#with the idea he didn't think he was going to survive

[writingdevil]

hello!! I hope this message finds you well,the idea of a smitten/broken/oppy polycule has been on my mind these past few days and i think itd be interesting to see you explore the dynamic of three people pleasers for vastly different reasons (one who does it for survival, one who does it for safety under a higher power, and one who wants to make everyone happy) and i think that them helping each other with their issues could be really sweet!! i personally kinda picture their dynamic to be something along the lines of um uh!!!

Oppurtunist: ah fuck we getting vulnerable

Broken: ah fuck we getting cared and loved for

Smitten: i love my bfs with issues <3 (claws pointed at his chest, preparing to rip his heart out again)

you dont have to do this if you dont want to!! i just i uh i um uh well uh *explodes*

(Wait, don't explode! I've been insane about this polycule ever since I got this request because I think it would be such an overwhelming amount of feelings, does that make sense? Smitten and Broken are happy to give their lives for love, or what they see as love, but Oppy would rather jump off a cliff than admit a single genuine emotion of his, but I think the other two would help bring that out in him. Anyways, enjoy!)

Let it be known that this entire situation came about because of dinner.

Now, Opportunist liked to consider himself a perceptive fellow, someone who could see all the weaknesses and blind spots that others didn't, which just gave him an opening to strike.

He will say, he hasn't necessarily found a reason to strike yet, but one could never be too prepared when it comes to other people and their unpredictable ways. So Opportunist liked to observe and take mental notes on his fellow flockmates, just to make sure that they could never surprise him or get the upper hand.

But there were two certain little birdies that had been taking up most of his attention.

Smitten and Broken.

Opportunist assumed that they would either be impossible to stand, or incredibly easy to befriend and use. In some strange way, it felt like both options had occurred.

In the time that they've learned to take control of their own lives and freedom, Opportunist had watched as they slowly realised that they had no princess to give their hearts to or be the purpose of their existence, and were consumed with grief.

Opportunist did his best to either steer clear of them, or offer them something in the hopes of placating them. Neither of them were particularly dangerous or useful in that state, so he just tried to be polite and respectful, because emotions like that were not his strong suit.

Thankfully though, they got better, and Opportunist hadn't realised how much he had missed the sound of Smitten's genuine, boisterous voice, or just the quiet presence of Broken that made the flock feel complete. Everything started to go back to normal.

But then Opportunist realised that Smitten and Broken hadn't just gotten closer. They had gotten together.

They would constantly be draped over one another, or giving each other loving gazes from across the room, and were even sharing a room, to Opportunist knowledge.

The actual idea of the two of them becoming a couple wasn't the thing that perplexed Opportunist. He's seen Paranoid sneak into Cold's room more times than he could count. That wasn't what Opportunist was hung up on.

It just-it kind of looked like two natural disasters coming together to fucking destroy the world, did it not?

Surely this relationship could only end in flames, but when he asked Hero if it was okay to let this slide, he just gave him a big, dumb smile and said that they were happy, and that was all that matters.

Whatever. Opportunist just tried to ignore the whole thing, even when it was hard to get the image of them kissing so softly out of his head-and he just wondered how much of their love was real.

One day, Opportunist went around the house, calling people for dinner. That was his job-he wasn't allowed to touch the food, but he can sure as hell be entrusted to get people to listen to him with the promise of food.

He hadn't exactly been thinking when he casually opened the door to Smitten's room.

"Smitten! Din-" Opportunist froze, one hand clutching the doorknob as he looked up, finding Smitten sitting at the edge of his bed, with a flushed Broken on his lap, with their arms around each other.

Oh, he had absolutely walked in on something.

"Sorry!" he squeaked out, but neither of them seemed to mind. Smitten waved one hand in the air while he used the other one to pull Broken closer, and Opportunist tried not to look at the movement too intensely.

"Nonsense, friend! You are quite alright," Smitten assured, and Opportunist chuckled nervously, taking a confident step into the room, noting how Broken was giving him a curious look.

"Well, I just came to say that dinner's ready, so you two lovebirds should probably come down soon." He saw the way they both glowed at the use of 'lovebirds' but didn't say anything.

Smitten planted a kiss on Broken's cheek, and Opportunist couldn't help but just stare at the action, until he realized that Broken was giving him a curious look.

He quickly looked away, spinning around as he said, "Well I'd better get to the others-"

"Is something wrong, Oppy?"

Opportunist froze, before frantically turning to face the couple again, with Smitten furrowing his brows in confusion at him, along with Broken still staring at him.

He waved a hand through the air and tried to act casual. "What? No, of course not! Everything's-" but then he paused, and his eyes lingered on the romantic hold they had in each other, and he couldn't fight the urge to ask, just this once.

He gripped the doorknob for support. "Actually, I do have a question-about you two."

Smitten smiled brightly, standing up while still holding Broken safely. "Of course, my kind friend, ask away! What part of our precious love story would you like to know?" Opportunist kept a pleasant smile on his face, even as Broken patted Smitten's shoulder and requested to be put down, which Smitten did without any hesitation.

"It's just-I suppose I wasn't expecting-this," Opportunist admitted, motioning to the two of them, "the two of you falling in love with each other."

"Oh, would you like me to tell you how it began? How our love first blossomed?"

"No," Opportunist was quick to stop Smitten there, taking a few steps into the room, attempting to remain interested but not too intrigued by their relationship. He shrugged, putting his arms behind his back as he said, "I guess it's just a little strange to me-being able to fall in love when it could hurt you so terribly." He took a tiny bit of sick enjoyment in watching Broken flinch at his words, but then Smitten was quick to grab his hand and whispered some reassurances in his ear.

Once he was sure his partner was okay, Smitten took a bold step before him, and Opportunist's breath hitched at the pure passion and determination in his eyes. His voice was firm yet not harsh as he said, "Love is a powerful force my friend, and I promise you that if you treat it with respect, it gives you that back tenfold." There was a heaviness in Smitten's words, one that even Opportunist could tell was coming from a sore place in Smitten's heart.

But he didn't want to delve deeper into that, for reasons he couldn't explain, so instead he just made a show of grimacing at the two of them, and casually threw out, "I just don't see the point of it, really." Opportunist tried to leave again, to escape this conversation that was continuing to make him feel nervous for some reason, until Smitten's voice cut through the tension.

"Let's make a deal, then."

Opportunist froze, then sent a look of confused interest over his shoulder. "What?"

Smitten glanced at Broken, who nodded his head in permission with a small smile on his face, and Smitten looked back at Opportunist, a dark intensity in his eyes that Opportunist's knees buckled at.

"Let's make a deal. You spend one week with us, as part of our relationship, and we'll prove to you that love is a beautiful, worthwhile thing." It wasn't exactly the love itself that Opportunist had a problem with, but who was falling in love, but he couldn't say that. So he spun back around confidently and asked, "You think a week is enough time to convince me?"

Smitten arched a brow as he looked him up and down. "With you, my fellow? More than enough."

Opportunist was so blinded by mortification that he didn't even think before shaking on it.

Day One

Opportunist was determined to get through this week by acting as aloof towards their affections as possible. He was going to come out of this deal the victor, to prove that some loves weren't meant to be. He wasn't sure why he needed to prove it so badly, but he just did.

Thankfully, on the first day, Smitten and Broken just took him on a peaceful walk. They did insist on holding both of his hands, but Opportunist managed to push the warmth of their touches away long enough to hold a conversation with them.

He was definitely going to win this.

Day Two

They didn't do anything particularly exciting, except for lounge about and talk all day, taking turns preening each other. The act of pretending to not care about this whole thing grew harder when they wouldn't leave his side, but the feel of Smitten so delicately preening his precious feathers, did help loosen him up-even to the point of falling asleep around them.

That didn't mean anything. Everyone grew a little sleepy during preening, that didn't mean anything about Smitten or Broken, or that Opportunist actually felt safe around them. No way.

He still had everything under control.

Day Three

This was when things started to go downhill for him.

Opportunist had been sharing a bed with the couple, because when they expressed concern over not wanting him to be uncomfortable, Opportunist just dug his heels in further and said that he was completely fine with it-a lie, which was his first mistake.

Opportunist doesn't remember much about his nightmare-but there was just heat surrounding him on all sides, and there were cuts in his palms, and when he looked up he saw her. He wanted her to go away but she was stuck and she was stuck because of him. He did this. He caused this.

He was evil he was evil he was evil-

"Oppy?"

Opportunist gasped as he woke up, body wracked with shaking as he laid between Smitten and Broken, frantically blinking to peer into the darkness of the bedroom.

"Oppy, are you okay?" That was Broken, whispering softly to him. He was staring up at him with concern all over his face, his hand itching to reach out, but it never touched Opportunist.

Opportunist couldn't do anything but stare at Broken for a few tense minutes, his brain trying to come to terms that he wasn't in danger, and that his dreams couldn't hurt him right now.

Every one of them got nightmares, but Opportunist made sure to never let that show in front of the others, that his mind and his choices tortured him just like everyone else. He handled his nightmares in his own company, by panting and quietly crying into his pillow, so that nobody could hear him breaking down.

He hadn't had a nightmare in ages, so he hadn't been concerned about that-but life just loved to screw him over.

He gripped the sheets underneath him as Broken continued to look at him with that pity, that tenderness that meant he saw Opportunist as weak and pathetic, so he had to ignore how badly his body shook right now, and he attempted to smile at Broken.

The smile was wobbly and it hurt his face to stretch his skin like that when he was physically holding back a breakdown at the same time, but he pushed through, and tried to keep his tone light and friendly as he said, "I'm fine, Broken," hoping his voice didn't break halfway through. "I'm a-absolutely okay right n-now." Oh god, was he stuttering?

He could feel tears pooling in his eyes, but he frantically blinked them away before Broken could see. "N-Nothing's wro-"

But then he felt soft hands cupping his face, and Broken was pressing up against him, and Opportunist could feel his heart beating against his own rapid one.

He couldn't tear his eyes away from Broken as he whispered to him, "You don't have to keep all the hurt inside you, y'know?" Broken ran his thumbs over Opportunist's cheeks, and he suddenly felt like everything within him was bursting to be let out, all the good and rotten parts that he tried to ignore most of the time, an impenetrable wall that he was convinced would hold.

But a stupid nightmare and a sympathetic little birdie were quickly changing that.

Broken glanced down at his chest, right where his heart was pounding furiously, and he said, "It's okay to let yourself feel bad, Oppy," but he said with such a heaviness, like Broken understood having his life being one performance-and he guessed worshipping counted as a performance. But it was the fact that he knew and he was telling Opportunist that he understood him, that it was okay to let those feelings that you hate out-that made his face crumble as sobs consumed his whole body.

Hot tears cascaded down his face as he sobbed as quietly as he could, and Broken hugged him close, and he found himself practically clutching Broken against him, too scared to be alone anymore.

Broken whispered reassurances to him and rubbed his back, and from behind Opportunist, he heard Smitten-who had been fast asleep up until now-twist around with a soft noise of concern in the back of his throat. He turned around and threw an arm around Opportunist, sliding up against his back and pressing his face against his neck, and Opportunist might have cried harder from how nice it all felt, to not have to perform in this moment.

He wasn't sure how long he cried for, but he does remember having a much easier time sleeping with Broken and Smitten cuddling him.

Day Four

After the chaos that was last night, Opportunist wanted nothing more than to lock himself in his own room and fade away from reality under the comfort and safety of his own blankets.

He told himself that he didn't want to see Broken and Smitten, because he knew they'd want to talk about it, and Opportunist would much rather die than do that.

But to his surprise, when the lovebirds eventually found him, they didn't ask about his nightmare at all. In fact, they were sat around the kitchen table with a deck of cards, asking if he wanted to play with them.

He-doesn't get asked to play games a lot.

It was actually quite fun, even if Smitten wasn't very good at it. But Broken was unexpectedly very good at cards, and Opportunist even found that he lost a round to him once.

The embarrassment and heaviness from last night was slowly leaving his body, and was being replaced with a warmth in his chest-but that surely meant nothing, right?

Day Five

Opportunist had actually found the time to be alone-or more accurately, Broken had finally decided that he could be trusted to not break down in tears.

Opportunist knew that them playing cards with him was just a way to make him feel better after his nightmare, and while he appreciated it, he felt like he needed to repay them somehow.

Usually, his first reasoning for this would be so that they couldn't use their acts of kindness against him in some way, but today, he just felt like showing his thanks to them. Which was weird for him, but he didn't look too deep into it.

So he spent the whole morning thinking of how to show his appreciation, and what he came up with wasn't exactly original or jaw dropping, but Opportunist wasn't exactly a romantic guy.

Once he had his gift, he then spent the rest of the day worrying if they'll like it, if it was even good enough for them, and if he should just forget it-

"Opportunist, my dear!"

Opportunist yelped as he spun around, keeping his arms securely behind his back.

He had just been leisurely walking around their garden, when Smitten suddenly surprised him. He watched as Smitten arched a brow in curiosity, tilting his head slightly as he looked down at his hidden arms, and for good measure, Opportunist wrapped his wings around his arms as well.

"Smitten! Hi! How are you? What is it?" God, he's never sounded so nervous before. Why? It was just Smitten.

But the way Smitten beamed at him made his breath hitch, and when he took a step forward, Opportunist found it difficult to not take a step back, that he felt like keeping his distance would keep his head clear right now.

"Well, I haven't seen you all day, and I was starting to get worried." Opportunist's face fell in surprise. "Wait, really?"

Smitten nodded firmly. "Of course, Broken was beginning to get lonely without you."

Confusion and warmth started to mix in Opportunist's head, and he wasn't sure if he could think straight like this. "But-But he has you, shouldn't that be enough?"

Smitten then smiled at him in a way as if he knew something that Opportunist didn't, and instead asked, "What's behind your back?"

Opportunist felt his feathers betray him by fluffing up in that moment, and he looked down at the ground in embarrassment as he muttered, "Just-something for you."

Smitten gasped. "For me? Darling, you shouldn't have!" Opportunist had to try extremely hard not to think about how nice it had felt to be called darling, and the amount of heat and butterflies rising within him was beginning to be too much to bear, so Opportunist just squeezed his eyes shut and stuck his arms out in front of him. "Here!"

There was silence, until Opportunist felt Smitten take the gift out of his hands, and then he opened his eyes.

Smitten was staring down at the bouquet of red roses in awe and wonder, and Opportunist was quick to explain, "I-I remember roses being your favourite, but I wasn't sure about Broken. I just wanted to give you both something to say thank you-for helping that night."

He tried to look at anywhere that wasn't Smitten's face, but his eyes were always drawn back to how sweet he was looking at the flowers. Then that sweetness was directed at him as Smitten said, "Thank you so much, my dear." But then he stepped closer to him, leaning his head to the side in order to give him a peck on the cheek, and Opportunist panicked, quickly stumbling back a step as he blurted out, "I need to ask you a question!"

Smitten paused, and Opportunist wasn't sure why he had said that, only that they were getting into dangerous territory that they needed to back away from, but he might as well ask at this point.

"But the question might-hurt you," Opportunist nervously added, but Smitten just nodded in permission, a more calm and serious look on his face.

Opportunist couldn't find it within him to ask this question with confidence, so his voice came out soft and uncertain as he asked, "How do you know that what you have with Broken is-real?" He took a deep breath, and continued, "How do you know that the two of you aren't just using each other to fill the hole that she left? How can you be so sure that this time, you won't hurt each other?"

Opportunist found enough courage to look Smitten in the eye, and was surprised to not find him brimming with rage at the thought of his love being anything less than pure. He was staring down at the flowers with a bittersweet expression, and then he shrugged, an action that seemed weird on Smitten.

"I suppose," he began, "that I may have-struggled to adapt without the princess, and that my love for her wasn't always-good." It seemed like Smitten was having trouble articulating himself, as if a part of him was still ashamed at what he had done.

"But Broken understood how I felt, to a degree, and there was a comfort in that, that we both understood how the other was feeling, that we weren't alone. It wasn't just Broken, you know. The others tried to help fill the hole in our hearts, until I realised that the hole wasn't from me missing the princess."

"Really?" Smitten chuckled, and finally looked up at him, taking another confident step forward, and this time Opportunist couldn't find the strength to back away. Smitten smiled lovingly at him, and whispered, "It was from not expressing my love to everything I adored." Then he pressed a tender kiss to his cheek, and Opportunist's knees trembled.

He's not so sure what to think anymore.

Day Six

They were in bed again, and Opportunist was lying down with Broken laying on top of him, and Smitten sitting up to his right, reading a story to them.

Broken hadn't been feeling the best, so they decided to stay in and keep him company, and Opportunist busied himself with rubbing a hand up and down his back for comfort.

Everything was quiet and peaceful, but Opportunist's brain felt like it had melted into nothing, like he had no thoughts other than love.

He thought that Smitten and Broken's relationship would be doomed to fail, but their capacity for love only seemed to make them stronger. They weren't going to fall back into that darkness, not when they had someone pulling them back from it.

Broken squirmed above him, and Opportunist looked down, watching as Broken sighed as he rested against his chest.

Broken wasn't as depressing as Opportunist initially thought. He was actually incredibly perceptive of how others were feeling when his head was clear, and Opportunist found a comfort in knowing that he wouldn't be turned away for breaking down in front of Broken.

Broken felt his staring, and lifted his head to stare back at him, and Opportunist could feel his heart pounding against his chest, and so could Broken probably.

Broken's voice was an almost silent whisper as he asked, "Do you want to kiss me?" Opportunist's mind went blank as he nodded, and Broken smiled, and then they were both leaning in to kiss each other.

It felt good. It felt soft, and it felt safe.

"Finally." Then there was Smitten, and the sound of the book being tossed, before Opportunist felt hands cupping his face, and he was brought into the hungry mouth of Smitten.

Smitten was passion, and he set every inch of Opportunist aflame, so strong that he mind was struggling to keep up with him. But it felt real. It felt like love, from the both of them.

Opportunist wasn't even mad that he really didn't last the week.

[ncoincidences]

What would absolutely, irrevocably, break Sirius Black?

Considering canon, he can survive:

The death of his best friends. It causes him immense grief, which he channels into rage. Still, he manages to track down Peter pretty quickly (whether that says less about him and more about Peter's evasion skills is yet to be determined, but considering Peter managed to evade detection or even suspicion for 12 years, I'd like to give him some credit).

12 years of Azkaban, i.e. 12 years of mental torture by dementors who pull out his worst memories to the front of his mind (indicating he has incredible resilience of mind and willpower)

a year back inside his childhood home, which brings out the worst in him — but he manages to remain cheery for the kids, as seen during Christmas time. if we take a moment to consider that his memories of Grimmauld Place would've haunted him in Azkaban as well, returning back to the place is like salt and lemon on the wound, and would further enhance his memories. Leaving him in worse mental health.

living on the run and hiding in caves - to be in survival mode AND still have your full attention on your godson speaks even more about his mental strength, PLUS, he would have been so bored but he chose to abandon the tropical beach dream and return to give Godfatherly advice <3

CONCLUSION: Nothing (nearly) can break Sirius.

But, I have a few suggestions.

Returning back to Azkaban. Perhaps during OOTP he's caught again, and arrested without trials because the Ministry is too busy worrying about Voldemort to give out the Dementor's Kiss yet. He's already at his worst. Returning back would mean he failed Harry. It would bring his ghosts back to life.

Losing Harry. He's whom Sirius risks everything for.

Harry hating him. Don't get me wrong... Harry adores this guy. But what if... Harry's letters lessen. Misunderstandings. Sirius concluding that maybe he just isn't the right godfatherly figure for Harry.

Becoming bed-ridden. Hear me out. Not being able to fight is his source of annoyance during OOTP, BUT, what if he isn't able to do basic tasks? Now, he's a liability. He has to be taken care for. He can't physically protect Harry or fight against those who hurt him. Add that to being stuck in Grimmauld Place. I think he'd go incredibly sullen, and if it's for a prolonged period of time AND Harry has to be at Hogwarts - he'd be in a really low mood.

Stuck in Grimmauld Place with Harry. I know Harry thinks about begging Sirius to live with him instead during Umbridge's reign at Hogwarts, but it really would be a bad fate for the two of them. While initially they'd feel better at getting to be close to each other, the boredom and despair would drive them up the wall. Sirius might feel guilt at Harry not being able to complete his education (if that were the case). They'd be bored out of their minds. Sirius wouldn't want Harry to see the worst of him and would retreat away. Sirius would hate that Harry is spending his teen years at the worst place imaginable in his eyes, and blame himself for it. Additional slightly crack idea:

Turns out, his parents didn't die. They were just taking a few years off in the Italian countryside. What are a bunch of freaks doing in their house?

If you have more suggestions, feel free to drop in! Plus, if you'd like to use these as prompts, tag me with whatever you come up with <3

[megamagimugi]

The Cruel Fate of the Left-Behind Toad

M&L: Brothership spoilers below!

I need to talk about something that happened to me during my first playthrough of the game, because it still haunts me to this day. And I don't think it's a very common experience among the players. This is going to be a long post, so please bear with me.

You know the sidequest called "The Left-Behind Toad"? You fish and find a note in a bottle that goes like this:

"How long's it been since I was sent flying to this island? It's a small island, that's for sure. There's almost nothing on it. Just pipes. That's it. Pipes. I'm bored! Nothing to eat but grass. Only clouds for companions! Now my cap is drying out. I have little hope that I'll be rescued. But maybe throwing this message out to the sea will do something. Whoever you are, if you're reading these words, PLEASE HELP."

There's also a crumpled page saying:

"Oh, Mario and Luigi, I hope you're both doing well. Please, Princess Peach, forgive me. I won't be returning for a while."

Of course, with a message like this and the very name of the sidequest, I felt bad for that poor soul and naturally wanted to help him as soon as I could. I imagine it must be the same for most people. So I did what the game suggested and immediately went to see those adventuring brothers from Allsand. They showed me the islet in question on the ocean map. The only problem? After that interaction, I lost the way. I don't know how. I just couldn't find that darn Inphant Islet. When I tried again on my replay after beating the game, it was so easy, it was RIGHT THERE and I have no idea why I couldn't find it on the map the first time. Guess I must have gotten distracted by other sidequests and the main story soon after. I never completely forgot, though.

After an embarrassingly long time, I finally discovered that stupid islet. But it was too late and the sidequest had expired. I launched Mario and Luigi to Inphant anyway. What I found shocked me. The poor Toad had been glohmed! I still wanted to do what I could, and found my way to him through the maze of warp pipes. Sure, the fact that there was also treasure to find gave me extra motivation, but I really still wanted to help that Toad. But as one might expect, when I tried talking to him he responded in the same way all glohmed characters did. He wanted to be left alone, and there was nothing we could do. It was honestly quite heartbreaking. I didn't want to leave him there. I wanted to bring him back to Shipshape, cure him and then bring him home to the Mushroom Kingdom. But the game didn't give me any way to do that from that point onwards.

Honestly, I wish they had let us carry Toad like an object even against his will and force him to come with us. Heck, it could have even been quite a funny little scene as Toad would try to resist and protest all the time as we carry him through the pipes and then to the cannon. But alas, no such luck. The game let us know we failed and we were forced to come back with nothing except for the treasure.

Too bad I didn't take any pictures or videos of that moment. I suppose I was simply too shocked. I just couldn't believe there was nothing I could do. If the same thing happened to anyone else who does have some footage/screenshots, I'd appreciate it if you shared them in a reblog!

Think about the implications of this failure, guys. That Toad was already in a bad physical and mental state when he was writing the letter. How much time did he spend on that little island before I found him all glohmed? And then once I was forced to leave him there, the game never gave me another opportunity to rescue him. Sure, once we beat Reclusa and saved Concordia, the Glohm was gone, but then what? The islets were never part of the main land of Concordia. He was still left all alone on Inphant. Really, I'd say that his best chance of survival were those two Allsand brothers who might discover him there - but will they make it in time before he dies there?

And as I found out today when I was playing some of Brothership again using my old save files, it gets even WORSE. I swear the little dude can't catch a break.

I used a save file from the time when Reclusa has already been reborn and trapped a lot of people in those strange VR headset flowers. I deciced to visit that Toad since, even though I've already rescued him on my second try during my replay of that part, sometimes I still think about this particular timeline. And guess what! Of course that poor Toad who had already spent who knows how much time all alone on that islet was caught too! Guess the game really wanted to let me know I had royally scewed up.

This time, I have footage, so you can see for yourself what happened. Watch with the sound on and until the end.

The noise he makes at the end after I'm done talking to him? He mutters to himself like this all the time when we're on this islet, even farther away from him. His distorted voice sounds scary, too. And look at what he's saying, what he's dreaming about. I think all of this means the poor fellow lost his mind, stranded among nothing but pipes that kept confusing him. His biggest dream at this point is simply finding his way through them with ease. So, not only is he most likely going to die here, he couldn't even keep his sanity. This Toad did NOT deserve this fate. I'm so sorry for failing you, little guy :(

For me, it was hands down THE darkest part of this entire game. Even though technically it shouldn't have happened. It's definitely very dark for a Mario game. What's more, Mariowiki says:

Clearly, this is not the case. The Toad is present alright, at least in body... Or at least he was during my playthrough, heh (if nobody says it happened to them too I'm totally starting an "every copy of Brothership is personalized" rumor xD).

Anyway, if you've made it this far, thank you. I needed to share this with the world and would love to hear your thoughts. Here's a little rough doodle I drew before writing this post.

...Yeah. I'm sorry, little buddy. At least there's a timeline where I did save you <3

[tophandbolinbffs]

I beg to differ. Yes, endings are important, letting stories end is important, that's not what I disagree with. I just believe that destruction is also important.

Post-apocalypse settings serve to teach us hope. That things can and will end, it is inevitable that they do - and that is fundamental for new beginnings and difficult changes.

The world didn't end with Ozai - but he was one guy trying to end the world in one lifetime. If it wasn't him, it would be someone else, something else, or simple happenstance. Sometimes, calamity is unpredictable and unavoidable. But if a few people survive, then we can rebuild, and I think that is an important message to send always, but specially right now when everything seems to be going to hell.

And an important part of the Avatar role is leadership. It's not just having the ability to bend all four elements, it's not just their connection with the spirit realm, but the ability to see how everything and everyone is connected, and using that knowledge as fuel to keep humanity connected; to be fully able to lead them on the path of peace and unity.

I am looking forward to seeing if these themes are explored at all. Every Avatar so far has explored different trials - Kyoshi fought everything in her path for what she believed, the fire nation Avatar had to fight his biases in his relationships (he lost, though), Aang had to fight to maintain his morals and still complete his objectives, and Korra had to fight repeated failure when she was so used to being great. I believe the internal conflicts of this new Avatar have potential, even more so with Korra being the ONLY one to guide him in the Avatar ways, since the cycle restarted with her (if that's wrong, forgive me, I haven't finished Korra).

All that being said, I am a bit suspicious because the plot sounds similar to an idea I saw on tumblr like YEARS AND YEARS ago. Hope I'm wrong, though.

I beg corporations to let stories END. Endings are important. Journeys start to lead to a destination. Do we really need a third Avatar series? Does it have to be a post-apocalypse? Why would you write a post-apocalypse when that is basically what we'd watched the Gaang prevent when Ozai set out to burn the whole Earth Kingdom? Why give us the feeling that it was all for naught?

I wish ATLA was just a stand-alone.

[thegarageafterdark]

Washed out(TrailbreakerxReader)

Getting essentially rained out while camping wasn't entirely the plan for obvious reasons. But the situation could have been worse, you could have been alone. Trailbreaker wasn't too concerned, he just wanted to wait for the weather to subside before going back on the trail as the winds were buffeting hard enough being on the mountain road could be sketchy with the water to contend with as well.

Your tent however was definitely not going to survive this, it wasn't rated for gusts this strong even with the upgraded ground stakes to help hold it down, let alone the amount of rain that decided to appear a day early. "I have an idea." The voice from the big SUV was almost shy, headlights dim to illuminate the campsite enough you could see him through the tent fabric. "Yeah? What's up Breaker?" knowing he could hear you where you were huddling in your sleeping bag, grimacing as the tent walls flexed and billowed inwards. Desperately trying to keep dry but if it tore open... It was going to be a long night. "I'll rearrange my seats, you can sleep in my cab? At least you'd be dry and warm until morning." The tent would likely be trashed but he'd get a new one.

Deep down the mech hoped you'd agree. The protective urge was nearly overwhelming, especially as your teeth chattered and it got colder as time drew on. This was supposed to be a fun trip, he'd promised to take you to see the mountain lake you'd heard about hidden in the mountains that Hound had shown him. The thoughtful silence wasn't unnoticeable even with the wind howling around the both of you.

"Please? The forecast says this is just the start, its going to get worse. I really don't want you getting injured or sick." He didn't trust that tent not to shred itself with how it was bowing and twisting. "…Okay." It was weird to think of sleeping in him, it'd taken you a bit of time to be comfortable with just riding with them. Having to think of it like carrying a small pet in a pocket verses…'inside' inside.  But he'd pulled up to just in front of your tent, and you scooted out of your bag and did a quick roll of it with your pillow. Soon as you unzippered the door, the real extent of the nasty weather really hit you. Trailbreaker had gotten as close as he could, door opening quickly so his interior lights could guide as you bolted the scant feet to get to him. His whole backseat was folded into a platform with his cargo area, making plenty of room to stretch out. It took some wiggling but you got your sleeping bag and pillow situated, though with how he'd set himself up it was comfortable even without.

The silence wasn't entirely awkward, as you stared up at his ceiling a moment, you listened but you couldn't really hear the outside so well now. But you heard other things. For a moment you thought it was your own heart in your ears, but it wasn't. It was a deep hum with a low pulse that was like a rapid heartbeat for what you could hear of it. The strange feeling of being safe, held. Like lounging with a friend on the couch to watch movies on a rainy day cozy.  You realized you could feel and hear him. The protectiveness, the odd calm now that you were settled. Hear his systems winding down as you relaxed steadily as well. "I can hear your spark." You whispered in awe, realizing exactly what the multilayered pulse sound was. There was a chuckle, the deep voice sounding almost sleepy. "I can feel yours."

[daisybell-on-a-carousel]

What the fuck do you mean he woke up in his coffin alive, with like all of his injuries from his death, cracked open the wooden lid of his casket with nothing but a belt buckle and his hands, dug 6 feet out, while running out of oxygen, walked 12 and a half miles (and then maybe got hit by a car??!?)

And then during his Robin run, there was of course when he got beat up by the Joker and then got up to get the ropes off his mom

In legends he got beat up by an angry mob, was hospitalized, looks like he has a head injury as well as a broken arm and leg, and he just. Walks out and manages to find his way to the next gathering angry mob to try and stop em

He will not stay down and he will throw himself back into it as soon as he physically can, sooner sometimes

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Your beats make me sick

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[starry-bi-sky]

mmmmmm read a disciple shen yuan/shizun luo binghe fanfic about two days ago where the first chapter was the Immortal Conference arc, and SQQ was the one who had to be pushed into the abyss (he was still the villain) except Luo Binghe was refusing and was like, lowkey losing his mind about SQQ being so close to the edge. SQQ ended up having to be the one to fall in himself because of the system's punishment system. The rest of the fic is leading up to that moment. But like, MMM i've been obsessively thinking about that first chapter for DAYS ever since.

now i've been in svsss for a grand total of *checks watch* a week. but god obsessed with that. I want to write/read a fic where disciple SQQ goes a little nuts down there. Like keep all of the things that make SQQ, SQQ, but just. Throw in a little bit more trauma in there. A little bit of a mental break. Let him go a little nuts as a treat. Just a tad unhinged. I wanna see him go, just a little, "god fuck it, i've tried so hard to change this shitty story's outcome and it feels like everything i've done has been for nothing. I'm going to die in this world no matter what I do, I've been doomed from the start, so might as well die the way I want to." and he just, breaks a little! Under all the stress.

He still retains the traits that makes shen yuan, shen yuan, like his overwhelming kindness. But he's just! yk. A little less patient. Paranoid. Jumpy. Colder. A little more aloof and closed off. A little more Shen Jiu. He's no asshole child abuser, but he was a Number One Hater in his past life and he's leaning into that old habit a little more now.

(On a totally coincidental not-at-all related note, there's not enough SJ-and-SY-are-the-same-people fics out there that i've found. This is totally unrelated...)

The Endless Abyss turns the mind into an over-sharpened blade, and SQQ is both fascinated and perhaps a little excited to explore a place that doesn't have a lot of info on it in the mortal realm, but still terrified out of his mind. And he's no Luo Binghe, he doesn't have the sheer brute strength and power to just bulldoze his way through, so he has to be a lot more sneaky and cunning if he wants to survive.

The fic itself role-swapped LBH and SQQ so that SQQ was the half-demon (which lowkey fucks) and LBH the human, but I'm equally-if-not-more obsessed with the idea that LBH remains the half-heavenly demon and SQQ the human. If only because I keep thinking about SQQ befriending some demons (particularly and specifically a group of succubi) and they grow very attached to this Human Cultivator so through magic plot stuff they create some kind of seal/illusion/talisman that makes SQQ appear as a demon because a human cultivator in the endless abyss may as well be the equivalent of putting a giant neon target on your back.

And iirc Shen Jiu was taught demonic cultivation by that one guy(?? i've only been here a week so im not caught up in ALL of the lore yet) so that could totally happen here.

(On the other end of the realms, poor Shizun Luo Binghe is just. losing his fucking mind over losing his most precious and beloved disciple. About .5 seconds from burning down the peaks himself. somebody sedate him.)

The Endless Abyss sucks and SQQ is having a really terrible time and can feel himself going lowkey mad, but also holy shit look at all this WORLD-BUILDING. look at all this flora and fauna, and oh if he had the equipment for it he'd be writing all of this down. ALL OF IT. He was kinda-sorta-already planning on never leaving the Abyss as some sort of fucked up self-exile and self-preservation thing, but now he might? actually just?? never leave if he can help it, like he lowkey likes it down here.

anyways the next time anyone ever sees SQQ again he's got hair so long its almost touching the ground and he's either in rags and half-feral or he's been completely dolled up by his adoptive succubi sisters and still about three seconds from biting anyone who tries to touch him. (he's also lowkey trying to book it back down to the abyss even if he has desperately missed all of his friends and shizun)

[eastbluecrewed]

things you can't get back

aka i've been waiting so patiently to see kidd get his ass beat by shanks (affectionate)

[welcometogrouchland]

I just think Hunter was obsessed with Willow and didn't even know it during the period from any sport in a storm to labyrinth runners. They maybe don't talk as often as they could, they're both busy and have conflicting schedules, so when they do talk, Hunter absorbs everything she says.

After roughly 3 weeks of texting (hexting? I feel like the kids would call it hexting), He knows that her favorite colour is orange, she likes her tea with extra milk and a bit of honey during winter, she likes working out to the noisiest angriest music in her playlist, her dad Gilbert is a construction witch who specialises in pottery, she used to listen to breakup songs and think about her childhood best friend (Hunter doesn't know it's Amity) and she actually has a mild pollen allergy despite being a plant witch and has to take potions for it.

He casually drops all this info piece by piece during their stay in the human realm and willows like. Well I can't not marry him. It'll have to be a winter or fall wedding to account for her allergies </3

[danwhobrowses]

Okay I've had a sleep, I've seen a lot of what the fandom has to say and I'm gonna just talk about my thoughts on the episode 118 stuff in more detail too.

Spoilers under the cut and it's a little bit (5 paras and a tl/dr at the bottom) long

I have never liked the Release Predathos option, but it had been very apparent - since probably as far back as the vorbing - that Matt had been pushing the narrative towards that option whether Bells Hells wanted it or not. The lack of alternatives provided meant that yes, the Hells had little choice but to deal with Predathos themselves; Ludinus was likely not dead, they were low on strength and resources even after a short rest to fight another full-strength Ludinus, and even if they caved in the core and killed Ludinus again someone else would've tried to come and release Predathos. On that I can't really fault the cast for playing ball with the DM and I can't say what the characters are doing is out of character or with bad intentions, it simply annoys me how close we were to entertaining the idea that should've been discussed earlier of putting Predathos somewhere nobody can get to. Objectively it was still a terrible idea, one that even in delivery could've been better prepared with Imogen not in range of the two saving throw buffs or having any Inspiration as she took on Predathos knowing from previous experience that a wisdom save is likely to be involved. But again, the alternatives offered up to them are sparse, nothing else in the narrative had offered a clear solution and if something did suddenly come up it would've felt too much like a deus ex machina. The Hells are not doing this because they want to do Ludinus' plan, but doing so is by proxy doing Ludinus' plan, and thus the problem as of current lies in the Plot.

Right now, they're at a very high risk of the plot not justifying a story, because why did we have this campaign if the outcome is gonna be the same? If the plan is to reset Exandria why didn't we have C3 in the post-reset era and trickle in what happened as lore? Bells Hells have often lacked agency when it came to the Predathos portions of the campaign, but even when they took agency to try and be more than what they were made to be they found themselves punished or being withheld the catharsis they needed to grow. Regardless, the plot is currently failing the characters, and thus the characters are failing the audience - to the point where some in the fandom now want them all to die or for Braius to betray them all - because we the audience don't see the appeal of the direction.

There is a caveat though: it's not yet over. We expect that there will be a fight between the Hells and Predathos!Imogen (we need a name for that) and possibly Ludinus swooping in with the harness to try and steal a victory, but that does mean that the theatre of imagination can come into play in dealing with Predathos itself. There is of course uncertainty whether Predathos can die, since Vecna at 0hp would've just discorporated them for a bit, but there are a lot more options for the Hells to entertain now than there was at 118, including having to kill the vessel - be it Imogen or transferring it to another like Ludinus or Liliana, being able to expel Predathos from Imogen and entrapping/banishing/killing it with the knowledge that yeah that was a terrible idea, or somehow having Imogen suppress it and remain control over herself (and hope that the same rule doesn't apply to her as it does with Delilah being free when Laudna dies), which all can involve exciting twists and turns and creative solutions befitting of a conclusion. In that hope is the opening for a more exciting and satisfying end, and while the plot has had rightful criticisms a good ending can make up for them just as much as a bad ending can ruin a good plot.

So in short; I don't like that Imogen did that, but I know why she did it. And why she did it is more the plot's fault because we never saw it as a good idea, just the only decision that was pushed to be made. There's hope though, and all is not lost, but the plot as well as the characters are gonna have to earn it.

[rmorde]

Trigun Manga Reaction

Here we go! Chapter 8 Volume... Huh?

Voulme 2? I thought this is still Volume 1. Am I tripping?

Anyway! Just a moment of appreciation for this parody page of he cover.

This while thing is so "busy" yet it still make sense. There's so many elements layering on top of each other. It should be a confusing mess. However, I can still easily pick out the four components that tells a story.

Component 1: Vash as a happy salary man being served a drink by a geisha (judging from the hairstyle and accessory) with shadowed eyes on the opposite end of the page.

Component 2: BDN at the dead center. The text makes it a bit difficult to confirm if he has a top knot, but he definitely is rocking a traditional Japanese look. He looks menacingly at Vash as he drinks.

Component 3: Meryl and Milly running in a hurry but for two clearly different purposes. Meryl looks like a traditional restaurant staff frantically trying to serve a lot of guests. Meanwhile, Milly doesn't look she's working anywhere near the food service industry with her get up and the tool that she has on hand.

Component 4: The Bad Lads drinking in celebration while an ambulance seems to be sounding its sirens as it parked near them.

Look. I may seem to be too obsessed with this gag page but it's crazy how its a fucking busy mess that still works at telling a cohesive story!

With just this two page drawing, I can infer easily that someone is in danger and may need to be hospitalized - so the ambulance was called and asked to stand by. Milly is probably the heroine about to save the day with the overworked yet eager to help Meryl. The party the Bad Lads are having is a big distraction at a possible murder attempt starring Vash as the victim, the geisha as the accomplice, and BDN as the mastermind.

I'M SORRY BUT HOW THE FUCK?!!!

And don't get me started on the scaling of each figure and the silhouettes. Just... I'll just repeat, Nightow is amazing for how pretty AND technical his drawing is. It's so clean. Wow...

Sorry for getting derailed. So, back to the chapter.

Ok. I lied. Let me just appreciate Winter Mery and Milly here. I love them so much and they so fucking cute here with their dynamic pose... solid silhouette... Clean fucking lines... Sorry... Give me a minute!!!

Sigh~

Interesting. So, '98 rearranged the sequence of events here. This happened a bit later... which I think is better. It adds more impact on Vash's duel against BDN.

These guys are no stormtrooper shooters. They having really good aim!

They didn't hit Vash. Okay. Maybe the tails of his coat now have fresh bullet holes, but aside from that, Vash is fairly intact. The Bad Lads have great accuracy.

This is an intriguing way of drawing a spinning gun. It's simple but effective in visually communicating that that is what BDN is doing. A good choice. Thinking about it... If three twirling guns in a blur of circles were drawn, it would be too distracting and BDN will be overwhelmed in the panel.

Cool foreshortening. Incredible detail on the filigree. And a bonus Goofy Face Vash!

So so fucking glad '98 was faithful to the manga with these scenes. Meryl and Milly were such badasses here.

Huh... Well that's a huge difference. There's not much:

GASP! It'S VaSH tHe STampeDE!

vASh ThE StAMpEdE?!

VASH THE STAMPEDE!!!

It can get a bit much... sometimes in '98. So, this is refreshing.

WHAT...

WHAT THE FLYING FUCK?!!!

So, those lines by Miss Purple Avenger from the filler episode were originally from BRILLIANT DYNAMITES NEON?!

I-

Oooohhh.... Pretty art... Wait no... I can't distracted. I'm mad!

I'M VERY VERY MAD!!!

OML! This is much more intense! IT ADDS SO MUCH WEIGHT TO THE DUEL!

Oh my goodness... This nuance... WHY WAS THIS CHANGED?!

Not to say that Miss Purple Avenger and the episode featuring her was bad. It was actually great! Her version of July was nightmare inducing... and her confrontation with Vash was truly tragic too but.... Uhm...uh... AAHHHH!!!! I CAN'T CHOOSE! THEY'RE BOTH GOOD!

Oh... break my heart into fucking pieces will you huh?!

LOOK AT THESE! Manga Vash getting cheered on by the people! People were supporting him! He is being treated nicely as he deserved.

Even in '98! It was not as overt at this page. However, that scene of the captain from the beginning of this chapter replaced these panels instead and is just as effective. '98 Vash has people believing the good in him.

TRISTAMP VASH WAS ROBBED!!! HE NEVER HAD THESE!!! That poor precious boy! The few precious people who supports him only showed up near the end... and... and...

Now getting even more upset again with the Jeonora Episodes in Tristamp!

It's so not fair!

Oooh. A cinematic page!

HOLY SHIT!!! THESE PAGES ARE AMAZING!

I can't believe this. This fight is better in the manga!

I am not dissing Studio Madhouse for what they've done tho. The '98 Duel was epic too! They did great! But all these crazy angles and perspectives in the manga just elevate the overall awesomeness of the gunfight. It's just more immersive.

Tbf to the '98 anime, this is a nightmare to animate faithfully. With the technology and techniques at the time, this would be so difficult to pull off beautifully - going topsy turvy in one smooth motion for two characters at the same time in a fight scene with a complicated moving background? Yeah... The animation staff would go insane. It's totally understandable that they simplified this duel into extreme close ups and strong facial + gun drawings instead.

I hope Studio Orange re-hashes this fight in some way tho... or does the Episode 1 duel count?

Sigh... With the my discovery that Miss Purple Avenger's lines were actually BDN's, and that the outrage towards Vash for not remembering anything about July belongs to the Bad Lads', these words have become so much more meaningful.

It's also now more effective at convincing me that Brilliant Dynamites Neon have hidden depths.

Oh... Ow... The detailing here is just ow for the hands of an artist. Perhaps I overreacting, but those fine lines in the crooks and crannies make me wince.

Once again tag responses:

@revenantghost

Yeah. The more I see his work, the more I'm awed by his skills. That's a cool detail that his design incorporate realism. I thought the glasses are for the light tho? But maybe it's like those the Olympian gunners wore during the competition?

The dead REALLY haunting the narrative? Looking forward to it!

@takeshidude

Ok. Monthly publication are still grueling but at least its not as nightmarish with weekly mangakas. No wonder the quality is consistent with the art. Nightow was allowed to breathe.

You make a good point. '98 did have a bit of a mystery woven into it. We know Vash the Stampede - we follow his misadventures and people kept saying who he is ad nauseam in every episode. However, we don't really know know him for quite a long time. It's a different, but no less interesting, spin to the story.

Which kinda explains I'm misremembering some scenes and characterizations? The last third of '98 made a long lasting impression that I kinda forgot about Vash's horn dogginess.

[elecman108]

I agree with you about Capcom bringing Nash back for SF6! I even made a post in my Threads account about him if Bison comes back, then there is a chance he might return! Please Capcom! Bring my boy back in the series! You been neglecting him for far too long!

I could go on about how I think they could bring Nash back in SF6 for AGES. The sheer fact that F.A.N.G. lived and is in SF6 (Fang Fei/Foo, A.K.I.'s master) makes me think that Nash probably survived his bout with Bison in some degree and could come back but there's so many ways they can go about it they could make it really insane if they wanted to.

They could have the Secret Society/Illuminati revive him again to use as an agent to gain ground against Shadaloo and potentially leverage Gill/the Society into higher threat standing (villain).

They could tie Darkstalkers semi-into Street Fighter and say that the Nash we would see is him after escaping the Makai and give him some more wacky magic-like powers (and give Darkstalkers fans like myself some more crumbs to survive on for a while lol).

They could lean into the Nash/Shadow setup from Marvel vs. Capcom and say that Shadaloo had/has him and the Nash we get to see is totally brainwashed into servitude by Bison or has escaped his brainwashing but like Cammy has no memories of his past. Or hell, just bring 'Shadow' back and it's just Nash but under a different name with different goals in mind!

But those are just my ideas after all.

Capcom needs to give us Nash STAT. I need to see my boy again!

(Also as an aside I love your art <3 )

[sesamenom]

trying to figure out Lomion's relationships for the reverse gondolin au - so far I have Rog as his mentor instead of Eol and Celegorm as his "uncle". he's not particularly close with Idril, but Turgon helps him with the politics/statecraft stuff. anyways I can't figure out a marriage candidate for him for heir-identification purposes so

[phantajam]

my hot take about descendants is that NONE of the core four were ready for a relationship until maybe like, the third movie (rant in tags)

[trans-yllz]

my personal convoluted answer to the question is that both pre death and post res wei wuxian have the possibility to resurrect lan wangji in a fit of emotion (pre death moreso because of you know the deteriorating mental state), but pre death wei wuxian would not resurrect lan wangji on purpose, and post res wei wuxian would only do so with express permission, which I can't imagine lan wangji giving