#I would love to draw them as adults interacting but Emerald doesn’t make it that far unfortunately

[dreamsandrosies]

I recently have been dabbling in digital art, so I did a little redraw of Emerald and @sincerely-sofie’s Twig interacting since it was the most recent simple drawing I’ve done.

For my first time doing digital art, I think this turned out decent enough!

[nexyra]

James Ironwood, for character ask? 👀

Aaaa thank you so much for the ask ♡ More rambling incoming !! Sorry for the wait btw, I've been both pretty busy and tired ;;

If you hate James Ironwood and don't wanna hear one good thing about him tap out now please ღ

My fav ship(s) for the character

I am not a super big shipper when it comes to James, but there are still some I like more than others soo here goes :

I think Ironwitch is a pretty good one. It's not necessarily a ship I'd search content for but I think these two would work well together ! Glynda is stern and honest and a no-nonsense kind of woman. She has the strenght to stand up to James when he slips or gets too stubborn when faced with the high stakes. At the same time, we've been shown that she cares for him and she knows he's only trying to do what's best for people. She has faith in him but also the ability to stand at his side as an equal. She seems to be the more steadfast of Ozpin's circle : loyal, you know you can trust her, and she will not crumble. This is the kind of personnality that I think James both admire and feel safe with. And the other way around, I think James is a good match for Glynda too. On a day to day basis, he's serious enough to not annoy here, but he's also a softie in some aspects and that's a nice combination to smooth out Glynda's edges.

Ironqrow is a completely different dynamic. The "we're annoying each other" dynamic is not one I'm particularly interested in usually xD But these two certainly had strong & interesting moments so it's a pretty valid ship !! Despite how they might butt heads because of the difference in their upbringing they (prior to V8) clearly trusted each other with their life. Even if Qrow jokes about shooting himself if he had to be one of James' man, when everything goes to shit there is no doubt in his mind that James wasn't responsible. Similarly, while James talks of shooting Qrow for his misbehaviour, when push comes to shove and we meet a tired Ironwood, run ragged by the pressure he's under... the only thing he does is hug him and reiterates how glad he is to see him. So again, they clearly have a lot of faith and trust in the other, and that's solid ground for a relationship.

My least favorite ship(s) for the character

Same spiel as always, shipping kids and adults is a big no from me; so any ships between Ironwood and RWBYJNOR can qualify here. That said, among the less uncomfortable ones, here are those I don't really like

This one is again because I love their relationship but platonically only, I'm talking of Winter Soldier. The reading I like best is not that Ironwood is Winter's Jacques 2.0, nor that he groomed her; but that he was an important father figure in her life. Protective and caring, who tried to help her escape with what he knew. I don't see James recruiting Winter as a way to gain a strong ally. But rather that Winter wanted to detach herself from her family name, and make something worthwhile of herself all on her own. And that the military is what Ironwood knows and understand, so naturally it's a career he'd see as a good path. Just like Winter then proposed it to Weiss. I like to think they care about each other a LOT and they're their own tight family in between the lines, even if professionalism might throw a wrench into it. For short I love them together but not romantically please =)

I don't know if there's a ship name for this, but Salem x James Ironwood would be a big nope from me too... In general, let's just assume I ship Salem with nobody because abuse.

My fav & least fav platonic relationship(s) for the character

Fav platonic relationship would be (have been because we dont talk about V8?) with Winter. Fooor the reasons I've explained above I suppose x) I (again) love the trust they had in one another and the quiet support.

There was also his relationship with Oscar that I really liked during V7, although it has been soured a bit by the (valid) reading from some people that Ironwood sought out Ozpin a lot through Oscar, and given his identity issues it is not ground for a greatly healthy relationship. Their interactions were still very intersting though ♡ I consider Oscar to be the kid who went at trying to appease James' fear or make him reconsider his decisions the best way. There was true understanding and hope for a working relationship here. I do feel that Oscar put in more work than James however (emotionally) and I wish there had been pay-back instead of a gunshot.

For my least fav relationship ? Probably Robyn or Watts ? Robyn was always very antagonistic toward Ironwood since their priorities are so different. And I overall just don't really like her after V7 so there are very few relationships with her I'm interested in (the exception is her ship with Fiona I think it's cute). Meanwhile, Watts is just a petty asshole hell bent on ruining Ironwood because he didn't pick his project. I'm not very interested in hate relationships, and since theirs wasn't deeply explored anyway, it's even more the case here. Their fight was great though, one of my favorite RWBY fights !

My favorite thing about the character

Well this was completely proven wrong by V8 buuut as of V7 I liked that he was a deconstruction of the military general (dictator) trope. Sooo you can guess how i feel about V8 X) In general among RWBY, several of my fav are fav BECAUSE they look like one trope but also have key differences that from the get go make the character stray away from said trope. For example I'm not a fan of the princess tsundere archetype at all, but I loooved Weiss in V1 BECAUSE she was extra-willing to listen and change her mind, and you could very easily tell that it was her upbringing speaking more than herself in most occasions.

Similarly, I wasn't a big fan of Ironwood before V7. I didn't hate him you know and he wasn't lower than most characters in my Tier list but I also didn't particularly care. But you know what ? I've aaaalways had a really soft spot for the "angsty angry traumatized teen". And RWBY made the mistake of extending that soft spot to "tired adults trying their best" (only to repeatedly beat them up/make them villains after making me care about them but what can you do uh)

Soo in general, I loved that Ironwood was trying so hard. I loved that he was tired and in over his head but learning and listening and trying to do good and be better despite his fears. I liked that he told his entourage about Salem and was loyal. I liked that he cared about helping the people above his own image and the way people perceived him. I liked that you could tell this was a terrible situation all around, and his decisions WERE questionnable but we could SEE that he meant WELL and was genuinely trying so hard despite how scared and tired he was.

My biggest criticism for the character

Well this won't be a surprise but in general I just wished he had stayed a morally grey character we were allowed to feel for instead of a cartoon black villain. I didn't need James to be THE Hero or anything like this despite some accusations levelled at those who like him. Him becoming one of RWBY's antagonist is honestly fine by me ! It is interesting. But I'd have preferred they kept him ambiguous and trying in his own way. (And smart because V8 Ironwood was dumb af)

I can be a tad overprotective of his character since he's just... so despised, so I think that I have inadvertently distanced myself from any of his flaws... somehow like "people are already yelling all of them so I don't need to add to this shit show" you know ? skjfkd But I KNOW he has them and it would still have been good to develop his flaws, just... not like that

But yea I'd have liked it if V8 Ironwood DID diverge from RWBYJNORQ and became an antagonist but not an iredeemable villain. LIKE,, we redeemed Hazel and Emerald and IRONWOOD is where the writers draw the line by saying "nope this one is rotten" ?? What ?

When was their writing at the peak according to me (ex : best season)

V7 definitely ! Ironwood carried V7 so hard haha. His character was fleshed out and given nuance and made to struggle and evolve and I loved him in that volume.

A song I think fits them & why

Hunger • Monsters & Men Human • Rag'n'Bone Man Way down we go • Kaleo Beekeeper • Keaton Henson Thistle and weeds • Mumford and Sons Castle of Glass • Linkin Park It's all so incredibly loud • Glass Animals

A headcanon to make up about them

His metal parts impact his metabolism so Ironwood is terrible at holding his alcohool and very little manages to knock him out. He's a workaholic. His low tolerence for alcohool is a great tool whn friends need to put him to sleep.

His joints crack and hurt in the cold, his metal parts as well and they are an hassle in the sand. James like to keep his room temperature warmer than the average atlasian because of this, otherwise he has to spend 30 min every morning simply unwiding muscles to move around efficiently.

He's not a good singer but has a nice low voice for telling stories. If he had kids, he'd probably avoid lullabies but compensate with bedtimes stories.

What I would change about them if I was making a re-write

As always, I'm kind of reflecting along the way as I write this, and one thing I'm thinking right now is... Doesn't it take away from the atlas arc message ITSELF to just pile up so many "standard bad guy" stuff on Ironwood ? Like, I wanna ask... why do we hate him ? Is he an antagonist because he lets fear get the best of him ? Because he's a classist who doesn't care about Mantle like some fans argue ? Because he's too stubborn and wants to be THE hero ? Because he doesn't listen to others ? Because he abandonned Mantle ? Because he kills peopke left and right ? Because he wanted to bomb a city ? I think you might see where I'm going with this : his status as villain is kind of messy. V8 just kept piling-up flaws and villainous actions onto Ironwood with no concern for whether this was a lenght he would go to (using the certainty that he would go to any lenghts to enact his plans), ,or whether these were one of the initial flaws/failings that led to his "fall" as an antagonist. What lesson is Ironwood supposed to learn ? Personally the very first time I yelled at my screen "No ! Why would the writers choose that ?" is when Ironwood shot Oscar. When answering criticism against medias, many people tend to look at it only through the lense of "well it makes sense in universe" or as if there were no other ways for the story to devolve. But at the end of the way, everything in a story is a choice from the writer even if it is influenced by the characters' personnalities. If I took the scene where Ironwood shoots Oscar, someone might tell me "he's crippled by his PTSD, he COULD do this." Maybe, that's a reading I can somewhat understand at least. But the writers have the power to NOT put his character in such a position. When I saw the wreck that was V7 finale, I ranted to my bestfriend about it and at no point did i say "why did Ironwood do that", I said "why did the writers make him shoot Oscar, the only point narratively would be to make irredeemable" Aaaand that's what they went for and I obviously didn't care for it. So if I had to rewrite it; I would have kept Ironwood's "mistakes" more focused. If he's wrong because he wants to abandon Mantle, because he's (understandably) scared and doesn't want to take risks; then stay focused on that. It's what makes RWBY leave, and out of all his V8 actions that's really the only thing RWBY needed to tell the whole world he wasn't an ally anymore apparently. - Don't make him shoot Oscar point blank, instead Oscar can simply fall because he flinches away from Ironwood's outburst; and a distraught/guilty Ironwood can decide that he doesn't have the time or capacity to help because of the tense situation. (Killing and not saving someone don't hold the same moral weight at all). - Don't make him kill people left and right or bomb cities, maintain the flaw of Ironwood struggling with his PTSD and his fear and not being able to take risks. - Don't paint him as a black villain, and eventually write V8 in such a way that RWBYJNORQ show taking risks might lead to a bigger victory, which was the volume's theme anyway. For example, following Oscar's destruction of the whale, a growth can occur that would bring back together the two anti-Salem factions : Oscar's risk put Atlas out of harm's way, which leads to Ironwood seeing that maybe there WAS a way to save Mantle as well as Atlas despite Salem's presence and he might have jumped the gun too quickly because of his fears. I'm not sure, I haven't thought about this extensively honestly but I hope you see what I mean. I think it would have been more focused & more in-character to focus Ironwood's failings on his fear; and the fact that he cares for the people and the greater good sometimes at the cost of the individuals. The idea that by sacrificing individuals too much you forget the people you're fighting for in the first place, could have been interesting to dig deeper into. Keep to the idea that Ironwood is somewhat disensitized to the individuals suffering for the sake of the greater good, instead of making him just

callous & uncaring.

My guess for their MBTI/Enneagram

I think pre-V8 Ironwood was an unconventionnal ENFJ. Aka, the type of character no one would type ENFJ because they go by stereotypes and Fe stereotypes are just enneagram 2 everywhere (aka nice, kind, helpful) whereas Ironwood has an enneagram tritype very common among xxTJs so that's what he looks/behaves like, but the way he thinks (what's best for the people, ethical values derived from an Atlasian upbringing) align more with Fe cognitively I think I'm going with ENFJ 6w5 1w2 3w4

Starting from V8 though, Ironwood veered clearly into ENTJ territory (types aren't supposed to change but I wouldn't say RWBY is the most consistent media when it comes to characters' personnalities)

One aspect that I think would be nice to delve deeper into ?

I understand why they didn't care to, but it'd have been interesting to get a few backstory hints for Ironwood. How did he lose half his body ? How did Oz recruit him ? Or some pieces about his upbringing ?

[cassandra-tangled]

Cassandra Appreciation Week Day 1: Friendship

Hi guys! Here’s a little oneshot for day 1! I’m a little late (it’s 1 am on the 16th in my time zone), but better late than never!

Here’s the AO3 link 

The word count is 3,653

And a brief summary is: the gang celebrates Cass’ twenty-eighth birthday. If you read my fic it’s not related but I had fun writing this and might add a birthday chapter at some point. 

They do drink and I think there’s like one curse, just an fyi. 

Well, here it is! I hope y’all enjoy.

Cassandra awoke from her sleep to a persistent tap, tap, tap on her shoulder.

“Cass? Cass, wake up. Come on, wake up!” 

Groaning, Cassandra rolled over, shifting from her usual sleeping position on her stomach to lie on her back. She forced her eyes open and glanced at the clock on her wall--it read seven o’ clock in the morning. Admittedly, she’d usually be up by now or within the next few hours, but her thoughts had kept her up last night, and she hadn’t found slumber until three o’ clock in the morning, when she usually let herself rest at ten or eleven o’ clock. Her eyelids were heavy, her eyes swollen, and her hair a ruffled mess of black bed-head.

“What do you want, Raps? I’m tired.”

“You’re not allowed to be tired!” Rapunzel shook her head, pulling the covers off of Cassandra and throwing them across the room. 

“Hey,” Cassandra growled, instinctively rolling onto her side and drawing her knees in close to her chest. “Come on, Raps, why’d you do that?” 

“Today is a very special day, Cassandra.”

Cassandra paused. It was? She couldn’t quite bring to fruition why today would be different than any other, unless it was another Coronan holiday she’d forgotten about whilst on the road. She’d been on the road for a while, and just recently returned home to relax and rest up a bit. Living on the road, especially on your own, time tended to be but a blur. The days congealed into weeks, the weeks into months, the months into years--honestly, Cassandra would have had no idea how long she’d actually been gone if Rapunzel hadn’t counted the days and announced it upon her return. She was back on somewhat of a visit, and hadn’t decided if she was going to stay and work in Corona or leave once more, but she knew one thing for certain--she had no clue why today was ‘special’. 

“Uhhh...special day?”

“Cassandra.” Rapunzel huffed, shaking her head. Her emerald eyes glimmered with a hint of amusement. “You can’t be serious. Stop joking.” 

“No, Raps, I’m serious. I’m sorry, but whatever Coronan holiday today is, I have no clue. I have no concept of time anymore, honestly.”

Rapunzel clicked her tongue. “I’m glad you’re back then, so that I can remind you.”

“What is it?”

“Cass, it’s October 30th. It’s your twenty-eighth birthday!” 

“Oh.” Cassandra’s cheeks flushed red. “I really forgot my own birthday? Honestly, time on the road was a blur. I wasn’t even really sure if I was twenty-six or twenty-seven...”

“Well, yesterday you were twenty-seven. Today you’re twenty-eight.” 

Cassandra sat up and groaned. “Oh my God, I’m old.” 

Rapunzel shot a judgmental glance in Cass’ direction, and playfully swatted at her shoulder. “Oh, hush.” She paused, a laugh escaping her lips. “Now you know how Eugene feels.” 

“Hey, don’t compare me to Fitzherbert. I’m not thirty yet.” 

“Whatever you say. Are you ready for your special day?”

“Uh, no, honestly. I didn’t know it was my birthday. I’m not...emotionally prepared for whatever craziness you have planned today.” 

Rapunzel let out a faux gasp. “Cass! I have no such craziness planned.”

Cassandra cocked her eyebrow. “Sure you don’t. Besides, who knows if today is even my actual birthday? It’s probably just a random date I gave my dad when he took me in. I was only four, I probably had no concept of my birthday. Anyway, I don’t need, er, a celebration.” 

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous. Yes you do! Besides, today is the day you’ve been celebrating your birthday since Cap took you in. If it doesn’t count as your real birthday, I don’t know what does.”

“Uh, hopefully nothing does. I hate birthdays.”

“Hate birthdays? How could you hate birthdays? I mean, there’s presents, cake, streamers, singing, parties, friends...it’s gonna be a perfect day.”

“Uh, I hate most of those things. Streamers are annoying, parties are annoying, singing is annoying, and presents make me feel like I owe the gifter something in return. Friends and cake are good, I suppose…”

“Well lucky for you, I know you, and I didn’t plan a party, exactly. It’ll just be dinner between me, you, Eugene, Varian, and Lance. Lance is even leaving the girls home so it can be an adult-only gathering. No singing, I promise.” Rapunzel paused. “Except maybe happy birthday? Oh, and there will be rum. And wine. And ale.” 

“Rum and wine and ale?” Cassandra sighed. “Oh, okay, you got me. As long as it’s really just the five of us.” 

“Okay, perfect! Dinner is at seven o’ clock tonight.” 

“Right. So you woke me up twelve hours before...why?”

“Erm…” Rapunzel’s face flushed red. “Because I wanted to see you before I have to work. I missed you, okay? I wanted to give you this, too.” Rapunzel reached into the trusty satchel that Cassandra had gifted her long ago, and pulled out a small black drawstring pouch. “I mean, Eugene and I got you a present for dinner tonight, but here. This is from me.” 

Rapunzel gently passed the black pouch to Cassandra, and Cassandra took the velvety, dark pouch in her hand. Tenderly, Cassandra opened the pouch and reached her fingers inside. Her digits met with a small, cool item, which she wrapped her hand about and pulled out. When she opened her hand, her eyes landed upon a small, black ring with a large purple stone mounted in the center. Circling around the stone were several smaller clear stones, also mounted into the dark black metal of the ring. 

“Wow, Raps. It’s beautiful. Thank you.” Cassandra slid the ring onto her left ring finger. “It fits perfectly, and now creepy men won’t hit on me when I’m back on the road. I love it.”

“Oh, no problem! I made it myself.”

“You what?”

“I know, right?” Rapunzel laughed. “I made it pretty soon after you left. I wanted to have something to give you when you came back, but since you came back so close to your birthday, I decided to wait ‘til today. It actually took, like, five tries. Xavier helped me mold the ring itself. I got the Cassandrium from, well, Varian, and the smaller stones are tiny little diamonds.”

“Diamonds?” Cassandra’s eyes widened. “Raps, this is far too expensive, I can’t--”

“Cass. I’m a princess. I don’t mean to sound braggy, but suffice to say, I want for naught. It’s yours.”

“Wow.” Cassandra drew her finger up closer to her face, examining the ring more closely. “Thank you, Raps. I love it.” 

“Of course.” A warm smile spread over Rapunzel’s face. “Well...sadly, I have some duties I have to attend to before dinner tonight, so I’ll let you get back to your slumber.”

“Mmm. Slumber sounds nice.” 

“I bet it does, sleepyhead.” Rapunzel stood up and let out a chuckle. “It’ll be in the main dining hall, after my parents have finished having their dinner, okay?”

“Sounds good. Thanks for not inviting the whole kingdom, Raps.”

“Of course. I’ll see you at seven.”

“See you at seven.”

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

Before Cassandra knew it, it was six o’ clock at night. She’d slept til a bit past twelve o’ clock noon--extremely late for her, but reasonable, given her lack of sleep the night prior. After she woke up, she spent most of the day alone in her room killing time--she sharpened her weapons, read about half of a novel, and took a brief walk about the castle to kill some time. 

At six forty-five, she began to make her way through the wide, dim, labyrinth-like halls of the castle. To the untrained eye, the castle would be immensely confusing--but Cassandra had grown up here. She knew all of the halls like the back of her hand, the twists and turns ingrained into her mind from youth. Her legs carried her effortlessly to the doors of the grand hall. 

Cassandra was unsure if the King and Queen had finished their meal, and didn’t want to disturb them if they hadn’t. As such, she leaned her back up against the wall next to the door, and began to absentmindedly fiddle with her hands. Her mind was riddled with both anxiety and excitement as she thought of the night to come. Birthdays weren’t her favorite, and parties weren’t exactly her strong suit, but at least this evening would hopefully be more relaxing and drinking with friends. 

Suddenly, the door beside her swung open, and Cassandra fixed her posture. She wasn’t sure if it was the monarchs or Rapunzel, but better safe than sorry. 

“Oh, hello, Cassandra,” called a sweet, melodic voice. “A certain princess informed me that it’s your birthday. Happy birthday, dear.” 

Cassandra turned, her eyes meeting with Queen Arianna’s. She quickly averted her eyes, and engaged in a quick, respectful curtsey. “Thank you, Your Highness,” she smiled, “it means a lot to me.” 

“Of course.” Arianna paused both her speech, and in the doorframe momentarily. “You know, I remember when you were about yea big.” She gestured down towards her side, and a gentle smile spread across her face. “You’re surely all grown-up now. It makes me feel old. How old are you?”

“I’m turning twenty-eight today, Your Highness.” 

“And to think you came to us when you were only four.” She paused for another moment and glanced off, as if thinking, before turning back to address Cass once more. “Well, I’m off, but Rapunzel is waiting for you in there. Frederic has already adjourned, so feel free to make your way in whenever. Enjoy the rest of your night, Cassandra.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty. You as well.” 

Cassandra took a deep breath, analyzing the interaction in her head. She recalled the Queen’s bittersweet fondness towards her as a child, and a pang hit her stomach. She’d always looked forward to running a message to the throne room for her father as a child because she might be there, or running into her in the hallway. There was some sort of strange, unspoken bond and appreciation between them, at least on Cass’ end--that of a mother who’d spent much of her adult life yearning for a daughter, and a daughter who spent most of her childhood yearning for a mother. 

Cassandra shook her head, cleared the thoughts from her mind, and pushed her way in through the tall, dark doors of the throne room. The room was well lit by candlelight in the fading twilight. Rapunzel and Eugene stood by the table, and Lance and Varian were already seated. The table was laid with a fine dinner of roasted chicken, steak, potatoes, and peas. Sat at the center of the table was a modest but beautifully decorated cake, a bottle of rum, a bottle of wine, and a bottle of ale, as well as glasses suited for each. Cass felt a blush spread over her face, flustered that such a celebration was for her. 

“Well, if it isn’t the birthday girl!” Rapunzel moved towards her, and her slender arms wrapped Cassandra in a brief hug. She gestured to the seat at the head of the table, where the King usually sat. “Take a seat.”

Cassandra’s cheeks burned red. “I am not sitting there,” she laughed, “that’d just feel wrong.” 

“Well, then,” Eugene jested, “I’d be glad to take your place. Happy birthday, Cass.” He moved over towards Cassandra, and also wrapped her in a brief hug, before raising his hand in a fist motion. 

“Fitzherbert, don’t even think about giving me birthday punches. I will cut your hands off.” 

“Geez, geez,” Eugene laughed, pulling his fist back. “My hands didn’t survive years as a thief just to be chopped off by the dragon lady.”

“Watch yourself, then.” Cassandra grinned slyly and sat down, with Eugene and Rapunzel following suit. She turned her attention to the other two men at the dinner. “Good to see you two,” she smiled. 

“Happy birthday, Cassie,” Varian smiled. “You’re old.”

“Shut up, kid, don’t remind me.”

“Not as old as me,” Lance interjected. “But soon! Happy birthday.” 

“Thanks for the cheer, guys.” 

“You can always count on us,” Lance winked. 

“Okay, I need a shot,” Cassandra laughed, “someone hit me.”

“Tsk, before dinner, Cass?”

“Oh, yes, Raps. It’s my birthday, remember?”

Lance chuckled and obliged, reaching for a shot glass and the bottle of rum. He poured Cassandra a shot glass and slid it across the table to Cassandra. “Anyone else?”

Eugene raised his hand, followed by Varian, and then a shy Rapunzel. 

“Wow, Raps,” Eugene poked, “you normally stick to your wine.”

“Well…” A slight smile spread over her face. “It’s a special occasion!” 

Lance poured out four more shot glasses--three for the others, and one for himself. He distributed them, before raising his up in the air. “Cheers!”

A jolly ‘cheers!’ commenced, followed by glasses to mouths and scrunched-up faces, particularly on the parts of Varian and Rapunzel.

“Lightweights,” Eugene teased under his breath. 

“Okay, everybody,” Rapunzel interjected, “let’s eat!” She shot a glance at Lance and Eugene. “Birthday girl first.” 

Cassandra served herself a bit of each dish, and the others followed. Cassandra was blown away--you tend to appreciate royalty-level meals after living on the road. The chicken was tender, the steak cooked to perfection, the potatoes whipped and soft, and the peas sweet in her mouth. Before long, plates were filled, then soon cleared--only for some to be filled again, and cleared once more. 

When Cassandra was done, she pushed her plate back and wiped the corners of her mouth with her napkin. “Well, that was fucking amazing. Thanks for putting this together, Raps.” 

“Of course! Are we ready for cake?”

“Mmm, nope. I need some more rum. Lance?” Cassandra tipped her empty shot glass in his direction. 

“Oh, fine,” he laughed, topping her off. “After this, you guys are on your own.”

“Hey, not my fault the rum’s on your side of the table.” She raised the shot to her mouth, and consumed it in one smooth gulp.

Lance grinned sarcastically and pushed the bottle to the middle of the table. “Problem solved!” 

Cassandra shook her head, amused. She noticed Varian reaching for the bottle, and let out a chuckle. “So, you drink now, Varian?”

“Oh.” He poured himself another shot, and raised it to his lips. “Uhhh...sometimes?”

“God, you’re still a child in my head. Stop growing, kid.”

“I can’t. Or I mean, I probably could, given my skill set, but I don’t want to.”

“Oh, trust me, you do. It’s not worth going to those lengths, though.”

“Yeah, no,” Cassandra chuckled, reached for the bottle, and poured another out.

“Slow down, Cass,” warned Eugene. “We’re not walking you back to your room, girly.”

Cassandra rolled her eyes. “Number one, don’t call me that. Number two, I can handle my alcohol, Fitzherbert.”

“Oh, sure you can.”

Cass raised the glass to her mouth and tipped it back. “Try me.”

“Okay, now,” Rapunzel laughed. “Your bickering is endearing, but I think it’s time for cake.”

“Please don’t sing to me,” Cassandra groaned. 

Rapunzel pulled a candle from, it seemed to Cassandra, thin air, and stuck it in the cake. “Oh, we’re singing.” 

Cass examined the cake in closer detail--the base icing was white, highlighted with blue flowers and green leaves around the edge. The middle read simply, “Happy Birthday, Cassandra!”. At this point, the ‘irt’ in ‘Birthday’ had a candle stuck straight through it. 

Rapunzel grabbed a random candle mounted on the wall, and lit the candle that was sat atop the cake. “Okay, everybody ready?”

“No,” Cassandra sighed. “Get on with it.”

“Okay, everybody,” Rapunzel chirped, “let’s go!”

Cassandra felt a deep red blush spread across her cheeks as her friends sang the all-too-familiar song.

“Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday dear Cassandra, 

Happy birthday to you!” 

“Make a wish, Cass!” 

So, she did. Cassandra closed her eyes, drew in a deep breath, and made a quiet wish in her head--no matter where life was to take her, let her remain always as happy as she was with these people, these friends, in this moment. 

Cassandra blew out her candle.

“Woohoo!” Rapunzel leaned over and poked Cassandra on the nose. “Whatcha wish for?”

“I can’t tell you! It won’t come true.”

“Oh, fine.” Rapunzel reached for the knife, cut out a neat slice of cake, and placed it on a plate, before handing the plate to Cassandra. “It’s Atilla’s,” she winked. 

Cassandra took a bite, and the sweet taste of vanilla topped with buttercream hit her mouth. “Mmm, I love Atilla’s cake.”

“Who doesn’t?” Eugene took a piece of his newly served cake, and shoved it into his mouth. “Mmm. No offense, Cassandra, I know it’s your birthday--but I’m so taking these leftovers.” 

Cassandra shrugged. “Fine by me.” 

“Eugene, can we give her our gift?” 

“If you want, Sunshine.”

“Okay, okay, I do. Hold on a minute, I’ll be right back.” Rapunzel jumped up from the table and ran to the corner of the room, retrieving a medium-sized wrapped box with a bow from the corner. She quickly made her way back to the table and set it in front of Cass. “Okay, go ahead!”

“Okay…” 

Cassandra gingerly removed the wrapping paper and opened the box. Inside were a multitude of small items--a sharp, sheathed dagger, a leather notebook, a quill, a deep red sweater, black tights, and a new pair of boots, Cassandra’s old spirit bracelet, and two neatly folded, painted paper cards. Cassandra removed the cards and examined them--on the cover of one was a painting of Cassandra, Rapunzel and Eugene, and on the other, a painting of all five present in the room. She unfolded the one with just the three of them on the front, and read the inside.

“Cassandra,

Happy birthday! I hope you’ve enjoyed your birthday, and like these gifts. Whether you stay or go, these are pieces of us you can keep with you. We love you!

Raps and Eugene.”

With a smile on her face, she opened the other card.

“This one’s just so that you have a picture of all of us together. I hope you like it!

Raps.”

Cassandra leaned over and embraced Rapunzel. “Thank you, Raps. You too, Eugene. I love it.”

“I’m glad you do,” Eugene shrugged, “but Rapunzel deserves all the credit.”

“Oh, I know,” Cassandra laughed. “I’m just being polite. Seriously, I love it.”

“Okay, me next!” Varian pulled out a small pouch from his pocket. “Here you go, Cassie.”

Cassandra opened the pouch, and peeked inside to see an array of colorful crystals and gems. There was, of course, a few pieces of Cassandrium, some small green gems, a large chunk of deep blue crystal, and a large clear, polished gem. 

“I’ve found these in my work around Corona. Well, except the Cassandrium, of course. I know it’s not much, but…”

“Hey, I love it. They’re beautiful. When I go back out on the road, I’ll have even more of Corona to take with me.”

“Uhhh, I got you a bag of candy,” Lance interrupted. He pulled out a familiar bag, one from Monty’s Sweet Shoppe, and slid it across the table to Cassandra. “Thank me later.”

“I’ll thank you now, or I’ll forget.” Cass let out a chuckle. “Thanks, Lance.” 

“I’m sorry to say it, you guys, but this princess is tired out. Anyone else?”

“Uh, ditto,” responded Eugene.

“You guys are lame.” Varian reached for another shot. “I don’t sleep.”

“Well, you probably should,” Rapunzel laughed. 

“Mmm,” Cassandra shrugged, “I’m a little drained. One more shot for me, and I’m out.”

“Oh, fine. I’ll leave too.” Lance reached for the rum, and emptied a little into his shot glass. “Another round for everyone.” He slid the bottle to Cass, who slid it to Rapunzel, who, in turn, slid it to Eugene. Once everyone’s glass was filled, Cassandra raised the rim to her mouth. 

“Cheers.”

“Cheers!”

Soon, each glass was emptied, and the table was surrounded by a tipsy, droopy eyed crew. 

“I’m going to bed,” Eugene declared, standing up from the table. He moved in Cassandra’s direction and gave her a teasing pat on the head. “Happy birthday, Cass. Goodnight, everyone.”

“Night.”

“Night.”

“Night, Fitzherbert.”

“I’ll be up soon, dear, I’m going to walk Cass back to her room.”

Lance stood up from the table as well, followed quickly by Varian. 

“I guess this is our cue, Cassie.” Varian moved to the other side of the table, and gave Cass a quick hug, before making his way to the doors. “Happy birthday, Cass. Goodnight.”

“Night, kid.”

“I’m out too, Cass,” Lance sighed, eyeing the bottle of rum, before ultimately drifting towards the tall doors. “The girls have probably destroyed the house by now. Either that, or they’ve cleaned the entire thing. It’s a guessing game with those two.”

“Well, good luck,” Cassandra laughed. “Night, Lance.”

“Night, Cass.” 

Before she knew it, Cassandra was alone with Rapunzel. She slumped forward, leaned on her hand, and picked a frosting flower from the side of the cake.

“Thank you, Raps,” she smiled, placing the flower in her mouth. “Tonight was fun.”

“I knew you’d like it,” Rapunzel winked. “Ready for bed?”

“Mmm, yeah, or to get back to my room, at least.”

“Let’s get going, then. I’m worn out.” 

Cassandra placed the bag of gems and the bag of candy in the box with the rest of her presents, before heaving it up to carry it. Rapunzel grabbed a candle to light the way, and the two made their way back to Cassandra’s room in a pleasant silence. 

“Well, Cass, this is your stop!” Rapunzel leaned over and swung the door open. “Happy birthday.”

“Thank you for everything today, Raps.”

“Hey, there’s no need to thank me. It’s nice to have you home.”

“It’s nice to be home. Goodnight, Rapunzel.”

“Goodnight, Cassandra.”

[rorykillmore]

can you rank (loosely if u don't want to play exact favorites) villanelle's most important or influential denny relationships?

i’m just putting them roughly in the order she met/reunited with them on denny, for the record. and in case anyone was thinking of coming for me, this is just what i reckon are the most INFLUENTIAL, good and bad, not a complete list of her friends or family or important interactions

okay and this is just going underneath a cut because it got long as fuck

fox is villanelle’s best friend, her -- if we lived in the, like, idk, homestuck universe (not to immediately make this cursed.) where you can have a romantic soulmate AND a platonic soulmate, he’s her platonic soulmate. and in terms of influence, i want to emphasize how much of villanelle’s denny arc, like... could not have been possible without fox. fox was the first person who was ever kind to her despite having absolutely no reason to be, and he was also the person who challenged her in such an important way at such an important time. during the whole GRACE plot, HE came back for her, and HE’S the one who essentially said “look, you have a choice. you’re not just a tool for this organization. one way or another, you need to make a choice.” which. again. a huge first in her life!

i’m trying to keep these short and sweet since i have so many to talk about, but genuinely like... i cannot understate fox’s importance as a part of villanelle’s life. and for her to even be able to have a best friend, to begin with? that’s such a like, idk. cornerstone of things Normal People Get To Have, and every day i write her i am so so happy she found him. from an ooc perspective, they’ve like, been to hell and back together also, and there’s a fierce kind of joy as writer when you look at a relationship that’s over a year old and has evolved so much over that time and get to go “we made this together!!!”

konstantin meanwhile is... well, he’s the healthiest parental figure villanelle’s ever had. which. really isn’t a high bar! their relationship has always been so tempestuous because it is built on konstantin’s manipulation of villanelle, both to use her for his own gain and... y’know, for his own survival, being able to manage her as long as he did! but he also genuinely loves her, and has gone out of his way on a number of occasions to protect her or help her or take care of her whereas it’s quite likely that most of the twelve’s handlers... just wouldn’t give a shit! i highly doubt that the twelve are the kind of organization where you’re supposed to get actually attached to your agent. and for villanelle, konstantin’s affection for her makes things more confusing, because it’s hard for her to ever draw the line between what’s sincere affection and what’s manipulation. post-canon update, she kind of now aggressively thinks he’s full of shit and is rejecting him for her own well-being which i think! is an important boundary for villanelle to be able to learn to set for herself! and you and i have spoken about how we don’t want to reconcile that immediately, but i also think... she would very much miss him and that it would be very, very strange for her to be without him when she’s ALWAYS had him to fall back on on denny, and indeed in most of her adult life in general. she needs to learn to stand without him, but at the same time.... i’m super interested to see how they approach each other now from this more honest, fractured place.

and then we have ruby , which. i still think ruby and villanelle are one of the most delightfully unexpected panfandom dynamics i’ve ever helped form PERIOD. and it’s interesting because hunter and i have always talked about how you would never expect these two characters to connect on the surface -- and you wouldn’t! but in exploring the ways they’re different, we’ve also found these really jarring similarities between them, too? and i think in a way, they’ve kind of bled into each other on top of that. villanelle’s relationship with ruby is like, INCREDIBLY formative to her learning empathy and just how to... nurture a relationship and be there for other people, but she has also become someone who ruby looks up to, and i think she’s contributed to maybe. Darkening ruby a bit, in that way.  

i also think of all the girls, ruby is the one who villanelle has the most explicitly maternal relationship with. weiss too, but i’ll get into why i think that works a bit differently in weiss’ section. but anyway, WHEN you have that kind of relationship with someone, at least when you’re approaching it with earnesty and a determination to do it Right, it challenges you with a certain kind of responsibility that i think has been essential to villanelle’s development too. not only has it taught villanelle how you love someone in a comparatively selfless way from what she’s used to, but requires from her a certain kind of self-awareness and moral awareness (if she doesn’t care about doing the right thing In General, she cares about doing right by ruby) that has allowed her to mature a bit on denny. so yeah, ABSOLUTELY one of of villanelle’s most influential dynamics. 

she’s obviously also very close with weiss, and i would also call her feelings for weiss maternal, but compared to ruby/villanelle i think weiss and villanelle’s relationship tends to take on a more Sisterly overtone on the surface. and i think that’s maybe because weiss HAS a sister who is basically villanelle’s age, who is her other maternal figure, so for weiss that’s more just how these kinds of feelings tend to Manifest. idk. you know, not to speak for jay, that’s just my take on it. but while weiss and villanelle have never really clashed the way ruby and villanelle have and then had to work through resolving that, i think in a way weiss just holds villanelle more accountable on a more day to day basis? they’re always quite honest with each other, weiss has always been quick to call her out, and like -- post-graceplot, for instance, weiss was the one who was like “i believe you didn’t mean to hurt us but you still need to find a way to make this right.”

and not that weiss did this deliberately, but she’s also the person who REALLY tested the person villanelle has become on denny and how... committed she is to loving the people she loves, via everything that went down during the hunger games. the way villanelle feels about the sacrifice she made is still really complicated -- it’s not something she feels comfortable being commended for, but it’s also not something she regrets. she’s not one to put selfless sacrifice on a pedestal, especially not in a horrible situation like that where neither of them should have had to to begin with, but a part of her... does find a deep sense of relief in finding this validation that her love for weiss - and all the girls, really - is real, and that she proved it to herself. after the games, i think maybe villanelle can be open with weiss in a way that she can’t entirely be with the rest of the girls. it’s just one of those things where if you go through something like that together, the bond it forges is quite unique.

i wavered on whether to include blake because villanelle didn’t do quite as much active development with her or yang, but i’m throwing blake in here for a few reasons.  1) post-graceplot when villanelle was kind of avoiding everyone, blake was the person who was able to approach that from the most empathetic point of view since she had just recently been on a “running away from everyone” arc herself, and i think that ultimately helped villanelle a lot in easing into wanting to make things right.

2) blake’s death during the games, and her not coming back afterwards, was a HUGE driving factor in how desperately angry villanelle became after the fact. it’s also maybe the most raw experience she’d had with grief up to that point, and it wasn’t something she was able to reconcile. that loss really helped to fuel her rage and also taught villanelle that even when you do your best to love someone else, things can still go wrong and you can still lose them, and that... wasn’t an easy thing for her to come to terms with.

and 3) she promised to fuck up adam for her if he ever showed up which, i think, should be the driving goal of the rest of villanelle’s life, 

sun and villanelle aka the single greatest example of “what if we jokingly shipped this oh god oh no wait i’m invested.” look they were always meant to be temporary but they were so goddamn sweet! while they lasted! i think planning temporary ships can give characters MOUNTAINS of development that endgame ships just can’t give you in the same way (not to say there’s not plenty of development that comes from endgame ships; i’m just saying there’s. a special kind of development that comes specifically from being brave enough to approach ending things with finality.) in villanelle’s case, that kind of stable, sweet relationship where she was tempering so much of herself deliberately could have never lasted, but it was good for her to get to experience that for a little while regardless? while i don’t think she was in love with sun, she did learn to just love him, and i think the clarity and simplicity sun approaches people in general with was something villanelle really benefited (and still benefits) from. most of all, it was significant for her to be able to see and understand that she wasn’t going to be able to be present and stable in that relationship in the way that sun deserved, and to make the decision to let him go. even if she was never OBSESSIVE about sun, villanelle still used to be a pretty selfish person who didn’t see any reason to let go of things if she enjoyed them, so i think. it can’t be underestimated, what sun taught her about love. 

emerald and villanelle have come SUCH a long way. first they were friends, then they were very bitter enemies, now they’re friends again approaching even a familial fondness. when villanelle was angry at emerald, it was never so much morally based as it was specifically based in the way emerald had hurt ruby, and penny, and had lied to villanelle herself. and although they started to resolve that after em didn’t take the chance to take advantage of villanelle during the memory glitch, i really think it was all the cinder stuff that allowed them to become close again. there are a lot of parallels between emerald and villanelle: both of them have coped by refusing to acknowledge the depths they’d sunken into over their heads with their respective organizations, both of them have been stuck in incredibly fucked up situations with older women. i think when villanelle acknowledges what emerald’s been through and is able to recognize that and feel compassion for her, she’s in a way learning to feel compassion for herself, and that’s very significant. i’d love to see how they evolve after villanelle’s canon update because i think now she’ll even have. More feelings about that. and i also think on some subconscious level as the new fall maiden she feels some kind of obligation to em, to be better than cinder was.

eve is, of course, a given on a list like this. she is such a powerful - the most powerful, in fact - influence on villanelle in any universe, and i think a lot about that in the context of villanelle having so many other people in her life now who she loves and who love her. as we’ve kind of seen on at least one occasion, if villanelle had to choose between eve and everything and everyone else she has... she would always choose eve. which isn’t something i’m trying to paint as sweepingly romantic (i love villaneve and i love how disastrous they are around one another, but i can still admit i’d be concerned for someone who would choose their partner over EVERY OTHER LOVED ONE THEY HAVE COMBINED,) but then again, it’s not even necessarily only for romantic reasons. it’s because eve is someone and something villanelle... craves, needs, finds time and time again that she simply cannot live without.

and them trying to make a relationship with one another work on denny has really provided its own unique set of challenges that’ve had an impact on both of them. eve and villanelle are deeply intrinsically connected, but that doesn’t necessarily equate to peaceful coexistence. any semblance of that, i think, is something that they’re always going to have fight for durations of, because their instinct is so much to consume one another instead! while its effect on villanelle of course can’t be described as wholly healthy - like i just mentioned above, she can be pushed into that place where she just sabotages everything else in her life for eve even still - that isn’t to say that there aren’t things about eve that haven’t changed villanelle for the better too! because to even have a romantic relationship with eve for an extended period of time like she has, villanelle has had to get better at certain things. she’s had to access a place of vulnerability and willingness to communicate that she hasn’t with anyone else, she’s had to accept eve’s own agency and individuality separate from their relationship (which is something she did on denny even before season 3 had her do it in canon!), she’s even had to do things like confront what her, say, killing bill actually meant and how it affected and continues to affect eve. it’s an absolutely explosive and constantly unstable dynamic, but there is of course GENUINE love between the two of them, and i really love all the ways in which villanelle’s been challenged to fight for that.

carolyn bears a mention because she’s undoubtedly been hugely influential  in the choices villanelle has made (and the ones which have been denied to her), especially lately. i don’t think villanelle ever particularly underestimated carolyn, but i think she was much too proud and too cocky to have imagined she’d have ever ended up under carolyn’s thumb the way she did. carolyn forced villanelle into the RID, and that was a situation villanelle was pretty complacent in for a while if only because it generally worked out for her. it took being backed into a corner to realize exactly how fucked she was, and interestingly enough i think that started to open villanelle’s eyes to the reality that she keeps ending up trapped by these higher powers, which is something that her canon update is going to heavily heavily emphasize. so. yeah, although while canon villanelle is mostly ambivalent to carolyn, denny villanelle absolutely HATES her. which. heh. may not end well. for at least one of them.

natasha is such a significant relationship for villanelle because i think, even with all the time she’s spent on denny and all the people she’s met? villanelle does not know... many people who are like her. most of her friends who know she’s an assassin either shy away from that part of her, or acknowledge it without really understanding what it means or what villanelle’s relationship is with killing and her own inner darkness. but natasha is such a PARALLEL to villanelle in so many ways, she was shaped into a weapon and told it’s the thing that defines her too, and even though she got out, she still has to grapple with that part of herself every single day. villanelle and natasha have their differences, sure, their variations in character and how their individual stories play out, but they also share a very specific understanding with one another that i don’t think either of them can really get anywhere else at the moment. and that’s a huge part of why nat has been such a significant influence on villanelle. when nat shows villanelle compassion, it comes from a deep, unfiltered place of empathy, something that could never be mistaken as Pity because they both understand what an insult that would be. when nat shows kindness and affection towards villanelle, it always seems to come from a place of “i understand the place you’re in completely, and you deserve to be treated like a human being anyway” which i think is so tragically ironic considering the self-loathing nat still carries around with her.

and i think there’s a part of villanelle that... while on denny she’s never expressed outward interest in completely changing her lifestyle or anything like that, i think there’s a part of her that looks at nat and admires how far she’s dug herself out of the hole she was in and, in some small quiet way, hopes to be like her someday.

pyrrha is pretty unique among the ruby girls in that like, rather than bonding with her gradually, villanelle kind of latched onto her immediately in a very “THIS IS TEAM RWBY’S DEAD LOVED ONE I MUST PROTECT HER” sort of way. which is interesting in its own way, because villanelle is rarely that protective of other people, and i think it goes beyond the physical (because she knows pyrrha can take care of herself) and more into the emotional. which villanelle does not especially consider herself well-equipped to handle, but hey, she’s gotta make sure pyrrha values herself beyond just what she can give or sacrifice to others!!!

on the subject, in terms of influence i have to mention that pyrrha gave her life for villanelle during the games, which is something that no one has ever done for her before, and an event which directly compelled villanelle to do the same for weiss. i don’t think villanelle knows how to even... address that, really, and can’t fully process the scope of it even though she made a similar decision in the end. in simplified terms, she feels like she owes pyrrha a debt, and one she hasn’t yet fathomed a way to repay.

elizabeth really just started out as a minor infatuation, a lil crush like villanelle gets on any pretty woman who intrigues her for more than 5 minutes. her flirtations with elizabeth were all in line with that, and i don’t think villanelle really realized how much she was encouraging elizabeth’s feelings for an attachment to her, particularly because her own feelings were not particularly intense for the first stretch of their friendship! in a way, villanelle’s relationship with elizabeth is a good examination and challenge of something i haven’t really done before with villanelle, which is that, like. it’s not her fault that she doesn’t bond or attach the way other people do (or at least, is much slower to), but she also has virtually no self-awareness of the way she engages and sometimes leads people on as a result. a lot could have been averted if she’d just... had the sense to set boundaries or had found a way to be more honest about the person she is.

but a lot’s happened since then, and now villanelle has to contend with the fact that she DOES love elizabeth, but at a time when their relationship has already just become too strained and impossible for the time being. additionally, villanelle really has no reference at all for being IN love with someone (or approaching that, anyway) in a way that’s non-obsessive and more quiet and gradual and just... very different from the way she loves eve, so she has a real hard time distinguishing this grey area between platonic and romantic feelings. because villanelle is still very literal in the interpretation of her emotions, so her reference for being in love with someone is “eve”, and she doesn’t know how to recognize anything on such a different part of the spectrum (particularly because villanelle is probably physically attracted to like, many of her platonic adult friends,)!  SO elizabeth and villanelle’s relationship is very influential in the sense that it really pushes villanelle into exploring parts of herself and emotional experiences that she hasn’t really yet.

do i need to put cinder here? she wasn’t in villanelle’s life for very long, but technically she is the reason villanelle has maiden powers, which changed her life entirely, so,

and then i’ll also toss in jigsaw (and technically also handsome jack), who will be INCREDIBLY pleased to know that his trap had a lasting effect one way or the other. don’t get me wrong, she was pissed as hell about it and would go on the WARPATH if she ever caught so much as a whiff of their involvement, but i mean. aside from the fact that lasting trauma definitely counts as an influence, i think it is one of the events that definitely brought villanelle closer to and more attached to eve, if perhaps in a. somewhat codependent and overprotective way. still can’t believe they caught villanelle saying she would give up everything else in her life and die for her gf ON TAPE,

[hi-itsminaya]

“Timeless” chapter 2 by curiosity-at-its-finnest

(yes I put two ‘nn’ at finest intentionally, leave me alone) 

Read on Ao3 

3h03 am

James woke up to his 2-year-old daughter climbing on his bed for the 3rd time that night. Harriet was at the age where she was able to escape the toddler barriers he put up on her nursery door to stop her from getting up at night, which was a small problem for James. She absolutely hated sleeping without her dad and would throw the biggest fits when it came to bedtime without him. 

Signing, James rolled over on his back just in time to see a mop of curly black hair identical to his poke out from the edge of the bed. He chuckled slightly when she finally managed to climb up and crawled her way to sit on his chest.

“Daddy!” Harriet cheered, happy to have found her dad in the mess of pillows and blankets.

“Hello there my little Troublemaker, what are you doing out of bed?” He smiled, he wasn’t mad at her, not at all, he was more exasperated with himself for making such a stubborn little girl.

“I stay Daddy!” she said, curling up in her usual spot on his chest, right under his chin.

“You’re going to stay with me tonight? But I thought big girls slept in their big girl bed” James tried. Usually, the statement worked the first couple times, but after a while, Harriet stopped caring about being a “big girl” and instead chose to stay with James. 

“Stay!” Harriet cried and stubbornly clung to her dad.

“Alright Trouble” He whispered, running his hand through her curls and giving her a quick kiss on her forehead. 

5h55 am

“Play!”

James groaned as he was once again awoken by his daughter's demands.

“In a minute Trouble, daddy wants to sleep a little more” He mumbled in his pillow, trying to block out the morning sun.

“Daddy play!” 

“Daddy doesn't want to play right now pumpkin” He tried negotiating, but if his daughter was as stubborn as he was (and she was) then he knew there was no point in it. 

He felt Harry shift around in the covers until it was silent. For some reason, he assumed his hyperactive 2-year-old just fell back asleep. So he closed his eyes and started dozing off again until he smacked in the head with a pillow.

“Prongsyyy”

“Daddy!”

“Go away” James said stubbornly and tried to hide in his covers. 

“Well, that’s not a very nice to say, isn't that right Prongslet?” Sirus asked, looking down at his goddaughter who was curiously staring at the lump of covers James was hiding in.  

“Play! I want play!” Harriet cried, climbing up on the bed (with some help from Uncle Siri) and sat on the lump of human known as her father.

“I don’t think you’re going to win this one mate, she seems pretty determined to get you up” Sirius laughed flopping onto the bed, purposefully landing on James.

“Get off me you fat mutt!” said, pocking his head out from under the covers. He really shouldn’t have done. The first thing he saw was a pair of big, green emerald eyes practically staring into his soul. 

‘Ah shit’ James thought  

“Hello there Princess,” he said, ruffling her hair to make it stick out even more “I heard you want to play?” 

“Ya! Play! Daddy come play!” There was an undeniable spark in the little girl's eyes and James couldn’t find it in himself to say no.

So he got up despite his body screaming in protest and let himself be dragged away by Harriet into the nursery with a sniggering Sirius behind him.

“Hey sweety, I think Uncle Padfoot wants to play too!” If James was going down he was dragging Sirius with him. 

“Padfoot play!” By now Harriet was beyond excited, two of her favourite people were willing to play with her! 

Sirus, of course, practically being a child himself, didn’t mind one bit playing with his precious goddaughter. He got play with Harriet and take the complete piss out of a sleep-deprived James, what better way to start the day?

8h20

When Remus woke up that morning he was expecting to find his sleep obsessed boyfriend next to him but was surprised to see no one else in the room. 

‘Oh god’ Remus thought ‘what kind of trouble is he creating’

The only time Sirius Black/Potter ever got up before 10h00 was to either help James with Harriet or to go wreak havoc in the lives of innocent locals. He assumed it was the later since he didn’t hear Harriet’s laugh echo in the flat. 

Sighing, Remus rolled out of bed and made his way to the kitchen hoping someone had already started the kettle but not before stopping in front of Harriet nursery. He could hear odd snickering from behind the door, what in blazing hell...

“Sirius?”

“Shhh you’ll wake him”

“What are you- Oh god.”

Remus looked down to where Harriet was sitting next to her sleeping father, happily drawing all over his face with whatever marker Sirius had given her. Probably permanent by the smell of it. He looked to Sirius in hopes of an explanation only to find him filming the whole thing with a huge shit eating grin on his face.

“Someone looks pleased with themselves” Just as he said that Harriet giggled and clapped her hands, finishing her artwork.

“Moony you don’t understand! This is Prongslet’s first official prank! Someone needs to be filming this historical moment! And since James is passed out and you just woke up, who else was going to do it?!” Sirius exclaimed, holding up his phone capturing the moment forever.

Remus didn’t feel like replying, it was too early for human interaction, instead, he just flopped on the floor and curled into Sirius’ side, watching the unavoidable chaos unfold before him.

“You are aware he’s going to kill you for giving her those markers, right? Remus asked, looking up to his boyfriend.

“I know, oh look!! He’s waking up!”

8h24

Harriet’s giggling is what woke James from his nap and even before opening his eyes, he knew he was in trouble. After two years of living his little troublemaker, he was able to distinguish which laughs were of amusement, excitement, confusion and other. While some differences were faint, James could hear them, and the laugh she was giving him right now was something he was far too familiar with. 

That was a laugh of pure and undeniable mischief.

Groaning, James sat up and patted around for his glasses on the soft carpet. When he could finally see again, the first thing he saw was his little Troublemaker holding some crayon with an incredibly proud smile on her face. 

“Good morning Trouble, what kind of mischief have you been making” James asked, picking her up and setting her down on his lap.

“I dw-aw Daddy! I dw-aw!” Harriet exclaimed, showing him the marker.

“You drew? Oh that lovely sweetheart, show Daddy what you drew”

“I dw-aw Daddy!”

It wasn’t until James noticed the type marker she was holding and the fact that there was no paper with any drawings around him that he understood the meaning of her words. Now that he was a bit more awake, he could smell the permanent marker surrounding the nursery and see that his nose was now a green-purple colour.

“Right,” he said, looking at Remus and Sirius who were practically pissing themselves laughing in the corner “Who gave Harry the permanent marker”

Neither of them were able to reply, to busy laughing themselves silly until Sirius managed to wheeze out something that sounded vaguely like “Marlene”.

“Sirius, Marley isn’t even here right now!”

“Uncle Padfoot!” Harriet suddenly chirped, getting up from James’ lap and waddled over to Sirius. 

“Noooo! Nugget, no, it was Uncle Moony who gave you the marker, remember?” Sirus said, scooting away when the toddler tried to give back the marker.

Remus and James lost it when Sirius got up and started running around the room, laughing like maniacs while Padfoot was trying to avoid the toddler. Jame ended up tackling Sirius and pinning his legs down while Remus got his arms. 

“Harriet, I think uncle Padfoot wants you to give him a mustache!” 

9h12 am

After Harriet finished her masterpiece on Sirius, she felt that Uncle Moony needed to join in on the fun too. So she chased Remus around, laughing in delight the entire time knowing her three favorite people loved her so much to play games with her. After she found everyone was thoroughly covered in marker, James decided it was probably time to feed Harriet. He was really surprised that she hadn’t been asking for food yet, what with being awake for a solid 3 hours, so he picked her up airplane style and ‘flew’ her over to the kitchen.

“Alright, what would Harriet like for breakfast thing morning,” James asked, placing her in her high chair and looking around the cupboard for some food. 

“Cupcake!” She answered excitedly, uncle Padfoot had brought home cupcakes last night and she had absolutely loved them. 

“Sorry Pumpkins, cupcakes are for evening treats, not breakfast”

“Cupcakes for breakfast!” Sirius shouted, running into the kitchen like an excited toddler would when seeing an ice cream truck. 

“Remus! Control your boyfriend!”

“James! Control your brother!” 

Groaning, James got Harriet breakfast ready, making sure she didn't make a mess of the cereal and began making breakfast for Remus, Sirius and him. (Because apparently out of the three adults living in this flat, he was the only one who actually knew how to cook) 

“I’m HEREEEE!” The front door slammed open and in came Marlene dragging a very tired looking Lily with her. “And I brought Lily!!”

“Lilykins! You’re back from your trip!” Sirius shouted from the kitchen, rushing to the door and attacking her in a great bear hug.

“Hello Sirius” Lily said, obviously tired but still putting on a smile, “Do I even want to know why all three of you are covered in marker?”

“Harriet pulled her first prank today! I got the whole thing on video! Come, I’ll show you” He said excitedly, dashing out of the entrance hall and ran to the nursery to get his phone. 

“JAMIEEEE darling” Marlene shouted in a sweet voice walking, into the dining area  “JayJay, my favourite cousin in the whole world, I’ve missed you so-”

“Yes Marley, I’ll make you breakfast” James signed, already knowing what she wanted; after all his cooking was probably the only reason she ever actually visited… Oh and Harriet of course.

“You’re the best! Now, where’s my little Harriet?” She asked, spotting Harry reaching out to her in the high chair and making a move to pick her up.

“Oh no you don’t Mckinnon! She’s my goddaughter!” Sirius rushed into the room, picked up Harriet and made a dash for the lounge, Marlene hot on his heels.

“She’s my goddaughter to you bloody dog!”

“Sirius, I swear to all that is good if you drop my kid again!”

“So Lily, how was your trip?”

Lily turned to Remus who was vigorously rubbing his face with a wet cloth, trying to get the marker off. 

“Oh it was absolutely beautiful, I got so many pictures of the Palmengarten flower garden. The only thing is Marlene kept me up most of last night to fill me in on what I missed, so I didn’t get much sleep.”

After the “James and Lily surprise encounter” as Marlene liked to call it, Lily realized just how much she was missing while away on her trips. She was so focused on her work that she didn’t really bother updating herself on the big changes in other people lives. Now, she asked Marlene to fully update her on everything she missed while away on her work trips, but Marlene’s need to give excessive detail drove the conversation late into the night and often left Lily with little sleep. 

Remus seemed to have noticed this, fetching some tea and a couple of painkillers for her.

“Thank you” Lily smiled kindly, taking the tea and medicine.

“No problem, you’re going to need them if you plan on staying a while”

Just as he said that Sirius came back, bursting in the kitchen, Harriet on his shoulders who was giggling madly, while trying to escape Marlene.

“Let me hold her, you bleeding–“

“MARLEY!” 

“Donkey! I was going to say donkey!”

Lily continued to watch Sirius, Harriet and Marlene run around the flat while Remus set off to help James with breakfast. Speaking of James, their relationship had been.... complicated? If there even was a relationship to begin with. They had set up a ‘date’ a few days after she had called but surprisingly things hadn’t taken off as well as Lily expected. The date itself was a huge hit, it’s what came after that made things a little rockier. Lily’s boss had sent her on a 2 week trip to France to interview some Uni students with a couple other coworkers. In those two weeks, she was stomped with so much work that she hadn’t managed to call James once to make plans for another date. While she felt bad at first, Remus told her that James was also flooded with work as well, so much so that he had barely seen any sign of life from him other than when he was playing with Harriet. 

There was also the fact that James still wasn’t over the “crazy ex” situation. She didn't blame him, not at all, after Marlene had told her the story Lily understood she may have to take things slow with James. He had bigger priorities to take care of, like a daughter, that he had to consider before fully jumping into a relationship and Lily admired that about him. 

“BREAKFAST IS READY” James hollered from the small kitchen and in an instant, everyone was up getting their plates ready. Harriet was in Marlene's arms, laughing with her godmother happily until she got whiff of Lily.

Harriet doesn’t like Lily much.

The second Harriet saw Lily her smile immediately vanished and she started calling for James. 

“Marley, what did you do to my kid?" James asked jokingly, picking up with daughter and cradling her in his chest. 

“I didn't do anything! I just walked in and she got all fussy!” Marlene protested, handing over Harriet to James the second she started fussing, there was no way in hell she was dealing with a Potter Tantrum at this hour. 

“It’s cause she saw Lily was here, she doesn’t like it when she has to fight for James’ attention,” Sirius said, shoving his mouth with food. 

James winced slightly, he knew Harriet didn't like Lily very much, always holding an attitude with her whenever she came by the flat with Marley but he would have thought she’d get over it. Apparently, he underestimated just how stubborn Harry could be. 

“It’s not that she doesn’t like you, Lily, it's just that she needs to get used to you” James tried to explain, it was true, Harriet typically didn’t like being around new people but she had known Lily for more than a year! 

“James, you’re not fooling anyone, I know Harriet isn’t exactly fond of me, there no reason to beat around the bush” Lily had known about Harriet’s distaste for her since the moment she arrived at James’ flat for their date. James had left Harriet in the care of Remus and Sirius but she wasn’t having any of it. The moment James stepped foot outside the flat she began crying, screaming, wailing, whatever you want to call, Lily had never heard a baby cry so loudly. Not to mention they weren’t able to find Harriet’s pacifier, so she just kept wailing until James gave in and picked her up.

From that moment on Harriet seem to hate Lily, not wanting her to take her dad away from her. 

“Well, she’s going to have to get used to being apart from James anyway, she’s going to start daycare soon isn't she?” Marlene said, not seeing the look of absolute horror on James' face.

“Daycare!?!” Harriet looked up started at her dad after his outburst, wondering if the odd red-haired lady said something to upset him.

Lily and Marlene both gave him odd looks while Remus and Sirius just rolled their eyes, they had already dealt with this type of situation and they didn’t feel like having to deal with ‘overdramatic James’ again. 

“Yes James, daycare, you know, that place you send your child during the day so you can go to work.” Malene rolled her eyes, she had tried talking James into sending Harriet to daycare once and the results weren’t the prettiest. 

“Why on earth would I send her to daycare when there are plenty of people who would love to watch her during the day!” When Jame was first learning how to take care of Harriet, he had more help and support from his friends and family than he ever could have asked for. Remus and Sirius were more than happy to take some days off from work to watch Harriet, same with Regulus. His parents were probably the biggest help though, they were at the flat every other day helping him learn how to be a proper parent and babysat for him whenever he needed someone to look after Harry.  

“James, I am very aware that Harriet’s cuteness has gotten her more than enough babysitter, I should know, I’m one of them, but don’t you think she should learn to interact with other kids her age?”

“What do you mean? She’s perfectly capable of playing with kids her age! In fact, just the other day Sirius, mum and I took her to the park and she was more then Happy to play with the other kids.” He remembered it had been his mother suggested to let Harriet get some fresh air and the 3 of them though it appropriate weather for a quick picnic.

“James, she ran off with Sirius to go play in the structure and came back crying 2 minutes later when a kid asked what her name was.” By now Marlene was exasperated, looking to the others for support but they were all too busy eating their breakfast, traitors.

“A very good skill to have! She knows not to talk to strangers!” By now James was hugging Harriet protectively as if Marlene would steal her a whisk her off to daycare, He knew she had a point but he wasn’t willing to let some random stranger watch over his daughter. 

“James the kid was probably no more than 3! He just wanted to play! Listen, if you want to be stubborn then fine, but for Harriet’s sake James, just consider it, please?” Marlene knew it was hard for James to let go of Harriet but she wasn’t going to stay little forever.

James looked down to where Harriet was happily drooling on his shirt, giggling at the feeling of his hands running through her hair. She was still so little, there was no way she was ready for something as big as daycare! 

“I’ll think about it” 

1h44 pm 

James had been mentally battling himself all day and he was starting to get a headache. While he knew there was some truth to Marlene's words, James just couldn’t find it in himself to let his precious little nugget go. As much as he tried to convince himself that Harriet wasn’t ready for daycare, he knew deep down that wasn't the case. In reality, it was the fact that James refuses to accept Harriet was growing, first daycare, then reception and in the blink of an eye she’ll have graduated and be off to Uni on the other side of the world and leave him foreve-

“James? Are you alright?” Lily asked, peeking her head through the door. She hadn’t seen any sign of him since breakfast. At first, she assumed he was working but now she was getting a bit worried, he had an odd look on his face as if he was in pain without anyone physically touching him.

“Lily! I- um- Ya! I’m fine, Great in fact!” His hand immediately jumped to his hair, whether because he was anxious or because of Lily Evans, he wasn’t sure yet. “Oh! Look at the time! I should probably go put Harriet down for her nap”

He got up in one swift motion and was about to make a dash for the door when Lily stopped him.

“James, Sirius put Harriet in her crib 30 minutes ago for her nap, what’s got you all jumpy like this?” It took Lily a while to get used to nervous James vs cocky arrogant James, the transition in her head seemed almost impossible but experiencing it first hand was a different story. “Is it about what Marlene said? At breakfast?”

“I-No, it’s not... Okay maybe a little” He flopped back on the bed. James knew there was no point in lying, if Lily felt that he was acting odd then she probably would have told the others and the four of them combined would definitely have been able to squeeze the answer out of him. 

“You know she didn’t mean it in a bad way, she was just making a point. Harriet’s going to have to start school at some point, this will just get her used to being away for the day.” Lily sat next to him on the bed trying her best to point out the positives in sending Harriet to daycare.

“I know it’s just- On one hand I want her to learn to play with other kids and get along with them, but on the other hand I want to keep her locked away from all danger by keeping her safe in my arms forever.” He said in one breath, running both hands through his hair as if he was about to pull it out.

“I’m pretty sure those are normal things to feel when being a parent, James. Besides, no ones forcing you to put her in daycare, if you want to wait a little longer then that’s fine, all Marlene was saying, or suggesting, is that you consider it.” Lily knew sugar-coating an unavoidable situation probably wasn’t the best idea but she believed it’s what James needed right now. “What if you asked your parents for some advice? We both know they’d be more than thrilled to help you.”

“I did. Talked to them for a bit over the phone earlier, it did help I will admit, they told me they felt the same on my first day of school, the only difference is my first day of school happened when I was eleven.” He still remembers it so clearly, his father was trying so hard not to cry while his mother physically restrained him in hugs so he wouldn’t get on the train. 

“Wait, what? You didn't go to any type of public or private school before Hogwarts?” I guess you learn something new every day, Lily thought.

“Mum and dad hired personals tutors so I could be schooled from home. Dad say’s it was because that’s what his parents did to him as a boy and the education proved beneficial but really he was the one teaching me half the time. Mum said it’s because she couldn’t be bothered to answers all the call or letter she would receive when I misbehave.” He laughed, his parents took the meaning ‘overprotective’ to a whole other level and he loved it. 

“Right, so maybe that’s not the best example to take from” Lily laughed with him, she knew Mr and Mrs Potter quite well and that does seem like something they would do. 

“Ya but I understand why they did it, primarily it’s because they didn’t trust anyone but themselves and people they knew to take care of me or teach me. Dad did mostly the sciences, chemistry specifically since he was best at it. Mum did English, literature, everything having to do with reading, writing, and all that other stuff. I had a few other people teach me other things like, Minnie came over to the manor when she could and did some math with me-”

“Wait, Minnie? As in Professor McGonagall?”

“Ya, she and mum were good friends, still are, she asked auntie Minnie if she was willing to teach me a bit. She regret saying ‘yes’ two days later. Drove her mad, I did, worse bit is she didn't even get rid of me until graduation.” 

“Auntie Minnie?” She gave him an amused look “Bet it didn’t take long for Sirius to jump on that train” 

James barked out a laugh and whipped his eyes under his glasses “Great gods you should have seen the look on her face the first time he called her Minnie, bloody hilarious it was, obviously she blamed me for it so we both got in trouble but it was worth it. “

James and Lily continued to talk about memories from Hogwarts and whatnot, simply laughing at the fun things they forgot in the mess that came after graduation and James realized how incredibly calming Lily’s presence was to him. He didn’t feel nervous or jittery with her sitting next to him. His Hogwarts self would probably be pissing himself with happiness at the thought of Lily Evans enjoying a conversation with him. Guess that just proves how much things can change in the course on only a few years and that maybe ‘change’ isn’t as bad as he thought. 

3h41 pm

The rest of the day was simply spent watching movies and relaxing at the flat. Everything seemed so busy in the outside world that they all agreed a quiet afternoon wouldn’t hurt. By the time they picked out the third movie, Harriet woke up from her and began calling for James. 

“Well, that’s my cue,” James said, untangling his legs from Lily’s and walking over to the nursery. It was common knowledge that most toddlers woke up cranky, whether it was from a nap of a full night’s sleep and Harriet was no exception. If James wasn’t the first person she saw waking up she would lose it, crying and screaming for her dad. 

When he walked into the nursery he saw Harriet sitting in her crib, sucking on her dummy, hair sticking out in every direction possible with a tired/confused look on her face. James couldn’t help the smile stretching across his face; he didn’t know what it was but just looking at his little Troublemaker made his hear swell.

“Hello there baby girl,” James smiled, laughing when she giggled back at him, showing him her little dimples. “did you have a good nap?”

Wrapping her up in her blanket, he picked her up and sat down on the rocking chair. He really hoped that as she got older, they would still be able to have this type of cuddle time. Where they could both just relax and enjoy some quiet time together. As much as James didn’t want to accept the fact that his little girl was growing up, she was and rather quickly at that.

Harriet started gurgling in his arms, her dummy was stopping her from saying full words but he knew better than to take it out of her mouth without her permission.

“Princess, do papa a favour and stay little forever, yes? Good.” Harriet didn’t have the slightest idea what her dad was talking about, she was just giggling at the fleeing of him playing with her hair. She absolutely loved moments like this, when it was just the two of them and she had all James’ attention. Although she didn’t understand what he was saying, his chest was making a funny rumblings sound which made her laugh. 

“Daddy! I low-ve Daddy!” Harry cheered quietly, the dummy falling our of her mouth. 

James froze completely and immediately stopped rocking the cair. Had she just said that? Or did he just imagine? Was he going crazy? Honestly, considering the people he hung out with, he wouldn’t be surprised.

“What was that Trouble? Can you say that again?” 

“I lowve you, Daddy!” Harriet said again and James' heart soared. It was the first time Harry had ever said she loved him and while he knew she did without her having to say it, hearing it was enough to make him cry. 

“I love you too my little Troublemaker,” James murmured in her hair quietly, not bothering to stop the flow of tears streaming down his cheeks “More than life itself my darling.” 

Because I couldn’t get enough of baby Harriet and James, in the next chapter I’ll probably have some Lily/Harry bonding time. 

[darkzorua100]

It is more then likely because I watched the two part season 3 finale of Shadowhunters last night and I’m still getting over my high of how that season ended (on that note, I really want to reread City of Lost Souls and City of Heavenly Fire now because Sebby’s back!) so going into episode 52, I was expecting something super big since we knew we were getting Takeru’s backstory, or least some of it, during this episode but it just felt like it fell flat. Again, I just came from something that was making me super hyped for what was to come so I feel like it is unfair to be judging the two but when it comes to 52, it doesn’t feel like we got anything new per say. And even the stuff that was new somehow found a way to piss me off for petty reasons but my brain is stupid like that. You all know this at this point.

So the episode begins with the Lost Children being rescued with Takeru, and my guess the rest of them even though we don’t see it, being taken to the hospital. We learn that he was six when this happened to him (so yeah, he is sixteen) and this is one thing I did like about the episode. We got to learn more about what happened to the children after they were rescued. I wish we did get to see Takeru when he was locked away like we did with Yusaku and Spectre, that might be shown later down the line though, but this here does make you think of what would have happened to these children if Ryoken didn’t save them when he did. I’m fairly certain they would have actually died from this.

Speaking of death, Takeru’s parents died while looking for him from another accident. What said accident was we don’t know but this is the second time now where a main character’s parents are dead from an accident. It might just be a stupid cop-out why of not having to write in any parents for the show but seriously, this is getting fishy now. Spectre and Go are orphans, Takeru, Aoi, and Akira’s parents were all killed in accidents, and god knows where Yusaku’s parents are. Really makes you think if SOL Tech really just killed every adult that had some connection to the Hanoi Project that they knew about. I mean, considering what they did to Kogami to keep his mouth shut, I wouldn’t be surprised. Doesn’t make it any less messed up though. 

Then we have this crazy bitch, Hayami, who is out right trying to kill Soulburner for Akira-senpai. And I mean full out “notice me-senpai!” crazy. And after she gets caught, she starts crying like a little baby like we are supposed to feel sorry for her and doesn’t even get in trouble for it. I really hope this isn’t going to be a reoccurring thing with her now because that is just irritating on so many levels to me. I’m not kidding, if she does this again during the Playmaker vs Blood Shepherd duel, Akira better do something or I’m going to lose it. I’m sorry but I really can’t stand this kind of childish behavior. 

So after that annoying interruption, Soulburner continues to hold up to his namesake by being as over the topic as he can with his fire theme as he reincarnation link summons Heatleo but still isn’t able to beat Go since his dinosaurs are really controlling when it comes to the battle phase. 

Go takes his turn and thinks to himself how if he was still being an entertainer he would have attacked Heatleo first but since he isn’t being Yuya anymore, he is going straight for the kill but just like Soulburner, he isn’t able to do so since Soulburner’s field spell saved him and now he is down to 1100 LPs.

After trading blows, Takeru gets more backstory to why he is here today. Like we already knew from last week’s episode, after seeing Playmaker, Blue Angel, and Go fight against the Knights, they inspired him to do the same. Again, I am very much looking forward to Takeru/Soulburner and Aoi/Blue Angel having some interactions now since we already saw how much he respects Yusaku/Playmaker and Go, I want to see how he interacts with Aoi/Blue Angel. Also it seems like he wasn’t so much of a delinquent as in he got into fights or did crime or anything like that, he just didn’t care about anything in that delinquent sense such as going to school. I mean, I don’t blame him. After going through that kind of trauma and losing your parents right after, I wouldn’t feel like doing anything either. We still don’t know how he actually met Flame yet or why he changed his look (I’m now fairly certain Flame had a role to play in Takeru’s appearance change (speaking of which, does he seem so much taller in his delinquent form or is that just me?) so I hope we end up getting that backstory as well in the future. 

On a random note, I really like Takeru’s old home and the ocean feel to it. Reminds me of Gateon Port from Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness. Also, it seems like Takeru has an admirer. Oh that’s cute. They are trying to make him straight XD However since this girl, Kiku, was in the cast list, mentioned by name, it does make me wonder if she is actually going to play a role later down the line. Watch as she turns out to be the Water Child lol.

So after using his Burning Draw skill....Soulburner activates a Ritual Spell...

Excuse me what now?

He’s not using Fusion?! 

I say this again, excuse me?!

Well okay then. Playmaker and Soulburner are both Ritual Users now. 

You know, I’m complaining about this now, since I was so convinced Soulburner was going to be using Fusion (still might, who knows) but considering that Ritual Summoning is getting the spotlight after FOREVER, I honestly should be throwing a party right now. I wanted Yu-Gi-Oh six to be Ritual based to begin with and now apparently it is.

Still wanted him to use Fusion though...

Anyway, Soulburner ritual summons Salamangreat Emerald Eagle (sounds like a Crystal Beast more then anything (again, reminding me so much of Johan, Takeru) and uses it to beat Go. Go takes his lose like a sore loser (love how Flames even calls him that) and leaves after telling Soulburner that no one can win forever and everyone will lose at some point but what you will do with that lose is what will really affect you in the long run.

Go does have a point though. Losing is what really helps you to grow more so then winning. Not that will actually happen though since as long as Playmaker and Soulburner have their Ignises, they honestly can’t lose because of plot armor. Seriously though, the day Playmaker actually does lose a duel, we are going to be throwing a five second party and then have to shut it down because we all are going to feel awful when Yusaku’s PTSD kicks in. 

And speaking of Yusaku, the episodes ends with Playmaker and Ai getting closer to Haru and Bohman’s lair only for them to get attacked by Blood Shepherd. Next week, Playmaker vs Blood Shepherd with the return of Ghost Girl and Blue Angel in action if the cast list is anything to go by. Nothing must else I have to say. Again, this episode was just meh to me for the most part.

[inkuisitivskins]

Top 5 Series that fundamentally shaped you as a person

Ask Me My Top Five Anything!

ohhhhhh yikes. Lemme think haha, there’s several that immediately come to mind but I really wanna put some thought into this uwu I’ll try to put them in some semblance of a rational order heh

1. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (and slightly 2003)

I had always been into “anime” like Pokemon and Hamtaro when I was a kid, but it was about seven years ago when I started watching actual anime. My first was Kekkaishi on Adult Swim, and I liked it enough, but that was also during the first English dub airing of Brotherhood, and it would come on right after Kekkaishi did, so I would watch it sometimes. I think the first episode I remember seeing was a flashback of Ishval, and one scene I prominently remember was Riza talking to Ed in her apartment (when she’s cleaning her pistol and she asks Ed if he loves Winry LMAO). I thought it looked cool and I realized that my mom’s friend’s (she lives with us) son had all but one dvd set of the original 2003 anime. I binge watched it (only missing the short dvd arc where Hughes was killed, which was later in 03 than in Brotherhood), and I fell in love. After that, I dove into Brotherhood and started buying the manga volumes (which were also being released as the anime aired). It remains my favorite franchise to this day, and I’m honestly glad that I saw 03 first because??? there’s certain things I still like about it, and even though Brotherhood is the superior and truest (to Arakawa’s actual vision of the story) version, I’m glad I was able to appreciate the original. I feel like I’d be turned off by it if I watched it after the fact, you know?

What I love about Fullmetal is just the thought that goes into the characters and the events that go on. In Brotherhood, every single character, including fuckin side characters like Yoki, have a specific purpose. The story and lore of the world is so immersive and well thought out and just so intelligent? I love all of the scientific and historical allusions Arakawa makes, and the character development is so beautiful and wonderful (namely in characters like Ed and Al, whose quest changes from something that only concerned themselves to something that concerns literally their whole country and eventually the entire world, if they hadn’t have stopped Father– and Scar, who only wanted revenge, but eventually saw past it and recognized the same greater good that Ed and Al did, even going as far to make the huge mindset change from REVENGE IS ONLY THE ANSWER AND I WILL DISOBEY MY GOD IN ORDER TO ULTIMATELY SERVE THEM to Miles’s mindset of I will use what has been given to me to change minds and make the world a better place for my people)

No joke I’m literally so tempted to apply for a panel at a convention that would just be a huge love letter to this series, where I discuss all of these things I feel in depth. I have 0 idea how to apply for a panel tho haha

2. Pokemon

When I was little, I would go to my mom’s work and just hang out after school. There was one coworker she had who was a young guy, like early twenties, and he really liked me. One day, he brought Pokemon LeafGreen for me to play, and I absolutely fell in love with it (literally my first playthrough, I got in one of the Ye Olde Metapod vs Metapod Fights hahaha). I think that was around first grade, soooo like 2004 ish? It just so happened that I had a friend who was getting a DS, so she gave me her gameboy advance SP and I bought LeafGreen uwu

After that, I’ve had at least one pokemon game from each gen and a few of the spinoffs since. I have FireRed and LeafGreen, Emerald, Blue on the virtual console, Gold, Crystal (that didn’t work), Pearl, Diamond, Platinum, Black, White 2, Y, Omega Ruby, Moon, soon Moon Ultra, Mystery Dungeron Red and Blue rescue teams, Mystery Dungeon Darkness/Time/Sky, Trozei, Rumble Blast, Battle Revolution, and the original Pokemon Ranger. 

It really helped me when I was little because it exposed me to the world of creature design, which is like my ultimate career path (I would like to be a creature and character design artist for a game company, though for now I’ll settle on an art teacher haha). Some of my first shitty OCs were Pokemon ripoffs, heh. It’s just why it’s always been easier for me to draw animals and creatures; I’m only just now getting into humans tbh.

3. The Land Before Time

This is probably the most random series on this list lmao. I grew up with the original movies, like, big time. Ever since I was 5 until I was like 17, I had wanted to be a paleontologist because of these movies. I still absolutely love dinosaurs so much, and Imma rant for a second buttt

The main tattoo I want is of a Tylosaurus P. skeleton because??? i loved dinosaurs and I bought this wii game where you play as different prehistoric marine reptiles (since they’re not considered dinosaurs but still) ((and i recognize it now but that game was so bad but i loved it to death)) and one of them was a tylosaur, it was my favorite. Fast forward a few years, my aunt took me to go on a dig (which I hated bc it was out in the heat) but I met a woman there who worked at a museum and she??? invited me to come help excavate one in the lab???? and guess what the actual fuck it was

it was a tylosaurus p. skull. My exact favorite dinosaur, right down to the specific genus. 

That was incredible because I was actually able to touch and help excavate the skull? which is a big deal bc the skeletons you see in museums usually aren’t the real thing, just plasters. So the fact that I was able to touch the real deal was one of the best things to ever happen to me.

So yeah I fucking love dinosaurs and if teaching doesn’t work out I’m gonna try and do paleontology stuff

4. Okami

This was one of the first wii games I ever got REALLY SUPER into. If you don’t know what this game is, it’s a literal work of art where you play as the reincarnated Japanese sun goddess who took on the form of a wolf, and her power is that the tip of her tail is like a brush and she can paint things into existence. This really got me to make my first ever “real” OCs, even though they were mainly fan characters. One I’ve abandoned, but two became like their own entities. One I still call a fan character because her entire story has to do with the game and I can’t really tailor her into her own thing, but for the other, I made her her own series. Little Baby Dylan wrote enough content for 4 whole manga series with this bitch, because even I had an “I want to be a mangaka” phase. Obviously looking back on it now, they were garbage, but I really want to redo her series because I miss and love her. Anyway, if Pokemon introduced me to character creation, Okami introduced me to worldbuilding and lore development. 

I also kind of want to write fanfiction for the one fan character bc I feel her story is really good? I just don’t know if there’s a place for fan character-centric fics on Ao3, since she’s the main character and she only interacts with canon characters (especially since she’s kind of an OCxCanon thing and idk how well that’s accepted there;;;;; )

I doubt anyone would want to see them but I may draw them again sometime if anyone’s interested haha

5. Dark Souls

One of my first “more mature” gaming experiences along with Skyrim and Fallout 3, the Souls series exposed me to the wonders of Dark Storytelling and Dark Atmosphere and *gasp* Eldritch themes. The unforgiving and sinister nature of these games just fuckin drew me in, I was enraptured at the tone that this game was able to produce. When I branched off from the Okami verse and made the world for the fan-character-turned-original-character, I took a lot of inspiration from this game and the atmosphere it was able to create. The story was so dark and the characters were all very weird and even some could have been considered otherworldly. I still really love the feel of it all and, through it, I learned how to draw certain creepy things and evoke certain emotions from my art (see: that drawing I did of Envy’s true form haha)

Sorry this was so long Megan;;; Thank you very much for asking though!!