#i guess leaves are important to her character. did not plan that LOL

[yellowvixen]

Shuffles in I would love to know more about Sunshine!! First, I'm very curious what her favorite color is and secondly, is there any activity she loves doing??

Oohh thank u!! Her favourite colour is orange, as she loves autumn and the colours of the leaves when they change. For an activity, she loves creating physical things! Anything like pottery or sculpting or just painting abstract shapes. As a kid she would go around Angel Island and create things like this:

(by Andy Goldsworthy)

Altho maybe not quite as neat lol. It ends up being a sort of game between her and Knuckles, as he would always pretend he had no idea how these little rocks or stick figures happened. Must have been the chao!

Propaganda for @sonic-fankid-showdown :]

[sandy-the-glader]

Hi!! I hope this is okay!! If not, no worries!! 💜💜💜 (I love you lots!)

Can I please request an Adrian Chase x fem!innocent!reader Where while Adrian is out and about doing his Vigilante work he comes across a bunch of criminals in a warehouse, and after they’re all “taken care of”, he hears someone crying and finds a girl hiding behind a pile of the criminal’s stuff, and she’s handcuffed to something over there, so she couldn’t leave even if she wanted to. She’d obviously be completely terrified of Vig, but as we know, he is very good at reading a person and would clearly see that she is innocent, and had been taken by the bad guys. Normally he would just set the innocent girl free and be on his way, having already taken care of the bad guys, however… He had unfortunately taken off his mask right before finding her, and had forgotten to put it back on, so she has seen his face. Panicking, he just picks her up, and takes her to his car with him, driving straight to the 11th Street Kids HQ, carrying in a terrified Y/n, he himself all panicked, and the team is like “wtf did you do????” “Did you abduct her???” And he’s just like, “No no, I saved her! But then she saw my face… So I guess, yes??”

Lmao it’s honestly a mess, but the team takes care of Y/n’s injuries, apologies for Adrian’s behavior lmao, and lets her stay there until she has recovered, as not only is she hurt, but very scared. After a while of staying with them, she gradually starts warming up to Adrian, him desperately trying to get her not to be afraid of him anymore (for a while there she was terrified of him), and their relationship eventually grows into a more romantic and intimate one🥺🥺🤧

Afraid of Me

*Not my gif*

Character: Adrian Chase x SoftFem!Reader

Type: Fluff and sorta angsty

Length: 5.4K (a bit long)

Summary: Request above <3

Trope: Strangers to friends to lovers, Slow-burn

A/N: LONG A/N!! Sorry this took forever I've been busy with a lot of stuff and I just haven't had any time but I worked on this whenever I could. Btw again I bent the request a little bit (I'm not sure if I wrote what you wanted for it and I apologize ) so I hope it’s okay I just made this go over the whole period of time the show does and like more so there's more time for a bond to be built lol

I heard a quick gunshot followed by another. Tears continued to fall from my eyes as I was tied to some random wall in some warehouse, Apparently, I was not supposed to come across two men selling heroin to each other but here I am. They claimed I saw too much, took me, and tied me up. Who even does that?

I just wanted to return to my apartment and read this new book I bought. That's all I had planned for my day anyway. Yet now I was tied to a pole in some wet and cold warehouse with random crates surrounding me. I tugged and tried to break from but it was helpless. I cried and sniffled as I continued to try but there was no avail.

Were those shots from them or someone else? Please god, let someone save me. I had been here for hours and I was scared of what they had planned for me. They already hit me pretty hard over the head which caused a small trail of blood to fall from my temple.

I heard loud and heavy footsteps coming towards me. I braced myself and waited for the figure to come around the crate to where I was. He was wearing a teal suit, with blood covering it. It was Vigilante. Should I be happy or terrified? He's a killer but isn't he supposed to be a hero?

"Fuck oh my god." He gasped slapping a gloved hand over his mouth. He was missing one exceptionally important part of his suit. His mask. That must have been why he was so frantic.

In all honesty, he looked nothing like I always pictured him. He was lanky with glasses and he looked really young. He looked mid-twenties though I had a feeling he was older. He honestly looked nerdy.

"I'm sorry. I really won't tell anyone who you are. I-I mean I don't even know your name." I stammered. He didn't care though because he continued to curse.

"Fuck fuck fuck. This is so not good." he groaned. The man ran a thick hand through his hair while bouncing back and forth. "Umm." He pondered confused about what to do. "Shit, I can't let you go." My eyes widen. He already has saved me why not let me go on my merry way? He took off his glasses and put his mask back on.

He came over to me and examined my situation. He crouched down and started untieing the rope that kept me on the pole but didn't bother with the ones around my hands or feet.

I was about to thank him for his acts but he picked me up and started to carry me out. Oh, he's actually not letting me go.

"What are you doing!?" I panicked. I started wiggling my body in his grasp then he held me tighter. "Where are you taking me? This hurts." He continued to keep walking until we reached his car a couple of feet from the warehouse.

Holding me with one hand, he opened the door to his back seat and tossed me in. Judging by his face, he didn't mean it to be as aggressive but it was enough to get me to shut up. He slammed the door and rushed over to the driver's seat.

This is it. After all that's happened today I'm being kidnapped by Vigilante and who knows what's going to happen. I guess the law doesn't apply when it comes to him. I actually can't believe it right now.

The entire car ride was silent. Not a sound from the man or from me. It was terrifying. All I could think of was what was going to happen to me. it took him forever to get to his destination and when we got there I realized it was some rundown video store. That couldn't be where we're going right?

-

"Guy's we got a fucking situation!" Adrian called opening the door with the girl in his hands. The whole team in the building stared at him with wide 'What the fuck' like eyes.

"Who the fuck is that?" Economos asked adjusting his glasses and leaning over his desk.

Adrian (not so carefully) dropped the woman on the floor making her yelp out in shock and pain.

"Did you just kidnap a girl?" Adebayo's eyes widened at the sight.

"No Adebayo!" He yelled defensively. "Okay, well technically yes but-" He was cut off quickly.

"And why did you bring her here?" Harcourt burst out running a hand through her blonde hair.

"Okay, I was doing my badass stuff, right? Like beating up these bad dudes and I found her behind some crates." They all stared at him waiting for him to continue. "And since I didn't know these dudes took a hostage I took my mask off and that's-" He removed his mask again and replaced the glasses on his face. "Really bad." He grimaced.

"Adrian what the hell dude you could have left her. She would have never turned you in. Look at her. No offense." Chris said. She stayed silent like she never heard the comment in the first place.

She was scared to death, trembling on the floor with small tear streaks down her face. Some of the tears mixed in with blood on the left side of her face. She looked innocent as could be and she definitely didn't deserve to be in this mess.

"Dude what the fuck!" He shouted at Chris. "Now she knows my real name! You have so fucked me!" He continued to cure which didn't make the girl feel any better.

"I did not fuck you! Besides it's your fault for bringing her here anyway." Chris furrowed his eyebrows looking back and forth between the petrified girl and his idiotic friend.

"What is happening out here?" Murn came out from one of the rooms and immediately regretted his decision. "We're supposed to be working on the project butterfly case what are you doing Chase?" He asked sternly.

"Oh, now she knows about Project Butterfly!" Harcourt placed a hand on her forehead.

"Well, it's not like I can kill her because she's innocent" The girl's face drained at the mention of death. "and we can't get rid of her because she might tell someone who I am!" Adrian wined out. He was finally right about one thing.

"She also might screw our plan up," Murn muttered trying to think of a reasonable thing to do with this girl.

"Then what do you suppose we do with her?" Economos folded his arms. The girl had been silent the entirety of this conversation but she finally piped up.

"Um.." Her voice caught everyone's attention and they turned their heads to look at her. "I-I can clean and o-organize around here." She stammered. "I can help you guys just please don't kill me." She pleaded. They all non-verbally agreed she had been through enough judging by the look of blood running from her temple and dirt caking her shirt.

"Yeah that honestly could be useful," Harcourt spoke. She looked around the room to only be met with agreeing faces. She let out another deep sigh before Murn spoke up.

"You will work the same hours as us and will get paid a fair amount." He folded his arms tightly over his chest. He didn't ask he just demanded she work.

"I'm also a fast learner and I can help you with anything you need. I don't have a current job so that would be perfect." She tried to look at the bright side of the situation. I can work for money but this is a destructive and hard-core business she pondered. "And since this is a very um dangerous job I just so happened to be trained in medical care." She offered.

"Oh, sweet! That's perfect so now dyed bear can stop doing such a shit job of stitching me up!" Chris smiled.

"Hey!" Economos protested. It was perfectly fine he thought.

"What about my living situation? C-can I still stay In my apartment?" She asked. They all looked around at each other because that was one thing they hadn't thought of. If they let her stay, she could always tell people without them knowing.

"If we let you stay in your apartment, you must realize he" Murn pointed at Adrian Chase himself. "has to keep watch of you? He somehow always knows if someone is doing something they shouldn't be." She nodded slowly. "And if you tell anyone and I mean anyone you will be terminated immediately, do you understand?" He spoke firmly making her hands tremble.

"I understand." She muttered.

"Now that everyone is done with this whole situation I suggest you get back to work," Murn concluded walking back to his office annoyed with the inconvenience.

-

I sat there absolutely stunned at what just happened. I just got myself into a bat shit crazy job. I mean I don't even know these people and one of them literally abducted me. This is not normal.

Project butterfly? Are these guys all heroes or something? I already was aware of Vigilante's existence and somewhat Peacemaker but there's a lot more than just those two.

"Oh my god, he didn't even untie you." The blonde-haired woman spoke in surprise. I didn't say anything because really what was I supposed to say? "I'm Harcourt." She kneeled beside me. She opened a switchblade and sliced through the ropes binding my hands together and then my feet. "Come on let's get you cleaned up. She went and collected the first aid kit from one of the desks on the left side of the room and motioned for me to sit at her desk. "What's your name?" She asked.

"Y/n L/n." I said quietly as I stared into my lap anxiously.

"Come sit Y/n." She said calmly trying to make me comfortable.

I stood up uneasily and almost fell back down. I steadied myself and carefully walked over to the chair and sat down gently. She pulled out a couple of cotton swabs and some alcohol. She poured the strong liquid onto the small ball.

"I'm sorry about him." Harcourt hummed taking the cotton swab to my forehead.

"Hm?" I replied softly.

"Adrian." She looked me in the eyes. "He just isn't all there sometimes." She mumbled. She tossed the bloodied-up swab in the trash and put a bandage over the small cut.

I looked over at Vigilante who I guess was named Adrian. He was talking to Peacemaker and he looked perfectly innocent. Not even an hour earlier he was tossing me into the back of his car. Jesus, what did I really get myself into? Not only does he have to escort me home, but now I have to work with him. He's a psycho!

"She has a point you know." The woman I was pretty sure was Adebayo spoke up. I glanced at her and she nodded trying to make me realize it. "He's a really good guy you just have to get to know him. I get it he basically kidnapped you but he's stupid in everything but fighting."

"Yeah okay," I mumbled softly. I don't care what they say now I can't trust him after what he did unless he really proves he's trustworthy. At least these people actually had the decency to tend to my wounds.

She continued to bandage and take care of every cut I had on my arms and face. I enjoyed her already because she was delicate to me and cared about my feelings. Pretty quickly she finished and put all the materials away.

"Come over here I think we found a box of old clothes you could change in." She led me back into the store and I could feel Adrian's eyes burning into my back.

-

"Dude she's afraid of me!" I panicked at Chris looking him dead in the eye. I waited for her to leave before I talked to my best friend about the whole thing.

"Well, I mean you did throw her in the back of your car. Chicks don't really dig that. Unless they're like hardcore." Okay yeah obviously I fucked up big time but I was under a lot of pressure and I wasn't doing what I should have!

"Dude I didn't know what else to do." I whined

"I mean you just gotta make things right with her I guess. I don't know I usually don't have to apologize to girls." He shrugged his shoulders. Great okay how am I supposed to do that when she's obviously afraid of me? Fuck. "Listen when you walk her to her apartment just be like 'Sorry for kidnapping you in my shitty car that was a pretty bad thing to do!' or something like that." I let out a heavy sigh. This is never going to work.

-

I came back out to the main room in a sweatshirt with the video store's logo on it and sweatpants that were longer than my actual legs with the same logo down the side of it. I held my original clothes in my arms and I was quiet.

What do I do now? Go home? How am I supposed to feel safe in my own home when I know that guy is watching me?

"Listen." Harcourt grabbed my attention. "You can take as much time as you need before you go home. I know that was probably a traumatic experience for you so let me know when you want to leave." She spoke as if she had read my mind. I nodded. "Also we have your address so we can get you home easily." Okay well, I told her my name and that was all it took to find out where I lived. Spectacular.

"What are my work hours?" I still can't believe I got myself to work for these people.

"Just don't get here any later than 8. Hours are different every day. Since you now work here I guess I should tell you who everyone is." She pointed to Peacemaker and Vigilante who were still chatting near the corner of the room "Chris and Adrian ." Then to the other man in glasses. "Economos." The guy in the other room that I could see through the glass. "Murn." Finally, she pointed at the last girl which I already knew. "and Adebayo."

I stood around for not too much longer before very anxiously describing to Harcourt my wishes to leave. She understood fully and went over to Adrian to make him take me home. He looked at me with some sort of care in his eyes but I just couldn't look at him so my eyes fell back to the sight of the floor.

"Come on kid." Harcourt motioned with her head to leave out the door with the man. I walked out the door and the cool air hit me as the sun started to sink down below the horizon.

One car ride and then I'm home. This time I got to sit in the front seat of his car instead of being thrown in the back like a doll. I secured my seatbelt and then just slumped against the car door. All I could really do was pay attention to the passing cars outside and the quiet buzz of the radio.

I also noticed the pleasing smell of his cologne that filled the car or how he hummed along to the Taylor Swift song on the radio. Someone like him is a swiftie?

"I'm sorry that I kidnapped you." Adrian broke the silence between us in an attempt to apologize. I ignored it and kept looking out the window. It was a long day and I genuinely couldn't tell if he was being sincere or was just trying to make me feel like he cared. "Please talk to me. I know I fucked up." I glanced over at him; his eyes flickered between the road and me. "Hey." He reached for my hand and flinched away with wide eyes and a quickened heartbeat.

His eyes lit up in sorrow. He looked like he felt bad. He backed off and for the rest of the car ride, he didn't talk anymore. There was so much tension in that car I felt like I was going to suffocate. I could barely look at him. I was still scared of his guts.

Every turn and stop made me think over and over about the events that occurred today. It was nauseating.

Finally walking through the door of my apartment left me with this feeling I couldn't describe. All of the events that happened today were fucking unbelievable.

The book I was planning to read was on my bed and was quickly tossed on my side table with a small thud. I sprawled out on my bed not bothering to do anything else tonight.

What. The. Fuck.

-

It's my first day on the job and my teammate already hit someone with a car. A van actually. I got to the disguised video store a bit after seven and Murn described the plan to me. Since I wasn't significant to the plan I just stayed in the car with a first-aid kit just in case things went south. And oh they did.

"Is he dead!?" I stood in the van looking at Economos dumbfounded. He didn't reply at first he was just making shocked quivering noises.

"I... I don't know?" My eyes widened as he started to get out of the car holding a crowbar tightly in his hands. I left the kit on the seats (since I had been fidgeting with the latches the whole ride) and followed him for support or something like that. Maybe I thought I could help. He inspected inside the car which he had hit fully force.

Judomaster was crawling on the ground in front of the car slowly. Economos inched closer and closer to him holding the crowbar. He whacked him once over the head and jolted backward then his body went limp. We waited and sure enough, he kept crawling. He hit him again and he still was moving. I slapped a hand over my mouth as he repeatedly hit him on the back of the head. He poked him a few times like you would a bug making sure he wasn't moving.

"Oh my god." He let out. "Fuck yeah!" He turned around to high-five me. I lightly returned it. "Don't worry he's not dead." He said sensing my shock. "They're hardcore it takes a lot."

"Well, what do we do with him now?" I looked at Economos for ideas. We ended up tying him up and throwing him in the back of the van. I watched him intensely. When would this dude wake up? I really hope not any time soon. Murn radioed us and let us know that they would be coming back soon with of course Vigilante. Economos drove us back to the spot we were supposed to be in and awaited their arrival.

"You're pretty cool." I complimented him. He was taken aback by the positive words.

"Well thank you." He adjusted his glasses with a bright smile.

We waited for 15 minutes until they finally arrived and loaded themselves into the van. Everyone looked untouched besides Harcourt's messy hair, a couple cuts on Peacemaker's face and Vigilante crying about his bleeding toe. I grabbed the medical kit I had set down on the seats just minutes before and rushed to Adrian's side.

I motioned for him to move his foot up to where I needed it. He hesitated for a moment but then proceeded to lift his foot into my lap. I scoped out his injured toe and I pulled out the needed materials.

Yikes. I was definitely glad that I stayed in the van. Adrian’s foot jerked in my lap as I tried to get some alcohol.

"Hold still!" I complained to Adrian trying to hold his leg down from wriggling under my grasp. From the looks of it, this man had managed to get half of his pinky toe cut off. That is such a bizarre thing for torture.

“It hurts so bad though!” He wined when I took the alcohol to his foot. He had obviously had worse happen to him but this?

“It could have been worse,” I said. My hold got tighter on his leg since it kept jolting side to side.

“Pft yeah, this was nothing!” He lied as if he hadn’t been complaining two seconds ago. “I’ve gone through worse in DND.” A small smile appeared on my cheeks. DND huh? Who knew the big strong Vigilante was a total nerd? And a swiftie...

“One of my characters got their arm bitten off by a bear so I’d say you’re okay,” I said. His eyes lit up at the mention that I had played before." Just sit still it's about to get worse." His eyes clenched shut.

"Oh shit!" He screamed out making everyone irritated in the van. I shushed him gently with a soft hand on his leg. He shut up very quickly but his body still tensed occasionally with every sting. I held his foot carefully as I bandaged it up thoroughly.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" I asked. I still didn't dare to look him in the eye.

"Yeah, but I can wait until we get back." He tried to act tough but I could hear the pain in his voice. I noticed a couple of holes in his shirt. Maybe I could fix his shirt while I'm at it. God am I being too nice?

I mean I'm trying to think of the bright side of what happened yesterday and honestly, it didn't seem so bad anymore. He saved my ass and I'm having a paying job. I can only imagine the pay is fantastic for what these people have me doing. I sat next to Adrian. I was feeling a little less scared of him now when I thought about him like that. Even through the visor, his eyes were peeled onto me. It felt like since I got here they never left.

Getting back to headquarters I couldn't get Adrian to get out of the van without making a scene. I dragged him quickly into the store so he wouldn't draw any attention from people lurking around In the streets. I pulled him by his hand and made him sit in the closest chair I could spot. He whined and moaned obnoxiously loud. I knew the stories and new articles about the man. He was tough and put up a big fight, he never lost against criminals.

I grabbed the larger bandages from an area Harcourt showed me just this morning and also some more alcohol.

"Show me where you're hurt." I looked at him curious about what else had happened to him. He pulled off his chest plate and revealed the deep stab wound in his shoulder. The fabric of his shirt clearly revealed the bloody mess it left. My eyes widen. "You kept this from me until now?"

"I could handle this. The toe I'm not entirely sure." I cleaned and bandaged the wound with intense concentration. I was careful and sure not to cause any more harm after this long night. "Thank you." He said softly. I just nodded and didn't reply with anything else.

-

The days passed as we worked on this project and the days were long and there was a lot of work to do. I didn't have almost any free time anymore so it was hard to make time for friends I actually wanted to talk to or things I really wanted to do. Adrian continued to try his hardest to earn my trust and befriend me.

I started to warm up to him crazy enough. He did little things for me I thought were sweet. Sometimes he brought me breakfast or he would try to learn about things I liked so he could talk about them with me. I started to trust him more and more as the mission proceeded because he was really good company. He would talk and I would listen.

A couple of days after the whole 'Adrian getting his pinky toe almost cut off' situation he got himself arrested. I didn't even know until Harcourt talked to me about it and what Adebayo said to him. I felt bad for him because as much as I thought I disliked him, I hated to hear he was where he was and how Adebayo literally manipulated him into doing it.

The night he got out he showed up at my apartment because he still needed to check up on me and since he hadn't been able to. For the first time, I felt comfortable enough to hug him. So I did, I wrapped my arms gently around his torso and gave a small squeeze. We stood like that for a minute before he quietly wished me a 'goodnight' without any further words. That was the kindest moment we had ever shared with one another

Then the next day we had another mission. Since all this time has passed, I had been informed on what a Butterfly fully was. At first, it was entirely confusing until I realized these were tiny alien butterflies here to kill us. I know it sounds like something straight out of a sci-fi movie.

I had to sit through a whole meeting in the morning next to Adrian where he (the whole time) joked with me. It felt sorta nice honestly. He never stopped being friendly and I just kind of started to accept it more.

And the whole mission went by quickly.

"Oh my god." I blurted when everyone arrived back in the truck. Peacemaker and Economos were fully drenched head to toe in blood, Harcourt had a good amount on her, and Adebayo and Adrian had little to none on them.

"We fought a fucking gorilla!" Adebayo exploded with astonishment. Jesus, sometimes I wish I didn't sit in the car the whole time.

"Economos is the fucking man." Peacemaker clapped him on the back with a proud grin. I did miss a lot if those two are now getting along.

"All the blood is the gorillas right?" I asked startled for a second considering the amount.

"Yeah we're all fine," Harcourt said tiredly.

"At least no one's arm got bitten off, like your DND character right?" Adrian nudged me in the side and sat down next to me. Sure I had only told him a few days ago about that but it still made me happy that he had remembered that tiny detail.

"Right." I smiled. Chris sat in the front and started playing music like he had at the beginning of the ride. I sang along with the rest of my team members to 11th Street Kids and I actually started to enjoy my work a little more.

I looked over at Adrian who was dancing like a dork. He looked so adorable? He was playing air drums and making up random dances as he went. I don't know why but I started to not hate him anymore. I started seeing this more personal side of him. Not Vigilante but Adrian.

"C'mon dance," Adrian whispered in my ear and nudged me again. I started to sway along with the group.

Later that night Harcourt made a group chat with all of us and sent a photo she had taken in the van. I set the book down I had finally got to reading beside me on my bed and picked up my phone.

Everyone was dancing in the van but on the right side, you could see me looking at Adrian with the sweetest smile on my face. The chat is filled with different emojis. The only number I had was Harcourts but from the merman emoji, I already knew it was Adrian. I liked his message and sent a fitting emoji to match the others.

I set my phone down and continued reading with a big smile. I never seemed to stop today.

-

It was the final day of the project and I wasn’t allowed to go. I wasn’t entirely complaining since this job was so bizarre but I was also disappointed. I mean all this build up and I don’t even get to go. They said it would be safer for me and of course, I understood.

But as the night carried on and the morning came through I was nervous. I had no texts or word from anyone. Sure, they still could be busy and have to do some other stuff before texting me but what if?

I heard a rushed-sounding knock on my door which threw me off. I ran to my door since the person decided to not stop knocking.

"What do you want?" I hissed as I threw open the door but I was only met with Adrian. My eyes soften upon seeing him. Oh, thank god he’s alive. "Adrian. Hi." I paused when noticing he was in a pair of shorts and a nursing gown. "Come inside." I ushered him in with wide eyes and closed the door quickly behind him. "What are you doing here?"

"Listen I jumped out of a hospital building to be her so-"

"Adrian!" I scolded him for being careless. I had started to really enjoy him I didn't need him being so careless all the time.

"Shut up. Sorry, but I need to tell you this." I stared at him silently with folded arms awaiting what he was about to tell me. "Okay, so after almost dying, I know what you're about to say please just wait. After almost dying, I realized had more feelings for you than I have ever had for someone and that's like a lot for me." He stepped closer to me. "I had to tell you those feelings just in case I actually died sometime. But now I'm scared if you reject me because of the whole kidnapping thing when we first met and usually I would be okay with rejection but I don't feel usual with you." He rambled and his hands made several confusing gestures along the way.

Everything about him told me he was being truthful. His hands were trembling with nervousness, He literally came from a hospital to tell me this and he just had that look on his face.

The feelings from the other day came rushing back. I really enjoyed being with genuine Adrian. The time we spent together over the course of this project was enjoyable. I noticed small things about him like the way he always made sure to keep an eye on me and was careful not to get me into anything super dangerous. He had become almost like a personal guard.

He even taught me how to use weapons, and also never overstepped my boundaries. So yeah maybe I developed a crush on my kidnapper co-worker.

"Why are you looking at me like that I'm like really nervous right now." He asked.

"Because I feel the same way. Even though you did totally kidnap and traumatize me." I nudged him smiling but he didn't return it. "Adrian I was playing with you. But I really do feel the same way." He let out a long breath. I was quite sure he had stopped breathing for a little while.

"Oh thank god." Adrian stepped closer and picked me up in his arms as he kissed me deeply. I've kissed a couple of times in the past but never did it feel as amazing as this. I held him close to me as if he would slip away again. He pulled away to look closely at my face.

"Just because you kissed me doesn't mean I won't scold you for almost dying." I glared at him but he just smiled kindly and kissed me again.

"If I keep. Kissing you then. I won't. Get yelled at." He said in between kisses making me start to laugh.

“Don’t scare me like that again Chase.” I shook my head kissing him passionately once more. I could get used to this feeling.

[vaguely-concerned]

I’m on a Star Wars books roll so here we go with my — unhinged thanks for asking! — thoughts on Dooku: Jedi Lost, specifically the audio play. Short version: I fucking loved this one! For maximum emotional devastation, pair with Master and Apprentice and Padawan the way my stupid ass did and then be sad about it forever I guess that's what I’m going to have to do.

 Long (LONG oopsie) version:

- So. First of all, let’s get the most important thing out of the way on this here old man yaoi website. We all agree dooku and sifo dyas explored each other’s bodies right. Or at least definitely would have if not for the laws of this order etc., potentially. That’s not just me. Good. Thank you. We can now move on 

- Secondly. Well. Guess I’m just going to be inconsolable about Sifo-Dyas forever now. I miss the days in which he was just a throwaway line in AotC spawned by a random misspelling to me, rather than an eternal raw aching wound in my heart

- poor poor ventress just reading through all the proof that dooku absolutely does have it in him to be a good dad I mean master and just — idk got tired of that and went the force lightning route with her. I love the move of having her dead master hang out with her all that time as well (having her slip up and refer to ‘us’ did something to me, god this is so sad. Is he actually there in spirit or is it just her grief dreaming him up because dooku is awful and cold as a cliff  wall and she needs some kind of attachment figure even if she’ll have to reinvent him herself, rebuild him word for word, gesture by gesture. Pain. sorry about your terrible track record with father figures asajj) 

- Lene: (About Averross): He hasn’t changed. 

Dooku: (In the warmest fondest voice you ever heard) And I hope he never does

WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH MYSELF? MUST I SET MYSELF ON FIRE TO ESCAPE THE PAIN???

Another strong showing for Rael in general, btw. He’s so warm and charming as a presence even though he’s also a little chaos gremlin. (He’s quite similar to how Sifo-Dyas was when he was young in some ways, I can definitely start to see what Dooku responds warmly to in terms of character traits.) 

- the fact that good ol’ sheev showed an interest in rael, dooku and anakin… interesting huh! He’s just got a soft spot for the disaster lineage I suppose, maybe there’s an element there of luring yoda’s most direct lineage into the dirt with him without yoda even noticing for the longest time. Also cackling at the idea that he looked at qui-gon ‘too fucking stubborn and insufferable to fall to the dark side out of sheer spite’ jinn and went ‘...not that one tho’ fhdskjfa. And obi-wan is more like ‘that one blorbo all my little guys seem wild about but I just don’t get it guys’ 

IF rael’s refusal to join dooku at the end of ‘master and apprentice’ is the last word (which I am not convinced of ;___; be safe cowboy jedi we never see in mainline canon so far), then he’s the only one who has dodged palpatine’s attentions. Wonderful if true love that for him

ALSO rael is one of the few people we know to be on (or at least to consider himself on despite what palps might think lol) first name basis with palpatine. Hilarious. I concur with dooku never change rael 

- Sifo-Dyas: That’s insane. 

Dooku, deadpan: Yes.

Sifo-Dyas: The worst plan I’ve ever heard.

Dooku, somehow even more deadpan: Most probably. 

Sifo-Dyas: I’m in. 

Crying… weeping and dying………… what if someone could have helped sifo with his unfortunate prophecy propensity and they hadn’t drifted apart. Clone Wars averted methinks if dooku still ended up leaving the order he would have been too busy having tender gay sex with the love of his life (and only person who can call him out on his shit and have him actually listen) to be a war criminal (I am being extremely facetious of course this is very much a ‘time traveler killing baby hitler’ situation where the underlying forces causing this point in history are way too powerful to avert the catastrophe in one move. but at least palps would probably have had to pick someone else to wreck the galaxy through and sifo-dyas would be kissed & held instead of going slowly mad. A net plus some (I, me) would say) 

- I just wanted to applaud both the writing and the voice acting for the characterization of Dooku in this, from his young self trying so hard to be haughty and self-possessed but also being like, y’know, twelve and a dweeb and easy for Sifo-Dyas to pull into trouble, to the dry wit and warmth he shows with Rael and Qui-Gon or his sister later. It took me a little while to get into the voice acting specifically (the actor makes no attempt at going the full Christopher Lee, which in hindsight was probably wise), but now I love it. It gets a bit goofy in places but you know what, I am a long time lover of audio plays, that’s part of the charm 

- “Master, have I done something wrong?”

My heart is clenching… do you think… that master yoda’s deal with leaving his student to try fucking everything to have some kind of relationship with him until he just breaks down in tears of despair… is the kind of thing that maybe started a little bit of a generational trauma cartwheel through the ages. The point that bb!dooku is arrogant isn’t without merit and he strikes out incredibly ungracefully about it (in fact I would be a lot more worried than yoda seems to be that he decides to try to kill a tree about it, ‘I felt like destroying something beautiful’-style)  but I just don’t think a… fourteen year old? A teen anyway, Is going to learn what you think he learns from this. I simply don’t believe that silent treatmenting kids will teach them emotional intelligence I guess especially if they already struggle with that naturally lol 

(It is exactly the same mistake (in my opinion) that Qui-Gon makes with Obi-Wan, too, just leaving the kid completely alone and forcing them to come to you every which way for comfort or guidance instead of meeting them or reaching out to them. Especially once you see that really Dooku’s prime emotion/big core wound right from the beginning is loneliness. And that doesn’t only come from a feeling of superiority (which to be sure is also a big factor), because he has no idea where he comes from until he meets his sister. I don’t think the jedi as a whole were unsalvageable by any stretch of the imagination, but Yoda specifically… you are on such very thin ice with me at this point you little green fuck. You’re very funny and moving in yoda dark rendezvous and that’s all that’s keeping you in my somewhat good graces.)

- Okay, coming back a bit later I think I’ve found the right words to say this. more precisely dooku has two big issues which you can later see haunting all the way down his lineage — loneliness and control. (and not incidentally the intersecting elements of the two haha.) We see from his relationship to sifo-dyas that he’s not incapable of having close mutual relationships with an equal, but that kind of crashed and burned for reasons neither of them could really help and after that it seems quite telling that he has the easiest time with deeper connection in a teacher-student sort of form. I think his affection is unconditional and real, but you can’t get away from the fact that he also has the most control in that relationship structure by default, he gets to dictate what form it takes to a big extent. He doesn’t trust other people — the underlying idea ‘Only I can do this’ that eventually leads him down the Separatist path is there the whole way. It speaks both to a sense of superiority and an utter lack of faith that other people can or will help him. And then that echoes down through the master-padawan line: 

Qui-Gon with his self-righteousness and utter refusal to compromise leaving him isolated among the jedi (only he is right. Yeah the Force told him so. Don’t worry I’ve got a permit *insert parks and rec I can do whatever I want meme here*), Obi-Wan with his anxiety and perfectionism and incredible sense of shame and responsibility that he should be able to carry the whole world on his shoulders alone and beating himself up for failing, all feeding into not knowing what to do with Anakin and his complete lack of control of himself and his desperation to gain and maintain connection and love (which earns him the title of ‘Dooku’s least favorite family member’ fhdsa his immediate disdain for him is so funny and so in character. Repress and go slowly mad like a normal person anakin the way you’re carrying on is just undignified and that is much worse than being evil)… 

- Rael gently telling Dooku to take on another padawan soon… so sweet, so sad, local cowboy jedi looking out for his dad. Also highlights something about Dooku I think is true: that he does much better and seems to have an easier time holding to the light when he’s responsible for someone else. Again, I do feel like Dooku’s core problem is loneliness, but it seems like raising kids is the one point where that relaxes somewhat. Maybe if Sifo-Dyas had stayed in a better mental place and they kept in touch it could have been different.

- Lene Kostana is SUCH a character! Charismatic and deeply fucked up, when it’s revealed how her and Sifo-Dyas’ relationship remains long after his padawan stage is done I felt a little bit sick, to my surprise. Because that could just be kindness on her part, of course, it’s good that he has someone he trusts to look after him when he can’t himself, but also there’s something… queasy about the way it keeps him continually young, in a way. (Notably he still calls her ‘master’ even as an adult, when they’re working together. Not uncommon in Star Wars, of course, but together with everything else going on vibes-wise… hm.) The inherent unreliable narration of this story really worked for me in this regard especially — do we know that young Dooku was entirely wrong when he sensed the dark side in her? She certainly is willing to go to lengths that are… worrying! in her fascination with sith shit, she tempted children into a dangerous place they didn’t understand and couldn’t know the consequences of and she continually puts sifo-dyas in situations that are implied to be a risk to worsening his condition. Run of the mill incredibly irresponsible at best, sincerely sinister at worst. Did she choose Sifo over Dooku because he’s more vulnerable and shapeable? There is an undercurrent of something icky and emotionally incest-y going on with how she relates to Dooku and Sifo-Dyas in general (right down to the ‘NO, no one can know about this’ intensity after the… evil moss cave. I can’t believe I’m this emotional about a book with an evil moss cave). I don’t think she’s a proper sith in any way and I also believe there is real affection there on all sides, but idk something about the whole thing makes me deeply uneasy. Yoda where the fuck are you your son is out there with his irresponsible mom again they’re looking for dirty needles in haystacks and they’re not even wearing any gloves

- dooku telling sifo-dyas he can come back to haunt him if he likes as a joke… well well well I’m sure that doesn’t ring with some dramatic irony at some point down the line lmao

- honestly looking back at master and apprentice after reading jedi lost makes qui-gon's apparent lack of reaction to dooku leaving seem — let's call it highly suspect haha. rael asks him if he's spoken to dooku after and qui-gon is like 'no. why would I. it's literally fine. anyway this topic is done now'. (and rael seems to just go ‘*older brotherly knowing* uh-huh’) meanwhile he's thinking about dooku *all the time* trying to figure out his role as master to obi-wan, thinking about being a padawan himself, the parts of his life he shared with both dooku and rael. The jedi doth protest too much methinks  

ALSO how much of qui-gon thinking the council was too lenient with rael after he had to kill his padawan is about that actual situation, and how much is a ‘our family still likes my older brother more than me even though he Fucked Up so bad and breaks just as many rules as I do’ sort of deal mixed with his own neuroses about how he’s failing obi-wan (to which rael’s situation symbolizes the worst possible outcome, i.e. the kid dies and it’s basically your fault). Many thoughts. 

- moment of silence for jenza of house serenno. Girl your only sin was being surrounded by asshole male family members and I’m so sorry I think you did all you could with what you had to work with here.

Not… entirely sure how dooku’s claim to the title supersedes hers — is he a year older than her? (she’s eleven when they first meet, he might be twelve or older at that point I don’t remember haha) Does she just give up her place in the inheritance order? Are primogeniture and male heir preference factors in Serenno inheritance law? Not the most important thing honestly it works anyway thematically but could have been clarified quickly!

- interesting to see that the council’s restrictive policy against engaging with prophecies had a surprisingly big impact on how things went down. Kostana has a lot of responsibility in Sifo’s fate for insisting he keep it secret, but there is genuine fear for what might become of him if the rest of the order finds out he’s got 24/7 futurevision hovering over him threateningly… listen it’s not like the poor guy can help getting the future constantly pumped into his brain at nightmare resolutions, I think maybe if there had been more willingness to at least engage curiously with the concept of prophecy and how it works, even if you don’t put your faith in the particulars of what the prophecies say, this wouldn’t have had to be such a shitty isolated secretive life for him. hearing him slowly fall apart over the years considering how bright and lovely he started out... oof is all I can say 

- when dooku was a good jedi he was such a good jedi!!! The scene where they’re saving the kids from the collapsing hospital, every time he teaches his students anything…the impulse of someone has to do something about this! that made him so good at saving lives turning dark with the tarnish of frustration and rage over the years… nooooooooo problematic grandpa why did it have to be like this :(

- …do you think infant jedi can sense what’s going on around them in the Force. Because it makes a very sad kind of sense if dooku on some level remembers bodily or in the Force that he was not only abandoned but rejected in disgust as one of the first things he discovered in the world. Oh boy. With all the ways attachment relationships can go wonky in the first few years in real life I don’t even want to consider how much more wrong it can go when the baby is fucking psychic lol

- vaguely related: the way dooku seems to find the very idea of being truly reliant on anyone, emotionally or otherwise, personally offensive, terrifying and humiliating lol. Yoda saves him from being crushed by rubble and he is outraged because that means he can’t save himself (and his newfound sister) without anyone’s help like he thought for one glorious moment he could. The fantasy of perfect emotional self-sufficiency, doing away with all the messiness and risk of interpersonal relationships and cutting off the possibility of really being abandoned again. It’ll get ya every time. This is also a thing you see reflected in his lineage — they’re all quite inward-turning that way until you get to anakin, to different extents and with varying presentations but it is there I think. Qui-Gon turns to the Force, Obi-Wan to perfectionism and shame and rumination, Rael to the bottle and depression and hedonistic apathy, but they all struggle hugely with letting anyone in to help them. Dooku’s line are all much more comfortable being the helpers rather than the helpees, as it were.  

- “Thank you for everything, Lene. Tell Rael and Qui-Gon — tell them… tell them the Force will be with them, always”

Emotional terrorism against me specifically and personally. You asshole you just excused yourself from the non-attachment rules there’s literally nothing in the world except you to stop you from reaching out and telling your children you love them yOURSELF why are you like this

- the recurring theme of dooku seeing something beautiful (the tree in the temple, the tirra’taka as a child and an adult) and ending up lashing out to destroy it… but the tree was old and mighty and he was young and new and couldn’t truly harm it, so he was saved from his own impulsivity. And then when he sees the tirra’taka as an adult he loves it immediately. And in the end he still mangles and destroys it. He didn’t mean to, but he did. He woke it up and hurt it just by existing as a child and then he had to kill it as a mercy because he was too powerful at that point for anything to buffer his mistakes. The parallel with the bird he loved that he also couldn’t protect. He starts out with an aching loneliness somewhere at the core of him through no real fault of his own but by the end it is entirely his own fault that it’s worse, because he starts wrecking everything he loves in an almost absent-minded but definitely intentional way, like it’s a nightmare he’s listening to through the door as it happens in the next room over. He really IS the ‘I just felt like destroying something beautiful’ central of the jedi.

at the end qui-gon is dead and through dooku’s own influence, however indirectly. Rael has had to turn away from him. Sifo-Dyas is dead on Dooku’s own orders and so is his sister, he might as well have done it with his own hands. (though I think it’s very interesting that in each case he didn’t do it with his own hands, he consistently uses a middleman.) He lives within the coldness of his sterile empty castle and horrifically mistreats the one person he might have found something like connection with the way he did with his students before (Ventress), deliberately trapping her in a similar state of utter desolate isolation and telling her, essentially, ‘We’re like this as people and nothing can be done to change it. We can’t escape, we’re already doomed, stop trying, it’s too late. You are just like me (and if you aren't already I'll make you like me)’. And that’s the closest thing he gets to love anymore. When he accused Ky of using her ‘as a salve for his own loneliness’ and you’re like well well well mr projection man how’s that working out for you. He is completely, shatteringly alone and he is so entirely as a consequence of his own actions and he's too far gone to understand or care. I’m howling you useless fucking FOOL dooku  

- dooku 🤝 john gaius

“Hm. I have observed that there are in fact many flaws in our society and the government is deeply corrupt. So if I kill a few billion people here and there in order to fix it, is that not basically okay when you really think about it” 

Dooku making salient points about the political and ethical failures of the Republic and then, just when you think he’s onto something, he goes and makes The wildest fucking decisions about what to do about it. Sure. dark magic and genocide are probably the only ways out of this you’re so right bro. If we make enough minuses to add together surely we’ll end up in plus sooner or later

- *head in my hands once more* I can’t believe I am genuinely emotionally invested in someone called Count Dooku with the looks of a knockoff dracula and ultimate moral character to match right now this is terrible. hey. hey dooks. what you have to go and fuck everything up so bad for huh I’m so incredibly sad now

there is something to be said about how getting to see glimpses of what dooku looked like in the light makes it so much more heartwrenching that he never came back. he could have, a thousand times. and every time he chose not to.

[beeanca-writing]

That other anon was being an asshole, but I am curious about what you had planned for EfC? Not gonna lie, I'll miss the cast—would be nice to know what happens to who!

I'm still unsure what I'll do with EfC. I might come back to it once this current period of my life is over, though it'd likely be very different. First of all, it'd be a shorter story. I'd either get rid of some of the ROs, or find some way to better integrate them into the narrative (compare Harry, who you can have this huge, important backstory with vs Val, whom I love but is also just some guy, I guess?). It'd also probably be more focused on romance since that's usually what interests me the most in IF anyway.

I also might scrap a lot of it and stick to the storylines that interest me the most—mainly the Harry stuff. A shorter game dealing with The Hedonist returning to Court and having to face Harry sounds really fun to write, and it'd be a lot less complex to plan than this whole mess. Also, Harry is definitely a more developed character than some of the other ROs. For example, I love Camila to death, but she doesn't have much significance in the story other than "The Hedonist's friend" and I was never able to find her some meaning.

I'd also make The Hedonist even more of a fixed character by getting rid of all personality stats and focusing solely on their actions instead of worrying about personality. The stats were all carried over from CoG, and it's never been something I enjoy in their brand of IF. I was going to do this anyway when I first transferred the game to Twine, but stupidly asked Tumblr what they thought and, since most people preferred keeping the stats, I did that even though I didn't really want to.

As for to what would happen to the cast... In case I do come back to EfC, I don't think this would change much, so I'll put it into a read more in case someone doesn't want to know. If anyone has any more questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Grandma would die. Sorry!

Also, Cordelia was The Hedonist's twin who drowned in front of them, but that was a bit obvious, wasn't it? I'd definitely remove that from any rewrites, it's so unnecessary and cliché.

Henry would divorce Elizabeth to be with Nicholas. The Hedonist could either support him on this or not.

Due to the divorce, the rest of the family would be disgraced in Court. Evie's reputation is a little less affected if she's still with Harry.

As I mentioned in the past, The Hedonist can choose whether to stay in Court or not at the end.

The Hedonist and Evie can repair their relationship or not. Evie eventually makes an effort to become friends with The Hedonist, and you could choose whether to play nice or not. If The Hedonist romances Harry and you manage to have a good relationship, she forgives you, but asks for some time away from both The Hedonist and Harry.

I didn't really plan Camila's character arc well. She becomes a Republican rebel and can either still be friends with The Hedonist or have distanced herself a bit if they continue to be an asshole.

Sabina can choose to no longer be a nun if encouraged either by a friend or romanced Hedonist. If you romanced her but didn't encourage her to leave the convent, she dumps you. (Note: You later find out she was forced to become a nun by her family.)

Similarly to Sabina, Narcissa can choose to break things off with the Emperor if, again, encouraged either by a friend or romanced Hedonist.

Calvin's ending is the wildest one, actually. He finds out he's a father after the boy's mother passes away. The Hedonist can either tell him to abandon the boy or tell him to raise him (if Calvin is romanced, they kind of become a step parent).

Val can be encouraged to start studying to become a librarian. Also, his whole thing is that his father is the Emperor lol

Lastly, horse boy Harry will want to divorce Evie if romanced and marry The Hedonist instead. If you refuse to marry him, he divorces her anyway but doesn't stay with The Hedonist. A friend!Harry stays with Evie, I think? I don't know.

[endlesslystarlitskies]

Lost and Found- Part 2

A/N: Here is part 2! Get ready for some bonding, and the introduction of a new character! I hope you're enjoying this so far and please let me know what you think! Also, obviously keeping it to the chapters of the game didn’t work, so scratch that lol. I’m going to keep physical characteristics out of this story, but if I mess up anywhere, please let me know and I’ll fix it!

Genre: Horror, action, adventure, Slow-Burn,  

Pairing: Leon Kennedy x Named Reader (Named but not Described)

Summary: Ella was one of the missing hikers who was kidnapped by the villagers. She narrowly escaped being sacrificed, but her friends weren’t so lucky. Managing to survive out in the woods with her previous skills and knowledge, she runs into Leon, and that meeting begins the longest, most dangerous adventure of her life as she tries to help him save the girl she saw being taken into the church. What will happen along the way? Only one way to find out.  

Warnings: Canon typical violence and gore, Death, Murder, Monsters, Suicidal ideations mentioned, Ella has little regard for her own life and is dealing with the loss of someone closest to her while also fighting to survive with waning self-preservation instincts. Please be cautious if that triggers you. Word Count; 5,023

Part 1 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7

Story Masterlist

xXx

It was not easy at all to follow the man in the hat, and she almost lost him a few times as well as gotten caught, but she managed to stick behind him during the long walk. 

Ella had been relieved that she hadn’t followed the man to the familiar area of the altar, having been keeping an eye out and preparing herself for the memories that returning to that place may force to the front of her mind, but it wasn’t necessary, as they ended up at what looked to be an abandoned factory. 

It had been what felt like hours of walking and sneaking around, so when she got the chance to just sit down and wait for him to leave the large building, she took it, finishing up the last of her water. 

If the man in the hat wasn’t sacrificing Leon, then it was likely that he wasn’t killing him at all. At least not yet. If Ella had to guess, she would say he was probably finding a place to keep him tied up for a bit. For what purpose, she didn’t know, but that wasn’t important. 

As soon as the man left, she would go inside and free Leon anyway, which would ruin whatever plans the man had for her companion.

Ella was able to rest for half an hour before the man in the hat finally exited the factory. Unfortunately, he ordered a few villagers to keep watch, Ella hiding behind the tree she was near when she saw the first one arrive. 

She waited a little longer for everything to calm down, and to make sure the large man in the hat was long gone, before she finally moved into the factory. xXx There had only been a handful of villagers inside, Ella having more trouble finding her way around than she did taking them down. However, she did find something useful. All of Leon’s gear. It was behind two locked doors, but she found a wheel that lifted one of them, though only for a limited time. 

Once she got inside, she unlocked the other door from the inside, giving her an easier way out, before she gathered all of Leon’s things. It was quite a bit, but she managed, now having two handguns tucked into her waistband, his pouch at her hip, and the shotgun in hand. She grabbed his combat knife last, giving it a good once over. 

“Hm. Nice.” It was a good looking knife0- Sturdy and well made- though it did look a little old. Either way, it would be much nicer to have than those crappy kitchen knives she found around here. Alas, it wasn’t hers, and she stuck it through her belt loop before once again going on the search for Leon. 

There were a few bear traps she had to disarm, but she eventually found a metal door, though just before she could reach it, the man that was carried in with Leon suddenly burst through, almost running into her. He was shocked, immediately getting on the defensive, before realizing she wasn’t one of the infected. 

“Oh hello.” A smirk came to his lips as his eyes gave her a once over. “I didn’t know he had a companion with him. What’s your name, senorita?” He asked her, his tone flirtatious, and Ella just furrowed her brows at him, shaking her head lightly to show she wasn’t going to give him her name. 

She had no idea who this man was, or what he was doing here. He wasn’t infected, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t somehow a part of all of this. Then again, the man in the hat carrying him to the factory along with Leon suggested he wasn’t on the cult’s side, but that didn’t necessarily mean he was on Ella’s, and Ella wouldn’t blindly trust him. 

She didn’t trust Leon completely either, but she traveled with him out of necessity, and she at least knew why he was here. The less strangers she had to put her trust in, the better. 

“Ah I see. Well I would love to stay and chat, really, but I must get going. It was lovely to meet you. Perhaps we’ll meet again.” Ella gave him a curious look as he ran off, and a part of her wondered if she should stop him, but she decided against it, focusing on Leon. At least she knew she was going the right way. 

Making her way down the steps, she stopped when she heard Leon’s voice. He was clearly talking to someone. Was there someone else down there with him? She didn’t hear another voice. . .was he talking to someone over the phone? Or perhaps an ear piece.

She only managed to make out “Condor One out” as he got closer, her brows furrowing. Condor one? What the hell did that mean? Was that a code name? Perhaps he was a government agent. . .

Leon rounded the corner then, and Ella raised the shotgun, pointing it at him and making the blonde man stop, his brows raising a bit in surprise. Both at seeing Ella, and the shotgun suddenly pointed at him. 

She took him in, immediately noticing he wasn’t wearing his jacket anymore, and Jesus, the guy was ripped. She had figured as much, especially when she grabbed his arm earlier and could feel that he was in shape, but seeing it was very different.

She hadn’t meant to check him out, having been taken by surprise considering he was usually wearing a jacket, but Leon had noticed, clearing his throat. 

“Want to tell me what’s on your mind?” He asked her, snapping her out of it. She couldn’t even be embarrassed, her focus immediately returning to what she had overheard. Government agents weren’t the only ones who used codenames, and she needed to know who he was connected to, not wanting to be taken by surprise later on. 

“Condor one?” She questioned, wanting answers and figuring this was as good a time as any. “What are you, an FBI agent?” What would an FBI agent even be doing out here? Who was the girl in the church? 

“Do you even know how to use a shotgun?” He asked, not seeming the least bit concerned, and Ella’s mouth fell open in shock. 

“Seriously?! I have a shotgun pointed at you and you still won’t answer my questions?” He was unbelievable. 

“You’re not going to use it.” He pointed out as he stepped forward, casually taking it from her. She didn’t resist, because of course she wasn’t going to use it, but him being so sure of that still ticked her off. 

“Okay so? I followed that man all this way without getting caught, which wasn’t easy in case you were wondering, and I got your gear for you. The least you could do is answer my questions.” She argued as she grabbed his hand gun and pouch, handing them to him. He was quiet for a moment as he put everything in its proper place. 

“I am an agent for the U.S. Government. I’m on a mission to rescue the president’s daughter.” He finally said, before holding his hand out to her. 

However, Ella was too busy taking in what he said, having not expected that in the slightest. An agent for the U.S. government she had guessed, but The President’s daughter? Of all the guesses she had on who the girl in the church was, that hadn’t been among them. 

At least that meant she could probably trust him, right? She supposed he could still be a terrible person in his free time, but at least she knew who he worked for. 

Assuming he was telling the truth, but who would come up with such a big lie like that? Her being his sister would have been much more believable. It was then she realized his hand was out expectantly, her brows furrowing. 

“What?” She didn’t know what he wanted, having thought she gave him back everything. 

“My knife.” He pointed out, but Ella just crossed her arms. 

“I don’t know, maybe I should keep it after all the trouble you put me through. And also keeping such a big secret.” She wasn’t being serious, but she couldn’t help being a little annoyed at him. At the same time, she knew she had no right. He didn’t owe her an explanation. She had volunteered to come along, and really this didn’t change much. If anything, it just added a little more pressure to the situation. It definitely explained a lot though, namely his skills. 

Leon stepped forward, getting into her personal space, and Ella’s breath suddenly caught in her throat as she looked into his blue eyes, her heartbeat quickening. He was inches away from her face, his expression unreadable.

“It didn’t seem necessary to mention.” He spoke normally, Ella suddenly noticing how attractive his voice was. Why was that something she noticed? And why was his close proximity making her heart pound? It was so inappropriate to even think along those lines considering the situation, but her traitorous body didn’t seem to care.  

Suddenly he was stepping past her, Ella finally coming to her senses, and it was then she realized he had grabbed the knife from her belt loop.

Her annoyance from before began to increase, Ella gritting her teeth as she turned to glare at him. 

“And thank you.” Despite there being virtually no change in his tone, she could hear the sincerity in the words, making Ella stop.

It was clear he hadn’t expected her to follow him, which she supposed was fair. She was just a civilian. She had no reason to want to save him, but she had, even if he hadn’t really needed saving. 

Her annoyance melted away, and she let out a breath. In reality, she was just happy she had found him. She was scared the man had done something to him, or maybe even fatally wounded him. If something happened to him, Ella didn’t know if she could save the girl. 

No, she knew she wouldn’t be able to. Even if she had all his gear, there’s no way she could do this without him. And if she couldn’t find him, she would have had to either turn back, or just go to where she knew he was going, and hope she didn’t die along the way. 

Finding him all in one piece was a huge relief. 

“Yeah, yeah.” She sighed, beginning to follow him up. “But I was a little serious about wanting that knife. These crappy kitchen knives keep breaking.” She joked, hoping to clear the somewhat serious and tense atmosphere. 

“I might have let you have it, but this ones important to me.” She hadn’t actually expected a response, her brows raising slightly. 

“Oh. . .well then I‘m sorry I threatened to keep it.” She had been joking at the time, but even so. She was curious about the story behind it, but she didn’t ask. She wouldn’t test her luck, as it was already shocking that he even revealed that much personal information. 

“Don’t worry about it. You couldn’t have kept it from me if you tried.” Did he just banter back with her? Out loud? 

He must have really appreciated her efforts, as he was seemingly opening up to her, and she could definitely get used to that. 

They made their way to the exit of the factory, being cautious just in case anymore villagers appeared, but fortunately the only ones in the factory were the ones Ella had already taken out. 

That reminded her that she was low on ammo as they neared the exit, Ella opening her mouth to mention it, but a shadowy figure at the exit door caught her attention.

A tall man in a large dark robe stood at the door, a cloth mask covering everything but his eyes, and Ella bristled as she readied to defend. 

“Over here, Strangers.” He spoke in an accented voice, pointing behind him before walking out of view. 

What? 

He clearly wasn’t a normal villager, and he didn’t seem infected, but at the same time, she really hadn’t gotten that great a look at him. 

“Who is that?” Leon mumbled in question, looking at her, and she shrugged. She hadn’t seen him at all during her stint in the woods. 

“Maybe a friend?” She said hopefully, but Leon was unconvinced. She wasn’t either, to be fair, but it was worth checking out. 

They exited the factory, looking in the direction the man had gone. He was standing behind a small wooden table, and Ella could see the legs could fold in on themselves. There was a purple cloth covering the top, but if she had to guess, she would say that the top probably folded too, making the table portable. There was also a large torch with a purple flame, Ella getting distracted by how pretty it was for a moment. 

“Let’s do some business, eh?” Ella could hear the grin in his voice, her brows furrowing. Business? What was this? 

Leon cautiously stepped forward, clearly curious to what this guy was offering, but Ella decided to hang back, just in case. 

The man opened the flap of his robe, revealing small items hanging there.

A salesman. A salesman? 

“I’ve got anything you could need. Ammo, weapons, first aid- you name it, I’ve got it.” Ella was baffled, not understanding what was going on. 

“Why?” She found herself saying, questions bouncing around in her head. 

“Well, to help get rid of the cult that’s been wreaking havoc around here of course!” He stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I just want to do my part, is all.” He was charismatic, Ella would give him that. 

“Okay I guess. . .but what currency do you want?” She crossed her arms, still feeling a little suspicious. 

“Just what you’d expect for this area.” He seemed more than happy to answer her questions, Ella feeling her suspicions fading away. “Pesetas? But how would we even get those?” Ella didn’t have any on her anymore, though she didn’t know about Leon. Either way, this was all useless for her. 

“Well these villagers should have some on ‘em. Take from ‘em. They won’t need it will they?” He chuckled, and Ella paused as she processed. Did this mean they would see him again? Was he just walking around this village freely? Was he a villager? 

“So you want us to steal from dead people and then use the money to buy questionable items  from you?” She clarified, just to make sure she was hearing right. 

“That’s right!” He said excitedly, and honestly he was already growing on her. For some reason, she felt inclined to trust him, and she didn’t know why. “Though all my wares are in tip top shape Miss, I assure you.” He added, and she sighed, looking at Leon. 

“Seems legit to me.” She shrugged, not thinking they had anything to lose. Leon had been silent, clearly taking in the information and analyzing its authenticity himself. 

He patted his pouch, and if Ella had to guess, he was probably low on ammo himself. So they really didn’t have much choice. 

“Do you have pesetas?” She asked him, hoping the answer was yes. 

“Yeah, I brought some along just in case. It’s not much though.” He answered, before seeming to come to a decision. 

“How much for ammo?” And with that, Leon and the merchant traded some items. The bullets seemed just as good as any, nothing visibly wrong with them, and he also bought some more herbs. Once he had used up the money he had, he took a step back from the table, turning to hand Ella her share of the ammo. She thanked him, reloading her gun and putting the rest in her pocket. There were more than her pocket could handle, however, and she sighed, not sure keeping them there was going to work. 

“Here, why don’t you have these, on the house.” She turned to the merchant, seeing he was holding out two items, her eyes widening when she realized what they were. 

A combat knife, a pouch and a holster! 

“Wait, really?!” She asked as she stepped forward, looking up at him. Why would he just give these to her? 

“Consider it an apology for not helping you out before.” He answered, Ella feeling her heart twist lightly. He meant while she was barely surviving alone in the woods. . .which meant he knew she was out there. Who was he? “Plus, I like you. You’re a fighter.” He added, the words bringing her a small sense of pride, though she didn’t know if she agreed with him.

She decided not to question it, thanking him as she took the items from his hand. She attached the pouch and holster to her hip, putting all her ammo  and her gun in them, and replaced the kitchen knife with the much better combat knife. Though, she didn’t know what to do with the old rusty knife now.

“Did I forget to mention I also buy just about anything?” The merchant spoke up, Ella looking at him and seeing he was glancing at the knife. 

“You want this old thing?” She questioned, not understanding why he would want it. It was deteriorating fast and really not all that sharp. 

“Trust me, I can find a use for it.” He assured her, and she shrugged, before handing it to him. In return, he handed her 200 pesetas, Ella smiling as the coins jingled in her hands. 

“Thanks.” She put the coins into her pouch, feeling much better about the merchant, despite how strange he was. She still had questions, but she decided to let them go, just being appreciative of his help. 

“Come back anytime.” He responded with a wink, and Ella nodded, before turning back to Leon, who had been watching the interaction patiently. 

“I got my own knife now.” She grinned, clearly excited, and Leon’s lips pulled into a small half smile, catching her slightly by surprise. It looked nice on him, and she found herself wishing he would do it more often.

“I see that. Are you ready to go?” Ella nodded, making her way over to him as he turned towards the next direction they would need to go.  

“Oh, I forgot to mention,” The two stopped, turning back to the merchant. “The cult has some pretty nice treasures lying around, and I’ll pay a pretty penny for those, so keep an eye out will ya?” Oh, that was good to know. That would definitely help them keep their items stocked up. 

“Alright, we will. Thanks Merchant!” She waved goodbye, before she and Leon headed up the path. There was a large door right beside them, but it was clearly locked and they could see they would need some kind of key with a bird engraving on it, so they went down the path to the right. 

Ella knew they’d get a chance to see the Merchant again assuming he was still in the same spot when and if they came back to the locked gate, but she hoped she would see him again after that. Not just because of the items he offered, but also because he made her laugh and feel a little less shitty. 

xXx

It didn’t take them long at all to come across the largest village they had seen thus far, having multiple houses and bridges that stretched across cliffs between the mountains. Ella sighed, looking at Leon. 

“We’re not splitting up.” She wasn’t dealing with losing him again, as what happened before had been much too close for comfort. “And surprisingly, it’s not my fault that that’s not a good idea anymore.” She pointed out with a teasing grin, Leon rolling his eyes. 

“Yeah yeah, let’s go.” She chuckled, but didn’t argue as they readied themselves to deal with the many villagers that awaited them down below. xXx She pulled the combat knife out of the villagers head, wiping the blade off on the clothes. If she was clumsy with the kitchen knives before, she was even more so now, Ella sighing as she searched the pockets of the villagers. She had found quite a few pesetas from the villagers they had taken care of, making her excited for the next meeting with the merchant. 

“You’re going to have to get better with that knife. You almost got hurt.” Leon pointed out as he walked up to her, reloading his gun. 

“Yes, thank you. I’m aware, Leon. But unless you want to take some time to teach me, then it might be a minute before I get the hang of it.” She wasn’t used to the feel of the thicker handle, nor the weight of the blade, but she was getting there. It might just take a little time.

“Here, you’re handling it wrong.” Leon holstered his gun as he grabbed his own knife, showing her the proper way to handle it. She hadn’t been expecting an actual lesson, but she wasn’t about to complain or question it, grabbing her knife quickly and mimicking the way he held his own. 

For about five minutes, Leon showed her the proper ways to handle the knife, as well as the best ways to slash and stab. It was all condensed for time, but Ella absorbed as much information as she could. She wasn’t going to be an expert any time soon, but maybe now she could put more power and purpose behind her knife attacks instead of just hoping for the best with the limited knowledge she had. 

“Alright, I think I got it.” She breathed, going over what he taught her over and over again to ingrain it into her memory. “Thanks.” She hadn’t expected him to take time to do that when she knew they didn’t have much of it. He had also been patient with her, waiting for her to get the movement right and not showing annoyance when she asked him to show her again. 

“You getting hurt will slow us down more than a short knife lesson.” He explained as he put his knife away, and she supposed he was right. However; if Ella got hurt enough to where she would slow him down, she wasn’t planning on sticking around. She meant it when she said she wouldn’t get in his way. She debated telling him that, but decided against it. She had a feeling it wouldn’t go over well anyway.  

They made their way into a locked house, Ella becoming mildly impressed when Leon kicked in the wooden door that had been locked with a rusted and old deadbolt. He definitely put those muscles to good use, that was for sure. 

The key ended up being on the roof, and once Leon grabbed it, they wasted no time in beginning the walk back. 

However, just as they were about to leave the village, Ella felt a chill down her spine, the feeling of someone watching her making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. 

She turned quickly, her eyes surveying the area before they landed on someone on the other side of the village. 

Her blood ran cold, her eyes widening in shock as fear washed over her like ice water. 

It was him. 

He was just standing there on a rock, staring at her, his face hidden by the hood of his robe.

Even so, she could never forget the gold necklace with a seemingly glowing red gem he wore,, the memory of it shining in the moonlight as the ax was brought down on Alice’s neck forever ingrained into her mind. She could never forget the decorations that lined his robe, signifying his higher status compared to the others around him, nor the chilling grin he wore on his lips as he seemed to relish in the murder of her friends.  Ella couldn’t hear Leon calling her name over the blood rushing in her ears, and as she watched the man turn and begin to walk off into the distance, her fear was suddenly replaced with blood boiling rage as she came back to herself. 

She didn’t know if the past few hours of taking down enemies had bolstered her confidence tenfold, but she suddenly found herself running back into the village, her mind on nothing but tracking that man down and ending his life for what he did to her friends- for what he did to Alice. 

She wasn’t helpless anymore. He couldn’t take her by surprise. She had the advantage now, when he was alone, and in that moment, it felt as though nothing could stop her from going after him. 

That was until a strong arm wrapped around her waist, bringing her off her feet and forcing her to a halt as Leon held her to his chest.

“Ella, stop!” Leon shouted with a strained voice as she fought his grip. 

“Put me down! I have to go after him!” She growled angrily, pissed at the man for stopping her when this had nothing to do with him. 

In a quick movement, Leon turned, setting her down like she had asked. However, they were on one of the wooden bridges, and he grabbed both of the ropes, blocking her way. 

“Calm down. Who are you talking about?” He demanded, and Ella, who had been looking past him the entire time, finally looked at him.

“Him! You didn’t see him!? He was standing right there!” She pointed to the rock on the far side of the village, and Leon turned, but there was nothing there, and he clearly hadn’t seen him before, his eyes holding confusion as he looked back to her. 

“What? You don’t believe me?” Her voice was accusatory as her anger built at him. He probably got away, and it was Leon’s fault. If he hadn’t stopped her, then she could have caught up to him, and made him pay for what he had done. Maybe then, the fear and guilt that had cemented itself within her would disappear. 

“I believe you.” He assured in a firm voice, his tone almost a warning for her to calm down. “But there’s no way to that rock, Ella. It’s not connected to the village.” Ella stopped, her brows furrowing. She moved forward, looking behind him as she had to see for herself if he was telling the truth, and he was. There was no way to that rock. There had never been a way for Ella to reach him.

The anger washed away, being replaced by sorrow and pain as the emotions she had been shoving away for days crashed into her. She bit down on her lip hard enough to draw blood, and she turned away from Leon, trying desperately to reign them in as she walked off the bridge. 

She only made it a step off the wood before she fell to her knees, bringing a hand to her face to cover her eyes as tears fell down her cheeks. 

She had been forcing herself not to think about it. She had been pushing the memories to the deepest corners of her consciousness as she focused on trying to survive. It had been easier to do, when her exhausted mind was on how hungry or thirsty she was. It had even been easy to do when she was focused on helping Leon with his mission. She had used his mission to forget what she had gone through- Her self-preservation instincts’ last ditch effort to keep her going when she was so close to giving up. 

After all, what better reason is there to keep moving forward than to find a purpose beyond yourself in all this madness?

However, the sight of that man had forced the traumatic memories to the forefront of her mind against her will, and Ella needed a moment to recover. Just a moment. Thankfully, Leon knew not to say anything more, staying silent and giving her time with no complaints. This forced him to remember that Ella was just a civilian. One who had gone through something terrible very recently. 

It was easy to forget with how she handled herself. Headstrong and cracking jokes with a smile. Teasing him and taking down the infected left and right without a single complaint. He admired her, gaining a newfound respect for her, because he knew what she was going through, and he knew how hard it was to do all of that. 

Ella wiped her eyes after a minute, taking a deep breath as she once again pushed all the memories and emotions away. Being able to let out just a little bit of what she had been holding in, and the reminder she gave herself that they didn’t have time for this, made it easier to do.

She heard the slightest bit of movement, looking up and seeing a gloved hand being held out to her. When had Leon gotten in front of her? Had she been that distracted? 

She didn’t care to question it further, her eyes meeting his, Ella seeing only understanding in them. 

She had been prepared to apologize, but she knew then, that she didn’t have to. There was no judgment or annoyance, or even pity, in his gaze. If anything, there was respect, which was something she hadn’t expected. 

It was then she knew for certain that Leon had been through something similar before. Maybe even something worse. 

She took his hand, letting him help her up as she gave him a nod of thanks. He gave her a half smile in return, but didn’t say anything more, which she greatly appreciated. She didn’t want to talk about it. Not yet. Not while it was still fresh. He seemed to know that already though, turning and heading back towards the exit of the village. 

She watched him with a newfound respect of her own, and after a moment of feeling the breeze on her face dry the remaining wetness on her cheeks, she followed after him. 

[sleepis4theweak]

FLASHBACK AU QUESTIONS, YOU SAY? FLASHBACK AU QUESTIONS YOU SHALL RECEIVE (Or at least somewhat related to the au questions...)!!

How did you originally come up with the story? Have you planned it out? Have you made any changes since you first thought of it?

What's your fav Mikey dynamic? Do you think it shows in the comic? My personal fav is PB & J duo :>>

Who's your least favorite character in the comic to draw?

Who's your favorite character to draw?

Where did Madame Bishop (I forgot her name- she had one didn't she?..was it Joanne? MAN I HAVE AMNESIA) get that scar from?

IS... IS MIKEY GONNA STAY DEAD...? 😰

Can we have a sneak peek by any chance? :3

What do you think Madame Bishop (...yeah might be Joanne...) would have been like in the doomed timeline?

ALRIGHT THAT'S ALL I CAN THINK OF, I'LL LEAVE YOU OFF WITH A PUN : Have you heard of the theory that no two people see color the same? I guess that would mean color is just a pigment of our imagination 🤔

YAYYAYAYAYYA THANK YOU I GOT VERY EXCITED TO ANSWER THESE YAY!

ANYWHO LONG ANSWERS BUT:

1- This was honestly supposed to be a two part comic. The entire au is based off of experiences I have had (minus the whole dying part of course) with my cousins and or brother. The first part was about Donnie and Mikey- and Mikey having the puppy dog eyes that Donnie couldn't do. That was about my cousin! It was supposed to just be like oh look Mikey can do puppy eyes. And then I saw something about how kids that struggle with understanding emotions can practice expressions in the mirror sometimes* and was like haha I should add this since it's actually something I used to do as well! THEN I wrote the line about him wanting to be the youngest and I mean... my brain went straight to "now what if Mikey dies"...

I didn't expect people to like it as much as they did tbh... so when people started to really comment on it I was like okay I should bring Mikey back to life... But then it turned into a whole au...

It's almost entirely planned out now! And most comics are still based off of stories of things that have happened with my cousins or brother! (Like how I smashed my cousins legos because I was angry at him.... its a long story lol).

*(It can also be something that kids with autism do... and someone actually pointed it out! ->)

-----------

2- Thats a really hard one... I think my fav has to do with the situation I guess? Or how I'm feeling? But Donnie and Mikey are probably my favorite overall! But only by a teensy tiny bit.

Raph and Mikey are my favorite angst wise, and the ones I can relate to the most. Leo and Mikey are really fun, and I really like using it to explore responsibility.

I think it does show in the comic! I mean I went straight to the PB & J duo- and then with Leo and Mikey I really explored responsibility. With Raph and Mikey it was shorter, but it was a lot more emotional for me personally. And right now Raph and Mikey are really getting the spotlight. Though Leo and Mikey are the main ones in the next update! :)

-----

3- DONNIE. OMFG DONNIE IS SO RECTANGULAR AND ITS TERRIBLE. ITS WHY HE'S HANGING HALF IN HALF OUT OF A LOT OF FRAMES BECAUSE I HATE DRAWING HIM. I've definitely gotten better at him tho! Example for u ->

-----

4- I think Leo is the easiest to draw, with Mikey coming in second! My favorite to draw though is definitely Mikey. I like his mask tails :) Also he's my favorite in general hehehe

-----

5- LMAO I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THE NAME JOANNE CAME FROM IM LAUGHING SO HARD- THATS HER CANNON NAME NOW. ITS CANNON HER NAME IS DR. JOANNE BISHOP.

She got that scar from an experiment! Idk which one... but she was experimenting on something and it freaked and scratched her! :3

It isn't too important to the story, but it may add some depth/explanation to some of her reactions later on.

-----

6- ... lemme tell you, I have gotten this ask so many times... BUT CONGRATS I WONT DELETE THE ASK THIS TIME JUST FOR YOU <3

Usually I answer the ask, wait until I'm sure the person sending it saw my response and delete it to keep the mystery alive hehe... but I won't delete this one.

No. Mikey is not gonna stay dead. I mentioned it in the first one, but the comic was supposed to end with him maybe dead maybe not... but since the au is continuing... I don't like it when characters die :( Its sad so he was never gonna be actually dead. So yes, he will come back! Its just gonna take a bit...

------

7- YOU MAY! I was considering which spoiler to give you... but I've decided to give you a big spoiler... just cropped. :) Because I'm evil like that :))

-----

8- Hmmm.... idk to be honest, I haven't thought about it... I think she would be just... even crazier. Like batshit insane.

-----

THAT PUN MADE ME LAUGH SO HARD- THANK YOU FOR THAT AND THANK YOU FOR THIS ASK IT MADE MY DAY <3

[the-writer1988]

I bring questions for the ask game... just a few:

4, 7, 10, 12, 16, 20, 26, 39, 42, 43, 76 (for BTK)

Just a few....

Thank you so much for the ask!

4. Where do you find inspiration for new ideas?

I find inspiration from watching new things, or reading theories or posts and it makes my brain go into overdrive. For example, my latest fic idea was partially inspired by the 'Splitting Heirs' fanfic by @phantoms-lair and @providentially-demonic

7. How do you choose which POV to write from?

It really depends on the scene. I do tend to veer towards Eugene's POV in my Tangled fanfiction because most of my fics revolve around him. But it does also depend on the scene and whether that POV fits. I tend to think about what I want from the scene before I start writing.

10. Cltr+f "blinks" on your WIP & copy paste the first sentence/paragraph that comes up

Blinking, Eugene was slow to respond. “Uh… no problem, Your Majesty. Turnabout is fair play, I guess.”

I'm not going to say which WIP this is XD

12. How does receiving or not receiving feedback/support impact you?

Feedback is important to me. Though I do write for myself, I have always liked to receive feedback as it helps to keep my motivated, especially for very long projects. In my younger years, I did find it difficult to continue writing fics where I did not get much feedback or support but I am a lot more chill about it nowadays. It will always make me smile when a new comment is left.

16. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them?

Too many lol!

Erm, ok, so one, is called: The Lost Prince. This fic follows the premise of Gothel kidnapping Eugene and raising him in the Tower instead. It is a twist of Tangled.

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

A common theme that does appear in my fic is whump. Hurt of my favourite characters. And the comfort that follows. Poor Eugene gets too much attention from me.

Or from other fandoms: Tony Stark, Sirius Black, Aragorn, and Obi-Wan Kenobi over the years I've been writing fanfiction.

26. Which of your fics would you call your wildest ride?

Hmm, I think my wildest ride one would have to be what I am currently writing: Between the Kisses. Though we have a rough guide to what we want to cover, it has evolved and developed and is coming out very different to what we had originally intended when @tangledbea and I first embarked on this mega project. I am enjoying every minute of it!

39. Share a snippet from a WIP

From The Lost Prince AU

The King had nearly lost his wife in childbirth and had - somehow - used the power within the Dark Kingdom to save her. It was rumoured that the newborn Prince had been born with striking cyan hair and eyes which had faded naturally to brown. 

If the baby Prince had somehow absorbed this power perhaps this was how Gothel could bring it to the Sundrop to amplify its power? 

42. What’s the last fic you read? Do you recommend it?

Return to Me by ArcticPersephone. And, YES, I recommend it! It is a rewrite of S3 with one big change and I am honestly astounded by this fic. The character development and the plot always leaves me guessing and I would recommend this fic. It has everything for everyone, no matter who your favourite character is!

Return to Me - Chapter 1 - ArcticPersephone - Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon) [Archive of Our Own]

43. Do you take a sadistic joy in whumping your characters, or are you more the "If you hurt them I would kill everyone and then myself" kind of person?

Erm. I would probably say yes in that I do take joy in whumping my characters but I enjoy the comfort that comes after as well.

76. Did you have any ideas that didn’t make the final cut of BTK?

That is a rather difficult question to answer. At present there is potentially future scenes that were conceived of at the start of the project that won't make it in as plans have changed. But I can't think of anything specific that hasn't made it into the current chapters posted so far. :)

[hauntedpotat]

I N T R O P O S T

hi 👋

My name is hauntedpotat, you can call me something related to that or Lyss! I am an AAA battery (aromantic, asexual, agender, for those who dont know), and my pronouns are xe/they/he, but I'm pretty much good with anything except she/her 👍

I am a minor, no creepy or nsfw stuff please

Shitty people FUCK OFF (you know EXACTLY who you are, and no I will not debate with you on if I should exist or not. Leave me alone. Thanks!)

Asks are cool!! Talk to Me (if you want)

I probably have adhd, idk but I'm most likely neurodivergent

I live in the US and like to make art! This blog is mainly OC and story art, art challenges, and general tumblr interactions. I have a fandom sideblog @themostuselesspotato where I post, you guessed it, fandom stuff (not specifying here, there are far to many). Outside of drawing, I also enjoy reading and most crafts.

I am currently in the process of writing/illustrating a webcomic that I plan to start releasing on webtoon this summer! The characters that I draw here will be part of it :)

I also have a pinterest, instagram (which I barely use), youtube, and twitch (I haven't done anything with the last two yet, but I plan to in the future). You can find all of this at gpdsocials.carrd.co if you're interested

Adding a cut here, important stuff is above, spewing about my life is below (lol)

I am currently going to school for graphic design, so I know how to and frequently use Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, and Primere Pro both in and out of school. My current profile picture was made on Illustrator for an ongoing branding unit in one of my classes. I also learned how to design, cut, and press T-shirts.

On the topic of school, I also participate in band! I did summer marching band last year, and hopefully will continue to do so until I graduate. I am a percussionist, and my favorite instruments to play are bass drum, vibraphone, and this one specific marimba we have in class (no seriously, I could rant about how nice it sounds for HOURS). During marching band, I played second bass drum.

I just finished doing the Fishuary art challenge!! I plan to do MerMay and Goretober as well (yall BETTER hold me to that, I still haven't finished last year's Goretober).

Random facts about me! Idk

I can kick someone of adult height in the face if I want to (for some reason I can just kick really high)

When I was in 3rd grade I handwrote a two page informational essay about mosquitoes from memory in an hour

I have a cat! Her name is Stormy, she's 3 years old :) lmk if yall want to see pictures of her, I've got so many pictures

The only video game I've played is minecraft on a kindle fire that I won from selling girl scout cookies at the age of ten. This shitty thing can support like one world at a time and STILL crashes

Once I smashed my knee between a boat and dock at 8am bc I was running off of hot cocoa and 5 hours of sleep and thought my knee was a good cushion for the boat that was coming in at the wrong angle. Don't do that!! Hot cocoa induced decision making is bad! And boats are still very heavy even if they're very slow!!

Idk what else to write here. I'm sure I will continue to update this post, so feel free to ask me questions in my asks or in the replies

Bye! 👋

[anyablackwood]

Author Ask Tag

Thanks so much to @anoelleart for the tag!

For this post, as I have multiple WIPs, I’ll be focusing mostly on Asteria Heights when answering these questions, though some will address all of my WIPs in general. 

1. What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war), and why did you choose it?

I don’t tend to go for “main lessons”, if that makes sense. At least not on purpose. Stories that are just allegories for one singular moral or meaning usually feel somewhat heavy-handed to me. For the most part, I tend to have several smaller themes/lessons included as the story goes along. For example, characters being kind without it being the main moral, but still showing the impact of that kindness, or having queer or POC characters just exist without it being the “point”, or situations highlighting the problems with classism, etc.

 For Asteria Heights, stuff like perseverance, friendship, and I guess some elements of classism? Are prevalent throughout it. But none of these are meant to be the “ultimate lesson” of the story.

2. What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding (like real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites, etc.)?

In general, a bit of everything! If I see something or come up with something that I think is super cool, I usually add it! I get a bit more careful when it comes to things like real cultures though, for obvious reasons. In that regard, I usually base things off of cultures I’m already familiar with, though I try not to limit myself. 

If I include things from other cultures, I do my best to research to make sure the portrayal isn’t offensive or something (it’s also important to make sure that the thing I’m taking is something I’m actually allowed to use; some rituals/ceremonies/etc. Are considered closed practices; as in, they don’t really care how or why you want to use it, they don’t want you messing with it. In which case, you just gotta leave it alone. End PSA, lol.)

I also mix and match. So sometimes I’ll take animals and use that as an inspiration for a culture/species. For example, I found out how bees make their queens (fascinating stuff!), and used that as how vampires select their monarchs. (I’ll make a post on that one soon). 

3. What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, and help readers grow as a person?

My MC for Asteria Heights (Meg) wants to solve her neighbor’s murder. As a writer, it’s less about that and more about the fact that Meg is biracial and queer like me, and I wanted more characters out there that I and others can see ourselves in. 

Many of my other characters in other WIPs are much the same. For Katsuko Gaiden, I wanted more sapphic stories (and sapphics in general), and more stories about/involving my culture. For another WIP I’m working on, there’s also elements of cultural heritage, as well as themes around grief and mental health, while the main character focuses more on revenge and survival. It would be great if it could inspire others, or help them grow, but mostly I want them to feel seen.

4. How many chapters is your story going to have?

My longest WIPs will be full novel-length. I haven’t planned it all out yet, but I’m thinking at least 20, lol. 

5. Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

I do both, actually! I post my fanfiction on AO3, but my original content (such as Asteria Heights) hasn’t been posted anywhere (except for snippets here). I don’t really know where I’ll post them. The only places I know (for free) are here and AO3 or FictionPress, and I don’t know if I’m interested in going that route. Trad pub and self-pub (for money) also seem incredibly daunting in their own ways, too, so I’m really not sure lol. I’m open to suggestions, though! 

6. When and why did you start writing?

I was in the third grade! Well, the summer before it. Interestingly enough, I didn’t have any interest in writing until I heard that both of my sisters were planning on writing stories-- specifically, that they were planning on writing together (a story of their own each, and then a crossover together). Wanting to not be left out, I immediately got to work!

But it didn’t really take off for me until the fourth grade, when I’d read the Percy Jackson series. Until then, while I did enjoy reading, it wasn’t really my thing. My obsession with the series turned me into an avid reader, and then, into a writer. Because I wanted to make a story that excited others the way the Percy Jackson series excited me. My sisters still joke about it, especially since neither of them are really invested in writing anymore, lol. 

7. Do you have any words of engagement for fellow writers of Writeblr? What other writers on Tumblr do you follow?

I don’t really feel like I’m in the position to be giving good writing advice, but I guess I’d say “write what you want to read”, because honestly as cliche as it is, I’ve learned that it’s truly the one piece of writing advice I’ve gotten that has pretty much 0 downsides lol. 

I’m always happy to make more writeblr friends! I follow pretty much only writeblrs, so that’d be a pretty long list. 

Tagging (no pressure!): @forthesanityofsome, @adorably-awesome, @new-royston-cursebreakers

[pansexualkiba]

@panda-monium64 you've opened the floodgates. Get ready for some shit.

PART TWO OF A SERIES. I'LL HAVE A MASTERPOST UP LATER.

TOUHOU SEISONOMOTO ~ GARDEN OF ETERNITY

I'll give you three guesses what the focal point of this one is.

Fun fact! As originally planned, this story would not only be happening SIMULTANEOUSLY to WDI, but also, for some reason, to Marine Benefit, a fangame I have no affiliation with due to being in MIDDLE SCHOOL when it was released. Because it was "developed" directly after WDI, but the characters were essentially revealed at the same time, I just sorta now place them as happening consecutively.

The plot: A giant fucking walled garden has appeared along the edges of the border, somewhere between the Sanzu and the Netherworld (so not directly beneath it). Nothing has happened yet, but people are curious and want to know what's in this weird garden. This has a bit of a Subterranean Animism type thing where the subshot you pick gives you dialogue with a second character whose "faction" wants you to investigate.

Because the theme is the garden, all of the important characters are essentially plant youkai. Of course, there's a bit of cringe here and there since they were also made in middle school. Let's start here.

ENCHOU TSUTA Creeping Plant of Antiquity Species: Ivy Youkai Ability: Capable of extending her limbs The guard of the Garden of Eternity. Due to her ability and stalwart personality, she was given the position of gatekeeper by the garden's boss. She, like many residents of the garden, awoke as youkai after many years of unstopped growth. As such, she can be considered the progenitor of all vine-like plants. Unfortunately, none of this meant anything to the protagonist's strength. She was quickly defeated in short order.

I actually genuinely like this girl? Idk what it is. The cool name, the fact that I made her hair decoration be a ribbon that looks like poison ivy leaves... She's got it all. The fact that I made her some random guard that gets Got in Stage 1 is more or less because I was a real PC-98 truther back then and I wanted to call back to Mystic Square, where the exact same thing happened to Sara. Anyways, now that we have canonical vine bullets, it's a lot easier for me to imagine how Enchou's attacks would actually look.

KOURIKO TANPOPO Snow Flower in July Species: Dandelion Youkai Ability: Capable of causing snowfall A Western-style dandelion youkai. She had desired to see snow right before she had awoken as a youkai. As such, she awakened a snow-bringing power when she awoke. She's completely unaware this is her doing, however, and she just wants to dance around in the unseasonable blizzard. Despite representing both flowering and seeding forms of the dandelion at the same time, she's still quite weak. As such, her threat level as an invasive species really isn't that high. As a side note, she's begun a lucrative business selling "dandelion tea" blends.

This was my favorite back in the day (lol). She's just a little guy, your honor. A little birthday girl. That last name, tho... Yikes. You'll soon find every single girl in this section is named after their plant unless further pointed out. This ended up being the naming convention for the Beast Realm Matriarchs in canon, so, uh... Whoops? Also, I think she reappears in the phantasmagoria-type. (Why did I put dandelion tea in quotes... It is tea. Why am I suspicious of this?)

MIRYOKU MOUSENGOKE Insectivorous Flower Species: Sundew Youkai Ability: Manipulation of attraction A youkai of a carnivorous flower. Her personality is to draw in insects before eating them whole. As such, she's rather like a fisherwoman. Her ability refers to not only her ability to spew insect-attracting pheromones, but also gravitational and electromagnetic attraction as well. As such, she's actually rather dangerous, despite her rather placid nature. She attacked the protagonist because she accidentally thought they were prey. It's sort of a parable of biting off more than you can chew, in that regard.

Another girl that tries to eat the protag... What was going on back then. Anyways, this girl is like, HELLA dangerous. I like how like, the edgy bits came in WDI in the latter half, but this chick is just here as THE edgy bitch in GoE. Fun fact, this girl did some cocomelon shit to me so bad that I made one of my personal e-mails one of her Spell Cards despite having NO REASON to do that. That's the power of carnivorous plants, I guess.

FUKU INABA Sake-Drunk Rabbit Species: Rabbit Ability: Capable of controlling alcohol levels A subordinate of Tewi Inaba. She was sent to investigate the garden, but was caught by Miryoku, along with a couple other youkai. Thanks to the protagonist, they were all freed, but Fuku needs to finish her investigation. With that, she attacked. -- INOE HIGASHIOKA Spice-Laden Tengu Species: White wolf Tengu Ability: Capable of tripling an object A white wolf tengu sent as a scout. Acting under orders from Lord Tenma himself, she entered the garden and was captured for food. Luckily, the protagonists freed her, so she was free to continue her scouting mission. She attacks Reimu out of a misplaced annoyance for Aya. Her ability does not extend to living things, but it does extend to gases, so she's extremely good at smokescreens. -- SANMI FUKUMURA Red-Meat Human Species: Human Ability: Capable of using magic stones A human from the outside world. She found herself wandering into Gensokyo sometime during the Foreign Youkai Incident. She is currently employed at the Scarlet Devil Manor as an assistant to Patchouli. She was sent to look into the garden by Remilia, but she was caught easily. She was just on her was out when she was attacked. -- SUIKIN TAKISHIMA Mineral-Rich Kappa Species: Kappa Ability: Capable of manipulating ores A scout sent by the kappa. She got into the garden just fine, but was captured by Miryoku. Luckily, the protagonist set her and a couple other inhabitants free. As thanks, Suikin offered to take over the investigation, but was promptly shot down.

The stage 4 midboss squad!!! Which one you face is dependent on who you have as your subshot. Their main purpose is to show that a good chunk of people have their eyes on the garden, and also to have jokes in their titles about how they were almost fucking eaten alive. I think of these four, Sanmi was the one that my friend liked the most? Very odd, that, but what can you do. I guess that's the power of the SDM.

DONNA BELLA Flower of Cassandra Species: Nightshade Youkai Ability: Capable of seeing the future A nightshade youkai that can foresee future events. She did, indeed, foresee that the garden would arrive, and indeed, foresaw not only the protagonist's arrival, but also her own defeat. The problem is that no one believes her visions. She's learned a little trick, however: if she phrases her visions just right, people will still believe them. The way to do this is to phrase her visions as the opposite of what will actually happen, so that people believe the contrary, and therefore the real vision. With that in mind, she set off to actively guide the protagonist to the main boss of the garden, as their aimless rampaging through the area would do no good to anyone. Not that anyone would believe her if she gave her real reason. Later, she showed up to help lead the protagonist to Tsukiko, to minimize property damage first and foremost.

THIS NAME........ THIS NAAAAAME......... BELLADONNA. DONNA BELLA. I mitigated my embarrassment at the time by making her theme title Italian... My little ass thought I was being SOOO CLEVER... Anyways this is a very fun weird inversion of Sagume's powers - Sagume actively cannot tell the truth, because the inverse of that will happen. Meanwhile, Donna's ability means that people won't believe her visions, so she lies so people believe the opposite. I just thought that was very funny. It's also pure luck they're both Stage 4 bosses - remember, I made this batch in middle school. Ten Desires was the hot new thing back then.

KUSURI KESHI Bitter Medicine Species: Poppy Youkai Ability: Capable of causing hallucinations The youkai of an opium poppy. She is the boss of all the poppies in the garden, especially in her field. She can put humans to sleep if she has enough of her subordinates working in tandem. However, they're all too laid-back and disorganized for this formation to ever actually work. Her ability lets her create the illusion of shifting shapes, but like all hallucinations, this vanishes when you reach for it. She actually has no relation to the overall incident, but she happened to be in the way of the protagonists.

Remember when I said I was an edgy middle schooler? My stupid little ass went "yeah let's put DRUGS in Touhou". Not as bad as it could have been, really? I sorta also mixed in the poppy field from The Wizard of Oz into this girl as well. I think it's sorta funny that I pointed out that she just has literal no fucking relationship to anyone in the hierarchy of the Garden, she's just sorta Just A Guy. Normally the unrelated mooks are stage 1 fodder.

SHIGAI HIGANBANA Necro-Romantic Corpse Flower Species: Rafflesia Youkai Ability: Capable of manipulating corpses The youkai of a rafflesia plant. Long ago, the Garden of Eternity was watched over by two humans. However, they were given knowledge, and upon defying their guardian's wishes, were exiled from the Garden. The garden, no longer watched over or guarded, soon grew untamed. Eventually, youkai began to spring forth from the plants. The immediate question was this: who was to take charge? Naturally, many strong youkai put forward themselves, but before any could act, a voice rang out. "It is only natural that I, the oldest of you all, should lead." The smell of rotting flesh filled the air, and Shigai Higanbana became known. Though centuries passed and the winds and animals carried away seeds to spread their descendants, the Garden had yet to be rediscovered by man. It got to the point where people began to wonder if there even was such a place. Thus, the Garden was moved to Gensokyo by complete accident, shocking everyone with its massive size. "Perhaps it moved to save itself." That is what Shigai thought to herself, getting ready to appear to her subordinates to calm them. That's when the protagonist arrived.

I don't think I need to explain what this fucking plot is about. I was like "oh this is SUCH a good plot twist" and as of now it's like. Yeah this could probably happen nowadays. But it seems TOO obvious. Also this was before I knew about The Last Comer so me being like "OMG....... Touhou Christianity....." but I also didn't want to just make Jesus, yknow? Anyways Shigai Higanbana is such a cool bitch. Her design has a little crown and she has rafflesia patterns on her skirt. She's leading the Garden and she has a Spellcard called "Higanbana's Monster". I love her so much. She's exactly the type of edge I'm not embarrassed about I WISH I could be this creative about OCs again.

TSUKIKO TORIKABUTO Poison Flower of the Moon Species: Monkshood Youkai Ability: Capable of manipulating moonlight A youkai of an aconite bloom. She has a nocturnal lifestyle, making her rather untrustworthy to the other, more sun-loving inhabitants of the garden. However, using her power, she can make moonlight stronger than its base form, sunlight. Despite the distrust of the other plants, she does care for everyone, and thus she leads a night patrol of which she is the only guard. Like Shigai and Donna, she actually knows what the garden's original name was, but she finds it unnecessary knowledge at this point. "Events in the past are in the past." Her power to control moonlight sent warning signs to the Lunar Rabbits currently living in Gensokyo, so they alerted the protagonists. And that is how she found her next guard shift under attack.

Technically, Tsukiko could be considered Enchou's direct superior. Make of that what you will. Anyways, what kind of fucking simplistic-ass name is Tsukiko? Love it when all these girls from like, the Fertile Crescent or whatever have Japanese names for some inexplicable reason. I think I get better at this later? Tsukiko really is just some bitch and I love her for it, but she's really just sorta here, isn't she. I ALSO love how I implied that literally only three people know the name of the Garden, but the only one who deems it relevant information is the leader of the whole place, and she never tells any of the inhabitants anyways. To be fair, they may not be curious in the first place.

If I had to place the Garden's inhabitants on a scale, I'd say they're on the Medicine Melancholy level of complete non-interference. As long as no one goes into the Garden, they're just completely unbothered about the whole thing. The only exception, I'd say, is Kouriko, who goes on to start selling tea blends to the Human Village. I don't know what she needs the money for, but it really does seem you can just sorta, sell whatever you want and no one will stop you. A fun fact about the Garden is that the closer you get to the side of the wall near the Barrier, the denser the forest gets until it's just a jungle devoid of light. I don't know where Shigai's getting the corpses for her attacks, but she IS near the Sanzu, geographically. Maybe that has something to do with it?

Anyways, in a few weeks' time, the most important Incident in this series will take place. And it all starts... With a meteor shower.

[eskawrites]

What about 3, 13, and 22 for the writers asks? :]

you got it! :)

3. What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written?

to no one's surprise, it's probably the celebrity fake dating au lol

but! i'll also throw in a curveball and say but your hand's wet with sweat, and your head needs a rest just bc i love love loved exploring robin in that fic, and it set up a lot of what i wanted to do with thriving in the apocalypse

13. How much planning do you do before writing?

umm depends on what you categorize as planning vs writing lol. i outline pretty heavily before i start writing, but my outlines can include some pretty fleshed out scenes--some of which only need very minimal changes once i actually write them out

in general though, i usually have an outline of the main beats of the story as well as character's mindsets, and any other important points or themes or whatever. and i'll almost always have at least a few scenes sketched out and put into a rough chronological order

22. Do you know how your fic will end before you start writing?

for multichapters, pretty much always (the endings for Raise Dead and the cfdau were basically fully written before i really started the fic). for one-shots it depends. i usually don't have a specific scene in mind, but i know what the, like, emotional resolution should be. i'll usually have the ending of the last important conversation or like a final choice sort of thing planned out, and then i'll leave the actual closing scene for future eska to struggle with when she gets there

(so like, for example, in the nancy teaches robin to swim fic of thriving in the apocalypse, i knew that the last Important Thing they did would be sit on the beach and talk, and that Nancy would admit she was glad Robin came with her, and Robin would not quite open up to her, but it would feel like progress in their relationship anyway. i did not know they would go back to the water and try swimming again until i was writing that scene, because as nice and symbolic as that moment ended up being, it really is just a nice closing shot with very little plot importance. so i guess that means i do kind of plan out the ending, just not in as much detail as i would for longer fics lol)

thank you!

fic writer asks

[notproofread]

so i finished a court of wings an ruin pt.2

let us talk about the men... even though i don't really want to talk about them. for the most part they really disappointed me lol

Tamlin

tamlin is.... trying to be better (at least in the beginning) i guess but there will be no way that he will actually heal & get to move on if not only feyre but lucien as well betray him, use him, destroy him & his court

I was very much interested to see where the story leads him though I had no actual hopes for him to get a redemption arc (which he deserves, I stand by that point argue with the wall)

then he was not trying to do better anymore but now I think he is fully leaning into the villain role which FINALLY gives him the edge that has been missing

because now i see and feel that he has turned his back to prythian because he has really lost EVERYTHING that had importance to him (feyre, lucien, his court, ...). now we can make a good villain out of him, you know?

....

.......

..........

.............

make up your mind tamlin god fucking damn it, im getting tired of your back and forth DO YOU WANT TO SEE THE WOLRD BURN OR DO YOU NOT YOU ARE WORSE THAN ME AND I AM A SUN LIBRA MOON GEMINI

also sorry but how tf did he survive until the end my mans should have died or been killed on so many occasions bruh

Lucien

see this is what I was hoping for after the first and second book, lucien is so cool & such an interesting character especially considering his (still kinda unexplored) backstory

•so WHY is his ONLY character trait now elain??? please there is so much more to him, give me literally anything else

the descriptions of him fitting into the surroundings of the autumn court are so amazing though I am literally in love

i think its cool how he gets to work with the people at the night court and i hope he gets to work more with azriel and maybe rhys especially with things about autumn and spring court

also loved to see his inner feelings regarding elain and jasminda!! that was such a nice detail to show that he is falling (hard) for elain but still feels guilt about his first love (still annoying though)

... great, written off to go find a human queen... guess thats one way to get rid of a character... could've just killed him if you didn't need him bye

Rhysand

rhysand ... why fuck first talk later? war is coming my dude you can get your dick wet later, after you have heard news and planned accordingly???? Im disappointed 100% ew

but nooooo, instead we get this weird horny political talk... am I supposed to enjoy this?

apart from that he was kinda boring

unfiltered thoughts after he "died": i CANT BELIVE CAN NOT BELIEVE that he died AND THEN WAS RESURRECTED THE SAME WAY FEYRE WAS bro that was the most unnecessary scene i have ever read why make me go through all that tension (again bc it happened with feyre before) just to make him come back to life this is so shit i don't know wether to laugh or cry

but tbh i didnt believe for 1 second that he was actually dead, im sorry but there was no way SJM would have the balls to kill of Rhys lol

Tarquin

unrelated but I miss Tarquin he was cool I have a crush on him <3

he is way too good for the other high lords, i'd rather read about him

Cassian

eh... boring at best, annoying at his worst.

bro what the hell why are you so fucking obsessed with nesta YOU DONT EVEN KNOW HER and clearly she is trying to avoid you take a hint (no that is not romantic its creepy and annoying)

like "no means no" also applies to fae or other magical beings leave her A L O N E

he was so cool in the first book but this time it also feels like his only remaining character trait is nesta (giving very much lucien and i hate it) and maybe a bit of fighting/training stuff

Azriel

stays true to his character (at least in the beginning...)

if feyre is going to butt into his love life more I am going to riot, leave the man alone!

only one who actually pays actual attention to elain (yes, not even lucien does this as well as az) & figures her powers out first

also love how he is obv in love with mor but is neither making this his only character trait (looking @ you cassian & lucien) nor doing everything for her. he is NOT changing but staying true to his self i hope this stays the same

......

..........

...............

ah nevermind he just tried to suffocate eris... honestly though I get the like pride & protect my family stuff but arent all of them a bit too easily riled up? all high lords & courts are assholes after all, you guys included. you should know this by now

slay for saving elain

Jurian

now what is this?

wha- why does SJM want to give everyone a redemption so bad (except for tamlin ofc we been knew)

am i really supposed to believe that Jurian has reached clarity after witnessing everything through Amarantha? it was so such a good concept, having a human turn insane and helping those he despised

and (even if its a bad example) would have showed that humans and fae CAN work together after all

all men do is lie. only tarquin slays. bye.

[celestial-disharmony]

Frontiers and Eggman

Now seems like a good time to talk about how I hate Eggman’s characterization in Frontiers

Such a fucking nothingburger of a character. He held no real importance aside from simply trying to get the Ancients technology and he doesn’t even do that much since he got trapped in Cyberspace for 4 islands. What was the point of his character in the game at all? 

We see his little hubs scattered around the islands but... how are they there? In the very opening of the game, where was Eggman anyway? Surely already on one of the islands right? If that’s the case, it would explain why his ships are on the first three. But given the scenery of when he was first transported, was he on Kronos or Ouranos? The greater point of what Im trying to say here is that he still accomplished NOTHING in terms of acquiring Ancient technology. 

He merely recorded his observations and left them in logbooks we find from Big. Problem here is, if he has ships on the islands, why are the logbooks not just THERE? Why are they set aside with Big? What does it mean if Big has them anyway? Also, some of the memos keep in mind that Sonic is on the island. Which means they’re being made as the story progresses. So why the fuck are they with Big in the first place? How do they get there and why with him and not on any of those damn ships? No hate on Big here at all, but why does he have them, seriously.

Im going on too much on a minutiae tangent so allow me to focus back on another point that annoyed me: this father/daughter thing Eggman has going on with Sage. Yeah this was garbage lol. 

It felt rushed and never earned any of its moments. Likewise, I felt no reason to give a shit about Sage since all she did was attempt to kill us and tell us to leave. So when they tried to force this idea of Eggman prioritizing this one creation above every other robot he’s ever built, I laughed. Especially with that crying flashback. God that was laughably terrible. The moment wasn’t earned whatsoever and reusing cutscenes from like 20 minutes ago doesn’t support whatever narrative was attempted there.

I can see Eggman having a sort of parental bond with one of his creations, mainly Metal Sonic. A robot Eggman has built, rebuilt, and kept around countless times - Sonic CD - Knuckles’ Chaotix - Sonic Heroes - Sonic 4 Ep II - Sonic Mania / Mania Adventures - (Sonic Forces I guess??)

But anyways, then comes Sage. An AI that makes her debut and by the end earns Eggman’s admiration to call her his daughter. Yeah, just toss Metal Sonic in the trash and take a shit on him too I guess.

I don’t have an issue with Eggman showing a humane side but he also didn’t show any other side in Frontiers either. He wasn’t the main villain here nor the sub-villain. The real evil here was The End and the sub-villain was Sage and the Titans. Eggman could in theory be written out of the story with proper adjustments done to Sage. Eggman takes over the world in Forces and discards Infinite, who as shown by the prequel comic. shared Eggman’s vision of the world. He gives him power to defeat and capture Sonic, causes a lot of destruction on behalf of Eggman and his Empire, and once once he failed, he was forgotten about. Both by the player and to Eggman. Sage gets destroyed in a sacrifice to stop The End and Eggman desperately brings her back no questions asked. Like what is this??

I know people are going to point out different writing and all that, but when has Eggman ever gotten this attached to anything or anyone? I think it’s appropriate to say his relation to Sage warrants being called “Out of Character.”

Even though I brought up Metal Sonic, I can’t say Eggman is attached to him as he’s rebuilt sparingly. His only real appearances in modern games were Heroes and Sonic 4. He’s a consistent weapon that Eggman refines upon because he knows Metal Sonic can succeed or at the very least, come the closest to succeeding.

Throughout all the games, Eggman will have one plan and abandon it for the next best thing. That is how he is. Metal Sonic being the only consistent thing there for reasons already mentioned. So his rush to bring Sage back from cyberspace just feels so out of character.

Far as I’m concerned, Sage should’ve remained another shiny new toy for Eggman and served her purpose. Ending what little story she had anyways.

TL;DR Eggman’s characterization sucked in Frontiers and I wish to see less of it. He accomplished nothing as he got stuck in cyberspace for a majority of the game’s runtime. Sentimental moments were superficial and didn’t tug at any heartstrings with their laughably bad buildups. Sage was a weak character who I felt nothing for as she lost all interesting qualities the moment she was revealed to be Eggman’s AI. Eggman’s aforementioned bond with Sage likewise fell flat as neither character were remotely interesting in Frontiers.

[semi-imaginary-place]

guess I'm on weekly release now. ep 40 that must have been the most confusing battle for megumi. getting his ass kicking planning to get hit just so he can get another hit in and then his opponent stabs himself through the head. i was not expecting this much characterization from jogo. like usually you can tell which characters are going to be important based on how "cool" the mangaka makes their visual design and jogo looks like a normal flunky but he has a fully fleshed out character. sukuna and jogo are having a naruto style heart to heart wtf.

ah i wanna watching gojo go feral again what ep was that... ep 33 huh was it that far back? guess this whole arc is more about the fallout of gojo being sealed. damn yeah who animated that cut with the arm. the animation for this series really is top notch all around but especially the fights, i think jjk has cemented it's place as best animated fights i in any anime i have ever seen. satoru-chan is so manically happy to be fighting. wow this episode feels so much longer than it actually is.

41: well at least sukuna is having fun. and he took an interest in megumi, this can't end well for megumi.

I wonder why the author made jujutsu high be 4 years. for even 1st years its essentially on job training with them already being put to work. I do wonder how much schooling they're actually getting. and then narratively at this point there aren't even 3rd years and when i checked the wiki 4th year characters dont exist. and then with nanami leaving, originally i thought he then went to college but he's a lot younger than i initially though and most office jobs want more than highschool. so does jjk give you a university degree at the end? i know japan has 4 year universities but do they do 2 year associate degrees? just an all round weird decision.

i started out curious why people were mad about the sukuna fight and now im reading the manga i guess

yuuji: I don't need purpose i'm going to be a cog in the machine

huh itadori is actually choso's brother. huh. but the whole thing with the cursed womb fetuses was that they were never born. i dont know what is going on here. and why didn't choso recognize the stitches earlier. if brain dude is swapping bodies then the genetic material like gametes should be changing or is the implication that yuuji is also made from cursed energy/weird human experimentation. ... panda's right yuji really is attracting older brothers.

*squints* is that kazakstan????? when did kazakstan become a world superpower???? idk if its the translation but im having trouble understanding. kenjaku changed people into being more suitable vessals and to give non sorcerers cursed techniques? because that's not what the text says. then was does the remote activation do? and why did he need mahito's technique? it wasn't garunteed he'd be able to absorb mahito. i cant make sense of this.

poor megumi just got dragged headfirst into clan politics.

does the culling game apply to all cursed technique users or just ones brain dude implanted?

145: instrumentality??????? instrumentality. -_-

maki's new design is goated, love the sleeves. i like her more i hope she pisses off more men. i also finally noticed that meimei isn't wearing a dress, it's a tricked out onsie. i love that design

152. suguru was too pure hearted. see you can totally get away with mass murder you just need to play the politics game.

alright my curiosity is sated. not like i was watching jjk for the plot anyways.

powered by children lol. madoka level harvest negative emotion energy as a renewable fuel source.

i think i get why people were saying the zenin clan is kinda incest-y

huh is gege trying to say gojo taught sukuna about love.

so sukuna just ate his own mumified corpse's head, im getting that right?

Saw someone compare gojo to achilles (so geto would be patroclus?) And im mad i didnt think of that first

[supercantaloupe]

🦅 ✅🤲

🦅 Do you outline fics or fly by the seat of your pants? - depends on the fic. for short fics i don't bother, for long fics i'll usually plan them in advance but it's a coin toss whether the outline ever gets written down or just lives in my brain. for fics that start out short and then spiral out of control in length its usually by the seat of my pants lol

✅ What's something that appears in your fics over and over and over again, even if you don't mean to? - describing the same set of Small Gestures over and over again, oh my gd. take a drink every time i mention that a character blinks or chuckles or sniffs or glances at someone or fidgets with their fingers or whatever...i tend to have a very well defined visual image of things as i read/write/imagine them, and as a Theater Person(tm) and guy who took about one and a half film study classes in their day, the visual aspect is important to me, so i guess that's why i constantly reference that in writing. i hope it doesn't come off as annoying to readers tho lol

🤲 Would you please share a snippet of a wip? - fuck context amirite fellas

“Did you let yourself into my apartment?” Ethan asks. Elvira pauses for a beat. “Well, you weren’t answering your phone at all, I got worried--” “While I was asleep?”  Ethan struggles to keep calm. “That’s not why I gave you my spare key, I--” “Simply irresistible,” Giovanni coos. He steps closer, and brushes a finger along her hip, trails it slowly up the side of her body.  “I hadn’t heard from you in a few days, and I came over to find you passed out on your couch, I think that’s exactly what it’s--” Giovanni steps between the two of them, and cups her chin in his hand. “Good job, man.” Ethan breaks from his stone stillness and lunges forward, yanking Giovanni out of the way. “You need to leave,” he says suddenly, insistent.  Elvira flinches, startled, shuffling backwards til her legs hit the couch. “What!?” “I’m sorry, this is a bad time, you need to go,” Ethan says, keeping his head down, refusing to look at anyone. He bites his cheek, hearing the don erupt into laughter at his side, and moves to put himself between the two of them and usher Elvira back towards the door.

[ask meme]

[asoulofatlantis]

Gwyn is one of those characters that really make you want to scream: “You go Grandpa!” XD But seriously, he might have come off as a bit off... uh... you know an old pervert who is a bit to lax with allowing Rean to take Alisa home for the night if he wants to (*lol*) but he actually has a good head on his shoulders, his heart has always been at the right place and he cares A LOT about his family, even after Irina pushed him from his position the way she did. He deserves our respect. We of course know that a lot of the things that Smidts does, come from the heart as well... but his methods are questionable at best.

I always loved how in this scene Alberich playing with the emotions of his Family and thus confusing and hurting Alisa is immediately triggering Rean to get pissed.

I doubt that. While I agree that in the world they described technologie and thus engineers and scientist will be essential and very important for rebuilding a collapsed world, the church will NEVER cease to be important. In times of need and desperation, in times were people were almost starving and dying of diseases, were there was almost only work and almost no fun in the world, the believe in a god has been the only thing keeping people aflood. When bad thing happened they explained it to themselves as a divine punishment for their sins and praying and believing in a good that will eventually grant them mercy and salvation was keeping their hopes up and their spirits high. Meaning that, while the church might not be as important as it was after the great collapse, it will never stop being important, never stop being necessary. Tho it will lose an immense amount if power and influence, which would make way for Alberichs plans to introduce a “new god” with the great one.

This game keeps making Musse look like an immense genius that predicts the future like its a simple math quiz, but at the end of the day, we have multiple instances were the game shows us that Musse is far from able to truly see ALL the things possible. Ever since the activation of the great Twillight, her predictions have been wrong quite a few times. Yes, she said that otherwordly-things kind of ruin her calculations somewhat, but there isn’t much otherworldly stuff going on here. They want to take the world down and make up a new order. Not much otherworldy stuff going on here aside from the role the great one plays in it. So once again, we see that Musses powers are not as great as they tried us to believe in the beginning of this game.

Irinas moral compass, just like Smidts might be a little bit off A LOT off times because her biggest priority is first and foremost business, but at the end of the day, her heart too, is not in the wrong place. In CS3 when she talked about Sharon leaving, she said it like she didn’t care, but at the end of the day, she did very well care and has just a different way of showing it. Irina in itself is like many others in the Trails-Saga, a very strong woman. And we never should forget what Rean said on the Pantagruel, she did raise a wonderful daughter, so despite her faults and mistakes, its obvious that not everything she is doing is wrong and that often behind her cold and calculated actions, stands a woman with a heart.

And here we see were Schmidts shows how is questionable action are often lead by the heart as well. It seems at first he only went to work with Alberich to see what is left of his favorite people, the ones closest to the son he never had, which already is a matter of the heart, but he didn’t stop there. He also showed that despite everything, he still cares about his disciples and wants to get George out of the dark place he got himself into. Granted, his methods are not exactly... uh... the best, so to speak, but it doesn’t change the fact that it comes from the heart.

I guess act 3 is in a sense the continuation of the reunion to end all reunions. It feels good to have Sharon back. She belongs to us, not Ouroboros.

In all honesty, I do wish he would have pulled the trigger... or rather, I did wish it for a moment, given how I almost lost Olivert because of him... BUT that would ruin our reunion-motto and who would I be without complaining about all those traitors who run around freely like they never did anything wrong? XD And... I kinda... sorta... somehow have trouble being too angry at Crow for long... or Cedric for that matter so... the Cold Steel Saga needs at least someone who I can hate for all of eternity and for that, he needs to stay alive XD

Also... proving that Falcom usis gay gals more as queerbaiting then actually making them truly gay kind of serves a purpose for a certain other ship for me and how am I supposed to prove that if the only man Angie actually ever loved is dead? So.... yeah... whatever.

You know... its always fun and extremally frustrating how the traitors themselves always know that and the others, the “good” characters are actually usually the ones not understanding this.

And here comes your casual “you are a damn hypocrite, player!”, reminder by the cast itself. Now go into a dark corner and be ashamed of yourself for the fact that you only hate certain characters for what they did... I join you in that corner of shame in a moment too...

I guess in a way the game tries to tell us that the best way for them to pay for their since, being able to continue living a normal life with the knowledge that other can’t because of their sins. I honestly do not think that quite cuts it for everyone, but who am I to judge that?

That is Crossbells version of the “sister/brother/sibling-zone”. The colleague-zone XD