#also way more cats should've been in on the plot!

[angsttronaut]

tbh, it would've been so funny if curlfeather killed jayclaw. even funnier if she went from being super into her husband to planning his demise because frostpaw had that dream about him, and she realised she could use it to make her a medicine cat.

[finnlongman]

Keep thinking about that one KJ Charles interview where she's talking about the challenges of being a historical romance novelist when you sort of believe the whole aristocracy should've been executed, and the delicate balancing act of writing historically accurate and interesting characters who don't have awful politics and values. And, crucially, she challenged the typical rich love interest idea by asking, "But where does the money come from?"

Once you think about it, you can't stop thinking about it. Every historical romance I read now, I can tell whether the author has thought about it. Sometimes they've thought about it but tried not to deal with it and hoped we wouldn't notice that the rich aristocrat probably owns a plantation. Sometimes they've actually dealt with it. And sometimes they have not considered it and It Shows.

But I also don't want historical novels where characters have modern sensibilities! I want them to feel historical... I just also want the "desirable" characters to not be, you know, involved in the slave trade or whatever, because that seriously undermines everything the book is doing to make them seem attractive. (One does not generally read this flavour of historical romance for morally grey antiheroes, and even if you did, that would be a fairly tasteless way of developing such a character, imo.)

I really enjoyed a detail in one of Cat Sebastian's books where the love interest is a Quaker, and he refuses dessert because he's boycotting sugar. It's a way of signalling to us that this character has particular values, but one that's rooted in the historical context and doesn't feel like a modern character wearing period clothing. His Quakerism also influences a few other details – his use of first names rather than titles, for example – but it's not a major plot point and he's no intense political campaigner. It's just one facet of his character, and one that made me like him more.

This sort of thing becomes a problem, too, with medieval settings and retellings and anything where you start having to deal with kings. A king of some tiny little pseudohistorical country whose major concerns revolve around not getting invaded and ensuring his people survive the winter is a very different prospect from a king intent on conquering his neighbours and expanding his glorious kingdom, of course. Still a king, though. What do you do with that, if you're someone who doesn't approve of kings?

I ran into this problem with a book I was working on a few years back, and it's one of the reasons I shelved it. I was trying to write a book about community and friendship. I was also trying to write an Arthurian retelling. And while a brotherhood of knights is a great starting point for a story about community and friendship, in order to have knights, you need to have a king for them to pledge fealty to. Problematic. My Arthur figure did not believe in hierarchy, but the story demanded that he perpetuated one anyway, because it was baked into the building blocks of story I was using to build mine. Eventually I realised I could not write that story as an Arthurian retelling without stripping it of everything recognisably Arthurian, and set it aside to be remade into something else.

I still think about this, though. I think about my Bisclavret retelling, which by necessity has a king in it. Bisclavret is a story about feudal loyalty, about oaths, about hierarchies. Take that away and you no longer have Bisclavret; it is a story that cannot exist without a king for the knight-wolf to be loyal to. Does that mean that as a story it always inherently supports a monarchist ideal, though? Or is its portrayal of kingship (a relationship that is, crucially, reciprocal) sufficiently detached from colonialist systems of monarchy to be distinct from those?

What systems and ideals form the assumptions a story is rested on? What happens once you start to question them? Can you still tell the same stories once you ask where the money comes from, or why the king is owed loyalty? Or does there come a point where you realise there are ideas woven into the very fabric of those narratives that you can't see past?

I don't have answers. I'm just thinking aloud. Thinking about having written a book with a king who isn't the bad guy, and what that means when I approve of neither kings nor hierarchies in general. Thinking about writing the past with the eyes of the present. Thinking about the unexamined assumptions in so many historical novels I've read, and how it feels as a reader not to be able to stop examining them.

(I have also read a number of contemporary romance novels where, after working my way through half an author's backlist, I've been forced to acknowledge that despite everything, the author does in fact think rich people are inherently attractive. Not sure what the solution to that one is, but it's certainly a different, if related, problem.)

[distort1xn]

Ain’t Been To Heaven (But I’m Close)

“What’s with the get-up?” Cat-Man-Do returns, not turning.

Staring down at himself, Anthony’s annoyance skyrockets. Fuckin’ Bennie with his baggy, thuggish bullshit. So what if Anthony’s suits are fuckin’ pastel? At least they fit! Bennie’s shit makes him look like a kid playing dress-up, for Christ’s sake.

“I guess my father was hoping it’d make me manlier – more intimidating. Pinstripes and suspenders seem more your speed, though. I feel like I’m going to church.”

He’s babbling like a nervous idiot, so he throws back half his drink. Fuck, if it isn’t the best one he’s ever had.

This time, kitty’s smirk reaches his eyes. He looks amused. Anthony’s breath catches in his throat.

“Catholic?” the cat-demon makes conversation.

Anthony doesn’t know how he’d planned to answer, but it isn’t with, “I seem the type?”

In that same chattering-about-the-weather voice, his host answers, “You seem like you have no problem getting on your knees.”

OR

Mob!Anthony meets Overlord!Husk and we get what Shakespeare should've done with Romeo & Juliet.

Notes:

Yo yo yiggity yo.

This is a multi-chap fic and I am queueing the chapters to post one per week (if my patience holds) until I'm done with the story. Should be about 10 chapters, but will keep y'all posted.

You'll eventually find a reflowable epub of this fic with a self-made cover here that'll work on just about any ereader you use. Would recommend the epub version for cute quirks like my cute formatting and the 'novel' feel of it all, but maybe I'm biased since I'm the one making the thing.

It takes me a while to write. I write by hand before I type it all up. Yes, I know that takes longer. No, I don't care. Read my epic prose and then tell me I need to 'streamline my technique'. That's what I thought. This being said, I am done with 6 of the 10 chapters and therefore should have enough time to write the remaining 4 (already busy with chapter 7). If I 'run out' of postables at any point, I'll leave a notice in a chapter note.

Each chapter will be adequately trigger-warned and smut(tiness) will be bolded for ease of skipping purposes. Skipping it will not impact your reading/understanding/following of the story. It will flow seamlessly around the smut every time. This being said, do read the trigger warnings, as sometimes it's just some heaviness and not actual smut and it might add some flavour to my Huskerdust. Ya feel?

Last, but not least, I don't make a habit of adding OCs into my fic. So, they really do only exist for plot purposes and really have no bearing on the story aside from furthering the narrative. Saying this, there might be a few names you don't recognize. Let me get those out of the way now:

Alfonso/Fonso – Angel/Anthony's father (non-canon name)

Bennie – Arackniss/Angel/Anthony's brother (non-canon name)

Tiffy – A hooker OC who doubles as Angel/Anthony's beard for a time

Miranda – Husk’s wife when he was alive

If there are any more, I'll add them here!

Oh, also: comments and kudos are always and forever craved and appreciated. Even if it's just a descriptive emoji. A picture speaks a thousand words or whatever, right?

Title and chapter titles taken from 'LOVE IS A...' by PVRIS.

COMPLETE

[4rainynite]

Scooby Doo x Goosebumps

This better be some universal foreshadowing that we're getting a Scooby and Goosebumps crossover or I'll be so mad!

This week while I was in Barnes & Nobles I came across this and almost cried from joy. I'm a huge fan of Scooby- Doo and Goosebumps so this was just perfection. I know this was most likely a setup from leftover Halloween stuff, but I love it (also give the person a raise for the idea)!

Headcanon Time/ Scooby Doo x Goosebumps AU:

The Mystery INC is called by an anonymous benefactor to help find some missing people (mainly children) in a small town.

The gang jump to it since they love mysterious, but they love helping people more.

Once they arrive in the small town they begin investigating and hear strange stories around town for example: an evil dummy coming to life, a witch who grants terrible wishes, haunted mask that attach to people and turn them evil, cameras that predict omens, and so on.

At first the gang thinks it's another hoax and real estate plot, but the stories sound eerily familiar like something out of a 1980's -90's children horror book series.

The townsfolk don't trust Scooby - Doo due to his abilities to do things a normal dog can't possible do: speak human language, cook, dance, the works. This hurts Scooby and makes him start doubting himself (how dare you townspeople!).

The gang then investigate a writer who half the town think is responsible due to the kidnappings are similar to the horror novels he writes. When they meet the writer it's none other than *drumroll* R.L. Stine (who plays himself in the movie fanfic).

Mystery Inc: It's famous children's horror writer, R.L. Stine!

At first Velma is excited to meet the famous R.L.Stine, but after her encounter with Ben Ravencroft, she fears he'll be the same as Ben. Until -

R.L. Stine: So, you've met Mr. Ravencroft. How was he?

Velma: (Gloomy) I was excited to finally meet one of my favorite writers. Only to be disappointed when he turned out to be evil.

R.L. Stine: Yep! I met him before, he's a huge jerk! You should've met Stephen King aka the 'Adult horror writer of Goosebumps'.

Velma: *Perks up*

R.L. Stine reveals that he called them, and he is the cause of what is going on due to bunch of works he never finished/ can't find the ending for a current story from his old typewriter he had since he was nine, and if he can't come up with an ending soon things will get worse. The gang don't believe him and think all the rumors around town about him being the kidnapper are getting to him. The gang stays with R.L. Stine's place during the investigation and Scooby and Shaggy come across certain items from the Goosebumps, Fear Street, The Nightmare Room, and The Haunting Hour franchise. Scooby and Shaggy come across Slappy in his inactive state and unknowingly read his spell.

The next day Stine's home is trashed with a message in blood (or ketchup) reading: SLAPPY'S BACK!

Slappy (played by Jack Black or Cal Dodd) plans to possess Stein to bring a new era of horror to the world. He's been bringing all the monster/villains to life and the real world and framing Stine for the crimes.

Slappy: Hello papa, I'm back!

R.L. Stine: Slappy!

Slappy: That's right. Ooh! I see you got some friends and their dog.

Scooby: Rog rhere?

Shaggy: Check it out Scoob, the puppet really is haunted.

Daphne: Yeah, I guess we were due an evil dummy sooner or later.

Slappy: (Flabbergasted) W-what? You're not scared of me?

Fred: No offense Mr. Slappy, but we've dealt with real monsters before.

Velma: Zombies, cat-people cultist, witch's ghost, aliens, virus monsters, the list goes on and on.

Shaggy: Me and Scooby here even taught at a monster school once.

Scooby: Reah!

Slappy: Wow! I just met you people and I hate you already.

The gang and Stine recruit now adults Carly Beth, Danny Anderson, Hannah Fairchild (ghost child), and a few others to help end Slappy's reign.

There's an epic battle and the find a way to defeat Slappy and return everything to normal. R.L. Stein and the gang are cleared of all charges and are now heroes to the town!

It wouldn't be Goosebumps without a twist - Slappy survives and with his own typewriter he begins writing his own series. His first book is of the original Goosebumps series with an image of Mystery Inc. and R.L. Stine in the Mystery Machine with looks of terror on their faces.

[featherdawn]

overall thoughts on the book: it was mid at best. frustrating at worst.

things I liked:

- sunbeam. I love u sunbeam my girlie my sweet cheese. I don't even have much to say I just. really like reading about her

- splashtail. he's trying so hard and barely succeeding. he reads like he's so out of his depth. it's so funny. he's intimidating, I guess, in that he killed harelight without hesitation or remorse, but like. he should've killed wasp too if they really wanted me to fear him. this is all going to crumble beneath his feet just u watch

- podlight. it was also kinda funny to see him be a massive cunt to frostpaw, in a fucked up kinda way. evil medicine cat if u squint

- the way it feels like the plot is moving. we saw frostpaw gather support and evidence of splashtails bullshit. it's an incredibly low bar but this is warrior cats

- breezepelts tiny tiny appearance in the beginning

- appleshine and woodsong being cunts. I support women's wrongs

- Squirrelstar. I love u bbg

- edit: oh my god I forgot curlfeather in the prologue. she's so good. i love u queen u are so right about everything.

things I didn't like:

- motives for driving splashtail out. I do not care that he doesn't respect starclan, starclan has given me no reason to respect them either. I care that he is willing to kill his clanmates.

- nightheart. he's not as bad as he used to be in terms of the misogyny and such, but now that his arc is over its clear how fucking useless his pov is to this arc. we gain nothing from it. not only in this book, either; the whole arc. he's an accessory to sunbeam and frostpaw in my mind, and it doesn't help that only 1 chapter involves something that neither of them could witness. get him outta here

- the unwillingness to fight. this is WARRIOR CATS god damn it! I didn't come here for this "I don't wanna spill blood :(" bullshit! if this was the first arc splashtail would've been ripped a new asshole by now!!!

- the unwillingness of the authors to kill. I've mentioned already wasp should've died; we gain nothing from him living. he leaves anyway. use this to show splashtails brutality! have whoever bring his body back as a warning! there was no reason to keep him alive. also leafkit could've died but that one I'm more indifferent to.

- how the berryheart plot line progressed. it felt forgotten about in the second half, only to come back full swing. she's suddenly riverclans deputy??? huh??? why are u there berryheart this isn't like you

- I have an incling fear they're setting up nightheart to be deputy and I do not like it. it should be sunbeam. not just bc I like her but bc she shows more signs of leadership; 2 of her tasks involved leading, the way she went in for leafkit, the way that she will do what's right regardless of the morals (yes, I know they say nightheart will do that too, but recently he only seems to do it when someone else is already doing it too. accessory character.) at the very least she should've gotten to be a mentor. grr

[imthepunchlord]

The whole system for the Miraculous is wonky as hell and much of the writing feels like they're still on that whole Good/Bad Luck concept from the show's planning stage. LB's power is literally Lucky Charm, and the symbolism of Ladybugs are good luck symbols not creation symbols. Same with the Black Cat symbolism (though the Miraculous borrow from Chinese culture and Black Cats are good luck symbols in China) I'd be more than willing to wager that the Peacock and Butterfly were concepted out before the change and no one went "Hey shouldn't we change the peacock"

Originally there was no Peacock. They were planning to do Bagua instead of Wu Xing. So a couple of miraculous from concepts were able to make it in.

But yeah, I have a growing list of what I noticed to be concepts that got changed, but weren't fully implemented to match those changes, so it's like they're still working off those old concepts despite the changes and it's not working as well, at least, how they're going about things.

As you mentioned, yeah, there's still the Good-Bad Luck theme going on (which both animals are European exclusive in terms of lucky view, an unlucky animal in Chinese should've been an Owl or Wolf).

Marinette's Luck and Tikki's treatment of her.

Now older concept Marinette was a lot more problematic. She was invasive of Felix's company and would try to force kisses on him. She also used her good luck powers selfishly, which brought bad luck as consequences. So being more pushy with her interest and being more selfish, it warrants Tikki to be criticizing and more questioning of Marinette and her choices.

Marinette now though is very selfless and considerate of others, and hardly ever abuses her power or use it selfishly. Despite the changes to her character, she still suffers a lot of bad luck (much of it played for comedy which sometimes goes too far), and Tikki is very criticizing/nitpicky of Marinette's choices and actions.

2. Chat still pursuing LB despite the clear no

Felix still pursued LB despite the clear no because he was cursed with bad luck. His actions aren't ok, but you get his reasoning on why he still tries.

Adrien though is curse free, still pursues LB despite the clear no and its because he really wants to be with her and is trying to wear her down and is dismissing her answer and feelings. That's not good.

3. Hawk Moth and His Son

Felix actually was not HM's son. Between that and him not having a desire to be a hero, it made sense why Felix wouldn't actively look for HM. He doesn't have that close connection nor did he have that drive.

Adrien is HM's son, and he has that close connection and could get that plot moving. And yet 5 seasons now, Adrien is none the wiser. It's a weird placement where they know he is HM's son, but they're also acting like Chat still isn't his son so has no reason to look into HM and discover things and get this plot moving.

4. The Slow Slow Slow Slow Slow Slow Slow Civilian Side Burn

When it was Felix and Marinette, he couldn't stand her (understandably) so he avoided her while she makes all the effort to try and get closer with him. It's understandable why the civilian side of things would be slow going.

Now, Adrien is friendlier and does like Marinette, and she still makes a lot of effort to confess to him and get closer with him. But it fails or goes nowhere, which just sets up this impression that she is far under his radar. And introducing Kagami didn't help cause you could pass off him being too blind/set on LB, but Kagami shows that he can notice other girls, so Marinette just isn't a romantic option. I do hear they finally reversed the LS in s5 but it feels way too late.

5. Marinette and her Parents

Earliest concept of Marinette actually had her coming home finding her father dead. And I didn't see much else of her having parents or them talked about. And given that Marinette is written to be independent, self-reliant, hardly turns to adults for help and advise, and seems to turn to Tikki as a mentor; to me it seems that Marinette's parents were just never meant to be in the picture or factored in. Mindful, I think Marinette was originally meant to be college age. If she and Chat Noir were always meant to be a romantic pair, well, there is no way this Chat is a young teenager.

Either way, she now officially has parents, but they are hardly in her life, she never really turns to them for help and advise like a 13 yo should, and she's still incredibly independent. Mostly, she turns to Tikki for help and advise. At It's almost like her parents aren't there.

This way of writing how uninvolved and absent her parents are, it could be a left of to them possibly being dead, or it could be a left over from the earliest thought that Marinette was going to be older and not need them around as much. They made a change, but it's not fully implemented, especially with Marinette confirmed to be 13 at the start of the show. I don't know how much independence 13 yos in France get, but I'd expect they still rely on their parents quite a bit.

So, this is my list of things I noticed that were changed concepts, but they didn't fully change everything to really make it work, and it feels like they're still working off those old concepts despite making changes. Or they're just trying to have their cake and eat it to. They do that a lot.

[aprillikesthings]

more she-ra rewatch!

s2 ep3 signals

I keep getting distracted because Mal the Cat is really determined to find some plastic to chew on. He is not allowed to chew on plastic. I keep having to chase him off from chewing on random shit.

He is currently pouting.

plot

okay ngl this is a little weird bc I finally got around to reading Olivia Joy Taylor's catradora comic on patreon. Which is uhhhh very adult in nature. It's also very good. But going from that to the actual show is just slightly surreal, even though I used to do that kind of thing all the time in SU fandom lol

The first pages (which are teeeeechnically sfw? are here on tumblr.

(She's doing a CaitVi comic next apparently, my crops are watered my skin is moisturized my [redacted] is [redacted])

*cough* ANYWAY

Glimmer: "we'll handle this the way we always do!" Adora: "brute strength?" Swift Wind: "almost dying???"

No????

(he's being a dick to Catra, or at least trying to intimidate her)

do u tho

LOLOL

(they're scaring each other with ghost stories)

ngl that is in fact fucking creepy

Scorpia's unrequited love is painfulllllll

the joys of being in management. (I'd rather be stabbed in the face.)

Voice actors having to say things like "Hordak's sanctum" with complete sincerity is why they get paid

Meanwhile Entrapta:

lol

the joys of a rewatch include giggling bc you know what happens when she meets Hordak

The fact that all of Adora's ghost stories are about terrifying Princesses...

yup

damn right!

wait I know I saw a post from one of the storyboarders of this scene but she's dabbing hold on

I KNEW IT

(the original post is gone but here is my reblog of it)

What I love so much about the interactions with these two is that they only work because Entrapta is autistic. Hordak is trying to be intimidating and condescending and it is just completely sliding off Entrapta. Like I can tell she notices some of it but just does not care.

And she's just thirsty for information. Hordak is all "yes of course there's other planets, you backwater hick" and Entrapta totally ignores the insult and is like "TELL ME ABOUT THE PLANETS :D"

BEING A MANAGER SUCKS ASSSSSSS

(I am not a manager nor have I ever been one, and there's a reason.)

no he'll trust Entrapta, a woman he just met, lolol

awwwwww

ANYWAY plot stuff there was a beacon kind of thing in a village and the "ghosts" were holograms from an old message from the First Ones that kept repeating, they turned it off but there's still some kind of "degraded" First Ones' writing that Bow's little tablet keeps picking up, and in some abandoned location something full of First Ones' writing powered on, fade to credits.

Also my soup isn't done yet, I knew I should've cooked the beans first. Harrumph.

[roundandroundandroundandroundan]

It took me longer than it should've to finish the fic but YOU.

I DON'T KNOW HOW TO FEEL ABOUT THIS. I'M HAPPY. I REALLY AM, BUT AT THE SAME TIME I'M ALSO FEELING A BIT ANGSTY AND SAD AND- IS THIS WHAT THEY MEAN ABOUT BITTERSWEET??? SNEVE'S DYING DECLARATION. SHADOW'S ACTIONS. WAUGH.

THE SEAGULL XJSNXNDMXNDMNX ALSO LEGUNDO'S ICE MAGIC??? AHHH I CAN IMAGINE IT AND IT LOOKS SO COOL!!!!!

I should've read the tags. Hurt no Comfort WAS RIGHT THERE NOOOOO

"It's not fair (How much I loved you)" is great. I'm gonna go sob happily and also sadly now. Still have no idea how to feel about this /pos.

:))))))

please feel free to imagine like. smug cat face right now.

The ice magic is a very fun thing that I absolutely love playing with, I should not be left unattended with worldbuilding ideas at my disposal. Or maybe I should, if this is the result. The universe this all takes place in is actually the same one that I'm using in a comic I'm planning, I think I've mentioned it a couple times, but there's a reason Sneve is so decidedly convinced he'd die during that battle, which is a fun little detail I'm decidedly using. When I actually get my birds in a row and start drawing more for that, if you happen to find it, you may discover what I mean.

On the note about the seagull, I'm a sucker for birds and bird imagery, and while it being a seagull doesn't mean much in terms of bird symbolism, this would not be the first time I've used a seagull in this fic.

I actually wrote chapter four before chapter three, and had I remembered, I might have made the birds consistent, but I think it's kinda funny this way anyways.

I actually spent a lot of time debating which way I wanted to do the ending, I knew I wanted to have Shadow have Sneve somehow just not whether Sneve was alive, and going to be used as a bargaining chip, if Shadow was still petty over losing Sneve, if Sneve was even alive to begin with, something I'd been debating since the start of the fic, actually.

The end choice was based on the theme and tone of the fic overall, that being the processing of grief and how specifically I think TKITN might handle that issue, given the choice on how I painted the relationship between Sneve and Legundo in that scenario. While I don't really start writing with a moral or message in the story, sometimes it naturally slips in, and I think something I learned from writing this was how to keep consistency in characters and theming, hence why Sneve was in fact dead. There are some plot holes due to the distinct lack of editing I do, where I left some things worded ambiguously to allow for a route that I didn't end up taking but eh. We roll.

but yeah I had fun and I still have several thoughts about It's Not Fair that I may or may not organize into coherency based on interest :3

[kristhekrispy]

heard you have ocs? grabby hands...

EHEH. yeah.......I'd say you heard right. ramble under the cut

okay so most of my ocs come from this story that ive been thinking of since I was. 9? I think? still very much so a WIP though, even the name (Imperium Chordata) is something im working on

The whole plot's about overthrowing this long-lived, tyrannical king but if I'm being entirely what I'm most interested with when I'm thinking about IC is the relationships that characters have with each other, especially the main three characters. Aruna, who overachieves and goes to unhealthy lengths to be praised, Sól, who isn't skilled in what's seen as "useful" but is otherwise very talented, and Piper, who...uh. okay I was TRYING to avoid talking to much about IC's world because it's something very subject to change but it is also obviously impacts the characters in it so

basic rundown is that everyone is some sort of regular animal, like a squirrel, dog, cat...OR they are a mythical creature/monster, like a chimera, kitsune, dragon. idea was that more monster-like people tend to have more access to the world's magic, but that any could possibly have access too. Its not impossible to see, say, a weak or powerless enfield, just as its not impossible to see some magically inclined croc

some people can come into it more naturally, aruna and sól being some such people. others may need to put more effort in, but can still manage. and lastly, some people simply lack the ability to do any sort of magic. piper falls under that last category and it crushes her because, for the longest time, aruna and sól were the only people she could lean on/relate to. not being able to do magic made her end up pretty alienated from the other two. im really not explaining this well. it sounds so much better with the Full explanation. best I can give is that all of the main 3 have an intense need to be praised to feel sure of themselves, and it all comes out in different ways for them. for piper, not being able to be in the same sort of "league" as her two best friends, the two people that know her best...even though she genuinely does not care about magic, she still keeps going forward and forcing herself into it. neither sól nor aruna want her to do all that btw. when they realize that they were unintentionally excluding her and pushing her far past where she should've gone, they did their best to...idk, move past it? listen im getting the chance to talk about ocs im writing this off of pure giddy feeling and only barely making this make sense.

[foundfamilymafiaboss]

Final(?) Update:

Hey, Everybody. So you've probably noticed my last post was from quite some time ago, And I've been silent since. Well, There's a reason for that. And I wanna finally address this and dust off this blog.

A while ago, I promised a fanfiction that was massive, And was gonna tell the story of the Mafia Boss's revenge after getting a new body from the empress and engineer metro cats. I started writing it, and last year when I went on a vacation, I wrote while I was away. I really wanted it to work because I had the entire plot I've had for a few years about this mech revenge thing, and I was so excited to share it with everyone on this website. I had made a lot of posts about it on an art website I was on before I moved to Tumblr and with the new audience I had and the Fandom being able to see it, It made me even more excited.

But then I didn't touch it. I took what I thought was going to be a short break, but weeks turned to months, Days into nightsbrain rotation, And then an entire year, And it sat in my Google docs, collecting dust. I realized I had hit huge burnout. And then I never recovered. It was a mix of both writers burnout and Fandom burnout. (I love you all!! It's not you I just meant the fandom itself. Not anyone in it.) I still love a hat in time, Don't get me wrong, As it's still one of my main special interests, But around October, A new special interest came to me. I fell head over heels for the game "Poptropica." At first I thought it was just brainrot, But I started making ocs, Stories, And nonstop the characters and lore took up my brainspace. I even started drawing fan art, and it turns out it was a special interest. I joined the fandom shortly after, And it kinda overtook others for a bit. Basically, What I'm trying to say is.. I lost motivation. The project became overwhelming, and I wound up not wanting to work on it. And burnt myself out. It's not that I've stopped liking a hat in time (My main blog theme proves that) but Poptropica is just what's been on the brain. ..That and something else but we'll get to that. Also, I don't think I'll have a blog for it.

I think I'm stepping down from this blog. I'll return to it one day, maybe, But for now it's on permanent hiatus. I don't know when I'll come back, but maybe it'll be with a post summarizing the story I was gonna tell. I love this game but it's just not the main fandom anymore. A Main special interest? Yes! But not the main main one anymore. (Also, life stuff. That was a huge factor for this blogs inactivity.)

I'm sorry to anyone who was excited to see where it went. I'm sorry that I disappointed you and went radiosilent. I'm sorry I didn't fulfill my promise. I should've made this post way earlier, but i didn't.

One day, Who knows when, The Junior Mafia cook and Jar Man Mob Boss will make a return. Maybe not into a large fanfiction that I didn't calculate it's length for and thus led to it's early cancelation, But still a return in some way shape or form. (I also lost the file and all my progress for the cover art.. Haha..)

That being said, I still post about Piper sometimes. Or Ahit as a whole. But just.. Not as often. To those who see this: Thank you for understanding. And for sticking around as long as you did.

This isn't goodbye, This isn't the end, This isn't even the final act. It's just the intermission. It's just the pause. It's just the wait. It's just the rest.

Over time, My focus just shifted. That's all. And it sounds redundant, I know. If you want more activity, Check out my main blog @gengar-pixel-2 . It's where most of my stuff is, including fandom things.

That being said.. Here's what I've been up to:

-Gained two new special interests. It's four now instead of two. These being Poptropica and the Jumanji Franchise. (Minus the reboots.)

-I did start writing a fic.. But this time I prepared myself. It's only gonna be 13 chapters long, And isn't even Canon. It'a a crossover fic. I'm taking my time.

-Made new fandom friends.

-Reunited with old fandom friends.

-Went to Chicago for my birthday.

-Made a bunch of new ocs, Little guys.

-Birthday and Christmas happened I suppose.

-Got onto DND. (Haven't played yet though..)

-Got nominated for fan awards and won fourth place. And more..

..Anyway I'm sorry for this sad sounding ramble post. But I wanted to say...

Thank you. For the support, For sticking around, For listening to the stories I had to tell, All the asks, The fan art, The jokes, All of it. You made my day, and I'm not even joking. You all made it worthwhile. I didn't think anyone would even enjoy a story about one of the fandoms most hated characters. Thank you for showing me otherwise.

Anyway, I hope we meet again, Soon. Only time will tell. ..But for now.

"Keep it up! You are amazing and my best friend!! Remember! When you come to HQ, I'll have a sticker for you! Remember: I'm always gonna be there for you. Even if I'm not there!"

"Goodbye, For now. Come back anytime! It does tend to get boring around here. ..But you better not plant any bombs inside of my headquarters. Maybe I'll have a new body next time."

"..Farewell, I suppose. Perhaps you can stop by my metro sometime? Maybe then we can discuss some business.. There's a place in my metro where you would fit right in. ..So long as you fulfill the end of your bargain, Of course."

"I'll see ya some other time, Sugar cube! And you better be ready because I'll whip up something delicious for the next time you come to the island! Remember, I'm always in the rafters. I'll be there for ya when ya need me."

..And from me, Gengar, I'll see you on the other side. Wherever that may be. -Gengar, Signing out.

[xenoblademisadventures]

Guys, I'm in a mood. Hot takes time for each Xenoblade. >:3

Xenoblade 1

Egil is a lame antagonist

The game's themes fucking suck

Dunban is the worst designed character in the series, in terms of gameplay

Zanza was more interesting before we knew about his other half.

Metal Face is one of, if not the, single best written antagonists in the series.

Melia's character design is really ass.

Xenoblade X

The writing is actually really good. Especially factoring in the sidequests.

X has the best gameplay in the series, but it also has, by far, the worst combat.

The series has yet to make a more compelling antagonist than Lao, despite having tried repeatedly.

Elma is underrated.

X has the best plot twists in the series. In particular the mimeosome twist is the single best plot twist Monolith has ever written.

X is literally the only good open world game. Easily outclassing more famous titles like Breath of the Wild and Elden Ring.

Tatsu is inoffensive, even considering how extraneous he is.

I actually liked the food jokes. They felt homey. Even if they weren't particularly funny.

Thank fuck Cross never happened again. The actual worst protagonist in the series.

Elma has the best character design in the series. But True Form is arguably worse than Pyra.

Xenoblade 2

The only good character designs are the NPCs, and even then, 2's NPCs are much lamer than the rest of the series'.

2's additions to the lore were universally shit.

I really liked 2's combat, but I also think almost every boss fight in the game was shit.

Rex shouldn't have been in the game. Pyra should've been the actual protagonist.

The tensions between Mor Ardain and Uraya were interesting, up until the game decided to drop it for literally no reason.

It's frankly a miracle that the game is polished and playable considering how disjointed it feels fundamentally.

Dromarch and Ursula bug me particularly because Polar Bears and Cats canonically went extinct.

The music in 2 would be good if it wasn't for the horrible misusage of certain songs. Shadow of the Lowlands is the greatest offender and actually ruins the song for me, but Counterattack, Ancient Vessel, Spirit Elpys Crucible, and such were also horribly mishandled.

Tora can burn in hell. What the fuck?

I don't like anything revolving around how Klaus was handled in 2. Also the beginning of the "Meyneth never happened saga."

I don't think it counts as a hot take to say that Pyra's character design is ass, actively ruins the mood of every scene she's in, and makes the character writing worse. But I also have to add that it isn't just that the artist was jacking off. Even if Pyra was the most modestly designed character in the game, her design would still be ass. And that applies to every other shitty design in the game (except Dahlia, where the problem really is just.. why?)

2 is, by far, the worst game in the series. That said, I'd consider it a relatively inoffensive game if it wasn't a Xenoblade game, and I do get why people like it.

That said, the way 2 handles its themes is pretty lame.

Also, the way 2 concludes Pyra's and Mythra's arcs is offensively terrible. That's just not how you should ever conclude a massive arc, nor is that how you should fucking conclude a suicide arc.

"Nia. I love you. I love you and all you guys." is still the single funniest line of dialogue in the series.

Torna the Golden Country

It's really funny seeing the camera guy suffer.

This dlc singlehandedly makes Pyra a good character, despite Pyra having zero lines of dialogue in it.

I wish this was the main game.

Xenoblade DE

They made Reyn ugly.

I don't like that they lowered the cooldown of Melia's Reflect Art.

I don't like the change to Alvis's character design. Not just the core crystal, which recontextualizes how the audience interacts with the character, but also they made his jacket less fluffy. What the fuck?

I just generally don't like the Alvis is Ontos thing specifically because it I liked how he was handled in the original and I dislike the retcons 2 made to the lore. That said, I do like how the concept was handled in Future Redeemed.

I don't like the remix of Engage the Enemy. I feel like it misses the point of the original song by making the vocals so much more present.

Future Connected

I don't mind the story, but it also contributed absolutely nothing to the larger story.

Haven't played the game, but I can't imagine removing the Vision and Chain Attack mechanics from 1's combat would contribute a positive change in the gameplay.

Xenoblade 3

The designs for the main characters are, on average, presentable but not very good. In particular, I really dislike Noah's and Eunie's class outfits. They just feel out of place and don't vibe with the characters.

Z is the only good villain in this game. While N had a compelling backstory, every moment he was on screen took away from that.

Joran was such a bad villain that he made Lanz a significantly less interesting character in the process. Same with Eunie.

The only instance of "backstory character that got revived" working for me was Taion's mentor (forgot her name). Every other time, it was handled in a way that took away from the story.

3 has by far the best designed combat in the series, and I'd be surprised if Monolith manages to top it any time soon.

3's level design isn't on par with X, but I wouldn't mind the series going this direction in the future.

Camera button was the best idea the series has had in a long time.

Future Redeemed

Having the game tell you completion% singlehandedly ruined the exploration for me.

I found Rex, Glimmer, and Nikol to be rather underwhelming. Especially when I was excited to see what Monolith would do with them upon introduction.

This really should've been a standalone game rather than a DLC. Too many character arcs got skipped over. The combat seriously suffers from lack of customization options. Matthew and A didn't really have enough time to establish themselves. Neither did Na'el, even though I really like her. Alpha would've also benefitted a lot from having more time to cook.

Overall. Mixed to negative opinions about this one, but I'm still really glad to have experienced it.

A would've been the best designed support in the series if their AI couldn't use their Talent Art.

[goddamnwebcomics]

Worst villains you've seen in webcomics?

It's surprisingly tough for me despite bad webcomic generally having bad characters.

For me it's not tough. Every villain I've tackled in this blog is either too likable to be a villain, too pathetic to be a villain, or just a generic villain who isn't interesting or cool in any way due to lack of a proper motivation. There really isn't a villain you love to hate or you feel enriches the story in any way, with very few exceptions.

Here is my Top 5 Worst Villains Ever

5. The Hosts (Gene Catlow)

I could've included various one-off villains like Horton or Evil Staggler here, but I feel like Hosts deserve this spot, because they were a clever and unique idea whose execution was completely and utterly botched. These invisible entities who eat the lifeforce of living creatures, especially cats due to their status in Gene Catlow World would've been absolutely terrifying, but they ended up becoming jokes. They ultimately didn't end up affecting the plot in any way, besides Horton killing them and resurrecting them as asskissers. The Hosts really should have been the main threat of the comic due to their nature, because they don't eat creatures for fun, but rather their own survival, and they should've also served as a reason for Gene and Matt to put their differences aside in order to fight them, but, they're all gone now.

4. The Infernomancer (Dominic Deegan)

I feel like The Infernomancer isn't a character. He is more like a plot device. When conflict, gore and death is needed, Infernomancer isn't too far behind. Outside of wanting to hunt down Miranda because Karnak demanded it, he doesn't have motives, any character, any backstory. He just wants to kill for the sake of killing, because this story needs an eldritch horror, when arguably, THE ENTIRE CONCEPT OF MAGIC IN THIS UNIVERSE ALREADY IS ONE. Remember, magic is established to do random shit because it's magic, and just about anybody can learn it, and only few are just completely immune to it. Maybe The Infernomancer is an allegory for the dark side of magic which is why he doesn't have name either, but we have enough bad magicians in this comic already. He's just a generic edgelord in a comic full of edgelords, except this edgelord is powerful and keeps cheating death oooh so spooky! It's like Batman Who Laughs but even worse.

3. Trasik (Alien Dice)

As bland as Infernomancer is, Trasik is probably even worse. I guess I am only ranking her so low because she could've had potential to be a good antagonist but somehow Tiffany fucked up EVERYTHING about her. She is a mysterious woman who also happens to be the sister of Riley, and for whatever reason she wants to hunt Lexx down. We later learn her intense hatred of Lexx is because her father, Kade, was close friends with Lexx's mother, and this led to Trasik just deciding to become racist against rishans. However over the years she has somehow gained a child soldier ring that she actively runs, and also Lexx's mother and grandmother live in secrecy RIGHT NEXT DOOR from her and she somehow has never known this. And if that wasn't enough, she was replaced with a mimic by ADC at some point after they kidnapped Chel, because she didn't attend a wedding. Trasik's entire existence is a gigantic mess, and we don't know why she does the things she does, and if she is even real, and worse than that Riley and other siblings have no issue with her doing these corrupted things. More than anything Trasik should've served as Riley's puppet who took the blame for his shady acts, but this is not about "characters who should have been villains".

2. Dr. Demikhov (Spinnerette)

Spinnerette is horrible at creating political strawmen, not because they're strawmen but because they're not even good strawmen. General Generic is actually a surprisingly reasonable authority figure and thus loops back to being likable. However one character I feel is a waste of time is Dr. Demikhov. Demikhov is the Anti-Universe, he is a proud communist who is somehow in high position at the Russian Federation. However he doesn't really do anything communistic, he just speaks in technobabble with occassional communist word, and this triggers the shit out of Universe. He is also a moron who merged his two assistants together because he wanted to prove something. Spinny has had a lot of bad villains, but even ones like WereQuakko Sisters were entertaining enough because of their fucking ridiculous concepts, Demikhov is a blank slate. He really should've been an oligarch-funded scientist who only uses communist jargon to draw the interest of young people like Manya Sisters, when in actuality all of his science is loyal to the world view of Putin. Having a scientist paid by the state to control their narrative would make him a proper opposite to anti-authoritarian Universe and also would make this arc less of a waste of time. At least he's implied to have straight up died, so we'll likely never see him again.

1. Matt (Gene Catlow)

Yes, Matt is the worst villain in the history of Goddamnwebcomics. But that's not his fault, it's the fault of his surroundings. Due to how every character seems to always read his mind and always seems to judge him as an asshole despite the fact he has more realistic view of the world and he respects his peers, Matt comes across like an underdog. He also has been stripped off his powers and constantly backstabbed, whether it's his former lovers, the puppet he created, his tech support and even his bosses and mentor. Not even his girlfriend is loyal to him as she's more interested in creating the Dog Holocaust than actually make his vision of a cat-ruled world come true, which is implied to be inevitable. Anyone trying to step into Matt's shoes usually fucks up, like how Tane destroyed the family power, and rather than spend all his days hating Gene, he is willing to work with his enemies in exchange of a better life for them, because he knows World of Friends is dangerous. Matt is perfect in every single way as a character, so in order to make him a better villain, everything AROUND him needs to be improved first!

[no-psi-nan]

hsfjdlshfks okay I appreciate y'all keeping me busy, @crookedlyinnernightmare, @hillbilly---man, @akirameta84, and Anon XD

Easy-peasy! It's a funny, fluffy get-together with a tall glass of lemonade at the end lol.

Dialogue / characterization! I am extremely picky about characterization and I'm just not interested in anything that doesn't feel in-character. My goal is that, no matter how wild the situation, the characters feel just like their canon counterparts, and react accordingly.

Ooh, tough one... This says "dialogue scene", so I guess I can't just plop down an Akechi monologue XD

I'm still going to cheat and say "the whole last chapter of Moving Forward 1", because honestly that was insane of me. I've never seen it done, I was advised against trying, and I still managed to write a scene that has like 15 different people in it with no dialogue tags, that was comprehensible to readers on the first pass. Call that a hashtag writer flex lol.

Hardest is definitely the Moving Forward fics. Writing gen fic is just not something I have a lot of practice doing. And to be honest, it's not something I tend to read either hsfjdlshfks. There's also other characters besides the Psychickers involved, and I'll admit that I don't think much about those guys, rip. They're not blorbo to me, so while I can write them, it's not nearly as fun most of the time. 😔

Easiest would be pretty much all of the romance n lemon ones hsfjdlshfks. Creeping like Ivy was particularly easy because it was short lol. And there's no pesky other characters or even a semblance of plot lmao. I would just dash off one of the lil scenes when I had a minute! I think the hardest part of it was deciding the scene order honestly.

A secret fic I haven't posted yet. >:3

Semi-reclined on my nice leather couch with my phone in hand, only sound is the purr of the cat on my lap :3

Oh boy, I don't think they're old enough to really need revising in general, but my way of writing Akechi has gotten more convoluted and Saiki now speaks in shorter bursts. The latest chapter I posted in Extra Love Stories of Psychics Volume 2 was actually written over a year ago so I did actually tweak Akechi's verbiage quite a bit before posting it lol.

Recency bias, etc but the other day I was feeling really down about posting like 30k of fic and getting no comments at all until I discovered that at some point, one person bookmarked most of my Saiki fics and left glowing reviews in the bookmarks, pointing out their favorite jokes and mentioning that I converted them on a couple of ships. That was REALLY nice!! I would have never seen all of those sweet comments if I didn't know to check the public bookmarks occasionally though hsfjdlshfks. So they should've been ideally in the actual comments section, but it was a nice surprise when I was feeling down!

[Context for asks] <- now closed

[drbtinglecannon]

Hi, friend! 💕 I hope you've been well

I come here to give you Darius for the character's ask because I'm predictable. BUT also adding that one Herlock Sholmes guy because I remember a snippet you shared and he seemed fun

Thanks pal, today's my anniversary actually so I've been doing fairly well!

Listen. Listen. I'm always willing to talk about Darius, I'm just as predictable hahaha! But I'm down to talk about both!

Darius

1. Sexuality HC:

Ace Darius ace Darius ace Darius. I vibe with bi or aro for romantic inclinations tho

2. OTP:

Dariraeda, or maybe camdariraeda. But I also like not shipping Darius with anyone, depends on the mood

3. Brotp:

Darius & Eber mean so much to me, it's one of my absolute favorite Darius relationships and it gets ignored so often (I understand why but I'm still salty). Rebel trio too, bah I wish we got an episode about those three

4. Notp:

The worst theory for why Alador and Darius grew apart is that they were both into Odalia. Darius was never into Odalia, come on people

Darius x the prev GG kinda squicks me out too, I know the Grimwalkers tended to not live a long time so there's a chance he wasn't much older than Darius but the mentor-student ship dynamic has never been a favorite of mine

5. First HC that pops into my head:

The only CH that's been in their position longer than him is Terra

6. Favorite line from this character:

"And your treachery. Whatever."

The foreshadowing that he was a rebel lies in him caring more about his fit than treason. I loved him immediately

7. One way in which I relate to this character:

I can also be a bit of a neatfreak who just wants to relax instead of doing anything, and I also suffer from "bitch that cares about others" syndrome

8. Thing that gives me second-hand embarrassment about this character:

Him yelling at Raine about the CATTs name, omg he's so whiny in the name of his ego sometimes haha

9. Cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

100% problematic fave, he bullied kids and doesn't seem to have any qualms against murder

---

I'm very curious how my answers on this char will influence the very brief impression you have of him haha! I'm certain you will be surprised by some of it

Herlock Sholmes

1. Sexuality HC:

Pan to match the test tubes he's always wearing

2. OTP:

Vanlock, I just. Love how stupid they are. Loser wet cat addicts that have to interact because his daughter is his niece and vice versa, giant bitter exes energy, their dlc case & escapade were soooo funny

3. Brotp:

I can definitely see the appeal for hmmk and I sometimes vibe with fanart for it, but I significantly prefer them in a platonic/familiar sense than a romantic/sexual sense. A very unpopular opinion but idc haha

4. Notp:

Honestly the only ship I like for Herlock is vanlock, I really don't care for any of the others.

5. First HC that pops into my head:

I know it's canonically disproven and doesn't really track for his character, but I like to sometimes think about a Herlock that gave up smoking & hard drugs when he became Iris' guardian

6. Favorite line from this character:

Though this was from the fan translation of the game years before the localization came out, the classic Herlock line "That deduction was so hot you'd hardly believe this detective is single." (I can't find it rn but I'm pretty sure that was the line. I also love his offer of jumping into a caldron of boiling wax for what equals ~16.4mil£ in today's money lmao)

7. One way I relate to this character:

Adhd 😔🎻

8. Thing that gives me second-hand embarrassment about this character:

Ooooh I'm so weak to second-hand embarrassment and this bitch caused it so frequently he's SO unhinged and cringe. Absolute loser of a man, should've been punched in the face by Ryuu after a big plot twist reveal

9. Cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

He's absolutely 100% a problematic fave. He steals, he lies constantly, he does hard drugs, he raised his daughter to think some random guy was her dad and let her believe said guy abandoned her, he's immensely flawed as an individual but he's really funny and has good intentions so. Problematic fave material

[fifteenth-entity]

top 5 books you wish you could have written yourself because they have wasted potential™

OH. OH BOY. OHHHH BOY. YOU HAVE OPENED PANDORAS BOX. I'm about to make a few people angry here.

THE ATLAS SIX Notice how I emboldened, italicized, and capitalized the book title? THAT'S BECAUSE THIS STORY IS IN NEED OF SOME MAJOR TLC. I'm convinced this author hates like 1/3rd of her cast at least and is writing this story for like 2 characters, but the story wouldn't work with just them two because they are the most insufferable people on the planet with so much wasted potential. Anyway, personal greivances aside, I won't say the plot had potential, cuz there is no plot. There is potential for A plot, but there is no Plot itself. The magic system.... is barely there. There is magic there, yes, but it's less of a system and more of a buzzword in order for Olivie Blake to give her characters plot armor under the guise of "Why?" "Magic". The Dark Academia? Nonexistent. There's nothing Dark or Academic about this book. They do some Intellectual stuff, sure, but it's not academic (new hypothesis: Olivie Blake has never been to college). And the characters. Ohhh the characters. All of them, ALLLL of them, all 9 of them, have way more potential, but no, Olivie Blake would rahter write thinly veiled smut for 9 people than make good characters. A lot of characters could use some love from the author, but I think the biggest offender here is Tristan Caine. Like this guy has so much potential and utilizes none of it. Also he's super inconsistent as a character in favor of... Threesomes and magical condoms. Great writing. Also this is the only story out of this roster that made me so angry I wrote 3 fix it fics for it.

Less Read the premise of the story. Read the synopsis. Formulate your opinions. NOW DISMANTLE THEM CUZ THAT'S NOT WHAT FUCKING HAPPENS IN THE BOOK. Also Arthur Less is such a cunt, I hate him so much, I'd gladly rewrite the entire book with a different protagonist while strictly following the synopsis of the book. Enough said.

To Kill a Mockingbird This one is gonna rattle some people but hear me out: To Kill a Mockingbird should have been focused on sexism, misogyny, homophobia and feminism rather than racism. As a story itself, I didn't like it, but there was shit there to work with for the not racist stuff. I think it would've offered more to society if it focused on those, because Scout DOES mention offhandedly how deeply those issues affect her. But alas.

The Unravelling Oh my god I hated this book. See, the thing about this book is... it's fine as a historical fiction story. It works. It's lackluster, but I just don't think it's a good story worth saving as a historical work. Now, this book was advertised to me as a fantasy. It is not a fantasy. BUT, the potential this story has as a fantasy is a goldmine so deep and fruitful the British would try to colonize it before you could even fucking blink. Buuuuut it's not that so, womp womp.

The Shadow and Bone trilogy There's not a lot I would rewrite about this book. The plot itself was fine and the characters where... there, for sure. What I think warrants the most major rehauls is the magic system and the romance. There's a very basic idea there for a magic system that, once you think about it a little more, is less a nice neat box with a bow, and more the contents of a cat's stomach hacked right up onto your doorstep. Nothing to speak of the character relationships, I don't understand how half these people are alive because they should've been dead by now with how much they hate each other. The pacing and the characters themselves would be small pot holes I'd smooth over while rewriting but that's about it. Leigh Bardugo can be an amazing writer when she doesn't focus on magic, and focuses more on actual psychology, crime and politics (see: the Six of Crows duology, fucking amazing books) and her writing is very beautiful. But like... anything from the Grisha trilogy to the Nikolai duology isn't her best work. ... I've actually started rewriting the magic system myself. For... reasons. Wink wink nudge nudge

Honorable mentions: Interview with the Vampire, ALL of Harry Potter I won't dwell much on these two, but here goes: IwtV has a great premise and concept, but Anne Rice is a little too crazed with sexual taboos (see: emotional incest and pedophilia) in order to write an actually compelling story. Also the fact that she's obsessed with sexual taboos and features two very homoerotic vampires leads me to suspect she sees homosexuality as taboo as well and not as something morally innocuous which... yikes! Anyway I'd just make it gay(er) and move on. Harry Potter: Too many character deaths to inconvenience Harry, aside from the obvious (racism of all kinds, homophobia, transphobia and fatphobia). Also a few fix its here and there. Otherwise it passes. Harry Potter is trans and gay <3

[violetlichen]

Immaculance | Chapter 2

Whitney makes good on his promise to Nora from their encounter over the summer break. Read on AO3 here! warnings: light violence

Nora’s lungs burned as she sprinted around the side of the school. The September air made her teeth ache from her heavy breathing, and her book bag hammered against her lower back in an annoying rhythm. She had only one destination in mind, and she hoped and prayed to whatever deity the Temple worshiped that Doren was already there and that his door wasn’t locked. The other teachers were even less inclined to leave their doors unlocked this early in the morning, and the library was too crowded, ruling that out as well. She’d just have to make it to the rear courtyard before Whitney did, assuming he wasn’t already posted there waiting for her. If he was, her only option would then be to hop the fence and lose him in the industrial alleyways, and hopefully make it back before the first bell rang.

She spared a glance behind her. Although out of sight now that she’d rounded a corner, the heavy footsteps and hollering of the boys were progressively sounding closer and she couldn’t afford to stay on the narrow pathways that lined the campus property. Veering left towards the gymnasium she continued on, a burning stitch forming in her side. She ignored it the best she could. Students in her path blessedly parted like the sea upon noticing her, preventing her from having to slow down.

She cut behind a row of sheds and other storage buildings that neighbored the gym, feeling a bit bad for stumbling through a little garden plot that some of the agricultural students had been tending over the summer and making a mental note to come back to assess the damage. A stream of water from the sprinkler system misted her before she could dodge it, dampening her hair and soaking her shoes and knee socks from a lighter gray into a dark soggy black. She groaned and rolled her eyes at the sensation of wet socks, squeezing out water with every thud of her feet. This was just the cherry on top.

Perhaps she deserved this. The boy she eventually learned was named Whitney had promised her in the park a few months ago that he'd make her life a living hell, the day she teasingly stared down at him from a tree he and his friends had chased her into. He had certainly tried all summer. Of course it was easier for her to weasel her way out of his grasp when she had the whole town at her disposal, with all its nooks and crannies that she knew like the back of her hand. That particular day she'd just waited for them to lose patience, as she learned early on they had little of it, and they soon left her but not before Whitney threw a beer bottle at her and swore he'd get her eventually.

It was also easier to laugh it off back then, but their little cat-and-mouse game was finally catching up to her. They were on Whitney's turf now.

Maybe she should've just let him beat the shit out of her the day he caught her in his backyard, let him get it out of his system and think they were even.

She had been particularly desperate that day. Her birthday had been looming over her, and the older girls on her floor had warned her about what turning eighteen meant. The problem was nobody seemed to know exactly how much Bailey expected from them, and anybody who did know was gone, so she'd started saving everything she could spare. Unfortunately, despite the fact that it was summer and the busiest season for the cafe, Sam had been cutting her hours shorter and shorter. He claimed it wasn't anything against her. They hadn't been doing very well with the town seeing one of its lowest records of tourism in years, and the other employees had seniority over her. If business picked back up again, he promised he'd schedule her more.

It hadn't, and it made her antsy enough to go to Danube. Knocking on doors was never very fruitful, but occasionally it connected her with people who needed help with errands or other small chores. Sometimes people were just lonely and wanted company, but she tried to avoid people like that. Nobody was really looking for help that day and she told herself she'd try one more house before calling it quits, finding herself waiting awkwardly in front of a big brick manor and not really expecting anything to come of it. A frazzled looking lady in a servant's uniform had opened the door and waved her in once she heard Nora was offering babysitting services.

She had no way of knowing that the person who needed babysitting was Whitney, and if she had she would've fervently declined.

There was no use speculating about it now, because she sealed her fate as she rounded another corner that led into the rear courtyard of the school. He was waiting for her there, a lit cigarette in hand and two burly looking boys flanking either side of him.

"Grab her," she heard Whitney say. Knowing she was fucked, she made one last ditch effort for the fence, but the boys grabbed her before she could put a shoe in the chain link and attempt to haul herself up. One of the boys seized her book bag off her shoulder roughly and threw it somewhere she couldn't see, while the other boy grabbed her by the waist and flung her to the ground, momentarily crushing one of her hands with his shoe. They pinned her down, and she hissed from the weight of their knees digging into the flesh of her forearms. Sand and grass clung to her damp hair and clothes as she struggled against them. Whitney just watched as she thrashed her legs at him, a small smirk on his face.

He crouched down and squatted over her thighs, eyeing her over. "Mornin', slut."

This was the happiest she'd ever seen him. She realized he would be quite handsome if it weren't for the harsh scowl that always seemed to be on his face, one brown eye usually covered by a curtain of dirty blonde hair. He took a lazy puff from his cigarette as he studied her, letting the ashes fall onto her squirming body beneath him. She tried to raise her legs to push him away from her, but at some point in the scuffle the boys who had been chasing her had arrived and were now pinning each of her legs down.

"Uh, uh, uh," he scolded playfully. "No running away this time."

Nora began to panic as his gaze shifted to a sliver of bare skin that had been exposed where her shirt had ridden up, for the first time genuinely afraid of him. Without thinking she gathered as much saliva as she could manage in her mouth and spat it in his direction, not caring if it hit him and mostly hoping to redirect his attention. She could handle getting knocked around by bullies; it was when their eyes lingered a little too long on her body, a voracious, nervous spike of energy in the air that sounded the alarm bells in her mind. She recalled the girl from that morning, and the vacant, far off look on her face, and the conversation she'd had with Bailey.

Maybe this was something she'd just have to get used to, but for now she wasn't ready to stop fighting.

Whitney cursed at her, and his large hand grabbed her by the jaw and slammed her head hard into the ground. She tried to blink away the stars forming in her vision, doing her best to level her breathing and not groan out in pain. "You don't know when to quit, do you?" He grumbled.

He looked at one of his friends and flicked his head in Nora's direction. "Cover her mouth."

The boy hesitated, but still crouched obediently down where Nora's head lay on the cold ground. "But what if she bites me?" He asked pitifully.

"For fuck's sake, use your fucking tie!" Whitney spat. He looked around impatiently, looking out for anyone who'd come and spoil this moment for him. The boy's necktie was soon thrust into Nora's already dry mouth, the little fibers sticking grossly to her tongue and removing what little moisture she did have left. Closing her eyes, she huffed hot air through her nose in an effort to calm herself, almost as impatient as Whitney for this to be over.

Satisfied that she wouldn't try to spit on him again and that she was slowly becoming more docile the more energy she spent, Whitney's attention returned to her body. He peeled her shirt up even further, exposing her belly and the underwiring of her cheap bra. Nora willed her panting to slow, but it only made the rise and fall of her stomach faster. Whitney smirked.

"I've been waiting for this all summer," he said, unable to hide the hatred in his voice despite the calculatedly calm air he was projecting. "But I'm sure you already know that."

There was a sizzle, and a searing pain bloomed from a spot under Nora's ribcage. She closed her eyes involuntarily as she flinched and couldn't stop a small whimper from escaping, the sound fortunately muffled by the fabric stuffed in her mouth. She struggled again under the crushing weight on her limbs as dull hot flashes creeped over the expanse of her skin, desperate to wrest herself free and sweating in spite of the cool temperature outside.

Whitney sat fully on top of her now, gloating at her discomfort before discarding the now put out cigarette. He cupped her jaw with his hand, almost delicately this time, and leaned down to her ear.

"You're mine, bitch. We're gonna have a lot of fun this year."

She held his gaze once he leaned back up to look at her, her eyes burning in defiance. Bring it on, she thought bitterly. He scowled, looking a little less pleased with himself, and opened his mouth to say something else when somebody's hushed voice interrupted him. "Doren's coming!"

Whitney and his friends scrambled, the weight that had been crushing Nora blissfully leaving her aching bones. Immediately she ripped the necktie out of her mouth and gasped, taking in a deep breath of fresh, cold air. "See ya around, slut!" Whitney yelled, the laughter of his friends growing dimmer as she pushed herself to sit up and cradled her sore arms into her chest.

Robin appeared, kneeling down on the ground beside her, and she saw Doren's shaggy mop of red hair following closely behind with a wolfish look almost hidden under his impressive beard.

"You alright, lass?" Doren asked as he came near, his voice gruff and unhappy. Nora nodded, wincing as he helped her up.

"Take her to the nurse," he said to Robin. "I'll write you a note if you're late. I'm goin' to go have myself a talk with Mr. Clark."

"No, it's okay." Nora said. She waved off Robin who had begun to gently tug her in the direction of the infirmary. "I'm fine. Can't we just wait in your room?" The burn mark on her stomach screamed in protest at her, but she grit her teeth and ignored it. She was not going to the nurse on her first day if she could help it.

Doren, who had been staring off grumpily in the direction of the pathway that Whitney and his friends had ran away down, turned and fixed her with a glare in the way only a disappointed teacher can.

"Nora," he started, sounding a bit exasperated, like he couldn't believe she was arguing with him but was too tired to put up a fight. He looked down and noticed the discarded necktie and cigarette lying in the grass. His eyes narrowed, but he sighed as he bent down to pick up the tie, tucking it into the back pocket of his pants.

"Fine," he said. "But go clean up first." And with that he left them at a purposeful pace, his large frame taking up most of the path.

Nora slumped with relief and faced Robin. He shifted uncomfortably next to her, his big doe eyes silently asking her if she was okay.

"Don't look at me like that," she bristled.

His eyes widened at her tone, and she ignored the pang of guilt it roused in her in favor of finding her book bag. He hadn't done anything wrong. In fact, he'd saved her by finding Doren, but Nora was overwhelmed and figured she had enough on her plate without having to worry about upsetting him. She raked her eyes over the courtyard in search of her bag.

"It's over here," she heard Robin say, his voice soft. She turned and watched him bend to pick it up, extending her hand to take it from him. Instead he threw it over his shoulder and gestured without looking at her for her to follow him down the short pathway and in through the glass doors of the school's rear entrance. Nora put on her best poker face as students in the hallway stared at her, caught off guard by her disheveled appearance. She could feel the sand dislodging from her body as she walked, and when she looked down at herself she saw her socks and shoes were caked in it, her skirt wrinkled and off kilter. She discretely fixed it, rotating it back into place by the waistband.

Apart from shameless staring, they made it to the toilets unbothered. Robin waited outside for her, still guarding her book bag like it was something precious and doing his best not to fidget under the attention on them.

Mercifully the girls bathroom was empty, because Nora's reflection startled her as she walked in. Blades of grass stuck awkwardly in clumps of damp hair on the back of her head, the ponytail she had put it in this morning looser than ever. She wrestled it out of its hair band, wincing as she combed her fingers through it and carelessly pulled hairs from her scalp. She must've tugged too hard because the elastic of the band snapped apart, shooting on to the tiled floor.

Every muscle in her body flexed in sharp annoyance, her anger over whatever cruel joke the universe must be playing on her barely being contained. She turned the sink on and dunked her head under it. The water was cool and felt good against her warm face. She opened her eyes and watched the little gray dots of sand being washed down the drain, wishing she could shrink herself down and follow them.

She gave herself an extra moment under the water before reaching blindly for the paper towel dispenser on the wall, cranking it a couple times and collecting the towels it spat out. She did her best to soak up the excess water from her hair and used the soggy paper to scrub the sand off the exposed skin of her arms and knees. The burn on her stomach tingled as she moved, and she lifted up the hem of her shirt to inspect it.

It was yellowing slightly, bubbling into a small blister with the skin encircling it an angry red. Unsure of what to do, she got a fresh paper towel and dampened it with some soapy water, patting it onto her skin without applying too much pressure and then dabbing it dry. That would have to do.

The door opened and a few girls walked in, their chattering quieting a little after noticing Nora quickly dropping the hem of her shirt. That was her cue. She brushed past them and tossed the used paper towels into the bin, catching the door before it could swing closed.

Robin was standing against the wall opposite the toilets. He handed her her book bag as she approached him.

"Thanks," she said a bit sheepishly. "Sorry for snapping at you."

"It's okay," he said. She could see his features visibly relax as they fell into step together. He suggested they go get their schedules and locker combinations from the front office before heading to Doren's classroom where they could wait for the first bell to ring, and she agreed, eager to pretend this was just a regular morning at school.

If he was worried Whitney would make another appearance on their way, Robin didn't show it, but she could feel him sneaking glances at her in her peripheral. It was strange to her how he towered over her now. For the longest time they were similar heights and she didn't have to crane her neck to see his eyes. It felt wrong, his growth spurt something uncontrollable like a helium balloon slipping out of her grasp. Even stranger, she kept noticing now that she looked more presentable that they were still being stared at, but it wasn't her fault anymore. They were staring at him. If he noticed the two girls huddled by a row of lockers, ogling him and whispering to each other, he didn't show that either.

She knew there was a chance he could be building up the courage to ask her about Whitney and she really didn't want to have to answer, so instead she brought up something she knew he'd be excited to talk about. "What are you doing after school? I don't have to work, but Sam said he had something for me at the cafe."

"I'm not doing anything," Robin smiled. "I'll swing by with you. Do you have any idea what it is?"

Nora shook her head. "Maybe he's firing me," she joked, although after this morning she wouldn't be surprised if that ended up being true. What was one more cosmic punch to the gut?

"Well, you're welcome to work at the lemonade stand with me." He said, nudging her. "I'll put in a good word for you."

Nora smiled but it didn't quite reach her eyes. Robin made next to nothing at the stand, working only on the weekends. If there weren't enough tourists for the cafe, then there most definitely weren't any down at the beach. She never seemed to know how to tell him he was wasting his time there, but she'd have to figure out a way soon before it became too late for him.

They'd made it to the front office by that point and checked in with one of the counselors, giving their names and receiving their schedules and locker combinations. Their lockers unfortunately were very far apart, as they were sorted alphabetically by surname. Robin gestured for her to hand him her schedule as they left the way they came in, hopeful that they had at least a few classes together.

"You're lucky, you have Biology with Sirris," he said. "And it looks like we only have History together." He handed her back the schedule with a pout as they came up to the English classroom door. They knocked in case Doren was in there, but when they got no answer they opened it and went inside. He was most likely off giving Whitney and his friends detention, if he could find them. Nora didn't know whether she'd be worse off for Whitney being punished or better. It was probably the former.

She'd worry about that later, though. Instead she helped herself to one of the English textbooks Doren would be passing out later anyway, and sat down on a bean bag in a corner of the room. Robin followed and sat down in a chair next to her, taking out his cheap phone to play a mobile game.

Doren's classroom, and Doren by extension, had become one of her favorite things about school and would be one of the only things she'd miss after graduating. At first she just assumed he liked her because she was quiet and didn't disrupt class, but she eventually realized he kept an eye out for most of the orphans in the school. He always kept granola bars in his desk and random toiletries that he could pass to them in secret, and was always generous with deadlines for assignments. Some days he let her get away with eating lunch in there with him, but that generally wasn't allowed and she didn't want to press her luck with him.

She skimmed the table of contents of the textbook, flipping through to see if she recognized any of the short stories they'd be going over. Faint arcade music played from Robin's game, one she wasn't familiar with.

"Did he hurt you, Nora?" Robin asked softly.

"Huh?" She looked up from the textbook. He wasn't looking at her, his eyes trained on his phone. His brows were furrowed.

"Did he hurt you," he repeated, less of a question this time. "Before Doren and I got there."

"I'm fine," she started to say, but he turned to face her and her irritation died in her throat. She hated when he looked at her like that, like she was breaking his heart into tiny little pieces. His game jingled to signal that his character had died, and he turned away from her again frowning.

"Why is he doing this to you? Who even is he?" He asked.

Even if Nora felt like telling him, she didn't know where to begin. "He's just some asshole," she said. She flipped a page, pretending to be looking at her book. "He doesn't have anything better to do."

Robin shook his head and sighed, probably frustrated with her but too afraid to push the issue. He tapped his phone to start his game over, the glow from the screen lighting up his face. "I just don't like when you get hurt," he said.

"You don't have to worry about me." She curled into herself, shrinking as far as she could into the bean bag.

"I know," he agreed. "That doesn't mean I won't, though."

Nora felt her own heart break in her chest.

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Read Chapter 3 on tumblr here!