#blorbo is our new child

[evilminji]

You know what would be both Cool(tm) AND Pants Shittingly Terrifying? Eldritch Space Whale Danny!

Except NOT! Because he's not a whale! Just snoozing and Giganto-Fuck-Off HUGE!

Imagine it! Danny. Joint Custody Child of The Ancients Of Time And Space. Space is SALTY AF because their BITCH OF AN EX has used his FUCKING POWERS, AGAIN, to CHEAT. Clockwork how DARE YOU.

You knew he'd be our Son in advance!

YOU SNUCK IN AND STARTING BONDING WITH OUR CHILD BEHIND MY BACK!

YOU [REDACTED]!

Danny? Sitting off to the Side as a Sentient Everything and Nothing made of galaxies and starlight, howls expletives at their Ex, who is being... REALLY snippy back? WOW, Clockwork. I mean, JESUS, man. Danny's from "oh bless their heart" Nowhere, Midwest. And even HE thinks that last one was both backhanded and cold af.

......he should take notes. *continues to eat his popcorn*

Anyway! APPARENTLY, Space Parent has taken him in the divorce. With much huffing. Tucked under their arm Like The Football(tm). And honestly? This is kinda hilarious, so he's cool with it. Byyyyyy~ Clock Dad! See you on weekends~☆!

*Exasperated Time Noises*

It's pretty cool! He learns a lot. Learns he's probably? Gonna be SOME variation of Space Ghost. Might even take over Space's... well, EVERYTHING, should the unforeseeable occur. So obviously, gonna have to learn The Family Business, as it were!

Which?

UNSPEAKABLY HYPED, YES PLEASE.

SPACE AND STAR STUFF! HECK YEAH!

Unfortunately? Still a Halfa. Bleh, squishy need to eat and sleep. Why they get in the way of Hyperfixation? Why no more space dust? Nooooo, don't drag him away from the controls! He can still learn! Sleep is for quitters! Cowards! *whining in Give Me Back My Blorbos, You Monsters*

But, no. He apparently has to "take care of his body" and "not burn out". Eat "real food". A protein bar counts! He probably ate one of those! Give him back his STARS! He doesn't CARE if he sounds like a toddler! That's DIRECT ACCESS TO THE SECRETS OF SPACE ITSELF! He'll BITE, so HELP HIM-! *Is scruffed like a cranky infant being carried off to beddy bye*

Injustice! D:<

But, none the less, body's require sleep. He shovles down his food, washes up, and flops down in his bed. In the nice lil cozy "Safe For My Half Apprentice Who Is Also My Adopted Son" corner. He passes out in that corner. Starts to float, as he has done countless times before, when agitated before bed. Floats OUT of that corner.

That Safe Little Corner.

IN THE CENTER, THE BEATING HEART OF SPACE.

You know... the place ALL OF SPACE connects too. Where Universe Form and Die. The Grand Recycler. Dust to Dust, from the ashes of old, to the creation of new. Where PORTALS are randomly assigned. So that the Omniversal Ectoplasmic Levels may always be balanced at near to perfect levels, allowing free flow of Souls through the various Reincarnation cycles.

Space, of course, doesn't MANAGE the Ectoplasm itself. Nor the Souls! Different Ancient for THAT, but they DO manage the PORTALS. We live in a SYSTEM after all. Everyone has their "departments" as it were. So really, it's quiet... Danny? Honey? Awful quiet back there! You, uh, fallen asleep, Starlight?

*empty room*

(O.O)

*inhale* AAAAAAAAAAA-!!!!!!!

Meanwhile! He be Snoozin'! And Ghostin'! Ghost Snoozin'! Is extra comfy, cause he weightless and got not booooones~☆!

But! He? Is not a child anymore! Has learned to... for lack of a better term, Let Go. To finally ACCEPT his Death. His inhumanity. His Amortality. Death no longer holds him, can no longer let him go. He is... not immortal. He is disowned, by his own doing and his own choice, at his timeless moment of Ending.

When Life let go of his hand and Death kindly offered theirs, he did not take it.

And that's okay.

It took awhile. Talking to older ghosts. Most vague and vast, near formless. Because it's... it's scary. And it's all you know. All, really, you've EVER known. Inherent to your identity, even after you leave that part you behind.

You are "human". "Martian" or "Xy'xeruian", something else, and you never question it. Even when you've left behind everything ELSE. Your name, your eyes, your history and skin. Yet you fly around and pretend. Still alive, still human.

But is that YOU?

Or just the form you found your start in?

And like? It's okay if it IS! Sometimes, yeah, you ARE. You look down deep and find a "don't know what you were expecting, buddy" sign stapled to a mirror. But more often? It's that last hurdle. The final step in Letting Go.

Everyone mourns at their own pace.

And they are the ghosts of who they were.

It helped. Mourning for the kid he was. Who was fourteen and wanted to be an astronaut. Who died and will never have a grave. The longer he exsists, for he can't technically be called Alive, the more painfully young that child seems.

It was okay.

To cry for Danny Fenton.

Then? To let him go. Let his memory, be memory. And his Past be the grave that child rests in. Loved dearly and remembered, but no longer binding his soul.

He doesn't have to wear that face anymore.

No tributes to the Dead.

He got? Kinda... BIG. Like REALLY big. Spiraling, serpentine, cracking ice, and burning galaxies. Like a fourth dimensional dragon, of ice and stars, somehow forcing its way into a three dimensional space. Atop it all, between two vast, impossible horns? Made of glacial ice coating the warping hearts of black holes, who's shape themselves seem to shift in unknowable ways? There burns, like comet trails, with super novas, compressed to decorative gems beneath glittering morning frost, a Terrible Crown.

He? Thinks? He MIGHT have wings.

He can't tell.

Because APPARENTLY he's a fuckin tesseract! Oh, no, sorry. He might me a Zone DAMNED PENTERACT!!! Is THIS what he gets for hanging out with Clockwork all the time? He just liked the quiet! Now his "true form" is PHYSICALLY PAINFUL for most people to look at!

Clock Dad WHAT THE HELL?!

(You see, now, why Space broke up with him? An ASSHOLE)

So! Danny stays, usually at least, in his "Hi, yes, I am Normal Human Man" Ghost form. But NOW? Now it PINCHS. Because it's TOO SMALL. But hey, that's fine! It's not like he has an ingrained habit of transforming when super tired and stressed! To float sleep for Maximum Restfulness(tm).

Ha ha!

Why does that feel like foreshadowing?

BECAUSE IT IS!

Danny? Snoozing! Space? Has LOST THE BABY! Portals? Have done a Jood Gob in Portalling, something they are vaguely sure they are supposed to be doing! Yay them! They have no brain cells but still enjoy helping! They moved a thing! That's helpful right? Yay! Probably!

And on DC's planet Earth?

They? Just choked on their fuckin coffee. One moment? La dee daa~ oooh~ look! Stars! Deep space! Oh, hiiii~ Watchtower! The NEXT? *every alarm in the building starts LOSING ITS SHIT* Giant World OBLITERATING SHAPE completely takes up the screen.

From near PLUTO.

There are NO WORDS TO DISCRIBE HOW FUCK OFF BIG THIS THING IS, MR. PRESIDENT. It will eat our nukes and LAUGH. Call! EVERYBODY!!!

Obviously? Superman. I mean really, OF COURSE Superman. Frankly, all the Supers. Because we would like to KEEP having a planet, thanks. Only? The more reports that come in? The more everyone is getting "oh fuck. This is a Workd Eater" vibes.

A massive, massive, Sleeping Titan of a Planet Destroying World Eater.

That MIGHT BE MAGIC.

*highly stressed Everyone noises*

And WORSE? Superman? Can't TOUCH it! Oh sure, at FIRST he could! But then he apparently pushed too hard in just one spot! And it felt POKED AT. So now, after flicking superman HALFWAY BACK TO EARTH to make him stop? No one can physically touch it!

But! There is hope!

Because? The creature is GREEN. Bright, luminous, Lantern Green! And Earth's Lanterns have already sent for back up. Combined? The were able to move a... hand? Paw? Something. But! With the combine forces of several nearby sectors of Lanterns? They promise the power to either relocate the creature or at least hold it in orbit until FURTHER forces can be deployed!

They refuse to harm the creature until it proves actively hostile, as it could have been seeking a place to nap and chosen one inconvenient to established planetary life. Frankly? Earth doesn't CARE where you relocate the giant Eldritch Space Dragon. Just NOT IN OUR BACKYARD, PLEASE.

....YES WE ARE SURE! We don't CARE if the scientific community of our planet is begging you to set up an area for them to place an "observation satellite"! No giant Eldritch Space Dragons in our solar system! It might WAKE UP!

Naturally, about half way THROUGH this Highly Delicate Operation?

Danny Wakes Up.

@hypewinter @hdgnj @lolottes @babbling-babull @nerdpoe @the-witchhunter @mutable-manifestation

#dpxdc #dp x dc #dc x dp #dcxdp #dc x dp prompt #danny phantom #minji's writing

[coinsofmcguffin]

So we have all collectively decided to adopt @reallyndacarter into our hellsite family right?

I feel like we have just brought home an adoptive child to the Addams family house.

""Oh Hi @staff ". That's just our maintenance man. We aren't sure what they fix exactly but we keep them around cause they are always trying to be so helpful. Why yes the Site does always look like this! It's a little strange and nothing works like it should but we have gotten so use to it trying to fix it would be wrong! It's kind of like a Bloody Stupid Johnson...oh you don't understand that reference? It's ok there are a lot of them here from all over fandoms, you will just learn to understand it even if you don't know it"

"Now don't worry about uncle @neil-gaiman he's harmless but you do have to keep an eye out less he drops some new show or book and causes the creatures in the basement to get restless!"

"Why yes we do love the colour, it was inspired when we last visited a children's hospital"

"Oh him?! That's just cousin @wilwheaton No we don't know how he got here, but don't be surprised if you find him outside your blog late at night. He just seems to always be around."

"Now this is some very fine copper I have been assured. We keep bringing it out for blogs because it just won't tarnish no matter how much we use it"

"NO DONT OPEN THAT DOOR!! Sorry that's just where we keep the Blorbo and trust me you do not want that running free."

#neil gaiman #lynda carter #will wheaton #addams family #hellsite #tumblrpost

[findmeinthefallair]

The scenes towards the end of the finale were like an intersection of multiple characters experiencing the loss of father figures, in different shades:

Luz's relationship to her late father took on a different form, after King's own father passed on and his glyph magic was gone for good. Manny gifting her the Azura books before his death, and Papa Titan offering her glyph magic before he too passed on, helped Luz find her place in the world and defeat Belos.

Apparently this scene is what made Sarah Nicole-Robles bawl in the recording studio, right after she recorded the lines.

When these changes happen - when we experience the loss of a person, when our ties with them are wrangled into a new form, against our will - it can be devastatingly painful. Change and transformation make for fancy, dramatic scenes in fiction, and they always incur loss in some form, painful or not. It also made me so emotional when seeing how much 18-year-old Luz resembles Manny, and how her enrolment in the university is linked to both her biological father and Papa Titan.

King's experience of seeing the majesty of his father, however brief, left him in awe and exhilaration. He can rest in the beautiful knowledge that Papa Titan was watching over him the whole time too. The message that his dad left him, relayed by Luz, is something he'll hold dear forever.

Hunter will never be truly harmed by Belos ever again. But he can't discard the memories of Belos granting him attachment: even if the attachment ended up not being real in a sense. However, like what can be applied in real-life therapy, he can get guidance on how to rescript those memories.

Belos's lies about having good intentions don't change how it felt real to Hunter all those years ago. Hunter was a young child when receiving this 'love', and in a twisted way...the mission given to him by Belos kept him alive up till he could escape the Coven, because the mission gave his life meaning despite the circumstances being awfully terrible. A child cannot survive without attachment, and needs attachment even if the experience of attachment has been horrendous and scarring. And holy Titan don't get me started on how at age 16 (before the timeskip), he had yet to learn more grisly details about his predecessors - whom he might view as older brothers and fathers whom he never met - and the generational trauma in his Golden Guard family tree:

which would have definitely been explored before he could experience that amazing hard-won serenity and peace at age 20.

Even Philip's arc is inextricably tied to his manner of coping with how he murdered Caleb, who was the closest thing he had to a father, given how these two brothers were orphans. In the end, Philip meets his end while Luz gazes upon him the same way Caleb's ghost did. Philip won't be haunted by Caleb's ghost again, and he joins the person who was essentially his father figure in death. Till the very end, he was projecting onto another person because he didn't want to recognize the same traits in himself. He was the one responsible for his father figure's death.

But grief doesn't mean the relationships in question have ended altogether. It's kind of like what this post about the finale (link) says, and it even extends to the relationship between us fans and the show itself.

The cliché "5 Stages of Grief" is the most commonly mentioned grief model, but I follow the development and advocacy of a newer perspective on grief that challenges it. In fact, the 5 Stages was originally just intended for terminally ill patients, but it was taken out of proportion. I began a serious investigation into the newer models after I went through something that parallels Hunter losing Flapjack...eerily, it happened to me two weeks before TTT's release date. No wonder I feel so close to Hunter as a blorbo, I guess.

Unlike what the 5 Stages of Grief says, grief and linear time don't mix well. Without "stages" to follow, there isn't an expectation of some deadline or permanent end of a tunnel in the newer models. Such pressure wouldn't be honoring the sacredness of connections between us. Instead, less famous grief perspectives like the dual-process model and continuing bonds model, are a better fit to honor relationships that mattered, since they aren't given an expiry date.

I wonder how Luz would be feeling on the day she graduates from the Wild Magic University, and how King feels each time he unlocks his own new glyphs since he is the new Titan to supply the Isles with magic. And I wonder how Hunter felt when his coven sigil was replaced with the Flapjack tattoo, and how he feels when he sees the Gravesfield town seal and Wittebane statues.

There are ways in which they can get creative to integrate their grief (notice I didn't say "get rid of", "remove", "erase" or even "manage"...the pain is what is to be managed, not the grief itself) the best they can. In canon, we have examples such as the Hexsquad agreeing to get their Flapjack tattoos together. Luz letting go of the light glyph sheet here:

is also a fantastic representation of rituals like sending off a message in a bottle at a beach, tying a message to a balloon and letting it fly away (this happened in Reaching Out, didn't it?), or burning a message in a campfire to let it float up towards the sky in the form of embers.

It is a common recommendation to have exercises like letter-writing where the griever writes to the lost loved one. What many may not know is you can also do the reverse: you writing as your lost loved one, to yourself. Because the griever takes a piece of the lost loved one with them, that the griever has shaped within themselves. This is especially good if you need to extend forgiveness to yourself. An example from a book called Bearing the Unbearable:

The author felt responsible for the stillbirth of her child, but had a "happy accident" where she intuitively asked for forgiveness and then received it, by invoking the love that her child would have shown to her in a world where said child had remained alive.

I think Hunter in particular could benefit from something like this, writing to himself as the uncle whom he saw as genuine and nurturing, and gaining ownership of that part of him even though Belos was a liar and is now gone for good. It can help him move forward especially since he won't be spared from nightmares in which his loss is re-enacted. With this kind of rescripting, historical accuracy doesn't actually need to matter. After all, our own minds lie to us at times and mess with historical accuracy anyway, like Luz's thoughts telling her she was as bad as Belos, and how true that felt.

A physical loved one is lost to death, and it can feel just as painful - only in a different way - if people become estranged or separated without a literal death having occurred. But the connection to them isn't lost, it is only adapted. The bond continues. For better or worse.

I believe the pain in grieving is connected to each moment when we remember all over again that the one we loved isn't coming back.

It's like the needle of a gramophone getting stuck in the loop of an unpleasant-sounding record scratch noise. It's a bit like what C.S. Lewis says in his book A Grief Observed: "In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out." I can't find the other part but he later said something like, therefore if a friendship is lost, the part of you that only that friend could bring out, is also lost. Something in you is locked away forever, though new things can also be unlocked after the loss.

It wasn't shown onscreen but I wouldn't be surprised if it's regular for Luz to come across a meme and be freshly reminded of her dad's absence, because she can't show him that meme. King would be wishing that a new funny cat video he discovers is something his dad could also laugh at along with him. Hunter would be hoping that Flapjack, the previous Golden Guards and Caleb are watching as he brings back palismen.

Bereavement, and any grief that is significant enough to alter our personhood forever, are the forms of love that can never really grasp how time flows in a linear way. They can't be reasoned with, only experienced.

"...the howling at the center of grief is raw and real. It is love in its most wild form" - Megan Devine.

#I'm applying some of this to how I'm grieving the end of the show. our relationship with it has just changed..not ended #toh analysis #the owl house #luz noceda #king clawthorne #toh hunter #philip wittebane #caleb wittebane #manny noceda #papa titan #grief in The Owl House #loz writes a meta #death mention

[binghe-malewife-goals]

Another comm option just opened! ✨️

More info below cut ⬇️

would YOU 🫵 like your resident blorbo or made up child to look like our beautiful amazing boy here?

Well I got some great sexy news for you pal:

Link/Shop

#svsss #art comms open #art commisions #art commission info #my comms #comms post #commssions open #oc commission #furry commissions

[jerzwriter]

When I saw the event announced, I had the very best of intentions. I was going to share my favorite fics/art, masterlists, and send personal messages to many that I hold near and dear. Unfortunately, the event coincided with the wedding of my nephew/godson/other child, and I was far too busy to do much at all. But hey, kindness is an ongoing event, right? So I'll try to do some of those things after the fact; I'm sure no one will mind. 😊

But I wanted to take a moment to send a shout-out to everyone who does their part to help keep the fandom alive and strong and who takes the time to build each other up rather than tear them down. Fandoms exist as a place where we can create, find commonality, and escape. We need more things like this in our increasingly troubled world, a safe haven... that's what this should be.

Choices was always a niche fandom, but we're so tiny now, but you can see the passion in those who remain and we're always eager to welcome newcomers who still arrive! (We ain't dead, people! lol) So...

To the creators: Thank you for continuing to share your gifts with us. You may not always know it, but your art can help someone through a rough day, bring a smile when needed, or elicit emotion that the consumer didn't even know they needed to release. Thanks for making us think, laugh, cry, lust, and fall in love with our little blorbos. You really are the best!

To the givers: Those who run events to keep this little place of ours going. To those who see someone is having a bad day and take action - it could be sending a DM, a cute ask, a funny little gif, a new creation for one of their beloved characters, or simply offering a hug and an ear - YOU are truly the backbone of the fandom and an example of what we all should be in every aspect of our lives. THANK YOU for that.

To the readers and art lovers: Your likes, comments and reblogs are the fuel that help creators going when they feel they have nothing more to give. You have no idea how much they mean and how much they are appreciated. You are part of the puzzle that makes a fandom whole, you are seen and you are appreciated!

Personally, I'd like to thank so many people, and I will in my own way in the weeks to come. Some of you have been a source of support, kindness, and inspiration that have lifted me through some difficult times this year. I only hope I was able to return that to you in the smallest of ways. I'm not naming names only because I'm always so worried that I'll forget someone and hurt their feelings, but I try to express how I feel in the moment, so I hope you know who you are, and I hope you know how much you're appreciated.

@choicesfandomappreciation Thank you so much for hosting this and other events and doing your best to make this place special for all. You are appreciated beyond words! 🩷

#choices #playchoices #choices fandom appreciation #acts of kindness #fandom appreciation #choices stories you play #thank you #🩷🩷🩷

[ninadove]

watching character ai lukadrien create the most heart wrenching debilitatingly angsty love story to ever love story ever

Hey, I can tell there’s no malice behind your ask, but — don’t do that.

I write fanfiction myself, and a lot goes into it:

1. Unreasonable amounts of ✨ Time and Effort ✨

Just the other day, my WIP kept me up until 2 AM, because I wanted it to be neatly polished before even sending it to my beta readers (@paracosmicfawn and @dragongutsixofficial). The first thing I did the following morning was re-read it again, to correct any typos and inconsistencies my tired brain might have missed the night prior.

2. Research and analysis

For a cute little Lukadrien scene I wrote with my ✨ awesome girlfriend ✨ — something that was never even going to be published — I went through a dozen different sources trying to get a better understanding of what meditation actually is and to capture the philosophy behind it accurately. This does not make me special — all authors do it out of dedication and love for their craft, but it’s energy that could be spent doing literally anything else, especially when you consider how horrifyingly lonely the writing process can be (see point 1).

Also, there’s a reason I spend so much time making analysis posts on Silly Little Blorbos who do not exist! It gets my brain running and allows me to sharpen my understanding of the characters, so I can write them properly in my works.

3. A unique perspective on the characters, the source media, and life in general

Which gives all the flavour to my favourite AO3 works out there.

Like, yes, that extract you sent in your follow-up ask is cute, I guess, but it’s also incredibly generic:

When actual living breathing human (or Senti) beings share their work with you, they’re inviting you to a special part of their brain that they’ve decorated with their own experiences, references and visuals — things that they love and passed onto their favourite characters, so they can hopefully reach you. For instance, Character AI would never have had the genius idea to compare Felix’s eyes to an aurora borealis; this could have only sparked from @wackus-bonkus-maximus’ brain. Similarly, my version of Felix will often reference works of art and literature that left a strong impact on me as a child — an impact I’m sure can also be sensed in my approach to storytelling and even in the way I structure sentences and paragraphs.

Which leads me to my final and most important point:

4. EMOTIONAL BAGGAGE™

Because let’s be real — there’s a reason our brains latch onto certain characters, and said reasons aren’t always sunshine and rainbows. I’ve cried more writing about the Senticousins than over the loss of certain people or relationships in my own life. Long before that, I latched onto Clive and gave him everything I felt was missing from my life as a teenager, so I could live vicariously through him. And of course, I always make my characters some flavour of queer, because for a long time this was the only outlet I got for my own feelings and identity.

It takes a lot of vulnerability to put all of this on the Internet for others to read and judge, and it’s very disheartening to see that people would rather ask a machine to spit out some easily digestible but impersonal interactions than give your work a chance.

I can guarantee there are beautiful pieces of fanwork out there that will cater to your tastes and haunt you for years in a way Character AI or Chat GPT never could. And the good news is — if you don’t find anything, it means it’s time to write it yourself!

And of course, I cannot end this post without encouraging everyone to read about the writers’ and actors’ strike currently unfolding in the US.

#miraculous ladybug #adrien agreste #luka couffaine #lukadrien #felix graham de vanily #senticousins #kagami tsurugi #feligami #professor layton #clive dove #writing #fanfiction #fanfic #writers’ strike #actors’ strike #anon asks #random ramblings

[shares-a-vest]

💖 Fic Writing Review 2023 💖

I was tagged by @penny00dreadful @rocknrollsalad @cranberrymoons and @unclewaynemunson Thanks everyone! You all smashed it in 2023. Here's to more words wording and fun fandom times with our faves.

Tbh, it took me a good month minute to work out how to do this, seeing as I don't post much to ao3 (something I intend on mending in 2024). I'm very much going with the 'feel free to show whatever stats you like' aspect of the rules.

But before all that, I'd like to use this post as an opportunity to acknowledge everyone who enjoys my writing. I kinda just fell into writing in this fandom and discovered that I love it!

I'm also sending love and appreciation to my beloved moots and everyone in the stwg discord server. Here's to another year of creating, sharing and interacting 💖

This fandom really is my happy place a lot of the time, a much-needed creative outlet and a space where I can talk to people who let me be my silly little old self.

I have so much I want to write in 2024 (including some in-the-works stuff listed below). One goal I know I have in 2024 is to write what I'll temporarily title, 'The Origin of Joanie Munson'. I would really like to knuckle down and write a looonnnggg fic this year that would tell that story.

Anyway, enough of me talking, I'll stop before I get too sappy...

Top 5 Posts by Notes:

Wayne and Claudia to Steve's Rescue

I'm Dating Garfield

My Prince

Eddie gets stuck in Steve's shower after the power goes off

Eddie Munson: Sparkly Vampire Boyfriend

Proudest Work & Reflections:

Wayne and Steve get hearing aids: This post was very much inspired by my pop's ongoing struggle with his hearing aids. HoH Steve is a beloved headcanon of mine so I was happy to receive so much love for a little ficlet that came from a very real place.

Steve spends Father's Day with the Buckleys: If there's one Steve trope I will write, it's Steve Has Bad Parents™. I always find myself writing this trope and getting Steve all sad and angsty as a personal coping mechanism/outlet for irl Dad Stuff™. I was a pile of goo over the tags and comments saying this ficlet resonated with readers! We really are just out here projecting onto our blorbos to get through shit.

Joanie Munson's First Word: I love my Joanie Munson AU. And one thing I love writing into it is Wayne being a doting Grandpa. It was a WIP for quite a while and I remember waking up at like 3am, unable to sleep and bam I finished it, proving that sometimes it's worth letting something linger in the drafts until the moment strikes.

My Fandom Events in 2023 (I did a sprinkling of others, but these I completed/worked on consistently):

Spicy Six Fanworks Challenge SPRING and SUMMER

Steddie Week 2023

Steddiemas

Upcoming Works & Events (aka, next in the pipeline):

Spicy Six Fanworks Challenge WINTER

Clarkson Mixtape Fic

STWG Hozier Project

Tagging some precious moots (plus those above) to send my love and good New Year vibes to! @thefreakandthehair @tboyeddie @steventhusiast @imfinereallyy @hbyrde36 @spicysix @momotonescreaming @withacapitalp @farahsamboolents @hellion-child @sidekick-hero (also feel free to do this tag game too if you'd like/haven't already!)

Rules: Feel free to show whatever stats you have. Only want to show Ao3 stats? Rock on. Want to include some quantitative info instead of stats? Please do this. Want to change how yours is presented? Absolutely do that. Would rather eat glass than do this? Please don’t eat glass but don’t feel like you have to do this either.

#lily talks #writing wip #tag games #pinned post

[prairiedust]

one thousand days of destiel, or cas: fuckerupper of endings

Idk why I’m crawling out from under my woodpile to write this, except that it occurred to me that in three years I’ve not rewatched a single episode of Supernatural and have at least two dozen tags yet blacklisted on tumblr, and that I am still not okay about this stupid show.

I never tried to tie up the folklore/author themes I’d been geeking out about through the last seasons, neither as the show was ending nor afterwards. I’ve been simmering now for over a thousand days. I could not even write a complete sentence about spn for all this time, and so I just left that pot on the back burner and did other things. Finished my Master’s degree. Started a new job. Saw my oldest child graduate from high school and move off to college, and helped my younger child move on to sixth grade. Watched some other shows, got a new blorbo, saw some movies, started painting again, picked up a couple of new hobbies as I am wont to do.  

Today is the 5th of November, 2023. (ETA i sat on this for a bit.)

November 5th, 2020, was exactly one thousand and ninety-five days ago.

I see gifs from the show from time to time and I think to myself, wow, that scene/episode/series is completely irrelevant to my life now. I am fine and normal about everything. But if it really was, if I really was, it would not hurt so much to see the gifs and the lyric posts and the amvs when they aren’t caught in my tag filters. So maybe it’s time to get some things out of my head and onto paper.

I genuinely, nearsightedly, naively thought that since Dabb et al had been the ones writing the whole folk v author themes, and thus posing as someone we could count as being on “our side,” the folk-side of the postmodern audience, they’d honor that conceit, even to the very last shot. 

They did not.

And yet… they absolutely did.

Which hurts and is fucked up, but also it’s fine. It’s fine.

In the end, the only “folk hero” (by which I mean the only force in the spn universe capable of warping the threads of the story with any permanence) was Castiel. When Castiel left the story (of his own volition, if you can find a comfortable layer of this meta pie for that concept to rest in,) the writers reverted to God Mode. Because Castiel had been their freedom, their mouthpiece, their avenue for improvisation, and so at the end of the series…

well, we got You changed me/I love you

   •

and then we got “Cas helped.”

So much has been written about that pivot point, but genuinely I don’t give a rat’s ass about rewrites, producers, the cutting room floor, or COVID. It exhausts me, and I’m not beholden to writing about spn for grades or notes or any kind of other bullshit that would oblige me to do research.

I feel like… we got what we got.

So let’s criticize some media.

The Paradox: 

Cas imploded— went from flexing the narrative from within to being narrated by a force from without. And I couldn’t bear to wrap my head around that for a long time. It seemed that this “twist” was beyond cruel. That’s what he got. Vanished and nerfed. For saying ily. That was what happened when he was finally in focus, fully revealed. He lost. He was relegated, along with Jack, to become heaven’s Two Men and a Truck.

It was a trick, the whole “Chuck is a writer” plotline. The Author regained control of the character that had previously been acting independently. Very Pirandellesque, very frustrating, ultimately even tragic.

So, yes, thematically and critically, having Castiel give up his Agency for Characterhood– giving up his ability to create plot for a role as a character in a plot— was ‘literary’ brilliance. It cemented his status as a grand fucker-upper of the show in a way that any show writer “authoring” a requited destiel ending would not and could not have done. Even Jack, I believe, had been “manipulated” into god-hood from within the narrative. Jack was Dabb’s grand metaphor, he was a product of Author. Castiel was… well, he was a chaos engine from the moment he walked through those barn doors. 

To seal the metaphor, the writers ended up living that truth.

I really don’t know if I’m being cogent about this. I’ve been struggling to turn this idea into words for, like, ONE THOUSAND DAYS.

The folk-vs-Author themes becoming A Thing in The Supernatural Show was like a chemical reaction: once the ions had bonded, the resultant compound could not be separated back into the different materials. What on that screen was Author, what was “author,” ie show writer, and what was text-experiencer-as-author? Where did the Sam-as-magician arc go, what were we supposed to do with the semi-metatextual moments that Mary had, having been brought back into the narrative by Amara, not Chuck? Everything got so out of control. Add in a smidgen of secret-sauce-TPTB possibly superseding the author/Author, and what you get is that ridiculous mess of a final two episodes.

It’s not about the rusty trombone or the butt hole pleasures. It’s about love. And kids.

Thank you, hon. It really is. (The above line was left in this doc by my spouse. It is a quote from The 40-Year-Old Virgin. I’ll allow it.)

Anyway. It was hard to see past the sound and the fury of it all. 

*****

I was feeling nostalgic several months ago and took a swim in my old meta tags; I found a gem from season…10? Idk and idc, but it was from “The Things We Left Behind.” 

I compared Claire to Sleeping Beauty (a tale that got a lot of use in later seasons) and wrote: “I tend to think that Castiel’s entire arc is about desperate and unintentionally misguided attempts to Change The Ending of whatever story he’s shown up in” and reading that again really kind of sucker-punched me.

‘We’re making it up as we go’ was the crux of Cas’ existence. Remember that half-related story in Baby wherein Cas got himself hitched to the Djinn queen? Remember when Jack died and the Empty came to claim him in Heaven and Cas made that terrible bargain? The last-minute attempt to gank Lucifer that actually got him killed and sent to The Empty?

Time and time again, Castiel’s go-to for “changing the narrative,” for advancing his plot, is self-sacrifice. In Chuck’s house against the archangel. The Leviathan disaster. Saying ‘yes’ to Lucifer. The Bargain for Jack in Heaven. And those times it worked out. Not without great pain for both the other characters and for the viewers, but he always came back. 

And with each return, his motivation became clearer. (Picture your favorite screencap of Dean here.)

Cas’ love grew, crystalized, and then disappeared, like frost on the windowpane of a house on fire.

If they had continued the CasDean storyline, it would have ultimately been The Author IRL writing/creating/manifesting/materializing ‘destiel.’ And so by putting a torch to all of that architecture, they essentially gave everything to us. Unspoilt. Fingerprints wiped. Serial numbers scratched away. Jailbroken. Whatever floats your boat. 

The confession was both affirmation and abnegation. Symbolically, The AuthorTM had washed his hands of it, but with destiel out of the picture, The Author also got his ending.

This is why “Cas helped” felt like a ‘fuck you.’ If Cas was out of the narrative, why did he come back as one of Heaven’s real estate developers? It did not fit. 

And yet. It did. Because Chuck won. Chuck, or everything that an Author represents in television land– TPTB, showrunner legacies, multiple producers, a chaotic and treacherous and politically messy writer’s room, multiple incompatible or unresolvable MOs and visions— all that ends up being packaged and presented as a single unerring vision.

So I have to admit, although I don’t have to do it with any ion of grace, that in the end it was pretty fucking smart.

Destiel is ours. Destiel is the folk ending. The Author never got to touch it, never so much as breathed on it, was so far divorced from the concept that the absence thereof going forward hit us like a truck full of bricks.

Yes, it hurts that Dean was just left on the floor until the credits rolled, that there were no final words, no ensuing acknowledgement. 

I’ll go so far outside the Text as to address the ‘Dean can’t reciprocate’ direction from one of the scripts:

If Dean had made a single move onscreen. Uttered a word. In Despair or either of the other two episodes.

Destiel would have been claimed by The Author. 

Anyway. I’ve been collecting posts now and again under the tag ‘the endless folklore of supernatural.’ For three years, the fandom has continued to loot, to ransack, to graffiti, to create and re-create, to burn, to mix, and to distill. 

There’s all kinds of things in that tag, it’s sort of a kitchen sink of everything that I thought was even tangentially relevant to folk-Destiel and the postmodern experience of creating text as a reader/viewer etc. 

We turned a literary story based on an urban folktale back into folklore. 

And so it goes.

I doubt I will do much more analysis of this show, even if it comes back, and I unfortunately can’t touch The Winchesters. But I can’t say I never will. I just thought three years, one thousand days, was a pretty good place to leave a marker on the trail.

—

Epilogue: About The Winchesters:

I did not finish watching The Winchesters because of something wildly, randomly, but highly personally triggering that was built into one of the episodes; however I am very sorry that it was canceled or possibly ironically lost to the WGA-SAGAFTRA strike of 2023.

“What is the maddest thing a man can do? Let himself die.” That’s the clue that leads Castiel to his hidden grace in a copy of The Man of LaMancha in 10.18 ‘The Book of the Damned,’ written by one Robbie Thompson.

I noticed from the get-go that Thompson gave Carlos the last name Cervantez. He was nodding to the self-immolation of the last cadre of writers of Supernatural and stating clearly that he was holding a pen, not a match.

Want some very fun and amusing and wildly pertinent facts about the Don Quixote books?

The narrative conceit of Don Quixote IN THE FIRST PLACE LOL is that Cervantes claims to have found a manuscript by a historian named Cide Hamete Benegeli and Cervantes thought the story was pretty neat, if a little rough; Cervantes retells the story for us from what he’d read by that author, distilling the “original” into the book we experience as Don Quixote the Man of La Mancha.

The final words of Cervantes’ Part One are “perhaps another will sing with a better pick.”

Later, someone publishing under the pseudonym Alonso Fernandez de Avellaneda wrote their own part two, feeling that the original author was taking too long to get their ass in gear (or judging by their own preface they felt that Cervantes had not even done the original story justice in the first place. Which is A Mood.)

So when someone actually did have the audacity to run off with his characters and commit word crimes with them, Cervantes absolutely obliterated the dude in his own Part Two. 

Thompson left Spn after season eleven. But, lest someone think this is a commentary about fan fic, he also wrote the episode Fan Fiction. So anyway all the Cervantez-Cervantes business was certainly something.

[deathcapyandex]

Known Only By Alias

[known only by Alias]

A self indulgent loid forger x yandere self insert.

Yandere in the sense of reclaimed and coping with bpd by using my blorbo and f/o thank you.

Symptoms expressed include obsessive tendencies, jealousy and possessiveness.

Probably just gonna be the one fic unless I decide to write more about loid.

May or may not be replacing Fiona.

Code name Twilight, the agent currently going by the name Loid Forger was a highly respected person in the agency. Damn good at his job too.

Code name Sparrow, the agent assigned to a mission designated in twilights area was also assigned as a neighbor in case of backup or cover during twilights mission was needed.

Today was move in day, sparrow had just arrived at the apartment with their things and started settling in.

Residents had noticed the boxes and furnishings being moved in priar to their arrival and seemed to have created a little buzz, gossiping about the new neighbor moving in, so they expected to meet some people and have to introduce themselves a bit.

No problem, nothing to be nervous about, it would be easy enough. However the thing they were worried about, was actually meeting Twilight.

If they were to cooperate together for the first time, first impressions had to go well!

Though, this meant meeting the rest of the forger family as well. Sparrow looked forward to meeting his fake wife least of all.

They would have immediately volunteered to be assigned that role had they not had an assignment already prior, for the sake of the mission of course, another agent as skilled as sparrow surely would have been much better fitting.

But due to the shortage of agents available at the time limit twilight had upon starting his mission, he had to rope in some civilians. Unfortunate.

At the very least sparrow could be there close by to make sure things went smoothly for twilight. If this mission didn't go well, his reputation as an agent might get tarnished and the agencies entire operation could be at stake or worse. Being around twilight alone was quite the honour and a nice bonus too.

Though, having a seperate mission of their own would get in the way every now and then, they just hopped it didn't become too much of a hindrance.

For now it was time to play the part of the good neighbor.

A knock at the door of their apartment broke up the agents thoughts. They set down the books they were absentmindedly organizing in the living room, setting them on top of the low set bookshelf and walking to the entrance to answer the door.

A peak through the eye hole showed them the face of a blonde man, one glance at the pin on his blazer immediately told sparrow who he was.

They opened it to find a blonde man, a dark haired woman and a small girl. The forgers.

"hello" sparrow greeted with a polite smile.

"hello, I'm Loid Forger. This is my family, my wife Yor and our daughter Anya." He motioned to them both as he introduced them. "We're your neighbors nextdoor. We moved in just last month ourselves and we noticed you're new so we thought we would introduce ourselves."

"it's very nice to meet you all. I'm Sind Dufaux." They introduced themself in return.

"it's a pleasure to meet you mx. Dufaux! We were wondering if you'd like to join us for dinner tomorrow night" Yor spoke up with a bright smile, seemingly excited.

"that sounds lovely, thank you, I would" sparrow replied with an almost mirrored expression.

"it's settled then- ah, Anya, it's rude to stare, say hello" Loid spoke to his daughter.

The little girl stood staring with an awed expression at Sind, like something about them caught her by surprise in the "better than I imagined" way a child usually expresses.

*this kids pretty cute in person*

Anya smiled brightly "Hi!! I got a doggy and his name is Bond! You wanna meet him??"

"They can meet Bond tomorrow when they come over for dinner, sweetie" Yor pointed out with a chuckle.

"right!" Anya nodded with enthusiasm.

"well then, all that's settled. It was a pleasure meeting you Mx. Dufaux. We'll leave you be now" Loud nodded.

"it was very nice to meet you all too." They replied.

Loid and Sind exchanged a glance as the forgers left. A knowing nod, then the door was shut.

All seemed to have gone well. Though they could have done without Yors enthusiasm, twilight at the very least acknowledged them as a co-worker now.

And so starts the new fake life, two agents who only know each other by alias assigned to work together. If they didn't know better it was as if they were in some sort of romance novel. But no, of course not, this was strictly professional, and all for the sake of both their missions.

While sparrow was more than happy to lend twilight a hand, they would have to begrudgingly do so with Yor in the way.

Surely though, it will work out in the end.

Don't mind writing more if anyone is interested

#self insert fic #self insert fanfiction #self indulgent #self insert #sparrows fics #self insert fanfic #self ship #loid forger #spy x family loid #sxf loid #loid forger x reader #fanfiction #fanfic #self indulgent fic #my fic #spy x family #spy family #spy x family fanfiction #spy x family fic #spy x family fanfic #sxf #sxf fic #sxf fanfiction #oneshot #oneshot fic #oneshot fanfiction #oneshot fanfic #fic oneshot #fanfic oneshot #fanfiction oneshot

[japhgura]

TOUSEN CURSE WOUND SNIPPET HELLO CAN I SEE PLASE??? (Even if it's not AEIWAM -specific I am *starved* for content of my blorbos)

Ok I see you I and I raise you Archive obsessed Captain finds something weird in the files and decides to undergo a temporary career change to Detective Captain - It is very much AEIWAM specific because I consumed your Kaname stuff and my inner child was healed fr (aka the pouting one that Kaname was such a wasted character in og bleach) So that was also kinda why I was tentative about posting it, I didn't want to rudely intrude in your world So this isn't the curse snippet... yet. But in contrast to the curse wound snippet this is Kaname POV so here you go buddy, blorbo supreme, giving back some of the joy that AEIWAM has brought me hopefully haha

1.4k Wordles The sound of quick controlled brush strokes and page after page being moved rivalled Hisagi’s. Tōsen had gotten used to the rhythm and speed his lieutenant worked at. ..With this new revelation, he was sure what he had noticed in the files in the archives hadn’t just been a weird feeling. His third seated officer was handling complex report and security forms at a speed no one should be capable of. At least not when seeing them for the first time. And according to the files this should be her first time doing lieutenant paperwork. Something was off.

The sound of the brush subsided and a few moments later Tōsen heard the sound of ink stone and water. Maegawa had seemingly taken a break from filling out forms to grind herself new ink. After a few strokes of grinding stone and gently sloshing water, the woman sighed and laid down her ink stone. 

“Captain, why are you staring at me?”, third seat Maegawa finally asked, the subtle irritation in her voice easy to hear for someone like Kaname. 

“Stare at you?”, the Captain of the 9th asked incredulously, pointing at himself.  

“Well- You know what I mean-”, she fumbled. “The tension in the air is so thick you could cut it with a Zanpakutō. If you have a problem with me Sir, just tell me please”, the blonde Shinigami sighed, a tad annoyed. 

Interesting. Maegawa Asahi easily had her feathers ruffled it seemed. Well, as long as a Captain was involved. Tōsen had long noticed his subordinate didn’t particularly take a liking to him. But well enough, he preferred being direct. 

“I wanted to work with you because you’ve been bothering me”, Kaname stated honestly, laying down his brush.  

“Huh??”, apparently Asahi hadn’t expected him to be _quite_ that honest. 

“Hisagi’s sick leave gave me a perfect opportunity to observe you for a while- “ 

“Observe? You’re blind, sir” 

“I know, let me live a little”, Kaname retorted after being interrupted. “Besides, it’s not like I need to see to realize something is bothering you. What’s bothering _me_ is that you refuse to vocalize your concerns. Especially now that I’ve found something... unusual”, Tōsen listened to the floorboards creaking under Maegawa. She was shifting her weight; he had apparently hit the nail on the head. Well then, time to go on the offensive. 

“As you know from our last excursion into Boolean algorithms - that you dozed off in midway through mind you - I quite enjoy archiving. Since I inherited the 9th, I’ve been striving to get our archives and database immaculately sorted and organized. And while doing that I couldn’t help but notice an oddity in the files from a short time, maybe a few decades, before Kensei became Captain. ...I noticed that same oddity in your personal files, Maegawa”, Captain Tōsen’s tone was factual, if not suspicious. This issue had been bothering him for a while and he was going to get to the bottom of it. However, he wasn’t someone who would declare his underling guilty without even giving them a chance to defend themselves. 

As he started talking about the odd files, Maegawa inhaled sharply. Bingo. Even if she wasn’t the perpetrator, she most definitely knew something about the oddity. He could hear fabric straining. She was gripping her shihakusho. This was almost too easy, Maegawa’s body language was quite literally very loud. At least to him. Usually that was a sign for someone very honest.  

What an unusual case he had inherited from his former Captain. Kensei had managed to win her favour back then. Kaname still remembered the flusteredness in her voice. She used to be a very caring and humorous colleague. How times had changed, huh. Shūhei and the other members of the 9th still had a good relationship to her. As far as he knew, no complaints. Well, Hisagi tended to flusteredly complain about teasing, but that in turn was good fun for Kaname, so he hadn’t felt the need to bother his suddenly distant subordinate until now. Kempt files on the other hand were a more serious matter. 

“You’re my third seated officer and yet I rarely encounter you. We both know that’s because you’re avoiding me. I know you adored Captain Kensei, but I’m well aware that is not the reason for your disdain toward me. I served under him as well. With you. I remember how much you disliked our former captain in the beginning too. I conclude it’s not me ‘replacing’ Kensei then. No.. You have a disdain and innate distrust toward everyone in the position of Captain in the 9th division. And having found those files I’m starting to put things together”, Tōsen shared his deductions. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk, interlacing his fingers as he continued: “And that scar.. That spot of shattered spiritual pressure-” 

He was cut off before he could continue: “How do you know about that-”, Asahi’s voice was strained, the tension in her body was audible through it. Apparently, he had hit a sore spot there. Quite literally. 

“Well, you would have to be blind not to see it”, a hint of a bemused smirk curled the corner of Tōsen’s lips. “Or, I suppose, in this case you would have to be blind _to_ see it”, he hummed. “There’s a distinct disconnect in the flow of your spiritual pressure. I’m aware you’re trying to hide it, but the sever is too severe to erase it completely. ...And a sever so clean... If you were wounded, well, scarred this way by a fellow Shinigami and the files have been erased then-” 

“I’m fine!”, the table clattered as Asahi got up too fast. The sound of paper scattering resounded soon after. “If you don’t need me here for paperwork then-“, the tremble in her voice was almost pitiful. She was about to storm out, when Tōsen spoke back up: 

“...I had a sister once. We were nearly inseparable. ..She was murdered” 

“...I’m.. sorry for your loss. ..But that won’t keep me from leaving now, Sir”, Asahi clenched her fists audibly, but he didn’t yet hear a footstep. 

“...Her murderer still runs free. They were never convicted. I have to live with that... Rage... With that _injustice_ every day. Maegawa, if there was a Captain before Kensei.. a captain you trusted.. and they betrayed you.... ...I would rather add another burden to my own shoulders than having my third seat officer have to live with such grave injustice as well. I’m saying that not only as your Captain, but as Kaname Tōsen”, Maegawa’s Captain stated honestly. 

For a moment, there was silence. Then, a deep, shaky sigh, followed by two or three barely audible dripping noises. 

“Spirit’s Sake, what do you _not_ know? I thought I could bury this by avoiding you. ….But you see far more than I realized”, Asahi sat down and leaned against the backrest, audible by the creak it made. It was a sound of defeat for all he knew. The tension fading from her body enough to make her lean back meant she was mostly likely ready to finally talk to him. 

“I will always be there for my division. And you’re part of it. You can start relying on your Captain a little. We may not always see eye to eye, but people tell me I’m a great listener”, Kaname chuckled, his joke earning him a snort from Asahi. 

- 

...Why had she repeated the same mistake again? First him, then Kensei and now even Tōsen. Again she had put her trust in her Captain and in the end she was left standing alone. Another headstone added to her graveyard of treasured connections. Maegawa felt her eyes sting. Betrayal. Was that all she was ever going to get? 

“...Bastard” 

“Asahi.”, a calm voice resounded within her head. She could hear the concern in his voice. Just hearing it was enough to relax her again. ..She wasn’t alone in her grief anymore. 

“...It’s fine”, a small, relieved smile crept onto her lips as Maegawa dabbed at the corners of her eyes. 

“Let her wallow, she does that a lot when it comes to captains”, a feminine voice spoke up inside her head. “She usually doesn’t cheer up as quick. Maybe worry about her some more and this inner world will finally stop raining. There’s not a lot of shelter in here, you know?”, the voice huffed. 

Asahi’s lips curled into a smile. “...Right. Well, let me join you in the rain at least”, she chuckled, sword meditation always calmed her, perhaps she’ll take a break to indulge her treasured Zanpakutō. Maegawa put the stack of paperwork Shūhei had asked for on the captain’s desk.  

Her hand lingered on the wood. As with Kensei and the first, all that was going through her head when thinking of the Captain’s betrayal was...  

..Why? 

#bleach #bleach oc #aeiwam inspired #kaname tosen #maegawa asahi #japhywrites #bleach fanfic #muramasa and shiketsu shio get a little cameo lol

[hollowknightinsanity]

Safety (Hollow Knight AU oneshot)

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: Gen

Fandom: Hollow Knight (Video Games)

Relationships: The Hollow Knight | Pure Vessel/Original Character(s) (Implied), The Hollow Knight | Pure Vessel & Hornet, The Hollow Knight | Pure Vessel & The Pale King, The Hollow Knight | Pure Vessel & Original Character(s), The Hollow Knight | Pure Vessel & Quirrel

Characters: The Hollow Knight | Pure Vessel, The Pale King (Hollow Knight), Hornet (Hollow Knight), Quirrel (Hollow Knight) (mentioned), Original Character(s)

Additional Tags: They/Them Pronouns for The Hollow Knight | Pure Vessel, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Character Death, The Pale King is a good dad for once, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, The Hollow Knight | Pure Vessel is named Holly, and i gave them a fankid because i love being cringe

Words: 1,587

Summary: The Hollow Knight (Holly) and The Pale King have some father-child bonding time.

Notes: This oneshot happened when I decided that the maladaptive daydream I was having was too good to not share on the internet.

And also, this was partially inspired by the song Rain Clouds by The Arcadian Wild.

Thank the Goddesses for blorbo thoughts. That writer's block was getting unbearable.

AO3 Link:

Calm and quiet air nestled in the room. They’d just gotten home after sparring with their sister, as some simple training — they’d felt the need to work on their talent as a knight, though retired and disabled as they were.

It escalated a little too far, though, and Father stepped in to prevent them from getting injured further by their own recklessness.

Strange, that he’d do that. Normally, he would allow them to get hurt, and learn from their mistakes. They could heal themself easily enough.

But, times have changed — they’re older, weaker. Not what they used to be. They no longer produced Soul at a pace steady enough to heal properly. They hurt when they moved. They’re old. They’re disabled. They’re tired. They’re not what they used to be.

“Sit, child. Let me remove your prosthetic,” Father spoke, his tone calm as usual, though with a new touch of… kindness? Tenderness? They couldn’t place an exact label on it. But to them, it felt like how a father should speak to his child.

When did he begin treating me like his kin, and not simply a tool?

When did he begin caring?

Holly sat on the couch in their modest Dirtmouth home. Their knees were weak from straining during the spar. It felt nice to sit down and rest.

They shouldered their cloak out of the way, letting it drape over the back of the couch, and removed their top, allowing Father to properly detach their complex prosthetic arm. This process always hurt, but they were used to it by now.

The pain, at least, was bearable. On the other hand, they certainly did not enjoy nor care for the feeling of having things placed or removed from inside their body, and that is exactly what had to happen in order for the arm to be connected or removed.

Holly sought comfort in another physical interaction. They angled their head to call for Hornet, standing in the kitchen.

“Little Hornet? Could you bring Somber for me?” they requested, mock voice rasping and tired. Their Void was acting up, as it did not like being anywhere near Father, and they struggled to use it for their speech.

“Yeah, sure,” she called back, setting down whatever she was holding with a glassy clink.

“Thank you.”

Holly could hear her claws tapping on the floor as she walked to the bedroom. A few moments later, she returned with the squeaking infant in her arms, and gently handed them to their parent, then returned to the kitchen. The child’s squeaks quieted when they felt the presence of their mother, and they grasped at Holly’s chest with small, clawless hands.

“Yes, hello, little one,” they spoke, voice barely above a whisper, rubbing the back of Somber’s head with their thumb. They squeaked quietly in response, purring against their chest, snuggling into their swaddle. Holly purred as well, glad to be with their child once more.

Of course, it hadn’t been that long since they held them, but still. Too much time away from this fragile little thing, and they’d panic.

I suppose this is the life of a new parent, though. Especially one that struggles to understand that they’re even alive.

“I could make you a baby carrier, if you need one,” Father said, still working with the pale prosthetic.

“I’ll take you up on that offer. Thank you in advance, Father,” they returned, flinching when he removed one of the connecting wires from within their torso. “Heavens above, that still feels so strange…”

“I know, Holly. Just a few more, then you’ll be good to rest. Should only take about a minute.”

…

Such a kind response gets them thinking again.

…When did he become so… gentle? they wonder. Has he been like this my whole life? Or did he just start now?

…

When did he decide he wanted to be my father?

They flinch again as he removes another wire. He is still kind with how he handles them. He’s aware that their scars are sensitive, and he’s aware of how the wires cause them discomfort when being put in or taken out.

Why is he so kind now? Why does he no longer hurt me?

Does he fear it? Fear that he might hurt me again?

Is he afraid of hurting me?

They decide to ask.

“...Father?” “Yes?”

“...Why are you so gentle all of a sudden?”

The old King pauses, stilling his hands, processing their question. He looks towards their face. They do not look back at him.

“What do you mean?” he questions, not fully understanding.

“When I was younger, if I had this same prosthetic, you would’ve removed the wires as fast as possible and not cared if I flinched, if I showed signs of pain or discomfort. Why is it that now, you take care to not injure me?” They look down at their child, sleeping peacefully in their hold. The Wyrm blinks.

“...I certainly would not do that to you, even if it were with a younger you,” he answers, keeping his gaze directed at their head. “Not then, and especially not now. You’re older, and I know that even at a slow pace, placing and removing the wires still hurts. Those scars certainly don’t help in the matter.” Momentarily, he looks back down to their prosthetic arm, and the connections sunken into their body. Holly’s scars are still only partially healed, and that makes them very sensitive to physical stimuli. The Wyrm does not wish to inflict any more pain on the child he’d already hurt so much. It really seemed to him that they’d been through every terrible thing in the world, and none of the good.

He looks back up at their face, still turned away from his own. “You deserve better. I’ve already hurt you enough in the past. I promise you, I will never do such things again. You have my word, child.”

Finally, they look down towards their father, their one remaining eye expressing confusion, shock, and… relief. Their father’s expression tells them that he means it. They look away again, returning their gaze to their sleeping child.

Had they had the facial mechanisms to smile, they would have.

“Thank you. I really needed to hear that.”

“Of course, my child.”

They don’t speak another word to each other until the King finishes removing Holly’s prosthetic. They sigh and roll their shoulder, forming a tendril to reach up and massage where they were sore. “Thank you again, Father,” they say, voice quiet and gentle so as not to disturb the infant sleeping in their hold. The King nods.

“No problem. Anything else you need?” he asks, standing from the couch and stretching his arms, one pair reaching above his head and the other behind his back.

Holly moves, twisting their form to lay down on the cushions. “Could you put on a record for me?” they request, yawning at the end of their sentence. “The one with the sailing ship and waves, please.”

The Wyrm hums in affirmation, and walks over to the little desk holding the record player and steadily growing collection of vinyls. He kneels down to the shelf beneath the tabletop, shuffling through the various records in search of the one the tired Vessel had requested. Lifting it carefully and removing the disc from its casing, he places it atop the player and turns it on. Soft acoustic begins to emit from the speaker, and Holly settles into a comfortable position, wrapping themself in their cloak, using it as a blanket.

“Oh, one more thing, Father,” they say, looking at him with a tired eye.

“Hm?” “...Could I have a hug?”

He seems surprised by the request. They genuinely wish for my affection?

“Oh, goodness, of course!” he responds, walking over to their spot on the sofa, reaching down to wrap his arms around them. They gladly accept the gesture, and they begin to purr, moving their head to rest their jaw atop his shoulder, simulating a return as best they can, still using their only arm to hold Somber.

And they’re purring. They’re being held by their father, and they’re purring. They’re content in his hold.

The thought that they’re finally getting comfortable with his presence brings tears to his eyes, which he blinks back harshly, nuzzling his face into one of Holly’s horns.

The last time they requested his affection was when Quirrel passed. They were sobbing then. They were still afraid of him. Afraid that he might hurt them. That he might kill them, as they so believed he would decades ago. Now, though, they know he won’t do such things. They know that, for the most part, they’re safe.

He knows that they’re still instinctively wary of him, and that they will be for a long time, but at least they can take comfort in his touch now, instead of fearing for their very life whenever he so much as got close.

He’s glad that Holly no longer cries themself to sleep every night. They don’t need to be afraid anymore. They’re finally safe.

Hesitantly, he releases them from his grasp, standing up once again. “You get some rest, now, okay? You need it after that session,” he says, running his hand through their hair before turning away. “If you’d like, I could make you some tea.”

“Please do,” they respond, wrapping their cloak tighter around themself and their hatchling.

They’re glad that they’re safe again. They missed being at peace.

#hk #hollow knight #hk au #hollow knight au #au #my au #hk fanfic #hollow knight fanfic #fanfic #my fanfic #my fanfic writing #my writing #writing #ao3 #archive of our own #hk thk #hk hollow #the hollow knight #hk:ep holly #hk pk #hk pale king #the pale king #hk:ep pale king / chrysanthus #hk normalcy #completely normal writing #*normal sounds* #i am goddamn obsessed with this btw #somber and hornet are there also but they dont have a big role in the oneshot so. they dont get tagged #anyway this is the best thing ive written all year <3 #ok im gonna eat now

[thewolfprince]

Okay so got a reply from Teecupangel on something I submitted and it gave me a wonderful idea.

Desmond in the Ready Player One universe.

Now if you haven’t read Ready Player One it’s about this guy (Wade) who takes on a challenge from the creator of the OASIS, a network spanning the entire world with virtual reality, in order to try to keep it out of the hands of a Corporation that wants to basically capitalism the fuck out of the OASIS.

Sooo my brain went “oh shit. Oh shit we could turn this into AC AU easy.”

Desmond, our lovable protagonist blorbo boi, takes the place of Wade. He lives with his father and mother and a few other families in a secluded location called The Farm. Once the world went to shit, Desmond’s parents decided to isolate themselves from humanity as a whole for safety.

Now, Desmond was raised in The Farm so… all his experience with the world outside of it is on an old console that runs The Gray [Name pending], created by Isu Incorporated.

One day there’s a message for every single user in the world (seeing as [Name Pending] is the world’s default coping mechanism to a slowly dying planet, it’s basically to the whole world).

FINAL ISU CORP LEADER FOUND DEAD, LEAVES BEHIND PUZZLING MESSAGE

Desmond is shocked when the message appears on his visor, he presses play on the video.

It’s Juno. She explains The Contest, a hunt for different artifacts around the multiverse of [Name Pending]. The first person to get all the artifacts and open the Grand Temple will be the new Heir of Isu Corp and the sole Admin of [Name Pending].

So for a few years, everyone dives into the hunt. Including rival company Abstergo Industries and its special Artifact Team.

As months go on, people start to quit. Except Desmond because his father is pushing him to find the Artifacts for him.

And Desmond soon crosses paths with a player named ‘Subject_16’. His avatar wears clothes that look like a prison uniform, and he’s often accompanied by ‘Overseer_Stillman’, a woman who is dressed in a sharp Abstergo uniform with a badge.

These “Subjects” are people indebted to Abstergo Industries and often used for free labor. And now they’re being used to look for the Artifacts.

And one day a new pop-up displays on everyone’s visors.

“Team Masayf— 10,000 points” with a small golden sphere emblem to the side. The first Artifact has been found.

And everyone is pushed back into the frenzy of the hunt.

A few weeks pass and William tells Desmond that they are having a guest over. Desmond is very confused. The Farm isn’t supposed to have guests. No one is supposed to know they exist.

An old man who everyone calls ‘Al Mualim’ leads a young man about the same age as Desmond into The Farm. They are both welcomed warmly and with great respect. William tells Desmond to “make a friend” and Desmond realized he’s being used to try to get information out of the other boy who looks a lot like him.

But Desmond obeys and leads the other boy, Altaïr, to his console and offers to let him play with. Altaïr agrees and the two log into their accounts.

Altaïr asks what they should do and Desmond suggests a small world dedicated solely to parkour and free running. They both head to the world and spend the day trying to beat each other on various parkour tracks.

As they play, Altaïr and Desmond talk. They talk about their experience with the hunt so far. Altaïr seems guarded so Desmond quickly changes the subject.

When William and Al Mualim come to get them, they part as budding friends. They meet up in [Name pending] almost every day, and Desmond slowly forgets about the artifact. He has a friend.

One night William rips the visor off and yells at Desmond for “neglecting his duties”. Berates him for not getting any info out of Altaïr and wasting time and The Farm’s limited resources on “playing around like a child”. Desmond shoots back that he gets nothing from The Farm, not a coin from their sales nor the visor that he wears.

Enraged, William tells Desmond to cut contact with Altaïr. Another person in The Farm will monitor his account and “if he even thinks about talking to that boy again he’ll regret it.”

And enter Rebecca and Shaun. They are told to be around Desmond 24/7 and report everything back to William.

Desmond initially distrusts the two but Rebecca calls up Altaïr for him and scrubs the recorded footage, winking and claiming there must be some sort of malfunction in Desmond’s terribly old, like seriously how do you use this Desmond it’s fucking ancient equipment.

Shaun mostly sticks to his own thing and doesn’t bother Desmond.

And then one day, the three make a breakthrough. Shaun figures out the meaning of first message Juno left, Rebecca hacks into another person’s console, and Desmond is told where the first Artifact is located.

And then an SOS comes. But it’s delivered to Desmond instead of his father on accident.

Lucy Stillman, a mole for The Farm planted in Abstergo Industries, says they need a rescue team for Clay Kaczmarek—Subject 16–because his mental state is rapidly deteriorating due to the strain of constant Artifact hunting.

Desmond, Rebecca, and Shaun decide to tackle the problem by themselves (though not without a little help).

And then once they do they have a team of five. They decide to call their team Team Eagle to obscure their location.

And then, Team Eagle jumps to second place on the leaderboard.

#Ready Player One AU #Assassin’s Creed AU #Every Desmond Everywhere All At Once #this is kind of a little like my story Flight of the Eagle but that one is also based off of Maze Runner #I wasn’t sure if this should be ‘one copy of the artifact’ or ‘multiple copies like in RPO’ #okay this is getting a little long so I might have to write it in docs to get it all out I have a whole plot planned lol #if people like this I can continue it

[khruschevshoe]

Mel Spriggs

Long is the road that leads me home

And longer still when I walk alone

Steady is the hand that's come to terms

With the lessons it has had to learn

I've seen the things that I must do

So take my hand and set me free

Take my burdens and bury them deep

Take this burden away from me

And bury it before it buries me

-The Oh Hellos, Cold Is The Night

As Archie twirls her into her brother’s arms, Mel feels more a part of the sea than ever before.

She is no merchant's daughter. She is no trapped child. She is no criminal.

She is a pirate. She is free.

She is home.

This is the moment that Mel Spriggs wants to stay in forever, uninhibited, with her brother and her friends and this new, incredible family that she is beginning to call her own.

-aletterinthenameofsanity, look at the stars and confess our dreams (we can't wait 'til tomorrow)

I would like y'all to meet my new blorbo, Mel Spriggs, stubborn, beautifully-developed aromantic asexual queen. Since I am cursed with said blorbo being an OC in a fic series I'm reading, I just had to make her a moodboard.

Y'all can meet her in her intro fic here, though she gets a full arc over the course of the series:

(I'm thinking of making moodboards for other characters/ships in the series, if people are interested? What do y'all think?)

@polikate @bricksbloggyplace @angxlwiings @possumsmushroom @aletterinthenameofsanity

#mel spriggs #lucius spriggs #ofmd #ao3 #fanfic #the oh hellos #cold is the night #lyrics #moodboard #aletterinthenameofsanity #melanie spriggs #oc #aesthetic #I'm begging y'all to please read it #our flag means death #aromantic asexual icon my beloved

[evelynpr]

guys uh...I'm gonna stop playing Honkai Impact 3rd

Not because I'm burnout playing it, or that I don't have time, but the new characters, new world, new story and new...everything? just make it feel like I'm playing an entire new game

This new game, I'm quite optimistic about it really! I think it would be fun, and that people are going to love these characters and be further moved by the stories it'll have. I genuinely do trust HI3rd's team especially since it is mihoyo's favorite child (oh you know that's true)

But at the same time, I think I have wanted to do more in my life. All the new changes, and basically new game in this game, just don't interest me that much, and I think I would get burnt out if I kept playing a game that wasn't the same game anymore.

I'll keep it on my pc, and maybe just play it for Elysian Realm, Superstring dimension, and other random minigames as I want to. Essentially, I'm changing HI3rd from a near-daily investment to like any other classic video game, which is just There whenever you want to play it. No more daily investment. This is probably what's healthier for me since I'm just not that interested in the new content hahaha

Do I still want to talk about Honkai, and make fanart, and just engage with it? ABSOLUTELY!!! I have not stopped talking or thinking or drawing my blorbos my bbgs my darlings. Absolutely please still keep talking about it and having fun, and I still want to join in. Remember, fandom lives on far past the source material.

Will I cry about it though? Yeah I would lmao. I love love this game so much so telling myself to do other things in life instead would be kinda hard, but eh I have Genshin for that hahaha- Honkai has just changed so much, and I think it's time for me to let go of it more as well. This game has changed so much of my life for the better, and imbued me with a love for our own world and the people around me like nothing else. I literally live by "Fight for all that's beautiful in this world", I would have it tattooed if I could.

Sometimes the kindest thing you can do is let it go. With all the changes in this game, and how I'm changing as well, yeah I do think its time to put it at the sides.

#this is absolutely not a post for hating part 2 #or doomposting about part 2 #you guys srsly need to cut it out. please. #there are ppl who are genuinely excited abt this and the developers put their heart in it too #and I think Part 1 coming to an end was good for the story #please just think about it for another minute #if u dont like how the game is becoming another game #I highly suggest you at least take a break as well #or find ppl actually excited abt part 2 #I'm guessing these characters are Like this for now #bcus its just like how Part 1 Started #just a couple of young girls living life and doing their best #so yeah. if you read this. thank you for your time. really. #I more than love this game. This game helped me solidify my will and love for this horrible world we live in. #ok I think thats it #May all the beauty be blessed #evelynpr honkai #honkai #honkai impact #honkai impact 3rd #hi3rd #honkai part 2

[basedkikuenjoyer]

The mood feels right, it's that time without light. Who's up for a lil late-night Togashiposting? Because there's one that has me thinking about a few concepts we've been on about. Which means we get to talk baby's first foxboy blorbo again. This was always one of my better posts that still generates interest today, but for the basic idea we talk a lot about the Akazaya as throwbacks and particularly Okiku's ties to Eiichiro Oda's own history on Rurouni Kenshin. There was another two-faced redhead in popular manga at the time, and we get Oda referencing the iconic clash with Game Master in interviews as a big moment he liked. But also just in One Piece canon it's interesting how Ryokugyu with a similar power intersects with Kiku's tale to bolster the connection. Likewise with the parallel story of the thieving fox spirit and how it intersects with Kiku's past.

For this part of our examination though, we're going to look through the lens of another meta concept we've been on about. Poking at the nature of "filler" and how much strict canon really matters? This is the finale of Kurama's last fight in the anime, something really glossed over in the manga as YuYu Hakusho tragically came to a close in the hurried Three Kings Saga. To me though, the anime at least salvages this arc into a worthy conclusion. I don't actually mind the idea of our quartet squaring off their personal arcs underneath the bigger show of the Makai Tournament. Kurama's fight with Shigure is so well done for that. One thing you have to give me, being filler or noncanonical is not an impediment to being an inspiration or an influence on someone else later.

The whole fight is a great finale for Kurama & his demonic past. We meet him distanced from it, they're reconnected in the Dark Tournament, he embraces it to answer the call in Chapter Black...then here after reconciling it he rejects the old self. Importantly though, he only wins through taking advantage of seeds planted by his old self. I love the final line to Yomi about it "I never leave anything behind." That reconciliation of past and present for a brighter future is where I really see Kiku picking up this torch. Himura Kenshin has a lot of similarities in his arc, but Kurama's with themes of reincarnation and parent/child bonds feel like the ways this gentle redhead seeped in. Of course, Kiku is still her own take on the idea. The trans aspect and cloaking it in a lady caring about her reputation is an excellent evolution.

Can't ignore the antagonist here either, this is why I was thinking this part in particular after all. A surgeon with a samurai vibe, choosing an honorable death after defeat. The way Shigure shaped the tone of this climax for foxboy's saga was giving me some big feelings. I honestly haven't rewatched the Three Kings Arc in years. The montage of core scenes though, showing us how Kurama grew into someone so willing to choose this new life, it had a big one I didn't really think about in this context:

How it all starts between he & Yusuke the MC. The story of the Forlorn Hope. That dub name is way cooler because the Funimation dub of the YuYu anime is a national treasure. But yeah...that's where this entire relationship started. It's an artifact that demands the user's life to grant a wish. An empty, unfulfilled Kurama was so casually willing to throw his life away to return a mother's love...without getting the point. Too busy turning over every possibility he hasn't realized how much he's grown. There's no way his mother would be happy with that trade because she doesn't see some legendary thieving fox demon...and if you told her she'd probably just say that explains a lot.

How does Yusuke solve it? Stepping in and sharing the burden. Very similar tone we'd see later with Usopp and the samurai. Even with the little dash of levity and that fine line between nobility and senseless self-sacrifice. Not to mention the big moment of Kiku's fall being Kin's final push to evolve and strike down Kanjuro. That's not unique to YYH but it's one of the biggest pillars of that series. But Bakura Town ends up being a lot like this in tone. The sumo match. Luffy jumps in because Kiku's putting her body on the line to amp up the crowd's panic. The two working together, Luffy stepping up and playing the hero for a moment, opens a new path. Just like the Forlorn Hope here and it letting them slide for being such good boys.

Then from there Kurama's story arc has the same structure we'll see out of Kiku later and Himura Kenshin around the same time. You've come so far by the time we meet you that we can do an arc about confronting that past. But that story can't end with going back to it, can it? No matter what it may mean, it's still so wild for me to see this connection over time. Kurama really was one of my first major anime characters I could latch onto and I've been a One Piece fan for so long. Just can't believe the cutesy waitress we met early Wano had all this in store.

#yu yu hakusho #one piece #eiichiro oda #yoshihiro togashi #late night togashiposting #okiku #kurama

[localcanadiancryptid22]

It's clown time ✨

Hello boys,girls,and eldritch horrors. I'm charlie and this is my weird little space for dumping all my interests as well as obsessing about my blorbos.

--------------------------- 🤡🐀✨

About me:

Charlie rosewood

Biologist and writer (taking a break from the writing thing to focus on other stuff)

Level 22

Aroace

My interests/stuff i like: Animals,cats,wolves,reptiles,horror,horror movies,fantasy,sci fi,any media with supernatural elements,cartoons,gravity falls,rick and morty,the owl house,amphibia,undertale,deltarune,dead end paranormal park,sanders sides,invader zim,the daycare attendant,mad science (both the aesthetic and actual science),astronomy,chemistry,science,video games,drawing,writing (duh),listening to music,romance (only when it's other people),jokes,bad jokes,dad jokes,bad puns,funny shit,biology,making ocs,chaos (only for the funnies/oc stuff),pranks,swearing (cause it's funny(,fictional villains,anti heroes,affably evil villains,fucked up asshole characters,super genius characters,characters who are morally ambiguous,weirdo/super chaotic characters,optimistic characters, cleanliness,organization,cleaning (it calms me down lol),fall/autumn,halloween,christmas,nature,canada,cryptids,monsters,eldritch creatures,sweet foods,food in general,collecting things,my job,the cold,carving,clay sculpting,the forest,exploring abandoned buildings,star gazing,reading,haunted houses,dumpster diving,listening to podcasts,coloring,road trips,mythology,arts and crafts,diys,magic tricks,hacking (exploring new ways to use computers not stealing other people's accounts),rocks,people watching (just observing people from afar not stalking),puzzles,riddles,dnd,cosplaying, roleplaying,origami,conspiracy theories (because they're hilarious),inventing,board games,and hiking.

-----------------------------🪐✨💜

Fun facts about me:

I have two dogs named raven and dove. Raven is a black german shepherd and Dove is a white labrador. I also have a ginger maine coon named orange.

I have triplet older brothers.

My favorite kinds of music are anything that has chaotic/random vibes and also electronic as well as video game hype music.

I have had a lot of near death experiences that i somehow survived because of some sort of miracle.

My IQ is 180+ and i used to be a child prodigy,being able to solve the hardest math equations at age seven. Not to brag but I'm kind of a genius. I have also competed in thousands of chess tournaments.

My mbti is INFJ,my zodiac sign is scorpio,and my hogwarts house is slytherclaw (slytherin ravenclaw which is a hybrid house).

My birthday is october 1st

I have had many injuries throughout my life. Such as; getting a crack on my skull,having my leg torn open because of one particularly high jump,breaking my hand,having my cheek burnt off,scraping my arm so bad that it drew blood,getting bit by a random dog,getting stabbed in back (literally),and much more. Which is why i have a pretty high pain tolerance.

I'm a 10 year rollerblading champion.

My grandma might be a goddess. Like she's super cool and can do some complicated gymnastics tricks at age 70. She has also befriended all the animals in our area. She also knows things that no man (er woman) should know. She can also count to one million.

#pinned post #intro post #introductory post #gravity falls #rick and morty #amphibia #undertale #deltarune #dead end paranormal park #sanders sides #invader zim #fnaf daycare attendant #sunnydrop and moondrop #fnaf sb #fnaf sun #fnaf moon #fnaf sun and moon #fnaf eclipse #the owl house #toh #toh season 3 #writeblr #bookblr #artblr #scienceblr #musicblr #animalblr