#i guess its my adventure time era

[biby-24k]

heroes and sad bois

#i finished adventure time couple weeks ago #i guess its my adventure time era #im too late to this fandom im not sorry #adventure time #fiona and cake #simon petrikov #fern #finn mertens #farmworld finn #the winter king #sad boys in tha house #adventure time fanart #fanart #art #digital art #my art #traditional art #traditional sketch #doodles

[daryl-dixon-daydreams]

Words: 5,818

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Reader

Reader pronouns: she/her

Era: the Whisperers

Warnings: language (lots of swearing always haha), typical TWD violence

Summary: Daryl finds himself in a tight spot in the woods when walkers are suddenly behaving in ways they shouldn't.

A/N: This is the first part of a news series! Thanks for joining me on another new adventure.

“How was it?” Carol asked, catching sight of Daryl as he came in.

The archer shrugged. “Got somethin’. Deer. Ain’t much. Was pretty scrawny, but better than nothin’. Dropped it off at the pantry,” he drawled. He hesitated and she saw it immediately.

“What is it?” she asked, her brow furrowing.

Daryl shook his head and shrugged again. “I dunno. S’weird. I felt like somethin’ was watchin’ me out there some of the time.”

She leaned heavily on the counter, a tight frown growing on her face. “Something?”

“Or someone maybe,” Daryl said with a shrug.

The worry lines on her forehead deepened. “Well, did you see any sign of anybody out there? How close were you to here, to Hilltop?”

Daryl hauled his crossbow off his shoulder and shrugged. “I didn’t see shit. And I was a ways off but not far enough. Close enough that if somebody is out there, they’d probably stumble their way here eventually. Made sure nobody could follow me back but—” He chewed on his bottom lip anxiously. “I dunno.”

Carol looked worried and her eyes drifted to Henry where he stood with Alden and Earl, already starting his blacksmith training.

Daryl reflexively reached for his knife in its sheath, meaning to check the sharpness of the blade. He swore when his hand grasped at air. “Fuck!” he growled.

“What is it?” Carol asked.

Daryl sighed and rubbed a hand over his face, annoyed. “I must have left my knife out there… Prob’ly set it down after I gutted the damn deer. There were walkers comin’ and I was in a hurry.” He sighed heavily again. “Shit. I’ll go back for it tomorrow. See what else I can see out there. I can’t shake the damn feeling somethin’ was out there.”

Carol nodded, her brow still furrowed.

“Ya heard anything from Michonne? How’re the kids?” Daryl asked.

Carol’s expression dropped. “Haven’t heard. We’re still… not talking. She’s keeping Alexandria closed off.”

“Mmm,” Daryl hums, swinging his crossbow back up on his shoulder. He was about to go on, but Tara, Jesus, and Aaron come running up. They exchange greetings and hugs before Daryl excuses himself to find some place to crash with Dog for the night.

Carol puts her arm around Henry’s shoulder as they watch him wander toward the barn. “I guess he’s not so bad,” Henry comments. “Henry!” Carol scolds him, but she can’t help laughing a little herself.

_ _ _ _ _ _

The next morning Daryl woke early like usual, plagued by the same old restlessness that never seemed to have a cause or a cure. He wanted his damn knife back, and that nagging feeling was still bothering him, like a tickle at the back of his brain, some itch he couldn’t reach to scratch. That feeling he had been watched the day before. He assembled his gear, grabbed a spare knife, and set off beyond the walls of Hilltop and back into the woods, retracing his route from the day before.

It was easy to retrace his steps. Even if he hadn’t known the woods like the back of his hand by then after his six years of wandering, the circle of vultures and noisy cawing of ravens squabbling over the gut scraps of the carcass drew him. He prepared himself in case there were walkers feeding too. He found the gut pile easily and started to search the ground nearby for his knife. He felt through the leaf litter and kicked over sticks and through nearby bramble but his search was initially fruitless. Did the damn thing sprout legs? What the hell… It wasn’t until he stood up in frustration and really scanned his surroundings that the glint of something silver caught his eye.

Daryl’s eyes narrowed as they landed on the metallic object. The hair on the back of his neck prickled and stood on end. He found himself carefully surveying the entirety of his surroundings again, straining his hearing for any sound of movement, squinting into the shadows cast by the large trees overhead. He cautiously approached the nearby tree trunk, watching where he placed his feet, waiting for someone to pounce like this was a trap and he was the mouse going for the cheese.

His knife was hanging from an arrow shot into the trunk of a huge oak, dangling from a leather strap. Daryl carefully slid it off and inspected it. It looked just as it had the day before, except for the addition of the makeshift loop in order to hang it from the arrow. Oh—and it had been sharpened? The blade was honed to perfection. And the arrow was something else… He grabbed and pulled on the shaft, but the head broke off and remained buried deeply in the tree. He could tell, however, that it had been handmade. The fletching was of stiff, black, glossy feathers with a slightly iridescent sheen. He spun the shaft between his fingers and watched the way the light shone on them, shifting from plum to emerald to shining sapphire blue and then back to deep night. He glanced over his shoulder, frozen, listening.

He didn’t know what the fuck was going on, but he knew one thing for certain now; he wasn’t imagining that feeling of being watched. But who was watching and why would they bother to hang a found knife in case its owner returned? Most people would have considered it a good find and kept it for themselves. He maintained it religiously as a rule. It was in perfect condition. Not that he was complaining… but it seemed fucking peculiar.

As he turned toward home, a raven let out a series of raspy croaks overhead and took flight. The wood was so quiet that Daryl could hear the wind through its wings as it flapped past and wheeled upwards, disappearing into the canopy of the craggy trees.

Daryl began to slowly search the area for any sign of someone, but was surprised and even more perplexed when he couldn’t seem to find a leaf or twig out of place. Not even a damn partial footprint… an impression in the ground. Nothing. The archer scoured the area thoroughly for the next couple hours, knife back in its sheath and the mysterious arrow shaft with its inky black fletching clutched in his right hand. He kept his eyes open for game, but it seemed to be making itself as scarce as clues were. There were seemingly endless game trails, old and new, and he walked them as systematically as he could. It was the easiest way to get around. Step off to either side and the blackberry brambles and vines would tear at your clothes and skin, biting in and drawing blood. That alone should have made it easier to figure out if someone was lurking around, but he found neither track nor trace… With the day wearing on and no sign of anything else out of the ordinary, Daryl conceded and decided to head back to Hilltop. At least he had his knife...

It was nearly dark by the time Daryl could see the walls of Hilltop ahead. Carol happened to be up on the guard platform when he returned, though Henry was absent. “Find anything?” she asked, surveying his expression as he came inside and the walls closed behind him. He was as stoic as always.

His hand went to the handle of his knife, replaced in its sheath. “Yes and no,” he drawled. Furrows appeared in Carol’s forehead. “Found my knife. But it was hangin’ up on this,” he said, holding up the arrow he still had clutched in his hand. “Stuck into a goddamn tree like somebody was waitin’ for me to come back for it.”

“That’s strange,” Carol murmured. She took the shaft and examined it, running a finger along the glossy black feathers at the end. Her eyes met Daryl’s, sharp and wary. Her expression was questioning. Daryl shrugged and shook his head. “I ain’t got a clue. I spent the whole day over there, crisscrossing the trails lookin’ for some sign of who was out there and all I was left with was this damn arrow. Not a boot print, not a broken twig, fuckin’ nothin’. ‘S’like it was left by a damn ghost.”

“Why would someone would pin it up for you to find again? Why wouldn’t they just keep it?” she questioned him, handing the arrow shaft back. Daryl shrugged.

“Dunno…” he murmured, twirling it in his hands. He looked around at the afternoon shadows crawling slowly over Hilltop and sighed. “How’re things? Henry?” he drawled, patting Dog’s head absently.

“He’s… doing okay,” she said, smiling. “I think it’s going to take him a little time to find his place here. But Alden and Earl have gotten him started.”

Daryl nodded. “Can’t be easy tryin’ to figure out bein’ ‘round other kids his age for the first time,” Daryl commented.

“No,” Carol said. “But I’m sure he’ll figure it out,” she added with a tight smile.

Daryl looked up as Jesus, Aaron, and Tara were suddenly making their way down the hill toward him and Carol with grim expressions.

“S’matter?” Daryl drawled, fiddling with his bandana absently as they came to a stop in front of him.

“Early this morning, Aaron and I found Rosita collapsed and exhausted out in the woods. She fired a flare. She and Eugene were working on something when walkers came up on them. Eugene’s hurt. She said she left him in a barn and was trying to get here for help. She’s in the infirmary,” Jesus explained.

“Eugene is still out there,” Aaron said, looking at Daryl. “We could really use your tracking skills. I don’t want to risk him spending another night out there.”

Daryl nodded. “Yeah. ‘Course.” And the three of them, Daryl, Aaron, and Jesus (and Dog) prepared to head out and search for Eugene.

They headed back toward where Aaron and Jesus had found Rosita and Daryl realized it wasn’t far from where he’d shot the deer and forgotten his knife. He pondered this, but didn’t say anything to Jesus or Aaron. He did, however, continue scrutinizing the ground closely for any sign or Eugene or anyone else.

They came to the edge of a large field and Daryl stopped dead. “What the hell?” he drawled. Aaron and Jesus stopped beside him, squinting at a herd in the field moving in concentric circles.

“Have—have either of you ever seen walkers do that before?” Jesus asked. Both Aaron and Daryl shook their heads.

“Never,” Daryl said, his gaze sharp as he studied the swirling horde. “C’mon. We ain’t got long before dark.” He led the way again with Dog out slightly in front. Moving through the woods as silently as possible, Daryl knew they were now very close to where he’d shot the deer. The hair on the back of his neck prickled again and he stopped as a gust of wind suddenly kicked up at their backs. “Stop,” he said suddenly, throwing up a hand. Jesus and Aaron stood still. “I can hear ‘em,” Daryl drawled. “On the wind.”

Straining their hearing, Jesus and Aaron heard the growls on the wind now too. “They’re following,” Aaron said, glancing back. Through the trees, wandering shapes could barely be seen. “Did they see us?” he asked.

Jesus stared at the incoming herd, suspicious and at a loss. “I don’t know. But we better keep moving.” Night had fallen by the time Daryl was able to trace Rosita’s trail back to the barn. They found Eugene huddled in the cellar. He was nearly incoherent, shaking and sweaty. “C’mon. We gotta go, Eugene,” Daryl insisted.

“Are you okay?” Aaron asked concernedly as soon as they had hauled him up from the hidden cellar.

“I took a bad step and dislocated my knee,” Eugene said, still shaking.

“Well, if it’s dislocated we can just pop it back in,” Daryl said, his brow furrowed.

“No. No, listen to me,” he argues, wiping sweat from his brow. “The herd that followed us here is on its way back.”

“I saw their tracks,” Daryl drawled, not understanding his frantic tone and his trembling. “They’re gone…”

“No. It’s not. It’s already been through here twice. It’s lookin’ for me,” he insisted. “Eugene—” Jesus started. “No! We have to get out of here before it comes back! This wasn’t a normal run-of-the-mill bunch of wandering dead,” he says in his Texas twang.

“What do you mean?” Aaron asked, wide-eyed and unsettled by Eugene’s behavior.

He lowered his voice. “When they passed us by, we could hear them—they were whispering to each other.”

Everyone exchanged confused and stunned glances. “You mean they were—talking?” Aaron asked.

Eugene was almost crying he was so frantic. “I know how it sounds! But Rosita heard it too. She’ll corroborate!”

Suddenly, Dog barked. The herd was back and inbound.

Daryl rushed to look out the window. “Shit,” he swore. “They’re gonna cut us off… Look, you two get him outta here. I’ll distract ‘em, lead em away so you can cover some ground. This dun make any damn sense,” Daryl said, pacing the length of the barn.

“They shouldn’t have doubled back like that and they definitely shouldn’t have followed us to the barn,” Jesus agree, shouldering Eugene’s weight with Aaron.

“It ain’t right,” Daryl agreed. “Alrigh’, go. Go! I’ll lead ‘em off. Go! C’mon boy!” Dog rushed after Daryl as the other three made their way slowly in the opposite direction.

Daryl and Dog pounded the pavement as fast as they could until they reached a dilapidated trailer house on the side of the road, not too far from the fork where he’d separated from the others. Daryl hurriedly heaved himself up on the top and withdrew some firecrackers from his bag, flicking his lighter, and lighting the fuse. He tossed them out onto the pavement and they soon were popping and banging with a burst of sound that echoed up and down the lonely road. Dog barked at the herd in the distance and Daryl watched as some of the walkers began to turn toward him and away from the direction of Eugene, Aaron, and Jesus. “Keep ‘em comin’ boy,” he called down to Dog, squinting in the fog and darkness.

All was as it should be at first; the walkers were following the sound. And then suddenly, they weren’t. The ones who had veered off were suddenly pulled back the way they had come as if drawn by some magnetic force correcting their course again. Daryl couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He hurriedly hushed Dog and stared, bewildered and desperate as the horde continued in the direction of his friends.

“Shit,” he muttered. “Shit!”

Daryl hurriedly slung himself over the edge, hung from the edge and then dropped down onto the ground. Dog ran up beside him. Huddled in the grass, he wondered frantically what to do. He had to get to the others—they wouldn’t know what was coming until it was too late. But how?

“Fuck it,” Daryl muttered, straightening up and dashing across the road into the brush on the other side. He followed parallel to the walkers, trying to get ahead of them so he could reach the others, but it was hard as they walked on the old highway and he had to scramble through windfalls and brambles, Dog bouncing in front of him. He found the path of least resistance suddenly cutting closer and closer to the road and the horde.

Overhead, lightning flashed and thunder rolled. Daryl ducked low in the shadows, eyeing the progress of the walkers, constantly trying to pass them and stay hidden. Soon the developing fog was closing in around him and he could barely see ten feet. Suddenly, Dog let out a low growl and Daryl froze, sensing some mass behind him. His hand twitched to his knife and he withdrew it. He spun and was face to face with a lunging walker, its hands raised and slashing like claws. He struck with his knife and it dropped. Daryl stumbled backward and swung his bow off his shoulder as his back hit the trunk of a large tree. He fired a bolt as another figure emerged from the fog reaching for him. Dog leapt and attacked as another walker stumbled forward. Daryl readied his knife again. They were closing in. He was hemmed in on all sides, the tree at his back, and as he stood, trying to prepare himself, panic threatening to drown him as he faced the certainty of his own death, he did hear the whispers.

Kill. Kill him. Kill. Tear. Rip him apart. Kill.

“Dog! Here! Get back!” Daryl yelled, waiting for the next of the circle of walkers around him to lunge. He watched with confusion as a huge walking, lumbering toward him, was struck by an arrow, seemingly rained down from above. It fell with weight in front of him, tripping up another. Then Daryl was suddenly struck hard on the head by something which then tumbled down over his shoulder.

Distracted, he looked to see a rough-looking rope ladder with wooden steps cascading beside him from out of the tree. Another walker jolted forward, snarling, and Dog clamped down on its head and didn’t stop biting until it lay still. Daryl kicked another back to keep it off Dog. He craned his neck to look up the ladder, up into the huge old oak tree, but he could see nothing high up in the darkness and haze of the fog. There was a sudden moan and snarl and Daryl found himself holding off a walker at arm’s length, grappling with it to keep its snapping jaws away from his neck. There was a sharp swish and a rush of air and the walker he was fighting went suddenly still, an arrow buried in its face. Daryl had half a moment to note that the fletching was black as midnight before it fell at his feet.

More of the dead pressed in. He stabbed two more and another arrow from above pierced the head of a third. He glanced back up at the tree and the dangling ladder. Did he have a choice? He looked back at the circle of walkers pressing ever more closely in. Another couple began to stagger forward. Dog barked frantically, facing them bravely, trying to protect Daryl. No choice. He had no choice. “Dog! C’mon! Up! Get up!” He seized the bottom of the ladder and pulled it slightly out, using all his weight to hold it taught as Dog let out a nervous bark and then ran up it like a ramp at full speed, scrambling a little against the trunk and more vertical steps near the top but finally disappearing into the darkness under the eaves of the tree. Daryl heaved out a final breath, slung his bow across his back and scrambled up after him. He felt fingertips on his ankle and kicked hard to free himself but the grip was strong. Another rush of air and the sharp sound of a passing arrow and the grip disappeared.

He climbed, heart racing, until he arrived at a surprisingly large wooden platform, built in among the thick branches. He spilled onto it and lay flat on his back, trying to catch his breath. Dog surged forward, anxious paws tapping, and licked his face.

Daryl startled as a dark figure moved beside him and quickly heaved the rope ladder up, rolling it into a neat coil and dropping it onto the platform before retreating again to the other side to lean back against a particularly large offshoot of the tree trunk. Daryl hurriedly rolled over and sat up on his knees, squinting into the darkness. Below, the growls and snarls seemed even louder and he could still hear the faintest rustle and hush of whispers woven in among them.

Dog circled and sat beside Daryl, peering with interest at the dark-clad figure. Daryl waited with bated breath for a long time to see if they would speak. They didn’t.

They were set back in shadow and he couldn’t make out much about them at all until lightning burst overhead again and he could barely see that they had on a sort of dark cloak with a hood and clutched a bow in one hand.

There was an increasing roar of crackling and rustling all around him and Daryl realized that it had started raining, but he felt no drops falling on him. Looking upwards, he saw with the next burst of lightning that there was another platform above him. He glanced back down at the figure. They were still unmoving. He watched as they set their bow aside and then raised their hands and pushed back their hood. Another fork of lightning lit the sky.

He gulped. His heart did a strange lurch in his chest. He was staring at you, and you were staring back at him. He was at a loss for anything to say. Below, the growls and snarls went on and on…

You were studying him carefully, your eyes narrowed, lips parted a little and slightly pursed.

He attempted to clear his throat, but it felt tight all of a sudden. “‘M Daryl,” he said, having to nearly yell over the torrent of rain and continued rolling booms of thunder.

You reached for your bow again, not taking your eyes off him.

“I—I think ya just saved my life. And Dog’s too. Well—I know ya did,” he said lamely, trailing off.

Instead of responding, he watched as you slung your bow on one shoulder and then turned and started to climb up the large vertical branch you’d been standing in front of with an agility and speed that was astonishing.

“Wait—hey!” he called after you.

But the tail of your dark cloak was already licking around the platform above and you were gone. Dog trotted over to where you’d been, sniffing and then looking up the branch. He let out a low whine and wagged his tail.

“What the fuck?” Daryl muttered, climbing to his feet and going to stand where you’d been. He examined the tree trunk, half-expecting to find steps or footholds drilled in that allowed you to climb so swiftly but there was nothing but the rough bark of the tree. He ran his fingers over it. He couldn’t imagine how you’d gotten a hold. Another bright burst of lightning shot through the sky and a loud boom of thunder rolled. Daryl backed away from the edge and sank down in the middle of the platform beside his pack and crossbow. He hauled his bow onto his lap, set another bolt in the flight groove, and drew it back so it was ready to fire in a hurry if needed. There he sat, rigid, staring into the darkness around him, Dog at his side.

His heart sank as he thought of Jesus, Aaron, and Eugene. He hoped they were safe. What a massive fucking misadventure this had been. But as he sat clutching his bow, wondering who the fuck you were, why the fuck you’d helped him, where the fuck you’d gone now (up the tree?), his mind did continually wander back to the whispering... He’d heard it. Exactly as Eugene had said. And the herd had behaved unlike any other he’d ever seen. They’d doubled back. They’d ignored the lights and sounds of the firecrackers. They’d rerouted. They seemed to move with purpose. They didn’t just wander. He didn’t know what it meant, why it occurred, but it was terrifying. _ _ _ _ _ _

Daryl awoke with a start when Dog let out a soft woof and he shot upright, grappling for his bow. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep, especially being twenty-five feet in the air, but he had finally succumbed to exhaustion when the storm had passed in the wee hours of the morning. His back was stiff and tight from sleeping on the hard wood and he attempted to stretch to relieve the worst of it but was far too aware of you staring at him.

Now, he was looking back at you in the light of morning where you’d just climbed down on another ladder from the upper platform. This ladder passed through a hole in the platform above and he again remembered how skillfully you’d ascended without it the night before.

You were still dressed in mostly black, but the cloak and hood you’d worn during the night were gone. Along with your bow and a quiver full of arrows, there was a small bag slung across your body and you knelt and slipped it off. You flipped it open and pulled out a thermos and a chunk of crusty bread. You thrust them toward him and he eyed them somewhat warily. You finally just set them down and then stood, shifting your bow and quiver to the side, and leaning back against the tree trunk in the same way you had the night before. You crossed your arms over your chest and surveyed him.

Your eyes were bright and the colors seemed to flash in the morning sun. Daryl gulped and then cautiously reached for the bread and thermos. He unscrewed the top and sniffed its contents. Steam rose up and it was accompanied by an earthy and slightly sweet smell. Hot tea. Tea… in a tree? He was baffled. Did you have a fire up there somewhere? A stove? What the fuck? he thought for the hundredth time in a day’s time.

He looked up at you again and set the thermos aside. His eyes flickered down to your quiver. The feathers of the fletching were all glossy black. He swallowed the lump in his throat. “Ya found my knife the other day.” A long beat of silence. You were unreadable. “Why’d ya—hang it back up for me to find?” he asked. “Ya knew I’d come back lookin’?”

Still nothing.

“Were ya watchin’ me out here before?”

Silence.

He was getting slightly annoyed. “Christ, d’ya speak at all or—”

“Yes,” you said suddenly. “I do.”

Now, Daryl’s mouth was hanging partially open.

“But I’m not in the habit of speaking with strangers.”

“Well,” he straightened up a bit, clearing his throat, “’M Daryl. And this is Dog,” he said, ruffling the Malinois’ fur. He waited to see if you’d reciprocate the introduction but you merely shifted a little. Daryl chewed on his bottom lip nervously.

“How’d you get mixed up in that mess last night anyway?” you asked him. You couldn’t help studying his every little movement closely, watching for a microscopic flash that something was off, waiting for him to suddenly reveal himself to be something… dark. But you saw nothing like that. Not yet, anyway. But he was obviously strong, capable. Careful, you cautioned yourself mentally.

Daryl’s stomach turned as he thought again of Eugene and Aaron and Jesus. He scolded himself for not thinking of them until now after waking up. “S’kinda a long story,” he drawled. “I was tryin’ to lead ‘em away from somewhere. Guess it backfired.”

Your eyebrows lifted. “Lead them? Of course it went wrong,” you said, looking at him like that was the most obvious thing ever, or maybe more like he was a fucking idiot.

His brow furrowed low over his blue eyes. “What d’ya mean?”

“Well, the shepherds, obviously,” you said, deadpan.

“The—who?”

You straightened up, perplexed as you stared back at him. “The shepherds.” There was no understanding or recognition on his face. “Of the dead.”

Daryl only stared back at you, utterly confused.

You shook your head a little. “Couldn’t you hear them?” you asked him.

Finally, he nodded. “Ya mean the—the whisperin’?”

“Yes. It’s the shepherds,” you said again.

He still looked confused. You sighed and walked over the coiled ladder and nudged it off the edge with your foot. “Come down. I’ll show you.”

Daryl watched you slip down with ease and then glanced at Dog. “Stay, boy,” he said, and he followed more clumsily down the ladder behind you, feeling cautiously with his boots for the next step. He felt overly large and awkward behind you. When he planted his boots back on solid ground again, he was surprised to see the number of dead walkers lying at the base of the tree. You had shot more than he’d noticed the night before in all the chaos. Most had a thick arrow shaft capped with black feathers protruding from its head. You went about collecting your arrows. You paused at the last one and gave him a significant look before rolling it over with your boot so it was facedown. You bent and Daryl moved closer. “Here. See?” You pointed at the back of the head. At first, Daryl didn’t understand what he was supposed to be looking at. You withdrew a knife from your hip with a skillful movement and slipped the blade up the back of the head. It was as you did this that Daryl finally saw the lacing, like a shoelace, on the back of the head.

“What the hell?” he growled.

Once the lacing was cut, you gripped the scraggly hair on the top of the head and tugged. The whole head seemed to come off at first until he realized it was slipping off like a mask. You held it up with a disgusted look on your face for him to see.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” he drawled. He turned the body back over and found himself looking at a person. Not one who had ever turned to the undead, but the very human-looking corpse of a person dead from your arrow the night before. He stood up, in slight shock.

You dropped the horrifying mask to the ground. “They wear skins, herd the dead. They walk with them. Control them,” you said. “The shepherds.”

“Why?” Daryl asked.

You didn’t answer, simply stared at him stony-faced, sheathed your knife, stuffed the arrows you’d collected back in your quiver, and climbed the ladder back up into the tree.

As a last thought, Daryl grabbed the mask and crammed it into the inside pocket in his vest. Then, he followed you back up.

Daryl found you sitting at the edge petting Dog when he pulled himself back onto the platform. The bread and thermos were still sitting there in the middle and his hunger reared its head. He grabbed the bread and sank down beside his pack and bow again.

“What d’ya know ‘bout these shepherds?” he asked you again. “These—Whisperers?”

Your eyes flickered up to his face and then back to Dog as you picked a burr out of his coat. “They almost killed you last night. What more do you need to know?”

“Alrigh’…” Daryl drawled, biting off another piece of bread. “Ya ain’t even gonna tell me yer name? Where ya came from?”

Your eyes snapped up to his face again. “You don’t owe me your backstory and I certainly don’t owe you mine,” you said. You stood abruptly as the croak of a raven sounded nearby. “You led that herd right to my tree—”

Daryl’s eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed. “Ain’t like I did that on purpose. I didn’t know somebody was livin’ in a fuckin’ tree—it coulda been any tree in a thousand.”

“But it wasn’t. And I saved your ass—”

Daryl was slightly incredulous. “Ya want another thank you? Or an apology?” he asked, standing.

Your hand reflexively strayed to your knife as he rose to his full height. “And now I’ll have to move—”

Daryl continued to stare at you, baffled. The raven croaked again nearby. “Why the hell did ya even save me and Dog?” he asked.

“Should I not have?” you retorted. Abruptly, you tore your eyes from his face. “I think it’s time you go. I’m sure your people are worried,” you said, patting Dog once more time.

“Hang on—how d’ya know I got people?” Daryl pressed you.

“You have people,” you said.

“Do you have people?” he asked.

You ignored his question. “I can fit a harness on your dog to lower him down,” you said.

“Forget it,” Daryl growled. He shoved what was left of the chunk of bread into his pack and slung it across his back. He shouldered his crossbow. “Thanks for breakfast. Dog. Shoulders, c’mon!”

Daryl bent his knees and Dog propelled himself onto Daryl’s shoulders and balanced there. Daryl was bowed slightly under the weight and you watched, somewhat amazed as he navigated the edge of the platform and climbed the ladder back down. You leaned over and watched Dog jump down. Daryl readied his crossbow in his hands, prepared to set out.

You couldn’t resist having the last word. “Daryl,” you called down. He looked up. “You didn’t thank me, technically, for saving your life.”

Daryl peered up, disbelieving. “Last night, I said—”

“You stated a fact, that I did,” you interrupted. “That isn’t a ‘thank you’.”

He swore under his breath. “Hey, what the hell is your problem?” he growled back.

And for the first time, Daryl saw you smile, and his stomach seemed to somersault in his midsection. Just then, a huge raven swooped in and perched on your shoulder, letting out a raspy noise as a greeting and ruffling its feathers as you scratched beneath its bill affectionately. “Bye, Daryl. Be careful of the shepherds. And I’ll ask that you just go and forget about me.” And with that, you disappeared, and the ladder behind him slowly began to raise as you reeled it back up.

Daryl had seen a lot of shit in his time since the world fell, but this? You? Some mysterious woman living in a tree with a fucking pet raven? What the fuck... This was something else entirely. Forget about you? Not fucking likely.

#daryl dixon x reader series #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon twd #the walking dead #twd fanfics #daryl dixon drabbles #daryl imagines #daryl x y/n #fanfics #writers of tumblr #twd drabbles

[thatonepeppi]

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧gale dekarios head canons✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊

I CANNOT stop thinking about this man, so I'm going to dump all of my thoughts here, enjoy :)

the format is odd, I have not written in some time, excuse me :3

☾ after the final battle

⋆ after the final battle, the two of you go back to your own room in the Elf Song Tavern, not before a very much needed shower that is. You two care for each other, chatting slowly and longingly at what your next moves are like the two of you have all the time in the world -and now you do.

⋆ Gale tiptoes around the subject of Waterdeep. He longs to be home, he's been picturing you this entire time in his home, doing everything. Making love, cooking for you, having tea in the mornings, how you would look in his bed as the sunlight and the moonlight creep in. Gale wants that life with you desperately, something simple and cozy, and with love in every action.

"Are you still there?" Tav asks, "My hair feels very clean now, especially in that particular spot."

In the midst of his reverie, a subtle "Hmm?" escaped from Gale's lips, abruptly awakened from a trance, "Oh, apologies, Dearest. A lot on my mind -- well I guess not so much anymore," He laughs quietly, rinsing off the bubbles in their hair, fingering through their strands of hair. Wherever Tav was needed, he would be sure to follow, he was certain of it. But still, he was homesick.

Tav frowns, "What's wrong, Love?" They lean into Gale, "You can talk to me, about anything."

Minutes slipped by like grains of sand in an hourglass until Gale finally spoke, his voice barely above a whisper. "Tav," he began, hesitating as if unsure of his own words, "I... I miss home. Waterdeep," He looks away, "Wherever you go, know that I will follow and happily too. Whether it be another adventure, here in Baldur's Gate, your own home. For you, I would sleep on the ground again, as long as your warm presence is there with me," He looks at them, nothing but warmth and sincerity in his words and in his eyes, "I love you, wherever we go, or wherever you are."

Tav's heart ached at the confession, the weight of Gale's homesickness palpable in the steam-filled air. Without hesitation, they reached out, clasping Gale's sun kissed and freckled hands in a gentle reassurance, giving them a gentle kiss.

"I know, my love," Tav murmured, their voice soft as a caress. "We can go home whenever you're ready. I'll be right here, by your side, every step of the way."

In that moment, as Gale's eyes met theirs with a mixture of gratitude and relief, Tav realized that home wasn't just a place—it was the warmth of their shared love, cocooned in the sanctuary of the bath, and where they found solace in each other's embrace. And though Gale longed for the familiar sights and sounds of Waterdeep, Tav knew that their love would be their anchor, no matter where their adventures took them in the realms.

☾ home

⋆ Gale is giddy from the start of the morning hopping off the massive ship the two of you took to get to Waterdeep. He takes your hand in his as he guides you down his city, excitingly pointing out all the areas he promises to take you once the two of you are settled.

⋆ Stepping into Gale's tower, you are immediately embraced by a whimsical antiquity, the cozy allure of a bygone era evident in every corner. Soft candlelight bathes the space, casting dancing shadows that whisper tales of adventure. Books adorn every surface, their well-loved pages holding secrets and enchantments, while antique treasures dot the shelves, each one a nostalgic relic of older times. Through the grand balcony, the endless expanse of the ocean stretches out, its rhythmic waves a soothing melody. Ships setting sail, the grunts of the dockhands as they tie these giant ships to their posts. In this enchanting haven, amidst the warmth of history and the timeless beauty of the sea, you find a sanctuary unlike any other. Home.

⋆ After settling in, you experience a life like no other. Gale is incessant on cooking you breakfast almost every morning. He knows how to prepare your morning coffees and afternoon teas by heart. Mornings are for the two of you to lounge in bed, holding each other, listening to the crashing waves, feeling that cool—salty breeze caress your warm bodies.

⋆ Breakfast is eaten over the occasional game of lance board on the grand mahogany table. The two of you recounting your adventures, encounters and memories. Gentle caresses and soft laughter are a welcome guest at breakfast. Even at the dinner table it seems like the two of you can't keep your hands off of each other.

⋆ Tara finds her way back home not long after. Its the very early morning, and a rare day where Gale is still in bed. You walk over to the tressym pawing at the large window, demanding to be let in. You smile as you let her in, and her furry body hurriedly makes her way inside.

"About time you let me in, I've been howling for hours, Darling, I feel parched!" The winged cat says, "I was not told that the two of you made it back, what a journey. Luckily for you, I am quite the magical tresseym, a simple spell like the one I invented is no match for miles and miles of road and walking," Tara trails off, making herself at home and out of earshot, you can still hear her grumpy rambling however, "Tav Dekarios!" She yells and you hurry over to see her sitting, licking herself next to an elegant white bowl on the floor, "My dish needs water."

You fill her dish with cold water, making sure to also refill her food bowl, you smile at the thought of you taking Gales last name already, hopefully you and Tara can foster a good relationship.

"And where is Mr. Dekarios currently?," Tara says stretching.

"Still in bed, and very warm if you would like to snuggle up to him."

Tara meows excitingly, "Oh, that sounds divine, Dear. Thank you ever so kindly for keeping him warm," She says as you start to get up, "But before you go Ms/Mr/Mx Dekarios, there is something very important that you must learn. Something that will quickly earn your favor with me."

"And what would that be Ms. Tara?" You question, facing down at the tressym, still at ground level with her.

She looks at you with widened pupils, "A good scratch behind this tressyms ears would be delightful, I will show you how but only once! This is known as my 'Due' and it's been made clear to me that you are quite the capable person to be entrusted with such a delicate procedure," Tara leans her head down and closes her little eyes. She rubs her ears with her paws to show you exactly how she wants to be pet, but to you, it looks like she's just cleaning herself, "You see? Like this, Dear, gently but also with some vigor." She looks back at you, "Your turn, but you must remember the technique."

You smile at the tressym, before going to scratch her behind the ears, silently praying that you are doing something right. She purrs and leans into your hand, making a sweet little content face as it looks like she's getting lost in the scratch.

Tara abruptly stops and clears her throat, "That will have to do, thank you," She trails off into you and Gales shared room. You hear a faint, "Mr. Dekarios! I have arrived!" in a little sing-song voice, and then a groan from a very sleepy Gale.

⋆ Some of your items find their way into the house, Gale is sure to make space for you to fit you into his home. Your shirts sometimes get mixed up, "Is this my book or yours?" is a common question.

⋆ He loves seeing your personality fill his house, items depending on your class are scattered around the tower. If you are a druid, house plants are hung from the ceiling, there is a small succulent on Gale's desk (It replaces Mystra's statue.).

⋆ If you are a bard, he loves to hear your music throughout the house. Gale loves to hear your song from the balcony as he's reading. He buys you sheet music, new strings, equipment. He could listen to you for hours, and most days he does.

⋆ Gale is interested in your interests and makes sure to make time for you to listen to you about your favorite topics. Being seen and heard is very important to him.

⋆ Over time, he does lose the earring. He finds one that reminds him of you. A music note, a sword, a small plant stud, or just about anything that he would relate to you.

⋆Gale loves you more than anything and he wants to make that very clear, even if you feel like these small reminders of Mystra don't bother you, he would rather having something that would make him think of you rather than her.

--

Thank you sm for reading, friends!! its been very long since ive written something and this isn't proof read >.< hope it was okay. Love you!!

#gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #bg3 gale #gale x tav #tav #gale #bg3 #bg3 tav #baldurs gate #baldurs gate 3 #love the third person and first person #its 3 am leave me alone #also I love tara SM #she's adorable #tara the tressym

[weirdmarioenemies]

If you're even vaguely familiar with Kirby, there is no doubt in anyone's mind that one of the most iconic abilities is Parasol. It's a unique ability, it gets a ton of merch, and it's cute, to boot!

But when you think about it, there's not a whole lot of enemies for Parasol, is there? There's a lot of enemies that hold Parasols, there's the Parasol itself, which may or may not be sentient, but Parasol doesn't bring a wide variety of enemies to mind like, say, Fire or Spark might.

Believe it or not, there actually are a few enemies that give Parasol that neither HOLD a Parasol nor ARE "just" the Parasol...but they're wholly exclusive to a few games, and have not had a proper reappearance in the games since the SNES era. So, let me introduce you to all of them! Maybe there will even be some you like, or wish would come back!

But first, an honorary mention...

Name: Parasol (Kirby's Dream Land)

Debut: Kirby's Dream Land

You know it, you love it, it's...Parasol?!

That's right! Before it became the ability we all know and love, Parasol actually debuted in the same game Kirby did, which you might note did NOT have copy abilities! Like Waddle Doo and Sir Kibble, this is a classic example of an enemy that had an ability based around it, rather than vice versa.

I want to talk about specifically its iteration in this game, which is a bit different compared to future entries. First off and most noticeably, its appearance is wholly different! The hood is smaller and shaded but with no discernable pattern, the handle is thinner and the hook itself looks more rounded! Secondly, all Waddle Doos and Dees will let go of their parasol once they land, with none spawning while holding them or keeping them when they land anyway.

And another thing: you can't even dang inhale them when they're being held! The Waddler in question will be swallowed, but the Parasol will drift away or, in the Extra Game, even hone in on you! I told you they were debatably sentient! It actually does that in a few future games like Kirby's Adventure, but not nearly as commonly as it did in the original Extra Game. So strange!

OKAY OKAY time for what the post promised you now I promise. Hold my hand (and your Parasol) as I take you through The Parasol Enemies That Time Forgot:

Name: Floaty the Drifter

Debut: Kirby's Dream Land 2

"Floaty the Drifter", not to be confused with Floaty the Cell Core, is such a wonderful name. "Floaty" would already be a sillily obvious name on its own, on par with names like Flamer and Chilly and Cappy, but adding "the Drifter" makes it even moreso. Is that its species? Its title? Is Floaty an individual? Probably not, we see multiple of them in the same level and often, and this is not like Vividria where it's canonically an individual that just so happens to be fought in pairs for gameplay, but it's funny to consider. Imagine if they followed through with other enemies, like "Spikey the Poker", "Burnis the Scorcher", "Elec the Trocuter"…

Floaty the Drifter actually acts as the main provider for Parasol in this game, wholly replacing the titular object itself except for when Kirby uses it. On its own, it doesn't do much floating OR drifting, instead hopping around in its own little world, kind of akin to Cappy, but it lives up to its name when a Waddle Dee holds it, in which...it will just act like a normal Parasol! Wholly and entirely. Even when dropped, it flies off rather than initiate its normal grounded behavior. I think I've heard some of them fly at you when released, but I can't think of any instances of that, and that's still a Parasol behavior anyhow.

As you can tell, Floaty the Drifter's claim to fame is in its unique design, bearing a single mischievous eye and a stark green coloration only seen in artwork. In fact, despite being a one-off mook, this would even grant it its own role in the anime!

Floaty the Drifter, or just "Drifters" as they're called here (I guess it is a species!) are bought by King Dedede in the episode "Escargoon Rules" to attack Escargoon and his mother after presumably being "I'm With Stupid"’d all day. I did not watch the anime! According to the wiki, they're about as fragile as you'd expect a swarm of umbrellas to be, as while they swarm towards and wrap around victims, they are easily KO'd by Fire and knocked away by Kirby's own Parasol ability.

You might be wondering why, exactly, Floaty the Drifter even has one eye in the first place, considering that its role is largely the same as Parasol. To answer that, we'll have to move on to the next creature to feature:

Name: Jumpershoot

Debut: Kirby's Dream Land 2

I bet you never expected an ability like Parasol to have its own, dedicated midboss, did you? And such a sophisticated one, at that! It's even one of the few Kirby characters with toes, for the freaks in the audience!

As you may have guessed, Jumpershoot and, to a lesser extent, Floaty the Drifter are both based on the kasa-obake, perhaps one of the most ubiquitous yokai! And this is despite not really ever having appeared in folktales, if ever. I was always under the assumption that the kasa-obake was a tsukumogami, an umbrella after it had lived for 100 years, but apparently even this isn't set in stone, either!

Jumpershoot first appears in Big Forest, the second world of the game, and guards Coo because...some reason! I don't think it's ever mentioned why the Animal Friends are kidnapped, they kind of just are! And as for Jumpershoot, does he work for King Dedede? Dark Matter? I don't know how employed midbosses are. Mr. Frosty is on the Halberd once.

Our favorite umbrella attacks by jumping and gently falling towards the ground, then makes a rapid, Tornado-like spin around the room that, after a bit, repels attacks! Then, rather than dropping Stars, he throws his own sandal at you that you can shoot back at him! Don't worry, it regenerates, so you don't have to feel guilty for robbing him of footwear!

I really really like Jumpershoot. And apparently, so did Shimomura, because he reappears in Kirby's Dream Land 3, acting much the same but with more detailed sprites! He's such...a cool character, you know? You wouldn't expect a Parasol midboss to be a yokai, of all things, especially one that acts so rowdy! I love him!

Sadly, as much as we'd all love to, there is no game where you can play as Jumpershoot. Tragic, but true! But...you can get a taste, a crumb of its rapid spin attack by having the Parasol ability while riding Coo, which makes Coo spin around invulnerably just as he does! And while he would later find himself joining the foray of midbosses abandoned after Kirby's Dream Land 3, Parasol Coo still appears in Kirby Star Allies, so his soul is still with us...

This would be the end of the road for Jumpershoot, in terms of games, but luckily for Jumpershootheads, he would make one final appearance in a piece of Twitter art, joining a medley of other monsters by spooking Channel PPP! He's still got it!

Sadly, this wraps up the Jumpershoot section of this post, and thusly we have no more Dream Land 2 Parasol enemies to speak of. But don't worry, we still have more parasolic beasts in the next title...

Name: Sasuke

Debut: Kirby's Dream Land 3

Although Floaty had a cute design, it's rather appropriate that the enemy that replaced the Parasol of Kirby's Dream Land would itself get replaced in Kirby's Dream Land 3, isn't it? But Sasuke is no mere living umbrella!

Sasuke's design might bring to mind Bumber for our veteran readers, and its behavior is much the same! It drifts down slowly and steadily, and starts walking back and forth on whatever block it lands on, just like Parasol Waddle Dee, but its hat never detaches, so it will never not give Parasol! Personally speaking, though, I think Bumber is MUCH more cute and memorable...sorry, Sasuke! At least you will always have Naruto to confide in.

Sasuke also made an appearance in the anime, where he's built a lot more like Lololo & Lalala. Here, he draws a gun at King Dedede and Escargoon, an

Name: Klinko

Debut: Kirby's Dream Land 3

The oddest Parasol appearance in both looks and functionality, and our final Parasol giver, is Klinko! It looks like it would give Cleaning if anything, with its hat reminiscent of a besom! It doesn't even drift down slowly like every other Parasol enemy does at some point–in fact, while it hops around, it doesn't share any traits with the Parasol ability at all, and is the only Parasol enemy like that! So, why does it give Parasol, then?!

The answer is: it's not wearing an old broom, but actually a straw umbrella, because it's based on yet ANOTHER yokai! Shimomura seemed to think yokai were the future of the Parasol ability, and who wouldn't!

The amefurikozō, unlike the kasa-obake, has a bit more concrete lore, being children that appear in and sometimes cause rainfall, hence why they wear straw umbrellas. This is true of Klinko, too, as it appears in cloudy stages or stages with heavy snowfall! Its Japanese name, Kinko, might also suggest some relation to the separate yokai Yukinko, a child associated with heavy snow, which could also explain its tendency towards icy levels.

It's easy to see why such an unparasolic enemy would not be used any further, but I kind of like them more for it. They're an anomaly! Sure, this is essentially just Floaty the Drifter's hopping behavior, but the lack of any other Parasol attributes than just wearing an umbrella really make it stand out to me! And that's the beauty of these enemies—the longer Parasol goes without any new enemies, the more these guys will always stand out, and that's wonderful, I think!

What do you guys think? Is the time right for some of these guys to make a comeback? Is Parasol better with the limited enemies they use now? Or should they make new ones? Tell me! I can't do anything with your suggestions but I have nothing better to do than read them!

#parasol #floaty the drifter #jumpershoot #sasuke #klinko #kirby #kirby enemies #kirby's dream land 2 #kirby's dream land 3 #kirby's dream land #kirbys dream land 2 #kirbys dream land 3 #kirbys dream land #funky friday #mod tweeter #dont ask about bukiset #correction i forgot to make to this post: floaty the drifter CAN launch towards kirby (though doesn't explode) #but the ones that can are so rare that they might as well not exist

[dark-night-hero]

i love the imagine u wrote where zhongli would give us up for the world 🥹🥹 and it got me thinking:

what if the reader gets incarnated to the current timeline we have and meets zhongli again? they don’t have the past memories but somehow zhongli feels familiar for them. Z thinks this era is the right time for him to take back the past and do things right so he spends time w them but he somehow finds out that reader has a lover (maybe another playable character). Z begins to asks questions abt their lover and idk how their convo would play out but I just imagine where reader gets a question where they answer with “i would give up the world for them (their lover)” and zhong is just hit with past memories and regrets wishing how he could have done things differently idk i j imagine it rly angsty 😭😭

Sorry to disturb but this has been on my mind i cant stop thinking abt it and i wanted to share 😭😭 Anyways, i look forward to more of ur works!! keep up the good work ur doing great 🥺🫶

: following zhongli (world > you)

Imagine how had Mor- Zhongli tried to get close to you, you who obviously was rather uncomfortable with his presence. And the only key to it was the traveller, the same old traveller that had help Liyue and Monstand and is now away on their venture in Inazuma. That being said, nowadays he had been keeping you company.

"You've been off since the departure of the Traveller." Zhongli spoke as he stand right beside you in the harbor.

"Really? I didn't notice." You have him a small smile.

"But I guess you're right, I've been missing the traveller so bad nowadays." You chuckle.

Imagine, at that very moment, Zhongli hoped he didn't not see you. Not when you're looking like that. Not when you're looking so soft, so lovely, obviously longing for someone, someone who definitely wasn't him.

Imagine the way his heart dropped to his stomach. The way his hand clenched around nothing before realising it. And after a few moments of silence.

"Do you.. Perhaps have feelings for the traveller?"

Imagine the way his voice shaken, obviously did go unnoticed by you. The way his amber iris were shaking, hoping and trying to deny reality as best as he can. He had hope for a chance. He knew this time, nothing can go wrong with the two of you. So he approached you, he tried to get close to you, he really did. But perhaps it was already too late, or was it? Did he even had a chance in this new persona he now possess?

"Honestly, I'm not sure myself." You chuckle.

"Or so I thought before the traveller left. Did you know? The traveller confessed to me, but Traveller also told me that they had so many things going on at the moment so.." As you look beyond the sea, you smile genuinely.

"I was wondering that in the world was the Traveller even thinking confessing and leaving me just like that, but now that I think about it. Its wasn't so bad."

Imagine the way you smile, the way your brush back your hair, trying to fix it upon the harsh breeze that have been messing with your hair earlier.

"If the world wants me dead, if the world see me as a threat, what would you do?"

"Huh?"

"What was the question that suddenly came into mind as soon as te Traveller confessed."

"What was the Traveller reply?"

Imagine the way you laugh, the way you smile genuinely as you recall the answer of that silly, adventurous, kind Traveller reply.

Imagine the way Zhongli kept staring at you, you who looked all refesh and happy, bright as you were before. Oh how much it hurts him he was no longer the reason why.

"How about a new world?"

"What?"

"I'll just have to take you to a new world. As you are already aware I wasn't from this world. All we have to do is to escape and find a new world where no one can take you away from me. Although my twin always somes first, I cannot afford to loose you, you know?"

"..." "(First name)? Are you o-?" "Pfff.."

"Did I say something funny?" "No.. hehe, I'm just.. I don't know." Was it relief that you felt?

Imagine the way you let out a sigh. Thinking about the Traveller only makes you miss them more. Perhaps you should have given the Traveller a reply back then but both of you agreed to put more thought into it and give them a reply upon coming back.

"Escape." It was just one word.

"I see." Zhongli replied, this time he looked away from you.

"If you don't mind me asking." "What is it?"

"If it's for the sake of the world, would you be willing to kill them?"

Imagine the way you once again let out a sigh, as you went quite only for a few moments, you face him and tug his sleeve.

"If that person meant the world for you, isn't that enough reason to be selfish?" You chuckle.

"Isn't a world without your beloved would only felt like a living hell?" You added as you never once look away from him.

"It goes on without saying that it's them over the world. That's how much they matter to me, that's how much I love them."

Imagine the way Zhongli chuckle and the way his lips form a bitter smile afterwards nevertheless, he agreed to you and eventually excuse himself. Leaving you all alone in the harbor, all waiting for the Traveller and not him. But it's alright, one way or another, he deserves this.

Imagine as Zhongli walks away from you, you stare at him and as you do so. He looks so lonely. But then you blink as a harsh breeze passes by, turning your look into the horizon, the sun was peacefully setting. How beautiful yet it left a bitter taste in your mouth in which you soon ignore.

"Escape huh."

Imagine, it's not like he did not think about it. But back then, the best choice was to kill you. But after hearing what you said, he starts to doubt if he did perhaps made a mistake, leaving regrets behind. After all, you were right. A world were he couldn't embrace you when you were right in front of him was like a living hell.

Imagine the way it was making him wonder if he was only a little bit selfish, if only he did not listen to the pleads of his people, his friends. If only he tried to find another way. If only he choses the other way. Would the two of you be happy and still together like you were back then?

He doesn't know, after all, those were the choices he didn't take. And this was the consequence he had to face.

[ⓒdark-night-hero] 2023°

: I think I strayed away from what was asked. Crap, did I do this right?

#genshin impact #dark night hero #genshin imagines #genshin #zhongli angst #zhongli x reader #genshin impact zhongli #genshin impact morax #morax #zhongli x yn #zhongli x you #zhongli #aether x reader #lumine x reader #genshin x y/n #genshin angst #genshin impact angst #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact x you

[biolizardboils]

Yesterday night i watched this video essay about SA2's plot (specifically Shadow's role in it) and it was so good that i got. Genuinely upset about how the Adventure era became such a joke in the 2010s. Like, upset enough to spew paragraphs about it to a friend.

How were we, as a people, convinced that SA1 and SA2 were a mistake? How did we decide that multiple playstyles, complex themes, spoken dialogue and even 3D GAMEPLAY were the issues? How did we believe it so hard that even Sonic Team seemed to believe it?

I'm so sad that it went on for years. I'm so sad that we're still feeling its effects—from humans and G.U.N. being in off-screen limbo, to people looking at this Dragon Ball Mickey Mouse shit and only seeing the Mickey Mouse. (It's both!! It was meant to be both from the start!! It's when one overtakes the other that it stops feeling like Sonic!!)

Anyway I guess Sega heard my ramblings last night cus boom. "Shadow is cool and looking to him for inspiration is cool too. Also it's his year and we made his motorcycle real."

And the response?? On here and Twitter, people are talking about how they relate to Shadow and the kid in the video!! Yeah, there's still other people making fun of it, or are just confused by it... but they're being drowned out by the sincere stuff. That's so fucking wonderful.

Shadow enthusiasts: enjoy your year. You've more than earned it.

TL;DR: this shit dropped just in time to stop my supervillain arc 💙

#sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #year of shadow #fearless year of shadow #sth #shadow #sonic twitter #nevergoodcore #onewaydreamcore #i hope this makes a shred of sense ill look it over in the morning #me talking

[tuna-cereal-box]

Hello!! I Was Wondering If Your Still Working On That Divergence Au I Think The Designs Are Really Cool And Want To Know More ^ w ^

The AU is still in the works! I'm not quite active on Tumblr yet, so I don't know how much attention the AU has compared to other places I post about it During these months I've been mostly rewriting things here and there on the AU before I give the execution a go So far my first and biggest plan is for the AU's first chapter to be a Sonic fan game, just because it sounds more fun And while I'm still making the chapter 1 game I'll still draw stuff related to the AU for more knowledge of what it is so far Still I'll explain what it is currently:

Everything was originally the same as the original Sonic world (except that fewer games never happend such as SegaSonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Mania and Knuckles' Chaotix, and fewer characters doesn't exist in this world such as Mighty for example) At this point of the story, it's supposed to be a bridge between the classic era and the Adventure era but one thing and another influenced the story to take another path - Sonic for some reason has been thinking about Knuckles, wondering how Knuckles feels about just guarding the Emerald instead of living life at its fullest like Sonic and Tails does Tails doesn't get at first why Sonic would specifically think of Knuckles; in Tails mind, Knuckles has better understanding of the island and understands why he'd prefer to guard the Master Emerald and protect Angel Island instead of anybody else doing this But Sonic doesn't really pay attention to that detail and decides to visit Knuckles, only to find out that he's nowhere to be seen on the island [...] One of their guesses is that this is all Eggman's work again, and while Eggman is indeed involved, it wasn't him the responsible for Knuckles disappearance (in fact, Eggman doesn't know about what happend to him). The duo decides to trace Eggman's whereabouts

As for Eggman, he was supposed to investigate the newborn Isolated Island but he was mistakenly guided to Starfall Islands, and ended up discovering the ancient technology instead and building Newtrogic High over the island and its tech However the doctor has put even more focus on upgrading the Death Egg with the newfound technology than rebranding the Island: White Park and Oil Desert are clearly made by Eggman, Sylvania Castle is untouched yet, Techno Tower is a megalopolis where Death Egg Mk II is being built over Little Planet - Sage was made the same way in the canon: originally a device to control technology and then greatly modified into a lifelike being, the result made Eggman more excited about taking the technology for himself Just like the canon, she gained a lot of information about the technology and detected The End, and once Eggman was told about the presence of an world consuming entity and the possibility of Sonic unleashing it, the thoughts of the "end of the world" was taking over his mind; Reflecting and changing his own will and goals, which makes him look like a lunatic in front of everyone including Sage During the story his motivations for a world domination are changed to "see Sonic's smile go away over the world he couldn't save this time" - Eggman also linked Sage to all his creations so far, even if in this period Eggman hasn't matured enough to see Sage as a daughter he still envisions Sage as a successor to his legacy So the interaction between them in this universe is not exactly like that of a family, but he treats her like one of his greatest creations

Sage also reports to Eggman that Metal Sonic was reactivated on his own and left Little Planet before Eggman sealed said planet in his Death Egg MK II, which is why they couldn't find him somewhere on the planet - Eggman explains to Sage how not every creation was made to be fully obedient: in Metal Sonic's case he was created to be a perfect equal to Sonic, with his own strategies and ambitions while the doctor discreetly give him improvements so as not to expose that the freedom Metal Sonic possesses is a lie In fact, the doctor programmed Metal with the mindset that Sonic is robbing Metal and eventually others of their freedom, the rest of his mentality beyond that is all Metal Sonic's own experience. Everything Metal Sonic does goes according to the doctor's plans, and the advent of Sonic and the knowledge (discreetly transmitted by Sage) that he'll unleash the end of the world marks the return of Metal and his arrival on Starfall Island to defeat Sonic

At this point of the story that's where the Chapter 1 game starts, the duo Sonic and Tails would land safely on Sylvania Castle until something invades Tails' body and starts to haunt him, encouraging to break the seals (Titans) that are now remodeled by Eggman's liking

The End chose to host and deceive Tails instead of Sonic for not only being easier to fool but also to slowly break free through Tails' body while they explore the Starfall Islands long enough And while Tails does get stronger with The End's cyber corruption (he even becomes able to carry Sonic underwater and the icy waters of White Park doesn't affect him very much) the more The End infects Tails with cyber corruption and tries to break free through him, the stronger the pain gets for Tails If The End manages to break free through Tails instead of taking down the seals to unleash it, Tails will straight up die and his body fade as it's fully corrupted, and eventually their world will die too by The End consuming everything and turning the world into an endless void - ...But this only happens if you don't get all the emeralds! If you do get all Chaos Emeralds, you'll be able to progress through the game and play Sky Fortress and onwards The End gets unleashed as the last seal was broken after the final boss, the world gets consumed with Tails being the only one alive, with The End tormenting him with last words of gratitude for him until Tails used all strength he still has to use the Emeralds to grant Sonic and everyone another chance to live But as Tails started to use the emeralds, The End happend to be dragged into Tails to become extra power/part of his powerful wish - When the wish was granted, Tails was massively affected by the blast he caused, regressing him mentally and physically with Sonic being his only memory The End also changed drastically, all its power drained and its physical form now merely the body of the ancient, who piloted Supreme, as a vessel Since then The End has harbored a deep hatred for Tails for taking away all its power and seeks to replenish its power with whatever the new world offers - Meanwhile in the new world, you may definitely find new faces in here but familiar ones are also here as reincarnations of the original characters, the biggest example is Mighty the Armadillo; the reincarnation of Sonic

Mighty happend to find a big machine powered by a corrupted Chaos Rings, which in this world the Chaos Rings are backups of the ones that was dragged into cyberspace after dying in the original world, and a Chaos Ring with the remains of Sonic exist, although it seems that The End started to spread a bit of its influence and corruption, affecting machines and whatever they're being powered The machine Mighty fights happend to be very corrupted, and once he released the Chaos Ring inside, the ring immediately shoots itself into Mighty and starts a forced merge I've explained in this picture too

Studium and Kris (Kittenish) has still a long way to go and you'll be playing as them in Chapter 1 still and get more ideas of who they are in there -

Sage is also around in the new world, as a cybernetic being she was able to enter the cyberspace and protect herself from the world consumption and Tails' world reset, her father however had a wicked idea to transfer his mind into his latest invention (and eventually you'll see which invention it is) so he pretty much died too before the world was getting consumed I aim to show her on Chapter 2, but for now all you have to know is she's after The End in order to avoid another catastrophe, and recognizes Studium as The End's "remote doomsday weapon" at first, so it's also one of Sage's targets Thanks to Sage being linked to Eggman's technology and saving herself on cyberspace, Eggman's technology also survived as they were identified and associated as ancient technology somehow

Meaning that Metal Sonic also survived, and once Studium/Sonic meets Metal, you can consider it one of the moments where things are about to be intense -

Amy in this world isn't a natural reincarnation like Mighty is for Sonic and many other characters, in the original world the Death Egg MK II was confining Little Planet with the intent of just taking it over, but the technology by itself was going beyond Eggman's obligations: it wasn't sealing the planet, it was sucking the life out of it to power the Death Egg MK II and this only made Eggman more incredulous about the current events on Starfall Island - After the world reset, Death Egg MK II has survived with Little Planet still attached to it, however the planet was already dying As a last act, the planet decided to spend his last vital energy dropping a magical seed like the others on Little Planet on Earth, sprouting a flower that'll give birth a person who has always shared love and care for Little Planet in the original world: Amy Rose This was Little Planet's last gift to the world, and the individuals who found the newborn Amy in the flower were... Heavy and Bomb, also survivors of the world reset And with Eggman out of the picture, they decide to take care of Amy and teach her to be a mechanic like them, and until then Amy has been a great inventor and always seeks to help those who are having difficulties Oh and she also made her own megalopolis with the same name of Newtrogic High, with most attractions reminding you of "Sonic CD's good future rounds" and based on Solarpunk - Over time, she discovers more lost machines around the world that previously belonged to Eggman, and curiously they contain memories of this lost past. But there is one individual who's not happy with her tinkering with this technology:

His name was mostly known as Agent Stone, in this world he's the reincarnation of Eggman and was originally tasked to discover the creature that was murdering innocents, until he discovered Eggman's lost technology and went to secretly analyze it. Stone was impressed that there was another world and a brilliant mind like Eggman inventing many machines and doing the impossible, but one of the things that captivated Stone is a blue hedgehog that Eggman was always fighting with, a creature similar to the monster that murdered people in the current world Stone interprets that Eggman's ambitions were to improve the world and stop this killer, so he dedicates himself to being an inventor based on Eggman's technology And seeing that there is a pink girl taking these machines and modifying them in her own way revolts Stone for the disrespect this is towards Eggman's legacy, so Amy and Stone are most often in conflict -

These two you'll see the most from me, I originally made them with the idea of being based on Sonic Crackers/Knuckles' Chaotix development where Sonic was converted into Mighty and Tails was mostly erased and only playable as a Knuckles with Tails' palette in an early prototype (Kris' body was closer to Knuckles shape in her first days before I decided to lean it more to Tails') Studium's name is literally taken from an early name for Sonic Crackers called "Sonic Studium" ...which was probably supposed to be "Sonic Stadium" and ironically there's people that call Studium "Stadium", and honestly I'm very fine with that lmao His character is pretty much the unintentionally cool and serious characters such as Shadow the Hedgehog, Meta Knight from Kirby, Zero from the Mega Man franchise, or hideous characters such as Steven from Strangled Red, and many other characters that served as inspirations for him In Kris case, I didn't know how I'd name her besides throwing a name that represent "cat" and "devious", so I used Google Translate to discover a word fitting for a name and her nature, and so I named her Kittenish I also realized some people had a hard time to spell or write her name, so I reduced it to "Kris", especially to reference another Kris that's from Deltarune as they're part of the inspirations for her character along with other inspirations _ The world reset idea was something that I had because 1. Seeing how drastic Sonic Crackers changed into Knuckles' Chaotix with Tails kinda surviving the deletion made me envision it as a possible story 2. The way JoJo part 6 ends basically That's all I can explain about the AU for now! So far I'm still working on Chapter 1:

#sonic divergence au #sonic #sonic the hedgehog #tails #tails the fox #sonic au #miles tails prower #studium the hare #kittenish #kris the tenacious

[leikeliscomet]

No, Ncuti Gatwa's Casting Isn't Regressive

Chapter 3 - Dancing Queen/Conclusion

‘I’ve experienced racism my whole life, and while I always believed in myself, always knew [racists] were stupid and uneducated, I guess it did misinform my view of how the world works. It makes you think everyone has that opinion and you’ll constantly have to fight through life – then you learn that you don’t: you can find a tribe, you can find your people.’ - Ncuti Gatwa for Elle

So with the treatment of Who’s Black men and the neglect of Black women in its representations of womanhood, consider the Fifteenth Doctor. A dark-skinned Black queer man, wearing a kilt and a bold smile, spinning to his heart’s content on the dancefloor. This is an image of Blackness, an image of queerness and an image of manhood and masculinity the show has never seen before. Gatwa is fully aware of this and has gone in depth in his interviews. He’s also addressed his Rwandan heritage and his family fleeing genocide against the Tutsi. Gatwa knows the feeling of being an outsider, heavily mirroring the revelation of the Timeless Child. Black Britishness is already a form of representation mainstream British media has only recently acknowledged and in this case, Black Scottishness is taking the forefront. Despite being a British cultural stape, Doctor Who’s been shy about representing Black Britishness specifically. We’ve had three Black companions, but little references to the culture (minus Ryan’s mention of grime music in Arachnids). We know Yaz is Pakistani. But is Ryan African? If yes, is he Nigerian, Ghanaian etc.? Is Ryan West Indian? If so, is he Trini, Bajan etc.? Is he both? What was Martha and Bill’s heritage? Many Black people in the British Isles are 2nd and 3rd gen immigrants, some of us are African, some are West Indian and some of us are both. Black British identity is complex as it is a melting pot of different African and West Indian cultures blended to create something new. Gatwa’s Black Scottishness provides this insight to Fifteen. Gatwa’s Rwandan heritage is included in Fifteen’s sonic too, with Gallifreyan symbols translating the phrase ‘the sharpness of the tongue always defeats the sharpness of the warrior’. Other Black cultural references have appeared for Fifteen too, with Gatwa noting his wardrobe is inspired by Black American HBCU fits. Even though it isn’t yet confirmed (and unlikely for series 14/season 1 seeing as there are no Black writers… yay!), Gatwa has shown interest in a Nigerian historical stating he’d love for the Doctor to meet the Orishas, goddesses of West African folklore. Again, with many different Black cultures not only is this an opportunity for representation but also new stories, new locations and new concepts the show has yet to discover. To fit in so many spaces but none at all is a perfect summary of the Black British experience and other Black experiences in Western countries.

“We choose our families. And the Doctor is a lonely wanderer, looking for their next adventure … I know many a gay man, MANY a gay man, I could describe that way!” - Ncuti Gatwa for the Guardian

Queer Black manhood and masculinity is rich and diverse and with this new era, we could see the tip of its iceberg. There have already been representations of this before in media such as Moonlight and Noah’s Arc so for a mainstream British show like Doctor Who to feature a queer Black man as the lead, we have the opportunity to show something special. With Nine and Jack’s kiss and Fourteen’s cosign of Isaac Newton already showing this potential, we could see a canon longer term mlm pairing involving the Doctor for the first time. And not only that but with a Black doctor for the first time. A queer Black man showing love and being loved is a reminder for queer Black people that universe-defying romance includes us too and that our DoctorRiver or TenRose moments can exist.

There is so much to look forward to in this new era and even more potential for the type of representation it can bring. So with that in mind, I hope the greater fandom at large can see this and that newer fans will get to experience that same joy we did when we first fell in love with this show.

‘This person survived a genocide. This person fits in everywhere and nowhere. I am the Doctor. The Doctor is me. I decided that I had to get this role’ - Ncuti Gatwa for Rolling Stone

<- Chapter 2

#fifteenth doctor #15th doctor #ncuti gatwa #doctor who #nuwho #new who #black representation #doctor who analysis #fandom analysis #doctor who fandom #fandom antiblackness #fandom racism #fandom history

[sonicjustbecause]

What about the earliest Shadow?

Mods and Shadow has his Chao following him...

I imagine that most people got so interested in Shadow lately because he is back to be likeable, but also because of the incoming movie.

For the last decade Shadow has been the laughing stock from Sonic series. Crazy OoC-ness from fans were deliberate and not a mistake.

Yes, happy Shadow was a choice by its autor. Is a long story...

The most common image of last decade Shadow we had was... THIS...

Idiot...

I knew Shadow first from Adventure and Heroes. I didn't play heroes but I played a lot SA2B, especially the chao game and I always used Sonic and Shadow because they were the safest to have around chao. I rediscovered him later, in 2010, but he wasn't the likeable character I once knew so I completely lost interest in him (also I'm more a Sonic fan). I forgot who he was and all the things I knew were from meme. But also video from games showing 'how Shadow is an asshole' 'Shadow the edgelord' and IDW comics, the worst of all (not that Game Shadow was better, he was often underused and his few lines tasted as 'Go fuck yourself'. To make things worse he was dubbed by Kirk Thorton, not a really beautiful voice, to not say brutal things...).

Sega just took Shadow and removed all his good qualities, all what made him well rounded, keeping only the flaws (I've read the mandates, do you know what an Anti-Mary Sue is? Well...). They wanted him being unlikeable I guess. Is mainly from Prime and tMoStH that Shadow sparkled my interest again into exploring him as character, that made me think there is more, that he must also have good qualities, not only flaws.

The earliest Shadow (Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes) was hardly grumpy. He was sad, lonely, somewhat insecure, often lost in though, but also stubborn, certainly less cold than people might assume. As for grumpiness, if I compare him to Sonic in 2001, Sonic seemed slightly grumpier than Shadow at that time. Shadow himself seemed to be aware of that and to have fun picking on Sonic. Both of them are rather cold outside but both of them are shown to be able to feel strong emotion (Shadow having a panic attack and Sonic wiping his eyes during the credits, Shadow being controlled by is own emotions while Sonic refusing them) At least that was the impression he gave me. Since Shadow was meant to die, most of his personality traits aswell as his backstory were packed and shown during the whole game, like a character ark. He is pratically the protagonist in the dark storyline. By the end of the storyark he is able to open up to Sonic (during the final battle against the biolizard he openly told Sonic he was not feeling well. Also the hand clasping was a gesture of openess from Shadow) and to some degree toward Amy. Not so much toward Rouge who pratically is the one who hurt him the most. In heroes Shadow appears to be pleasant to have around, althoug aloof. He is not fond in humanity and that's one of his main traits, but he doesn't let his predjudice win over him. He still has this melancholic aura around him though, it doesn't matter how content or cheerful he may seem sometimes.

Sonic was dubbed by Ryan Drummond and Shadow by David Humphrey. David's voice was different from the other VA Shadow had. His voice was more high pitched, youthful, cute. Still soft spoken. Ryan's voice was legendary, and when he made Sonic talk soflty, he sounded almost like Shadow. The two VA had so similar voices that made Sonic and Shadow sound like legit twins, and back in 2001 I though they shared the same VA all the time. Well, Drummond also dubs Shadow for a short time.

So what went wrong?

The 00's era were the years of the prince of the saiyan, or better, the king of the edgelords:

This guy was also sad and lonely. But he was also more impulsive, rough, boorish and extremely grumpy. Maybe because he is a muscular human and not a cute velvety male calico kitten hedgehog he filled the dreams of young and older teenagers.

Some said Shadow is based on Vegeta (not only him but also him) the more the 00's approaches the 10's, the more Shadow became grumpier, arrogant and standoffish. Sadness and melancholy were replaced by selfishness and he became less and less fun and interesting. Shadow the edgelord.

Archie Shadow was maybe too expressive (and his sadness was very underlined) but with only SA2 and Sonic Heroes around this interpretation was more than understandable. They (Flynn, Penders I can imagine) referred from the material they had. Shadow opening up to Sonic is there in Adventure 2, is undeniable, so it was normal assuming he was more open.

He is left handed, yeah! (This is actually correct)

In Sonic Universe Shadow was more balanced, maybe closer to the one we saw in early '00s. Lonely, rejected, sometimes bullied (although he could defend himself with his sharp tongue) because he was different.

Then the IDW.

No. Seriously Shadow?

That is unavoidable if we are talking about characters that are created by a team and not by a single. We already see this with Disney. When the writers change the charcters change too, everybody notices different things about a character, based on it's own experience of life. The characters chanfe even when the single writer deals with them, because people change too. Any kind of mandates can only help this far, if they're too heavy they end to be counter productive.

This is my personal opinion, but I would have seen better Shadow befriending Amy and Sonic more than Rouge in early days. Rouge worried for him at times, but there were moments she purposefully hurted him (although later she cared sincerely for him). She would take time to regain his trust. With Sonic, following SA2 would have been open, even more than what we see in Prime. With Amy he would be in good terms though often drained by her own cheerfulness and extrovertion. Tails is rather reserved although not socially awkward so he would not have problem with him. With Knuckles things would become funny I guess, Shadow used to be calm and smart while Knuckles is more simple and is grumpy. I think he (Shadow) would still have issues and relapses with his PTSD though and the need to be left alone.

Well, now the movie will come out. They did a good job until now. I'm curious about what they will do with Shadow. I hope he will be likeable like in SA2.

#shadow the hedgehog #sonic the hedgehog #sonic #shadow #sonic prime #tails the fox #eggman #sonic movie 3 #sonic movie #sonic movie 2 #sonic adventure 2

[cuephrase]

Are there any individual issues/short sections of the Tom Taylor Nightwing run you'd say are still worth checking out as little standalone/self contained things? I've read and enjoyed the 2021 annual (blood brothers) after seeing enough about it on tumblr but don't know much about the rest, and you've mention individual issues in other rec posts so it got me curious (and it's completely fine if you don't think you can recommend any).

asking me to be nice about TT?! *sighs* turns out i can be, actually, but um. only a little.

i'll preface all of this by saying, if you're interested in reading his run, you should. other people disliking a run is like...idk if this is going to make sense, but it's kind of like knowing the weather. you'll be like "hey, there's rain" and then you can either a) choose not to go outside, b) grab a coat and umbrella, or c) pull on a swimsuit and go dance. no wrong choices! maybe you get outside and it's more of alight drizzle, or maybe it's basically a tropical storm and you book it back inside and start batting down the hatches.

i could present you with people who's overall taste in comics i agree with who hate and love this run- actually, i was super hyped to read this run bc most of the people i'd talked to were like "OMG ITS SOOOO GOOD!!" and i was like "OKAY!!!" and then i was like 😗👉👈 maybe idk what good comics are?? (baby comic-reading cue felt wayyyy to new to the genre to trust their own opinions lmao. we're mostly past that now.)

but okay!! to answer your question: so post issue #91 is where my overall enjoyment of the run went like *imitates plane falling and crashing noises*. which. upon skimming from 78 to 91, i don't think i can say i was loving it that whole time, more like my tolerance threshold maxed out around there. bc uh. skimming i was like...yikes. i've also read way more Nightwing comics since, so like that could be factor.

ANYWAYS. me being nice:

#80 has some decent dick and tim!

#89 opens with a nice batman/superman/nightwing story, honestly can't remember if i liked the two-issue mini, but i'm going to guess i didn't bc even though i just looked i recall ✨nothing✨

#90-91 is a fun dick and wally adventure, if i remember correctly???? wally stans don't shoot me, i haven't read a whole lot of him idk if he's written well here i'm sorry

#111-112 is decent. it's not like. groundbreaking. but yk. maybe i just liked it more than the stupid pirate arc and maybe my standards are low and Good Dad Bruce is a weak spot, IDK

ummmm past that?

i like this page from #79

this panel is from #83 if you want to like see it with your own eyes on page.

the Hug is in issue #100, which is a bigger to celebrate 100 issues, and it happens later, i think it's the third story? some people love that scene, others can't stand it, i am a whore for soft batfam moments so it's very precious to me, and also nice moments make bad ones hurt more what?

if you like dickbabs you might enjoy more issues too, i was neutral about dickbabs and this run made me...not neutral. but i've heard from people that do like dickbabs that they don't like how they're written here so also, maybe you won't like it even if you like dickbabs??

but yeah!! these are my not-hated TT nightwing issues. i think there are a decent amount where i liked a line or panel here or there, but like overall most of it is just...not my fave. but you could like it!! which, i feel like it's worth saying that it's totally valid if you end up engaging with the run more and liking it. you wouldn't be the only person in the world to like it. but it's also ending in 4 issues thank god, so um don't get too attached if you end up digging it lmao

the red hood annual is also the annual i've liked for this run, i actually love that issue sm lol. the second annual is all about the Lamest Most Scariest Villain Ever, boring, and then the most recent was all about bea, dick's love interest in his ric era, which i was excited for...and hated. that one isn't even on TT, tho. travis moore your gorgeous dick is not enough to redeem you on that one. WAIT I DIDN'T MEAN IT LIKE THAT-

thanks for the ask anon!! always good to practice loving your enemies i mean, i hope this helps, have fun <3

#dick grayson #dc comics #nightwing #cue on comics #anon asks #cue answers

[thewriteadviceforwriters]

Where Can You Find Inspiration to Write a Fantasy Novel?

I fell in love with fantasy novels, I'm guessing you have as well. My passion for the genre has only grown over the years. As a fantasy writer myself, I know that finding the right inspiration can be difficult. However, if you're willing to put in the time and effort, there are many places where you can find inspiration to write a fantasy novel. Here are five of my favorite places to find inspiration:

1. Historical Events and Periods: One of the most effective ways to find a starting point for your fantasy novel is to draw inspiration from historical events or periods. For example, you could use the Napoleonic Wars as the basis for your fantasy world's conflict between two powerful empires, or you could create a magical kingdom based on the medieval era. The possibilities are endless!

2. Mythology and Folklore: Another great source of inspiration for a fantasy novel is mythology and folklore. You can use these ancient stories as inspiration for your characters and events, or even incorporate them into your story directly. For example, you could take inspiration from the Greek gods and goddesses to create a pantheon of deities in your fantasy world, or you could draw from the Norse legends to create an epic tale of adventure and heroism.

3. Nature and the Environment: The natural environment can also provide plenty of inspiration for a fantasy novel. Consider using elements of nature such as mountains, forests, oceans, and deserts to create your setting or plot points. You could even incorporate natural phenomena such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and floods into your story for added drama and excitement.

4. Other Genres and Media: While fantasy is a unique genre with its own set of rules and conventions, you can still draw inspiration from other genres and media sources. For example, you could incorporate elements from science fiction to create a futuristic setting for your novel, or you could use mystery elements to add intrigue and suspense to your plot. Similarly, you could draw inspiration from TV shows, movies, video games, and even books to create a unique and memorable experience for your readers.

5. Your Own Imagination: Finally, don't forget that the best source of inspiration for a fantasy novel is your own imagination! Use your imagination to create worlds and characters that are truly unique and interesting to your readers. Don't be afraid to experiment and explore different possibilities - you never know where your next great idea will come from!

By exploring these five sources of inspiration and more, you can find the spark you need to create a truly magical and engaging fantasy novel that readers will love for years to come. So, start brainstorming - the possibilities are endless!

#writing #on writing #writing tips #how to write #thewriteadviceforwriters #creative writing #writeblr #writers block #writers and poets

[transparencyboo]

Alright kids, today I am once more gonna tell you about a real game for true gamers, so buckle in and get ready for a swimmingly wonderful time. This is Aquanaut's Holiday, a 1995 Playstation game developed by Artdink and directed by Kazutoshi Iida (who would go on to direct Tail of the Sun and Doshin the Giant). It is essentially an underwater exploration simulator, where you control a submarine and venture into the wild marine yonder. This game is so good I bought it twice!

Savvy game players might look at this premise and assume elaborate systems and mechanics tied to it. What is the mission? What is the goal? What am I supposed to do? How do I score points and earn extra lives? Well, you don't, the game isn't about any of that. In defiance of medium conventions, particularly for the time, Aquanaut's Holiday presents a scaled back game experience with little more features than what's needed to fulfil its noble goal: To be relaxing.

With no further elaboration, we are let loose into the ocean and encouraged to find our own way, discover our own adventure, create our own fun. And this place is massive, you can swim around in the murky haze and just observe the barren sea bottom pass by for minutes on end without seeing much of anything, your long journey only registering as a feeble spagetti string on the blank map. Impatient players, or those simply testing it out for a quick spurt, will likely be discouraged and disregard the game as primitive nonsense of a bygone era. At surface level, there simply does not seem to be much of anything to this one. I've heard people describe Aquanaut's Holiday as "a game where you only swim around and look at fish", not necessarily derogatory, but not in praise either, just a neutral "huh, I guess that's a thing" – the game equivalent to those tacky aquarium VHS tapes.

I've had a half-distant relationship to this game. I've long understood its philosophical richness purely in relationship to its brethren Tail of the Sun and Doshin the Giant, two of my all-time favorite games, which also appear unassuming and scaled down at face value. Yet, somehow I've never fully sat down with this one to unravel all it has to offer. "Some other time", I told myself. Well, some other time came and went, so now I will tell you what you need to know about Aquanaut's Holiday!

Starting out on my journey of properly playing the game, I actually read the manual for once. Can you believe there's actually little tips and tricks together with crucial information in there? Huh! Turns out reading manuals is a good way of parsing any game made in the last century, highly recommended activity. Always check the manual! Reading this, I learned the peculiarities of the submarine's controls, I learned what all the little cryptic HUD symbols meant, I learned about setting up buoys and building reefs, I learned that the weird effects that appear when pressing the shoulder buttons is for singing to the fish, I even learned that the submarine is called Holiday. In particular, I learned that the game itself acknowledges the individual user experience with the succinct words: "Each player will experience AQUANAUT'S HOLIDAY differently."

So is that all there is to Aquanaut's Holiday? You float around in bliss and marvel at the ocean life? Well, yes, kinda. You certainly need to vibe with that angle if you're gonna get anything out of the experience, in practice Aquanaut's Holiday will indeed just be about drifting for long periods looking at nothing, helplessly fumbling in its massive barren world. Watching sea mile after sea mile pass by as the vast nothingness makes your mind wanders. But every now and again you wake up from your soft daydreams with a start, staring at some unknown structure that has appeared before you.

This is where Aquanaut's Holiday shows its true brilliance. Through sheer simplicity it has made you fascinated by the smallest things. Be it the ghastly inexplicable monuments or the sighting of a rare animal, you will feel rewarded for the very discovery itself. There is no logbook, no special cutscenes, no acknowledgment of what you've seen. That is for you to create yourself. I always dispatched a buoy for my own reference and marked it yellow, which in my book meant "notable discovery". These were by far the highlights of the game for me, and motivated me to slowly but surely criss-cross around the ocean, charting more of the map as I narrowed the world down and made the unknown known. Yet so much of the map remained blank, my path never made any great dents into the untraveled waters, there was so much yet to see.

With this established as my main takeaway from the game, you might feel increasingly compelled to give it a go yourself. Heck, you might even want to reach the elusive and mysterious goal. Because despite its simplistic structure, Aquanaut's Holiday indeed has an ending like so many other games. It is nothing special, mostly a pat on the head and the end credits, but it felt special to reach such a surreal point after years of assuming the game had nothing of the sorts. That's why I will now give my quick guide for how to master Aquanaut's Holiday like a real pro gamer, since there is very little information online and no definitive guide. I can't exactly say this is one either, but I think it will provide you with more help than I ever had.

Starting off, the metric for reaching the goal is the biodiversity of your artificial coral reef. This is a spot of ocean immediately west of your dock where you can place blue, yellow and red blocks to create a habitat for fish and other marine life. The reef builder is accessed by pressing Select twice, which toggles the RETURN prompt, to which you press Start and enter the port menu, where you can pick BUILD REEF. Here you see a simplified grid of your reef garden, a material meter and a fish meter, press X to select a slot and then X, Square or Triangle to pick a color block to place. To fill your fish meter, you need to place more blocks and then literally hang out in the area and watch the fish appear. I've found conflicting takes on how to build reefs for efficient growth, with people stating certain formations like circles and tunnels as better. My takeaway is that it's not about shape, but the sheer amount of blocks. The manual states that different fish are attracted to different colors, so make good use of blue, yellow and red equally. Apart from that, go off and build anything you want!

However, you will need sufficient building material. Starting out you do not have what you need to build a bustling habitat. That's where exploration comes in. Navigating the ocean fills out grids on the map, this in turn earns you more reef blocks. I don't know what the conversion rate is between uncovered map grids and reef blocks, but you'll need quite a bit, so expect this to be majority of what you do. To make your exploration easier, you will want to set out lots of buoys. This is done by pressing Select once to toggle the BUOY prompt, to which you press Start and dispatch a buoy. This puts a marker on the map which you can conveniently fast travel back to. Since the pause menu always returns you to the port, buoys are crucial for finding your way back to where you were. You can have 256 buoys, so don't be afraid to use them for quick access around the ocean.

In other words: Set out, try to see as much as possible and return to the base to build. That's the essential strategy for reaching the goal. Be ready to do this for hours on end, get acquainted with this world, have fun with it. I listened to several episodes of our friend @hotcyder's excellent podcast Bullet Time while just floating around the ocean uncovering remarkable and unremarkable sights. I had some splendidly relaxing evenings over a week or so. All in all it took me 16 hours, if you're being efficient it'll probably be faster, but maybe if you're even more chill than me you'll take even longer. In my opinion, the longer it takes you to beat Aquanaut's Holiday, the cooler you are!

Eventually I hit a point of my exploration where the game showed me a funky little cinematic of the entire world map being filled out, presumably as a reward for having uncovered a certain high percentage of it. At this point I knew I was ready for the ending, so I went to the reef builder and started throwing blocks absolutely everywhere until I had run all out. After that I just sat and gazed at my monstrous creation for a few minutes, hopped back into the reef builder and watched the end credits.

The final reward was a funky experimental fish mode where I can travel around the ocean super fast and rotate models of the sea life in front of the screen. A most excellent prize and a dignified conclusion to this masterpiece.

/Kiki

#aquanaut's holiday #ps1 #artdink

[heavyhitterheaux]

Bed Full of Lies

Tahira's Tale as told by @moody4world

Heaux Tales of Jack Harlow

Lord where do I begin. This nigga really thought he had me fooled…fake ass promises, fake ass I love you’s and the list goes on and on. I’ll admit he had me in the beginning, I can admit that I was wrapped around his finger for a little while during our…whatever you wanna call it.

I wonder what the hell was going through his head thinking he could get away with something this disgusting. Beginning of march 2033 was when I met that son of a bitch. Charming as ever, fluffy curls and the most sparkling blue eyes that matched the waters there in Turks and Caicos. My mistake number 1 was smiling back at him in the hotel lobby. Mistake number 2 was smiling at him again that night at the beach side party and being foolish enough to dance with him.

Like a dumb ass I moved quickly to mistake number 3, accepting his invite to a party on a yacht the next morning, leading to my biggest mistake yet. Mistake number 4. Sleeping with him thinking that it would be the best way to conclude my ‘adventurous newly divorcee era’. Yes I had been married before.

My young 20 year old brain believed the guy I met at the ripe age of 16 in high school would be the same man I’d grow old with, only for that idea to come crashing when he told me he found someone new just a year later. That was 3 years ago and I haven’t outgrown my trust issues since. Constantly working and traveling to avoid making connections to anyone in that way again. Yet I unknowingly fell for the same trap but only this time I was the other woman.

Well….one of many it seems. After that night in Turks and Caicos Jack did not just leave it at that. We continued texting and face timing whenever we had the chance which frankly wasn’t that often due to both of us traveling often. Sometimes we would get lucky and end up in the same countries so we’d explore together and always ended up in one of our hotel rooms.

The pillow talk was the most dangerous part yet. That man just says anything when he’s pussy whipped, promised me a family, a house and anything that would make me smile and give into him all over again. We would dance around in our rooms, if I was staying in a suite or airbnb I’d cook for him.

Teaching him how to dance bachata was a headache, really showed his white side because that man had no rhythm. That should’ve been a red flag on its own but I guess I had to learn the hard way. Jack and I never argued up until November of 2033 when he started acting strange, that’s the first time my image of him started to change. He’d become a lot more protective over his phone and defensive when it came to certain topics.

Apparently I was the insecure one for questioning why his followers was somewhat private. Claiming “That’s a violation of my privacy though, why would you go through my followers for?” Everything just seemed to snowball from there, every time we met up we’d argue then fuck and make up then repeat.

Jack knew I was crazy, ever since I told him how I ruined my ex husband’s career after he cheated, Jack knew not to mess with me. After another fuck and make up session, Jack had to leave for sound check. All I could think about was his phone constantly ringing while he was in my bathroom and then hearing him whisper on the phone. I fought my urge, I really did but I couldn’t any longer. I knew his entire family tree’s names at this point, first and last.

Using every social media platform I could think of, I looked up more family members of his than I would like to admit. I just could not believe my eyes at what I was seeing. Not only did he have a wife but kids too…betrayal couldn’t even describe what I was feeling. It was that and much more, maybe rage? or was it hurt, embarrassment or rejection?

One thing I knew for certain is that I let my guard down to the wrong man for the second time in my life and I was going to make sure that he pays. Right as I was clicking out of the profile that revealed Jack’s truth, he himself walked back through my door. “Hey Hira I forgot to grab my wallet, did you see it?” All I could do was stare blankly at him as I approached him.

I could feel his uneasiness at my odd behavior but I wish he could feel the heat radiating from my body due to my blood boiling in anger. Before we both knew it a loud clap could be heard across my hallway and a burning sting rushing through my right palm as his left cheek began to change from pale and freckled to a bright pink that was definitely not from blushing. His right hand slowly came up to soothe the pain in his left cheek as he turned his head back to me at the same slow pace.

By now I was fighting my tears and he could definitely see it. The slap he just received along with me telling him to grab his wallet and get the hell out of my life through gritted teeth accompanied by my heavy breathing, told him everything he needed to know.

His dirty secret was out and there was no persuading me. He silently walked past me, grabbing his wallet and walked back to the door I held open waiting for him to leave. Once he got to the door he stopped, still holding his burning cheek and dared to look me in my eyes. My eyes may have been tear filled but I was not going to back down from my angered glare towards him. “Hira I’m so sorry” Well I’m assuming that’s what he said. All I had to hear was my name coming from his lying ass mouth for me to slam my door in his face. The walls I built around my heart 3 years ago came right back up just as fast as that door swung shut as my face flooded with tears.

Taglist:

@harlowsbby

@babyharleezy

@hoodharlow

@stefansalvatoresgf

@jackiehollanderr

@primadxna-girl

@dessmxsworld

@cockslutslurper3000

@raelorns21

@variety-fangirl

@gbaabyyyy

@kamorsstuff

@harlowthot

@sinsandsuccubus

@curlyhairclub

@bootlegroach

@haylexo10

@thinkingaboutjharlow

@fluidsentiment

@charli123456789

@moody4world

@yourstrulymayah

@yana4life

@beanbagbitch

@alinaharlow

@carma-fanficaddict

@minaxcarter

@arination99

@xjup1t3r

@venusvinc

@jacksmoviestar

@jackharloww

@midnight-star47

@minkookie95

@inluvwithladybug

@exoticr0ses

@jharlowsangels

@jackierose902109

@jackmansbabymama

@cmalass

@megawhoree

@softtcurse

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@miniaturehideoutmentality

@hoya122

@nattinatalia

@jackslover12

@skyesthebomb

@jackharlows-world

@louisianalady

@fdl305

@automaticpeachsong

@harlowcomehome

@gassyandsassy1

@babygirlwilly

@amethyst09

@harrycanyonmoonn

@toocriticalharlow

@tattered-tales

@sisiking99

@dessxoxsworld

@gillybear17

@jacksdaycare

@iheartharlow

@disaster-rose

@babyvinnie

@evansxchalamet

@chtkmyharlow​

@itsyagirljaz

@neon-lights-and-glitter

@awhore4moree

@a-moment-captured

@jackmans-poison

@valentinqee

@lightsoutstyles

@j-worlds-blog

#jack harlow #jack harlow fic #jack harlow x reader #jack harlow x black reader #jack harlow angst #jack harlow fluff #jack harlow concepts #jack harlow fanfic #jack harlow imagine #jack harlow fanfiction #heaux tales

[sonicexelle-junkary]

so like- (correct me if i'm wrong) In sonic.smile Tails,who's literally sonics brother didn'tfind much of a problem at first... but mighty and ray, who were't around a whole lot, and Travel going on adventures... caught on to: "why the fuck does sonic look bat shit?" (i'm not trying to sound criticizing and i actually like the idea its just when i thought about it in my head it was a little funny. you are really good and your content is phenominal you good)👍

Smile rarely ever really possessed Sonic when he was around his friends, but he was always there, watching.

Of course all his friends thought of something off of him, but it being the classic era, his friends don’t really KNOW HIM know him, ya know? And usually his friends didn’t bother the thought much, that or Smile would reset the game before anything would really happen

But Mighty and Ray, or more specifically, the Chaotix, they just kept sticking their noses into unwanted places. So Smile decided to remove the problem he had. He does still have their sprites and code, but he hasn’t done anything with them yet

But I guess now that Smile is technically dead, given the end of the comic, he’ll need a new body to take over, right? Maybe he can finally have a use for them after all this time

#inbox #ask #sonic.exe #sonic.Smile #okay idk if I’ll actually do more with Sonic.Smile this is just a though okay

[bisupergirl]

i've been rereading a lot of old supergirl comics lately, so i thought i'd make a post with some pre-crisis recommendations for kara <3

THE GIRL WITH THE SEE-THROUGH MIND!

the superman family #168 kara and lena attempt to help a young empath as she suddenly feels compelled to kill herself. one of my fav issues for lena and one of the best storylines from kara's student advisor era. i also really love the relationship kara has with lena, both as linda danvers and as supergirl.

THE BRIMSTONE CONNECTION

the brave and the bold #160 kara's foster father goes missing so she teams up with batman to track him down. i think kara and bruce have a fun dynamic together and i really like how she's characterized here. i do think that this issue kind of downplays how intelligent kara is in order to uplift bruce's detective skills, but regardless i think its a fun team-up.

THE SUPERGIRL GANG

adventure comics #381 kara goes undercover at an all-girls crime fighting school to investigate a string of robberies committed unknowingly by the students. i really like how this issue focuses a bit on kara's investigative abilities and the things she can do better as linda danvers rather than as supergirl. also babs makes an appearance in this story (rise pre-crisis karababs warriors) <3

THE BATTLE FOR SURVIVAL!

adventure comics #412 kara is chosen to fight in a ceremonial battle by a distant planet's ruler. this issue is SO fun and showcases kara's strength so well. it also features art from art saaf who is one of my favorite artists for pre-crisis kara :)

THE ATTACK OF THE ANNIHILATOR!

detective comics #508-510 kara flies to gotham and helps barbara gordon defeat a crazed and mutated scientist who calls himself the annihilator. unfortunately this is the only multi-issue arc kara and babs have together during pre-crisis (not counting crisis on infinite earths i guess), but i do really enjoy this story (again, rise pre-crisis karababs warriors).

A HEAD-FULL OF SNAKES!

supergirl vol 1 #8 after portraying medusa in a play, a curse is placed on kara that turns her hair into snakes and anyone she looks at into stone. another really fun story :) this issue is definitely one of the best from supergirl vol 1.

CRYPT OF THE FROZEN GRAVES

adventure comics #424 kara attempts to uncover the crimes of the san francisco syndicate by gathering information from a former criminal informer. the art in this issue is SO pretty and i really love how kara is characterized here <3 also features the last appearance of pre-crisis nasty luthor </3

THE VISITORS FROM THE VOID

the superman family #184-186 when fred danvers mysteriously disappears after accepting a secret government job, edna danvers seeks out kara for help in finding him. i really love this storyline for how it develops the relationship between kara and her foster parents, and it's a great showcase of kara's anger and how protective she can be over the people she loves.

CELEBRATION!

supergirl vol 2 #20 clark asks kara to meet him at midvale for a surprise—but before she can do that, kara must battle the parasite. kara's 25th anniversary issue :) you can also read action comics #555 before this if you'd like, it takes place concurrently with this issue but shows clark's pov.

and finally—i already included this story on my pinned post with other supergirl storyline recommendations, but i really like this arc so i'm putting it here too:

THE STRANGE REVENGE OF LENA LUTHOR!

the superman family #211-214 takes place within one of my favorite era’s for supergirl! kara (living as an actress in new york at the time) helps her old friend lena thorul get a job and a place to stay after lena’s husband dies. after the villain mind-bomber boost’s her psychic abilities, lena discovers kara’s secret identity.

#kara zor el #supergirl #read my precrisis supergirl comics boy #god i miss her so bad </3

[canmom]

Animation Night 163 - Yokohama Kaidishi Kikou

Good evening everyone! It's time at last for Animation Night. And what do we have this week... did you guess an OVA from the 1990s? That's always a safe bet with me and sure enough that's what we have tonight: ヨコハマ買い出し紀行 Yokohama Kaidishi Kikou, or in English, Yokohama Shopping Log.

I'm going to keep my writeup tonight brief, because I am fully kvin's homework on this one and I think rather than paraphrase what he wrote, lemme link the article. Here is an introduction to the series...

Nearly 3 decades after it was first published, Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou remains the poster child of mono no aware works in otaku media. Vaguely set after a catastrophe that collapsed both the planet’s ecology and human civilization as we knew it, an event that the series has no intention to explain, YKK stars android Alpha as she runs the desolate café that her long-gone master entrusted her with. Her episodic adventures are all about the appreciation of the moment, often with an emphasis on the evocative environments she casually comes across; after all, author Hitoshi Ashinano was inspired to pen this work by his fondness of taking a stroll or riding a motorcycle without a specific goal. Despite being an ode to spontaneity, YKK is also a thoroughly focused work—and the recipient of that focus is the passage of time, as well as how different beings process the ephemerality of things.

The manga is beautiful, and highly influential in establishing a certain genre of gentle post-apocalyptic works like Girl's Last Tour. But tonight we're here to see the OVAs, each of them just an hour, pulling out a selection of favourite episodes from the manga.

These two adaptations, despite coming just a few years apart, come at a point of major historical change: the first part is in the cel era, the second in digital.

For the first, we have director Takashi Anno, veteran of The Hakkenden (AN122) and magical girl anime such as Magical Emi. His characteristic direction style puts a huge emphasis on setting and atmosphere, lingering on quiet moments - something he truly ironed out in Semishigure, which returns to the protagonist of Magical Emi years after the events of the story. Which made him a perfect fit for Yokohama. kVin is full of praise for the colour design, the strength of the layouts, and especially the soundtrack.

The second OVA Quiet Country Café dir. Tomomi Mochizuki takes a radically different approach, skipping forward in the manga and introducing a boldly experimental style:

Though its color design can’t match the exquisite work of the preceding series, it makes up for it with the radically distinct art direction by the late legend Shichiro Kobayashi—best known for the likes of Utena, Gamba, Ashita no Joe 2, Castle of Cagliostro, Beautiful Dreamers, Windy Tales, and unarguably being one of the most important figures in the history of stylized Japanese animation. In contrast to the grounded scenery of the first OVA, Kobayashi’s evokes reality with stark forms, implications of movement, and downright expressionistic paintings. Compared to the gentle embrace of the first series, his work feels like it’s demanding your attention in a more proactive way.

kVin describes the second episode's direction as characterised by more active and layered camerawork and a more 'involved' score - he's particularly taken with the sequence where Alpha returns to her café after the devastating storm that sets the OVA going. He compares it to Mochizuki's direction of the Ghibli film Ocean Waves.

So two approaches to the same material, two different vibes, but it sounds like both should be very strong. Tonight the plan is simple enough: we'll watch both OVAs back to back! (Apologies for the late start, as mentioned I've been having tech problems.)

AN 163 will be going live shortly at twitch.tv/canmom. Both OVAs are pretty short so we'll be watching from about 11pm to 1am UK time. love to see you there nya~

#animation night #yokohama kaidashi kikou