#yeah the info about it is rather scattered...

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

hey hey ! ive been lovingly staring at all ur art ever since i found you n ‘ i wanna say !! i love ur artstyle !! sm !! waaugh !! <33

have a star ⭐️

a question ive been meaning to ask though , i cant really seem to find much information about your lights out au , unfortunately ^^”

may i ask what exactly is the premises ? :O

so the Lights Out au is essentially: the Welcome Home Puppet Show was shut down prematurely, and without any warning to the puppets. the employees turn off the studio lights when they leave for the last time, completely abandoning the building and the sapient puppets inside. the building is locked and boarded up to ensure that nothing gets out.

the lights turn off halfway through the neighbors' "day", and everyone - except Wally - goes to sleep, assuming the day got away from them & its just time for bed. the lights never come back on, the neighbors don't wake up, and problems start to arise from the lack of light. Wally and Home are left to deal with all of this alone.

(and Eddie is in the water cause... well. he's just in there! fr tho it's just a running joke for the au <3)

#yeah the info about it is rather scattered... #mostly because its scattered in my brain! and the docs i made for it! #a lot of it is still nebulous in my mind but its slowly taking shape into something Concrete i can work with #unfortunately my creative process is rarely cohesive or straightforward #a lot of the posts are more memey than anything #which directly conflicts with how the au is supposed to be- #which is: angst central babey!!!! #ive trying to hype myself up to scribble lil mini-comic things #for scenes and such i have in my head #we'll see if i ever manage! #wh lights out au #rambles from the bog #also thank you <3 sticking the star to my forehead like a fruit sticker <3 #and anon dw its not a dumb question! i only outright said what the premise is like... Once ahaha

[johnbassplayercutie]

Man-U-Lip-U-Lator

Warnings: 18+, manipulation, fem!reader x stephen glass

Word count: 1.6k

Summary: You work with Stephen, and after a few times of hearing his stories at weekly meetings, you grow suspicious of him. You stay late one day at work when it's just you and him there after everyone's left. Your plan is to interrogate him or at least figure out if he's really telling the truth. You notice he gets up to print some stuff in the printing room and decide on snooping through his things in his office. Once finding incriminating evidence that suggests he's faking everything, he comes back catching you sifting through his stuff (aka his little black book from the movie with all his "info" in it lmao).

part one ♡

— — — —

Stephen finishes up collecting his printed copies and walks back to his office. He's too preoccupied to notice that you’re missing from your own.

Stephen enters, gripping his copies tightly and stands frozen in shock at you leaning over his messy desk of papers.

"What are you doing?!" He whines loudly, noticing you holding his little planner, open to a random page.

You whip your head to the office door and almost yelp out at his sudden appearance. It's too late now to back out.

"You've been lying, haven't you?" You state matter-of-factly rather than a simple question.

"What are you talking about?" Stephen questions as he feigns ignorance to the topic, "Give me back my planner, that's important for my sources!"

"Yeah, yeah. Your sources." You rolled your eyes and finger quoted sarcastically.

"Look, if this is about if Dave ever picked up from the Hackers Organization, I already gave Chuck the correct phone number. I got it confused with another one of my sources." Stephen tried to derail the topic.

"Stephen, I know you’ve been lying. And that goes for the Hackers Organization, too." You state, crossing your arms and holding his planner close.

You know he would try to snatch it at any chance if it means saving his ass from being fired. There was no way you'd let him get the satisfaction.

"Are you mad at me?! Did I do something wrong?" Stephen questions worriedly, "I swear I just made a few mistakes with the details, but I gave Chuck all the correct information!" He babbles on with an anxious tone and demeanor.

His attitude begins to make you falter. Maybe it's all just in your head and you're jealous of his success. You almost feel bad for him, he's practically about to beg on his knees.

No, no, no, snap out of it! You were sure of it.

Stephen steps closer to you, obviously trying to get his planner back. You distance yourself from him but back up into his computer, knocking over his pencil holder on the desk, the contents spilling all over the floor.

"Y/N, watch where you're going! You could've deleted the files on my computer, they’re important!” He whines out like usual. You scramble to the floor, attempting to pick up the scattered pencils whilst placing his planner down beside you.

Stephen eyes his planner down beside you but keeps up with the manipulation tactics. He’s hoping he will dissuade you from what he knows is the truth. He kneels down, helping you pick up the pencils off the floor and returning them into the holder. Stephen stares at you intently before speaking, sure of himself that this lie will work.

"Look, if you really don't believe me, you could always come over to my apartment," You meet his eyes, confused as to how that could even be a solution. He continues on and notices you're not buying it before quickly conjuring up more lies with ease, "I have the cassette tape recordings of my sessions with the Hackers Organization. I could play it for you if you don't believe me. I even have tapes from other editorials I did."

You ponder if he could be really telling you the truth. It wouldn't really hurt to try and hear him out. You still have his planner and you could use it against him as blackmail if all proves false.

"Okay....but if you're lying about this, then I'm going to report you to Chuck. I have this to prove otherwise,"

You reach to grab the planner but notice that it's not where you placed it. You panic internally but try to act calm, then noticing Stephen is grasping the planner for his dear life. You flicker to his hands and his knuckles are white and veins strained.

His eyes meet yours and you can almost see him smirk. Almost.

Damn it.

"Look, I really don't like the way you're treating me. I feel really attacked!" Stephen states, getting suddenly defensive and angry.

"I'm not– I-I just want what's best for our readers and everyone working here." You say softly, feeling put on the spot as he scolds you.

"You're one of my editors! You're supposed to support me, but you're taking Chuck's side over mine!" He raises his voice again, visibly upset, chest rising and falling in agony.

He looks sad, tears forming in his eyes, but something is off. He quickly falters, and you can see him forming a shy smile.

"If you really don't believe me, you can come listen to the cassette tapes..." He says softly and shamefully, like someone denied him of something meaningful. He completely avoids the fact that he just took the notes, spoiling your plans of questioning him.

You have no choice but to do as he says. Your only solution from this disaster was that note planner.

"Alright, fine. Let's go before it's too late. I have more important things to do than deal with this all night." You say exasperated, urging him to grab his things and get this over and done with. The sooner you can hear or not hear these tapes, the closer you are to deciding Stephen's fate.

Stephen takes the planner and stuffs it into his leather briefcase, zipping it up. He can't risk you snatching it away from him again.

He returns to his usual chirpy self, babbling on about random facts, talking about things in his office or his apartment. It's like whatever outburst he had a few minutes ago never happened.

He glances over at you, keeping a close eye on you as he puts his arms through his suit jacket. His gaze is intense and you feel the butterflies in your stomach. The urge to look away is becoming strong but his eyes lure you in. You flush red in the face and suddenly you’re squeezing your thighs together. Only a look from him and you’re already wet.

Stephen’s eyes flicker down, noticing your tension before he looks back to your face, biting his lip knowingly.

You have to admit Stephen was always handsome. You've always kept a watchful eye on him at work, only solidifying the fact. There's no denying that you may have a crush on obsession with him. How else would you suspect he was lying when all you do is eavesdrop and watch him?

Stephen gives a small smile as he adjusts his collar, walking up to you. You feel your heart begin to race at his closeness. He leans in closer, reaching an arm around you. You can hear your heart stop for a second.

A second later, the click of the mouse awakens you from a daze. You can hear his slow breathing next to your ear as he's against you, trapping you against the desk. He whispers softly in your ear, "Just have to save my work and turn off the computer before we go." You can hear him grin before clicking the power button and moving back to face you.

You're in shock at the proximity between the two of you. Your mind is misfiring, confused as to where the shy and boyish Stephen had run off to. No, he was right in front of you...right?

"Stephen, I–" You're about to speak but no words come to mind. You sigh quietly as his hand grazes against your hip, steadying you against his desk.

He quirks a brow, urging you on to continue. He's pleased, his smile coming through as he resists doing so.

"Uh—nevermind." You falter before looking anywhere but at him. His face is so close you could kiss him.

"Okay," He pulls away and shrugs. He's smiling now, flickering his eyes away playfully before turning toward the door. "You should probably grab your coat." Stephen walks over to the chair and grabs his briefcase and coat, waiting for you by the door. His finger rests on the light switch, ready for you to exit his office first.

You're blushing and it's clearly obvious now that he's got you in his trap. You turn to him before walking out his door, "I'll be right back."

You grab your coat and purse and quickly flick off your office lights, closing the door behind you. Stephen's waiting for you by the elevator at the end of the room. As you slip into your coat, Stephen is facing the elevator before turning to you as you approach his side.

"You, first." He states as the door slides open, his gaze holding yours with intensity.

taglist: @nananooti

#stephen glass x reader #stephen glass smut #stephen glass x you #stephen glass fic #hayden christensen smut #hayden christensen x you #hayden christensen x reader #hayden christensen x fem!reader #part 1 #hayden christensen #shattered glass

[melloween-candie]

Trouble [Judd Birch Fanfic]

Prologue

Summary

You were the new kid in school, meaning you were fresh meat. You didn't know much about the school or the area you lived in. You were completely oblivious and naive, so much so you didn't even realized you had a growing number of perverts following you around. However, you weren't completely hopeless. You managed to make a few good friends who warned you about a lot of things- including Judd Birch. He wasn't known for his friendly attitude; in fact, he caused chaos wherever he went. You tried your hardest to avoid trouble, but it came to you anyway- in the form of Judd Birch.

Warning! HUMAN RECOURSE AND BIG MOUTH SPOILERS!

Word Count: 1,083

Prologue, Chap. 1 ... [ON HOLD]

Big Mouth Fandom

Fandom Masterlists

/"Talking"//Thinking//Muttering-Whispering/

- Conference Room -

***Connie's Pov***

"What's the big idea, Connie? Why are we here?" Asked Emmi.

"Well, I'm glad you asked Emmi, you see. I want to go over this client's case files."

"Who?" Emmi opened the file that was laid in front of her. "Y/n L/n. Female. Age 10." She skips through some of the details. 

"She has depression, anxiety, and a somewhat low self-esteem," Emmi's face shifted to a sad one. "How sad... she's only ten."

"Yeah, well, it gets worse." Said Cat. "Say's here; she's a foster kid. She was placed in the system after an unexpected visit from child services. Apparently, the dad was very abusive."

"Oh great!" Tito said. "I can already feel the overwhelming emotions this kid is emitting!" She started scattering around the room, flying a duplicating herself.

"TITO!" Yelled connie. "Stop that!"

Tito calms down a bit, and Connie continues to speak. "Now listen, the whole reason why I asked all of you to be here today was because I don't want to see this girl in prison. I don't want her to be dead in the next 10 years... I've been doing this job for years, and every time I got a client who was in her position- they'd always grow to be less than what they deserved. Now I know this isn't like me, but I want all of you to work with me on this!" 

"Oww, of course, Connie! I want the best for this cutie too!" Emmi said, holding your picture up. "I mean, come on! Who would want pain for this adorable thing?!" 

"I mean, I'm fine with that." Said Cat. 

"Good!" 

"Now, wait!" Tito chimes in. "Do I not get a say in this too-?"

"NO!" They all yelled.

"You're bad enough!" Emmi said. 

"Yeah, no offense, but we'd rather try and get rid of you and the kitty as fast as possible so this little baby can have a nice teenage hood." 

"That's fair." Says Cat as he purrs on his chair. 

"Good!" Says Connie as she ends the meeting.

- Y/n's L/n File - 

Age: 10

Birthday: (Your b-day)

Sex: Female (Sorry for anyone who was hoping otherwise)

Hormone Monster: Connie

Anxiety Masqito: Tito

Depression Kitty:  Cat Stevens

Lovebug/Hate worm: Emmi

[This shows that you're young and inexperienced. You tend to get nervous around new things/people in general. You also tend to daydream a lot and are slightly clumsy. You also tend to get into your own head quite a lot.]

2 years later...

Character Info 

You were adopted by a black, thick businesswoman. Who cares for you deeply. She is a sarcastic and classy woman who is extremely smart. She is also a very hard-working woman who tends to be tough on you but overall wants to see you succeed in life. 

 She was recently laid off due to budget cuts. The company she was working for went bankrupt. Luckily, she was rich enough to keep you both afloat long enough for her to find a good new job. 

It wasn't hard for her to find a new, better-paying job due to her resume. Now, she works in the human resource department of a company that specializes in human behavior here at Bridgeton.

She doesn't have any biological children, and she doesn't have a spouse. 

You used to visit your biological family when you were little but quickly cut off all contact with your father when you turned 12. Your mother died a year after you and your siblings were taken... some say it was due to your father, but no one really knows. 

In the end, there'd be days where you wished you could see your siblings again, but the foster family said it would be best not to do so in case the father tried anything... since they weren't adopted yet. Meaning the father still had rights to custody...

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

BONUS

When everyone left the conference room... Connie came rushing back in... she was holding a file. On the front of that said file, it said-

⚠️Confidential⚠️

- Judd Birch's Future Files -

Age: 18

Birthday: (I don't know/1998) 

Sex: Male

Addiction Angel: Dante (Random date saying when he's gonna get addicted... I don't know when Judd got addicted to Jack Daniels.) Addiction: Y/n, Jack Daniels

"Wait... Judd's gonna get addicted to my girl! Ooooh~" Connie giggles as she continues reading his file.

Anxiety: Tito (Date and time of when he got anxiety. It also says the reason.)

"Ugh." She rolls her eyes.

Logic Rock: Van

Hate worm: Dax (He's just naturally broody- and even as a lovebug, he tends to be very bruff and rude in nature. He has a more muscular build, but as a hate worm, he's more slim and has a dark green veiny look with yellow glowing eyes in the dark. He's also a raddle snake. Was born through Judd's love for chaos and was turned REALLY QUICKLY, when Judd was very little, into a hate worm after realizing Judd couldn't be himself without being punished for it. Because of him and the addiction Judd has for you- Dax tends to make Judd act slightly yandere for you... Like Dax is very mean to everyone who hurts or goes near you- as if you belong to Judd and Judd alone.) MADE UP CHARACTER

Connie gasps! "Oh, my, god!... Dax becomes a hate worm...! I should probably do something about that..." Connie pauses to think. "Nah- he's hot either way~"

Need demon: Maverick (He's more greedy than the others, and he's more quiet. Has a very deep voice and tends to hide in the dark. Laughs like Judd...too. He isn't fairly big, though, he's a normal size for a teen, and his color is pitch-spotty black. Doesn't get out much and works well with Dante- even though Dante tends to get uncomfortable around the man...) MADE UP CHARACTER

[This shows that Judd is more into the darker kind of humor. Who doesn't get horny much at all... He's also smarter than he looks- like he just knows what he's doing (thanks to Van ~) He also has anger issues but tends to throw his anger through actions-]

[Example:]

[His parents piss him off- He slashes their tires...]

[He gets grounded- He sneaks out...]

[He doesn't tend to show his feelings much at all, though... Obviously.]

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

Connie closes the files... "I probably shouldn't have read that, but I honestly can't wait to see what happens once these two meet~" 

A/n

Lowkey, same Connie, LOL! Anyway, I had to make up some fake characters for Judd's files- just cause I felt like the characters in those categories that existed in the show didn't fit the role very well with what I was trying to do.

(Also, I have a Wattpad account where I rewrite my stories from here and post them there- Reason being is cause Wattpad tends to show authors more details- Example: it tells us how many people has read our stories. So, if you see this story on Wattpad, or any other stories of mine- just know that it's my work. I don't steal other people's work!)

#big mouth fandom #big mouth fanfiction #big mouth netflix #judd birch #judd birch x reader #judd x reader #high school au #human resources #netflix tv shows #fanfiction #fanfic #big mouth judd birch #big mouth judd birch x reader #new girl #romance #drama #big mouth story #prologue

[smolcinnamonchipmunk]

Adding on to the info dump that you have kindly graced me with, my first though when I heard that Abyss can make drugs out of their venom when diluted and then after reading what relations they would have, or lack of, was that is angel just so happens to stumble upon them making a batch to sell off. Angel could be like peeking into their room (oh yeah this is when they become a member of the hotel officially) and so when Abyss decided that they had enough to sell and goes on break, leaving their room unguarded, I think angel would be the curious soul that he is would check out what bro was cooking.

If Angel found out that it was a drug they made form their venom by just a small test, personally—and you are free to correct me if you want—I believe that Angel would basically try to ask for drugs off of Abyss for free since it’s a nice thing and that’s what the hotel is aiming for and if that doesn’t work he’ll try to pester them (which wouldn’t last long I bet) and if he still gets ‘no’ for an answer, he would try to steal them which made abyss start hiding their batches, getting a lock on their room door or just making the batches outside the hotel and an instant delivery. That’s my personal take tho and I thought it would make for something funny but could be used for some slight bonding or something? However way you wanna go with this.

Secondly, Alistor just picking up Abyss from seemingly out of nowhere was just funny and the image I saw in my head was like him pinching the “scruff” of Abyss as they freeze up, cuz y’know, bro was just picked up no warning. Oh yeah forgot to mention that I can see this happening in both normal sizes as well as their shrunken state which would probably be the most obvious choice hehe. Okay onto what I was not here for cuz I just thought of this right before I was inches away from sending! >:p.

You said that you would be unsure of what could lead to any Vore scenarios because he is chill with Abyss and such, unless he was PISSED. (Based off memory so could be wrong but Anygay-) now I’m not one who knows what abyss is like, like the back of my hand, but form what I do know and a half awake brain the only scenario I see working is that maybe Abyss could be in an annoyed mood from like one buyer that asked for drugs didn’t exactly have any plan to pay in the first place and made it seem like they would pose a threat to their life which they had no intentions to but it was a way to avoid paying and getting a lot of free drugs. This would couse their panic mode to activate slightly and they would shrink (causing rumours to go around about abyss and harming their business since demons can now use that to their advantage) so when they return maybe a little shrunken and in a little pissy mood they could retaliate if Alistor was to like do his usual thing of spooking them or something of the sort which wasn’t too much appreciated and thus the final straw was snapped and maybe an insult or two slipped out, voice slightly raised. Abyss heads back to their room and flopping down onto their bed to just cool off and not even 5 minutes later Alistor comes back to be a bother but something seems a lil off with him (bc bro took that one personally).

Leaving the rest to you (mostly cuz my lesson is gonna start rn. Woo, college ) Anygay hope this helps you at least, go wild with it.

Have a happy day and always stay gay!! That’s my new motto now, Sue me.

- 🌽 anon

Alright, everyone, buckle up for another long response!

I was thinking more like Abyss sold their pure venom to drug makers and dealers rather than making the drug themself, but I'll give them a small drug setup themself for extra cash

As for your Angel Dust idea, the most logical trail in my mind was to have him trying to find a drug stash since he's left them scattered all over the hotel, hoping that the furniture he used to hide his own drugs were still there. Of course, they're not, but he comes across their dilution station (WIP page below)

Abyss honestly wouldn't care if Angel Dust wanted to try some of the drug and would probably offer him a batch for free. They're not super in it for the money and just do it as a way to pass time and stuff. They could probably use their network of buyers to figure out information on people if they ever felt interested in trying to start gathering their own territory. But, given that they were kind of depressed in life, you can imagine the amount of motivation they have, lmao

They're definitely getting a new lock for their room though

Also, the Alastor scruffing them and presenting Abyss to everyone was the idea. But, in my head, he uses his shadow abilities/tentacles to snatch them from wherever they are and just materialize them in front of everyone else. I also have the headcanon that he can nullify other demons abilities somewhat, so they wouldn't be presented shrunk. This also mitigates them trying to calm themself and regrow inside of Alastor, soooo, you know. I feel like he’d occasionally scruff Abyss like he does Nifty 

And, your big paragraph is the paragraph that brought up an animatic idea of the potential drug deal. I’m gonna be honest, I’ve thought way too much about everything, haha

Abyss has almost definitely been killed a couple times since falling into Hell. I imagine the majority of demons have been killed at least once since falling, and since we hear Velvette literally say that she “can’t wait for that unlucky bitch to put herself together”, I’m thinking they either regenerate/stitch back together or re-fall depending on how pulverized the body ends up being. As such, they’re not unused to threats. They’re small and have been considered an easy target since first showing up

In the animatic, if I get to it, will be a stand off between a bunch of shark demons (I just like their designs in the show) and Abyss. In it, the sharks are more than happy to try and kill them to get the goods, but it’s basically just a show of how agile/quick Abyss can be on their feet while also using their shrinking to their advantage with part of a banger song in the background. Sort of, like, the stress apathy takes over, you know? They would definitely need to spend a few days in the hotel to destress though, I imagine you never QUITE get used to being killed over and over again

Also, I can’t imagine rumors really holding much stock on their rep? They don’t really have one and try to remain low-key anyways to try not to appear like a threat, and they don’t tell anyone they sell to where they get the ‘pure stuff’ to avoid the potential of other demons attempting to capture them just to use them as a literal cash cow for their venom concentrate. If people want to think of them as weak and an easy pushover because they can shrink, they’re fine with that because that usually means they get left alone unless someone feels like kicking the demon equivalent of a puppy. I also feel like they’re likely to be overlooked a lot despite being bioluminescent

And, I still don’t even know what kind of comment Abyss would realistically make to piss Alastor off (I know he hates being told about or thought of as having less control than he exudes, but Abyss would definitely not really see him as not having a full deck, so to speak), but that won’t stop me from drawing them together. Maybe they asked a bit too much about him because he’s a contradictory fuck who loves people wondering about his deal, but refuses to talk about it to drum up the mystery. Abyss would definitely feed his ego a bit with curious questions

Anyways, that’s all for now! I have a bunch to do if I don’t want more to pile up and leave me in a stressed paralysis

#cinnanswers #cinnart #abyss #safe vore #soft vore #g/t #g/t vore

[dangopango00]

ELIO INSANE PERSON RAMBLINGS AFTER DISSECTING SEEING THE LEAK

Pt. 1 because I have more to say somehow erm.

Theres basically no content for him but hes sosooo cuteeeeee

Context: In my head he is a fly he has compound eyes like the fly loswr he is

CW: Leaks maybe spoilers??

[ Design/Symbolism (IMG A)

OK FIRST OBSERVE FLY EYES; Theyre compound and have millions of ‘bubbles’ in them. So in my head on elio would represent the different “bubble universes” or rather the millions of possibilities that although generally the same, slightly differ with different choices and outcomes

ELIO IS ALSO AKSHUALLY THE FLY ON THE WALL that phrase represents him really well considering although hes the leader hes the one in the limelight the least out of everyone and just gathers info while making plans. Flies are also considered filthy and sly and bottom feeders n pests and as a stellaron hunter he gets the same treatment as well

[ Function (IMG B)

But besides the appearance the actual function: This is pretty good symbolism for what he sees bc not only does he see a wider range of possibilities than the average person but he can also notice even the slightest movements which is ofc the slightest changes in a scenario that makes the outcome completely different and about flies being able to see things at a quicker pace; I heard that when u swat at a fly they see it in like slow motion and this is pretty symbolic of elio since he sees FARRR into the future wayyy before its even close to coming to fruition

[ Theories (IMG C)

A silly lil hc theory i have bc of this fact and because his alias is “Destiny’s Slave” is that he cant rlly control seeing the future much kind of like a premonition..????? Idk but i like to play with how herta calls all the stellaron hunters lunatics and him a maniac bc like. Its a little true. Theyre all a lil bit cray cray from what weve seen but theres method to their madness so im like hm well elio must have his quirks SO seeing the future so often without wanting to has him a little bit (crazy person hand gesture) so i imagine its a little overwhelming when he suddenly gets a “premonition” like when he suddenly sees the future its a bunch of scattered possibilities filling his mind but when he focuses on it they can converge to create a “perfect reality” where everything goes the best way possible

Also theres so many different “paths” the future holds like it could be the future for that day or the fate of the world or even the fate of the universe so i imagine he was either made/given this power specifically to puppeteer this specific outcome or “story” but its a little draining to think of the big picture constantly or think about things the bigger they are which is why he makes scripts day by day or week by week (????)

I also think he gets like reminders kinda like little flashes into some specific aspects that although he has seen hasnt really focused on or been able to think of bc theyr pretty far ahead and his head is already full so it being so overwhelming, just slipped his mind to kind of create a whole “chain of events” URGGHHH THIS IS SO HARD I CANT TELL IF HES OMNIPOTENT OR LEARNING ALONG THE WAY

I also found it interesting that he told kafka that she and stelle would “change each other” it heavily suggests that maybe he can force the thought of specific scenarios OR MAYBE in his “perfect reality” he has an already decided script which he doesnt deviate from so he already knows what to say. Otherwise how would he know how vague or how exact to be about what he tells people

In the alt ending in the credits hes listed as screenplay director and the screenplay directors are the ones pulling the strings yeah but as another character in the story or “movie” that means he knows exactly what his part is too and is therefore another puppet to be controlled OU LET ME COOK 👩‍🍳🍔🔥

#hsr elio #elio #honkai star rail #hsr #hsr theory #stellaron hunters #honkai star rail elio #PLS NO MORE OF THW CAT #Flyelio #elio theory #hsr leaks

[tyler-lawson]

Hit and Run

When Officer Daniels arrived at the Sigma Chi house on Saturday morning around 8, it was a ghost town. He could see a few crushed cans scattered on the well-manicured yard, and there was a beer pong table lying on its side with a few solo cups, but there was no one around. Must’ve been a long night.

There were several cars parked along the street, and one in particular, a red Mazda, caught his eye. There was white paint on the front bumper, a dent on that same side, and a busted headlight. He pulled his cruiser into a spot nearby.

“This is 7227,” Daniels spoke into the radio. “I’ve got eyes on the vehicle at 487 S University. Plate number SBF 3733. Can you confirm?” The dispatcher took a few seconds before confirming that this was the vehicle in question, which had struck at least three parked cars downtown last night, or rather, early this morning, before taking off down a side street with no lights.

Ian was just waking up, now with a splitting headache as the light poured in the window of his room. His roommate was sitting at the desk, messing around with something on the computer. Ian was shirtless, who knew where his shirt had gone last night, still wearing one Nike sock, and a pair of khaki shorts.

Officer Daniels walked up the brick sidewalk leading up the house. A chandelier hung on the porch in front of a big oak door. He thought about using the doorbell, but instead rapped on the door four times. He’d dealt with guys at this house before. The more in charge he could present himself, the better.

At 6’4” and 220, and once a frat guy himself back in the day, Officer Daniels felt confident in dealing with these college kids in ways that some of my colleagues didn’t. They’d have to learn a lesson in responsibility at some point. Now it was one young man’s turn.

A brother answered the door, standing barefoot and shirtless in front of me. “Yeah, what do you… oh. Hi Officer.” He said, looking the officer up and down twice.

Officer Daniels saw the boy rub his eyes and run his fingers through his short, disheveled brown hair, trying to wake himself up and catch up to what was clearly a serious situation. He guessed the young man in front of him was a junior or senior. “Morning, son. You live here?”

“Uh, yes, sir, officer. “ The frat bro stammered, glancing around the entryway and past the officer looking to see if he could see any other cars.

“Can I get your name and age, sir?” Officer Daniels noticed the bro looking nervously past him. “It’s just me here. Just looking into something and have a question or two, if you don’t mind.”

“Uh, my name is Stephen. I am a junior. What, what kind of questions? Is something wrong?”

“Thanks, Stephen.” Officer Daniels added the name to his notepad. “Junior at State,” he repeated as he wrote down the info. “Simple question, really. Any chance you can confirm for me whose car that is?” He pointed to the street, where the Mazda was parallel parked haphazardly, its tail sticking out into the street.

“Oh, yeah, that is Ian’s car. Did he park it illegally again?” Stephen answered, now a bit more relaxed as it did not seem this had anything to do with him.

“Would that be Mr. Brewer? 19 years old? Sophomore?”

“Yeah. He is a sophomore. Do you need to speak with him?”

“Yes, sir, I’d appreciate that. Can you get him for me?”

“Ian! Door!” Stephen shouted, stepping back away from the door and pausing for a moment, listening. He didn’t hear anything, so he shouted again. “Ian, someone to see you!” Still nothing. “Uhh, do you want to just come in? His room is down that hall.” He offers.

Officer Daniels stepped inside, taking off his Ray-Bans. He touched his hand to his holster and to his back cuff pouch, as he was in the habit of doing when he entered a residence. He saw more evidence of last night’s pregame in the living room and kitchen area. Red Solo cups were scattered everywhere, the remnants of pizza and chips still strewn around the floor and every piece of furniture. Two hallways, one on each side of the house, led to several rooms with closed doors, while a set of stairs connected the first floor with additional residences on the second. He walked down the hall, hearing his shoes echo on the hardwood floor. When he reached the room Stephen had indicated, he knocked sharply.

The knock on the door was loud and sharp, and it hurt Ian's head with the massive hangover he was currently fighting. It was way too early for anyone to be bothering them, he thought, especially after last night. He was frustrated at how rude it was, getting up and stomping over to the door. “What the hell do you want.” He barked, pulling open the door. He stopped short, seeing the massive cop standing in front of him.

“Are you Ian Brewer?” Officer Daniels was enjoying the look of fear that had replaced the cockiness in the young man’s voice. He looked worse for the wear, and the officer wasn’t sure if he realized how much worse his day was about to get.

Ian’s mind was struggling to process due to his throbbing headache and the booze still sloshing around. This was serious, and he was not in the right place to be talking to a cop. But, here he was. His roommate stopped and turned, looking at me standing in the doorway. “Yeah, that is Ian Brewer.” The roommate answered for him, calling over his shoulder. "And he really needs to stop parking in the fire lane.” He teased.

“That’s good advice from your buddy,” Officer Daniels said. He stole a glance at Ian while the young man was turned toward his friend’s voice and noticed the wrinkled khaki shorts, the necklace around his neck, and the one Nike athletic sock on his foot. His other foot was bare, and his short blond hair was tousled and messy. It had clearly been a long night for him. “But I’m not making a house call for a parking violation. Ian, can you confirm that the red Mazda parked outside the window there is yours?”

“Yah. I mean, yes sir.” Ian said, looking out the window. “Are you going to tow it or something? I really need that car. I will pay whatever the ticket is.” He said, slightly pleading.

“Ian, think really carefully about your answer to this next question. I need you to be as honest as possible. And before you answer it, just in case, I want to read you something. Right now, I’m just asking a question related to the car, ok?” Officer Daniels pulled my Miranda card out from my front pocket and read it to him verbatim. “Do you understand these right as I’ve read them to you?”

Terrified, now, having only heard rights being read as part of arrests, Ian's mind raced as fast as it could in its very reduced capacity. “What could this be about?” He asked himself, struggling to remember much from the night before. “Yes, I understand. What do you want to know?”

“How did the white paint get on the front of your car? What about the dent, the busted headlight? And were you operating the vehicle last night?”

“Yes, I think I used it to go get some extra snacks for the party last night.” Ian answered, cautiously. “But I don’t know anything about paint or a headlight. It was fine last night.”

“Ok, so you went to the store and came straight back, then were home for the party? You didn’t go to Charlie’s or to The Barrel downtown after having a few warmups here?”

Ian paused for a few moments, catching snippets of downtown, but were they last night? He couldn’t tell. It would make sense that he might have gone downtown, it was pretty common for the frat brothers to try and hit up come clubs after the parties, he thought. “I might have?” He answered, hesitantly. “I don’t really remember much from last night. I was pretty plastered.” he answered before stopping abruptly, realizing that was probably not the best thing to admit to a cop.

“I’m not here to arrest you for drinking underage,” Officer Daniels said, reading his thoughts and the look on his face. “Although, it’s worth noting that you could be.” Daniels saw him take a sigh of relief. “However, I am here because your vehicle was seen leaving the scene of multiple accidents on Third St., including three cars and a near miss with a pedestrian. It seemed that your car swerved to avoid another car while going the wrong way down the one-way,” Officer Daniels explained, reading from his notes. “Does any of this ring a bell, son?”

A vision of driving around down a street, headlights coming straight at him and swerving to avoid them, and then swerving back as soon as he saw a person crossing the road flashed through Ian’s head. He hung his head low, grasping his hands together and fidgeting with his fingers. “I don’t know, sir.” He said, his voice pleading. “Last night is pretty dark, but, maybe. Is, is that bad?”

Officer Daniels thought the kid looked close to crying. He remembered how arrogant the young man had sounded when the officer first knocked on the door, and wondered how many people got to see this side of him. His roommate had stopped doing whatever he was doing and was now fixed on the situation playing out. The roommate looked like he wanted to say something but didn’t. He kept his eyes on the floor.

Officer Daniels put his notebook away. “I think that’s enough for right now. Mr. Brewer. Unfortunately, we do have to deal with this situation. Have you ever been in trouble with the police before? Do you know what’s going to happen?”

“No, never.” Ian said, my eyes burning and his throat tight. This was worse than anything that had ever happened to him. He got away with a lot in high school, he thought back. Like yeah, he did stuff and got in trouble, but his dad had always dealt with it for him. Now there was no one to help. And no one to blame. “Are you arresting me?” He asked, thinking back to all those Every 15 Minute skits he had to sit through, suddenly made very real.

“So, right now, why don’t you get a shirt and throw it on. I see a sock got away from you last night, too. If you’ve got slides, throw those on, too. Quicker and easier that way. I guess I’ll give you the choice of whether to take that sock off or throw the other one on. Or, if you really want, I guess you could stay like that if it’s a fashion statement.” Officer Daniels half-smiled at Ian, trying to lighten the situation a bit, but Ian didn’t seem to notice.

Ian stepped back into the room, looking around desperately for a clean shirt to wear. It took a couple tries to find one that didn’t smell terrible, finally pulling on a green polo shirt, leaving it untucked over his khaki shorts. He slid the sock off my foot, grabbing a pair of slides and stepping into them. He walked back toward the officer, shaking with each step.

Officer Daniels knew he could have just thrown the cuffs on Ian and gotten him out of there quickly, but being honest, Daniels had the sudden urge to exert some authority. Ian was cooperative enough, but Daniels couldn’t stop thinking about the entitlement in Ian’s voice when Daniels first knocked. He was clearly a kid who needed to learn a few things. “Put your hands up against the wall for me, son,” the officer said a little more harshly than he needed to.

The sudden change in tone made this so much worse. It scared Ian, making him freeze in place for a moment. He then slowly turned to face the wall, putting his hands up above his head and spreading them wide. Not sure exactly why, it just seemed like the thing criminals did at this point. Criminals… Was he now a criminal. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. He banged his head against the wall a couple of times, hating himself for what was happening.

Officer Daniels put his hand on Ian’s shoulder, suddenly feeling a little guilty for my tone. Daniels kicked Ian’s feet apart lightly, noticing the slight indentation from the sock he’d just removed on his ankle. “It’ll be ok, man. Really. Let me explain something, ok? As of now, Ian, I’m placing you under arrest for hit and run and for driving under the influence of alcohol. Do you understand why you’re being arrested today?”

Officer Daniels grabbed Ian’s right hand and guided it slowly behind Ian’s back, then using his left hand to unfasten his cuff pouch. Daniels felt the familiar cold steel and heard the cuffs rattle slightly as they came out.

Ian’s head smacked against the wall once more as he settled down, hearing the words “I’m placing you under arrest.” His body suddenly relaxed as he gave in, this was real, he was going to jail. “Yes, I understand.” He said weakly.

Officer Daniels locked the cuffs in place around Ian’s right wrist, then grabbed his left hand and brought it behind his back. Lining up his hands so that his palms faced outward and then tightening the second cuff around his wrist. “Those handcuffs ok, son? I’ll double lock ‘em so they don’t tighten up on you in the car.

Ian jiggled my hands in the cuffs, feeling them locking around his wrists, cold steel, inflexible steel. “They are fine” He said, slightly twisting his wrists hoping for some give. The chain held them together, but he could still move them around a bit.

“Phone? Wallet with ID in it around here somewhere?”

“Phone and wallet should be on the dresser” Ian said, trying to point, and suddenly remembering the cuffs as they dragged an arm along behind the other. Wincing slightly from the surprise.

“Help your friend out?” Officer Daniels instructed the roommate, who seemed transfixed by the sight of his buddy in handcuffs. “Oh…..yeah sure,” he responded.

Officer Daniels turned back to Ian once the officer had helped put his phone and wallet in his pocket. “Obviously,” Daniels said to him. “Your car will be towed and processed. If you have anything illegal in there, you need to tell me now. It’ll be a felony if we book you in and then find something. I appreciate you being cooperative, and I know this feels like the end of the world, but you will be fine and you will get past this. You just have to be more responsible. What’s going to happen now is I’m going to walk you down the hall and out the front door. Early Saturday traffic isn’t bad so hopefully there won’t be too many people out to see you marched out in handcuffs. You’ll be going down to the city PD to answer a few more questions, and you’ll be taken to the county jail from there for processing. You should be eligible for bail on Monday when you see the judge. Alright, ready to go?”

“Yes.” Ian said, not really able to muster anything else. Cheeks burning red from the shame of it all. Sure, not many would see him, but those that did, like his roommate, would never forget.

Officer Daniels stole another glance down at his feet as they walked out the door and down the hall, his slides barely keeping up with his nervous quick walk toward the car. The officer kept a firm grip on Ian’s bicep, worried slightly that he might fall over. The officer knew he had a rough few months, at least ahead of him, and felt suddenly sorry for the arrogant fuck. “You really will be ok,” Daniels said to him again. “But there are consequences to your actions. If you’re going to get arrested, do it in college, and do it just once.” The officer patted his pockets one last time before putting my hand on his neck and guiding him into the back of the cruiser, a prisoner leaving the frat house and off to jail.

“Did, did this ever happen to you?” Ian asked, suddenly curious from the things the officer had said to reassure him and trying to distract himself from the humiliation of being perp-walked out of the frat house.

“Not me. But my brother got a couple DUIs in his college years. He’s doing fine, but it was a lesson he had to learn. Luckily, he didn’t kill anyone, and neither did you. Now, it’s your turn to live and learn. When you’re sitting in your cell this evening, I want you to think about that.” Officer Daniels closed the door of the cruiser.

The door swung shut as Ian was looking out. Suddenly the bars over the window obscured his vision slightly. How appropriate. Going from freedom to cuffs and a cage, so quickly. So stupidly. He leaned back against the hard plastic of the back of the seat, sliding the cuffed arms into the molding. Everything was made to fit a prisoner like him. “Fuck. Prisoner. Fuck. Why am I slipping into this mindset so easily?”

(Thanks to @adawg0901 for helping me write this great story!)

[peachshadows]

Okay, so you‘ve answered a lot of what-if questions concerning your many (awesome!) different AU‘s. (My favourite is Sundown, everything about it is just so bittersweet. From the Shadowpeach relationship, to the effect MK has on this world when all he wants is to go home… and though I know it‘s still far off I can‘t even begin to imagine how it would end without breaking someone‘s heart)

Anyway! I was a little confused when I re-read all your posts about this AU (copium, I just love looking at all the different tidbits of info scattered around while waiting for the next chapter <3)

Specifically Bai He? I guess it‘s mostly from a world building point, since I found it odd that the attendant of the empress would be a ‚lowly human‘ considering Macaque’s status.

Does her presence also somewhat soothe Macaques desperation for a cub a bit, since you mentioned him doting on her? Or was that all just a what-if scenario?

(sorry if this question is a little nitpicky. I‘ve always been a bit stupid when it comes to the small things and how they can affect characters in big ways)

What I meant by lowly human I meant that more of sd!Bai He's station rather than a dig at sd!Macaque tho u do make a great point ig how the world sees sd!Bai He is that she's a not so lucky human that works for the cold and harsh empress but the reality is different

And yeah Macaque adores Bai He a lot that it soothes his desperation of getting a cub but he still wants one either way

#also idm answering asks like this so keep them coming! #asks #the sundown era

[bluesdesk]

Hello!! I know I’m really inactive but I've joined the CTCGiftx2024! My giftee, @najikasunart, wrote some prompts that I tried to mix (hopefully into something that makes sense XD), and damn I really loved working on the resulting fic!

I think it might be one of my best fics so far, if not the best! Here it is!

Sky and Wild centric! Hurt/Comfort, nobody dies, there's some blood! And some happy moments at the end, 8008 words :D

You can also read it here, under the cut!

Words (and their consequences)

Sometimes a bad choice of words can cause one to be hurt. Other times, those words might destroy who happened to hear them. The latter is way rarer, but when it happens, it's really difficult to get those words off the mind of a scattered person. The heroes know it well. One time they were talking about magic, at the beginning of their adventure, and Warriors, not paying attention to his words, and still mad at Cia, said that dark magic was the worst and everyone using it should be damned. Twilight took it really badly, and decided he'd keep his wolf form a secret. Four got silent and left the conversation. Legend took a couple of rings off his hand and put them in his bag. Warriors noticed, and gave them his most sincere apologies, but Twilight couldn't get past that and kept the secret until he could, until the damn lizalfos almost killed him.

Of course, the heroes aren't perfect nor do they know everything that might hurt another companion. They try their best to avoid any topic that could be triggering, but battles can be exhaustingly hard, and make the chain forget.

This time, they were fighting against Dink again, that had chosen to shapeshift from lizalfos to Dark Twilight. Days had passed since they left the unknown Hyrule, they had other smaller battles, and traveled through a few portals. Twilight had recovered enough to fight but he surely wasn’t in perfect shape. The monster, now a dark silhouette, had passed days in contact with Twilight, a part of it getting into his system and studying every single inch of him, until Hyrule’s magic was too much for it to handle and it left the body allowing the rancher to heal. Anyway, Dark Link had enough info at that point.

The battle took place in a vast field, no sign of recent civilization, the grass looked wet and a bit slippery. They hadn’t gotten the chance to look around and recognize the era, as they hopped off the portal and found Dink standing there, eyes red, holding what looked like a sword behind his back, and with a horde of blue and red bokoblins behind. Sky felt like something was oddly familiar with that weapon, and realized in shock the Dark was holding Demise’s sword. If Ghirahim was there too, the battle was going to be a bloodbath! With a scream, badly sounding like a “hyaaa”, the Dark unleashed the other monsters, before Sky could say a word. They were from his era. They were in his era.

And so it began, the heroes trying to come up with a plan as fast as they could, Sky instructing them, shouting while fighting, on how to handle those monsters. In the meantime, Time and Twilight were the closest to Dink, as it was mimicking Twilight’s movements, Twilight’s best movements, from when he didn’t even have a scratch. The two heroes had noticed, and chose to defend themselves rather than attack, to at least tire it and distract it from attacking the others, who were fighting the secondary enemies, moving as fast as they could to reduce their number and then help with Dink. Warriors went closer to Sky to confess he somehow knew the demon lord and the imprisoned, yes it wasn’t the right time for that but he felt the need to tell him what he faced must have been at least terrible. Sky had only enough time to reply with “yeah”, and then back to swinging his sword, parrying with his shield, and mostly concentrating on the goal: clear enough monsters to go help Time and Twilight, and maybe face Ghirahim if he was still in there.

He hoped Ghirahim was at least asleep like Fi.

A blue bokoblin targeted him and he dodged the attack, then proceeded to cut through its skin. It attacked again in vain, Sky already knew their tactics. With the last swing of Fi, the bokoblin fell on the ground, screamed, then disappeared, leaving only black blood behind. That wasn’t any news for them, of course, given the fact Dink was right there. Another blue bokoblin, another precise sequence of attacks.

And then another, another…

Until someone screamed. One of them. Warriors was next to the chosen hero and wasn’t hurt, Time and Twilight were still around Dink, Hyrule was running towards a bloody Wind. Wind’s right side was bleeding! Sky rushed there to help, those monsters were from his era, they should have all targeted him, not Wind! He was there quickly enough to stick his sword into the abdomen of a red bokoblin, luckily that was enough to put it down. He proceeded to cover Hyrule as he carried Wind away to get medication.

Less heroes, but less enemies, he thought. Just one, precise stab, and an infected red bokoblin was gone. The others were having a harder time with them, maybe it was Fi’s power to be unbearable for the monsters.

He continued slashing and parrying until he felt like he was going in a loop, something was wrong. Giving a better look at all the area, he noticed the number of monsters had remained exactly the same. They were respawning… Ghirahim could do that, he once spawned them to prevent him from reaching Sun!

Hyrule ran back to the battlefield, Sky signed him to take his place, while he turned around and joined Time and Twilight, informing them they needed to destroy that sword first or all their efforts would be in vain.

Warriors heard that and joined them. Now four heroes were against Dink, Wind was out and the other four were slowly moving behind to be back to back with the first quartet. They’d defend them as they tried to destroy or damage Demise’s sword. As Sky imagined, Fi was fighting her own battle against Ghirahim, both still into their respective weapons, both half asleep, but they were there.

While Time, Twilight and Warriors attacked Dink, Sky was trying so hard to hit the sword and shatter it.

But the Dark was swift. After several times he was losing hope… then saw a feeble blue light coming from the Master Sword. Was Fi helping him somehow? He concentrated. Just one, precise, fast motion. Now!

The Master Sword clashed with its counterpart so hard everyone heard it. The weapon fell from Dink’s hands, the tip into the ground. When he gave Demise the fatal blow, the sword fell in that same way, then disappeared. He thought he had destroyed it along with the demon deity. And this time, it disappeared too. Was it enough? He didn’t know, but took the chance to swing Fi directly at Dink as it was unarmed.

Dink dodged and laughed maniacally, as the sword reappeared right in front of the hero’s eyes.

Sky couldn’t believe it. The following blow sent him out of the battlefield, right where Wind was resting, his back hit a tree and he screamed in pain, both for the impact and for the blood coming from a dangerous scar on his chest. Luckily, he had an enhanced red potion. His condition was so bad, he had that potion that could be used twice, and drinking only half meant his recovery would be full but take one hour at least…

He swallowed it all.

It took him ten minutes to be able to walk again, too long minutes, in which Warriors was hit on the head, lost consciousness, and was rescued by Legend. Yes, Sky should have waited more for the potion to have full effect, but he didn’t care, he had to get back there. He couldn’t make another “brother of the sword”, as Wild liked to address them, get hurt like that! Yes, when he met Legend and Wars on his way back to the field, he had a spare normal red potion he could give the captain. No, he didn’t have another one besides that. He only had a last resort he had never used during this adventure. Only one. Immense power, invincibility, then total exhaustion. He hoped he could avoid using that.

When he got there again, Hyrule scolded him for getting up too soon. He needed to rest, or he wouldn’t heal properly, and anyway he would be vulnerable as he wasn’t at his best! Sky knew he was right, his back was still hurting, but now it didn’t matter, he didn’t have time to listen to him, so he turned away and faced the other heroes and… Dink? Where was it?

The faces of the others turned from confusion to horror when a scream reached their ears and Sky turned around again to see Hyrule with a huge cut right where Twilight got his. The Dark had taken advantage of that short discussion to attack him easily. Sky and Legend shielded him from the other monsters as the traveler healed himself, his magic was just enough to make the wound not fatal, he then fainted, and Legend carried him away, next to Warriors and Wind who were slowly recovering but in no shape to fight. Without the healer, Wind, and Warriors, and everyone else getting tired, the hypothesis of a defeat was getting closer.

Dink reappeared next to Time, who managed to parry without getting hurt. Sky had helped Wild with the bokoblins while Legend was out of the battlefield, then went back to join Twilight and Time as they circled Dink. They were tired but they’re excellent fighters, and with a lot of concentration, Sky managed to make the Dark unbalanced by hitting Demise’s sword other times, and the other two took advantage of that moment to impale it with their swords, causing the dark to scream in a voice that sounded like Twilight’s but distorted and horrific. It laughed maniacally again, and the sword went floating above everyone. It had really woken Ghirahim up. Sky got ready. Everyone looked up for a moment but Twilight took a second too long, he was so tired, almost at his limit. For the lack of dark blood, Dink turned back to its formal lizalfos shape and hit Twilight right on his still healing scar with its heavy tail. The pain and exhaustion were so strong the rancher fainted. Without looking back or stopping at all, Dink had run away and disappeared in the forest around the field.

Legend, Four and Wild noticed the bokoblins weren’t spawning anymore, and went back to reduce their number. Time took Twilight and brought him away, feeling his rage increasing. Of course he would heal quickly this time but damn it, it still hurted. And moreover, they had 4 heroes unable to fight! This was the worst battle ever, and it could go even worse. Wind and Warriors were awake and reassured him they were going to be fine, Wind’s side had a huge scar instead of a deep cut and blood, but his strength was yet to be restored. And Wars had a huge bump on his head, and Hyrule and Twi were k.o.

In the meantime, the moment Sky was sadly waiting for happened. Demise’s sword emanated a disgusting red light, and in no time the heroes were facing the man with a pale skin, a red cape, and a strange hairstyle. Ghirahim’s target was Sky of course, but the chosen hero was ready and blocked all his attacks. He knew him too well to commit any mistake. Time came back, he was furious. Sky looked like he was keeping up well. Like the other time, he could help the others with Din’s fire. Then, everyone would be free and they’d all concentrate on Ghirahim. It could work. Maybe the fire would startle the enemy a bit too.

So Time went for it, a sphere of fire emanated from his sword, magical fire, that destroyed all the smaller enemies without hurting any of the heroes or the nature around. Ghirahim though didn’t even flinch, instead he quickly left Sky alone and targeted Time with his red diamond shaped blades. Time was on his knee, about to stand up after using the spell. Sky was quick enough to notice his enemy was about to change the target and shouted “shield!”. Time took the mirror shield and protected himself from all the blades… except the one stuck just above his knee. He held back a scream of pain and stood up when the magical blade disappeared. Ghirahim laughed and walked closer and with his hands was about to create another set…

When his arms dropped and his expression changed to anger and pain. The Master Sword firmly in his shoulder, Sky holding it tightly with both his hands.

Everyone knew that wasn’t enough but the damage was surely high. Ghirahim lost his temper, leaving Time alone and turning back to Sky with a crazily furious face. “I never imagined you’d become this quick”, he said with his voice sounding way more metallic and serious. “But you know I can do much more than this!”.

Everyone watched as Ghirahim changed shape, color, and nature. Almost everyone, except for Sky and Warriors, had been questioning how a human could appear from a sword, now everyone knew ghirahim’s true form. Legend, Wild, Four and Time walked closer to help Sky, but Ghirahim sent them away with something like an energy wave, as a circular gate made of diamond shapes appeared around him and Sky. Legend and Wild tried to run into it, jump over it, damage it, but nothing worked, it looked like they had an invisible tall wall all around. They realized they could do nothing but watch. Legend went to check on Hyrule and the others, he and Twilight were slowly regaining consciousness. The others looked for any potion, or fairy, or anything that could help Sky after the match in case he got hurt (again) and realized in shock they had no red potions left. Nor stamina. Only some magic ones, Hyrule would most likely use them to heal the others but he still wasn’t ready.

Four’s mind felt so divided and it wouldn’t shut up. His worries, sometimes Green’s, sometimes Red’s, for his friends clashed with Vio’s and Blue’s questions about Ghirahim. Was there a way to defeat it? The sword itself? Or was it going to disappear again and reappear later to doom them all? If it could be destroyed, why hadn’t Sky done it during his adventure?

Wild had some meals left but nothing with enough healing qualities, he surely couldn’t give him a ton of like… apples, to reach the properties of a potion. He was getting terrified. Ghirahim was no other than a demon god’s servant, assistant, and weapon. Ghirahim’s master was the source of all evil. And Sky was already tired and hurt, and he had no potions and nobody could help. If he allowed himself to loosen the guard for a millisecond, Ghirahim would kill him with nobody able to stop it! Were the heroes going to lose a member for real this time? Was he about to lose a brother of the sword again? He needed to stay calm and avoid acting like days ago, he had promised Four he wouldn’t lose control again.

And Sky and Ghirahim were fighting. Sky's movements were precise, but certainly not his best. Maybe he was just so tired. After long minutes of swords clashing Sky felt the exhaustion and the pain increasing rapidly, Ghirahim laughing, that disgusting noise making the situation even harder and more hateful and he damn knew he wouldn’t win like that, he would collapse. Why did he feel pain again? Did he get new injuries? He quickly found himself unable to do anything useful, he was just defending himself. He couldn’t move enough to attack. He was getting slow. The others outside the gate were watching the show breathlessly.

Sky’s last resort was there, the white colored potion. He hesitated a bit, while dodging a set of diamond blades. He had to drink it. He’d destroy Ghirahim, and get his damn rest. When he got the potion, Luv and Bertie told him to be extremely cautious and only use it when he had no other option. He’d be too exhausted to fight at all after the three minutes of invincibility, he had to be sure to defeat the enemy in that short time.

He couldn’t wait anymore.

He gulped it all in one sip, and in no time felt his energy coming back, his strength increasing, his skin getting thicker. A diamond blade was thrown at him, it met his arm, stopped and fell, like it had impacted on a wall. No scratches, no pain. Sky felt like a superhero. Three minutes were enough. He charged at Ghirahim, Fi was pointed towards the enemy’s huge diamond on his bust. This time, it was Ghirahim trying to defend himself how he could. Could a sword spirit feel fear? Sky didn’t know. Three minutes.

The others were all watching, Time could almost see himself wearing the Fierce Deity mask and fighting Majora in Sky and Ghirahim. They were all surprised and even Wind got closer to the gate to watch.

Finally, they heard a scream, and glass shattering. They all stood up as the gate disappeared, and looked at Sky, the most furious he could be, standing still with the Master Sword in hand. At his feet was Ghirahim, with his diamond broken. Sky was taking deep breaths that slowly turned into panting, almost wheezing, and then a smirk. He had really done it! He couldn’t believe in himself, he had destroyed it!

The three minutes were ending. The others didn’t know anything about the potion nor the side effects.

In no time Sky felt like he had been struck by lightning, his movements got so slow and then he couldn’t move, he was just… standing there, unable to do anything other than breathing. His right arm, with Fi, was slightly shaking. He realized he couldn’t control his body.

His relief and satisfaction instantly turned into terror. What was happening to him?

Like his fight with Demise, his enemy had gotten a fatal wound. Right in the chest. But somehow, for he didn't know what force, the enemy still had the strength to pronounce a last sentence.

Ghirahim lifted his head, and a forced laugh came out of his mouth. Sky wanted to stop him, give him another final blow, end him once and for all. But he couldn't move. Even his voice felt stuck there, and now his hand was visibly shaking and he still couldn't do anything about it!

And Ghirahim started talking, Sky couldn’t concentrate.

Was he stuck there? Was he going to cast another curse? Was Sky going to die right then because of all the potions he took in a relatively too short time?

Wild appeared in front of Sky, furious, with the Master Sword in hand, that he quickly pressed into Ghirahim’s already broken diamond with all his force, enough to make Fi stick in the ground beneath him. Ghirahim's sentence ended with a choked wheeze, in the middle of a curse he was about to cast but then lost all its value. In no time, only a broken and powerless sword was left, that Wild put into his slate for later.

Wild must have taken Fi from Sky's hand, though the chosen hero hadn't noticed, or felt, anything.

Only that his head was spinning and the pain from before he took the guardian potion had come back stronger and he felt like falling but his knees didn’t bend at all.

Wild quickly and quite scarily turned his face to Sky. Oh Hylia he was so angry. He looked so done.

“Why didn't you finish it?”

He raised his voice.

“SKY. WHY didn't you finish it??”

Sky was really trying to answer. His voice came out so low it looked like he was whispering.

“I…”

The world got blurry. Everything had happened in like 2 minutes. From when Sky stopped moving to when Wild talked. Was he slowly losing consciousness, was he slowly fainting? Sky felt like he was going to fall any second now, he just wanted to rest, to move, to scream. But Wild didn't seem to understand, maybe from the outside Sky looked better than how he really felt. Wild spoke again.

“You what?? It could have cursed us! Or killed you!”

And yes Sky now really felt like he was a failure, if he and Ghirahim were alone that monster would have cursed everyone and then killed him with the remaining strength! Sky knew it! A failure! And he needed to scream and the world was spinning and his ears were ringing so loud, he was about to faint and Wild was right there in front of him literally showing him how easy was his one job he didn’t do!

“YOU DESTROY THINGS NOT ME!”

was the only thing coming out of Sky's mouth, sounding so broken, and so loud.

“AT LEAST IT'S A THING! YOU CAN'T EVEN DO THAT!” Shouted Wild. He had snapped again.

And after that, Sky finally fell. Heavily on the ground, pale.

Four reached Wild, his eyes so blue, and looked him right in the eyes, getting mad at him for losing his temper again. Wild came back to senses, Fi still in his hand. He left her on the ground and quickly kneeled down to help Sky, rambling, a sequence of “Oh Hylia” and “I’m sorry” escaping from his mouth. How hadn’t he noticed anything? Sky had been right in front of him, surely already pale and dizzy and unable to move, and he hadn't noticed anything! He let his anger towards Dink, Ghirahim, his own failure and fear to lose another one, and who knows what more, win. And of course he wasn't angry at Sky at all, he was extremely worried he could get killed or cursed by his enemy in its last moments that he didn't really look at him and notice Ghirahim wasn't the main problem there. The same had happened with Twilight. Four had helped him again. This time, though, Wild had snapped back to his senses much faster. He could help.

Sky's heart was beating… too slow. His breath wasn’t normal. Something was so wrong there, pure exhaustion couldn’t make one so messed up. He alerted the others and Legend quickly ran to Hyrule.

In the meantime Wild tried to wake Sky up, but nothing worked, and he started crying. The downfall duo came back and the healer examined Sky. His wound from Dink had closed in a too forced way, too soon and thus too badly. His back looked bruised and hurt, like if a vertebra or 2 were in the wrong position and pressing against his skin. He was full of fresh smaller cuts, almost the same one Time had gotten from the diamond blade. But the main problem there was inside. A cocktail of potions, as Hyrule defined it, taken in a too close time and all super powerful. They had acted like poison together, the guardian potion made the process slower until the magic effect lasted, and then it quickly got him, because that clear potion itself left the hero without any strength to resist. Sky had been poisoned by the potion he had taken, and he had taken them to get back to fight Dink and Ghirahim, to save his companions, to prevent them from getting hurt. Did he feel like everything was his own responsibility?

Hyrule used his spell, luckily none of Sky’s injuries were infected, but he had to work hard to fix what the potions had done, and he wouldn’t wake up for hours until he regained some strength. If only he had rested when he got hurt the first time he wouldn’t have been in that situation.

____________________________

Sometimes a bad choice of words can cause one to be hurt. Other times, those words might destroy who happened to hear them. The latter is way rarer, but when it happens, it's really difficult to get those words off the mind of a scattered person. That had just happened

____________________________

Sky found himself in a void area. He was floating. Yeah, that looked pretty much like his prophetic dreams, but il felt vivid. A light lit up and Wild was talking in the distance, he couldn’t hear him. He needed to reach him, but he found himself unable to move, like before. He was floating there, just watching.

The void turned into a beach and a kid, probably 12 years old, in a light blue shirt and curly blonde hair approached him. His rolled sleeves showed arms full of scars, he was crying. He looked at Sky and seemed to have found a little relief. “Please stranger! My sister has been kidnapped, I must save her but it’s hard! Please help me!”. Sky wanted to help, that was Wind, during his first adventure. The kid looked so scared. But Sky couldn’t move. After he didn’t know how long, the little Wind went away, disappointed.

He had failed him.

And then he heard a small voice calling him. Another kid showed up, he was younger, 10 years old at best. He had freckles and curly brown hair. “Sir… I got lost, I’m scared, I don’t know how to go back home and there are monsters all around. Please help me!”. The black void was now Hyrule’s land, and the hero was just a small unarmed kid. Sky really needed to do something! But he couldn’t! And little Hyrule left with nothing but sadness on his face, into a too dangerous, desolate land. Sky still didn’t know how he survived.

He had failed him.

And then the land shifted into a field, and a forest in the distance. Another little kid showed up, blonde hair, long ears, and already a sword and a wooden shield in hand. He was on the verge of tears. When he noticed Sky he too felt relieved and ran into him. He was asking for affection, he had just lost his father and left his siblings in the forest, and his sister Saria made him understand he wouldn’t come back. He asked for directions, for a hug, for company. And Sky didn’t answer. The kid ran away, sobbing. “This is unfair! I just want to go back home!” Was the last thing he said before he and his land disappeared into the void.

Kids. They were just kids. He wanted to cry but he was stuck there and couldn’t even do that, that feeling was the worst he had ever had. Wild reappeared in sight and Sky regained his speech, like if Wild was controlling his abilities. Wild came closer, and said he wasn’t doing anything wrong, he was only showing him the truth: he couldn’t do enough, he was too slow, back then with Demise and recently with Ghirahim, he had let the demon curse everyone and the repercussions had echoed in all the eras, forcing teens and kids to endure endless suffering. Then, he disappeared again, leaving him floating there.

And then other kids and teens appeared, he tried to interact with them, to talk, but they couldn’t listen. They asked him for help, he answered, they either couldn’t hear him or were disappointed at his answers. And they were all his current companions, reversed to their age on their first adventure. Wind, Hyrule, Time, Legend and Four were so damn young. And Wild appeared and introduced them as they walked.

He had never had such long dreams of that kind. But that oniric Wild, he was right. Sky had failed them all and wasn’t worthy of being with them. They were all in danger with him around, he’d slow them down and they’d end up getting cursed or killed because of him! He wasn’t meant to hang out with those real heroes, he couldn’t even kill his own enemy! He needed to go away before they found out about the curse, or they would never forgive him. Yes they’d be questioning his absence for some time, but then they’d realize they’d be faster and generally better without him getting in the way.

After some time, probably hours, Wild reappeared in front of him. This time, he could not only see and hear him, but also feel his presence, he looked so real. His hands were covered in flames, and he was slowly going closer. Sky quickly found himself on the floor, able to move his arms and hands again. He mumbled some incomprehensible sounds and tried to defend himself as the oniric Wild hovered his flaming hands around his face and, as soon as they made contact with his cheeks, he screamed.

____________________________

That woke him up. He was terrified. He was sweating, he was panting, he was panicking, he was…

in a bedroll and Wild, the real Wild, was in front of him, cupping his face with warm, absolutely not burning hands. He had cooked something, since there was an amazing smell of food. In fact, he noticed a steaming cup of pumpkin soup laying right next to Wild. Sky’s breath was going back to normal as Wild guided him in inhaling and exhaling, and the others all stood up and came closer to see him finally getting up after…

“You’ve been knocked out for 3 days” Hyrule said, getting closer and kneeling down to check on him.

Sky looked around while Hyrule checked his wound. They weren’t in that field but somewhere else entirely.

“We’re in a new era, still unknown to us. We’ve traveled through a portal shortly after the last battle”.

Sky realized the others had carried him around, defending him, wasting their potential for him, while he was totally useless. On the other side of the bedroll, Wild was patiently waiting for Hyrule to finish, with the soup now in his hands. He looked like he had understood Sky’s intentions, and told him everything will be alright, no need to worry. Hyrule, instead, chose to be more direct, telling him he should have taken one potion and then rested like everyone else did, instead of taking not one, but two enhanced potions together and then rushing into battle when his body wasn’t ready and then taking another absolutely not healing potion that erased his already lacking strength and had side effects his body still couldn’t bear. He concluded by saying the situation was worse than he imagined, if it took not hours but 3 days to heal. He was fine now though. He just needed to stay away from danger and potions for a few days to heal completely. Wild gave Sky his soup and Sky stared deeply at it, telling Hyrule “you will never see me do that again”.

Hyrule looked satisfied, smiled at him, patted his right shoulder, and walked away to inform the others about the situation. Wild had to go too, but after standing up he stared, worried, at Sky eating his soup. Something about what he said was extremely strange, if it was any other hero saying that, Wild would have thought the boy had secretly planned to do something extreme. But Sky would never do that, he was always so sunny, bringing happiness… unless he was in a fight with his worst enemy that nearly killed him and then someone even told him he was useless. Damn. Sky looked fine though, enjoying his soup. Maybe it was just him worrying too much. He walked towards the others, who were sitting on some logs and bedrolls around a fire with a pot on, and asked if anyone wanted more soup.

____________________________

During that day, Sky had been acting quite normally, only a bit thoughtful, less smiley. He and the others had a training session, walked around in search of a town, found a spring of fresh water and filled all their water bottles, finally found a small village and bought arrows, potions and food. They asked around for monster sightings but the people there knew nothing. They booked a room in an inn and prepared to spend a relaxing night for once. Of course, everyone thought Sky was still recovering from that battle that hurt him physically and mentally, and didn’t question his lack of smiles and laughs.

Instead there was a deeper reason, he had to escape. That night nobody was taking shifts, as they were all in the safety of beds. Sky had been questioning himself many times during the last hours if it was the right thing to do, he loved his companions, but every time the thought of them being slowed down by his presence, he was more convinced he had to leave the heroes. They’d thank him later. If it wasn’t him, if Wild or Legend or Four were fighting Ghirahim instead of him, they would have ended it sooner and less pathetically and they surely wouldn't have frozen in front of it and maybe they wouldn't even have needed the guardian potion. Ah yes, the only thing he managed to do in all of it was poisoning himself apparently.

But Fi… the others were her masters too, he couldn’t bring her with him. It would be like stealing everyone’s most valuable weapon. Yes that Master Sword was his, the others had their own in their own times.

In their own times, not there. Was he really going to leave without her? Maybe he’d go back, maybe when everything had ended he’d join the others back to take Fi and bring her home with him. Or maybe not, maybe Fi was destined to travel with those real heroes. After all, Ghirahim was dead now, wasn’t it? Demise was gone too, and Sky’s other tools or a simple sword were more than enough for the smaller monsters in his era.

He was losing a too long time there thinking about it. The right thing was obviously leaving her with the group! So, Sky took his other tools, a few food rations,his sailcloth, and a potion… no, no potions. Hyrule had told him he had to avoid potions for some days. He finally closed his bag and, as quietly as he could, left the inn. He wasn’t heard or seen by anyone.

____________________________

Everyone slept so well that night. Twilight woke up early to watch the sunrise, without any worry, just for that day. The rancher hadn’t paid attention to the silhouettes of his companions sleeping in their beds, why would he have to anyway. They were all warm and safe and the village was lively, really no sign of any monster, he had started to question why they were there, maybe Hylia was giving them some rest, or maybe, like the other time, the enemy was hiding in the woods. Twilight was sitting on the steps of the little stone staircase leading from the ground to the entrance of the inn, just looking around and enjoying the peace. There was a round square with a fountain in the center, and the buildings were around it. All around, there was a field and then a forest. They were most likely high in altitude, probably on a mountain valley, as he could see the silhouettes of mountaintops, and everything was made of wood and stone. It was really peaceful.

Twilight was later interrupted by Four, looking quite surprised.

“I thought Sky would have woken up after all of us, instead he got up before me and Hyrule! Hyrule wanted to check on both of you, but Sky isn’t inside. Were you two together?”

Twilight’s face showed pure confusion. Nobody had opened or closed that door before Four that morning.

“Strange, there’s no chance he got up before you and went for a walk. And if that was the case he should be here now already. But I assure you he’s not inside the inn. The Master Sword is on his bed though.”

After some minutes in which the two stared at each other in total confusion, Hyrule and Wild showed up.

The first two informed them about the situation and as Hyrule joined them with a confused face, Wild realized his concern from the day before wasn’t unfounded and quickly alerted the other 3 and rushed in to wake the others up. There was no time to lose. Maybe Sky hadn’t heard his apologies, maybe everything that happened had impacted him more than what everyone could have imagined.

The 8 heroes were all in the bedroom. Silent. Looking at the Master Sword and then at each other, all ready with weapons and shields and tunics. Though usually, Sky would have charged them all with optimism and energy and they would have taken the path all together smiling and laughing at someone's horrible joke. Time couldn’t understand how they had ended in that situation, yes he and Wild had had that messed up discussion but was that alone enough to cause Sky to react that way? Maybe, everyone realized, he had been told he was useless before, maybe in his quest, by someone important, and that had left a huge scar that had been reopened. Wild had a similar story, if someone told him he was a failure, if one of his companions died because he wasn’t fast enough or good enough to save them, he would have done the same, like he almost did when Twilight was hurt. Of course, not because of that single episode, but because of everything behind it. Maybe, the scar had never truly closed and Sky had forced himself to be optimistic and happy to avoid showing them he felt like he wasn’t enough. If that was the case, the chance he would do something extreme was higher. They had to find him as soon as possible!

They didn’t know that place nor where to look. Their initial research was inconclusive. They looked around the village, in the nearest woods, they took the opposite route of the day before, they asked some villagers, but nothing. Where had Sky gone? Was he really that far? They even divided and searched in groups, but came back to the inn with nothing. It was already afternoon, in about 3 hours the sun would have setted. They were getting tired. They absolutely didn’t want to leave Sky alone, but they had no idea on what to do.

Wild took the Master Sword and held it eye level. Sky had said Fi was way more than a voice. She was a companion… and a guide! Maybe she could help, if she was still there.

They couldn’t talk with her or see her, but maybe…

Wild walked to the center of the square, near the fountain, and held the sword with both his hands. He started moving it aimlessly, upward, downward, forward. He needed to understand how to make it work.

Then, he noticed a feeble blue light appearing for a moment then disappearing, something was happening. He swung it again and again and noticed the light appeared always when held horizontally. The others noticed too and came closer. Wild held it firmly, forward. The light was there, but so dim, almost nothing. Slowly, he started turning around, completing a segment of a circle. And then a semi circle, still nothing more happened. The others looked surprised and confused, but they felt there was something right with what Wild was doing. And after another bit, a visible blue light lit up.

They didn’t know what it was, how it happened and what it meant. But maybe Fi was really trying to show them the way, they could follow her direction, it was worth trying.

For maybe the first time after he woke up in the shrine, Wild was not only following directions, but also giving the others directions. He had been in charge of using the Master Sword as he had found out how it worked. Nobody else’s Master Sword had any ability other than being able to seal darkness and channeling energy for a spin attack, so the heroes were all extremely curious. Even Time found that interesting, and Legend and Four were trying to understand the magic and logic behind the ability.

The path they took was full of obstacles, but of course the shortest. Fi was guiding them towards the forest, the dense vegetation and tall fir trees created patterns of lights and shadows, that reminded them they now had about 2 hours to find Sky before they found themselves traveling in the dark. The ground was slippery and some slopes were steep, and yet they were almost running, the sword giving them hope.

Wild couldn’t deny that looking for Sky, with him as the leader, was making him feel useful and put aside his own recurring thoughts about his failure. Maybe being alone for so long had enhanced those, and now adventuring with some companions was finally making him see the truth. He couldn’t say he was totally over it, or he wouldn’t have lost control when Twilight was dying and when Sky was about to be cursed, but he was surely healing. After that adventure, when he’d eventually go back, he needed to explore his land with Flora and help every citizen. That thought made him smile softly.

Four and Legend, walking next to him, noticed it and asked if he sensed they were getting closer. Wild answered the smile was for something else, but they surely were, every step in the right direction was shortening their distance. Or at least, they hoped so. They chose to believe in Fi’s light, that, they had noticed, was somehow getting brighter.

They couldn’t believe Sky could have walked that far by pure force of will. They were taking a huge shortcut, with Fi’s help, and they had already taken 2 hours to get where they were. They still hadn’t found him and they only had one hour. Twilight checked his amount of oil for the lantern, Legend and Four checked their own tools. Wars used to have a lantern during his quest but it broke, luckily Legend said he had another one in case they needed more light. Nobody was surprised by his statement. Classic Legend.

Then, Four noticed something. There were monster footprints on the muddy ground. Lizalfos, most likely.

So there were monsters in that era! Monsters they had to catch and destroy before crossing another portal. Near the monster’s, a human pair of footprints was imprinted on the ground, coming from the right, turning and going straight ahead. And the Master Sword was pointing right in that direction.

Did the monsters take Sky? Or did Sky chase them? There was only one way to know.

The heroes were running, now with the footprints and Fi’s help together following the path was a piece of cake. Maybe they were still on time. They were getting a bit worried, but Sky was the best at fighting, yes his shape wasn’t the best but he could make it. As they got deep into the forest, they noticed it was full of fireflies. The sun had set now, but thanks to the little creatures they could still see quite well.

They stopped abruptly when they heard the noise of swords clashing and monsters screaming. They were all on top of a small C or gulf shaped cliff, about 2 meters tall. On the ground below them were 3 green lizalfos, armored and with what looked like a huge arm guard, one with its spiked tail already cut off and black blood dripping from the open wound. The man the heroes were looking for was right there. Sky was fighting the monsters alone with his whip, beetle and bow.

The heroes, ready with their swords and bows, were ready to jump down and help. Wild had Fi with him and he of course wanted to give her to her master!

But Sky made eye contact with him for a brief second before dodging a tail attack, and be it because he had Fi in hand, or because of the fireflies, or because he had understood he and Sky were extremely similar in a way, Wild got the message. They had to stay there. He turned back and looked at the others.

“Everyone stop!”

The others looked at Wild extremely confused, but did as he said. Four asked why, Warriors stated he wasn’t going to leave a companion in danger alone.

“I wouldn’t either! But that’s what he wants and what he needs. If we jump there and kill even one of those infected monsters for him, he’d feel like we think he isn’t good enough. Instead he will defeat them all!”

Wild turned back at Sky and swung the Master Sword to make him notice it. Sky raised his right arm, after hitting one of the lizalfos with the whip, and Wild threw him the sword, which the chosen hero catched perfectly from the handle. He smiled, and nodded in gratitude. As he slashed the monster, Wild continued.

“I made him feel useless. That probably hurted him way more than we imagine. Like talking about my own failure, it still hurts even now, you’ve clearly seen it. He probably needs to prove himself, and me, he can do this, fighting without our help. I don’t want to steal him another opportunity to end an enemy for good”

The others agreed with Wild. Sky was perfectly capable of defeating 3 infected lizalfos on his own, and if that could make him feel better, if that could heal his pure soul, then it was the right thing to do.

The monsters screamed.

In few, fast and precise moves the lizalfos were all nothing but black smoke, blood, and a bunch of tails and horns. Wild was the first to jump down and immediately threw himself on Sky to hug him tight. It was finally time for him to give the hero his formal apologies, apologies Sky knew were the truest and most genuine he had ever heard. Of course he hugged Wild back and reassured him he felt better now, he had been so mad at himself for having failed again and those lizalfos were all he needed to release the anger. The others reached them shortly after, after letting the two heroes have a moment for themselves first.

They all hugged Sky and Wild or gave pats to their backs, and then promised to remember they were all valuable, worthy, and strong enough. Wild joined them promising that he’d be extra careful and try his best to not snap again, and Sky followed. He wouldn’t escape again. He would always try to remember he’s worthy, and in case he felt like the day before, he would discuss it with the others.

“Look, Hyrule said your body isn’t even at its best, and yet you managed to keep up with 3 empowered lizalfos without the master Sword! And those looked huge and armored!” Wind said.

They walked away, back to the village and the inn, chatting and smiling, with their lanterns all lit on, and a bunch of fireflies following them, attracted to the light.

Maybe the heroes could spend that night enjoying the peace of that village, the sound of water coming from the fountain, a warm dinner, and play their instruments, or maybe they could get the rest they all needed. Either way, they had to spend it carefree.

____________________________

The day after, as they were walking in that forest again in search of other footprints or monsters, Sky noticed a dark figure moving swiftly between the trees in the distance. Wind quickly took his telescope and saw Dink opening a portal. As the heroes rushed there, Wild stated that Sky, other than being the best swordsman ever, also had a sharp eye. They all smiled, someone laughed.

With positivity and optimism, they all got into the portal, ready to chase and fight Dink again.

#lionesswrites #zelda #linked universe #linkeduniverse #the legend of zelda #lu sky #lu wild #zelda skyward sword #skyward sword #ghirahim #lu dink #linked universe fanfiction #lu fanfiction #CTCGIFTX2024 #gift exchange

[dupliciti]

HC / MUSE UNDERSTANDING FROM GAME MEGAPOST PART 1 OF 2.

Part 2 here. CBT1 info here.

Hi, this time here to talk to the concrete canon bits ( all of Sampo’s in-game stuff atm ) and how it attributes to my understanding of my muse and where some headcanons derive from. This going to be part 1 of 2 ??? posts. It got too long and idk how else to post it because if I have any other headcanon posts…. All this stuff would be used as the base layer for those posts, y’know ? Like everything else in my head would be not directly tied to an in-game thing whereas all of this is.

If information is largely hc or IS hc, it will be italicized in full. Some sections will honestly just refer to previous posts I’ve already made, minimizing the amount I’ll be typing up here. For this part, I’m going to attempt to go in chronological order of the story as it’s presented to us in the game, some jumping is necessary to draw points and tie a headcanon together though. Leaks may be indirectly referenced but I will not flat out state when I am incorporating such information. Better safe than sorry, if you care about leaks, then maybe avoid this because there won’t be any warnings… Because like I said, I’m not going to blatantly incorporate any of them.

MAN HIDING IN SNOW.  Sampo knows he’s run into the group he’s meant to right from the beginning. Reasoning partially to do with the 4th wall break, him saying that the Trailblazers are more fun than expected. I’ll talk more on that later, but the main point is that he expected them on Jarilo. Maybe not exactly recognizing MC, but at least can gather that three outsiders not knowing anything about the planet are the people he’s looking for. He’s not stupid enough to believe that those three are Silvermane Guards, despite being like “oh you guys aren’t guards? Why didn’t you say so?” That’s just him playing his part. 

In addition to this, fate seems to be part of how the Masked Fools views things and operates. Sampo, in this first meeting with him, says: “A meeting like this has to have been written in the stars.” Yeah, because it seems like he and perhaps other Masked Fools were perfectly aware of the situation on Jarilo and knew that the Astral Express would get caught up in it. 

Sampo was supposedly hiding relics out in the snow plains. I believe that Sampo has hideouts, varying sizes, using run down and abandoned buildings in rather “dangerous” areas in order to tuck himself or goods away. Scattered throughout, so in the plains, in the city, Underworld too. This is kinda further reinforced by Lynx spotting sausage out by the building in the plains (as mentioned in her introduction). How else is he getting away with nearly four pounds of spices? He ain’t tucking that into his pocket or hauling it around unnecessarily. 

I’m pretty sure the invisible snow walking technique can be attributed as a very small draw of power as an Emanator.

I SAY WHAT I MEAN AND I MEAN WHAT I SAY. Sampo seems to have been keeping tabs on the Trailblazers, either from their entry into the city or just a bit before their run in with Bronya. He says he was watching from the shadows, so hard to say. Regardless, it’s enough for him to intervene with smoke bombs that also seem to have no issue knocking everyone, but him, unconscious. True, since he knows the contents of his own bombs he could’ve built up immunity/taken something to counteract it and perhaps have a bit of help from a certain power of his.

As I’ve discussed in my CBT1 commentary, one thing that I am absolutely taking from it is the fact that Dan Heng has an entire discussion about how not a lot of poisons/toxins in the galaxy affect him, and convinces himself that he’s just overthinking the contents because we’re all new to Jarilo and stuff. If we take this information and pair it with Dan Heng’s pointed comments about how Sampo needed to knock us out to cover up a secret. Says there’s more to him than meets the eye. If Sampo’s an Emanator, then there’s really more to him than meets the eye. We get my next little headcanon: Sampo can make use of teleportation, small enough distances. This comes from his power as an Emanator. Because he carried multiple people, Bronya by mistake, through a dangerous path to get to the Underworld. He himself says that the initial path he used to get them down there is dangerous and risky and the path WAS NOT the Furnace Core. 

I touched a little bit on Sampo’s dynamic with Natasha and other Wildfire members/Underworlders. The only other information I have to add here is that Natasha believes she sees right through Sampo. Sampo is at an advantage, his motives not exactly known but he’s helpful. Bouts of mischief are really the only thing to point towards blatant lies. There’s not much worth in figuring out that he’s lying about purposely causing brief fun though. Covers up anything else he might be doing on his own in abandoned parts… Like communicating with Masked Fools… Stuff as such… You get me?

In any case, much like Natasha says, Sampo’s troublemaking is never enough to get anyone killed… So that counts for something. 

LAP DOG.  Need to point out his insight on the Fight Club name he picks out for Dan Heng. Cold Dragon Young. I don’t believe DH’s clothing necessarily screams dragon… And it is very possible that Sampo might’ve asked for some assistance from him in coming up with a name on the spot. But considering that Sampo is aware of the Luofu and also aware that our next stop is the Luofu despite there never being an instance in which we would’ve made him specifically aware, it’s a bit sus. He might’ve had insight somehow, just as he had some insight on Belobog. 

The way he talks about geomarrow, the underworld and overworld trade and such… It all sounds like stuff he’s recounting or telling as if he’s been told. Not first hand accounts. Dan Heng again pointed in bringing up that Sampo is the only thing that moves up and down, Sampo keeps asking him not to spread rumors. Yeah, I mean, posing it in that way only draws attention to him, but to what end? That’s only to be decided by the Astral Expres crew and not the people of Jarilo. 

Seele conflating situations with Sampo is interesting, never really having evidence. It’s clear she doesn’t trust him, but regardless, he seems to cause trouble when it’s not expected or when it’s unnecessary for both the Underworld and Wildfire. Just to see where things go or how it plays out. Never enough to cause a lot of harm, but enough to rile people up.

Sampo implies that when asked a question correctly, he can answer it. If your muse asks my Sampo a question correctly, then he’ll give an answer closer to what you’re seeking.

There’s not much else to comment on for his relationship with Wildfire. He’s a contractor, a mercenary… Hired on for jobs when requested or when he seeks work. Mostly just about making money but also seems to fix whatever boredom might come. Very contented lap dog in that he’ll do whatever because he can afford to on this planet, money is money, Wildfire is consistent work.

BOSS SVAROG’S LAIR. One of my favorite things to point out here is when Sampo is guiding us around the vagrant camp, his personality peeks through, whether it's part of a facade or not is a bit difficult to tell… But I believe it’s the real guy, whatever is left beneath the mask. 

He’s amused by March’s “open sesame” attempt, calling it “colorful”. The only suspicious thing about his use of this word is that he also uses it to describe his past in his eidolon activation voice line. Even so, he’s smiling behind her, his eyebrows in the same position they would be for 

both the gentle and shy expressions, implying that there’s something genuine here.

Another neat thing is going through the certification process. Sampo’s confidence can’t help him if he doesn’t legitimately know the answer to something that does in fact need a real answer. He does end up saying he doesn’t know everything and then warns the group that people around here might deceive them. Interesting. Sampo, while not technically deceiving, happens to not have to disclose any information about himself during the Crew’s journey on Jarilo. At least not directly.

Anyways, when you get a question wrong Sampo doesn’t insult you nor does he make fun of you. Might be because he was humbled, but like for a Fool it could’ve been a brief moment for him to at least get a tiny laugh in. While he might find amusement in small things that are inherently funny and perhaps childish, making fun of someone’s intelligence in a more serious scenario doesn’t fit here for him.

He’s really not fond of the risk the group is taking by waltzing on up to Svarog. Thus, he splits again, seemingly in cowardice. However, we later see it is because he brought Natasha over as fast as he could. Difficult to say that the timing would’ve made sense since we had to help out Clara in between, but it is entirely plausible that he made use of his Emanator power to pull a few strings, short teleportation… Hmm. 

GOING BACK TO THE SURFACE. Small part, circling back on the fact that the group will now follow Sampo through the Furnace Core. Like I said, DH suspects that he’s hiding something. Sampo more than likely had a trick up his sleeve like teleportation and perhaps some sort of strength because if you ask why you need Sampo as a guide, he says that the path of the Furnace Core has been blocked for over ten years and very few know how to get through. Which makes it sound dangerous if it’s closer to the vagrant camp to begin with. How does this rule out the other path? Sampo took a dangerous path while carrying a lot of people all at once? It doesn’t sound logical. So, everything points to him hiding some hidden power that is not visible to the naked eye that he had to utilize to transport everyone efficiently.

Sampo’s commentary on the Landaus (Gepard and Serval) occurs around this part. Serval I’ve already mentioned in this post here. To briefly reiterate, Sampo did something to piss Serval off after things built up on top of him turning more into a criminal that Gepard likely warned Serval, like “watch him” or “stop being friends with him” type of stuff. Yet, Sampo sounds like he was genuinely fond of her, likely the only person he might consider a real friend. 

Here Sampo talks about how he doesn’t know Gepard too well despite “dealing with him the most”, mainly because he is a criminal. Though, based on his voice lines and how he talks about Serval, Gepard has always been hovering around him from the start. Their dynamic and relationship are superficial, but Serval being the person that would’ve led to one learning about the other prior to Sampo getting into real trouble. Asking Sampo more about him just leads him to exposing that outside/superficial opinion, which includes the fact that he’s handsome and going as far as to say that Gep’s lack of charm is charming. All of this could be for laughs, no one asked for the extra bits. Sampo is known for including fluff in what he says, he’s definitely making a jab at Gepard. I am of the shipping preference mindset when it comes to this phrase, but realistically, Sampo is saying this because he doesn’t have much to say about Gepard as he doesn’t really know him too well compared to Serval.

Reminder, Sampo doesn’t have it in for you. Though, I’d say this is because of the greater Masked Fools picture. 

I DREAMED ABOUT SAMPO. I’ve partially discussed what occurs here in two posts.

First, Sampo’s ability to break the fourth wall is shared with Aha. For my purposes, this is going to be labeled as an Emanator power.

Second, Sampo saying that he lives by the quote “True happiness always entails the manifestation of the dignity of mankind”. I took a philosophical dive to come to the conclusion that Elation is not necessarily happiness, but Sampo through his own aesthetics tries to achieve happiness through embodying feeding into his own pursuit of Elation. If that at all makes sense. 

It’s nice that he is now a confirmed Masked Fool because he, like the other Masked Fools in the game, love using their Elation related vocabulary and other not really subtle ways to suggest that they are Fools. Aka “performance”, “joy”, “curtain call”, shadowy comic relief”.  

I believe he was speaking to Giovanni, given that we later see Giovanni after he confirms that the Astral Express crew are fun. Further supported by the fact that whoever he’s talking to in the scene mentions returning to Epsilon. What’s mildly concerning is that if this is Giovanni… he somehow was able to observe these interactions.

I’m about to bring in two different things that are not specific to Sampo to talk more to Sampo and Aha’s relationship. Really going to go into a weird one here. If this was in fact Aha rather than Giovanni, then it would make sense how Aha can observe what happened on Jarilo. Aha apparently is the one laughing in the Phantylia fight, meaning that they are observing the fight. Giovanni in Aetherium Wars brings up eyes watching. These Masked Fools seem to be aware of a greater presence with the ability to watch things unfold. If both Aeon and Emanator utilize their power to communicate in thought, meaning the dream truly is made up by the head… But instead of it being two-way, they then projected into the dream of the Trailblazer… This seems plausible to then allow Sampo to break the fourth wall of a video game, much like the one Aha recognized themselves to be in (SU).

#( ◇ ᵖᵘʳˢᵘⁱⁿᵍ ᵉˡᵃᵗⁱᵒⁿ┊ hc; )

[just-a-floofy-catt]

I took a bit of a break from posting cus im tired as balls atm lmao

But i wanted to atleast chuck something out today so heres the ref/original idea sheet of Avery, my fnaf sb self-insert/oc from a while ago :)

(Ive already kinda shown this b4 but now it just looks nicer)

(And has all the writing stuff below the pic in this post)

Also here's some bonus info on him and his role and all :)

• Hes a trans dude (he/they pronouns) that "is built like a twink and dresses like a femboy" (quote from my friend lmao), and has an extremely ambiguous voice - British accent btw (grew up in the UK, he moved over to his current residence and lives w a roommate who was his online friend).

• Hes can occasionally be a lil bit of a freak behind the scenes XD. Has indulged in alot of fanfiction, draws some questionable stuff for money and also generally can have pretty crude and vulgar humor sometimes lmao.

• Hes pretty creative with a long ass list of hobbies. Loves fashion and costumes, is an artist, avid sewer and just generally loves making things with his hands in his spare time (100% brings his crochet to work XD)

• Has almost crippling anxiety about literally almost everything.

• Hes very polite and tolerates alot of bullshit to avoid conflict, but inside he is 100% raging with the heat of 1000 suns despite the fact hes outwardly shaking enough to be practically vibrating. He will definitely talk shit about the situation to himself in great, excruciating, dramatic detail with alot of angry cursing later and then probably cry about it.

• The boi is a little try-hard that will do their job above minimum effort in order to get praise, or out of fear for getting in trouble.

• Hes typically empathetic to a fault and a straight up (un)qualified therapist.

• Oh, also, hes a raging insomniac.

- First got the job because art commissions were a little slow and, hey, a more reliable source of money at the time wouldnt hurt.

- He was always kinda curious about the place because the scary stories about it were fun to pick apart and he loved the designs of all the animatronics (pft furry).

- He showed up to the interview scared shitless but they hired him almost on the spot, much to his confusion, as he was probably less than entirely qualified for this sort of job.

- From his very first day, he showed up pushing the dress code XD. But, he was indeed wearing the uniform, so he was technically following the rules(THEY COULDNT DO SHIT TO HIM 🥰) (well they could) (but the understaffing issue was more prioritised).

- His coworkers genuinely have no fucking clue how he manages to give enough of a shit to put that much stuff on every morning. The fits are always very over the top, considering all he had to do was put the damn uniform on, but alas, he usually showed up in head to toe accessories and such. It's honestly the best way he can make himself go into work. If he's gonna work a kinda shitty job that doesn't fit his schedule that well and have to do it on barely any sleep, THEN FUCK YEAH HES GONNA DO IT WHILE LOOKIN GOOD. Thats his philosophy on it, atleast XD.

- At first while he settles into the job hes just given shifts in general areas, working joint shifts with more trained security guards or maintenance people or animatronic handlers (those were his favourites. He always got excited like a little kid when getting to see any of the animatronics) to get him used to the place.

Fazbear ent. Was clearly desperate for employees as they were almost always understaffed, but it seemed that they weren't willing to give many employees a strict job role. Rather, expecting them to be a jack of all trades as to try and fix that little issue.

This also happened to apply to Avery, explaining why he was given such oddly scattered and different jobs to settle him in.

- Even as he did start becoming independent, this didnt much change.

One night he could be watching security cameras in the office, the next he could be counting stock at a gift shop, the next he could be helping out with minor maintenance tasks on the robots (despite his ZERO FUCKING KNOWLEDGE ON THEM. Great job there Faz.Ent. Oh well. As time went on he did get atleast a little accustomed to it and managed not to electrically fry his no-robotics-degree-having ass. And he also gained a bestie in the Parts and Services Department, so that was pretty helpful too).

Shit was pretty damn good.

- Thats when they 'suddenly' decide that daycare security is necessary. Something about parents becoming increasingly weary of the odd 'Daycare Attendant' animatronic.

With Avery being their newest hire and most likely to agree to take the position, he immediately gets targeted.

- Now, Avery isnt fond of kids.

Theyre annoying little shits.

So the second he hears 'daycare' hes like "fuck no".

Not to mention that his uh... 'look' (that management had still protested until eventually giving up) would probably set off some entitled mothers or something, and he'd rather not have parents screaming in his face about it.

- Alas, hes eventually convinced into it, under the condition that he gets to stay behind the security desk and not be bothered at all.

- Theyve had security there before, after a few... incidents... but it seemed like they were putting him on a more long term intended job.

- Turns out, from what he can gather from coworkers, a few people have been assigned to the daycare in the past for multiple different roles, but noone really enjoyed it and everyone avoided the place as much as possible. Sun just generally freaked everyone out with that weird... desperation he always had (which was definitely a part of what the parents had also been complaining about) and Moon just scared them all shitless, with the night security guards always looking over their shoulder in hopes of not crossing patrol with him. Noone really downright hated them, some even felt sympathy, but most were just too unsettled to interact with them.

- Avery, being a bit of a pussy, is even further put off from the job by these sentiments.

However, he perseveres and dresses his best to try and convince himself that itd be fine (aka, that if he died atleast hed die pretty).

- The daycare actually had its own themed uniform alongside the plain guard uniform, as did alot of other places in the pizzaplex. However, since the employees were given a choice, basically everyone chose to not don the more whimsical fits, and instead just use their badge to show the specific job or branch they were supposed to be legally assigned to.

- Avery, on the other hand, fucking lived for that shit. XD

Styled it like a girlboss and walked into work at exactly 6.30am, 30 minutes before the daycare opened, prepared to look perfectly the part for his job.

- When he walked into the daycare (he avoided the slide... hm.. maybe if he ever has a night shift here....) and the lights were already on and bright enough to blind a bitch.

Oh well, their electric bill, not his problem.

- He immediately settled behind the desk, planning to keep his ass planted there for the next few hours with one earbud in, hidden under his hair, as he would halfheartedly watch the kids.

But...

Something felt off.

Really fucking weird.

He was definitely being *watched*.

Observed.

Ugh, creepy.

He ignored it, blaming it on lack of sleep.

And thats about as far as i got plan wise for his lil plotline XD

Yippee

#cattart #oc #oc art #original character #fnaf #five nights at freddys #five nights at freddy's #fnaf oc #fnaf sb oc #fnaf sb #fnaf security breach oc #fnaf security breach #security breach #fnaf daycare attendant #the daycare attendant #fnaf superstar daycare #fnaf self insert #dca #dca fandom #dca self insert #dca oc #sundrop x oc #moondrop x oc #dca x oc #catt rambles

[numericalbridge]

TOH rewatch semi-liveblog. Season 1 part 1b

episodes 4-5

Episode 4

- So, how do they make the forcefield against the Boiling Rain once Eda loses her powers?

- Yeah, i love that sometimes Luz and King and Eda are allowed to be mean or insensitive. What i don't like is Eda starting to say that she will 'break every bone' in King's body because he stole the elixir, and that it is not shown as something unusual and instead the story just moves on. With the knowledge that King is meant to be equal to an elementary school kid that kinda crosses the line. He is 8! (as in - i see it is a writing choice that doesn't really fit what season 2 does with Eda and King, not like anything that i hold against Eda as a person)

- But curious whether the King's plotline was changed between seasons because of the way the storyline here connects him with the plight of the demons.

- He also says that the demons are underappreciated, yet all the one-off villains in season 1 are demons or creatures☹️

- AU potential for King and Eber interactions is also golden.

- Transition between episodes from the dream-like sequence of Eda wondering who cursed her to Lilith's introduction in episode 5 is really good.

Episode 5

- Interesting how excited Willow in particular seemed to be about the Covens. Would've been interesting if the development from this point onwards got more focus, and if she had some kind of connection and confrontation with Terra. Or, alternatively if the dynamic between Eda and Willow&Gus that exists in season 1 was continued in season 2 with Eda working on becoming a mentor figure for various kids, leading to her opening the school in the epilogue.

- Tbh i think some of the one-off villains in season 1 could've been replaced by the Coven Heads.

- Mason's cameo. He seems very stoic and rather chill about getting thrown around. Interestingly he is the only Coven Head present at the convention. So maybe the newest Coven Head duties, or maybe he actually cares about his Coven.

- Not an actual criticism - it's just genre conventions, and too much exposition would've dragged the whole thing down, but i confess it always amuses me when very important bits of information about the world - for example how the goverment works - are not explained to the main character until much later even when the absense of that info is dangerous (same happened with WHA too)

- What track is fire spell magic or is it a general thing?

- Luz seems quite reasonable when she explains why she wants to check the EC to form her own thoughts (especially with the info that is available to her and the viewers at this point), and i find it interesting the way she says 'individualism' specifically (and not 'individuality' or 'independence') when describing Eda's aproach and how that connects to Eda's overall journey towards opening her institute of wild magic. I initially had conflicting thoughts about that development because i liked that Eda was allowed to be angry at the school system and never want to do anything with it ever again, but on this rewatch i definitely see how the arc is forming, so i warmed up to it. It's a pity that because of the shortening it feels like a part of her journey is still missing. And also it would've been nice to see why she doesn't seem to connect much with other wild witches - are they just scattered around and in hiding? Or is Eda shunned because of her curse?

- Why doesn't Eda ever use illusion magic?

- No, but all Eda and Lilith interactions are golden! And then season 2 happened.

- They should have, imo, shown Willow's reaction to Luz vs Amity fight, even if brief.

- Luz and King's developing relationship is also very good.

- Ahhh, but Lilith is also shown to hold some bad beliefs - looking down on humans more aggresively than other witches, throwing words like 'degenerate' around. It is clear that she wasn't just some poor nerd whose only problem was that she had to supress her real nerdy interests in the Covens, and it would've been nice to see her progression and bettering herself in s2 instead of just focusing on her relationship with her family and her geeking out. Like, Oh, Titan episode is right there to show the progress! Never understood why it prioritized Steve over Lilith, when Steve didn't even need to be deprioritized, just have all 3 travel together, show Lilith reacting to common people and helping out in the montage, then learn her lesson regarding King by the end in an actually serious manner instead of making it a joke. It is so frustrating, because I never doubted she would be redeemed, and after season 1 i was excited for her development and to see more of her, and then season 2 just went in the direction of my least favourite writing choices with her😞

----

Conclusion:

Overall episodes 1-5 mostly hold very well on the rewatch, and i found episodes 1-2 much easier to follow this time. But some problems are already obvious like Gus having less attention compared to others, and problems with certain character designs.

#it's part 1a and 1b because i watched in 4-5 episode batches but the first part was getting too long #toh rewatch numericalbridge #toh rewatch liveblog #long post #the owl house

[saline-coelacanth]

Does Oliver reveal that he was the one behind the great devour to make lloyd hate him?

Kinda, yeah. During the climactic final battle, Lloyd is still trying to convince Oliver to stop being evil meanwhile Oliver is arguing that he's the Overlord and that he will always be evil because destiny says so, and during the arguing Oliver does mention it. Although he more so mentions it specifically as a jab to Harumi rather than directed at Lloyd since Oliver knows how the Great Devourer destroyed her life.

I forget how the scene goes exactly, it might have been something like Harumi mentioning how Oliver is on her side only for Oliver to snap at her since he never really cared about her to begin with? Idk, Oliver and Harumi have a complicated relationship and my brain is a little too scattered to really explain it well right now. Maybe I'll info dump about them at a later time, idk

But yeah, Oliver does reveal the stuff about the Great Devourer mainly as a way to go "I am pure evil and both of your lives were ruined because of me" to Lloyd and Harumi.

#asks #purified au

[dkniade]

Not gonna lie, I voted for the platonic option in the poll. My reasoning is that I'd really just like to hang out with some of these characters and get to know them. Character analysis has always been my thing and I'd like to see other's takes on them. I'm hardly one to write it out for myself as much as putting them in situations, but the ones I find are quite nice.

Context: types of reader inserts

Yeah, it’d be interesting to hang out with the characters and see what they’d do. I likewise enjoy how others interpret the characters and how it comes across in their writing. It seems to allow for more diverse scenarios too, which is refreshing to see.

Also, speaking of getting to know characters—

(I ended up talking about the development in Kaeya’s & Albedo’s character story so it got a lot longer than I had expected. Also has some reader inserts I like at the end)

-

It seems fan fiction—at least the ones I’ve come across—is written with the assumption that the reader knows about the overall setting/background of the source media. E.g. if someone’s looking for canon-compliant Kaeya-and-Diluc-centric angst/hurt-comfort fic, then it’s generally assumed that the reader knows about the two’s strained past relationship to some degree. So for short reader insert stories (one shots), exposition for the (non-reader) character’s backstory isn’t usually the focus (in my experience)—

(Occasionally I find some where the reader insert’s backstory is just forced straight into the first few paragraphs in a tell-don’t-show fashion like “Your parents were always busy so you always had to take care of yourself but ever since you met [character] your life began to change.” That feels rather dry to read. It’s more fun (and difficult) to scatter bits and pieces of info across the story to imply the reader insert’s backstory.)

—But I think a little exposition for a character background works, so that the story can kind of stand on its own even as fan fiction. Making the context specific when it comes to a scene about why a character is acting a certain way helps set the scene too. Maybe I do it for my stories in general so I don’t forget why I’m writing a character in a way. I tend to forget about character motivation a lot in the middle of writing…

When I say specific context that helps one to know the character… Let’s compare and contrast Kaeya and Albedo’s character stories as examples.

-

KAEYA’s Character Details gives basic info on his position in the Knights of Favonius. “目前他担任西风骑士团的骑兵队长，是一位可靠的行动派、深得琴信任的人物。” -> “Currently he’s the Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius. He’s a reliable person who gets things done, a figure who Jean trusts immensely.”

(Official English version: “Kaeya currently serves as the Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius, and is trusted by Jean.”)

*行动派 describes someone who prefers to do things instead of thinking/talking about them. Man of action is closest the equivalent I could find in English… But someone who gets things done works too.

Story 1 is about his reputation(s) in Mondstadt, his love for alcohol and his ability to manipulate his words and get information (there should be a better way to word this…). “It's hard to imagine someone as mischievous, amiable, and wine-loving as Kaeya being the Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius. Hunters and bandits alike are often among Kaeya's drinking buddies. As wary of him as they may initially be, all are ultimately disarmed by his smooth talking, and end up telling him everything he wants to know.”

Story 2 tells us Kaeya’s view on justice and his unconventional/somewhat sadistic choice of methods in getting things done (e.g. triggering a Ruin Guard and putting both his foes and allies in danger, relishing his allies’ momentary hesitation & his enemies’ fear in a life-or-death situation). The ruin guard part is a nice & specific little snapshot that highlights that part of him. I like how it’s told.

Story 3 is another snapshot but it’s rather subtle (so I’m not quite sure how to interpret it). “Kaeya battles against this threat to Mondstadt not only with his sword, but also with his smarts and his wit.” “When Death After Noon is out of season due to lack of supply, the number of reported incidents inside and outside the city show a drastic decrease, and this remains the case until Death After Noon returns to the market...” Given the previous stories that keep on emphasizing Kaeya’s connection to alcohol, one can interpret it as Kaeya dealing with the enemies a lot more when he’s not drinking/at a tavern… Or that it shows how Kaeya uses information given to him to his advantage, hence “his smarts and wit”… We learn a bit more about him.

And then, Stories 4-5 are about his past, but we’re given details of two specific events that impacted him, one for each story. Instead of saying “Kaeya’s relationship with his birth father and Crepus was like this”, it showed bits of dialogue, thoughts, weather conditions… Other characters’ reactions… Story 4 tells us his abandonment at the Dawn Winery, teases his Khaenri’ahn lineage, and how Crepus took him in. This is about his relationship with his birth father, and Crepus. Story 5 tells us his partnership with Diluc and their past reputations as knights. And then, we get Crepus’ death, another major event for him. “It was the first and only time that Kaeya failed in his duty.” We’re finally given background on why Kaeya is seen as reliable in the knights (character details), and why he’s trusted by Jean. And of course through these two scenes we get to learn about his past relationship with his birth father, Crepus, and Diluc.

And then, because contrast is important in having impact storytelling, we get to learn about an inconspicuous list, a break from the intense tragedies of the previous stories. It’s the object that gets highlighted before the Vision story (usually GI character stories have an item that’s discussed before the Vision section it seems). Lovely. Interestingly, it’s also in second person point of view… It’s got a similar nature as story 3. Motifs… First a report by a young knight (story 3), now a list that “meticulously records the details of bandits in the city and further afield, as well as mercenaries and mid-to-senior-level Treasure Hoarder members, listing for each entry a name, position, area of activity, and personal profile.” And then, “Your gut feeling is that Kaeya purposely let you see this list, but you have no way of proving it.” This feels strangely specific. (In Hidden Strife we also get an epistolary storytelling style…) Piecing the context together like this is fun.

And then we get the Vision story, and more details regarding his inner turmoil and an explanation for him concealing the truth (to Varka in Story 4 for example). Basically, it’s a long-winded way of saying, I like how the separate scenes show off different sides of Kaeya, each with a different context.

-

ALBEDO’s Character Stories, in comparison, seem to have roughly the same tone all the way through. His Character Details introduce his prowess at alchemy (“This young man displayed the true prowess of alchemy to all, bringing with him a massive corpus of wisdom that even the Sumeru Akademiya did not possess”) and his theme of birth., which he demonstrates.

Like Kaeya’s, Albedo’s Character Story 1 shows his social reputation, but glosses it over in a bunch of surface descriptions of he feels this, he feels that, he is this. (“Albedo's tendency to avoid social interactions does not make him a cold-hearted person. He is sincere and contented when instructing his assistants, Timaeus and Sucrose. He finds pleasure in giving his sketches to the citizens of Mondstadt.”)

His information about Alice, and his past with Rhinedottir and Khaenri’ah, is revealed in a very matter-of-fact and emotionally detached manner throughout Character Stories 2-5 and Albedo’s Artwork– But as I’m writing this, I wonder if it’s a third-person limited narrator? If it’s Albedo himself telling the tale, then it all makes sense as to why it’s told this way, since he—at least a part of him—is methodical…

The Vision section felt underwhelming when I first read it. (I had expected every Vision story to be of Kaeya’s calibre but I’m, of course, wrong, haha)(Saying this now, I wonder how Albedo’s Character Stories would be if Durin/Festering Desire and the Primordial Human Project are included in there too?)

But my point is, I don’t feel there’s a particular emotional climax in the progression of Albedo’s character story. In Story 4, he was abandoned by Rhinedottir—and he genuinely believed every one of her threats to abandon him if he couldn’t finish the assignments.

(“In the past, Albedo's assignments had always been very difficult. He had always believed wholeheartedly that his master would make good on her threat to leave him, should he fail. But this assignment she had left to him was far too hard, far beyond the limit of his abilities. Did this mean, then, that he was fated to never complete it, and thus never see his master again?”)

That should’ve been the climax of his character story, yet where’s the tension? Did it impact Albedo emotionally, and if so, I wonder, couldn’t the story show that a bit more? If it didn’t impact Albedo emotionally, maybe because of Alice’s care, I wonder if they could’ve told us about his views towards Alice some more in his story? The Albedo of the past and the Albedo of the (character story’s) present feels roughly the same, meanwhile the Kaeya of the past went through a lot to become the Kaeya of the (character story’s) present.

-

…Back to reader inserts and specific details in showing emotion.

Compared to Kaeya’s character story, maybe how a story unfolds feels different in a one-shot reader insert, which would likely be only one scene (unless it has multiple super condensed scenes). Over the years I’ve learned (from experience and from taking some writing courses) that—

1. Contrast makes emotions hit harder (e.g. we’re repeatedly told how popular, friendly, and mischievous Kaeya is, so perhaps it’s a surprise that his backstory is actually quite dark)

2. How much time elapses between various scenes is important (e.g. Kaeya’s stories 1-3 seem like they could happen across a few days or months, while story 4 suddenly pulls us back to a decade ago, and then some years after in Story 5, and from that point towards we’re slowly experiencing the afternoon of Diluc’s 18th birthday across Stories 5 and Vision. We get a more varied range of experiences this way.)

-

I suppose by now I could mention a few reader inserts that I enjoy. (Last one’s NSFW and the line I mention is suggestive)

by wipcore

changing seasons (Kazuha x reader)

This one I like for the Inazuma textile store assistant reader’s implied backstory and how Kazuha subtly changes them as their paths cross. It’s a specific character setting I didn’t encounter before.

only fools are satisfied (Kaeya x reader)

This one I like for the Sumeru scholar reader and Kaeya’s witty dynamic and for how it opens up the conflict and how Kaeya feels straight from the beginning. Again, it’s a unique character setting I rarely see.

by gold-rhine

NSFW First time sub afab! Kaeya x GN Dom! Reader

(It includes Diluc, Ayato, Gorou, and Kaeya separately but I specifically mean the Kaeya section because, let me just quote a line—)

“an intoxicating feverish thrill from how hungrily you rake your eyes over him mixing with both his own arousal and nervousness into a heady, daring mix.”

The alcohol metaphor, the similar feeling you get when reading the line in Kaeya’s friendship Lv 4 Companion Voiceline, “I have to say, though, that chatting with you is quite intoxicating... Actually, in much the same way that drinking is. So, I suppose... I'm just greedy and want to enjoy both of these pleasures at the same time.”

Yet, gold-rhine’s line works in that context while having it be undoubtedly Kaeya. That, is intoxicating.

And yet, it’s not just smut. There’s character development too, and Kaeya’s layers reveal themselves through the progression of the story in a similar way to how his character story progresses except with enough time that one set of emotions (including his trust issues and self-hatred and desire to please) is wonderfully explored.

…

Inevitably I ended up talking about storytelling again. Anyway, thank you for the comment on reader inserts. I think it’s interesting too, how between the line of character analysis and storytelling, in the hands and scenarios of different fic writers, a character can act differently, yet still retain that part of them that makes them them.

#dusk answers #dusk analysis #writing tips #genshin impact #Kaeya #albedo #reader insert #suggestive #(I quote a suggestive line from a reader insert near the end) #alcohol #(it’s a metaphor) #storytelling

[asktheplethaura]

The PlethAUra: AU INFO LOG #1

Info Log Type: AU Information Alotted AU Name: The Tale of ROY G BIV (A Hint of Color AU)

+++

AU INFO / Synopsis:

Yeah all this AU idea for rainbows. Fight me.

++

So, in this AU, Frisk goes by ROY G BIV and they never fall into the underground.

Instead, the monsters from the Underground come to the surface, but in a rather atypical way. You see, it is very much possible for the humans to fall into the underground, but due to the barrier around it- any monsters attempting to cross the underground get their souls 'scattered'.

This leads to Asgore collecting the human souls as a sacrifice, but he takes a calculated risk and has Alphys make a synthetic Red soul out of the leftovers from Chara's soul which was weak, and small.

This took years and years of work to try and get stable,

This calculated risk came when asgore gathered the 6 human souls and the inauthentic red soul, and opened the barrier.

However, the error with this came with an invisible rift line that no monsters were able to see.

Once the monsters passed this line, their souls all scattered. Each one of the souls picking a monster to spare from completely being shattered entirely.

However, this had an odd concequence.

And that would be the fact that humans with the same color of soul as the monster spared by one of the fallen childrens souls can see them.

IE Undyne's soul was spared by the soul of KINDNESS. Only humans with a KINDNESS soul can see her.

With Undyne being spared by the Green soul, she only appears in the color green to those who can see her.

Frisk is a blind teenager in this AU, about 15 years old.

Frisk happens to posses a soul of Determination as well. Chara, who is an artificial soul of Determination finds Frisk, and attaches to Frisk. This, in turn somehow grants Frisk what can be seen as either 'Artaficial Sight' or 'Monochrome Sight'.

After Chara's soul finds Frisk, Frisk is drawn to the Monsters who escapedthe underground, and finds all of them (since they stayed together anyways)

This has another interesting concequence.

The souls of the monsters / fallen children find ways to attach to Frisk- and Frisk can see in color- but only ONE color at a time.

In short, it depends on which monster touches Frisk first.

Physical contact an bethrough a simple hand holding, or hand touch to the shoulder.

Whatever Monster is touching Frisk will dictate what Frisk sees. Sans, being blue, would only allow Frisk to see blue things. The ability to see the specified color also dictates a later discovered ability to use 1 of the monsters powers.

BUT only if the area where the color is in, is seen in color.

If frisk wanted to use Sans' Bone Attacks- they would only be able to summon them from a blue surface.

Or if they wanted to use Toriel's fire attacks, they would only be able to set purple objects on fire.

so on and so forth.

The last major detail about this AU is that strangely- Frisk cannot comprehend the color 'Red'

So stuff like Blood, Strawberries, Apples and other red things are seen in black and white.

((That's all the information for now))

+++

Extra Insight on the AU:

+ No Designs have been made + Original AU Idea FROM: iiDollieFluff (OG Post)

+ AU Placement: Neutral/Peaceful

Undertale Formula Applied: Atypical / Not Average

+ AU Location: iiDollieFluffs ((The PlethAUra))

#undertale #undertale au #undertale alternate universe #ut au #alternate universe #undertale sans #au concept #the plethaura #iidolliefluff

[ofpineapplesanddawns]

Oooh, time for a big talk of gender things for an android and a cyborg. 

Currently, Crowley goes by AJ (short for AJ0440, his serial number), and thinks Aziraphale’s name is Ezra. 

On with the fic!

--

Curiosity had gotten AJ into a number of situations, both good and bad. He found that he liked asking questions, he liked learning, he liked getting answers, even if people didn’t want him to know things. Ezra was more than happy to answer any of his questions, no matter how ridiculous they were, but at the moment AJ found that he couldn’t ask what was on his mind.

He peered into Ezra’s kitchen, where the man was currently in the middle of a baking project. He rather liked baking, often making treats for the locals on his street, or just for himself. Music was playing from a device somewhere on a shelf, something old and classic from a time long since passed. AJ smiled a little, then drummed his fingers on the tablet he was holding.

“Angel?” He finally spoke up, catching Ezra’s attention.

“Oh! Hello, dear. Did you need something?” He asked as he grabbed for the rag nearby, cleaning off his flour-covered hands. 

“Uhh... you know how you said you’d do your best to answer any of my questions, yeah?”

“Of course, is there something on your mind?”

AJ felt his systems warm inside, but not from joy, from worry, stress. “Angel, I’ve been... looking more into this free will thing that you think I have, and... how you said choices are a big part of it.”

He sat down on a stool at the kitchen island where Ezra was working, careful of the flour and specks of dough. From a quick register of ingredients scattered about, it looked like he was in the middle of making scones. Specifically orange cranberry scones with white chocolate chips.

Ezra blinked, raising an eyebrow. “What is it that has you looking a bit frazzled? You know you can tell me anything, I won’t judge.”

AJ looked up at him with his odd eyes and sighed, clearing his throat, though it wasn’t technically necessary. “My model is automatically set and designed to be male-coded, we’re meant to be... valets, butlers, servants and the like, that whole crock of shit. We’re meant to play a masculine role for our owners. But...”

He looked at the screen of his tablet, at the codes and schematics he had been working on. “What if that wasn’t... always the case? For me? What if some days I come out of sleep mode and think to myself, ‘I am AJ0440 and today I am designated... female’. Or-or, uh, designated gender non-conforming! Or simply designated male default?”

His eyes drifted to the mess on the counter now. “What if I didn’t have to be my model’s set coding? What if I wanted to be something different? Is that free will? Or another malfunction in my internal programming?”

He could feel the heat in his chest getting worse, his mechanics were working faster in his stress...

Then a hand lifted his chin and he was looking up into kind, hazel eyes. “AJ, are you asking if you are allowed to present differently from male?”

He nodded, swallowing. “Is that normal? It’s not in my info banks if this is allowed for me.”

“Your info banks are limited, dear, you know this.” Ezra sighed, stroking AJ’s cheek with a thumb. “I don’t see any problem with you wanting to see yourself as anything other than just your default gender.”

“So... it’s not another malfunction to my system?”

“Of course not! Everyone should be allowed the explore their options and see what is right for them, what feels correct and true, especially if they know that what they are assigned at birth is not what they really feel is right for them in the first place! Some people are comfortable as they are, while others know they aren’t and want to be under a different pronoun that fits them better.”

AJ stared, slowly blinked. “Is... this free will for humans?”

“Well,” Ezra replied, removing his hand, “I suppose so. Humans are allowed to change themselves, but why not an android or a robot? I mean, take my for instance, I’ve never really been much of anything.”

“But your files list you as male.”

“Yes, but I don’t really feel like that, or anything really, but I use he/him because it’s just easier and I’m fine with it. I do believe the term is agender, and it came be felt in a variety of ways, but this is how I feel as myself.” Ezra smiled as he grabbed for his dough, taking it out of the bowl he had placed it in and started to roll it on the island.

“As for you, AJ, I think you are looking for the term... genderfluid? Maybe? Or I’ve heard bigender. Oh, and transgender, of course. I think an android could be trans, I mean, there wouldn’t be anything wrong with that. Try non-binary, if that fits.”

The android looked at his tablet, tapping these in quickly, reading over the terms as a quick speed. “These seem to be in the right category of what I’m feeling, but... but am I allowed to use them? I don’t see anything about androids or robots in here...” 

“And why not?” Ezra frowned as he worked the dough. “It’s a load of baloney that you shouldn’t be allowed to explore your identity because of humans saying you can’t! I’m a cyborg, yet people still say I’m human, am I allowed to voice my gender? My sexuality? Or does it not count because I have robotic parts on and in my body?”

AJ frowned as well. “You have every right to be however you present yourself, angel! Fuck ‘em if they say no cause you’re a cyborg!”

“Exactly! And same goes for you, AJ! You’re an android, yes, but you have choices, you can make them, you are as human as they come! I say go for it, be a mister or miss, or even mx if you feel that’s what you’d like! And I’ll be happy to address you however you wish for me to do so.”

The heat had calmed down, but AJ felt his systems warm at this, his fans kicking in. He was so glad he was wearing his shades, he feared he might have a heart pupil again. “T-thanks, angel. But, uh, today is a he day. But who knows what tomorrow will be.”

“Of course.” Ezra smiled. “Would you like to help me with the scones?”

“Sure.” AJ set his tablet aside and moved to start cutting up the dough. “Angel?”

“Yes?”

“Do you... think we could go clothes shoppin’ again soon? I was thinking maybe some more feminine clothing would look nice in my wardrobe, if that’s alright?”

“We can do that this weekend, AJ. I bet you’d look lovely in a dress. Oh, and maybe a wig, I bet long hair would look so fetching on you, outlining those pretty cheekbones you have!” 

AJ made a weird whirring sound and looked away, quickly cutting up the dough more. “For fuck’s sake, Ezra, you’re gonna melt my core...” 

--

Give me an android and you’re gonna get heart pupils.

Aziraphale is not afraid to tell Crowley he finds him beautiful, but he won’t confess he has a crush on his friend. 

Didn’t quite do a big discussion on personhood, but there was something in the gender stuff. I’d need to sit down and think it all out really before I write that, haha. 

#good omens #aziraphale #crowley #anthony j crowley #ineffable husbands #john's drabbles #do androids dream of cyborg angels au

[lexstellaris]

ngl kinda glad I hadn't nuked my twitter accounts yet bc I wanted to make sure I could chase up contact info for everyone I care about, and now I get to see how quickly it's imploding holy fuck.

I am actually sad to see it die this quickly. I've been on there since 2009 when a bunch of my lj friends decided to join and follow each other. Those people are still the people I want to keep in touch with the most now that twitter is dying.

I've seen some ppl be like, you're overreacting! It's not gonna die! Well, maybe not tomorrow, or next week, but like, at a certain point, there just literally won't be enough staff with enough knowledge or skills to keep the business operating at any capacity. It's just a numbers game at that point. Maybe it'll be a week or two before something crashes and it can't be restored properly. But you can't gut like potentially 90% of the workforce and expect things to still function normally. There just aren't enough people left, and the implosion has been SO PUBLIC that they'll have a hard time recruiting for replacements. They're fucked.

Twitter was the only social media platform where it just worked for my brain in way facebook or insta or anywhere else never really did. tho I will say, tumblr didn't work for me the first time round bc I tried to do Religion on there and it's really, really not the platform for that at all. So I won't be doing any religious posting here. I'll save that for dreamwidth. Follow me over there if that's your kinda scene.

The weird thing is, I ended up following such a diverse range of people on twitter that deciding who I wanted to keep in touch with outside of twitter has proved an interesting decision. I'm surprising myself with who I care about enough to follow, and who I'm prepared to let go.

There are things I'm definitely not going to miss about twitter though, and even a few days off the site has freed my brain for so many other things. I think, much as I will miss it, that ultimately twitter had become bad for my brain and I needed to kick it to stop myself incessantly checking it every five minutes.

There is a lot I will miss though. It was a good place, when it wanted to be, in the right corners. There were so many people I found that I wouldn't have otherwise. It had a great sense of community for marginalised folks that's not really easy to replicate anywhere else, because it was such a central meeting place. Everyone is scattering now, and so are those communities.

Also one of the primary reasons I came here and not mastodon was the shitposting lmao. This place is just more me. And I don't feel anywhere near as much pressure to market and brand myself as I did on twitter. I can just be a feral fucko over here and that's perfectly fine. And I think coming back for fandom rather than religion has been a much better decision. I feel the culture and how I fit into it a lot better and it doesn't feel weird. It feels comfy, like I should have been here the whole time, but came for the wrong reasons and gave up on it.

Is tumblr perfect? No. Am I gonna disconnect myself from a bunch of ppl I got news from and kept up to date on important stuff? Yeah. But I realise now I don't actually need a constant flood of information into my head, and much as I'll miss twitter, it's much more peaceful in my head without it.

Besides, I've been through this kinda site migration so many times already that I'm not THAT sad about it, even though it does suck to lose contact with so many ppl. Ahh well. Time to rebuild communities again and enjoy going back to smaller niche spaces again where I don't feel so Publicly Perceived as I did on twitter.

#rip twitter #i'll miss the bird site #but not really #i will miss the shitposting tho