#hoo BOY that’s a long tag list

[iamcautiouslyoptimistic]

Deja Vu ~ Russell Adler x Female Reader

{Author's Note} This was inspired by @alypink's recent Adler render where he's leaning against a muscle car AND HOO BOY that put tons of thoughts in my head about a younger Adler before he heads off to Vietnam. Reader in this story dated him before he went off to war and they got together again after the events of the Cold War game. I probably got some timeline stuff wrong but I did my research and tried to keep it consistent lol. A horrendous sinus infection has given me a short break from school as I start some medications to clear it up so that means more time for writing! Anyway, I hope y'all enjoy this! I've got plenty of ideas for a younger Adler x reader series so expect more in the future! And let me know if you'd like to be removed or added to the tag list🫶🏻 I don't know if I managed to include everyone that I wanted to so please let me know! AND YES I'm using a Robert Redford gif because they're basically the same person in my eyes LOL {Tag List} @littlemissclandestine @alypink @mctvsh @adlerboi @deadbranch @a-small-writer-in-a-big-world @ghostlythots @glitterypirateduck

Russell Adler x Female Reader

❌Content Warning: none❌

~ ~ ~

1965

“When are you leaving again?” 

Adler sends you a glance through dark shades as you pass him a bucket full of water. He takes it easily, hefting it with little issue while you had struggled to lift it only moments ago. 

“In a month,” he responds and splashes the bucket’s contents across the windshield of his car. “Higher ups are gettin’ worried about the increased communist presence in Vietnam so they’re sending in some troops. I’ll be going on behalf of the CIA to do some recon and see if we can figure out what’s happening over there.”

You knew that already. He’d told you half a dozen times before but he answered you anyway. He knew how worried you were about the threat of impending war, especially when he was being sent into the midst of it with little choice to refuse. 

All you can manage is a nod as you focus on sponging down the window opposite him. He notices your silence and rounds the car, drying his palms on his already damp tank top. 

“I’ll be fine, sweetheart,” he murmurs softly as he grasps your chin and guides your face to look at him. You blink back tears and he wipes away the few that manage to escape with gentle thumbs. 

“Just gotta make sure the Soviets aren’t meddling in things,” he continues. “It shouldn’t take long.”

You nod as he caresses the curves of your cheeks. “I just want you to be careful.” 

And come back alive, you think to yourself. Come back to me. 

He leans to press a kiss to the crown of your head. “I will. Promise.”

His lips meet yours in a tender kiss, one that makes you smile and clears the mist from your eyes. 

“Now, help me finish cleaning this thing before Sims gets here. He needs to see this baby in all her glory.”

You laugh, feeling your heart lighten as Russ turns up the radio. He bobs his head to The Beach Boys song flowing through the speakers and you promise yourself to commit this moment to memory. The glint of his shades in the sunlight, the shimmer of golden hair as he pushes it off his forehead, the movement of his arms and back as he leans over the hood of his car. The image is imprinted in your mind’s eye for years to come.

~ ~ ~

1982

Adler has changed, though your memories of him have not. He’s still stubborn as a mule with an envy-inducing sense of style and a love for muscle cars. He’s older now, quieter and less open, scarred both physically and mentally after his time in Vietnam. His most recent escapade involved a former Soviet agent who he refuses to talk about so you don’t push the topic. You’re just happy he’s come back to you.

“You gonna keep staring or help me clean this thing?” Russ says with a slight smile. His shades reflect the sun the same way they did all those years ago and you hurry to his side, upping the radio’s volume on the way.

Russ likes to talk about cars and so you let him, enjoying the sound of his voice as he guides you through the inner workings of the machinery before you. He's gentle and careful with his movements, and you notice the serenity in his features. It was one of the few times he was able to relax, a brief moment where he didn't carry the world on his shoulders. You know he's not perfect, far from it, but he deserves this temporary peace and you're thankful that you're present to enjoy it with him.

“Do you know that I love you?” you ask suddenly. The comment makes Russ pause in his work, gaze lifting to yours as he straightens.

"That so?"

You giggle. "You're supposed to say it back, you know," you tease, fully aware of his tendency to play coy with this sort of thing.

He brushes stray strands of hair from your face, the pads of his fingers delicately tracing your features. He was hesitant to touch you these days, fearing you'd be disgusted by his calloused hands, but you made it a point to remind him that such things were a sign that he had survived and kept his promise to you, even if it had taken longer than either of you had anticipated.

"I love you, too," he murmurs, his voice a low whisper, as if he were afraid to release the phrase into the world where it could be taken from him.

You grin and lean to press a kiss to his scarred cheek, hearing his contented sigh as his arms settle around your waist. You promise to commit this moment to memory, just as you had countless times before, adding it to the complicated collection of images and sensations that made up Russell Adler.

#Ren's writing #mine mine mine #russell adler #russell adler x reader #russell adler x you #call of duty black ops cold war #cod bocw #call of duty #cod

[clovercrafted]

🌻 Duskwood Kingdom Gates 🌻

HOO boy this one took a decent while to build mainly because life and then lack of interest and then I got stuck trying to force myself to copy the exact same build and I had to do a little terraforming so the damn thing didn’t float entirely on water. But it’s done! And it’s pretty!

Tag list ☘️: @gronglegrowth @notafrogblog @xxfallen-hopexx @wjbminecraft @evilest-opossum @the-nightfox-nest @priskeys @weallpartywhentgefuneralends @vampiiric @imflyingfish @adairctedgibbgirl

I’ll add a reblog later for the lists of blocks used because it’ll be kinda long ✌️

#minecraft #mineblr #minecraft build #minecraft inspo #minecraft aesthetic #my builds #world: Duskwood #we’re back baby!!!!

[len-the-neverending]

For cis people, on writing trans stories

So, I just spent roughly an hour looking at the trans tag on Goodreads, and hoo boy, the things I saw. Ten books in I'd compiled a list of red flags, and pretty much everything I saw from there on out (except for the ones written by trans people) had at least one. So here's my list of red flags, or, What Not To Do if You're Cis and Writing About Trans People. (For context, I am nonbinary, have a lot of both binary and nonbinary trans friends, and read all the angry reviews by trans people on Goodreads.)

Centralizing your trans story on a cis character. A solid 75% of the stories I saw were stories, primarily about a trans person being trans, centered around their cisgender sibling or love interest. This is problematic because it portrays trans people, simply by virtue of their identity, as a "burden" or "conflict" on the cis people in their life, and trans people don't need that. It's also just really icky to write about a marginalized identity from the point of view of someone who is not of that identity: it's why stories about allistic people "dealing" with having autistic people in their lives, or stories about white people witnessing racial discrimination, are so frowned upon. I don't believe that cis people can't write good trans stories-- generally, I don't believe in gatekeeping who can write about what-- but a good start would be centralizing the actual trans character.

Misgendering the trans character in any way in the title, blurb, or third-person narration. I'm not going to go into full detail on when to misgender your trans characters-- @scriptlgbt has some good posts on that if you want to check it out-- but it should only be done very sparingly and should never be done where you can use the character's chosen name and proper terms instead. This includes all cases of the title, blurb, and narration by a third-person narrator. I should not see any misgendering in the blurb or in the title, and I really don't need to know your character's deadname from reading the back cover. This also includes gender-bendy titles such as "My Brother Is Named Jessica" and "She's My Dad" (both of which are real ones I saw). They misgender the character no matter how you slice it and are a really gross way to talk about trans people (especially considering all of these characters are binary trans-- some people might be okay with any pronouns or terms, but with a few exceptions you should really refer to your binary trans woman as "she", "her", "mother", "sister", etc. with no gender-bending gimmicks). It also includes language such as "boy who wants to be a girl" or "girl who thinks she's a boy", which is incredibly misgender-y and ignorant of the reality of transgender identities.

Cis people pretending to be trans. I can't believe I saw this one three separate times. Just stop. It's still centering cis characters in trans stories, and it creates an unnecessary link between transgender identities and deception, which is already a major issue in society and one that leads to violence against trans people. I don't care what your idea was. Just cut it out.

There are most definitely more, but these are the three I saw the most on my Goodreads Journey of horrors. I'm a little iffy on cis people writing trans stories, but cis people can and should write about trans people, and I think they can do it well, as long as they avoid the red flags. Stay safe and happy writing! - Lenni

#writing #books #writing advice #what not to do #red flags #tw transphobia #tw misgendering #trans #nonbinary #transgender #goodreads

[adriancatrin]

Best Zukka fic recs and/or Azula centric fics (bonus points for both!) I'm desperate for more content.

(digging thru my bookmarks) hoo boy ok let's see

i'm gonna put a cut because this might be long!! idk what all of the zukka 'classics' you've read so i just included 'em if they're my faves. list is in no particular order, pls heed warnings/tags on AO3 as some include potentially triggering content ~

like the sun inside of you by ofherlionheart: Zuko is sixteen years old when he’s handed a crown, a throne, and a hundred-year ancestral legacy of colonial imperialism. He’s not scared of the work; he’s scared of being consumed by the responsibilities and burdens he’s claimed. What Zuko doesn’t quite realize, yet, is that he’s not alone in this. Still in progress, one chapter left to go. Very slow-burn Zukka, and some great Azula stuff

To Cleave These Roots We've Made by Erisenyo: Sokka and Zuko have been roommates and best friends through college and graduation, through first jobs and new jobs and promotions, through friends getting married and sisters being pregnant and everything in between. But that all ends in four days. Four days to pack up an apartment. Four days before Zuko goes to law school and Sokka stays behind. Four days to untangle two lives that Sokka and Zuko have spent ten years weaving together. Can you call it a divorce, if you were never actually together in the first place? I don't remember Azula's involvement in this, but gosh darn it's a good one

i won't stumble as i follow down this path (cause words that are spoken are just other things to have) by jublis: It takes Zuko one year to visit his sister again. Featuring birthday weeks, struggling with your own goodness, and a future. Pretty sure this is a Zukki, ft. Azula very heavily

Destiny in the details by salytierra: Sokka heard that story before. Of course he did, the turning point of Zuko's destiny, the single bravest and most noble (or stupid) thing he's ever done. He retold the thoughts that went through his head back then, the repercussions... but he left out a single detail. And it's that detail that changes everything.  I need to see his soulmark. Sokka thinks, heart hammering in his chest. Fantastic post-canon soulmate AU. Azula's not in it, though

Divine Intervention by AggressiveStress: Sokka has had a lot of dates but they never stick around and he doesn’t know why. Literally everyone else knows why. Honestly I don't remember much about this one I just know I really liked it hahaha

Maybe I Don't Want Heaven by inkfingers_mcgee: Zuko does not realize that he wants to break up with Mai until she says, “We need to talk about us,” with an unmistakable finality, and the candles around his meditation mat don’t even flicker. // Five years after ascending the throne, Zuko reaches yet another crossroads of self. Sokka helps him through it. Mai incites national legislative reform. Azula is listed as a character in this one but I don't remember her role. The fic is great though. slow burn in case u haven't caught onto the trend of my fave fics yet haha

Of Tea and Turtle Ducks (and the Turtle Duck Guy) by Erisenyo: Sokka is nothing if not enthusiastic about his interests--Learning. Campus traditions. The campus turtle ducks. The guy who's watching the ducks so intently this year.  Zuko is nothing if not intense about duck watching. (It's not really about the ducks.) (Is it ever?) No Azula again but gosh darn it this fic is so cute. (expect more erisenyo on this list whoops)

this ultraviolet morning light by GallifreyanFairytale: sokka and zuko break up, make up, go undercover, thwart a rebellion, watch the sunrise, and change the course of fire nation history. not necessarily in that order. I don't remember the level of Azula's involvement in this fic, but I do remember she's in recovery and Zuko thinks about her a fair amount.

Empty Bodies, Empty Smiles by attackfish: Zuko sorts through the wreckage of his childhood and comes across a doll given to his sister. Not a shipping fic, just a character study of sorts of Azula as a child. It's... very sad, but incredibly nuanced in its understanding of her as a very unhappy and unfortunately disturbed child

Will We Last the Night by CSHfic/VSfic: Chief Arnook never assigns Sokka to protect Princess Yue, so he goes to fight the Fire Nation with the other men. When the moon dies, and the ocean spirit takes its revenge, Sokka is caught standing on the deck of a Fire Nation ship. Sokka should have drowned… and he would have drowned, if not for a certain Fire Nation raft fleeing the North Pole. An enemies-to-lovers season 2 rewrite, where Sokka is separated from the gaang during the Siege of the North, and travels the Earth Kingdom with Zuko instead Azula is just S2 Azula w/o redemption I believe, but my goodness the Zukka is just so. SO sweet

Burning Bright by Erisenyo: On a particularly hopeless night, Zuko sends out a messenger hawk to nowhere. He didn’t realize that his messenger hawk is deeply committed to completing the job. And that Sokka happens to be traveling straight through nowhere, at the time. I'm currently rereading this series for the umpteenth time, it's amazing, highly recommend, Azula is hyper intriguing in it too w/ a very complicated relationship with Zuko

All's Fair by Lovely_Elbow_Leech: Book one ends with two major diffrences: 1. Sokka went on the mission with Hahn (it did not go well) 2. Zhao survives the North Pole and that proves unfortunate for everybody (except Zhao, obviously)  Imprisoned on Zhao’s war ship, Sokka and Zuko have to work together to survive. They are not very enthusiastic about this prospect.  And they argue. A lot. Another of my top faves. Book 2 is in progress

Real Slow by surveycorpsjean: “I see.” Zuko closes the scroll. “Is the Water Tribe sending a replacement?" “Uh yeah,” Sokka gestures to himself dramatically. “You’re looking at him.” No Azula I believe but heckin' slow burn

this is a gift (it comes with a price) by WitchofEndor: There is a ghost on the Wani. But the crew have grown used to - even fond of - Prince Zuko. And no matter how many times General Iroh tries to gently explain the boy’s predicament, tries to suggest that he might attempt to move on, Prince Zuko can always be found watching the sea. There is a prisoner in the palace. Not Zukka, but the relationships in it are fantastic, including Azula and Zuko.

 While Mighty Oaks Do Fall by WitchofEndor: The newly-crowned Fire Lord Ozai offers his firstborn son to service in the temple. This turns out to be a catastrophic mistake. Wacky crazy fic. There's something funky fresh happening with Azula, but it's an in-progress fic so. who knows where it'll go

I probably don't need to include The Art of Burning but it's in my fave bookmarks so. Same for Blue

Also in retrospect I have a lot of issues with this fic, but here's my post-canon Zukka w/ Azula redemption fic: New Heights

#hope this helps! #being part of the atla fandom is the first time i've ever bookmarked fics on ao3 so. unfortunately i forget a lot and lose fics:( #but! here are several for ya #beesofnotredame #asks #fic recs #zukka fic rec

[masterjedilenawrites]

This might be an odd request, but what do the Bois and Batch do when their SO is wearing a swimsuit in their color (Blue for the 501st, Red/Black for the Batch)? Like, do they just fall deeper in love, or do they immediately get... Hard

[18+ below the cut, please and thank you]

Wolffe, Rex, and Echo are flustered beyond belief. They don't know how to react other than to blush, stumble over their words, and sneak long, adoring glances at you throughout the day. If they catch anyone else staring or being too suggestive with their compliments, they'll get so cranky. Best take them somewhere private so they don't feel as self-conscious about admiring you openly.

Fives, Kix, and Wrecker dig it, 110%. They would've already been checking out your suit, regardless of what it looks like. But these specific colors are a nice cherry on top. Their face instantly lights up. They'll whistle or give you some cheeky compliments. And they insist on you posing for some photos (which they may or may not look at during lengthy missions in the future). 

For Fox, Jesse, and Crosshair... instant boner. Honestly, anything in their colors will get their blood flowing, but a swimsuit? On their partner? Hoo boy.... They will need help hiding it if they're in a public place, or else get them somewhere private ASAP so they can get some relief. This reaction will happen every time you wear that suit, so just... be prepared is all.

Cody, Tup, and Hunter zone out as soon as they catch sight of it. Nothing else on the beach/at the pool matters but you in that swimsuit. They can't believe they are so lucky to be with someone like you, someone who looks so sexy but is also so thoughtful and wants to impress them. They'll be all over you for the rest of the day.

In all honesty, Dogma, Hardcase, and Tech don't notice right away. The colors, that is. They'll still check you out, openly or secretly, whatever their style is with these things. But it takes some time before it dawns on them that you purposefully wore this specific suit for them. It's their color-scheme that you're so proudly wearing on your beautiful body. They're goners at that point.

~ ~ ~

NSFW Everything Tag: @damerondala, @dangerousstrawberrypie, @harleyevanstan, @justanothersadperson93, @misogirl828, @itsagrimm, @theroguesully, @clonesimp, @techie-bear

+NSFW Clone & Bad Batch Tags: @marvel-starwars-nerd, @pandora-the-halfling, @darkangel4121, @sobstea, @rintheemolion, @dionysuskid21, @jesseeka, @hanbetired, @sarahtanmarvel, @call-me-a-fool, @lackofhonor, @theclonesdeservebetter, @hannahhearttcw, @kaijusplotch, @salaminus, @arctrooper69, @katzs-current-obsession, @501st-rexster, @rebel-finn, @writing-positivelyexisting, @nekotaetae, @pickle-rick-y, @lucyysthings, @severalseashellsbytheseashore

(Join my tag list here)

#star wars #the clone wars #the bad batch #swimsuits #swim wear #bathing suits #commander cody #commander wolffe #commander fox #captain rex #fives #jesse #kix #tup #dogma #hardcase #hunter #crosshair #tech #echo #wrecker #spice time

[moorishflower]

I got tagged by @softest-punk to talk about BOOKS

Rules: 10 (non-ancient) books for people to get to know you better, or that you just really like.

Idk how we're defining non-ancient but I'm going to assume nothing pre-1400s just because people are listing Shakespeare? Which means I can't include Beowulf :< But know that Beowulf is on here in my heart

The Dark Elf Trilogy by R.A. Salvatore. Hoo boy. Baby's first fantasy novels. I fell in love with Drizzt Do'urden LONG before I knew what being edgy or goth was, and I was absolutely fascinated by the intricate politics of Menzoberranzan, but even MORE fascinated by the Underdark. This terrifying, harsh alien landscape all in darkness, lit only sometimes by phosphorescent fungi, populated by monstrous creatures and inhuman beings with complex cultures...I was actively less interested in the Forgotten Realms books when Drizzt left the Underdark! To this day I'm really fascinated by survival literature and hostile landscapes, and I find things like deserts and cave systems to be extremely beautiful. Also, I had a crush on Jarlaxle, but so did everybody else, so.

Don Quixote (El ingenioso hidalgo don Quixote de la Mancha) by Miguel de Cervantes. I originally read Don Quixote in college, and I fell in love with how it played around with the idea of stories, and how we use them to view the world. I wrote an entire paper about how Don Quixote serves as a sort of trickster figure, because we're meant to learn from his mistakes, but there are honestly so many different ways you can read the text! Is he insane? Is he the ONLY person in the world trying to do the right thing, and its only the rigid outline of society that's actively preventing him from doing it? Also, has one of the single most important quotes to ever be put to a page. "There is no book so bad...that it does not have something good in it."

Dragon's Milk by Susan Fletcher. This was the first book about dragons that I read. I think it probably wouldn't hold up well if I read it again? But I remember being in love with it when I was about 9 or 10. It felt VERY gritty to me (there's death! injury! grief!) at the time, lol.

John Dies at the End by David Wong. HERE'S a book that taught me a lot about fucking around with genre conventions. I reread JDatE about three times in the beginning to make sure I was getting everything, and I still reread it like...once a year or two years or so? Horror is a really special genre to me because there's so much you can learn from it and use it to convey. JDatE was one of the first successful horror COMEDY novels I read.

The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. I couldn't possibly choose a single book, so don't ask me to! This is meant to be read as a series anyways, even more so than other series. King is one of my favorite authors, and I've read pretty much his entire body of work, but there's something special about The Dark Tower books. They're so huge, and far-reaching, and they accomplish so MUCH and manage to entwine so many different threads into one (nearly, no one's perfect, lol) cohesive whole. I'm sure there are a lot of fantasy and scifi novels that manage to weave as many threads as King does here, but man, there's something SO satisfying about being able to go through the Tower books, and recognizing all the references to so many other books by him. <3

Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett. WORDS IN THE HEART CANNOT BE TAKEN. Fuck, what a good book. About personhood, about self determination, about acceptance. Feet of Clay is definitely THE City Watch book for me, followed very closely by Night Watch.

Inferno by Dante Alighieri. Does this count as ancient? I don't care. Inferno was one of my introductions to translation and how word choice can change the entire effect of a sentence. I read it first in middle school, on my own, and then more in depth in high school and college, and I used to keep my annotated copy by my bed in my dorm, so I could go through it whenever I was stressed. I got really into etymology because of Inferno, an interest I still have today!

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner. When I read this in high school, the teacher for the class warned us that it was going to be a difficult read and that we would probably need a timeline she had made in order to follow along. But I didn't need the timeline. The leaps in time and space and narration all made perfect sense to me! It wasn't actually that hard to follow along, and the story being told between the words by Benjy was horrifying and fascinating and terribly sad! And then you got to the other parts and it was CONFIRMED to be horrifying and sad! Anyways The Sound and the Fury is a really cool example of nonlinear, unreliable, stream of consciousness narration and I like it a lot.

The Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson. Just a really cool magic system. Really interesting worldbuilding. But it's the magic system that gets me.

Across the Acheron by Monique Wittig. Baby's first feminist lesbian book. I got Across the Acheron because I was intrigued by another version of Inferno. Instead, I figured out I wasn't straight! Like all feminist literature there's a lot of ways to read this and it probably hasn't held up as well as I would like, but I am indebted to it for like, letting 14 y/o me realize that not just liking boys was okay, so!

[naranjapetrificada]

20, 56, and 71? (I'm very curious about that last with your current project)

Thank you! I can always rely on you to indulge me when I want to play an ask game 🥰

It got a little long so I'm gonna put in a break to not ruin people's feeds.

Before the break though, if you want to play "get to know your fic writer" just pick your question(s) from this list!

20. Have you noticed any patterns in your fics? Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

There are a lot of possible answers to this one, but a few off the top of my head:

I can never resist a little alliteration.

It's something I always have to rein in a bit, but if I want to emphasize something I will regularly repeat myself. Not word for word, but restating it. I think this might be related to the way I speak IRL and the ADHD need to over-clarify. But it's a thing I've seen other writers do also!

I love an image, and literally require them to write the way the human brain requires oxygen. Every shorter piece I've posted was directly inspired by/is heavily dominated by a single image, to the point that I sometimes feel like it's the poetry part of my brain that writes anything under 2000 words.

56. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

The nouns. People, places, and things, as in introducing a character, evoking a place and describing a thing. Until fairly recently, those were my writing raisons d'être tbh. An image would lead me to one or more of them, and I'd get lost in them, but my motivation would always peter out around the time I needed stuff to like, happen. Plot was always, always an afterthought (which is a big reason for the poetry part of my brain I mentioned in the previous answer).

71. When it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

Hoo boy. What a question. I've never committed to a longfic the way I have with FtF so I'm still figuring it out. When I was still figuring out which tropey longfic I wanted to work on in this fandom I actually started with a different one (a "Stede gets captured by Blackbeard before he has the chance to get gut-stabbed by the Spanish" thing), which is why you'll confusingly see FtF posts tagged with #baby's second longfic. But one thing working on that first one helped me with was figuring out I need to stay on top of it all.

The short version is "a doc for everything and everything in a doc."

I have like, a "beat sheet" for the big story beats and a big messy "brain dump" sort of document, so that I can note new things down without getting distracted by where they're supposed to go. The latter is also where the earliest writing takes place, and how I learn what shape something could take.

When things start to coalesce a bit, there's a new file for every chapter that I can see on the horizon (like for FtF I've gone as far as Chapter 6). Doing it any other way would be literally unworkable for me. Besides just like, limiting the scale of whatever I'm looking at at a given moment, it's also handy to be able to cut and paste things around when I need to change where something falls in the timeline. And because this fic is The Way That It Is, I also have separate documents for things like flashbacks and the academic blurbs, although I will copy the latter to their requisite chapter doc when I figure out where I want them.

While writing this reply, it's occurred to me that it might be a good idea to have a document just for things that have been set in stone, like dates and ages and locations etc. Just to keep my facts straight. That's kind of a big reason I've been posting chapters as soon as they're written instead of waiting till I had a backlog - I needed to get some things set in stone so I wouldn't be tempted/able to keep changing everything. The more concrete details I nail down the faster (read: not fast) this thing gets written.

This has been so much fun and super educational to think about all this stuff so thank you so, so much for asking ❤️❤️❤️

#ask game #ask games #fic asks #writing asks #fic writing #writing process #asked and answered

[jangmo-othewarrior]

DMC Questions Anon here!

Before you read this next question:

I was informed that it would be a good idea for my questions to be answered with a specific tag so if people wish to block it they could. Please tag your answers to any question I send you with "dmc questions anon" and I think that should work.

If you wish to be taken off the list, ask. If somebody wishes to be placed on the list, ask. If your anon asks are off and you wish to participate, just make a post answering the question you see going around.

Remember you do not have to answer every question, so please don't feel pressured to do so.

Please also remember to take as long as you need! Do not rush yourself, this is supposed to be a fun activity and I don't want anyone to feel stressed out by trying to rush to answer questions.

Now onto the actual question:

How would you rank the 5 games in the Devil May Cry series? (By story)

Separately, if you want, how would you rank extended material? (The DMC1 Novel, The DMC3 Mangas, The Anime, The DMC2 Novel, Deadly Fortune, Before the Nightmare, and Visions of V, all of which can be found (along with other stuff) here: https://originaldmc.github.io/DivinityStatue/Downloads.html)

If you wish, how would you rank all of it together in one big list?

DMC QUESTIONS ANON!! :D

Okay, I'm gonna do everything together, but i will preface this by saying i have a lot more exposure to some things than others, thus I will have varying degrees of 'much to say'.

DMC 5

I'm definitely biased for this (it's the one that got me into the franchise) but I digress.

FAMILY THEMES BABI MY FAVORITE THING

I just adore the main cast so much u do not understand. So much hype shit happens with em too, it's great. The characters are simultaneously over the top but also very real? Like Dante is the wacky woo-hoo pizza man but also horribly in control of his emotions and how to express them.

The Vergil reveal was so obvious but I dont care. It's good. The depths given to his character through V and Urizen are VERY good.

And NERO- lord everyone in this family has trauma

Also SDT was introduced in this game I'm sorry but no piece of DMC media will be able to top this because of it.

2. DMC 3

is anyone surprised

I love the bois so much, with their stupid catchphrases and horrible family dynamics. it's so weird looking at them like

I was nighteen once. I wasn't like them but I was nighteen.

Also the THEMES once again center around family, especially with the addition of Lady and Arkum. I also love this cast SO MUCH

except arkum fuck arkum all the homies hate arkum

Literally the only reason this is lower than DMC 5 is because no Nero, Trish or Nico. That's it.

3. Visions of V

i haven't talked about him much but I would also gently hold V (and by extension Vergil)

Really I just love this manga because of how much is shown and revealed through it. Everything is really visceral and hits so hard.

Literally everything in this manga stabs u in the feels especially the final shit GOOD LORD

but it really is tied with #4 because it can't really stand by itself? It needs DMC 5 to be whole, in a way.

4. DMC 4

I really wanted to put this above VoV but my DMC 5 bias shown through in the end IM SORRY

also yeah Sanctus as a villian is dogshit, i agree

and some characters REALLY needed more screen time (see: Credo, Angus, KYRIE) but also this game has the Shakespeare scene so....

also I just love Nero and his teen angst can u blame me

But GOD did Kyrie need more screentime

5. Before the Nightmare

Wow the DMC 5 bias strikes again, huh.

IDK man I just love the prequel shit. Like, Nico and Nero meeting is so fucking funny

Also Lucia makes an appearance for the first time since DMC 2 so thats cool

It also expanded the lore on how devil arms work through Balrog which I am SO thankful for.

Also Roc Goldstein exists now and everyone should know about one of the ONLY GOOD DADS in DMC history

Really the only other one I give my full respect to is Sparda, and he died when his kids were like, six. (Dante and Vergil r getting there tho, give em time.)

6. The Anime

Look Patty is the only reason this is so high I love her and if u look at my previous posts u can tell I love her and Dante's father daughter relationship u can pry it out of my cold dead hands

Also the lore with Sparda's apprentices, demon smoners being a thing, and the introduction to Morrison is very nice.

But also Lady was WAY off the mark almost the entire time, and the plot with Patty only really took center stage towards the end so :(

ALSO THEY DIDNT EVEN SHOW DEVIL TRIGGER IN FULL I WILL NEVER FORGIVE CAPCOM FOR THIS INJUSTICE

capcom if u put Patty in more shit I will forgive you (maybe)

7. DMC 1 novel

This novel is weird because it was written before almost all of the other shit so Canon often either ignored it or bent over backwards to avoid it until the DMC 5 era

But I like it. All of the new characters r very good and I love them all.

Grues death STILL hits me in the feels so hard.

Dante has lost so many parental figures ya'll

One of the only reasons it's so low is because of Gilver, the fuck

He made NO fucking sense for the longest time until the timeline rewrite and the retcon that he's a Vergil clone.

That fits his character so much more bur looking at him as Vergil makes no fucking sense. Everything about his character contradicts what we know about Vergil, even back with only DMC 3 as a reference.

Despite those issues, i am very happy we are seeing some rep for this book in the games and other media. U do not understand the screech I let out when Grue's daughters were shown years later.

8. DMC 1

is this sacrilegious?

Yeah the gameplay is good and it was a hallmark of its time but also Dante is as stale as cardboard here I'm sorry

Like his plot is the most uniform and overdone revenge plot I have ever seen and his relationship with Trish....

it's funky in this game, let me tell u. Thank whatever higher power exists that they leaned more towards siblings in later installments because I would be pulling my hair out otherwise.

But the quips r also really good and all of the Nelo Angelo stuff is my favorite part of the plot, so I guess that evens out?

This game was a very good launching point for the rest of the series except u know what

Also fuck mundus all the homies hate mundus he sucks

9. Deadly Fortune

Uhhh yeah it's just.... DMC 4 again with some things changed?

Honestly the reason this is so low is because of my preferred way of absorbing story is through video games than manga.

It's okay. Not trash or anything. It's just alright

10. DMC 3 Mangas

They're ... fine? I guess.

Like the first meeting between the twins in YEARS is very good, but also the manga is unfinished and all...

So I'll just leave it at that.

11. DMC 2 Novel

Gonna be honest I've never read this one.

So I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt

12. DMC 2

Yeah remember when I said Dante was cardboard in DMC 1? Yeah now he's silent, emotionless cardboard.

the villian is bad, the location is okay i guess, really the only saving grace for this games story is the concepts it introduces

Demon civil wars? Artificial demons created by people? Those are cool concepts! So cool that one was reused in a much better game, but I digress.

Honestly the story is probably one of the least sacrilege parts of DMC 2, and it still isn't the worst piece of DMC media based on story. That goes to our surprise contender....

13. DMC: Devil May Cry

DMC questions anon did NOT ask for this, but I'm putting it here so that everyone understands that this games story and characters are SO BAD that I'm putting UNDERNEATH DMC 2

But what can I say that hasn't been already stated?

Vergil is so far out of character he's basically an OC and his turn around at the end makes no fucking sense

Donte is an asshole who has functionally abandoned what made Dante likeable in ANY GAME

The plot itself is the most rehashed 'the government is evil and we must resist it' plot EVER

Even the new shit they added for this game doesn't even fucking work well.

Having demons that look like angels be the antagonists is much more interesting that just having angels and having them do NOTHING

Kat is literally the only thing that I don't have a super negative opinion on because she was NEW and I hadn't watched them fuck up a character I love. They just made a mediocre one at best

Needless to say, I utterly despise the plot of this game with my entire being.

Thank you for the question, DMC Questions Anon! I'm sorry I went a bit off script, but I hope it was at least entertaining.

#dmc questions anon #U can really tell how much of a DMC 5 bias I have can't u #I also talked a lot about characters and a lot less about plot but #characters are the vehicle for any story to happen #so they need to be engaging for that story to work #thank u once again DMC ? Anon I very much enjoyed ranting today #devil may cry #dmc #dmc dante #dmc 5 #devil may cry 5 #dante sparda #dmc lady #dmc nero #dmc anime #dmc nico #vergil sparda #dmc v #dmc patty #dmc vergil

[fallenasleepyetagain]

Stowaway - Dream x Blue

Dreamswap Fanfic

Media: UTMV/UTAU - Dreamswap

Genres: Pirate AU, romance, slow burn? technically?, flirting, ambiguous ending/up for interpretation

Characters: Dream von Licht, Blue Lebeau, Ink (she/her), Finch, Champion, other characters who are vaguely mentioned, & extras

Pairing(s): Blue/Dream

CW/TW: Near death experience, intense storm, mentions of combat, drunkenness, sickness, and other piracy related things.

Other Notes: This fanfic was inspired by a drawing by @foxxism back in (checks watch) April! It took me a bit to complete it but better late then never right lol?

This is THE longest fic I have written and hoo boy did it take forever to finish. Reblogs are welcomed, even if you don’t read it all.

Word Count: 9050

Dream walked across the length of his ship, The Radiance. The Radiance was a large, intimidating ship that he had liberated from a pirate captain. It was a dark, rich brown wood, accented with golden metal and two cherubs at the bow and the stern of the boat. It was huge, he could probably fit at least five more people onto it without feeling cramped. It was difficult to find sailors who were willing to go against both piracy and the navy, but those he did find were absolutely incredible. Dream was an ambitious man, and his eyes were set on a large battalion of ships, all under his order. Fighting for what was right. 

All the way from the bow to the stern, he walked, making sure everyone was in order. Finch was at the helm with Dream’s dog, Champion, keeping the crew on course. Ink was up in the crows nest, most likely doing not what she was supposed to be, but Dream couldn’t be too mad at her. He wouldn’t cast her out either, he was not a pirate. He would never abandon a crew member, despite how irascible they could be. Ink didn’t directly work under Dream, however. She was a bounty hunter that simply decided that she wanted to tag along with Dream and his group. Dream didn’t mind, she was incredible at tracking down and stopping those who went against the law. She was nice to have around, even with her apathetic and sarcastic personality.

Today was an odd day. Although, not as unusual when on the sea. Normally, he’d be the one driving the ship and Finch would be down in the berth, doing his best to read the many maps that Dream had collected over the years. Dream had yet to find a cartographer, or someone of the sort, to be on his ship and his map reading skills were…minimal. At best. But he and Finch worked with what they had and it hadn’t steered them wrong yet. 

The mental list he had for all the things he had to do before nighttime was long, and it was a miracle that he remembered to do it all. He had already completed a few of the things he had to do, which helped ease his anxiety a tad, since it lessened the load he had on his shoulders. For now, at least. He’d have to do it all again tomorrow, but that was the life of a captain and he accepted full responsibilities for it. He had made sure everything was in working order, sails were catching air, Champion was fed (he usually got the scraps of last night’s dinner for his morning meal), and everyone was where they were supposed to be. He also made sure to take a good look at every member of his crew for signs of sickness. Two people had already been sent to the infirmary on the ship for scurvy and were currently being treated. Dream mentally cursed himself, how could he let that happen?! Scurvy was treatable, and there was a likely chance that the members that got sick would survive, but Dream couldn’t believe he missed it.

Never again. Dream would make sure of it. 

He would never allow another member of his crew to get this sick again. Which is why he went around, taking a good look at everyone. He was looking for flushed cheeks, excessive sweating, signs of fatigue, anything that alluded to his crew being under the weather. Much to his relief, no one seemed sick, he couldn’t lose any more sailors. That allowed him to mentally check that box off. The next step was to check the cargo, to make sure he had enough food to make it to the next port without needing to make an emergency pitstop or catch fish. He had the means to do those things, but that took a lot more work, and sometimes they would have to go off course to do so. And without a good navigator, it was counterproductive to Dream’s mission and his goals.

He walked down into the hull of the ship, where everything was stored. It was dark down there, so he stopped at his quarters and grabbed a lamp before walking down. The hull of the ship was dark and cold, it was slightly moist and smelt of salt water. He walked down into the hull, holding the lantern in front of his face, his other hand resting on his sword, in case any animals decided to go on a joyride in the middle of the ocean.

Every crate was carefully examined by him. He made sure that all of the crates holding the gunpowder, cannonballs, and other tools used in weaponry were secure and tightly shut. Bad things would happen if they weren’t. He then checked the spare clothes and miscellaneous fabrics crates, making sure no rats or large infestations of bugs got in them. No point in keeping spare clothes if you had to beat bugs out of them. They were used in case of torn clothes from either working or combat, as well as a last resort to keep wounds closed. It had been opened, but he made sure to tightly shut it. He was certain that Ink was the one who snuck down here in the middle of the night to grab something. The guy was erratic like that. He then went over to where all of the medical supplies were. There wasn’t a lot of it, and that made Dream’s stomach drop.

Dream hoped that there were no pirates or navy on their path, as he wasn’t sure if he could patch everyone up if they lost. Dream shut it tight, making a mental note to buy more at the next stop. They wouldn’t have to make an emergency stop, not at the moment, so they could keep on their current course. He exhaled, feeling his eyelids droop. He shook his head and made another mental note to make himself some coffee. Assuming there was some left, he didn’t want to drink-

As the ship moved, the rum bottles shook in their crates, a reminder of what was drunk most on this ship. Dream exhaled as he walked over to it, swaying with the waves. There were about five crates, full of various sizes of containers with rum inside them. Rum was used for just about everything out here. Drinking, cleaning out wounds, you name it. Dream would never touch the stuff, unless necessary. His crew needed a leader, someone to follow. Not some drunkard captain.

He checked it, made sure it was secure, just as he did with the others. He was hesitant, a small voice in his head telling him to leave it loose. If it got loose then the glasses would break, and there wouldn’t be rum to drink. But he couldn’t do that, he wouldn’t impose his values on his crew. If they wanted to drink rum, then they could do that. The last thing he needed was a mutiny. 

One last set of crates then he was done. He did this biweekly, sometimes weekly if there had been more action than usual. Once he finished, he would be able to go back up top and keep the crew on track. Maybe even make himself and Finch a cup of coffee if everything seemed in order. He walked over to their food supply, taking extra care to check the crates containing their food. There was a variety of meat, fresh fruits, a couple of vegetables still left over, some herbs, it was fit for a lord. If a lord were on the sea, that is.

He rummaged through it, he knew Ink sometimes snuck midnight, sometimes midday, snacks. That was against what Dream had said before, but he knew Ink’s situation and, well, Dream couldn’t blame her for snacking. But…someone else must have been down here too. Too much was missing, entire meals worth. Ink would never have eaten that much, not on her own. Dream was certain that Ink wouldn’t share either. His lips pulled back into a snarl, something was on his ship that he did not allow. He made sure to thoroughly check and secure whatever he had left before going to find the thing that was staying on his ship.

Dream drew his sword, his fingers gripped onto the leather. He was quiet, keeping his breathing to a minimum to hear for any sort of sign. The hatch that led here was kept shut if no one was in it, so whatever was eating his food couldn’t have left. He stepped carefully, making sure the boards wouldn’t creak under his weight. His eyes flashed about the hull, desperately looking for movements in the dark. He cursed under his breath, watching his step as he moved around the edges of the hull. His eyes and ears were open, waiting, watching.

There was a sharp inhale that wasn’t his, clearly whatever was on board was holding its breath. What a clever animal. Dream lunged and the thing scrambled away from Dream and his sword. Dream chased it throughout the hull. He left his lamp on a crate, not needing it at the moment. He drew his cutlass from the other side of his belt, keeping his sword drawn as well. Right as the thing he was chasing went to make a sharp turn to his left, and he tossed his cutlass in that direction. The thing squealed, scrambling to get away. The cutlass had landed square into a crate, going through and smashing into a rum bottle that was on the inside. 

Then the boat rocked, sending him and the thing he was chasing starboard. What was going on up there?! He glanced at where the thing possibly was before making the decision to leave it be, for now, at least. Dream lepted to his feet and made his way over to his lanturn. He grabbed it and got back to the ladder with the hatch and climbed up. The moment he got atop the ladder his head was doused with sea water. He scrambled to his feet, slamming the hatch behind him and spitting up salt water. It dripped down his face, the salt forcing tears out of his eyes. He slicked his golden hair back, wiping the salt water out of his eyes.

The bright flash in the sky and the booming of thunder told Dream exactly what he needed to do.

“Furl the sails!” He shouted, his voice echoing and just going above the storm. Members of his crew who were previously stuck in their own fear were brought back and immediately got to work. Other members were already in action, tying down barrels, canons, and other things on the deck.

“Finch!” He shouted and despite him being unable to see Finch, he knew that he had been heard, “Get Champion and yourself into my office!”

Dream knew that he needed as many people alive as he could, and even though he knew Finch wanted and could help him, he needed everyone safe and accounted for. He could handle this himself. He didn’t need anyone else to factor in right now. Besides, he didn’t want to account for the scary possibility that someone could go overboard. If someone went overboard in a storm this bad, then they would be taken by the sea.

On a nearby tied down barrel there was some access rope slipped under the rope keeping it down. Dream grabbed it and ran across the ship, his free hand up and keeping rain and salt water out of his face. The wind was howling and he knew his voice wouldn’t be heard. There wasn’t any time to get everyone down below deck or to his quarters, the storm was getting worse and even he was having a hard time staying on two feet. There was a small group of people still on the deck, holding on to the ship for dear life. Dream planted his feet and leaned against the staircase leading to the helm. He worked quickly and efficiently, slicing the rope into five pieces. He couldn’t be heard, but one of the people knew what was being asked of them and took a piece of the rope and tied themselves down. Dream nodded, and the others followed.

The rope wasn’t the most comfortable thing, but as long as they were tied down to something that wouldn’t go flying off of the ship, then they would live. At least Dream hoped they would. Before he could even think about himself, a large wave hit the ship sending him barreling to the other side of the ship. He slammed against the thick, wooden railing that was on the sides of his ship, knocking the wind out of him. He struggled to stand, his body gasping for air. There was another strike of thunder and he saw the wave coming at him. There was no time to move, no time to react.

The ship lurched and he was plunged into the wave. It was dark and all he could feel was the water surrounding him and the lack of stability under his feet. He landed square on his back on the other end of the ship. His eyes flashed open and he gasped for air. His ears were full of water and his clothes were sticking to him. He flipped himself around, and attempted to stumble to his feet when the ship rocked again. This wave was bigger, stronger. There was no way he would stay on the ship. He was shoved under water again, his lungs flaring and desperate for air. He tried to cling to anything, but everything was wet and he couldn’t grab onto anything. His nails refused to stay gripped onto the floorboards and he went tumbling across the ship again.

This would be the end. There were worse ways to go, he supposed. But dying was not something he wanted, not yet. He had so many goals, ambitions that he had yet to complete. He wasn’t going to be taken so early into his life!

Dream tumbled down the ladder that led to the hull. His head was pounding and his ears were ringing. He had throbbing pains all over his body, he would certainly be bruised by tomorrow. He choked up water, almost throwing up what he had eaten earlier in the day.

The slamming of the hatch door got his attention, a quiet, panicked muttering was heard.

“Oh my god, what am I going to do, this is bad, oh my god-!” It continued as Dream staggered to his feet, holding his head as it continued to pound. It was a voice he didn’t recognize. Was…was this person the thing he was chasing not even an hour earlier? He turned around, his eyes trying to adjust to the pitch blackness that surrounded him. The person had a small lantern attached to their belt. The candle was small, and Dream was a little impressed that they had managed to light it at all. The flame was flickering and doing its best to stay alive. It wasn’t much but it was enough.

Dream drew his sword as the person was off the ladder, and they raised their arms up in defense, squeaking slightly, as they had done earlier.

“Oh goodness- Please! You don’t have to draw your sword! I assure you, I am no threat to you, or anyone on this ship really.”

“Why are you on my ship?” Dream hissed out, keeping his sword out and at the person’s neck. Or at least what Dream assumed to be their neck. That large scarf made it difficult to tell. Dream assumed it was navy blue, but in this darkness he couldn’t really tell.

“My name is Blue Lebeau, and I mean you and your crew no harm, truly! I happened to be at Mirstone when those nasty pirates arrived. As you know, they nearly burned down the whole place, until you and your crew arrived and stopped them! Which, might I add, was incredibly impressive, considering the size of your crew versus the pirates, that you managed to arrest and defeat all of them! Not to mention your own fighting prowess, Captain, I didn’t see much of it, unfortunately but you appeared to be unbothered and unscathed after the whole…altercation, it was absolutely breathtaking! You must’ve been fighting multiple people at once! Now I will admit I am not one for violence, despise it, actually, but even I can admit that is not something to gawk at and-”

“Will you get to the point?” Dream said sharply, taking a step towards Blue, sword at his neck.

“AH! Of course! My apologies Captain, I tend to ramble when I am nervous,” His laughter was shrill, his eyes not moving from the sword, “When the fires started,and I feel guilty to admit this, but I retreated to your ship for safety. I am not much of a fighter, so after I assisted the family I was working for out of the building, I simply ran to the first place that seemed safe. And that place happened to be your ship.”

Dream was suspicious, but he lowered his sword. He wasn’t putting it away just yet. He eyed Blue, the man seemed truthful enough. He took a deep breath, regaining his composure and posture. He kept his sword unsheathed but at his side. He opened his mouth to speak but the boat lurched again, Dream had almost forgotten about the storm. He and Blue were thrown to the side, and his side was slammed into the corner of a crate and he bit back a cry of pain.

Blue struggled to his feet, “How much longer do you think the storm will last?”

“I highly doubt this level of storming will last longer. It will most likely rain sporadically for the next couple of days, depending on how fast we are able to navigate out of it.”

“Oh! I believe I can assist with-”

Dream cut him off sharply, “I do not need assistance from a stowaway. You may not be a threat to me or my crew, but you are still on my boat, using up supplies that are not meant for you, and you are one extra liability that I now have to worry about. Even if I were to allow you to assist with navigating, I’m not even sure if I could trust you with that, considering you snuck onto my ship.”

Blue staggered back, holding his hands up. Dream took in a deep breath, “We will be dropping you off at the next port. You may stay on my ship until then.”

“I…appreciate you not throwing me overboard.”

“I would never harm an innocent person. I am not a pirate.”

“Of course you’re not! But if I may know, what exactly is it that you do, Captain?” He queried, sitting up on one of the crates. “I mean, you aren’t a navy officer, and your crew isn’t military, but you aren’t a pirate.”

“I wish to do good in this world. Pirates are menaces who need to be stopped, but I believe that the navy is doing it wrong. They aren’t assisting the people who have been harmed by piracy, and I believe that is the most important part when helping people. How can you say that you’ve assisted to stop piracy when there are people still suffering from the consequences from it? I am going against the navy because I feel they aren’t doing enough, and what they are doing is ineffective and wrong. And I believe that I am correct. When my crew and I encounter pirates on ports and stop them from doing harm, I have been told by locals that us aiding to mitigate the effects of piracy has been more helpful than whatever the navy is doing right now. I respect and understand the navy’s orders, but I dislike how they are doing about it all. I hope to expand my fleet, into dozens and dozens of ships, and have influence across the sea.”

Blue nodded, listening intently as Dream spoke. Dream leaned against a crate, sword slipped back into its sheath. Despite the aggressive rocking of the boat, Dream didn’t stop talking. He spoke more about his ambitions, long-term and short-term goals, and everything in between. He couldn’t remember the last time he was able to speak in detail about his aspirations. Blue seemed to be taking it all in.

“That sounds absolutely wondrous! I’m not the biggest fan of the navy either, and what you’ve described sounds like the perfect solution to the pirate problem! Why do this though? It seems like a large task to tackle for only one man.”

“An old…companion of mine became a pirate. A long while ago, probably a few years. We were both drafted into the navy and he deserted. Turned to piracy. I never knew his motivations, I doubt I’ll ever know, but I swore to myself that even though I disliked the navy as much as he did, I would never allow myself to go down that path.”

Blue gasped, holding his hands in front of his mouth, he lowered them slowly, face darkening, “I had a friend who deserted to piracy as well.” He twiddled his thumbs, “Not sure what became of her to be honest…I think of her sometimes.”

“I understand the feeling.”

Blue opened his mouth to speak but the shouting above deck interrupted him. The ship had stopped lurching from side to side, and the soft sound that was rain pounding on the outside of the ship had ceased. He didn’t know how long ago, but it was clear that someone, Finch most likely, deemed it safe to come out. They were probably looking for him.

“You should head up there!” Blue told him, going to his side. Blue was very close to him. “I bet they’re worried about you. You did almost get thrown overboard.”

“I- yes. They are probably worried.” Dream walked over to the ladder and climbed up it. He slammed open the hatch and crawled his way up, getting hit with the smell of the sea.

“Captain!” Finch shouted, helping him up and out of the hull. Dream thanked him before glancing back down into the hull. His crew were standing around, watching him intently. They were all in different mental and physical shapes. Some were soaking wet, clothes pressed against their bodies. Others were more dry, but definitely freaked out. Dream would have to up morale soon, and quickly. They all watched as he nodded to Blue to come up. Blue pointed at himself, completely taken aback at the fact that Dream wanted him up there with the rest of the crew.

“Come on.” Dream urged gently and Blue made his way up the ladder, shutting the hatch door shut as he arrived. The sun wasn’t exactly out, but despite the clouds, he could see Blue quite clearly. His guess had been right, the large scarf he wore was a navy blue, and it sat comfortable around his neck and shoulders. Blue was pale, and had rosy cheeks. He had light brown hair that wasn’t styled but still looked good anyway. He was a tad shorter than Dream, and was significantly skinnier. He had a black cloth wrapped around his left eye, and Dream assumed it was because he was missing it.

Dream had dealt with missing eyes before, and had even made Finch a false eye out of metal to replace his heavily damaged one. Perhaps Dream could do the same for Blue before dropping him off at the next port.

“This is Blue Lebeau.” Dream stated flatly, “He will be on board with us until we reach the next port.”

The crew murmured amongst themselves as Blue waved, smiling. “I will be in my quarters. Those who are soaked, please change into dry clothing. We will be having a warm dinner tonight. Finch, I trust you to make the preparations for that.”

The wind howled, but the storm clouds were far away, and the boat rocked gently. Dream glanced around, his heart racing slightly. Everyone was accounted for, he had counted about three times. But where was…

“Has anyone seen Ink?”

The glancing around and shrugging was not comforting. Dream felt his heart begin to pound. His mind whirling, but he kept his face straight. He couldn’t let his crew know he was worried, it would only elevate the situation. Before he could order his crew to stay where they are so he could look for Ink, Champion began barking at the crows nest. Dream walked over to him, petting in between his ears.

“Ink?” He called up. Champion barked again.

After a moment, a groan echoed from the top of the crows nest. A blonde head of hair got into Dream’s view, and relief rushed over him. He called Ink down, and within a few moments, Ink was down on the mast in moments, landing less than gracefully on the balls of her feet. Ink looked, tired? Dream guessed?

“What.”

“Are you alright, Ink?”

“Sure? Why wouldn’t I be?” Ink made sure to accent the statement with an eye roll.

“The storm?” Finch asked, coming over to the two of them, “The massive thunder storm that nearly killed all of us?!”

Ink stared at him and shrugged. Dream sighed but smiled at her anyway. “I am just glad that you are alive and safe, Ink.”

She just rolled her eyes and walked off, most likely to get away from the group of people and to get a bite to eat. She made her way over to the hull and did a brief double take a Blue, her lip curling up into a slight sneer. She opened the trapdoor to the hull and disappeared inside, dropping the trapdoor behind her.

Dream felt his body begin to grow tired. He was sore and cold and now he was starting to feel it. He waited for his crew to start moving before making his way over to his own quarters. He was followed by Champion who licked at his hands. He entered his quarters and collapsed on the ground. He could barely move, the storm and lack of sleep had started to catch up to him. Champion whined and attempted to lift his head from the pillow, licking his face. He chuckled and petted between his dog’s ears. He staggered to his feet and quickly changed out of his soaking clothes and hung them up in the corner of his room, making sure that water wouldn’t drip onto anything. He quickly got into his civvies and collapsed on his bed. It was around evening time, the storm must’ve lasted a few hours. He hadn’t fully slept in a week, and even though he still had duties to do, the adrenaline had worn off and his body hurt. He was so sore and even though he intended just to rest for a moment, the moment his head hit his pillow he passed out.

The sun shined down on his face and there was a pungent smell of coffee. Dream turned over and his face was bombarded with dog slobber. He was jolted awake and in his attempt to back away, Champion jumped onto him. Dream gently shoved Champion off of him, laughing quietly. He wiped the drool off of his face and stood up. He hurried into his clothes, he had wasted enough time as it did. He couldn’t believe that he had fallen asleep. In between clothing pieces, he took small sips of the coffee that was made for him. It was hot, freshly made, and burned his mouth. He had no time to waste.

The gears in his mind started turning, he needed to make sure that everything was running smoothly and that everyone was doing alright. He was sure that Finch was working on navigation. He opened the door and stepped outside. The water was flat and the sails seemed in decent condition. No one was at the wheel, but that was okay. Neither him nor Finch knew where they were. People seemed to be in decent condition, none of them seemed like they caught colds. He would have to double check with the small group that were cut out for the brunt of the storm, to make sure none of them had fevers.

Although that was not his biggest concern at the moment. While the health and safety of his crew was one of the most important things, knowing where they were was taking more of his concern. He wouldn’t call himself anxious about it, but he needed to figure out where they were and get them into a port as soon as possible. He made his way across the deck of the boat, finishing off his coffee. Champion’s attention had drifted and he was now rolling around in the sun. Ink was sitting on a barrel off to the side, staring off into space. She didn’t look hot or feverish, which was good. He would have to make sure later, but he suspected that she didn’t want to be bothered right now. He walked to the opposite side of the boat from his quarters and made his way into the navigation room, where he knew that Finch would be. As he approached the room, there was more than one voice coming from it.

The door was stuck for a brief moment, due to the humidity, but he got it open within a moment. When he entered the room, Finch was hunched over the desk, which had a variety of maps, a compass or two, and some other cartography equipment that Dream was not completely confident in using. He was also shocked to see Blue hunched over the table as well.

“What are you doing in here?” Dream asked, crossing his arms. He wasn’t going to get angry, not yet. He hadn’t told Finch that he didn’t want Blue assisting with navigation. Blue had been amical towards everyone, he would admit, but Dream couldn’t tell his motives. Was he simply playing nice to not be locked in the brig or tossed overboard? Although he seemed interested enough in Dream’s goals; Dream wasn’t sure that was enough to trust him just yet.

“He’s-”

“I’m assisting with navigation!” Blue said happily, wrapping one arm around Finch’s neck and pulling him into a half hug. 

“He’s uh, surprisingly good at it. We’ve managed to find out where we are, since Blue…read the stars? Last night?”

“The stars are one of the best ways to tell you where you are! Especially at sea.”

“You’ve been at sea before?” Dream asked skeptically, arms crossed.

“Mhm! I’ve been all over the place. I’ve attempted to settle down a couple of times, but ah..y'know, I can’t really get away!” Blue laughed and then got back to analyzing the map.

“Yeah, right, okay. And you know where we are?”

“Of course! Currently we are about a two days trip away from Lellin’s port! Finch told me that is where you are headed.”

“It is.”

The gears in his mind were turning at an incredible speed. Dream couldn’t help but be suspicious. Before he could properly gather his thoughts into a proper sentence, Blue started speaking again.

“I know you said not to assist with anything, and I know that you do not trust me, which is completely understandable! Might I add! But since you didn’t toss me into the open ocean, or into this ship's brig, have a little faith! I wouldn’t lead you astray. That would be stupid, and I try my best to not be.”

Dream watched his movements, and paid close attention to any inflection in Blue’s voice. There weren't any signs that he was lying. Dream thought for a moment longer. Blue seemed interested in what his goals were, he was very attentive in the hull when Dream was talking to him. Caution was important, especially on sea, but perhaps Dream was tiptoeing around an issue that didn’t exist.

Normally, Dream wouldn’t be so keen on inviting someone onto his ship, especially not having what is basically a stranger assist with something as important as navigating. However, he had been from port to port for almost a year now, and he hadn’t found someone with decent map reading and navigation experience. The only reason Dream lacked that sort of ability is because that was Nightmare’s area of expertise, but the bastard deserted to piracy and Dream started his own ambitions before he had the opportunity to learn. But the guy couldn’t lead a crew to save his life, and that was probably why he had a solid three people, including himself, on that ship of his.

If Blue took Dream and his crew to Lellin’s port, then maybe he would reconsider his original plan of leaving Blue at Lellin.

“Alright listen.” Blue looked at him attentively, much like he did when Dream was explaining his goals down in the hull, “I understand that you, since you snuck upon on my ship, most likely do not have anywhere else to go. I think it would be wrong to leave you in Lellin, especially without knowing anyone or without any currency.”

Blue tucked his hands underneath his chin, turning his head to the side ever so slightly. “If you are able to take us to Lellin, I am willing to allow you a spot on my ship. Assuming you want it, of course.”

“I would normally be all over that sort of thing, being with you and the rest of the crew would be fantastic! But, I am afraid I can’t accept your offer. It isn’t that I don’t believe in your goals or ambitions! It is that you work against pirates and I’m particularly…adverse to violence? Meaning that, I’m not very good with weapons nor do I have much battle knowledge! I am afraid that I would be very unhelpful. Although! I can take you to Lellin, and teach you some of the stuff I know!”

“Well, I suppose I can’t convince you otherwise.”

“Oh! Finch!” Blue turned from Dream to look at Finch who had just been standing there, “To get to Lellin, we need to start heading Northeast! It should be straight in that direction! I’m assuming you know how to use a compass?”

Finch glanced at Dream who gave him the go ahead to go captain the ship. Finch grabbed one of many compasses and exited the room, struggling to shut the door for a moment. The humidity was one of the worst things about being at sea. Normally that would be his job, but Blue had already pulled him aside to the table with maps sprawled all over it. Blue had nearly redecorated the room, with maps and books and other tools Dream had forgotten about. One of the biggest changes was the globe that was once catching dust in the door had been brought out.

“Okay! I’m assuming you have at least some knowledge on map reading, yes? I’d be very impressed that you’re still alive if you didn’t!”

Dream nodded. He was standing straight up with his arms folded across his chest. He wasn’t being aggressive towards Blue through his posture. Blue was hovering over the table, his body nearly at a ninety degree angle, elbows pressed down into the wood and his head resting in his palms.

“I know about the basics, my…old companion was much more prolific in navigation than I ever was, and I’ve never had the chance to learn. Piracy doesn’t stop and neither have I. The thing Finch and I both struggle with is keeping track of where we are when at sea. We usually end up getting to our destinations fine, but we’re usually a few miles short of port, or even just one port away. That isn’t usually an issue, but when you’re chasing pirates, accuracy is important.”

“I bet you don’t like ending up at the wrong place either. I know I wouldn’t!” “I- Yes. I do not particularly enjoy being at the wrong place. No one does. Now, if you could share the information about map reading that would be great.”

“Okay okay! Goodness. I’ll teach you what I can now, and then tonight I can show you some of the stars!”

“The stars.”

“Yes! After a storm or battle, where you aren’t one hundred percent sure where you are, they are one of the best ways to guarantee where you are! They are always in the sky, unless it’s cloudy, and stay consistent!”

“I suppose. Shall we get started now?”

Blue clasped his hands together, “Right! Of course! Let us begin!”

The day felt like it flew by. Dream and Blue spent most of their time within the room, studying and reading maps, the globe, and all the things that Blue felt like he needed to teach Dream. Champion came in a few times to say hi, which Dream enjoyed. He worried for his poor dog sometimes, life on the sea wasn’t always kind to animals. But Champion seemed to be content, his body loose, tail swinging happily, belly full of food and treats. Even when Blue was in the room. Champion didn’t seem to take a liking to him. They had to take a pause or two for Dream to make sure everything was in order, he trusted Finch but he couldn’t help but double check. Perhaps it was paranoia, or anxiety, but he just had to do it. Blue trailed him as he did so, observing how he went about his day.

They spoke on occasion, when Dream was able to respond. Blue asked questions, mainly why he did certain things on his ship. It was slightly invasive, if Dream had to be honest, but he didn’t really mind. Nor did he have the energy to mind. It was nice to have someone to talk about his ideas after so long. The last time he had someone to talk to in length was… “Before we get started, and if I am allowed to know, where did you get that pendent from? I haven’t seen anything like it.”

Dream’s face twisted into a mixture of anger, sadness, and surprise. Blue regretted asking the question the moment he asked. It took Dream just a second to compose himself, once again retaining his poker face. Despite this, his right hand clung to the pendant.

“It was,” He took a breath, “It was given to me by an old friend of mine.”

A knot twisted itself in Blue’s stomach. Dream was being vague, painfully so. The urge to open Dream like a clam and see what darkened secrets hid beneath the surface was strong. But he couldn’t do that. That would probably either end up with him being thrown overboard or with never seeing Dream again. He wanted to understand people, and he wasn’t very good at doing that ‘normally’. He decided that it would be for the best if he kept his mouth shut this time. He had to wonder though, what had happened to this old friend of Dream’s? Death? Illness? Some other terrible fate?  It wasn’t Dream’s old companion, that was for sure. The pirate was still around and kicking, and by the way Dream grew salty just by talking about him, told Blue all he needed to know. Dream’s past was almost like the sea itself, dark, mysterious. How many people did Dream know before going deserting the military? How many times had he seen people turn to piracy? Thoughts swarmed his head, and he wasn’t sure where to start. 

“It’s beautiful.” He said, placing a hand on Dream’s shoulder. Dream didn’t shove him off, instead making circles around the red gem in the center of it, staring off into the sunset.

“Yes. They made it themself. They had quite the eye for this sort of thing. Always creating, always doing something for other people…”

“They sound incredible.” Dream smiled softly for a moment, “I suppose they do.”

There was a pause before Dream waved him off. Blue placed his hands back down on the barrel he was sitting on and looked out into the water, which reflected the bright colors beautifully. The shimmering of yellows and oranges was a marvelous sight to see. 

“It’s a beautiful sunset tonight.” Dream commented, now leaning against the ship's railing. Blue hopped off of what he was sitting on and joined Dream at the railing. “I see something even more beautiful standing next to me.”

There was a faint blush, it didn't last very long but it was there! Dream scoffed, “Do not.”

“Sorry.” He wasn’t.

“When will we be doing the other half of your navigation teachings? With the…stars?” Dream sounded skeptical, but his face didn’t show any signs of him being uninterested or like he didn’t want to learn.

Blue clasped his hands together, “Yes! I don’t get to talk about this often, which is a shame because I do think it’s fascinating, I mean, not many people use the stars for navigation which I think is odd because besides the sun rising and setting everyday, they are one of the most consistent things on our planet! And while, yes, they do shift from season to season, and place to place, but when you know what you’re looking for then it’s easy!”

“I see.”

“Here, come closer to me. I don’t bite.” Blue teased, a playful inflection to his voice. Dream rolled his eyes but complied anyway. When Dream stepped closer, so did Blue, their shoulders touching. Dream didn’t recoil, but he did raise his eyebrows at the action. They had to be close, Dream assumed, since Blue was to show him the stars. He had to accurately point out the stars, and they had to be close for that to work accurately.

Dream attempted to ignore how it felt to be so close to another person, to be touching another person and failed spectacularly. How long has it been? Too long, perhaps. He watched Blue’s face as he spoke. Blue spoke with his hands and was very expressive, a large change in pace from Ink and Finch. Both of whom spoke very still, only using their hands or arms for small gestures, if at all. 

Full attention was on Blue and his finger pointing up at the sky. Dream had to admit it didn’t make much sense, but he could make out the shapes that Blue was showing off to him. He had a vague understanding of how to correlate the placement of the constellations with direction but it was somewhat unclear. Blue’s voice held so much emotion in it as well. It wasn’t difficult to tell what he was feeling at any given time. What Blue was thinking, however, was a whole other debacle. The man was a bit of a mystery, but then again so was Dream.

“And this will help you as well, I can tell this is a little foreign you hehe!” Blue said before gently unfolding something from his pockets. Dream took the paper, which was a map, he could tell by the texture alone, and observed it.

“A star map?”

“Mhm! Once you find out where you are via the stars, you can use this and a compass to figure out what direction you need to go in!”

“Fascinating.”

“Isn’t it? I quite enjoy stargazing. It’s really relaxing.”

Dream hummed in agreement, following Blue’s eyes with his own. The stars were so bright that night. Not a single cloud in the sky. Dream wondered how far out into the galaxy he could see.

“It makes me feel small.” Dream said, the words slipping out of his mouth.

“I suppose that’s true. But so does the ocean. It’s kinda crazy; how we’re surrounded by large bodies of unexplored territory. A little scary too hah…” Blue was leaning against the railing of the boat, his back facing the sea. Dream was facing towards it, standing up straight, arms loosely folded over his chest.

“It really makes you think about what is important in life, you know?” Blue said, looking up at the sky, his hand reaching over and touching Dream’s arm. “What really matters. We may be small but the impact whe have on others is big, and it’s important to know what to really focus on.”

Dream eyed the hand on his forearm but didn’t shake Blue off. “You seem to know what you want to do with your life, Dream.”

“You don’t?”

“Not really. I’m pretty good with navigating, and map making too but…I dunno. I like having everything planned in advance but I feel like doing the same thing over and over again would drive me bonkers! I’d like to teach people, I think. Might be fun. But I quite like how my life is now. I can plan things but there’s also a spontaneous aspect to it! I go where the world takes me, like a fish being taken by the current, hehe.”

“That’s not a bad way to live.” Dream commented, “Life on the sea has that spontaneous nature. You need to adapt, change as it does. I…would prefer operating on land, to be honest with you. There’s structure there, no chances of storms ripping your ship apart or anything like that. But I am to stop pirates, so the sealife will be my life. No changing that. I wouldn’t ever send people off to fight without being there with them. I need to help people, not just command from a castle on the land. The navy does that.”

The venom was seeping from Dream’s mouth as he spoke about the navy. Once again Blue found himself wondering how deep that rabbit hole went (or, how deep that underwater trench went). Blue found himself wondering a lot about Dream. He had to admit, the captain was awfully handsome. And he couldn’t be the only one to see it right?! He would be very surprised if that was the case. He had only been with Dream for around twenty-four hours, so he didn’t know everything about Dream, but what he did see was something, someone, he really liked. The two of them were close, only a few centimeters of space between their arms. 

“Dream?

“Hm?”

“How would you react if I told you that I think the next place that the current is taking me is with you?” Blue asked, moving his hands to gently caress Dream’s jacket. He was surprised to learn that it was leather. He wondered how Dream even got leather to be that color of yellow. Dream watched Blue’s hand move across the seams of his jacket. Was Blue flirting with him? He wasn’t sure how against that he was. He took in a deep breath and focused back onto the ocean.

“My offer still stands. I won’t turn away anyone who wants to join my cause.”

“I’ll think about it.” Blue said with a sing-song voice. He turned toward Dream, getting even closer. 

“It,” Dream took a moment to regain his senses, he and Blue were so close. He could feel Blue’s breath on his face as he breathed through his nose. Blue was looking up at him, expectantly. He wondered if Blue knew how he was going to respond. What kind of response was he looking for in the first place? Blue wasn’t malicious, Dream knew that. He craved information and knowledge. When he would ask Dream questions, they were about himself, his motivations, and eventually the questions were aimed at the other members of the crew. What about them made them join Dream? Did Dream choose them or did they come aboard on their own? He couldn’t tell what Blue wanted.

“It would be good to have you aboard, especially with your abilities in navigation.” Blue could cook too, Dream had learned. They didn’t need more cooks on board, there were already enough but if Blue wanted to help out then Dream wouldn’t forbid him not too.

“Can I ask you another question?” Blue asked, a coy smile on his face. He turned his head away, looking at Dream from the side.

“You’ve been asking me questions all day but yes, go ahead.”

“Do you want me here?”

“Pardon-?” Dream turned his head and nearly smacked Blue in the face with his own. It was so dark, he could barely see Blue’s face. The reflection of the moon was in Blue’s eye, and the ship was rocking slightly as they sailed.

“Would you miss me if I left at Lellin? Would you yearn for me once I left?”

“I-What-?”

“Haha! I’m just teasing you,” Blue booped his nose, sticking out his tongue playfully. “I do mean it though. Would you?

“Would I what?” Dream asked incredulously, still somewhat flustered at Blue being so close. 

“Let me reword my question.” Blue scooted back slightly, giving Dream a bit more breathing room. Dream was silently relieved. Blue being so close was making him nervous. “Do you, personally, want me here? I understand my abilities would be handy for your cause, but I’m curious about what you think of me.”

“We’ve only known each other for a day, how could I form an opinion on you in just twenty-four hours?”

“First impressions are pretty important! I mean, I haven’t known Ink very long but something tells me that she doesn’t like me very much…”

“She doesn’t really like anyone.”

“Even you?”

Dream shrugged. He wasn’t sure. Ink was elusive in just about everything she did. 

“What! How could anyone not like you?! I think that you’re pretty incredible.”

“Ah well. I’m just doing what I think is right. Doing what is best for the world. Thank you.” “You’re pretty handsome too.”

“What?”

“Hm?” Blue cocked his head to the side. Blue showed no signs of saying anything at all, but under the cover of night it was hard to tell. He could be blushing his face off and Dream would have no idea. He supposed it was a good thing, since Blue couldn’t tell what he was emoting either. Although he didn’t really do that in the first place. The poker face Dream wore was just his default expression. As the captain of a ship, keeping up appearances and making sure that he was someone his crew could be someone to depend on at a crisis.

“I think that you’ve definitely left an impression on me, Blue.” He glanced back down at the water, thinking over his words, “I wouldn’t miss you, when you leave, per se. But I will remember you for a long time. You’re very interesting.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment!” Blue grinned at him. Proud, almost.

The water splashed against the boat, it was quiet and the smell of the sea was comforting. The two sat in silence, it wasn’t awkward, just a peaceful quiet.

“So?”

“So what, Captain?”

“You don’t have to call me that.”

Blue placed a finger to his chin, “How about lord?”

“I- lord?” Dream was slightly taken aback.

“Well sure. You’re not a pirate captain, nor are you a navy officer. You’re commanding a crew though. And a lord is someone who has authority and influence.”

“I…appreciate the thought but I highly doubt anyone would actually call me a lord. Dream works just fine.”

“We’ll see then I suppose! What were you going to ask me?”

“If you were planning on staying. Are you?”

“Hmmm…” Blue glanced away for a moment, gears moving together in his mind. “I’m definitely thinking about it. I do have a great dislike for violence, but I’ve learned that not everyone on your ship goes out and fights.”

“Yes, that is the case.”

“But I’ll think about it. We have a few more days before we reach Lellin.” “I always forget how far away it is…” Dream murmured to himself, “What happens if we get there and you haven’t decided yet?”

“I think I would get off at Lellin. I’m sure our paths will cross again if I do end up staying.” Blue pushed himself off of the fence and stood straight with his hand on the railing. Dream paralleled him, his arms folded loosely across his chest.

“And you're certain of that?”

“Cross paths with you again?” Blue took a step toward Dream and used the back of his hand to gently caressed Dream’s jaw. Dream was stunned, people had been forward before but not like that. “I sure hope so. I’d love to see you again. You intrigue me, Lord Dream.”

“It’s getting late, we ought to be getting to bed now. It’s quite late, I’d hate to decrease your productivity during the day.” Blue turned away and took a step away from Dream and towards the crew’s quarters. In the cover of darkness, Dream touched his cheek, the phantom feeling of Blue’s hand still remaining.

“I’ve stayed up later than this. Do not worry about my productivity.” Flustered wasn’t what he was feeling. He didn’t get flustered, not really, anyway. But he felt a little…ruffled. He hadn’t met anyone quite like Blue before, Blue had made a crack into his carefully crafted defenses. Intentionally or not, Blue made his presence known. Would Dream miss him if he left?

“Well if you say so! Good night.”

And with that, Blue walked across the Radiance and down into the crew's quarters. Dream slowly removed his hand from his cheek, drawing out the touch. He was left alone on the ship, the boat rocking gently. It was dark, and he could only see the vague outlines of things. His crew were all sleeping underneath him in their quarters, apart from Ink, who was probably snacking away right now, and Finch, who was up at the wheel, steering them to their destination. He had a small lantern that Dream could see from across the boat. His heart was pounding, and he leaned against the fence.

“Good night.” Dream murmured to no one in the darkness.

Blue was intriguing. And alluring.

#Fallen’s writing #Dreamswap #ds blue #ds dream #ds ink #ds finch #champ the dog #DS Dream/Blue #woah finch has plot relevancy in a fic thats so crazy #dreamswap blue #DS!blue #dreamswap!blue #dreamswap dream #DS!dream #dreamswap!dream #champion the dog #Dream von licht #Blue lebeau #dreamswap ink #ds!ink #dreamswap!ink #dreammswap finch #DS!finch #dreamswap!finch #eeepy so many tags #utmv fanfic #fanfic #please reblog #utmv #DS!PirateAU

[lolotr]

10 fandoms 10 characters tag game

rules: name 10 of your favourite characters from 10 different fandoms, then tag 10 people to do the same

Thank you @courfaeriedust for tagging me!! It's been so long since I have been tagged in something like this that when I saw the post on my dash I didn't even bother to check. It took the notification for me to figure it out lol

Here we go, in no particular order:

1. Kaleidotrope (podcast). I, too, will begin here, since it's been four years and I'm still not over it. As much as it pains me, I think I will pick Drew, but mostly because I resonate with him so goddamn much. One of the running themes of this list will be trauma.

2. Call Me Katie (web series). Bates, it's obviously Bates, it could never be anyone other than Bates. My disaster bi, the boy who helped me start to realize I'm queer, with his dumbass puns, his neediness, his obsession with vlogging and pizza... I could go on forever.

3. The Adventure Zone - Balance (podcast). Hoo boy. How do I... Magnus? Or Lup? I'm gonna go with Magnus, if only because he is the one who never fails to make me cry. Travis (and Griffin) does such beautiful things with this character and role plays BRILLIANTLY. well, they all do. gosh jeez this is hard

4. Lord of the Rings (books, movies). Never mind, this is super easy. Samwise Gamgee. Next fucking question.

5. Rusty Quill Gaming Podcast. AHHHHHGGGGDKEKXJDI Zolf or Sasha???? At this very moment Sasha. She just-- I just-- my stabbing girl. My damaged, stabbing girl.

6. Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus (book serieses). (These are the two in the verse I've read so far.) It feels like a cop out, but I think Percy. It was between him and Annabeth, and I absolutely love their dynamic, whether it's before or after dating. But Percy is so smart and capable in certain ways and so utterly stupid in others (I have a theory that both he and Annabeth take hits to their mental stats when they are within thirty feet of one another). He's loyal to a fault, he's obsessed with blue food, he fought the god of war at 12 and won, he dove into Tartarus rather than be separated from his girlfriend/best friend again, he even has ADHD. Truly the character of all time.

7. Avatar: The Last Airbender (TV show). Zuko. I love the whole gaang but his character is done so beautifully and complexly. Like that is how you do a redemption arc, people. From the very beginning. And you do not make it easy for this sixteen year old who has committed war crimes, no you don't.

8. The Hunger Games (book series). Peeta. I live that he is optimistic, kind, and principled, but not naive, oblivious, or weak. His flaws are the same as his strengths: he's self sacrificing, self effacing, loyal. Everyone rubs Katniss's nose in the fact that he's good except him. But also, he's not perfect, and there's a lot of complexity tied to the fact that everyone thinks he's better than Katniss in every way, but he's mostly just better at hiding the darker parts of him. I love that we see nothing but the darkest parts and he's able to come back.

9. Dames and Dragons/LegendLark - first campaign (podcast). Fran. Again, I adore everyone, including NPCs, but I have such a soft spot for her. Noel plays her so beautifully and isn't afraid to make her jarring, make her part of the inner conflict of the team. I love how she's grown, and I'm excited and scared to see how the show wraps up.

10. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV show). This is tough, because some people's characterization varies so wildly sometimes, but... Giles. I'm going with my sexy dad who cares so fucking much about his adopted child(ren).

I had a lot of trouble with this list, because I've been in fandom since I knew what it was. I picked things that I still enjoy, and also things that I still enjoy talking about/analyzing. Because that's how I show love.

PIKACHU, I CHOOSE YOU: @all-chickens-are-trans @chaotic-gay-is-my-alignment @sonseulsoleil @yeahdefnot @greatestvoyageinhistoryofplastic @rovermcfly @the-vaudevillain @anywhoozles @wire-smith @cantdance anyone who wants to! Sorry if I tagged anyone who's been tagged already, I was doing this on mobile and couldn't be bothered to check

#Long post #Tag game #Fandoms #Kaleidotrope #Taz balance #Btvs #dames and dragons #Pjo #Cmk #Lotr #Atla #Thg

[bosspigeon]

If it’s not too much, I request all of those companion!Tav questions for Pyre :3c If it’s too much to answer at once, then just the ones that intrigue you the most!

hello this has been in my ask for a while to the point that i had to dig back through my blog to find the post in question! but i have since tagged it so i can find it again~ i have not actually played the game and probably won't be able to for a while, so i'm gonna just answer the ones i can with the info i have! <3

Where can your Tav be recruited? Are they first encountered on the Nautiloid, or in the Nautiloid crash region? Or are they not recruitable until a later act?

i think of Pyre as a fairly early to grab optional companion, and he can only be recruited if you side with/protect the tiefling refugees. i think he might be a contact of Zevlor's that he tells you to seek out for help. an old brother-in-arms~ you will probably find him Chilling and Surrounded By Corpses while casually cleaning his sword.

Do the other companions have special comments or reactions upon recruiting your Tav?

Wyll for sure makes a comment about Pyre being "one hell of a tiefling" (haha) just based on size alone. "So they were definitely exaggerating about his size... but not by much." He's probably heard stories here and there from folks around the camp that know him/know of him. might even have a fun little kind-of-awed war story or two he's been told that are definitely a bit overblown after so long. Astarion just calls him something like a Wall Of Meat and sounds Vaguely Hungry about that. Karlach wants to see if she can goad him into a sparring match~ Shadowheart, ofc, senses Selunite magic and is not pleased...

Does your Tav have any comments or advice when you recruit other companions?

Pyre is going to be polite and not just look straight at Astarion like "You know that's a vampire, right?" but he will probably say something along the lines of "Make sure you keep an eye on the pale one." Definitely has heard glowing reviews about Wyll and Karlach, but probably has some comments on their being... a bit green, but well-meaning and skilled nonetheless. He is polite about Shadowheart too, because he's not the most devout of paladins and is more focused on his vow rather than outright worship, but he's a very Cautious Type, so he's the sort to go down the line and give a Pros/Cons list lmao. "Idk she might betray you, she might not tho you decide" cryptic and not too helpful but he never said he was. He also has a plan prepared on how to kill literally anyone he meets if he thinks they're a threat in any way, and if he likes you enough, he might share <3

What sort of general actions raise or lower their approval?Are there any instances where your Tav can permanently leave the party, depending on player character actions?

Lumping these ones together because HOO BOY YEAH Pyre does not fuck around with certain things. His vow means he cannot sit by and just watch certain things go down. Obviously you won't even meet him if you side against the tieflings, so any sort of behavior that puts them in danger? You are suddenly hearing boss battle music. definitely gonna get some disapproval points for keeping that tome of Thay or giving it to anyone but him so he can destroy it, but he might still stick around, just side-eye you intensely. he doesn't really approve of most types of necromancy, but he's surprisingly civil with Withers. Basically any sort of treating people like chattel or tokens to be bartered, especially children or those who can't otherwise defend themselves gets HEAVY disapproval and to a certain extent straight-up Aggro~

Do they have any secrets that can be revealed? What are the prerequisites for this secret coming to light?

OH BOY SEVERAL. the one he's most careful about? that fact that he is not even a tiefling. he's a cambion. that one is more likely to come out than the rest of it, which is that he's half-succubus specifically. dealing with Raphael, he'd probably make himself pretty scarce, while also warning the player not to trust him. the whole House of Hope situation will have him tense and quierter than usual. He is staring daggers at Raphael the entire time, daring him to say something (which I'm sure he would eventually, if you continuousy involve Pyre in quests with Raphael) and i feel like Pyre's origins would come out specifically upon dealing with either Haarlep or Mizora.

What do they say when the Player Character asks them to stay in camp? How about when the Player Character asks them to come adventuring again?

Leaving him at camp: [Judgemental Grunt]

Come Adventuring: [Approving hum.]

Does your Tav have any escalating conflicts with one of the other companions, like Lae’zel and Shadowheart’s knife-fight?

the only thing that really comes to mind is Physically Depositing Astarion at the MC's feet and telling him to keep his teeth to himself hfdkjshgjl. idk he's kind of the king of staying in his own lane.

#pidge replies #long post #oc: pyre #I MIGHT ANSWER MORE LATER IF ANYONE IS REALLY CURIOUS HGDJKHDG #it's just really hard to do it all in one go #and i also gotta think about some of them a little more lmao #the romance list has me LOOKIN tho

[mineonmain]

Top 5 Songs at the moment

Tagged by the lovely @thisnightsrevels 😭

In no particular order:

I Need The Light by Enhypen - idk why but I only ever listened to Enha's albums, and nothing else? I'm not a stan per se, despite me having listening to pretty much every song in their discography lmaooo, i just don't watch any content of theirs outside of their music. So my surprised when I heard this track in a compilation and wondered 'wtf is this, why have i never heard this before' and now i've played it on a loop like 30 times in 2 days. Don't @me

Fireworks by &Team - Is it the same 80s retro synth inspired track that every group made after Blinding Lights blew up? Yes. Does it still slap for me? Yes. No i'm not accepting any criticism, except for the fact that K didn't get to debut in Enha. That man is TOO FUCKING TALENTED for his own good, and had he gotten to debut in a group that would primarily promote in SK, hoo boy he would've been a 4th gen powerhouse to contend with. Mans was robbed convince me otherwise

Chaconne/Bills by Enhypen - I'm not gonna overload this list with Enha recs, so that's why this is a BOGO song rec, it's not my fault their comeback EP was near flawless. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Save Me, Kill Me by CIX - thanks to my discord bestie for getting me hooked onto CIX before their latest comeback. Oh man. The MV for this was on another level. How dare they make me feel the things that they did. No I wasn't crying I just had some chilli flakes in my eyes.

Jelly Pop (Boys Planet) - One of the best units and best songs from the entire show, maybe second only to Say My Name and that too barely. I've had it on repeat for so long, and maybe I am going through BP withdrawal!! Maybe I am!! And what about it!! I'm normal about the media I consume. Waiting for Bep1er to officially debut and hopefully blow my mind. It's a group with with a man who is paid to be gay, a heterophobe, m o t h e r, a tall boss baby with a fetish for black, dimples, a wannabe oppa, and a bunch of clumsy babies always tryna throw hands, how do you NOT stan?????

Tagging: @webetterlove @whatisgodtoanonbeliever @onstoryladders @liyazaki @respectthepetty @heesulovebot

#tag game #i don't know what else to tag this as??? #whatever #go ham

[cyanide-latte]

Ask Game: 1, 4, and 50 asdfghjkl

1: who is/are your comfort character(s)?

HOO BOY THERE'S A LOT OF THEM but I'll try to keep it condensed down to the important/current ones rn

Daughter Dooley and the Walker Sisters from Old Gods of Appalachia

Cecil Palmer from Welcome to Night Vale

Oliver Banks from The Magnus Archives

John Doe from Malevolent

Sabriel from Garth Nix's The Old Kingdom series (a mainstay comfort character I've loved for a very long time)

throw darts at a board of well-known Final Girls from horror movies, you're sure to hit a comfort character of mine (yes I count Quentin from the Nightmare on Elm Street remake as an honorary Final Girl, he's chilling there with OG Nancy)

you could probably count the entire Legion from Dead By Daylight but Frank Morrison especially is a comfort character

Power Girl from DC comics

also throw darts at a board of characters from all of MXTX's danmei series and you're probably gonna hit one for sure (bonus points if it's Wen Ning or Jiang Cheng)

and listed last but definitely at the top of the pile right now above all else is Shuichi Iguchi/Spinner from My Hero Academia (no, I don't accept criticism.) Look at him. Look at him.

(I was doomed from the start the first time I watched s3 because he instantly appealed to my inner TMNT-loving 8-y.o. self, like my past child self fuckin reached through time, grabbed my shoulder and went "that design pleases me aesthetically, good job", then we get the moment GIF'd here and I was like "oh he's a fuckin' dork okay", and then when I actually researched the character later it was like HOLY FUCK THIS BACKSTORY KNEECAPPED ME, I HURT IN MY HEART, OH NO, THIS ONE IS MY FAVE.")

*proceeds to stuff the feral side of myself back into their cage*

Ahem. Anyway, moving on...

4: which cryptyd being do you believe in?

The Thunderbird, if you want to classify it as a cryptid?There are several cryptids I find cool, but the Thunderbird I've known about since early childhood (lived on the res as a little kid, what up.) So it's special to me, and yeah, I'd say I believe in it and have for a very long time.

50: can i tag you in random stuff?

ALWAYS.

#answered asks #changeling-selfship #please excuse me while i now go find a rock to hide under #Cyanide speaks

[tunabesimpin]

GOD I NEED TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE TUNA BLUSH FOR THE TWEELS DAMNIT /hj

*innocently with no intention*: Tell me what you like about the tweels? ^^

GYHEHEHEHEHEH i see just curious are we? ',:3c and thats reaaaally all? ehehe

I hope you're ready for my rambling cause HOO BOY DO I GOTTA ALOT TO SAY

WELL LET ME TELL YOU THEN WHY I ADORE THE TWEELS! i have no idea how to organize this besides a list/ notes so good luck this also might be ooc so take with a grain of salt This ended up long so ima put a cut here~

Floyd! -he's a rowdy boy, a scrunkly scrimblo if you will and that already has me in his clutches as I love rough housing and playing around! -I'd love to follow along with whatever bullshit he's doing. wants to toss me like a frisbee? Sure thing! Wants to play extreme parkour tag? hell yea! We breaking into the dorm pool outside of hours? He's the boss! -I also hella relate to his mood swings just not as outwardly. Sometimes I just be sad or pissed off for seemingly no reason. -the way he can be cunning if he wants to. I like to think he's really smart he just doesnt care to think hard cause whats the fun in that? and honestly i get that. -i appreciate his interest in shoes. even his funky shoes. I too like funky shoes. -also his laugh is the cutest thing ever and i would die just to hear it, we can be maniac laughers together -his nicknames are cute; this is actually why i chose him in game when i started twst

Jade! -he's mysterious and to me thats just a challenge to crack him open like a walnut (subtly of course, i will gladly take my time to learn about him) -I want to mentally battle him and see who will break first. -He likes mushrooms, I like mushrooms. same interest make brain go wee -I can appreciate his mindset on certain matters (*cough* betrayal matters *cough*) no but i do like just how he thinks and his general interactions with others. I really have no idea how to describe it other than that. -a scrunkly scrimblo hidden in plain sight -also his little character breaks are TOO CUTE!!!! LIKE IN FLIGHT CLASSE WHEN HE GETS HUFFY/ COMPETITIVE WITH AZUL ! OR WHEN HES PEAKED IN MUSHROOM CRAZE! adorable. Other Notes that just make me favor them- -marine biology is super cool to me. I would die to see their merforms and be able to ask questions if i couldn't find any answers in books! -Also I genuinely really like many animals and eels are in the top 3, they just look so googly eyed and swish around so neat -height gap. -teeth are cool -i want to fight them affectionately

Thank u for asking UvU !!!

#tuna be talkin #twst tuna #twst floyd #twst jade #honeymilkdepresso