, Lothrandir makes this a battle of physical endurance. Unbeknownst to Saruman, this is the one thing that makes him stand out from the rest of the Grey Company. He has walked through the frozen north lands and the fiery south lands and come out unscathed. He has mastered the unarmed combat style of the Lossoth by joining in mid-winter wrestling matches in a place that took down many Elves, Angmarim, and notably one King of Arthedain! Lothrandir has conceivably spent his entire life training for this matchup. Any endurance he has built up, any fighting he can do without access to a weapon, all are assets to the kind of game he just made Saruman play. Lothrandir is uniquely built to survive any physical torment Isengard can throw at him, or at least, better equipped than any of the others. 

To say Lothrandir is the best choice, we also have to rule out the others. Corunir was thwarted by the Rammas Deluon and for all he learned from that, it’s a weak spot in his proverbial armor. Golodir too, resisted a fair degree of torture (palantiri based, even!) in Carn Dum, but it won’t be hard for Saruman to suss that one out and make our old man’s life a living nightmare. Even Radanir, serious and seemingly unattached to any social bonds now that his good pal Elweleth has gone sailing, would be a poor choice. He is too serious, (for lack of a better term) too genre-savvy, and even if he is spitting blood and delivering a witty one-liner, that’s Saruman’s foot in the door! ‘I’ll never betray my friends and kin, you kaleidoscope hack’? You’ve just told him your weakness, Radanir! No, he can’t keep his mouth shut to save his (or Saerdan’s) life. Radanir is the wrong choice too.

We don’t know a significant amount about the others (except Ranger death would move Calenglad to tears, we can’t put him through this) in order to pinpoint their fatal flaws in the Isengard encounter. But, the game puts us in the incredible position of having seen Lothrandir’s Achilles’ heel and letting us take that disadvantage away. 

Lothrandir of Suri Kyla is uniquely equipped to survive any physical encounter that Saruman throws his way. Now, who’s to say the wizard won’t change his tune and go back to his old tricks? In an incredible twist of fate, we are. The game sets us, the player, up to play Saruman’s game from the get-go. We keep our pixelated head down, try and fly below the radar, and express just enough concern over the fate of our fool-hardy pal to get Saruman to cement his estimation of Lothrandir as a pawn in the game in stone. By making ourselves the better target for the words of a wily wizard, Saruman decides that the best way to deal with the spare prisoner is by playing right into his hands. As we all know, the player character escapes. While that might seem bad for someone who Saruman has earmarked for corporal punishment only, it covers Lothrandir’s one weakness. 

Aside from being the only significant unarmed fighter, Lothrandir is also never painted as a loner. He spends his time in Suri Kyla, hanging out with the Lossoth and sharing their campfires. In the new questline in Forochel, he jumps at the chance to make a new Dunedain friend and takes to King Arvedui like a duck to water. They’re instant best pals. It’s minutes before Lothrandir is telling him Aragorn’s life story and pledging to go with him on a buddy adventure to seek peace for a regretful shade. And if that’s not enough canon for you, Lothrandir bears the brunt of the Falcon clan aggression on the way to Isengard. He does it for you, his friend and companion in suffering. It’s a bit meta, but we have to assume in the internal universe he knows you a little. You’ve run your merry adventures to a degree where, were this not a video game, Lothrandir would at least consider you an ally if not a friend outright. 

He exposes his weakness unwittingly to the Falcon clan, but he leaves it at the gates of Isengard in an extremely well-timed move. By sprinting through the gates without a care as to what’s going on with you or anyone else, Lothrandir establishes an emotional distance between you both in the eyes of any onlookers. Whatever affection you have for him, it doesn’t seem reciprocated. This isn’t a major weakness for Saruman to exploit, then. You’re not one of his kinsmen. If he did want to pursue that line, he could always send to Tur Morva for one, right?

This is where the game comes back in to shift the tide in Lothrandir’s favor. We escape. We play the game, we nearly lose the game, and had we not been given an out the power scaling makes it difficult to conceive of an outcome where we the player can win Isengard. Sure, we’ve been released from prisons before (Delossad to name one) but this is the climax of Dunland. We make a daring escape, and move south towards the Gap of Rohan and all sorts of bad times. 

Back in Nan Curunir, Lothrandir is getting the daylights beat out of him, and taking a victory lap. He’s cemented his position as ‘the prisoner we’ll break with violence’. The uruks have seen him insubordinate and disorderly. In the Lothrandir interlude, there’s not only the canon (stated outright!) reality of past and present torture. There’s also zero hesitation in Lothrandir taking that one on the chin. There are no other objectives on his mind than making the next few minutes as miserable as possible for everyone around. He has no other goals. And he doesn’t need them. Nobody is surprised that Lothrandir is signing his death warrant within nanoseconds of being presented an offer to comply. He spits on the offer. He tips over the slop bucket. He beats bloody any orc (and gameplay purposes aside there are very few that dare come forward) that actually tries to kill him for it outright. 

He’s built up a non-rapport with Gun Ain. She talks about killing him and he doesn’t say anything. They’re all playing his game and he’s winning. In the conversation with Saruman, we’re not given the opportunity to watch Lothrandir ‘resist’ in the same fashion the player character did. We don’t need to. Saruman has bigger and better things to worry about- killing a prince, wiping out a nation- than one Ranger who he’s just going to order well-flayed again. By setting himself up as the punching bag, Lothrandir has managed to fly beneath Saruman’s priority threshold. He’s been relegated to the responsibility of Gun Ain, and still with somewhat protected status because they haven’t wormed anything useful out of him yet.

All of these moves have culminated to an impasse. Saruman is not winning points in the game like he expected. One ‘meathead Ranger’ has managed to resist all the torments of Isengard, and he’s gained nothing from this. The other prisoner escaped, word had doubtless reached him that the Tur Morva Thirty-Odd are free and raring to be a thorn in his side again. He has no external leverage to apply on Lothrandir and it’s become increasingly obvious that our Ranger friend is not engaging like the player did. But still, Saruman has his pride. It’s his downfall in the end, and it’s his downfall in his fight against the one Ranger who’s already beating him. Lothrandir can’t be killed outright because Saruman hasn’t won yet. And with that guarantee of protection, Lothrandir can coast all the way to the conquest of Isengard. 

He can keep playing the game and stalling for time. It’s morbid, but what better way to waste someone’s time and energy than convincing them slow, drawn-out torture is the way to go? A little extreme, Lothrandir, but it’s still his game to lose. He wastes Saruman’s time. If he is eventually rescued, total victory. If he’s killed in the end, he definitely didn’t give the wizard the satisfaction, so a less resounding victory but one in the win column nonetheless. 

With a little help from our usually Ranger-cidal devs, Lothrandir reprograms Saruman’s game of chess to a boxing match. He takes out all his disadvantages, gets Isengard to attack from a point of... if not weakness then at least neutral ability, and then devotes his every waking breath to violent disobedience.

Sure, you could have taken any of the Grey Company with you to Isengard. Lheu Brenin could have swapped out for Braigar or Amlan or Mithrendan or Culang- but only one of these guys has the brute strength, commitment, and sheer audacity to pull it off. 

You take Lothrandir to Orthanc. There’s a different prisoner of Nan Curunir when he leaves.

[honeybomb4thebear]

Congratulations, Yasuhiro!

Setting: Non-Despair AU

Yasuhiro tires his S/O sometimes, yet she still loves him. Which is why, it feels good when he touches her like that, even though he is as virgin as he could be.

Congrats on losing your virginity, Yasuhiro!

Yasuhiro Hagakure x Fem!Reader

Genre: N//fw (secks!), sm/t

Even though his fingers were on your panties, teasing you shamelessly he couldn't even look at you. Even when he moved his finger between your labia and pressed it against, he still couldn't look. You liked how shy he was, maybe more than the attention your... Lower parts were getting. "Y-Yasuhiro," you said, your head on his forearm, "just like that... p-please," your voice was barely above a whisper. "You like it," Yasuhiro said, his cheeks showing the faintest hints of pink. "You like it... Right?" Instead of answering, you let out an involuntarily moan. Yasuhiro's fingers were moving quickly, yet not harshly, which was causing you more pleasure than you'd expect. Seeing you as the hot mess you are, Yasuhiro seemed to be even more encouraged, since he touched your pussy directly without worrying about taking your panties off, just slipping the bottom part of it. He was clearly excited now, yet still tried to hide it. His eyes weren't open wide, but they were shining nonetheless. He seemed to be observing you completely, eyes scanning every curve of your body, undressing you with them. His lips were pressed into a thin line, probably to prevent heavy breathing like a creep. Yet the way his chest went up and down gave it away, causing you to snicker a bit. You then noticed his boner, which made your insides pulsate, and of course, Yasuhiro wasn't late to catch on. He gulped. "Like what you see?" His attempts at dirty talk could succeed if it weren't for his nervous and clearly excited expression. Yet you liked him the way he was. "I...I really do," you managed to let out, as Yasuhiro teased your bare entrance without even penetrating his fingers inside. "You are... Really wet," he said, almost surprised. You had to make a great effort to not laugh there, but you wouldn't be lying if you said the way his fingers moved helped. As you let out pants and low grunts, Yasuhiro became more impatient, resulting in him to push his fingers inside you all the way down to knuckles. You jumped in shock and pleasure, a long and loud moan filling the bedroom. This was kind of sudden yet it didn't take much time to get used to it. Your boyfriend then pulled you on his lap, letting you sit sideways so that he could kiss you easily. As his lips crushed on yours, he started scissoring, which naturally made you moan inside his mouth. You were a bit embarrassed by this, but Yasuhiro didn't seem to mind, even separating your lips to hear them loud and clear. While his one hand scissored you, his other hand started to toy with your clit, kind of clumsy but still pleasurable nonetheless. Whilst his fingers worked on you, Yasuhiro landed his lips on your neck this time, and you gladly allowed him, rolling your head back for full access. "Y-Yasuhiro... I'm c-close," your voice sounded really pathetic this time. Shaky, whiny, and extremely erotic. You understood that he liked the way you sounded when he instinctively bucked his hips up to your ass, his erection pressing against you even more. "You can... Cum." he said, letting out a sigh in pleasure right after. He was even harsher with his fingers now, working on you with enthusiasm Yasuhiro had rarely ever shown before. "I-I'm gonna, ah-!" you were out of breath as you felt your body strain with pleasure,  and went limp on his arms as you came back from your high. Yasuhiro slowly pulled his fingers out, a thin line of your cum the following suit after them. He looked at his now cum-coated fingers, eyes still shining and cheeks pink. You felt his erection twitch under your butt. You were slowly gaining breath now, the afterglow losing its primary effects gradually. Even so, your body was still super sensitive. Yasuhiro gulped as he stared at your trembling body with a serious expression on his face. "Do you want to... Go all the way? We don't have to, it's just, umm..." "Maybe," you said, your voice still low yet eyes refraining from eye contact. "Okay," Yasuhiro tilted towards the nightstand, taking out a condom as you worked on his pants. "Y/N, could it be that you are excited?" he asked almost smugly, looking at you as he held the condom in his hand. "I'm just... Helping you out." "Sure,"  he said, his nervousness having reduced a bit. He then requested that you got off of his lap, which you did quickly. You then took off your clothes, which Yasuhiro awkwardly imitated, taking off his clothes as well. When he finally put the condom on, he shyly looked at your entrance, even though his cock wasn't really shy. His dick was twitching at the sight of your pussy, much to his embarrassment. You looked at him, eyebrows raised. "I won't force you, buddy," you said, hint of disappointment in your voice. This caused Yasuhiro to panic, and he immediately started to tease your entrance. "Not that you have to force," he said, still not brave enough to enter you. "Sheesh, Hiro! You bully, stop teasing me..." you murmured, still sensitive so when he teased you your insides were tightening almost painfully. "Sorry, my fault," he said with a sheepish smile, failing to look guilty. And it became even more apparent after he rubbed his cock on your pussy, making you more of a whimpering mess than you already were. "Yasuhiro... Mhm--! Please, I can't take it anymore!" you cried out. Yasuhiro's smile didn't vanish, yet he steadied himself. "You do look nice and wet," he said as he looked at his cock, shining because it was coated in your juices, which made you wonder what had happened to the nervous and ultra virgin Yasuhiro he was a minute ago. "Mhmm... It...It's your fault, so take responsibility." "I-I can, right?" "...Dummy. 'Course y-you can..." "Then I'm going to put it in, Y/N." You failed to talk back to him- because your focus was shifted somewhere else, that somewhere else being his cock entering your vagina. Meaning instead of an insult, it was a moan that had come from your mouth. "Y-Y/N," your dumb boyfriend said, a dazed-yet-perverted smile on his face, "the sound you just made was so hot..." Again, right before you could answer, Yasuhiro started to thrust deep into your pussy, pulling you towards his cock so that he could bury himself inside you as deep as he could. The harsh slapping sounds that were caused by the smacks of your hips as Yasuhiro fucked you were accompanied by your cute moans- which only encouraged your beast of a boyfriend further. You wrapped your legs around his hips, yet Yasuhiro moved one all the way to your head, presumably to get better access to your cunt. The feeling of Yasuhiro's cock stretching your pussy felt better than you could've imagined, now that you were actually able to hear how wet you were. Yasuhiro was almost enchanted by your lewd state. The way your tits bounced as he thrust inside you was almost hypnotizing for this no-longer-virgin boy- and watching his penis penetrate your pussy harshly felt better than any fantasy he had about you. The real deal was the best, after all, he thought to himself. Getting more pumped up, he pushed your other leg to get the best access to your pussy, his dick growing bigger inside you. "I-I feel like if I told your fortune right now, I'd get 100% accuracy for sure!" You tried to insult him but the way his dick stretched your insides turned what was supposed to be a snarky remark into lewd moans. This resulted in Yasuhiro giggling in between his low grunts. "Ahh, Y-Y/N... In order f-for me to get more accurate results c-could we do this e-everyday? Um, uh, w-we will be rich." "Dumbass!" you managed to let out, but that didn't sound as harsh as you intended- it just sounded erotic. The more you tried to hide your pleasure, the more it showed itself. Making you wrap your left leg around his waist, Yasuhiro slightly pulled you on his lap, fucking you in a different angle now. The angle must have worked because your moans were louder than they were before, Yasuhiro felt like he did something. He didn't exactly know what he did though, but you were definitely enjoying it. "Pretty..." He whispered, his finger fondling your clit. "Y-Yasuhiro I'm-" "Cumming?" Two in a row?, he thought to himself. Guess he WAS a Casanova. "Y-yes, please..." He continued to rub your clit, watching your back arch as his thrusts became erratic as well. And not much later, you came undone on his dick, walls pulsating and desperately trying to milk him. The way you wrapped around Yasuhiro was more than enough for him to climax. His loud moan was too cute, you wished to hear it more often but you were glad to see his cumming face nonetheless. When he pulled out, you almost felt lonely. Almost. Because right after removing the condom, he said: "Should I make my fortune tellings more expensive, now that I have post-nut clarity?" "Yasuhiro get out."

sorry i’m so unfunny.

[jakittrell]

Overdue

Pairing: Ereri, Riren

Rating: E (NSFW)

Word count: 5,265  Warning: ABO

For @chibinico in the Discord gift exchange!

Levi studied Eren carefully. It was a rare moment for him to let that side of him show. In fact, it was the lack of dominance that led him to finally agree to go out with him. It was safe. But, as he studied the dimming spark behind the man before him, he felt something else bubble beneath his surface. Interest. Want. 

Ao3

_____________________________________________

“Babe, I think I might be dying. Has anyone else died at your hands before?

Levi sighed from his seat on the couch and looked over at his boyfriend draped across the armrest, long hair splayed across his arms. Always the flair for dramatics. “You don’t want the answer.”

“Baaabe I love you but can you just maybe give me a timeline? I mean all of those suppressants can’t be good for you, right?” Eren readjusted himself to rest his head against Levi’s shoulder and stare up into his eyes. Fuck. He knew that Levi had a weak spot for those eyes. But he had his reasons for waiting as long as he had, and not even Eren’s best puppy eyes could sway him.

He shrugged Eren off and went back to his paper. “I already told you that I will go off the suppressants when I am ready. Don’t make me repeat myself again.” There was a moment of silence followed by a whine, and then the couch shifted as Eren left the couch. Curious now, Levi peeked above his paper to see where he had gone. Usually Eren would have doubled his efforts and cuddled into his lap or made a fuss by now, but it was unusually silent. During their 4 months together,  Levi had quickly learned that silence was more dangerous than any sound at all.

A shadow above his face made him jump- not that he showed it. Looking up, he found Eren towered over him with a meek smile. Levi raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”

Eren shifted and tucked a long strand of hair behind an ear.  “I know I shouldn’t ask anymore. I just want to be closer to you, that’s all.” Eren dropped behind the couch. Levi couldn’t stop himself from lowering the paper to strain his neck and see what Eren was up to now. “But I know something that will show you that I mean it this time!” From his crouched position, Eren grinned and pulled out a small box. Inside the box was a small slice of cheesecake with a dollop of whipped cream on top. That fucking sneak.

“Tada! I got it for you on my way here! What do you think about that, babe?” Eren was beaming from ear to ear now- he knew exactly what he was doing, and Levi scowled at the thought that he had become so easy to manipulate. Revenge. He had to get revenge.

He reached out for the box, but instead of grabbing it from his hands, he instead dipped a finger into the whipped cream and looked up at Eren’s innocent face. Without breaking eye contact, he slowly lifted the finger up to his lips- and licked. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the taste of the sweet cream. But it wasn’t enough. He brought his finger into his mouth and let saliva pool in his mouth before releasing his finger, making sure that a trail followed, opened his eyes to stare at Eren, and moaned.

The reaction was instant- Eren’s face flushed strawberry pink, and his lips parted in a gasp. Satisfied with the reaction, Levi grabbed the cake and turned back to his paper. “Thanks.”

Behind him he could hear Eren scrambling to find his words. Based on past experience, Eren would mutter something along the lines of being mean and unfair, then settle next to him anyways. What he didn’t expect was for him to screech, “I need to grab my jacket in the clost coset- I mean coat closet!” and ran away. Moments later he heard the slam of the closet door, and Eren was gone. Into the closet to grab his jacket, or not. Maybe Levi had pushed him too far this time. 

He knew that Eren was growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of intimacy, but he had never shown it beyond the usual whining. Whatever effect it had on his body was always something he took care of on his own while they were apart. Levi took a bite of his cake and thought of what Eren was doing in that closet. Did he even make it past the door, or was he leaning against it with his hands desperately palming at his jeans, Levi’s name on his lips? Was he imagining him on his knees, mouth open wide to receive his cum? Or perhaps bent over, hands against the wall with his slick dripping down his legs, waiting to be fucked? Would Eren mark him with his scent? Make sure that no one else would come near or try to hurt him again? Let the world know that he was Eren’s and that Eren was his- that the marks along his neck and wrist were badges to prove their connection and-

Levi shook his head, put down his fork and opened his eyes. He didn’t even remember closing them. Looking down at his half eaten cake, Levi took a shaky breath and centered himself. It had been a long time since he had thought about anyone in that way; the first time in a long time he had let himself get carried away. The suppressants should have dampened and stamped these down to a less accessible part of his mind. And yet… it seemed that he had allowed Eren to push his way in far enough for him to start feeling a desire for something more. It was dangerous, and he didn’t know if he was ready or not. 

Levi had long finished his share of the cake and his musings long before Eren reappeared. He scratched his neck and sat down on the far edge of the couch. Strands of his long hair stuck to his forehead, and he had missed the button on his jeans. Most noticeably, Eren had returned without any coat at all. He suppressed a laugh and instead wordlessly handed him the last of the cake, ignoring the way Eren’s face lit up and the way his eyes glowed in his direction. He would let it go this time- everything else was something he could deal with another time.

________________________________________________

“I can’t believe it’s taken this long for us to go shopping together,” Eren exclaimed and skipped ahead of him, laughing, “I really feel like once my apartment has things we’ve gotten together you’ll be more comfortable there.” Levi rolled his eyes and followed along. What Eren didn’t mention was that he desperately needed a new coffee table and dresser after Jean had broken them in a drunken rage last week. Alcohol didn’t seem to mix well with his group of friends (though Levi never had any issue with his.) Something always got broken when Eren had them over. But, it was a good excuse to get out and actually be a couple for once. Levi knew that he wasn’t exactly the most flexible person, and Eren had already been more than patient with him in other ways. Going out to pick furniture was the least he should do if he wanted to see where this relationship could go.

“Remind me again how Jean managed to break so many things in one night. The table was in your living room, but the dresser?” Levi paused to look at a table in the store window. Sleek, black, all edges. It would have been nice in a more modern house. Unfortunately, Eren’s taste seemed to veer more towards what he would call “eclectic.” Really more just a room full of things that were found on their own with no regard of how they fit together. There was a tan chair that had been found next to the dumpster, an olive couch with two too many pillows, and a glass figure that Mikasa had inexplicably gifted him that sat in the corner. No, the table that needed to go into that room would have to have more character to not stand out even more.

“Uhhh so about that…” Eren turned back to stand next to him and scratched his head. Levi raised an eyebrow.

“Yes?”

“We were talking and Jean brought up how he hadn’t gotten any from Marco ever since their fight over wedding cake flavors, and I had joked how his condoms were probably expired by now because mine probably were too,” Eren was rambling now- his nerves showing in his frantic hands and the growing height of his voice, “and then he said ‘BET’ and I didn’t take the bet I swear!” His face reddened and lowered his head, no longer to look in Levis' direction. “Because I know it’s private and Jean’s the last person I want to talk to about this kind of stuff, but then he called me a bitch for not taking you like a good omega yet and then ran to my room to check.

So I ran after him and he might have crashed into it when I punched him..”

His hands were settled now, fists at his sides.  He turned and looked at Levi with a fire behind his eyes that he hadn’t seen before. “So maybe it wasn’t completely his fault, but when you’re ready isn’t any of his fucking business. It’s our business when we mate, and fucking Jean isn’t going to be any part of it.”

Eren had gotten considerably closer to him now, and it was in that moment that Levi had truly seen Eren for what he was. Towering figure, glowering expression, overpowering aura- an alpha through and through, ready to protect his mate at the slightest threat. It was intoxicating. And then in a flash it was gone again. Eren blinked, and his usual boyish charm returned as he scrunched his shoulders up and he let out a nervous laugh. “So yeah! After that he ran out and landed on the table, and now we’ve got his credit card to get replacements!”

Levi studied Eren carefully. It was a rare moment for him to let that side of him show. In fact, it was the lack of dominance that led him to finally agree to go out with him. It was safe. But, as he studied the dimming spark behind the man before him, he felt something else bubble beneath his surface. Interest. Want.

He shook it off and pulled a sputtering Eren behind him, leading him into the store. “Idiot, if you have his credit card you shouldn’t even be looking at the tables- your taste is atrocious anyways. All you need to do,” he said with a smirk, “is look at the price tag.”

________________________________________________

Eren bounced in the seat next to him, all smiles and laughs. After their shopping spree at the furniture store, they had decided to stop putting off that trip they were always talking about. Thanks to a well timed lunch with Marco, Levi was able to time it perfectly. Marco could get his revenge on Jean for ordering the blueberry icing without asking, and Levi could get his for the table/dresser incident. They had even become allies of sorts. After all, omegas like them needed to stick together.

The flight attendant walked over and offered them water, breaking him from his thoughts. He took the bottles and passed one to Eren, who was now burning a small hole into his seat with his vibrations. 

“Calm down before someone complains, idiot. We still have another hour before we get to Taipei.”

Eren whined and looked over at him, pouting. “But I’ve never been out of the country before, let alone with a boyfriend! Just because you get to travel for your job doesn’t mean that the rest of us regular people can.”

Levi sighed, unable to resist those ocean eyes staring at him. “If things go well in Taipei, we can see about going out together more often.”

“Yeah?” Eren whooped before remembering where they were. He let out a nervous laugh and shrunk into his seat. “Y-yeah, I would like that.” His hand reached across the armrest and took Levi’s into his own. “I don’t really know why you wanted to go on a trip so suddenly, but I’m really glad you did.” A smile crept onto his face before he could stop himself. 

“I’m glad too.”

 ________________________________________________

“What do you mean you don’t have my luggage?” He demanded, using the little Chinese he knew.

Levi slammed his hands onto the counter, startling the woman behind it with a jump. “I’m sorry sir, but it seems that it was accidentally placed on another plane so we are unable to help you at this time. If you could leave your hotel information with us, we can ensure that it will be delivered to you once it has arrived back in Taipei tomorrow.”

Well fuck.

Cursing under his breath, he passed the details to the woman and stormed off, leaving a very confused Eren to trail behind him.

“Um… so I take it they didn’t have your suitcase? I don’t speak Chinese so…”

“Does it look like I have my suitcase with me?”

“No…”

“Then there’s your answer. It was on the wrong plane so they’re bringing it to the hotel tomorrow.”

“Well that’s great!” Eren caught up to him and snaked an arm around his shoulder. “The hotel will have toothbrushes and stuff, and you can just borrow everything else from me, right babe?”

Levi nodded and let Eren lead them towards the taxi. After shooting off the hotel address to the driver, he tuned out Eren’s excited chattering in his ear. This should have been a chance to enjoy time away and sort out his complicated feelings about mating with Eren once and for all. If he was ready to act on those growing desires that had been building all this time.

Just one problem- his suppressants were in the suitcase the airline had lost. 

 ________________________________________________

Their things, well, Eren’s things, were dropped off straight onto the floor as soon as the hotel door was opened, as was Eren’s jaw.

The next five minutes were spent watching him flit about the room, touching and commenting on everything he saw.

“Wow! Levi there’s fruit on the table!”

“Look at the size of this tub!”

“Babe you can see 101 from this window!”

Then he jumped onto the bed and turned back to Levi, beat red. “Babe, the bed…it’s so...”

It was easy to see his train of thought. A romantic getaway to a foreign country, a few nights in an opulent hotel. One large bed to share. Most couples might have already tangled themselves in the sheets and given the bed a test by now. Under normal circumstances, Levi would have given in and kissed in the bed for a few minutes before they left for the first round of sightseeing, but today was different. Without the suppressants, it was too dangerous a game to play. 

Levi stood up and put on his shoes and muttered,  “We should get going, otherwise we won’t make it to the places you want to see today.” He turned away and ignored the drop in Eren’s shoulders; told himself that the dragging feet behind him were fine. It was safer this way. But the ache inside, he wasn’t sure if it was his heat starting to awaken or his guilt tugging at his heart. And he was too scared to find out.

 ________________________________________________

The afternoon went surprisingly smoothly. Once they had gotten out and started walking, Eren had perked up significantly. They had chosen a hotel close to the heart of the city and the part he visited most during his trips, so it was easy. Easy was a good thing, because as they started their ascent to the top of Taipei 101, Levi felt it. They had just finished waiting in line and gotten into the cramped elevator when someone bumped into him and he fell back into Eren, who immediately wrapped his arms around to steady him and keep them from falling. In an instant he could smell him- cedar, pepper, citrus. Why hadn’t he noticed how good Eren smelled before? Was it always this intoxicating? Or was it the twinkling lights atop the elevator, coupled by the dizzying speeds that had fooled him into more than what it was? 

Before he could answer the question, the cheery attendant’s voice announced they had arrived and the elevator opened with a ding. Back in the bright and open space, Levi felt his head clear up. His body was still tingling from Eren’s touch, but at least he could think clearly enough to know that his suppressant from yesterday was starting to wear off. He forced a smile as Eren called him over to the windows, and wondered if he could last until tomorrow.

________________________________________________

By the time they had reached the night market at sundown, it had become clear that Levi was quickly losing a battle he shouldn’t have hoped to win in the first place. The warmth he had felt in the elevator earlier had grown into a fire- it was actually a miracle that Eren hadn’t noticed yet. The man was either distracted by the dazzling city or just plain dense. 

It had already gotten so bad that he resigned himself to just a shaved ice for dinner instead of any of the other treats he had pushed onto Eren. 

“Babe, are you sure you don’t want any of this fruit? It’s really good!” Eren beamed at him and blabbered on, still unaware that his light touches and insistences of feeding him a bite every now and then had left Levi in an increasingly uncomfortable state. He watched as Eren lifted his tanghulu, a skewer of sugar coated tomatoes, up to his lips and pulled one off with his teeth. Perhaps this was karma for all of the times he had left Eren to hide in bathrooms and closets before. He could no longer hear. He could no longer think. All he could see was Eren’s lips dripping with tomato juice as he ate, and it took everything he had to not tangle his hands into that tangled mop of hair and lick everything off. 

He felt the cup from his hand slip as Eren grabbed his hand. They had stopped moving. When had they stopped moving? His vision was getting blurry and he could no longer breathe properly. Then Eren broke through with those startling green eyes, wide with concern. 

“Babe?” Eren put a hand on his forehead and before he could stop himself, he let out a moan. Eren’s hand flew back in surprise, grabbing at his shoulders instead. “Babe what’s wrong? Are you ok?”

He had lost. Completely and utterly lost the fight against his body. He reached up and hid himself in the crook of Eren’s neck. 

“You idiot, you don’t know what’s wrong? What do you think was in my suitcase?”

Eren sputtered and cursed. “A- are you… did your suppressant wear off here? Is that why you’ve been acting so weird all day?”

Levi reached up and whispered into his ear, “Can’t you smell it?” 

He felt Eren steady his hands on Levi’s hips. He couldn’t stop a moan from escaping. He hadn’t felt how strong Eren was before, not really. But right now, in the center of a bustling night market in a new country, those hands were all he wanted or needed.

Eren let out a shaky breath and grabbed his hand, dragging him through the street towards the entrance, panicking all the way. “I don’t know why you didn’t tell me! What if they have a replacement here you can take, or what if something happened when I wasn’t there?” He paused and stared at him. “What if someone else smelled you first?” His eyes were dark and swimming with desire, yet the hard line across his lips showed his determination to exercise restraint. If he hadn’t smelled Levi before, he definitely did now.

“Just take me back to the hotel and we’ll deal with the rest later.”

Eren nodded and guided him into the taxi. They were lucky that it would just be a five minute ride. Any longer and one of them would snap. Eren had already pressed himself into the other side of the taxi, trying to keep as much distance from them as possible, and Levi wasn’t fairing much better. After all, he had been taking suppressants for years. Whatever he was feeling now was just the beginning of the kickback from denying his body all this time. Fortunately, the driver hadn’t said a word, just rolled his eyes and cut through the streets to get them back without delay.

They had arrived just in time for the last of Levi’s restraint to fade. As soon as the door to their room was shut, Levi grasped at Eren’s shirt and pulled him into a searing kiss. They had nice kisses before. Warm kisses with polite lips and gentle hands. This was not one of them- all teeth and tongue, with his hands in Eren’s hair and Eren’s hands snaking down to grab at his ass, pulling him in tighter. He was wet. Aching. He needed this.

And then, it was gone. Eren had broken free, eyes wild and lips glossy from saliva. His whole body was tense, shaking. “I need to go.” And he ran into the bathroom, locking himself in.

Frozen and dumbfounded, Levi stood there staring at the expanse Eren had just been in. Wasn’t this what Eren wanted all along? To not only be with Levi Ackerman, but to conquer him? And now when he was offering himself up on a silver platter, he ran?

“What do you mean you need to go, idiot? Weren’t you just waiting for me to jump into bed with you this afternoon?” He was furious. He was aching. Slick was dripping down his legs, his mouth full of Eren’s saliva, and yet Eren wasn’t there to make the fire within him settle. He was burning alive and his mate was hiding on the other side of a door.

“G-go sleep in the bed tonight! I’ll wait in here until your luggage gets here and we can get your suppressants.”

Levi groaned with each step he took to the bathroom and peeled off his pants once he had hit solid wood. Even the friction from walking was painful now. Panting, he leaned against it and slid down. He imagined that Eren was doing the same.

“What if I don’t want the suppressant?”

Silence.

Then, just above a whisper, “I don’t want you to decide that until you’re back on it. You’re too important to me to- God- to risk losing because I couldn’t control myself for one night. I want us to mate because you want to… not because of your heat.”

Levi paused. Was it because of his heat? It was hard to think beyond his need , but he forced himself to focus for just a minute. Before the trip, he had already seen Eren prove that he was more than just a safe, albeit slightly annoying, choice. Time and time again, when Levi or someone else pushed him, he refused to give in. The boy had even broken his own furniture for his sake. And now, inches away from taking what he so clearly wanted, the alpha had chosen to instead lock himself in a bathroom to avoid making one that would take Levi’s away. The boy was nothing if not stubborn. And he loved that about him.

Love..

It had been a long time since he had said those words to anyone, and even longer since he felt it. And this trip, while convenient, was also when they were supposed to be a chance for them to be together, and possibly mate. 

“Do you love me?” Levi asked.

“Of course! I love you so much I want to scream! I want to dance. I want to… I want..”

Levi closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This wasn't the way he planned, but it was the time. Part of him knew that he had been ready before, but needed just one last push. 

“Open the door, Eren.”

“What? No!”

Levi moaned. Any energy he had left had been used up deciding that he was ready, and he didn’t have anything left in him to do anything but want.

“Eren, I- fuck, I love you too. And I want this. So if you don’t open that door and fuck me now, I’m going to-”

Levi yelped as the door jolted open and Eren caught him in his lap. Blinking up, he met Eren’s eyes.

“You love me? You really mean it?”

“Yes, you idiot, so are you going to show me that you’re my alpha? Or do I need to go take care of things myself?”

He could see it. The delicate restraint that Eren had snapped, and he threw him to the floor with a growl. He straddled the omega and leaned in, a breath away from Levi’s lips. “Do you want me to fuck you here or on the bed?”

Levi arched into his body and wrapped a leg around him. 

“Here.”

“Good.” Eren crashed his lips down and finally, finally let go. All of the tension they had built over these past months was released without reservation. They parted and Levi groaned as he moved on to nip at his ears, his neck, everything he could reach. Everything he didn’t dare touch before. Everything was his now, and Levi gave it to him freely. 

“God you’re so fucking beautiful” Eren grunted as he slipped his hand under Levi’s shirt.

Levi responded by bucking up into him, crying out from the friction he had been desperately craving. “There’s no time for that. I need you inside me. Now.”

Eren chuckled and came back up to peck him on the nose. “Whatever my mate desires.”

Without warning, Levi was flipped around, hands at his sides and cheek stinging against the icy marble. Levi could feel Eren pulling down his boxers and the soft “fuck” that followed once they were off. 

“You’re so slick already. All for me.” He bent over Levi and let his cock rub up against him. “Do you want my cock inside of you?”

Levi heard himself let out an embarrassing whine. “Fuck me. Fuck me and mark me with your scent.”

“God- fuck- I’m going to fuck you until you forget everyone else. I’m going to cover you with my cum so no one else comes near you. Everyone is going to know you’re mine.” Eren growled and bit him on the shoulder, and finally gave Levi what he had been begging for. 

Eren lined up his cock at his entrance, and pushed in, moaning at the feeling of being swallowed in by Levi. Once he was fully inside, he paused to give Levi a moment to adjust. Levi instead felt a hand reach down and wipe the slick off the inside of his leg. A moment later there was a warm drip on his back, and a moan. 

“You taste so fucking good, babe. Have you tasted yourself before?”

Levi craned his neck to look behind him, and found Eren with eyes on him, his tongue wrapped around a glistening finger. He smirked and released them with a pop, and brought them down to Levi’s mouth. “Don’t you want to see how good you taste?”

Levi opened his mouth and let Eren wrap his hand around his chin, pushing the fingers in to give him a taste. Not breaking eye contact, he closed his lips around the fingers and sucked hard. Eren’s hips jerked in response, and they moaned together. Unable to wait any longer, Eren started to move. It had been to log for the both of them- Eren quickly set a furious pace and Levi was left gasping and cursing beneath him. He could feel the slick from Eren’s hand and his own drool pooling on the tile beneath him. Neither of them would last long, but they had all the time in the world to take their time later. Maybe right after, even.

“ Nnggh , Babe you feel so good. God I’m so- ahh I need to see your face when I mark you.”

“Yes- fuck, turn me around so you can cum all over me, Eren. Let me taste your cum.”

Eren moaned and twisted him around, staying inside. Once he had turned over, Levi grabbed at Eren's shoulders and pulled him down for a kiss. He could feel his orgasm coiling in him, threatening to overtake him at any moment.

"Eren ahhh I want-"

"I know Levi, you want my cum on you?"

"Yes!" Levi screamed, "Mark me, make me yours!"

Eren took Levi's cock into his hands and stroked him with fervor, that coil deep inside released. He let out a shout and felt his own cum dribble down Eren’s hand onto his stomach. Unable to stock he continued to buck into Eren’s hand and grasped for something, anything to catch him as he fell.

“F-fuck, Levi!” Eren yelled and frantically pulled out, chanting his name and covering Levi with his cum. He felt it hit his chest, his stomach, and finally near his own cock, swirling together with his own. 

Eren fell on top of him, hissing as his knot rubbed against Levi’s thigh. They held each other like that, spent and sensitive, until the floor grew cold again. Then Eren picked Levi up and cradled him, taking them both to the plush bed to cuddle under the blankets. Levi wrapped an arm around Eren, and sighed. The heat was still there, but it had simmered down to the point where he could at least breathe again.

Eren held him closer with a happy sigh. It seemed like he had made the right choice after all. What was replacing the ache and longing before was being replaced with a secure and content hum. It was new and strange, but he didn’t hate it.

“Babe?”

“Hmm?”

“Did you mean it before? When you said you wanted to be mine?”

“Are you really asking me that when I’m still covered in your cum?”

“A-ah, right..”

Levi huffed and buried his head into the crook of Eren's neck.

"Don’t ask stupid questions anymore.”

Eren shifted to respond, but before he could a ring came from the end of the nightstand.

Sighing, he muttered an apology and reached over to pick up the phone.

“Jean? I’m kind of busy right now.”

“You BITCH I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU FUCKING SPENT THAT MUCH MONEY ON THE TABLE WHEN I FIND YOU I AM GOING TO KI-’’

Levi grabbed the phone out of Eren’s hands and hung up with a click. 

“He’s interrupting.” 

Eren sat up, eyebrows scrunched and head tilted in question. “...Hey babe?”

Levi turned around and stood up. “Yes?”

“Did you… plan this trip so we wouldn’t be there when Jean got his credit card bill?”

He walked towards the bathroom and turned at the doorway with a smirk. “You mean you’ve just figured that out now?”

“Babe, I thought you wanted to go on a romantic trip! I didn’t know there was an ulterior motive!”

“Of course I did, the timing was just convenient. Now you can either sit there and think about it some more like a dumbass, or join me while I test out this shower.” Without looking, he turned back and walked into the bathroom. “So what’ll it be, babe ?”

He heard a loud thump behind him and let out a laugh.

“C-coming!”

[morethanaprincess-a]

@despairfiles​ said:  🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥

Spilling the tea this meme was aimed at

Alright Sin. I’ve saved the best (?) tea for you. It may not be five concrete points, but.

The roleplaying tea.

Disclaimer: These are my personal feelings and opinions on these topics. People may roleplay for any reason as long as nothing illegal is being performed. Again, this is just my take on these issues.

- I detest pre-established relationships in nearly all instances. Yes, that includes the meme. I especially dislike it for romantic interactions.

I don’t mind it for characters my muse, as a canon muse, would have interacted with in canon. While I think it would be pretty fun to explore exactly how some canon muses met for the first time (that isn’t shown in the reference materials), it doesn’t bother me to recognize other muses as, at the very least, acquaintances as it’s shown in canon.

But I think there’s some merit and good writing/plots to be had with first meetings and introductions. One, it doesn’t have to be terribly standard or dull if you don’t want it to. You can jump into some action or create a tense situation as a first meeting. Two (and this especially applies to canon muses from a given series or a crossover), it allows specific portrayals of muses to meet. Everyone’s versions are different and none are better or worse than another. My muse may not act the same around one person’s interpretation of a muse than another, depending on how they meet and get along (or not!). And three, having established meetings and early interactions before jumping into a friendship, familial relationship, or romance gives memories and experiences for the muses to remember and influence their future interactions.

First meetings are good. They can be fun. Don’t be afraid to try them out and plot them, if desired.

- Reading rules and bios are not optional when following someone. Even if it’s a canon muse you recognize from a franchise, read that blog’s rules and bios if you want to interact with them. 

I cannot tell you the amount of times I’ve had followers hit the follow button and then try to interact with plots or writing styles I’ve explicitly said in my rules that I do not care for. At this point, I tend to just not follow back when that happens.

If you just want to read someone’s threads (and they’re okay with that), that’s one thing. But expecting interaction and to be followed back without even reading their rules, bios, or hell, even looking at their IC content? You’re asking too much.

- An offshoot of the above point: if you cannot easily locate your rules/bios on your blog, fix it. If your rules/bios are not mobile accessible, fix it. No one should have to move their cursor for five minutes on a blog, hovering over every single tiny icon, to find the most important information to know before interacting with you.

- Interactions comprised entirely of one emotion (whether it be fluff, humor, smut, angst, etc) are very dull to both write and read, especially in the romantic shipping department. Look, when you get that emotionally close (or even if your muse thinks they aren’t) to someone else, it’s not a straight line from ‘I’m in love’ to ‘we’re living happily ever after.’ In fact, if that’s the story both muns want to tell, it’s not even a requirement to live happily ever after.

But relationships of all sorts with others go through a range, a roller coaster, of emotions and experiences. Your muse likely won’t love that other muse all the time. And they might not even hate them all the time either. Relationships should be growing and evolving, and while it’s perfectly fine to want to only write a certain endgame (provided you’ve talked this out with the other mun. Please. Communication is not optional), there should be real stakes in place that your muses have to face and overcome. 

- And a tangent of the above, especially in romantic ships: writing the actual act of sex is also really boring most of the time. What’s exciting about writing sexual intimacy is how it affects the muses in other aspects of their lives. Are they truly opening up to someone else for the first time? Are they using sex to ignore or deny something they truly want or something that’s not working in their relationship? Or maybe they’re thinking about something else entirely, like a work or school deadline or that dinner that was really good.

When I see smut in RP, it’s usually of the variety of both partners are gorgeous and fulfill the other’s emotional/sexual needs immediately and the sex is something out of a bodice ripper or, well, hardcore smut. But what about after? How has being that intimate with someone affected a muse’s life (or, in some cases, not at all)? That’s the story I want to read (and write). Or even just acknowledging that not all sex is good sex: sometimes people are physically incompatible, have different needs, or the act of sex (and even leading up to such things) is undeniably hilarious. Sex can be passionate and hot, yes. It can also be hilarious, heartfelt, disappointing, depressing, angry, and more. 

As they say, everything is about sex except sex. Sex is about power. But I’d go as far to say that having sex is much less about tab A goes into slot B and more about “if it’s there, there should be some character development behind it.”

Again, some blogs prefer to just be smut or porn blogs, or have rules of “just jump into my asks for smutty content.” That’s totally cool, if it works and is preferred by them that’s fine. But this is just my take on the matter.

- And some standard reblog takes that always deserve some mentioning: platonic interactions are just as excellent, wonderful, and desirable as romantic interactions, if you won’t write with OCs you’re doing yourself a great disservice (real talk: most of my well-developed, engaging, and fun interactions now are with crossover and OC muses), and female muses, especially kind/gentle/feminine female muses deserve more love and appreciation (and those traits do not equal she’s easy or wants in your pants, either). 

[delimeful]

the shapes in the silence (1)

aka the tiny dragon virgil au you never knew you needed

warnings: fear, hunger, feeling trapped

Chapter 1 

Virgil paced through his room in agitation, measuring pros and cons in his head. He didn’t want any of the other Sides to see him like this, for a multitude of reasons, but he’d put off eating to stew in bed for too long, and hunger had come back with a vengeance. 

Normally, this wouldn’t be too much of a problem. He would slink out of his room, use the well-worn shadowy corners of the mindscape to get to the shared common area, and lurk until he could find a moment where nobody was there. 

Those moments were far and few between, what with Patton’s insistence on cooking at all hours, as though trying to impart some of his culinary skills upon their host through persistence alone. Still, worst came to worst, he could always bluff through it. Patton knew when to back off most of the time, and the others were clearly more than happy to avoid contact with him whenever possible. 

That was normally, though, and now definitely wasn’t normal, he thought to himself, tail lashing behind him. 

Yeah, a freaking tail. Because he was currently in the form of a deep purple, chihuahua-sized dragon.

He’d worked himself into a panic attack the first time he’d woken up like this after a bad night, nearly drowning in his suddenly huge blankets, but by now it was just an unfortunate fact of his miserable life. If he got too worked up, he would change, and be stuck like that, no access to most of his normal abilities, until he’d turn back at seemingly random. He’d managed to wait every transformation out safely in his room so far, but after three days of little sleep and all his hoarded food gone... 

His small, leathery wings flapped a couple of times with his irritation, and he snorted, forcing the extra set of limbs to lay flat on his back. Of all things to become when he was sufficiently stressed… Well, it wasn’t like Thomas’s nonsensical mind was anything new to him. He should have expected this, really.  

...He couldn’t even have been a normal-sized dragon. At least then he’d be able to scare others off. Unbelievable. 

He paused for a moment at the door, pressing one of his deer-like ears against it. It was… fairly quiet. At the very least, if Roman or Patton were out there, he’d be able to hear them. Plus, at this size, it’d certainly be easier to hide in the shadows. His stomach reminded him of how empty it was with a grumble, and he grumbled back at it. 

Fine, he’d risk his scaly skin trying to get something to eat. Everything could go terribly wrong, but that wasn’t anything new for him anyways. 

He glanced up at the locked doorknob to his room, and then focused on wanting out. His room very thoughtfully provided a cat-flap, so well blended with his door that he almost missed it. He hissed petulantly at the indignity, and then pushed through it anyways. Better to have a quick way back into his room if things went south. 

He started down the hall at a swift jaunt, confident that nobody would come down this hallway since his room was the only one connected to it. Once he reached the stairs to the common area, he slowed considerably. He’d never seen the area while in this form, and it all felt so… large. 

He shook himself. No time to stall. 

Carefully, he slunk down the stairs, keeping away from the bannister so he could slide right into the more shadowy corner at the foot of them. He crept along the edge of the wall. If he followed it, he would end up at the doorway to the kitchen eventually-

A small movement, and he froze. 

On the padded armchair, Logan was sitting, back straight as he paged through a book. He’d almost missed the logical side with the way the chair was angled to the rest of the room. He berated himself. 

Roman was certainly the worst of the three he could run into here, but Logan was a close second. The Side had shown he was quite persistent in attempting to understand anything that confused him, and a cat-sized dragon sneaking around was sure to catch his attention. He shuddered. Definitely didn’t want to give Logan the opportunity to break out the mad scientist tools.

Slower, he continued moving, thankful that Logan’s attention was focused on the words in front of him. He made it to the kitchen entrance and peered in. No sign of Patton or any in-progress meals in sight, which made him almost sag with relief. He drew his claws in, careful to make as little noise as possible against the tile as he stalked over to the cracked-open pantry door. A full meal was impossible to make, so he’d just have to take as much as he could carry, and sneak out, preferably taking the other wall to be behind Logan’s line of sight. 

Unfortunately, as much as he could carry was… not a lot, at this size. Not only that, but he craved meat in this form more than anything. Beggars couldn’t be choosers, though, so he carefully sized up the jump and crouched, before leaping to the bottom shelf with a light thump. He froze, but heard no sounds indicating that Logan was getting up. Okay. So far, so good. 

He pushed himself up onto his hind legs, and gripped the shelf above with his claws, pulling himself up with an effort that strained his shaky muscles. His wings automatically started beating to give himself a boost, and he hurried to fold them back down yet again. Damned things. They were a lighter purple on the thin flesh that stretched between each wing joint, and ridiculously eye-catching. 

Still, his slip up didn’t seem loud enough that it would draw attention. Luckily, he’d left some of his stuff on the shelf second from the bottom, meaning that he didn’t have to do any more climbing. His food was mostly devoid of crinkly wrappers, so that his stealth kitchen runs were as quiet as possible. 

Before he could properly grab a protein bar, which was massively oversized in his little clawed hands, he heard footsteps on the tile. He immediately scurried back, pushing himself into the back corner of the shelf. In his rush, a bag of unpopped popcorn slid halfway off the shelf. He silently willed it not to fall, and then the pantry door was pulled fully open, letting in the ambient light. A pleasant humming was audible above him.

He stared at the blue shirt, his vision of the rest of the Side cut off by the shelf, pupils blown wide with fear and webbed ears pressed flat against his skull. Don’t panic, he told himself sternly. It was just Patton, probably grabbing something to snack on or trying to figure out what to make for dinner. Don’t panic. He just had to stay quiet and wait it out. Don’t-

Patton’s leg bumped the edge of the popcorn bag, and he paused in his humming. 

“Oh, who left this out?” 

His heart stopped as Patton crouched down, grabbing the errant bag and scanning the shelf for where it belonged. Soft brown eyes locked onto his own, and for a moment they were both frozen. 

Patton dropped the popcorn with a thud. “Oh my stars…” 

This was bad. Virgil tried to shove himself further back into the corner, barely seeing Patton’s starstruck expression. This was bad, this was bad. Patton lifted a hand and Virgil’s eyes snapped to it, his wings flaring out like a bird trying to make itself look bigger. He bared his teeth, a low growl rising up from his chest.

“Woah, woah, easy little guy! I’m not gonna hurt you, I promise,” Patton hurried to reassure him, leaning back and tucking his hands underneath himself. “It’s okay, it’s okay.” 

The motion of sitting on one’s hands was so quintessentially Patton that some of the cloying fear faded from his mind. He immediately cut off the growling and made himself smaller, tucking his wings back in. What was he thinking, acting like some kind of feral animal? If it had been anyone but Patton, they’d have seen him as a threat for sure, and disposed of him accordingly. This form was so small, he wouldn’t even be able to fight back. 

Patton’s gaze seemed to brighten as he saw Virgil ‘calm down’, an awed smile crossing his face. “Well aren’t you just the cutest! What are you doing in our pantry, kiddo? Are you hungry?” 

Virgil was thankful that he couldn’t blush in this form, because this was utterly embarrassing. His ears flicked back and forth for a moment, wondering how he was going to get Patton to let him go, when his stomach made a groaning protest at even the mention of food. He resisted the urge to disown it. Patton gasped in surprise, and then nodded firmly, determination in the set of his brow. 

“Don’t you worry, little guy. I’m gonna fix you up something great!” 

With that, the moral side reached into the pantry with both hands, gently maneuvering Virgil out of his corner and into Patton’s arms. He tried to scuttle backwards, but Patton made soothing noises at him, and it wasn’t like he could actually bite him. The side clearly hadn’t figured out who he was; he had to depend on that if he wanted to make it out of this unscathed. He had to act timid, harmless. It was a jarring change from his normal persona. 

Still, he couldn’t help but dig his claws into Patton’s skin as he found himself high up in the air, suspended only by Patton’s arms. Sure he had wings, but it wasn’t like he’d ever practiced using them! 

Thankfully, Patton seemed content to set him down on the counter, smiling at him cheerily before opening the fridge to search its contents, beginning to list out possible food items he could use. Virgil eyed the drop to the ground, still a little dizzy from being lifted so suddenly. If he ran, would Patton chase him? He’d still be hungry, either way. Patton was treating him kindly, if a little patronizing, so would it really hurt to play the role long enough to get a meal...? So long as the other sides didn’t find out-

“Patton? Who are you talking to-?”     

Logan’s voice cut off sharply as Virgil whirled around, nearly slipping off the counter. No, no, no, no, no. Of course all the commotion had been audible from the living room. He turned tail as Logan approached, but before he could attempt to scale the fridge, a hand carefully seized the base of his wings, pinning them together the way one would hold a captured butterfly. His feet slid against the slick countertop uselessly. Trapped. Oh god, Logan was going to figure him out immediately and they were going to call Roman to slay him for being a monster and-

“Is this a… miniature dragon?” Logan asked, curiosity coloring his voice. Virgil’s tail lashed back and forth desperately as he ineffectively tried to wriggle out of the hold.

“Logan!” Patton greeted, “Yeah, I found him in the pantry! I’m trying to figure out what to make for him, poor thing’s half-starved!” 

“Curious.” He curled in on himself as Logan ran a critical eye over his form. “Starved seems like a mild exaggeration. What did you have in mind?” 

Patton hummed for a moment in consideration. “I’m not sure! What do you think, Lo?” 

“Well,” Logan shifted his grip, and Virgil suddenly found fingers prying open his mouth with relative ease, “going by its molars and canines, I would estimate it follows a mostly carnivorous diet.” 

He shook his head free of Logan’s grasp, growling lowly despite himself. Thankfully, Logan seemed unperturbed, simply turning away from him. 

“Beyond that, Patton, I find it likely that this creature escaped the Imagination. It would likely be happier to be returned to its natural habitat.” 

Virgil froze at the words, panic seeping through like ice in his veins. He already had a hard enough time defending himself in the Imagination when he had access to all his abilities. Like this, he didn’t stand a chance.

“Aww, c’mon kiddo, I want to make sure he’s properly fed before anything else! I’m sure Roman won’t mind if we keep an eye on the lil’ guy until he gets back, right?” Patton turned his pleading gaze onto Logan, who managed an admirable ten seconds before admitting defeat with a sigh and adjusting his glasses. 

“Very well. Is there anything I can do to help?”  

“Don’t worry about it, Lo. I’m not the,” he lifted a package of sausages from the fridge, “wurst at cooking, you know!” 

Logan groaned in admonishment at the pun, and then looked at Virgil consideringly. “In that case, I will keep an eye on our… unexpected guest.” 

Virgil’s stomach dropped unpleasantly, but he forced himself to focus. Patton had bought him time, so he wasn’t doomed just yet. They still thought he was just a dumb animal. He only needed to find an opportunity to get away. 

Despite his inner pep talk, he still shied away when Logan reached out for him, lifting him off the counter like one would lift a scruffed kitten. It was much less supportive than Patton’s carry was, and he started shaking in the hold, nerves getting the better of him. He’d been trying to suppress his instincts as best he could, but what was the point? It wasn’t like they knew it was him.

Logan didn’t pause as he walked past the array of furniture in the common area, heading upstairs, and Virgil felt his heart enter his throat. Where were they going? Was Logan taking him to the Imagination after all? Did he already know who he was, and was simply waiting until they were alone to get rid of him, to spare Patton the trouble? A distressed warble came out of his throat as he twisted in Logan’s grip.

“Stop moving,” the grip on him tightened, “I am not going to harm you.” 

Like he could trust that. Still, his thrashing slowed once he realized they weren’t, in fact, headed toward Roman’s side of the Mindscape. They were headed towards Logan’s room. He barely refrained from shooting a longing glance back at his own hall, trapped by Logan’s firm hold. So close, and yet so far.

Once they’d passed into the logical side’s room, he found himself deposited on Logan’s desk. He couldn’t help but take a moment to stare around, having never been in any of the others’ rooms before.

There were a surplus of books piled around, unsurprisingly, but also a large, slowly revolving globe and an oversized telescope in one corner. A whiteboard took up half a wall, the air smelling faintly of dry erase marker. There seemed to be star maps charted out on the ceiling, and he wondered if Logan had drawn them by hand or simply willed the room that way.

Before he could take in any more, there was the sudden sensation of cold metal against his front leg, and a simple clicking sound. He jumped, waving his leg as though to shake the foreign object off. It remained steadily in place, and he stared at the small, metal band, heart racing in his ears.

It was a cuff, inscribed with small glowing circuits. 

“There,” Logan said with an air of satisfaction. “with that, you won’t be able to wander off while we aren’t looking.” 

[skrltwtch]

The Cat

Prompt: The most wanted woman in town has announced that she’ll only marry the one who can open her front door with the key around her cat’s neck. Many men try to hunt the cat down, chase and trap it, but to no avail. The cat is simply too quick, smart and clever, and always finds a way to evade and avoid them. You are the first one to figure out the obvious: Do not chase the cat. The cat is befriendable. Get the cat to trust you, to genuinely enjoy your company, and you can hang out with the cat. You may eventually be allowed to touch the cat. The cat will freely let you take the key.

Secondary plot twist: The woman is a shapeshifter. She is the cat. (Source of prompt in link at bottom of post.)

Word count: 1,840 words

Author's note: This is more of a little tale starring George as the lead and you as the mysterious woman, as opposed to a story about George MacKay the Actor. I kind of had Jack Marrowbone's look — and nothing else about him in that movie — in mind while writing this.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

‘Let’s play a game! I will grant my hand in marriage to the person who succeeds in taking this key off my cat’s neck and unlocking my front door with it. Oh, won’t that be such fun?’

Only she can pull off such a stunt. She has put the village under some kind of spell, and I am one of its victims. One of the more prudent ones, at least, in the sense that I know well enough that I’ll never be able to win her heart. She has an entire village of men to choose from, most more remarkable than I in looks and/or calibre. I am but a simple baker of average frame with blonde locks that wishes for no kinship with a comb and blue eyes that gleam with neither transcendental allure nor immense potential; unless she were an ardent consumer of bread and pastries, I have nothing to offer her. I simply admire her from afar, pine for a connection that is real only in my wildest dreams.

No one quite knows what it is about her that sees a constant line of suitors supplanting her shadow whenever she comes into the village. That is to say, she isn’t not beautiful, neither is she not gracious. She keeps to herself mostly in her quaint cottage on the edge of the village. Her isolation and magnetism have made her the subject of many a fevered whisper: she is a witch, an enchantress, a nymph. Despite what one may think, the women of the village don’t resent her for the effect she has on their eligible male compatriots. The wedded men remain capable of remembering their vows in her presence. In that vein, her paramours are on equal standing: single, virile men who want to have the unhaveable.

Her game has sent the men into a frenzy. It’s amusing to see adult males chase after a cat, one just as unassuming as its owner. They hunt it, as if it were game. They harass it, as if it were a nuisance, an obstacle to their perceived prize. They seek to capture it with elaborate traps. They line the fishmonger’s pockets with gold for her finest catch of the day. It’s all for naught. The cat is, they’ll never admit to themselves, smarter than them. The days pass. She continues to wander around the village without a ring on her finger. The cat continues to taunt the men with its presence, parading the key around its chest like a gibe at their failures. It’s curious that they are never seen together.

Me? I don’t try. I’m not presuming myself to be above this endeavour. I do slip into reveries about emerging victorious every now and then. But see, the other men had never grown up with cats. The thing with cats is, you don’t try. You don’t try to get it to do what you want. You don’t hound a cat. And, as with all living things, you certainly don’t antagonise it. So, I bide my time.

That day soon arrives. As a customer leaves, the cat makes a mad dash into the bakery, maintaining the balance of two beings inside. It glides over the counter, its tail a hair’s breadth away from toppling the display of sourdough bread, and seeks refuge behind some boxes. Shortly after, Edward, its tormentor for today, it seems, enters and calls for the cat. Edward is a cheesemaker, with whom I interact solely out of business necessity. Our families go back a long way, our trades intertwined with one another’s. I do so long for someone else to assume the mantle from Edward.

‘Where is it? I saw it come in here,’ he says.

‘It’s behind here with me,’ I say, ‘but I’ll be damned if you dare make a scene on my premises.’

‘I can respect that.’ His response takes me aback. It seems I am not a contender, much less a threat, in this game of cat and mouse. Edward’s never been one to mince his words. ‘That cat will have to leave eventually, and when it does, it’ll be mine.’

‘Good luck, Edward. Goodbye.’

‘Goodbye, George. Thank you for having the good sense not to participate in what would be a futile endeavour for you.’

There it is.

I wave at him. He doesn’t reciprocate. It doesn’t matter: watching his outline fade into the distance and out of my sight for another day will never not be the highlight of our interactions.

I feel a warm presence weaving in and out between my legs. I kneel down to meet the cat’s gaze, two yellow diamonds set onto a doll-like face coated in pure onyx. I have wondered on occasion if some of the men’s malice toward it arises from the mere virtue of its colour. How preposterous, I imagine them thinking, that something as divine as she should possess such a vile creature. I offer it my finger. It gives it a tentative sniff. Two. Then it turns its head so that my finger is on its cheek, and it starts rubbing it. Its eyes are closed in contentment; its throat rumbles with soft purrs.

‘Did Edward hurt you?’

‘Meow.’ A once-over confirms it.

‘Are you hungry?’

‘Meow.’

I take that as a yes. No one has ever answered otherwise to this question while surrounded by MacKay creations. I grab a pumpernickel bagel from the counter, tear off a chunk, and lay it at its feet. As it eats, a metallic glint almost blinds me. The key. It calls to me. What’ll happen if I reach for it? What’ll I prove to Edward, who is patrolling the street outside, waiting for the chance to resume his reign of terror? No. I won’t. I don’t.

I speak to turn my attention from the small sheet of metal that’s turned the village upside down: ‘Are you having fun being the centre of attention? She must be relishing the peace, not having men fawn over her for the first time in a while. Is that why she hasn’t been visiting lately? I don’t fault her. It must be exhausting,’ I say, as I continue to ply it with bits of bagel.

It looks up at me, and it sizes me up and down. Its head cocks at what it’s registered in its mind’s eye. Of course. How rude of me. ‘I’m George,’ I say.

It rubs its head against my outstretched hand.

‘Nice kitty.’ I give it the rest of the bagel and lead it to the back door, through which it can avoid that scoundrel Edward and find safe passage home. ‘You can bring it back for her. Your mistress. Then maybe you can let me know if she liked it.’ I smile wistfully. ‘We’ve never actually met.’

‘Meow,’ it promises, then runs off.

Over time, more and more people quit the quest — Edward included. The unhaveable isn’t as appealing when it becomes haveable at the expense of hard work at best and deep gashes at worst. Her increased bouts of absence, too, seem to have made people’s hearts become less fonder, as if her glamour is wearing off. In contrast, the cat and I grow closer. We bond in my bakery. Then it stops coming to visit. I worry over whether it’s because someone else has succeeded. I work up the courage to go to her house. Seeing the cat play in her garden, the key still around its neck, fills me with relief, and I pick up from where I left off here in the grace of her garden. Oddly, she is never around when the cat’s there.

I make it special baked goods no one else has or will have access to and tell it to keep some for its mistress. I never find out whether she likes what I bake, but the cat definitely does. I tell the cat about myself in the hopes it’ll tell its mistress about me. I play with it using toys I buy from Christopher the merchant; he is happily married and has never shown interest in her. The men who gave up have spurned me for not taking the key when I’ve had ‘so many’ chances. They talk among themselves. I know what they say about me.

The truth is, I don’t know what’ll happen if I do take it. The cat and I have befriended each other. Will it think lesser of me for taking the key? Will I think I was befriending it under false pretences? It’s silly, I know, to care this much about what a cat thinks. But I suppose the cat is an extension of her. I feel so close to meeting the woman I’ve adored for the longest time, the woman who I knew in my gut from the moment I laid eyes on her is my soulmate. Sometimes I sneak glances into the house to see if she’s there, watching this. The cat redirects my attention to it when it catches me doing this, and I’m all the happier for it.

‘You’re lucky,’ I say to the cat. ‘You get to be with her while she doesn’t know I exist. I’ve loved her since I first saw her in the village. It’s foolish to feel like this about someone you don’t know, doesn’t it? But I know she’s kind and patient and has a good soul, and I know my heart flutters every time I see her.’

The cat jumps onto my lap. Its yellow gaze burns into me. It’s right. I don’t know what I was thinking, pouring my heart out to a cat. ‘You just want rubs,’ I say, and I’m happy to oblige.

It turns itself over, exposing its belly to me. I feel … honoured. In all our time spent together, this is the first time it’s done so. I slowly reach for its belly. When there is no sign I’ll lose my livelihood from what I’m about to do, I stroke it generously, fervently.

Then it uses its paws to nudge my hand toward the key.

I stop. ‘Are you … sure?’

‘Meow.’

I repeat my question. My hand has found itself an inch away from the key.

‘Meow.’

If it says so.

I undo the chain the key is on.

Suddenly, I am blinded by a white light, and — the air starts to smell of roses. It is a familiar aroma. I don’t need to use my sight to know why that is. But I don’t understand.

‘Hello, George.’

Before I can answer, I find myself in the kind of embrace reserved for lovers. My lips press up against hers, and I feel my world fall away in bliss. The warmth of her skin is unlike anything I ever felt. It’s magic. Pure magic. And now I understand.

‘We will have the rest of our lives to know each other better, love,’ she says, smiling, her eyes shining yellow under the sunlight. ‘Now, would you like to come in?’

[everythingsablr]

The Wanderer

What happens when a Scout gets forgotten, presumed dead, further into the Titan forest than has ever been gone before?

And what happens when that Scout survives, thrives, even? Despite bearing a child that wasn't meant to be, especially not then.

This is the story of a teen born outside the walls, among the trees, knowing nothing but a life a hundred meters above the ground. And finding her way to these mythical walls her mother always told her about

The Wanderer is an in-progress, slow-burn OC/Reader Insert Attack On Titan fanfiction that as of yet has no set character of which the reader will end up with, though the choice will be between Hange Zoe, Jean Kirstein, and Levi Ackerman. Hit read more to read the prologue. ~2k words

PROLOGUE:

EXCERPTS FROM FLORA ALLAWAY'S JOURNALS CIRC. 831

WRITTEN ONE YEAR AFTER STRANDING.

The world had come back to me tinted in red. Upside down and quiet.

I liked the quiet.

You never hear it behind the walls. It’s too crowded. Too cramped and locked in.

I never liked tight spaces.

I guess that’s why I joined the Scouts. I was tired of being trapped like a rat in a cage.

I had found myself strung up in a tree, deep in the Titan’s Forest, deeper than we ever had gone before due to being chased down by multiple abnormals, for many days by horseback; my ODM gear the only thing keeping me up. I was alone. My horse's carcass was at the foot of the tall, tall tree I had somehow found myself in. It appears to have been squashed.

As I hang there, trying to remember where I was or how I had gotten there, I realize it is not silent. Not quite.

I can hear…. Birds?

Their gentle warbling is soft and beautiful, and I see a deer peering through the trees, maybe fifty meters away. This is unheard of within the walls, human desperation devastating any natural wildlife inside them. It’s prettier than the photos Erwin’s shown me, in the books we were never supposed to have.

Erwin…

The thought of him was what finally pulled me out of my reverie.

There were signs of a fight, struggle, everywhere, but far below me, I was.....unusually high. I found no corpses but plenty of blood, plenty of scrapes of my own including a nasty gash across my eye. I'm not that pretty anymore, unfortunately.  

‘I must have been thrown or tossed by a blast…’ I had thought to myself. So I gathered what I could from my horse and started searching through the trees.

I ran out of gas within hours. Food from my pack in days,

Hope in weeks.

My gear off of my horse and the lines out of my ODM gear allowed me to string my tent up high into the trees. And it was there, I planned out what I didn’t know would be the rest of my life.

And the beginning of someone else’s.

The treehouse was the product of six months of nonstop work put in by myself upon realizing that I had no way home. I was too far into the tall trees of the Titan Forest in the deep, deep southeast, with no mode of transportation. I was stranded in a sea of people-eating giants, and it became clear soon enough that no help was coming. They think me dead. I know that now.

A couple of the six remaining blades from my ODM gear were broken and turned into axes; my scout training along with my knack for hunting and gathering that I had picked up growing up in the small population of people in Dauper combining into pure survival tactics.

The sounds of my chopping down branches always inevitably brought a couple of titans but as time went on I became more and more accustomed to climbing trees, to the point where it became second nature. As easy as walking by the river.

Despite the name, the titans I came across were few and far between in the forest, never tall enough to reach me in the hundred-meter treetops; their arrival always preceded by an eerie, breath-stealing silence, as the birds and other fauna go into their own hidey holes.

Once at a certain height, though, I found they eventually lose my scent, and therefore their interest in me. It was rare that I ever had to jump from the trees to dispatch one, but if I did it was almost surely an abnormal. One that would just stand there for days, watching me. Almost seeming to...think. As though it were analyzing how it would be able to get to me. I didn’t like those ones, so they were dispatched with quickly. No one likes being watched. Especially by bulging-eyed freaks. It was four months into my new hell of a life when my stomach began to bulge, and I had to sit down, in my half-finished tree hut and fully realize where I was and what was truly going to happen.

Could I do this? Bring a child up in this world away from the world? Was that possible? Or should I…

The glint of green-tinged sunlight shining off the blade of my knife had drawn my eyes towards it, and as I got closer, I could see myself. Perhaps for the first time in many months.

My coiled red locks were thick and tangled, and my eyes, near the same shade of the leafy treetops above, are bloodshot and raw.

“I could end it all now. ‘ I had thought. I was tired. I was ready. I was so ready…

But when I grabbed that blade again, when I looked into it, looking for myself, I swear to you upon the Gods above Erwin, I saw you. I saw your stupid eyebrows and your steely gaze.

I saw your smile.

I felt your touch. And for a moment it all fell away and you were there with me, a hand on my stomach, feeling the baby kick for the first time. And I realize that I had to survive. I had to survive as long as it took for you to meet your daughter.

If you’re reading this, Erwin, you have. At least I hope that’s who is handing you this note right now. Pretty girl, hair as red as mine and eyes as sharp as yours?

She’s beautiful, isn’t she?

She’s smart. She’s sharp, quick, and everything you could ever imagine. And more. I hope you get the chance to witness it.

I love you, Erwin.

My knight in shining armor I never thought I needed.

Until the Gods bring us together again,

Flora Allaway

Year 847

Sixteen Years After Stranding.

Long, freckled fingers trace over the words written into the pages of the well-worn journal, salty, bitter drops dripping from the teen's face as she reads the journal for the last time where she was now sitting.

Morrigan was sitting on her knees in the middle of their home far above the ground, held up and of thick, woven branches, sixteen years of adapting and evolving turning the structure from something a little more than an unsteady shack- into a sturdy home, with walls made of wood planking, holes sealed in with mud, roof watertight with clay found from digging a bit deeper underground. They even had a small fireplace, and a chimney that chipmunks got stuck in quite often unfortunately for the critters, but fortunate for the women, who had enough to make gloves, and slippers, and even me out of.

The walls were lined with animal skins - over a decade of hunting and recording the local fauna.

Whitetailed deer.

Wild Boars.

Hares,

Even a fox or two.

Arrows made with owl feathers.

Grappling hooks made with ODM wire and antlers, there wasn’t a part of Morrigan’s wardrobe that wasn’t the skin of some animal that had sacrificed its own life for her and her mother to keep their own.

They learned to respect the forest that housed them because you can tell if you’re safe; based on the sounds of the forest. They’ll tell you if you should be quiet.

It had been a week since her mother had last come home. The longest amount of time by far. She was always back within two, three days tops. She had a caution to herself that Morrigan always teased her for, for her daughter was always almost a little too daring with her own life, always wanting to go further, whereas her mother preferred them to be safe.

And they were, for fifteen years.

It was soon after Morrigan’s fifteenth birthday, when they noticed a distinct shift in the Titans’ migratory patterns.

A titan or two would wander by inevitably around three to four times a week, usually coming from all directions, usually right after they would return to the trees after hunting or foraging, their scent being far enough to attract the monstrous beings. But, at one point in the early summer, something changed. Drastically. From the south. They all came, it wasn’t one massive rush, but enough of a stream to keep the forest quiet of all natural life for many days, weeks. By the time the birds started singing again, Flora and Morrigan’s cheeks were sunken in and they were lucky to be alive enough to hunt. Flora knew that something had happened. Something had happened to the Walls. She felt it in her soul. But she couldn’t go. She couldn’t take her daughter, no matter how capable she thought she was. She was just a child.

It was a year after the event her mother called “The great migration.” And they hadn’t seen a Titan in almost a month.

Which is just what made her mother’s disappearance so strange.

‘ Was now really the time where you weren’t careful enough, mother?’ Morrigan thought to herself bitterly, snapping shut the journal and tucking it to the bottom of her leather pack. The cloak she wrapped around herself was rabbit fur, waist-length and various shades of brown to near black, the hood entirely covering her face and wild mane of fiery ginger hair.

Her pack was filled with exclusively essentials, her waterskien strapped to her waist and her knives on various bodyparts, she stares at the two, untouched blades her mother had left. From all that time ago. Morrigan wondered why she’d never really used them, but had simply taught Morrigan how to at the ripe age of 12.

But she thinks she understands now, as she puts them in the sheathes she had watched her mother painstakingly take weeks making, sheathes that not only strap to one’s back and provide easy access, but don’t impede ones’ movement while swinging/running through the trees. As she’s about to step outside what she’s known as home for the past decade in a half for what she knows is the last time, she hears the silence. It’s deafening. She pauses, hand on the loop of twisted bark that served as their door handle, holding her breath as she pulled it open, not expecting anything immediately, but the eventuality of encountering a titan was enough to set one on edge. But when she opened the door, it was not green-filtered sunlight that met her. It was the disgusting, hot, wet breath of a Titan.

She felt her heart skip, once, twice, three times, processing what was before her in both slow motion, and the speed of light. It was between ten and twelve meters, it’s hair a ridiculous bang ordeal, with wide, accusatory brown eyes and a sneer upon its lips. It was disgusting. The thing  had climbed the wide-based tree across from their home, using that one to avoid shaking theirs. It was… stealthy. That was the only thing Morrigan could process before a massive hand was reaching for her. She threw herself through the door, knowing that if she didn’t, she’d be stuck and die for sure; her body inevitably being ripped apart and devoured by this vile creature

The grappling hook was swung, and it luckily hooked onto a tree branch, swinging her quickly behind the Abnormal and allowing her to perch just above it, unsheathing the blades and grimacing, eyes staring down its naked form with pity-laced disgust. For all she knew, this is the monster whose fault it was for her mother not coming home. It was that thought that launched her off of the branch, before the creature could even turn around and try at her again, she had done what her mother had taught her, and what those people behind those walls were supposedly “so good at.”

‘ One meter across ten centimeters wide…’ She thought to herself, as she slashed across the back of the Titans’ neck. She knew she had done it correctly when the thing slumped forwards, falling and hitting every branch on its’ way down. It had begun steaming almost immediately, and she crinkled her nose in disgust. “Good riddance.” She said softly, before shaking herself off and resecuring all of her things. This was going to be quite the journey. She wasn’t sure if she was going to find her mother or the fabled “Walls” first. But she knew she refused to die until she found both. The Wanderer is updated weekly on fanfiction.net and archiveofourown.org  and is currently two chapters deep, with many more to come.  I tend to forget about Tumblr so updates here will not be so frequent though I will try and remind that the chapters are up elsewhere. Have a good one and I hope you stick around!

[chipotle]

Panic's Nova text editor (a review)

Review: Panic’s Nova text editor

Panic, the long-established makers of Mac utility software, seems fully aware that introducing a new, commercial code editor in 2020 is a quixotic proposition. Is there enough of an advantage to a native editor over both old school cross-platform editors like Emacs and explosively popular new editors like Visual Studio Code to persuade people to switch?

I’m an unusual case as far as text editor users go: my primary job is technical writing, and the last three jobs that I’ve worked at have a “docs as code” approach, where we write documentation in Markdown and manage it under version control just like source code. The editor that works best for me in tech writing is the venerable BBEdit. When it comes to editing code, though, BBEdit lags behind. My suspicion is that BBEdit’s lack of an integrated package manager has hurt it here. Also, BBEdit’s language modules don’t support extending one another, making it effectively impossible to do full highlighting for a templating language like JSX or Jinja.

When I was a web programmer, I was one of many who moved to TextMate, and used it for everything for a while. When the Godot-like wait for TextMate 2.0 became unbearable, I wandered the text editing wilderness, eventually splitting my loyalties between BBEdit, Sublime Text, and more recently VS Code. At this point, I suspect nothing will pull me away from BBEdit for technical writing, but for programming I’m open to persuasion.

So: meet Nova.

I’ve been using Nova off and on in beta for months. I’ve reported some bugs, although I may mention a couple here that I didn’t catch until after 1.0’s release. And, I’m going to compare it to the GUI editors that I’ve been using recently: BBEdit, Sublime Text, and VS Code.

Nova is a pretty editor, as far as such things go, and with files of relatively reasonable size it’s fast. With stupid huge files its performance drops noticeably, though. This isn’t just the ridiculous 109MB, nearly 450,000-line SQL file I threw at it once, it’s also with a merely 2MB, 50,000-line SQL file, and Nova’s offer to turn off syntax highlighting in both files didn’t help it much. This may sound like a silly test, but in my day job I’m occasionally stuck editing an 80,000-line JSON file by hand (don’t ask). This is something BBEdit and VS Code can do without complaint. Panic wrote their own text editing engine for Nova, which is brave, but it needs more tuning for pathological cases like these. They may not come up often, but almost every programmer has one stupid huge file to deal with.

Nova has an integrated terminal and an integrated SSH client, and even an integrated file transfer system based on Panic’s Transmit. In fact, if you have Transmit and use Panic Sync, it knows all of those servers out of the box. Nova has a task workflow system for automating building and running. You can associated servers, tasks, and more with individual projects; Nova’s project settings are considerably more comprehensive than I’ve seen in other editors. You can even set up remote tasks. Nova has a serviceable Git client built in, too. Like VS Code, Nova uses JavaScript for its extension API, and it has built-in Language Server Protocol support—it’s a superbly solid foundation.

Beyond that, some smaller features have become table stakes for modern GUI editors, and Nova handles them with aplomb. “Open Quickly” can jump to any file in the open project, as well as search by symbols or just symbols in currently open files; it has a command palette; you can comprehensively edit keybindings. It has multiple cursor support for those of us who like that, and a “mini map” view for those of you who like that, although know that you are wrong. Nova’s selection features include “Select all in scope” and “Select all between brackets,” a command I often use in BBEdit and miss dearly in Code. (Both Nova and BBEdit select between brackets and braces, although BBEdit also selects between parentheses.) This effectively becomes “Select between tags” in HTML, a nice touch. There are a few other commands like “Select all in function” and “Select all in scope” that I didn’t have any luck in making work at all; a little more documentation would be nice.

That’s worth an aside. Panic has created a “library” of tech note-style articles about Nova sorted by publication date rather than an actual manual, and it’s not always easy to find the information you want in it. I know this is just what a technical writer would say, but I’d dearly like to see a human-organized table of contents starting with the editor basics and moving to advanced topics like version control, server publishing and extension authoring.

The Zen of Language Servers

A lot of Visual Studio Code’s smarts depend on the implementation of a “language server” behind the scenes: language servers offer almost spookily intelligent completion. For instance, take this PHP snippet:

if ($allowed) { $response = new Response(405); $response->

If you have the Intelephense PHP language server plugin, Code understands that $response is an instance of Response and, after you type the > above, offers completions of method names from the Response class.

Right now, Nova’s mostly limited to the language servers Panic provides, and they’re… not always so smart. In that snippet above, Nova starts by offering completions of, apparently, everything in the open project, starting with the variables. If I type “s,” it narrows things down to methods that begin with “s,” but it’s all methods that start with “s” rather than just the methods from Response. The “Jump to Definition” command shows a similar lack of context; if I highlight a method name that’s defined in multiple places, Nova shows me a popup menu and prompts me to choose which one to jump to, rather than introspecting the code to make that decision itself.

But, this is a solvable problem: there’s (I think) no reason someone couldn’t write an Inteliphense plugin for Nova. If Nova’s ecosystem takes off, it could be pretty formidable pretty quickly.

Walk like a Mac

Even so, LSP support isn’t Panic’s biggest selling point. Unlike Sublime Text or VS Code, Nova isn’t cross-platform: it’s a Mac-only program written to core platform APIs. Is that still a huge draw in 2020? (Is it instead a drawback?)

You can definitely see a difference between Nova and BBEdit on one side and Sublime and Code on the other in terms of resource usage. With the two Ruby files shown in the screenshot above loaded, I get:

VS Code: 355 MB, 6 processes

Sublime Text: 338 MB, 2 processes

Nova: 101 MB, 2 processes

BBEdit: 97 MB, 1 process

Code is an Electron-based program, although Microsoft famously puts a lot of effort into making it not feel like the black hole a lot of Electron-based apps are. Sublime uses its own proprietary cross-platform framework. In fairness, while us nerds like to harp on research usage a lot, if your computer’s got 16G or more of RAM in it, this probably isn’t a big deal.

You notice Nova’s essential Mac-ness in other ways. Its preference pane is, like BBEdit’s, an actual preference pane, instead of opening in another tab like Code or just opening a JSON file in a new tab (!) like Sublime. And while all editors better have first-class keyboard support—and Nova does—a good Mac editor should have first-class mouse support, too, and it does. You notice that in the drag-and-drop support for creating new tabs and splits. Nova’s sidebar is also highly customizable, possibly more so than any editor I’ve regularly used. (Yes, Emacs fans, I know you can write all of Nova in Lisp if you want. When one of you does that, please get back to me.)

Unlike BBEdit, though, Nova doesn’t have a Mac-like title bar, or a Mac-like outline view of the project files, or Mac-like tabs. (Well, BBEdit doesn’t have tabs at all, which turns out to be a great UI decision once you have a dozen or more files open, but never mind.) This isn’t necessarily bad; people often say BBEdit “looks old,” and it’s hard not to suspect that what people mean by that—whether or not they know it—is that it looks like the long-established Mac program it is. Nova is relying less on “we have a Mac UI and the other guys don’t” than on “we have Panic’s designers and the other guys don’t.” Make no mistake, having Panic’s designers counts for a lot.

What may be more disappointing to old school Mac nerds is AppleScript support: none whatsoever. It doesn’t even have a vestigial script dictionary. Again, this may not be something most people care much about; personally, I hate having to write AppleScript. But I love being able to write AppleScript. BBEdit’s extensive scriptability is one of its hidden strengths. Nova’s Node-based JavaScript engine is probably more powerful for its own extensions and certainly more accessible to anyone under the age of 50, but it may be hard to call it from external programs.

So is it worth it?

That probably depends on where you’re coming from.

If you loved—or still use—Panic’s older editor, Coda, this is a no-brainer upgrade. If you used Espresso, a Coda-ish editor that always seemed to be on the verge of greatness without ever reaching it, Nova may also be a no-brainer for you.

If you’re a fan of Sublime Text, BBEdit, TextMate, or another editor that doesn’t have native Language Server Protocol support, you should definitely try Nova. Sublime and TextMate have more plugins (especially Sublime), but many extensions seem to be languishing (especially TextMate). BBEdit never had a great extension ecosystem to start with. All of these editors have strengths Nova doesn’t, but the reverse is also true, and Nova may catch up.

If you’re an Emacs or Vim power user, we both know you’re just reading this out of academic interest and you’re not going to switch. C’mon.

If you use Visual Studio Code, though, it’s way tougher to make the case for Nova. Code has a vastly larger extension library. It has the best support for LSP of any editor out there (LSP was developed for Code). Despite being Electron-based, it’s pretty high-performance. Code doesn’t have an integrated SSH or FTP client, but it does have an integrated terminal and task runner and Git client. If you don’t object to using an editor that isn’t a “perfect fit” with the Mac UI, Code is very, very good… and it’s free.

I don’t object to Nova’s pricing model—$99 up front including a year of updates, $49 for future years of updates—but I can’t help but wonder if Panic should have gone with super aggressive introductory pricing. Also, I saw more than a few suggestions on Hacker News about how there should be a Code-to-Nova extension translator; I’m not sure automatic conversion would be practical, but a guide on manual conversion seems like an excellent idea.

For my day job of technical writing, I’m going to stick to BBEdit. (One day I’ll write up an article about why I think it’s the best “documentation as code” editor on the market.) For programming and web editing, when I was working on both a Ruby and a PHP project—the former a Rails learning exercise, the latter an obstinate “I am going to write a modern PHP app without using a framework” exercise—I kept trying Nova’s betas and then switching back to Code for Inteliphense and, I swear to God, MacVim for Tim Pope’s amazing rails.vim plugin. I suspect Nova could duplicate both of those, but I’m not sure I want to be the one to do it. (Also, while Panic has decent reference documentation for writing extensions, I’d like to see a few simple end-to-end walkthroughs for those of us who look at a huge list of reference topics and don’t know where to start.)

But Nova isn’t just pretty, it’s powerful, and has a lot of promise. The editors I’ve been comparing it to have been around since 2015 for VS Code, 2008 for Sublime Text, and 1992 (!) for BBEdit; it’s not reasonable to expect Nova to blow past them in every respect right out of the starting gate. Even so, they are Nova’s competition. Catching up fast is an essential requirement.

So: yes, I’ve bought Nova, and I’m rooting for Panic here. I’ll come back in a year and report if I’m willing to stay on the update train.

[migstheruler]

PLaystation 5 Event

initially great, despite the horrible pre-orders ordeal.

On Sept. 16, 2020, Sony pulled back the curtain on another slew of details regarding the PS5.

1.       The PlayStation 5 releases on November 12th, 2020 in Japan, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, and the United States (why these states, only Sony knows even though I think it’s because of their distinct market in each of these countries).

2.       The PlayStation 5 releases everywhere else on November 19, 2020.

3.       The PlayStation 5 launches at $399.99 for the digital edition and $499.99 for the disc-based edition.

*IF backward compatibility with the PS4 is important to you, I’d recommend the disc-based PS5. Sony execs have confirmed 99% of PS4 games are compatible with their new Flagship console.

   The event also gave us a look into some new games coming to the PS5 for launch as well as games we can expect during the first year of the PlayStation 5’s life cycle. Honestly tho, I think some of those games indicating they were launching during 2021 is a lie. You mean to tell me you’re going to launch Horizon, God of War 2, Final Fantasy 16 all in one year…..really… If these games were dique going to launch in 2021, you would think they would have had at least a working demo or something, instead of a teaser trailer with the games logo…but I digress, I’ll touch on this later.

 Below are a few games showed that caught my eye and I just had to write about them.

Overall, Sony’s PS5 presentation was a good one, with all the information we as consumers were asking for since June and 10/10 would watch again (I’ve seen the presentation 4 times already (twice to write this piece 😊)).  

The presentations started with a trailer showing a slew of different games coming to the PlayStation five system, most games we covered in https://migstheruler.com/post/620830163010240512/ps5-reveal-event but just when you thought this was another trailer, boom!!!

Final Fantasy 16

A nice mix of old and new: as if the folks from Final Fantasy 11 and 12 made a 15 esque type game.

Shiva the ice goddess is back, and looking deadlier than ever throwing out chilly ice crystals sure to cause anyone level seven frostbite

Who´s a good boy? This little pup looks ready to be pet and given treats.

 It looks like our trusty steeds the Chocobos are back, hopefully, they are more useful this time around )I’m looking at you final fantasy seven episode one)

Marlboros are looking as menacing as ever.

 Final Fantasy 16 was pretty unexpected to be honest, especially given final fantasy seven episodes one releasing a few months ago. However, it’s a nice surprise to see Square Soft jk Square Enix working on a new Final Fantasy game, especially one that likes to expand upon the action RPG elements (Think kingdom hearts series or final fantasy 15 and even 7).  Aesthetically, this is giving me hardcore fantasy elements with realism thrown in there.

Either way, what a great way to start off the presentation.

  Spiderman Miles Morales:

Next up, Sony gives us a seven-minute look into Spiderman Miles Morales, which expands upon 2018’s PS4 Spiderman. Sony has said this is not a direct sequel but instead a look to further expand upon the world through the eyes of Miles Morales. The graphics and presentation of this game are sure to entice any spiderman man. The lighting coupled with Mile’s powers makes this game a visual PS5 treat.

 Last time we saw Miles, he had just shown Peter Parker he too had powers to which Peter Parker joined him upon the ceiling, it was a bonding moment the two spider-men would have. Fast forward maybe a year (I’m not sure how much time has passed since the last spiderman game) we are thrusted into the shoes of Miles Morales.

  “Mom I’m home” Can we take a moment to appreciate my man’s line up here, dam that shit looks crispy.

Walking through Harlem, music playing, and folks dancing Salsa in the street. I’m not going to lie, this made me cheese from ear to ear.

This is what I expect to encounter when I have to mediate between clients ready to rip each other apart in a gory fashion (above).  

 Okay, knowing how strong spiderman is, I fully expect the dude’s Jaw to be broken after this power punch.

I forgot to mention (above) Miles can turn Invisible and has access to electric powers (below) sure to spruce up and affect the way Miles plays. I can only imagine a focus less on gadgets and more of an emphasis on Miles’ powers.

Although I know this game stars a new spiderman aka Miles Morales, the developers sure are making sure we know  we’re not playing with Peter Parker anymore.

“Insert obligatory spiderman being pulled from different directions trope here” I’m not even going to front; this image is pretty cool.

Lastly, how dope is this launch title? It is one of the first games I plan to beat on my PS5.

-          I do want to say one thing regarding this title. I think it’s pretty great from a representation perspective to see a Black and Puerto Rican spiderman. Representation matters. I’m not Puerto Rican but am Latino and I do appreciate the flags littered throughout the trailer, folks dancing salsa and overall, Miles Morales as a character.

One gripe I have with this game unfortunately is Sony’s anti-consumer stance regarding those that purchased 2018’s Spiderman. Folks that purchase the Deluxe Spiderman Miles Morales edition for $79.99 get both Spiderman Miles Morales and a supped-up version of 2018’s spiderman for the PS5, yet Sony hasn’t extended an olive branch to those of us that supported their 2018 game (even making it one of their best sellers). IF you want to play Spiderman Miles Morales, you can cop it for a cool $49.99 which is dope but doesn’t include any type of upgrade for those of us with the PS4 version of spiderman. Honestly, as someone that doesn’t plan on playing the game again but it’s pretty anti-consumer to not even offer some type of benefit to those PS4 supporters. Here’s to hoping they offer some type of upgrade via a patch to the PS4 spiderman.

·       Turns out the game will run natively better on the PS5 given the consoles superior power but for a truly next gen 2018 Spiderman experience, you gotta pay those $69.99 duckats.  

   Looks Like we’re going back to Hogwarts and I’m not talking about Fantastic Beasts or Harry Potter. We received our first look (aside from the leak that was released last year). In Hogwarts Legacy, we go back to the late 1800s to visit the Wizards of the Waverly place (I think I said this right, I’ve only seen the Harry Potter movies once all the way through). Either way, it looks like they managed to capture the magic of Hogwatz. The walls of Hogwarts look alive, books flying all over the place and magic spewing from cauldrons of unknown potions.

 Our journey begins going back to Hogwarts with a cool looking Owl to boot.    

 The sorting hat is back babi, it seems like this is a create your own character adventure, where we as the player will get to customize our very own character, sure to get into whatever wizardly fun is to be found.  Team Slytherin all day!! JK, I’m team Gryffindor babi. But really tho, I have no idea what school I’d be assigned too.

  In both of these pictures, its quite remarkable the little details you see; the more you look, the more you see. Did you see the candles above, or the candlelight below

Looks like our boys are cooking up work in the kitchen aka cauldron. I’d also like to bring attention to the lighting, truly impressive.  Time to eat some delicious grub with my fellow wizards!! (Below)

 Looks like we’ll be facing a litany of different monsters and foes. I know with my Avada Kedavra, I’ll be blasting fools like the one below away.

 Dam son, we fighting Dragons out here too, sheesh.

Looks like combat will be a big portion of gameplay as the video showed of a created character fighting some pretty large beasts.

Looks like we’ll be playing quidditch in this game, and I honestly can’t wait.

I sure do hope we’re able to feed these little cuties and pet them.

Looks like this game is open world, as the characters are seen flying on Griffins across the vista. They draw distances in this game are spectacular.

Hogwarts Legacy launches in 2021.

 *JK Rowling has no involvement with this game and that’s a good thing given her recent problematic statements.

  Demon Souls

Full disclosure, I bought demon souls for the PS3 back in the day but unfortunately, did not stick with the game. It was fun and I would proceed to play other From Software and souls genre games in the future such as Sekiro, Bloodborne and Nioh to name a few. But here we have Bluepoint games remaking the PS3 Cult Classic and precursor to the Souls Genre. I for one am super excited to jump back in and try my hand again at Demon Souls.

 This place here is the game’s main hub that allows you to access other portions of the world map. IT’s nice to see it in all it’s HD Glory.

Our Player is borne anew: Rise from your grave!!! JK, this isn’t a Sega title.

The environments look super luscious and literal indistinguishable from concept art. The leaves, lighting, and armor are truly a beautiful sight to see.  (Below) 

Nothing like chilling by a bonfire, although if you’re new to the genre, every time you heal at these bon fires, all the enemies you spent tirelessly fighting repopulate.

Call me crazy but in the original, players from other games could leave each other messages written in blood, as a way to help each other out. It looks like this concept is making a comeback this time around.  

 Dragons are so hot right now…. (insert Zoolander Gif here)

If you have ever played a souls game, you know this is something you can expect to see even in your dreams. I remember going to bed thinking how an enemy boss had beaten me 13-times in a row, only to go to bed thinking and imaging different strategies on how I could kill the foe standing between me and the game's progress.

The gameplay looks faster than the original but the difficult elements remain prevalent. The player is seen mowing down enemies which seems a bit off given the extreme difficulty of the PS3 game. But this could be Bluepoint addressing the sometimes-outrageous difficulty by making it more appealing to casuals.

Launch Title!!!!

 God of War Ragnarök:

Last time we saw our heroes, Kratos and Atreus were shacked up in their home when they receive a visit from a mysterious visitor brandishing what looks like Mjolnir on his waist.  The game ended in a great cliff hanger and is sure to improve on the many aspects the PS4 game

Get the fuck out of here. Sony decided to drop a nuclear ton warhead on us with the teaser trailer of God of War Ragnarok, a sequel to the PS4’s God of War.  Although they did not show any game play, they did manage to build the hype with the screen below:  

And then to top off the trailer the list the following with a supposed 2021 release date which I think is highly unlikely but, we will see. Either way, “we must prepare”.

   Sadly, when the presentation ended, pre-orders went live . We were told by Sony that we would have ample time to prepare to pre-order, nothing but the contrary occured. I was one of the unlucky folks who failed to obtain his PS5 preorder despite having the funds to do so. Here’s to hoping I’m able to secure a pre-order prior to the Nov 12 launch. I did manage to get a PS5 camera which is a must for me since I like to stream games online, it’s really quite addicting. Check out my channel at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiazQqSufhmIGo2a7odLOpQ?view_as=subscriber.

I do want to say one thing, I am very fortunate to have the things i’ve accumulated over the years. I know there are people in the world that lack even basic necessities. If you’re reading this, please donate to  cause/fund or organization you beleive in. I know my life’s work is to improve the living conditions of everyone regardless of their creed and that keeps me plenty busy.  

  All images used in this piece were obtained from the source below: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG0G44G6RI8

Credit: IGN 

[in-tua-deep]

What animal do you think suits each of the umbrella kids the most?

okay what you don’t know is that i’m a sucker for a his dark materials au with daemons so i’m sorry if that’s not what you want but that’s what you’re getting lmao

forewarning: this is super self indulgent and i only have actual reasons for like maybe half of these 

Luther: a dog! If you want specifics probably an Anatolian Shepherd dog bc they’re big motherfuckers and muscular as fuck. I did toy with a big animal like a bear but ultimately I think a dog just because simply: Luther obeys Reginald without question and has incredibly loyalty to a man that never cared about his wellbeing. Plus, you know, the family would rib at him about being Reginald’s loyal dog and all that. Plus it’s a good set up for his rivalry with Diego that I’ll yell about in a minute. 

So yes, Luther’s daemon settles as a bigass dog. She’s pragmatic and can be cold and often tries to model herself after Reginald’s daemon. She can be somewhat self righteous and very blunt. She tends to say exactly what she’s thinking without sugar coating it and doesn’t care if Luther has to stumble to save face. “You think one of us killed dad.” Diego says. “No not ‘one of you’, specifically you, Diego. You have an alibi?” Luther’s daemon says in front of the family, god, and Five’s portrait on the mantle.

Diego: a wolf! This sets up a big rivalry between Diego and Luther as they have somewhat similar daemons except for the fact that Luther’s is a domesticated canine and Diego’s is a wild one. Luther often uses Diego’s daemon to say that Diego is too wild to lead the team and that’s why he’s in charge. It’s mainly because while Diego does his whole lone wolf act, he’s shown to be pretty protective of the people he considers his and really he does need a pack. Even though he tells Klaus no, he doesn’t bother enforcing it when Klaus insists on hopping in the car anyway. He wants to be leader of the pack, but is awkward when he tries to be in charge bless his heart.

Diego’s wolf daemon is a not-so-secret softie. She prompts Diego to interact more with his family and sends longing glances towards Detective Patch and her daemon. She doesn’t get along with Luther’s daemon and always bristles when she’s around, though Luther’s daemon tends to ignore Diego’s and act like she’s above it all which just makes the issue even worse tbh. Diego’s daemon doesn’t shy away from her instincts and refers to the family as her pack and is very vocal about both not killing Grace (though later she sits and whines when Diego does it) and letting Vanya out (Diego spits vitriol about Vanya but his daemon is suspiciously silent on the subject).

Allison: a burmese python! I will freely admit that i chose this 90% because of the feather boa in the beginning dance scene because I want Allison to have her daemon constantly draped around her neck and on her body, but snakes do tend to be associated with manipulation as well in some stories even though I can’t see it looking at their cute little faces?? But I mean Allison’s whole gig is manipulation so it fits even though I’m only justifying it after the fact lmao. 

Allison’s daemon is very laid back and rarely speaks up. Allison often accuses him of being lazy because she tends to carry him everywhere and he’s constantly on the hunt for warm places to curl up in. He used to ride on the back of Luther’s daemon a lot when Allison got fed up of carrying him. Uses the fact that he doesn’t have eyelids to stare people down when they’re being irritating. Generally does not appreciate the negative press that comes with being a snake daemon and secretly him and Allison both wonder if him being a snake was a factor in her not getting custody of Claire. (Allison didn’t appreciate what he settled as and they fought about it, there’s still some tension between them on occasion because of it)

Klaus: a black cat! I almost gave him a raven because reasons but I ended up with a cat for pretty simple reasons: Klaus is pretty much a stray cat in human form tbh just look at him. Also because cats stare off into corners like they can see the dead and damned so I thought it was somewhat appropriate, and black cats are considered both lucky and unlucky depending on where you like (which lemme tell you as a black cat owner who moved from a lucky to unlucky area was a wild thing to find out). 

Klaus’s daemon is very sarcastic and a lot less forgiving than Klaus himself is. They hold a grudge to say the least. While most daemons tend not to speak to people who aren’t their own, Klaus’s daemon doesn’t give a single shit and will talk to anyone they damn well please. Doesn’t get along with Luther’s daemon because they constantly talk shit about Reggie and Reggie’s daemon, but gets along very well with Diego’s daemon and has ridden on her shoulder more than once. Shares Klaus’s power in that they can see the dead but ignores them even harder than Klaus because they’re secretly freaked out that ghosts don’t have daemons. Klaus and his daemon also hang out with Ben’s daemon, who for reasons unknown didn’t burst into dust upon Ben’s death but she generally stays out of sight.

Five: one part of me says hare because of the cryptic value and eyes that look like they could kill you and also jumping jokes and another part of me says hummingbird for plenty of good reasons but an even larger part of me says that I don’t have to choose because I can just symbolically make his daemon unsettled. She wasn’t settled before the apocalypse and then he kind of… never really grew up. Part of a daemon settling is growing up and knowing yourself but Five didn’t have a chance to do that, he was too focused on his goal. They both dislike the fact that she’s unsettled because they think it’s childish, but it’s also very handy because it means she’s adaptable as fuck. Maybe she pretends she’s settled as a hare or something while they work for the Commission idk and it’s a little reveal when he’s back home. Maybe they’re also separated like a witch’s daemon due to the Commission?? unclear

Five’s daemon tends to fade into the background if you’ll let her. She tends to be standoffish but is exceptionally observant. She very rarely speaks to anyone outside of Five, even among the siblings, though she’s not above bluntly calling them out if Five isn’t around and she deems it necessary. She likes Vanya best, though she was also fond of Ben. She tends to be the voice of reason for Five and probably takes most of Dolores’s lines in telling him drinking is bad for him or that his equations are wrong. There’s probably a dramatic scene where she’s revealed to be unsettled where she turns into a big fuckoff animal and fucks up the Handler or something idk but otherwise she’s pretty content to remain a hare and do a good impression of the rabbit from monty python if people fuck with her.

Ben: something smaller and easily hidden. My heart says rat because they’re so fucking good and smart so that’s what I’m going to run with, and also because they’re often viewed negatively and Ben has a power that he also views negatively rip. Also I’m gonna be real the idea of Klaus and Ben’s daemons being absolute bros as a cat and a rat also amuses me so there’s that and this is my au i do what i want. 

Ben’s daemon was withdrawn before his death and even more so after. No one knows why she didn’t turn to dust when Ben died, but she didn’t. None of the other siblings knew that she survived because she asked Klaus not to tell, worried that Reginald would experiment on her to try and figure out why she didn’t vanish. She spent most of their time before Klaus left hiding in his room, and after she hides in his clothes a lot and likes when he wears items with hoods (like Ben used to) because she likes to curl up in them. Like Five’s daemon, she doesn’t talk much. 

Vanya: a spotted owl! I wanted to give Vanya a winged daemon that can’t fly for most of the duration of the plot despite having wings because of general symbolism reasons regarding Reginald “clipping her wings” by suppressing her powers with medication and all that. Honestly I mostly picked a spotted owl on a whim because I like owls (I was a guardians of gahoole kid) and I think that the hints of white on a spotted owl would be a cool allusion to her powers and also there’s some sick imagery in her powers activating and her daemons colors reversing so that he’s primarily white soooo i do what i want is the answer

Like I said above, Vanya’s daemon is a bird daemon who… doesn’t fly. He mostly spends his time on a perch that Vanya bought for him in her apartment. He doesn’t actually spend a lot of time physically on Vanya outside of when they’re travelling somewhere, and she usually puts him down immediately when she arrives at her destination. He usually just walks about the house but like a chicken can do a sort of jump/flap combo to get up to surfaces so he’s alright for the most part. I want to say part of Leonard’s manipulations was that he also has a bird daemon and they try and teach Vanya’s daemon to fly as well as for her to access her powers.

and outside of the main kids (these aren’t nearly as well thought out and are liable to change probably - 

Reginald: a fox. Cunning and intelligent and adaptable, she’s regal and stone cold, never speaking directly to any of the children and she often acts as if they don’t exist or are so far beneath her they might as well not. Her coat is always pristine, her dark eyes are always watching, and her teeth are dazzling and sharp and threatening even though the kids see her far more rarely than they do their father. She’s a ruthless pragmatist and often served as an observer during their training, after which she would whisper in Reginald’s ear and oftentimes there was a new and inventive torture waiting for them. Sometimes the kids feared her more than they feared their father. She’s only ever shown anything even approaching affection to Luther’s daemon, and even that was just brushing herself past the other daemon and allowing a brief touch.

Hazel: a big grizzly bear. They often both complain about the lack of accommodations for large daemons when she has to squeeze her ass into their tiny motel rooms or in diner booths and restaurant tables in general. Tends to just stay in the hotel room and allow people to assume Hazel has a small daemon since they’re separated and her bulk is often cumbersome for missions. Has 100% charged in as the cavalry and fucked people up though don’t mistake her whining for her not being very dangerous.

Cha-Cha: my heart says a mountain lion and so that’s what i’m going with. Large and can do a lot of damage given the opportunity with those claws, pretty sneaky and damn good at his job. Is probably the one who scruffs Klaus’s daemon when they kidnap him from the house. He has a wicked sense of humor that Cha-Cha doesn’t always appreciate and always goes with for missions because he genuinely enjoys their work, doesn’t understand why Hazel’s daemon would rather stay behind.

Grace: yes I understand that Grace is a robot and no that’s not going to stop me from saying that Reginald gave her a mechanical clockwork butterfly daemon because I say so and because I think his daemon would have insisted that it’s far too creepy to look and see a human without a daemon and he’s trying to make her as realistic as possible, right? The butterfly is technically an extension of Grace, however Reginald never gave her daemon a voicebox because he deemed it unnecessary. He usually just sits on Grace’s shoulder slowly opening and closing his wings. A plot point is Grace finally naming her daemon for herself because Reginald never bothered with a name for him either.

The Handler: The Handler doesn’t have a daemon. Five asks her where her daemon is in the flashback scene where she recruits him and she laughs and tells him that that’s a rude question and never answers him. The daemon never shows up and other people and their daemons are noticeably unsettled by this. Five’s daemon genuinely is frightened by the Handler and tends to hide behind him, which the Handler comments upon with a saccharine smile. They never do figure out what happened to her daemon (though one of the office workers shares a rumor with Five that the Handler killed her own daemon for questioning the commission).

Patch: a terrier! My heart says border terrier so that’s what I’m going with. Dogged and unwilling to let go when she feels like she’s on the scent of something, she’s a good police officer even if she has torn loyalty to Diego as well. He’s a hardy little thing and he encourages her to bend the rules so much so that it used to be a running joke that her daemon might as well be Diego’s. Her daemon doesn’t bother with the hostilities and is always pleased to see Diego’s daemon. For the most part they just watch their idiot humans snipe at one another and are content to chill until Patch makes Diego leave. Their daemons always cheerfully say bye to each other and that they’ll see the other again soon even

Dave: my heart says also a dog. Probably a farm dog. Australian Cattle Dog, maybe? because my heart also says that Dave was probably raised as a good honest farm boy or at the VERY LEAST his grandparents had a farm he spent his summers on as a child. Very loyal. She absolutely adores Klaus and his daemon and Klaus’s daemon curled up with her constantly. Touching another person’s daemon is a social booboo but out there in Vietnam both daemons saved the other’s human at least once. Dave’s daemon pretends that she’s more sensible than him and often would complain at Klaus’s daemon that the sexual tension was genuinely killing her and if they kept gazing into one another’s eyes on the disco floor she was gonna barf. Klaus’s daemon would just roll their eyes because it’s not like they as daemons weren’t all touchy feely. Klaus’s daemon could be constantly seen grooming Dave’s with their little cat sandpaper tongue and Dave’s daemon constantly rested her head on Klaus’s to go to sleep sO. The scene where Dave dies is doubly sad because you see her turning into dust as Klaus’s daemon howls.

Agnes: almost forgot Agnes whoops. But I choose… a canary! Why? Because they’re bright and pretty and sing nicely and she would forever be explaining that yes, her daemon is a canary but it isn’t a domestic canary so that’s why he has brown on him and isn’t pure yellow. That and I think it would be sort of cute if Hazel’s attention was caught by pretty birdsong initially so a songbird it is. Agnes’s daemon, when her and Hazel are together, likes to snuggle down into Hazel’s daemon’s fur and make a small attempt to preen her even though she’s like a million times his size. He’s absolutely fearless and doesn’t hesitate at Hazel’s large daemon like a lot of small daemons do which endears him to the assassin duo. Like genuinely I picked canary on an absolute whim but that same goes for most of these and no one can stop me.

is that everyone?? i think that’s everyone

EDIT: I FORGOT LEONARD which goes to show how much i repress his existence

Leonard: a great skua. Am I basing this on the fact that I wanted his daemon to be a bird for plot reasons and the first mean bird I could think of was that one dude who wanted to eat baby Mumble in Happy Feet? maybe. But yeah a generally normal looking bird with the capacity for great violence there we go that’s my reasoning thank you and good night. His daemon is unsettling to literally everyone except Vanya probably tbh and Vanya calls Allison out on daemon stereotyping because Allison has a SNAKE she should be BETTER THAN THAT. But yeah that’s all I got for tonight thanks for reading lads.

[swanky-batman]

Narnia Part 6

Peter Pevensie x Reader, Edmund Pevensie x Reader

Warnings: drinking, swearing, violence, probably just mature situations all around.

Part 6! Sorry it’s taken a while to start posting again but I’m trying to get caught up on some of this stuff! Back from my honeymoon now <3 It continues immediately after part 5, I hope you enjoy! (also the gifs aren’t mine!)

Masterlist  || Ko-Fi

Beginning- Previous- Next

------------------------------------------------

His heart sped up as he went towards the window, seeing a makeshift escape route. Immediately, he gathered Edmund, Lucy, Susan, Caspian and Reep in his room to speak to them.

They devised a route for each of them to take to cover the most ground, taking a small group with each to search.

One by one, each returned to the castle- empty handed. Peter, who was the last to return after the longest and farthest search, retreated towards his room. Angrily, he tossed his equipment to the side, making a large noise around him as he did. 

He spotted his letter on his desk, tearing it open before pouring over the contents.

Dearest High King,

I am so sorry to leave this way, but your opinion of me breaks me to my core. I cannot, will not, go back with the uncle who sought to leave me- who cannot even look at me.

I cherished the time we all spent together, and will miss you all dearly. Please take care, and keep a watchful eye of those surrounding you. I beg you to be safe, regardless if you will listen to me or not.

Your Ex-Princess

He did not feel better after reading it. He reread it over and over and scoffed at the idea of him listening to her warnings. His mind began to reprocess the events leading up to her seclusion. 

He had trusted her, given her open access to almost all areas of the castle. To his family and most trusted friends…

A knock at the door sent him from his thoughts, calling for the person to come in. 

“Peter, can we speak?” Ed asked, his own letter clutched in his hand.

He sighed, setting his jaw.

“I had a question about the guard that came to speak to you.” Edmund continued after closing the door.

“He did what he thought was right…”

“That’s just it, Peter- how did he know it was something traitorous?” Edmund paused, waiting for his words to hit him. Peter stood, annoyed that there was a questioning of his leadership going on. “How could he have known it was unless he knew what it said himself?”

Peter stopped his groaning, not moving at all for a few moments. When his head whipped around to look at Edmund, his face shown a bit of fear and confusion. “Guards!” He yelled, striding over towards the door.

----

“Oh, mother, look at your daughter. How far I thought I had progressed, just to be part of the wildlings once again.” You murmured to yourself, content with some of the products you had grabbed.

The first few hours had been a scramble after you left the castle. Still early enough before the servants and the sun arose, you had to be quick to get a lead on and not leave a path behind you. You had hidden often with your mother when you were younger but it was like using something covered in dust, trying to remember everything about it.

Once you had gotten further out you still remained cautious, knowing they would probably send out a hunting party for their prisoner- so you perched your stuff high above and dug yourself a cove inside a tree and covered yourself with moss and other coverings. 

Staying there for a while, you had gotten quite cozy and since you hadn’t slept through the night your eyes threatened to close now.

You woke with a snap of your eyes as you heard hoofbeats not far away.

You could hear the horses breath, and the riders as he had to have come far out of the way to get towards you.

You could hear mumbling and were worried you would have to stay hidden from several pairs of eyes so you lowered your breathing to a minimum.

Coming into view, the shaggy hair and tired eyes of the High King himself came into your vision for a split second. There were emotions crossed on his face- concern, worry, slight anger and exhaustion were the ones you caught in the moment. You whispered an apology as he rode on and waited even longer to come out of your hiding.

With the compass you managed to tie around your neck you used the general directions to navigate you to where- you hoped- there was a small village a few miles up. From there you decided to move West as best you could and try to find some sort of work since you were starting from scratch.

“Mother, how did you manage?” You mumbled with a small smile to yourself, suddenly very aware of how alone you were. It had been a while since you had no one else to please, to answer to… to talk to. 

Noises another half hour on your journey made you cautiously step back and pause. Voices- maybe three or four. On horseback, unfamiliar. You held yourself in one spot, sinking into the trunk you were by and counted. Five minutes went by and their voices seemed to be circling your south. Another five minutes and you heard them a little further off.

Taking a deep breath you rushed a little faster by foot. If you were going to succeed you needed to get out of the easy radius of the castle. The good news was you knew how to hide your tracks so they didn’t know which way you had moved from the castle. 

How Peter had happened to be the one on your journey seemed a bit too close for comfort- a bad sign for the start. Although it did give you one last chance to see him, not glaring or filled with anger towards you. 

You had arrived, another close call with one more group and some time later. With it being near evening, the general shop was closed along with most of the food stalls so you set yourself up on the outskirt of town up in a strong tree. You were lucky for the wildlife around Narnia or you would have little to no chance. 

You nodded off and woke fairly early, the sun hitting your eyes up the tree. You thought through what you might need at the shops and recounted the amount of coin you had- you would need a bigger bag able to carry most of your supplies, a new hunting knife and tinder box would make your nights easier, as well as a head scarf for the sun as well as to help you through any towns you would hit. 

Things seemed to go smooth- you bartered with the shop and the food stall vendors, everyone seeming to be a little wary of a stranger but friendly enough all the same. 

That’s when you spotted it- a riding party coming from the direction of the castle. You quickly finished up your purchase and threw your head scarf on, dodging as quickly as you could while avoiding attention. Last house towards the end of town, you heard them coming closer and your heart raced, a hand reaching out and pulling you off to the side and inside the building.

-------------------

“Lucy please stop your tapping.” Susan asked, sitting across from her.

Lucy pouted and then looked over at Peter, “I’m worried.”

“I think everyone is a bit worried, my dear.” Reep chimed in, looking out the window next to Peter. He followed Peter’s gaze across the gardens and towards the forest.

“I for one think we were a little hard on the whole topic.” Lucy mumbled, earning a shush from Susan.

A knock at the door got everyone’s attention, Caspian walking in, “We have visitors- they aren’t pleased at the moment.”

Peter rubbed his face, “ The King of Calormen.” He groaned.

“I almost forgot about them.” Lucy jumped up, looking worried, “What’s going to happen?”

“We shall see.” Peter straightened and walked towards the room Caspian indicated.

“Where is she?” The King asked in a quiet tone. “What so-called crimes has she committed against you- against Narnia?”

Peter felt the whole rooms gaze upon him, “It is not what she has done, but the crimes your majesty has committed.”

At this, he seemed taken aback, “Me?”

“Yes, we have found one of your traitors.” Peter gestured for a pair of his guards who were holding the guard that accused Y/N of the statement made.

“Blasphemy!” The king shifted, “I have no idea who this man is.”

“We know his story, your majesty. The only thing I am concerned about is why you had him bring Princess Y/N into question.” Peter crossed his arms, as did Caspian.

“Father!” His son turned towards him, “Tell me you didn’t put her in danger!”

“My son you should care less about the peasant who is no line to the throne.”

“She is family!”

“She is nothing but a pawn!” The king raised his voice.

“Not to me.” His son and Peter answered at the same time, surprising each other.

“Your peace treaty is void.” Caspian proclaimed, trying to keep the conversation in the room.

“Guards!” Peter shouted, guards flooding the room with their weapons drawn.

The king frowned, “You have made a big mistake, boy.”

“It’s High King Peter- and I was not the one who wanted war.” Peter glared, ordering them away.

Moments later there was a silence that filled the room.

“I’ll go with the guards to the King’s room- maybe send Ed or someone to interrogate that son of his.” Caspian nodded, walking out.

Peter sighed, looking around, “Where is Ed?”

--------------

You struggled for a moment, the stranger placing a hand over your mouth after the door was shut and yanking the scarf from your head.

“It is you.” He sighed, stepping back into the room with the fire hitting his face.

“Edmund?” You breathed, your heart racing, “How did you find me? What will you do with me?”

“I was thinking dinner and a drink.” He smirked, mocking you a little after his eyes ran over you. “If you have the time.”

-------------------------

Tags: @i-regret-this-already, @breezy1415, @seninjakitey, @imboredsueme, @courtneychicken, @marriedtopeterparker, @imeannooffensebabybut, @cassiopeia-barrow, @daphne-fandom-writing, @notmyfault404, @i-larb-spooderman, @aussiearies, @marvelismylifffe, @kdcollinsauthor

Narnia Tags: @firedancernix, @ttawny, @hopebaker

[ganymedesclock]

Silksong Masterpost- About Hornet

So in the interest of gathering everything from the trailer, official statements, and demo, I’m going over everything we’ve got and trying to assemble everything we’ve got. I’ll update this with new information as it comes out, unless said new information is The Actual Game, in which case I’ll be too busy playing it. In that regard- if you see anything here that’s wrong, or something I’m missing, please let me know and I’ll add it in! Directing me to the source of the information is ideal.

This whole post is just gonna be Hornet, her mechanics, and situation, as we understand it- I’ll make another post that’s a masterlist of other characters we’ve seen.

Basics

She/her pronouns

Introduced in Hollow Knight, the Princess of Hallownest (other epithets being the Gendered Child, Protector of Hallownest, and Princses Knight)

Hornet’s lifeblood is Silk, which replaces Ghost’s Soul System. Her heal command is “bind”. She appears only able to bind with a full silk meter, expends her whole reserve at once, and heals multiple masks near-instantaneously.

When killed in an area, instead of spawning a Shade, Hornet instead leaves behind a silk cocoon that will let her replenish her silk reserve if broken. There appears to be no way to regain her lost currency, but a preventative measure, the “rosary string” can be used to keep rosaries (Silksong’s currency). These strings can be broken by the player, though it is not entirely clear what the benefit is. Shell shards are not lost on death.

Noted to be larger and heavier than Ghost- jumps higher, but falls faster.

Flashes white when taking damage; if at one health, her last mask will tremble and give off white particles.

Silk meter is a spool of thread that, like Soul, charges as hits are scored on an opponent. When the spool is filled, a bobbin next to health lights up.

Tagline of the demo is “Hunt your captors. Discover your song. Save a haunted land.”

Tool System

Instead of the charm system, wields an arsenal of tools that she repairs and maintains with ‘shell shards’ collected from slain enemies. Known tools include:

Pimpillo- a small red throwable bomb that explodes on impact or when its fuse is lit. Stated to be “dangerous to friend and foe alike”. Seems to create a powerful AOE explosive (red slot)

Straight Pin- a simple throwing weapon that appears to have twelve charges before exhausted and requires recharging (acquired early in the game, after the tutorial area but before Deep Docks) (red slot)

A lifeblood syringe, appears to grant Hornet two lifeblood masks when utilized. (red slot)

A rolling saw blade that can be thrown and appears to proceed in a straight line, attacking all enemies in its path. (red slot)

A handful of smaller pins that are thrown three at a time (red slot)

Needle trap similar to that utilized in her second boss fight- extends shortly after placed in midair, and seems to have a platforming aid in boosting Hornet upwards. (red slot)

Object with a rounded bottom and single upward-facing spike; function unknown (red slot)

A pair of curved bone-colored blades; function unknown (red slot)

A small white-eyed red flying beetle; deployed by Hornet throwing them, and she is shown to have at least four at once accompanying her. Once deployed, they seem to stay with her- their other behavior is unknown but may act as bodyguards / summonable allies much like the Weaverlings, Hatchlings, or Grimmchild from the first game (red slot)

Object with a luminous, watery green core surrounded by what appear to be a framing of brass leaves; function unknown (blue slot)

Object in the shape of the familiar Weaver mask (round, vertically split, six eyes) with three short legs from the bottom; function unknown (blue slot)

Object with a three-segmented body and four legs that is a shiny gray color, function unknown (blue slot)

Obscured object with a smiling face and horns, function unknown (yellow slot)

Heavily obscured object, function unknown (yellow slot)

Obscured object with a few ‘legs’ issuing from a central core on a round surface, function unknown (yellow slot)

Said tools appear to be managed according to a “crest” system that has three colored slots, red (which has a spike design), blue (design of two parallel vertical lines), and yellow (a four-pointed star design). Other crests will be attainable, as the menu for managing the slots states that Hornet has the “Wanderer” crest and there is an option in the bottom left to change it. The Wanderer crest seems to resemble Hornet’s head.

There is also a “tool pouch” in Hornet’s inventory of unknown function, possibly to access the aforementioned menu.

Wears a “Hunter’s Cloak”

A total of 400 shell shards can be held at a time.

Skills And Other Menus

Known skills:

Sprinting, which can be used to cross damaging floors without taking damage.

Long-jump, which can be executed while sprinting

Edge grab, (available from the start of the game)- Hornet appears to grab ledges and pull herself up onto them if she doesn’t quite clear the top.

Aerial tumble similar in function to a mid-jump dash

Wall-jump

Ability to strike targets from above and bounce off of them

Ability to strike a target or a wall with thrown needle and pull herself to it

Skittering backwards on four legs

Diving lunge (available from the start of the game)

Circle-of-thread attack from the first game that she utilized as a boss

Offensive ground dash, leading with her needle

Will combine silk with her needle to create a makeshift instrument called a “needolin” by TC

Has a button command that causes her to taunt/threaten using her signature “Garama!”

Will utilize a Quest Journal system. The quests are sorted into various categories: 

Gather- presumably item collecting; a given example is the Druid of the Moss Temple requesting “mossberries”

Hunt- presumably hunting non-boss enemies; a given example is Grumby of Bonebottom requesting someone to protect them from “strange, singing pilgrims” that attack them whenever they approach.

Wayfarer- presumably exploration. An example quest can be seen in the trailer, but it is not selected, leaving its context ambiguous

Grand Hunt- presumably hunting a boss enemy- an example quest can be seen in the trailer but it is not selected, leaving its context ambiguous

Able to parry with her needle, as in her first-game boss battle.

Able to utilize “special attacks”, example given in the demo is a forward thrust with much longer reach. This attack drains part of her silk reserve, but can be utilized with a partially filled spool. Possibly her circle-of-thread attack will also spend silk to utilize.

Like Ghost, Hornet uses masks as hit points- like Ghost, she will gather mask shards throughout the game, and upon assembling four, has a permanent health increase. Unlike Ghost, Hornet’s masks are diamond-shaped.

Story

Hornet is captured at the beginning of the game and brought to Pharloom in a golden cage with a seal of binding by a group of bugs wearing white masks with gold symbols and carrying bell staves.

The seal is broken by a small, glowing white bug landing on the cage, evaporating it and dissolving the seal. Hornet proceeds to lash out using Silk, destroying the caravan and the bridge that they are standing on, causing all to fall.

Hornet wakes in the moss grotto, having been thrown from the cage on impact, retrieves her needle, and proceeds. After defeating the Moss Mother in the sub-area “The Old Church”, she proceeds further and meets the Church Keeper, who is stated to be a mentor-figure to Hornet.

While Hollow Knight progressed downwards, Silksong is going to be about ascending to the peak of Pharloom, and we begin in the bottom of the game.

A group of people will be attempting to impede Hornet’s progress, one of whom is a rival character, Lace.

This appears to be the original kingdom of the Weavers mentioned in the Weaversong charm, given the presence of doors in the shape of the Stalking Devouts’ masks, as well as the more recognizable Weaver symbol, and an either dead or sleeping weaver visible at one point in the trailer encased in silk.

A “haunting” is mentioned many times in the game, appearing comparable to the first game’s plague. Those affected seem to work continuously at their jobs “in a simple manner” but will attack anyone who comes near. “Their minds are not their own”.

[cruddyborderlandstheories]

alright alright alright it’s long overdue, but here’s my “Angel returns” theory from way back when her actress posted an image of her on twitter.

tl;dr: Angel is back and we see her getting digistructed in the dev trailer in the giant electricity machine thing

There’s some Commander Lilith spoilers below (main story and side quests) so if you haven’t beaten the whole dlc yet, don’t read!!

Alright so this obviously was kickstarted by the Sirentology quest lol 

I didn’t wanna say anything above the cut about that cause that’d be a dick move

let’s start with the thing I first noticed as soon as I walked into the prototype chamber!

ahahhaha yeah.

and if you’ve been following me since I replayed tales, then you might see where this is going

we see something similar here

this is from TFTBL, in the biodome where you find one of Gortys’s pieces (chassis? i don’t remember lol. the big ring one). It’s holding it up, like it’s being suspended in the air. I imagine this is the same technology Jack used to build Control Core Angel, keeping Angel suspended above the Vault Key. So this was built by Atlas, just keep that in mind, I’ll bring it back in a second.

You can see when Jack brings Lilith to the Vault itself, it keeps her stuck in the air, charging the Key

so obviously jack needed to improvise because he wasn’t about to bring Angel to the Vault with him, he wanted to wait until the key was fully charged.

I think Angel definitely got a little bit of leeway compared to Lily, though. I also think, since we don’t see any wires, the Vault key is sorta pulling the Eridium through Angel to process it and absorb it? and the thing above her is a pump/shield generator/suspension. As i understand it, in the new dlc we’ve seen Lilith actually flying with her wings in the final battle, and I do think Angel is using hers to move around (above), but I do think the Vault Key/machine thing is holding her suspended in the air. 

Anyway, the reason I’m bringing all this up is because of how Tannis acts in this DLC. @humphreyhornbeam commented on one of my interview posts with a great point and that is that “[Tannis] may or may not have blueprints and/or information that Jack used to create the Siren Collars and she may be the only one alive that has this info”. Which, oh fuck

Lemme point out some lines that are very suspicious from her just to let that sink in for a bit

we know Tannis has been studying Lilith for some time now, since the Assassinate the Assassins quest, and she has apparently dubbed such studies as “Sirentology”, hence the name of the quest.

so she wants to know exactly where Siren powers come from and how they act/appear over time (Understandably, we’ve seen Lilith’s exposure to Eridium allowed her to start teleporting)

we end up sending her the data through a console hooked up to the chamber

we don’t exactly get a choice.

normal reused console from other areas, with a little projection coming out of it (I’ll get to that soon)

Lilith comments this:

which… y’know… “she could have been so much more”. im not saying the devs are regretting killing Angel, but… that very well may be foreshadowing. Yeah, I’m getting there.

and Tannis is pleased (don’t think she quite cares about Angel).

so… i imagine Tannis is going to have some sorta hold on the story in the next game (”Tannis is not what she seems” is still relevant). Interviews have already confirmed this next game is focusing HARD on Sirens. This quest was 100% put in because of that. There’s no way they’d throw this in otherwise, it doesn’t make sense. 

This entire DLC was the devs’ way of ensuring we were prepared for bl3, and that means for (7? I’m pretty sure this dlc takes place about a year after the end of bl2) approximately 6 years, Tannis has access to some of the most in-depth Siren information. Ever. Remember, before BL2, Jack was smashed in the face with a Vault symbol and apparently got a shitload of information from it before that. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he learned some stuff about Sirens through that. He’s even the one who first confirms there are only 6 Sirens in the universe(s) afaik.

so what’s going on here? What’s Tannis going to do with all this information? We don’t really know a lot in regards to what she’s trying to study. As I understand it, she’s mainly focusing on Eridians in general, so her study of Sirens makes sense. We know she had a large stake in what happened to the Vault Key in the DLC (she’s very upset Mordy is just leaving his drinks in it). We know she’s extremely interested in what happened to Typhon Deleon (which I don’t think is coincidence considering what her focus is).

I want to believe she’s trying to use this information to simply discover more about the Eridians. I don’t wanna believe she’s going to use it for evil. Her introduction as a Dahl scientist stranded on Pandora seems super legit, so I can’t see her being of alien origin. I suppose I could see her teaming up with something of alien origin trying to find out where the Eridian homeworld is, since she’s wildly smart and I imagine would have at least 1 or 2 leads (concerning the Vault Symbol on a slab/floor tile we see in her infirmary on Sanc-III). 

Also, I know it is largely assumed the CoV thing is a broadcast from the twins to their cult, but that just… doesn’t make sense to me. I’m gonna go wildly crazy here and suggest that the broadcast wasn’t from the CoV, but instead the Children of the Vault are another entity and the cult picked up the name after hearing said Broadcast. I mean, seriously, do you really think a bunch of crazed lunatics are going to want to call themselves “Children of the Vault” without a larger influence?

HEAR ME OUT.

okay, I do not play battleborn. at all. so idk what the deal is, but looking at videos that show the morse code easter egg shows this

now i did a little looking, not a lot because I am not a fan of battleborn and my disinterest made me terribly bored BUT

this is what i think a “Varelsi” (the enemy faction of Battleborn) portal is SUPPOSED to look like: 

so, you know, there’s a difference. probably the reason it’s called “anomaly”.

And we know the code we get from those anomalies is in morse code

which translates to this (thanks reddit. It’s been 2 years since I upvoted stuff on that post, btw. time sure does fly.)

And y’know, I JUST did a analysis trailer of We are Mayhem, and you know what was in that trailer? Maya’s Phaselock.

let’s take a look at that, shall we?

so we know that Maya’s ability “allows her to lock an enemy in another dimension, preventing the desired target from fighting back for a short while”. Do you see where I’m going with this, yet?

yeah.

Compare the phaselock to the easter egg “anomalies”, they’re both cracks in our dimension, though Maya’s is white, and they’re both cast against a space-like/starry background which I think is our look into the “other dimension” her description mentions.

in fact, let’s look at some other Sirens we know of, more specifically, let’s take a look at Amara’s arms

I think that’s all the same “stuff”. idk what to call it. just… “STUFF”. yeaaaahhhh.

Anyway, this is all a convoluted way for me to say that I think that morse code message we hear is coming from that dimension that Maya can open a rip to. She uses it to imprison people? yeah. Probably the same dimension Lilith can phasewalk through. idk the deal with Amara’s arms but I assume they take their power from that dimension as well. I imagine that dimension is also tied to the Vaults. We know the Traveller “teleports” places, I imagine he’s doing something similar to Lilith: jumping into the other dimension then quickly jumping out. (okay yes i just likened Lilith to Kurt Wagner, whatcha gonna do?).

Consider the idea that Sirens are this dimension’s connection with the other dimension we see within their powers, and that’s where this message is coming from. I think that’s why Sirens can be used to charge the Vault Keys. But wait, there’s more.

(Sorry i totally lost my train of thought, i got SUPER distracted.)

I think Eleseer (the inside of Elpis in TPS) is connected to this dimension as well, or traveled to through this dimension.

the holograms of planets, the stars- I mean the whole thing looks like a giant void, and I get it, the moon is HUGE, but you think at some point you’d see the outside crust or something. You’d think at some point the mines would’ve caused the planet to cave in or something. Fuck, even the Crackening, which we all kinda know was caused by the Eridians, you think that would have shown this GIANT cavern inside the moon.

I think the whole above bit, Tycho’s Ribs, the huge Eridian base thing, is powering a large rift or something into another dimension, the dimension that the TPS VHs drop into on that giant platform with the cutscene and everything. I mean…

COME ON. is all that seriously inside a MOON?

there is even a bubble shield surrounding the platform they get off on, something very similar to the shields Axton has around his turrets. I think that may be to prevent the atmosphere from escaping, anything visiting from getting out, or, possibly, things from getting in. If this actually is somewhere out in space/another dimension, then it would make sense that they’d wanna keep their magical floating future-seeing platform from getting knocked by asteroids or raided by other aliens

Okay, and I know the “planets” all appear as holograms, but look at that galaxy. the nebulas. Those aren’t holograms. 

Eridian writing on the outside ring there? Oh boy bl3 theories here i come. That’s looking very familiar right about now after my We are Mayhem analysis.

cloud/nebula. clearly not a hologram

there’s even a fucking galaxy down here like… Yeah guys I don’t think we’re on Elpis anymore

Even the entrance to the Vault which… y’know isn’t that normal Vault-y shape is a giant hunk of eridium with a huge crack in it. 

and when you touch it, what happens??

You teleport inside, and it even plays the same animation as when Lilith teleports you during the Hunting the Firehawk quest. 

It probably looks less organic than the one in bl2 because this is powered by Eridian machinery, but it’s definitely the same concept- you fade back in all purple and shit

then this asshole shows up out of an actual Vault symbol, which makes me wonder why we traveled all this way and if Vault symbols are actually gateways somewhere and by walking inside one (unlike every other VH), Rhys and Fiona really DID get teleported somewhere

also, a little off-topic but does anyone else think this is what the eridians are gonna look like?

just… the face after u shoot the mask off.

how did i get to this topic…??

oh yeah Tannis LMAO SORRY

Okay POINT BEING

I think that the easter egg message is coming from whatever dimension all of THIS is. If it IS the Eridians, then maybe humans (or the Vault Hunters- the Crimson Raiders?) are the “Children of the Vault” and the Cult took the name because they heard the broadcast. Because as it stands, “Do not open the Vaults” just doesn’t make sense coming from the Calypsos’s perspective. They WANT the Vaults opened. You know who doesn’t? The Eridians.

So the line: “Tannis is not what she seems” then wouldn’t be coming from the CoV, but instead from an outsider watching us. You know… someone getting info to whoever is in that dimension… like the Watcher maybe? Or maybe the Eridians are just watching us in general, like they can see things from their dimension or homeworld or whatever. They had the Elpis Vault that could see the future, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they could see the present anywhere. 

Anyway

TANNIS

I don’t want her to be evil is what I’m trying to say. but you know what? I didn’t even get into the MEAT AND POTATOES of this post yet

here we go

you know this thing? It’s from the dev trailer for bl3. looks pretty similar to the above stuff, doesn’t it? And it’s powered by electricity, because if you watch the tubes get filled up/emptied out in the video. I’m still trying to determine if the footage was reversed or not because the lava (?? I think???) outside the window is falling upwards when it’s playing normally.

So you might be wondering? Why bring this up?

Cause I think it’s possible Tannis has built this using the blueprints she got from Angel’s prototype room. and why is THAT important? 

Well, hear me out.

this is what a digistructer looks like. Imagine 2 of those facing opposite each other, supercharged by electricity

Now we know Tannis has built Digistruct peak to create fake enemies for us, but maybe those don’t last long/aren’t stable enough

and yeah I think you know where I’m going with this

I think it’s possible Tannis has somehow created a machine to digistruct Angel for us.

and you might be wondering

“why the fuck would she do that”

BECAUSE

IF YOU LOOK AT THE CONTROL PANEL WHILE YOU’RE UPLOADING THINGS FOR TANNIS

YOU CAN SEE ANGEL’S FACE APPEAR FOR A SPLIT SECOND

which only ever happened while she was speaking using her powers!!! I don’t even think you actually could “record” that because that’s her using her Siren powers to talk in your brain!! It’s not a part of your ECHO or a tv screen, that’s literally part of her powers

so what if Angel uploaded herself into Helios, then when AI Jack came barging in she had to hide somewhere she wouldn’t be found/overwritten by him

and please tell me if I’m wrong, i’ve been staring at a computer screen all day/night

but that looks like a body to me. You can see the left arm on the right, then a torso, then another arm slightly behind that

even the electric bursts coming out of them create the shape of a body standing there. I can very clearly see the hand/thigh/waist on the bottom and the shoulders/opening to a shirt? on top there

idk lmao. I’m trying my best to explain why her actress would tweet a picture of her with no context and then PIN it to her twitter page

why britanni. whyyy