#if you saw the original version of this where i forgot to put the link to the ask game in no you didn't

[foxgirlchainsaw]

19, 7 for music ask

19: A song that makes you think about life. This is an interesting one, and also one I kind of...lack a proper answer for. The closest I can name is the sheer concept and vastness of Bull of Heaven's multi-day pieces; I'm yet to listen to any of them, but even contemplating the idea of a single piece of music that goes on for days or even several weeks like 117: Change Not As Much As The Style Of A Letter, which goes on for exactly two weeks, two days, two hours, two minutes and two seconds and is one repeating ambient drone section, makes me consider things about the scale of the universe I scarcely consider otherwise. How long really is two weeks? The only way I could really find out is listening, and I may yet take the plunge. 7: A song to drive to. Compared to my answer to the last one, this is a much simpler question. Rei8bit's Frosty Dusk would be pleasant ambience for driving, and as for something to accompany speeding down the highway, 長谷川白紙「毒」 [yeah I've used this one before but have you considered the fact that it's really good] and Echθ θnslaught would be my picks.

[ MUSIC ASKS ]

[cerealandchoccymilk]

Trigun Bookclub: Trigun Vol.1, Chapter #06

previous | all | next

I’m doing a deep-read of the Japanese original print (reread) and Overhaul 1.0 (first read) side-by-side, and writing down everything I notice from small details, version differences, translation differences, etc.

Here are the non-analysis meow meow panels (only 2 today, sorry 😔)

And the rest is under the cut.

[link for if the images aren’t in horizontal rows]

I really love the "train conductor/bus driver/etc puts themself in danger to protect the passengers" trope- NOOOOOOOOOO COOL CONDUCTOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Small correction: These first onomatopoea are actually...flesh sounds...... And I wasn't really thinking about corrections for this one, more just for nuance, but Neon says something like "it's unfortunate, but..." in this line.

A small difference here: in my version it's actually CO2, not oxygen that's being supplied to the Heat Plant. However, considering that O2 is a fuel for combustion and CO2 is a byproduct, it may be an error on Nightow's part.

This is one of the first indications of who Kaito actually is. He knows all of this off the top of his head, which catches the Captain by surprise.

It also provides information about Plants. This could either mean that all Plants require some kind of fuel, or that the Plants can utilize those resources in some other way to help the Sandsteamer.

Get graphited idiot.

We also get to see more of Kaito's attachment to this Sandsteamer.

Here, the original line is more like "Why would Brilliant Dynamites Neon have to listen to you when this treasure—the prey I've been hunting—is right in front of me!?"

This is where I notice that Neon has a sort of obsession with "beauty," not just in the regular sense but also in his own way. He obviously values visuals—his over-the-top fashion and desire to go out with a bang—but to him, it's also a question of dignity. (this will be on the exam yall)

Even the gang member is getting worried about what Neon might do to Kaito... And here's where we find out why Kaito knows so much and wants to protect the Sandsteamer!

Notes on the original phrasing of this line, since I saw a few posts comparing the Dark Horse and Overhaul versions.

The Japanese line is「パッと散りな　小僧」 パッ(pa') is an onomatopoea for "pop," "poof," or a release (e.g. letting go of an object). 散る(chiru, used here in command form) means "scatter," most commonly associated with falling cherry blossom petals. From that, it's also a euphemism for dying. i can go on for another paragraph on the association of cherry blossoms with Japanese views on life/death but you can figure that out. or google it idk

I think this line is another excellent representation of Neon's values on beauty and death.

I love this page so much!! The flow comes to a complete stop, and the tension that has been building throughout the last few pages is at its peak here. The composition is also excellent. The art is symmetrical, and Neon's giant outfit follows the lines leading from the bottom corners of the page up to Vash's gun, where they intersect right in the middle. I JUST LOVE THESE KINDS OF COMPOSITIONS SO MUCH.....

can't remember why i wrote "sike" there

It took a while to figure out what happened here, but I think Vash either sensed danger or actually dodged a bullet, and chose to jump back out. Love the way he's firmly holding Kaito's overalls while Kaito doesn't understand anything that's going on lol

The silly goofies... theyre screaming crying shitting themselves out there....

It's a bit hard to see, but Kaito is screaming "AAAHHH PULL ME UPPP" in the middle panel.

This exchange after the two get to safety is also so silly... There's a missing "whrrrr drill drill" SFX for Vash's drill hand (?). I saw a photo of the Dark Horse version which was missing it in the same way, with the leftover ン on Vash's cheek.

I forgot to highlight it, but this note pertains to Vash's second speech bubble about death and destruction. The Japanese version of the line is something like "I swear!! I have at least 2 digits' worth of death-gods(死神) or poverty-gods(貧乏神) haunting me!!" Death-gods/shinigami are already well-known in the West so I won't explain that here. The second one, poverty-god/binbōgami, is a similar kind of thing, except it brings poverty to whoever it clings onto (instead of death). Fun fact: Binbōgami are said to like yakimiso (grilled miso paste).

VASH'S SOUPY BRAIN!!! The mystery has been solved!!!

But first, in order... Vash's first line is more like "We can't be worrying about all this right now." It could keep the original phrasing, but the main idea is to change "me" to "us."

The next (most important) line is actually "We gotta save brainpower [for the matter at hand]." The confusion lies in the word 脳みそ, which literally translates to "brain miso," but is actually the word for brain tissue, and thus brainpower. It has nothing to do with miso soup! The origin I wrote in the middle-left of the image is...dubious.... I told my mom about this just now, and she mentioned that it might be called that because みそ(miso) also means the center or key aspect of something. Weblio also says it signifies innards (like from crab or shrimp), similar to what I wrote in the annotation at first. I'll fix it in the document later

Also, I would phrase the last line as "I mean, we're gonna stop this ship, right!?"

Kaito's skills are actually insane. What do you mean you just copied the entire blueprint... Mistranslation: The respect is directed towards his dad, so it should be "You must really look up to your dad."

I didn't know his name was spelled Kaite in this version. My Japanese version copy has that bottom part in a regular speech bubble, and with the font for the boxes. It's most likely just a version-exclusive error. He also says that his dad "found" the ship, but I'm not sure if that's another error or not since this translation makes more sense.

This line is phrased more like "Just for a little bit of cash, I'm now taking advantage of you for a deal with a crook."

I really loved the execution of this scene in the '98 anime. get hammered into the ground boy The final line is from Kaito, not Vash, and should be "...Yeah!!"

And that’s it for Chapter #06! Sorry for the wait, I couldn't work on this as much as I'd liked because of the smoke and rainstorm, combined with weekend responsibilities. Feeling better now though 💪 As always, the Japanese annotations are in the reblogs.

~~~

Bonus: reactions to the soupy-brained Vash post

[zelenbug]

heres something incredible niche. with the help of raymap i spent a few hours making an entire height chart of almost all the characters and creatures (and a plum) in rayman 3, minus the absolute largest ones

heres the whole thing uncropped (12.8 mb, 26270x2383)

and here it is condensed into like the most important individual characters

(and that link too, 7010x2035)

below is some notes about it, a whole bunch of rambling and stuff, i put a lot of effort into this so check this out

-

this is taken with raymap by looking at each map in the orthographic front view, relocating every object i need to -1500 Y position with 0 for everything else (minus x position just so they could be side by side). the rotation and scale is all set to 1. almost all of the objects are the first frame of their idle animation

only exceptions for the rotation were CagouFlaps (hoodloon), francesco (red bird), piranha and Dirigible, all for convenience. one of the refluxes (the fight one with the glowy face) is also an exception to the animations thing, hes using the first frame of an animation different from his idle one so he stood more upright

the arrangements i took were like this. i had to take 43 screenshots like this (with the transparent screenshot option) and then align them using rayman as an anchor, as i included him in every screenshot

the fact that they were all at the same exact Y position is why the characters are sometimes slightly below or slightly above where the floor is supposed to be, thats just how the object is positioned in the game itself basically and i chose to leave that in. i ignored that for my height sorting though

i didnt use all screenshots, i just excluded everything that was larger than a mawpaw because the filesize in this chart was already large enough. im not bloating them with something that was likely going to end up well over 10k pixels tall and wide

i also excluded a bunch of inanimate objects like piggy banks and gems and cages and stuff, but i have screenshots with them

i also straight up forgot francesco so its not in the chart. but heres its size relative to rayman, probably would have been between the orange glowy fairy and either a grim or andre

this slightly tinier colorful hoodmonger is just from the final boss fight, which is a separate object family from the three other types of hoodmonger (which are all actually the same family)

the other fairy thingy (luisane) got kinda botched in the transparent screenshot so i just screenshotted it how it appeared in raymap itself directly so it has a black background. also i know the rat looks really weird, its just Like That its not modeled on the bottom, in retrospect i really should have rotated that one sideways too

the flabar/bonton has wings but theyre solid white (bc the texture for them is actually missing in final, one of the demos had them) and they blended into the background oops. heres a snippet from a larger transparent version of the chart

the way i actually sorted all the heights is i generally ignored stuff like hair and hats, thats why some teensies ended up being outright taller than rayman

also yeah i dont know why specifically generic teensies are so tiny compared to all the other ones. my guess is that their size was just leftover from the previous games and didnt account for the ones original to rayman 3 being scaled up, or something?

i love the teensy heights in this though i love that some are taller than rayman and the apparent slight variety present in their heights (even if you cant tell it at all and theyre all shaped the same really)

anyway i also unfortunately had to leave some guys out since i just couldnt move their objects for some reason, those being -iceglob (globox stuck in a block of ice unsurprisingly enough) -sk8guard (the teensy that catches you in teensy highways) -ProjCanon (thingy that you have to aim at celoche to damage it) -wbug (little bugs that are in bog of murk supposedly but i never saw them outside of raymap)

oh well i can finangle a way to get them out of perspective view i hope

[triposzt]

The Dreadnoughts - Roll and Go (2022) / Green Willow (2023) double album review

For the first English post of this blog, why not make a review of my new favourite band's last two albums? It's a bit late, I know, I originally wanted to make one about "Roll and Go", but never got around to do it, so when I heard that a new album is coming out this year, I thought "hey, now is the time to combine the two reviews into one post!" And I'm still freakin' late with this again!

But anyway, let's start the story from the beginning.

At least a decade ago, the first two songs I've heard from The Dreadnoughts were "Sleep Is For The Weak" and "Randy-Dandy-Oh" - no idea whether I found them randomly or someone showed them to me, but I liked both… and then kinda forgot to listen to any of their other songs for a while 😄 Then, fast-forward to approximately early 2020, when at work I was browsing for music, listened to one of the previously mentioned two and through the "related songs" links, found "Gintlemen's Club" (unsurprisingly from the same 2011 album "Polka's Not Dead")…and BAM! Immediately I was like "This is awesome, why haven't I listened to them for ages? Let's discover more!" And I did… and that's why I was anticipating the 2022 spring release of the new album Roll and Go even more. Let's see how it turned out:

ROLL AND GO (release date: June 24, 2022)

1 - Cider Jar [7/10] Hold up, a booze-infused version of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"? That's ridiculously brilliant! 😃 Cider Jar serves as a short intro to the album and the closing "arr-oh-arr" just flows right on to the next track, which…

2 - Cider Holiday [7.5/10] …was the first track released from the album and in all honesty, did not hit me in the sweet spot back then, but has grown on me since. The prose-like bridge part gives it a unique flavour, and speaking of flavour, the song itself just makes me wanna drink cider or visit the West Country. Or both, preferably.

3 - The Rodney Rocket [8/10] You never know where artists can find an inspiration for a song. Sometimes, it might be a video about an old alcoholic Canadian fella having fun with some snowy extreme sports in Rodney, Ontario 😁 The Rodney Rocket is easy to sing (mostly due to its percussion-heavy background and the L-C-B-O chant in the chorus), plus the tempo changes well along with the story - the silly-sounding words in the lyrics (dickered, hullabaloo) and a callback to "Fire Marshal Willy" are just the icing on the cake. What's not to like?

4 - Problem [10/10] Second track to come out as a single and I instantly loved it. Somehow it's just perfect: the repeating "Problem" at the end of lines, occasionally replaced by various - and hilarious! - sound effects, both the beat and the inserted Polish lyrics obviously referencing Sleep Is For the Weak, the backstory of the song, it all just culminates in this masterpiece. The music video is weird enough, although it does not reach such heights, but anyway, who the fuck cares, we are here to listen to songs, not watch them. Problem?

5 - Brisbane Harbour [8.5/10] A worthy continuation of true sea shanties like "Whup! Jamboree" and "Eliza Lee", and one which surely makes any listener's fingers and feet tap to the rhythm.

6 - Battleford 1885 [8/10] The shortest "normal" track on the album, and its title was intriguing to me when I first saw it - turns out, music can be educational (duh), because Battleford 1885 sheds some light on a tragic event of indigenous people in Canada (here's the post about the background of the song). Oh, and the ascending drum in the background of the bridge is just… *chef's kiss*

7 - The Storm [9/10] Beautiful, just beautiful, equally eerie and empowering, with an instrumental break inspired by Greek bouzouki tunes. If the previous song was about the story of oppressed people rising up against their masters, then this one puts you right in those people's mindset. Well done. And I'll be forever grateful for the Substack post about The Storm for introducing Smokey Bastard's "Baba Yaga" to me, I fell in love at first listening.

8 - Vicki's Polka [7.5/10] Judging by the title only, I thought this was going to be the obligatory instrumental track, but then again, I might have been misled by "Clavdia's Waltz". Instead, Vicki's Polka is rather a love story spanning decades, featuring references to the band's 2010 hit "Polka Never Dies" and the popular folk song "Who Stole the Keeshka?". Assisted by some top folk musicians, the bounciness of this true polka track slows down only near the end, when it's time to say goodbye to the titular Vicki, sadly taken away by the Covid-19 pandemic. Goddamnit, 2020.

9 - Scrumpy-O [8/10] You've been listening to the songs of the album in order and you're missing the amount of alcohol in the lyrics for a while? Worry not, Scrumpy-O definitely has your back. Just grab some locally made and/or rough cider (that's what "scrumpy" means), learn the words to the chorus, and raise your bottle to the sky!

10 - Tuika [7/10] Now this is the instrumental track I thought Vicki's Polka was gonna be. The frequently changing speed of the song makes you imagine dancing arm-in-arm with someone at one moment, then jumping into a mosh pit at another. (P.s.: if anyone has an idea what the title means, let me know, I could only find a politician from American Samoa by this name.)

11 - Dusty Ground [9/10] One of my favourites from the album, a very well executed song. Listen to how the tempo decelerates almost into melancholy in the third verse and then turns back up for the last chorus, just fantastic. The lyrics… likewise. If I'm not mistaken, they are meant to convey the transience of life via a clever metaphor: the ever-thirsty ground, which swallows us up like water. Well, all right, I might have taken a peek at the origin story of the track ;)

12 - Bold Reilly [5.5/10] Honestly, out of the thirteen tracks, this is the song that resonated the least with me. I wouldn't say it's bad or anything, just… Too repetitive? Too slow? I don't know. Also, being "the worst song of a Dreadnoughts album" is still a pretty high level 😁 And it has a reference to Randy Dandy-Oh, nice!

13 - Roll and Go [8.5/10] For some reason, I classified the trio of The Storm, Dusty Ground, and this closing track as giving the same vibes - no idea why I feel the similarity, at the very least Dusty Ground is notably quicker. Anyway, all three songs are unique enough for me to love each of them. Roll and Go provides a fine closure to this wonderful album: the musical background resembles a marching band (here I am giving praise to the percussion section yet again 👏), the lyrics emanate the feeling of brotherhood, and the ending slowly fades with the promise of a "fine and lucky day". Amen to that!

Overall: this was easily the release of the year for me. Usually when I listen to an entire album for the first time, the tracks don't really have their own "identity" in the beginning, and the whole thing is just a raw, big mess. Not this time! A few tracks stood out instantly and I grew to love the rest even more. Roll and Go turning out to be that awesome, given the difficulties the band had to face while recording, just proves how talented these guys are. I'll be sure to mention this album when people ask me about my favourites. Verdict: 8.5/10

GREEN WILLOW (release date: March 14, 2023)

1 - We Shepherds are the Best of Men [8/10] A proper start to the album, with a great rhythm and an even better chorus. Apparently, it's an older folk piece, which has a few versions with different lyrics, but The Dreadnoughts are the first "modern" band to cover it. And oh boy, they did it well! (One small caveat though: the grammar nazi inside me is so bothered by the "We drinks our liquor freely and pays before we go" part every time 😅)

2 - Hej Sokoły (Zal za Ukraina) [9.5/10] I see two great reasons why this track was chosen as the initial single of the album. Firstly, this song is an absolute earworm. I mean, so dangerously addictive, it can be stuck in your head for a day! Secondly, it's dedicated to the people fighting for Ukraine, and whoever has listened to The Dreadnoughts' songs knows that Eastern Europe has a special place in their pool of inpsirations. Accordingly, Hey Sokoły covers a popular old Polish-Ukrainian folk song, and frankly, I just can't ever get enough of Polish lyrics in the band's songs - no wonder the band fell in love with the suggestion of this cover. Highlight: as the last verse slows down and then builds up into the energetic last chorus… goosebumps, goosebumps every time.

3 - Rigs of the Time [7/10] It's like a good worker who does not yearn for promotion but is never in danger of getting laid off - not necessarily oustanding in his field, but someone who is trustworthy and does his job well. It has a message and a great chorus. You need tracks like this on your album. (Ironically, the song is about dishonest tradesmen, but still, that's the metaphor I chose. Also, the whole "blaming the rising prices on the war" thing is too real nowadays.)

4 - Roll the Old Chariot Along [8.5/10] This song is apparently covered by a few artists, but I don't recall hearing it before I listened to the album - only since then, but for that, the almighty Algorithm might be the one to "blame". Anyway, I remember instantly liking it upon the first listening and my opinion remains unchanged: what a fantastic and catchy tune! "And we'll all hang on behind!" (P.s.: Lads, there's a missing verse - and some other confusion - of the lyrics on the Bandcamp page.)

5 - The Foggy Dew [7/10] A classic Irish ballad, full of historical references (one of which could even be meant as a hint to "The Bay of Suvla"), so far it was only familiar to me because Dropkick Murphys used it as the opening instrumental for their shows (The Chieftains version to be exact). The lack of repeated parts and intricate rhythm of the verses makes it very difficult to sing along, but nevertheless it's a beautiful rendition.

6 - Twankidillo [7.5/10] "Half of you are going to hate it, it’s fucking weird." That's the premise I've read before I even listened to the song… and I didn't even mention the strange title. 😄 *1st listening*: They were right, what the hell is this? *2nd listening*: Okay, it IS weird, but certainly catchy… *3rd listening*: "Here's to old coal, and to young coal and to no coal at aaaaaaaaallll!" Yep, it grows on you. It's another cover of a traditional folk song (like all tracks except one), and if you haven't noticed, the lyrics also contain a reference to the album name. Yay!

7 - Spanish Ladies [7/10] Sorry guys, I have absolutely been in love with Sarah Blasko's version of this song for years, and I don't think anything can change that. To be fair though, this cover is more sea shanty-esque, if you close your eyes, you can almost visualize the crew hauling ropes or heaving the capstan around.

8 - The Unquiet Grave [8/10] Upon seeing the tracklist, this was the title that stood out the most for me - and damn, it did not disappoint, especially storywise. This tale of love beyond the grave has been sung for centuries, I haven't heard it before, but I must say that The Dreadnoughts have really managed to capture the appropriate eerie vibe which surely gives you the chills. (Bonus funfact for anyone who's familiar with the band's discography: this track was first intended for the 2017 album "Foreign Skies".)

9 - Apple Tree Wassail [8.5/10] Don't believe Google Translate saying "wassail" is an Arabic word, this catchy track is actually a blessing ritual for apple trees in hope of a good crop to make cider from… although the mental image in my head is stuck halfway between an orchard and a mosh pit due to the song's fast pace. Hell, I hope at some point I'll have the chance to hear it live and jump around like a maniac. (Please come to Hungary!) (P.s.: The "Let every man drink up his glass" line is possibly a callback to "Spanish Ladies", am I right?)

10 - Roll Northumbria (Loud Version, sometimes called "Heavy Version") [7.5/10] Green Willow features nine covers of traditional folk pieces and a reboot of one of the band's earlier songs… yep, this closing track is the reboot one. What I said previously about Spanish Ladies, can be applied here as well - I like the original so much that no newer cover can surpass that, even if it's from the same band. Also, I think the original's slow and dark vibe is more fitting to the topic of the song, but if there's one place where the heavy/loud version could be used, it's concerts. The final drum beats provide a great ending to the album.

Overall: When I first listened to the entire album, I thought "maybe Roll and Go set the bar too high", although my reception of Green Willow has improved well since then, as it can be seen in the ratings. A shorter collection of tracks than its predecessor, but it has a bit of everything from patriotic through silly to haunting, while covering well-known and lesser-known folk songs. I know an album a year would probably be too much to ask, so I'll just patiently wait for some fresh stuff from The Dreadnoughts! Verdict: 8/10

Thanks for reading! 😊

[puppy-phum]

2020 – a (content creator) year in review

I decided to make this into a mix of these two games I was (kinda?) tagged into so thank you for @leonzhng and @tiesanjiao ♥ I hope you don’t mind me doing it like this ^^ all the questions were just so interesting that I wanted to try!

(bc of the amount of questions, I’m placing them under a cut so that I don’t flood anyone’s dash) 

Me

(this is the 2020 year in review that hanyi tagged me to ♥ sorry am so late!)

Top 5 Movies you saw this year

wow tbh I didn’t watch many movies this year as I realized yesterday when I was thinking about this for certain reasons. Or at least I feel like I didn’t watch that many? Nothing really stuck with me it seems.

Because of this, I will only mention two: Parasite and The Old Guard. Those were both wonderful in their own ways and I’m very happy I got to watch them both ^^

Top 5 TV shows you watched this year

this one is difficult bc I watched so many (and forgot even more?) but:

The Lost Tomb Reboot (my introduction to DMBJ. this drama stole my heart and helped me through the tough autumn semester!) 

Joy of Life (it’s nuts that this happened during 2020? it feels like it was ages ago)

Kingdom (such a positive surprise and I really hope we get more of this :o I really recommend!)

Detective L (easy, nice aesthetics, amazing costumes. Bai Yu was a delight as Luo Fei)

Sand Sea (I am still baffled by how much I loved this bc I had so many doubts? am happy I did tho)

Bonus: Guardian (bc it has come to stay and the rewatch has been so emotional but so rewarding)

Top 5 songs of 2020

this is a tough one too bc I’ve heard so much new music during 2020 but I will try to put it simply:

Black Swan by BTS (I absolutely adore this song. I listened to it on repeat when it came out at the beginning of the year, I have cried for it a ton, I enjoy every stage I see for it and it’s just a masterpiece. it has also helped a bit with my writing struggles that I’ve felt creeping up on me lately)

Always by By The Coast (an amazing song that always leaves me in my feels. inspires me a lot all the time)

Love me or Leave me by DAY6 (this whole album was a masterpiece and I listened to it on loop for like. two weeks? this was my favorite song on it even if I adored the rest too, especially Zombie)

all of my life by Park Won (listened to this a lot in relation to my xicheng and the wedding I finally got to write for them ;; that’s one good thing that came out of this year tbh)

雨人 by 刘畅 (Liu Chang) (with the Reboot’s ending song, this one is my favorite on that ost. I love Liu Chang’s voice, I loved Liu Sang as a character and as I said, I loved Reboot as a drama. I get super emotional about this ost so I think it defined this year a lot for me)

Top 5 books you read in 2020  

All For The Game -trilogy (listened to these as audiobooks but that counts right?)

The Song of Achilles (as an audiobook too and really adored the reader’s voice)

The Smoke Thieves -series (I really just binge read the two first books in this series and am so excited for the next one!)

Call Down The Hawk (love love love)

Guardian novel (am not very into these novels usually but I was positively surprised this time? it was so cool to finally get the original story and compare it with the drama version)

5 positive things that happened in 2020

joined mdzsnet and met all the amazing ppl there and got to become part of this loving community and :’) I’m so thankful, it’s been a joy

learned more about editing? or started doing it regularly. I still can’t do shit but am having fun learning more all the time and I really hope that maybe the upcoming year I can switch to PS and try out giffing?

went to Halsey’s concert! it was in february so a bit before all the hassle with covid happened over here ;; it was super cool and so nice and I just. I love Halsey

fell into the DMBJ hellhole which am very much enjoying. it’s a great universe and the story is so good and the dramas have been so fun to watch and. it feels like a good continuation to The Untamed somehow haha (also brought me a new friend! you’re amazing ashen!! ♥)

started therapy and it’s been... a journey. but towards something better I think? it’s something I would’ve needed ages ago but it’s better late than never I suppose

My Creations

(this is the other part where ali was being super sweet and mentioned me ♥ thank you for being so awesome!)

1. first creation and most recent creation of 2020: wow it’s been a while since I’ve looked at this horrible creation but here ya go jkdhgk [x]. I’ve come a long way from this (and my xicheng has come a long way from this too). most recent one is this xiaoge edit that I absolutely adore [x]. 

2. one of your favorite creations from 2020: this wwx edit that was part of my agust d2 edit series [x]. I loved to give him blue instead of his typical red. 

3. a new style you tried this year and a gifset edit that uses it: this [x] wwx edit which I don’t know if I like or not but I was playing around with the font and all the effects instead of just normal screenshots + coloring. also I just adore the quote. 

4. a creation to be proud of: I could mention that xiaoge here but in addition, I will also say this wu xie edit for reboot [x]. I managed to capture my vision so well, I was surprised. for cql, this songxiao edit [x]. I loved how it turned out in the end. 

5. a creation that took forever: this wangxian edit [x]. like I’ve said several times, I lost sleep bc of it. I just kept struggling with the third pic and how to place the text there D: 

6. your creation from 2020 that received the most notes: this lwj/wangxian edit [x]. I had many ideas for this edit when I first started making it and I never managed to capture my vision in the way I first intended... the pictures I was supposed to use just never fit quite right sigh. I dunno why it was this one that gained all the notes in the end bc I personally think I have better ones too but am still thankful :’D 

7. a creation you think deserved more notes: as said, dmbj fandom on tumblr is very small so I really want to say the two already mentioned ones (wu xie and xiaoge) and then my pingxie edits [x] [x]. also these wwx edits which I personally am very happy about [x] [x]. and from my agust d2 series, this yun bros one [x].

8. a new fandom you joined and a creation you made for it: really just dmbj this year and I’ve already linked all of my creations for that :’D tho I have plans for another pingxie edit and a liu sang edit! oh and maybe I could mention guardian here with this shen wei [x]. I had so much fun while making it (also the quote just haunted me relentlessly until I gave it a moment). 

9. a creation you made that breaks your heart: this must be my easter islanders (lwj and jc) edit [x] that just. awoke many thoughts in me? I’m going to put a link to the version where you can read my ramblings underneath :’D 

10. a ‘simple’ creation that you really love: my creation for the creator (gif?) challenge that was going around! [x] it was simple and nice to do and I loved the result. also, it was nice to work with jl for a change :’) 

11. a favorite creation created by someone else: oh wow ok so this is going to be rough bc I have so many favorites ;; you can look at this post here [x] to see more! 

but to love my two taggers am going to say these [x / x] [x] [x] [x] [x] by hanyi (I always love your edits, the colors you choose, the thoughts you put into them (and your humor too!). there are so many cool things you’ve done that I just stay in awe of! I adore all of it ;; ♥) and these [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] by ali (I love all of your gifsets so much, they have such pretty colors and such good scenes, and I am thankful every day that you make all the amazing dmbj content, pls never stop ;; I should go through all of your creations properly one day! I noticed you have sand sea stuff too and let me scream?) ^^ ♥

12. your favorite content creators and blogs that you appreciate: this is going to be a huge list and I’ve already made my love heard for some but no hurt in doing it again so @i-am-just-a-kiddo @ashenwren @tiesanjiao @kholran @lzswy @englishbunnyrocks @leonzhng @aheartfullofjolllly @yibobibo @inkblue-black @cross-d-a @bloody-bee-tea @fytheuntamed @mdzsnet @lifegoesmon @creeds-eagle @underaswift-sunrise @sarawatsaraleo @lan-xichens @mylastbraincql @wangxianbunnydoodles @manhasetardis @distantsnows @ohsehuns @minmoyu @linglynz @highwarlockkareena @yiqiie @aowyn @alienwlw @wangxiians @kingbadcat @sassyassassy @tytangfei @lanzhannnn @skzmxtp @leoyunxi @yoonqiful @softjeon @rapbabenamjoon @ronan-adam @miyakuli @pavusdorian @arsuf @brolinskeep @gawincaskeyy and so many others! (sorry for all the random ppl on this list that I’ve never even talked to ^^’ just know that you make my dash a wonderful place! ♥) 

I won’t tag anyone separately here but everyone who’s already been tagged or sees this is free to do this (or link me posts if you’ve done these already!) ♥ have a nice day everyone! 

[hetalia-nordic-trash]

The Heart Gambit (Dennor): 5-Too Clever by Half

Word Count: 1,460

Description:

Lukas and Mathias agreed to go to the park together, but are bogged down thinking about personal issues.

Author’s Note:

Yessss more Dennor.  I’m having so much fun writing so I hope you guys like it.  I’m so excited to write more this summer so let me know what you want me to write more about!  Notes, asks, and comments mean so much!

Also check out my new writing blog @thechosenburrito where I post all my writing both Hetalia related and original writing!

Previous: 4-Treat me like a Fool

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The sun peeked between the curtains in Lukas's room.  He stirred a bit, regretting the promise he made to Mathias.  He pulled himself out of bed and started heating some water for coffee.  It was, unfortunately, instant coffee but it was the best thing he could do considering the circumstances.  He threw open the curtains to let the light fill the room and was met with complaints from Emil.

"You know, just because you get up at the ass crack of dawn, doesn't mean the rest of the world does." Emil groaned as he rolled over in bed.

"I'm making coffee."

Emil set up and started pulling on some day clothes.

"I hate you."

Lukas poured two cups of instant coffee and left one on the nightstand next to Emil.

"I hate you less now."

Lukas sat at the edge of his bed and looked out the window.  He sipped his coffee and began thumbuming through the book at the foot of his bed.

"I take it you're up this early because you're going to the park with Mathias," Emil said, blowing on his coffee?

"You heard that?"

"I had my ear pressed to the door of course I did."

Lukas closed the book.

"Well, I did promise to go.  That doesn't mean I wanna go," Lukas replied in a bit of a huff.

Emil stood up and pulled on a shirt.

"Yeah but you can still say no."

"I know that."

Emil sat back on the bed and started trying his shoes.

"Well, then if you don't wanna go, call him and cancel."

"I'm not gonna do that."

"Why not?"

"Because..."

"Because you wanna go."

"I didn't say that-"

"Admit you wanna go with him!" Emil almost screamed, pulling on a jacket.

"Why are you like this!?...and where are you going?" Lukas said, looking up from his book to see that Emil was fully dressed and heading towards the door.

"You need to admit that you have feelings for 'that asshole' because you keep repressing it and messing with your brain!   It's just gonna make your life worse to ignore it."  Emil said opening the door.

"And I'm going sightseeing.  We're in Italy, and I'm probably never coming back here again so I'm gonna enjoy it."

"Have fun on your little park date or whatever."

Emil stepped out and closed the door behind him.

Lukas stood up from the table and threw himself back on the bed, burying his face in his hands.

"What's wrong with me?" he muttered under his breath.

Was this a date? No, right?  Definitely not a date.  It was just two people going to a park to hang out.  Two people who just so happened to be competing in the biggest Chess competition in the world.  Two people who also happened to share an oddly intimate moment yesterday.  Wait that sounded wrong.  Not like that.  He rolled over in the bed.  It's fine, they're just friends.  What's the worst that could happen?  If Mathias didn't have feelings for him then everything would be fine.  Lukas would just keep living his life and after the competition, he would never have to see Mathias again.  But if Mathias did have feelings...things would be much more complicated.  As much as spending his life with Mathias, maybe getting a house somewhere, or traveling the world, it just wouldn't work out.  The media would be all over it.  Not to mention what would happen to Emil.  But most of all, when Lukas really thought about it, he just had too many flaws to be in a relationship.  Maybe but Mathias did like him, but not really him, some kind of strange idealized version of him.  Maybe that's what happening, Lukas didn't love Mathias, did he?  Was it even real?  If it wasn't real, would he think about him this much when the literal biggest match of his life was only days away?

Lukas let out a long sigh and rolled out of bed. He pulled on his clothes and made his way to the door.  He wasn't getting Mathias out of his head by sitting around in his room.

- - -

Mathias rolled over in bed to snooze his alarm.  He'd already done this 3 times and regretted telling Lukas to meet him so early in the morning.  But he figured that Lukas was probably more a morning person and would think he's weird for getting up at noon.

Mathias groaned and dragged himself out of bed.  He hissed, half-jokingly, as he drew open the curtains to see that the sun had just barely risen completely.  He made his way to the bathroom, catching a glance at a notepad he had been writing on the night before.  Last night's phone call with Alfred came back all at once.

"So you're telling me you DIDN'T talk to him yesterday."

"I...no I didn't get to.  His brother showed up, but Lukas never did."

"*sigh* ...you're killing me here Mathias."

"Hey, I tried!  It's not my fault he didn't show!"

Mathias started brushing his teeth.

"I know I know...look you just need something on him!"

"I thought this was about getting in his head and figuring out his strategies.  You know, so I can actually win?"

"Look there's been a change of plans."

He started styling his hair.

"What kind of change?"

"Well...I've been thinking about it, and you don't have to win the match on Sunday."

"What are you talking about?"

"Look, if you win on Sunday, everything will be great!  You'll have the title, maybe you do a few commercials, a couple of brand deals, the whole shebang! ...but if you lose... it doesn't have to be a deal-breaker anymore!  If you can dig up something on the other guy we can maybe... um... make it so that... you know..."

"You want to frame him for cheating?"

"Woah Woah Woah!  That's your idea, not mine haha...  Of course, we wouldn't frame him for cheat... but we could sure take the wind of his win you know... make you look like you were against the odds..."

Mathias started pulling on his clothes and putting on his shoes.

"Look I don't need that, man.  I'm a good player."

"No yeah no I know that.  I'm not talking about that.  I'm talking about finances., deals, the money!"

"And I'm talking about me winning the match."

"Since when did you care about winning?"

"I don't!"

"Well, you don't care about winning, and it's sounding like you don't care about money, so what do you care about then!?"

Mathias checked his reflection and headed to the park.

- - -

Lukas was huffing and puffing.  He hadn't realized how much walking with going to the park would involve.  He looked around and came to the realization that he was so far into the park that he had no idea where he was.  He just kept wandering around until he eventually saw a small lake.  There was a bench at the edge of the lake with someone sitting on it.  Lukas didn't care who it was, at that point, he knew his knees were about to buckle.  He made his way over to the bench and sat down on it.

"Sorry... if I bothered you... I just really... needed a break," Lukas said, trying to catch his breath.

Lukas turned to see that it was, in fact, Mathias.  He was digging in a paper bag for a slice of bread.

"I mean, you're not bothering me!  Considering I asked you to come!" Mathias beamed, passing him a slice of bread.  "I was getting a little worried 'cause I realized that I forgot to tell you where to meet me.   But hey!  You made it!"

Lukas smiled a bit.  He looked at the slice of bread Mathias handed to him.  It was a bit stale, but he wanted to be polite.  He took a bite of the bread.

"Woah what are you doing!"

"...eating..."

Mathias laughed.

"No silly!  That's for the ducks!"

Lukas swallowed.

"Oh."

Mathias started tearing pieces of bread and tossing them into the water.  Ducks and their ducklings paddled their way over to the edge of the small lake and started picking at the pieces of bread.  Lukas did the same, occasionally holding his hand out to Mathias for another piece of bread.

Lukas yawned, remembering that he only had one sip of coffee.  Was he really sleeping that badly all the time?  He rested his head on Mathias's shoulder and felt himself blush.

"Heh... uh... you know I think I heard somewhere that you're supposed to feed them seeds and not bread.  I think bread is bad for them or something..."

Mathias's voice faded out as Lukas drifted off on Mathias's shoulders.

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Next Chapter: 6-Someone else’s Parasite (Coming Soon)

A/N:

This is technically late but I had fun writing it that’s all that matters!

I’m going to take this time to plug my non-hetalia work “ Intro to Love ” (on Wattpad) about a college student who struggles to keep her superpowers a secret and while making new friends.  How much of her normal life will she give up to save her friends from a mysterious villain that drains students’ brains and turns them into zombies?  The complete Chapter 1 is out NOW AND so is Chapter 2.1-'The last of the Good Days’!  Go read them!  Right now!   They’re waiting for you!  Chapter 1.1 is here on my tumblr!

Thanks again for reading! Send some feedback my way! Can’t wait to continue this story!

Also, again, check out my writing blog @thechosenburrito!

Quotev link: here

[snarkwriteswrasslin]

alpha - drew m / roman r. [m]

Note:

Okay, so I’ve seen a few of these floating around now and then and I know that as a reader, I personally enjoyed the experience. And that little showdown between Roman and Drew really... Got to me and lives in my head rent free. My original idea for this was so much different than what this is going to shape up to be, but honestly, I feel like it works better this way. As much as I dislike even thinking Randy Orton’s name. Adding that particular variable into the mix made this a lot smoother than my original idea.

I’m actually really excited about this. It’s a choose your own smutty ending. I think the first person I saw trying this was @glowrioustrash​ and it was last year, for Halloween, I think? I enjoyed reading that, so I kinda wanted to try my own hand at it then. I just never got around to it. I even asked them if it was okay if I did it, back then, I think? Anyway... Last night’s Smackdown just gave me ample inspo to FINALLY get off my ass and try it, and make it a part of my year-long smut one shot series. Bet ya’ll thought I completely forgot about those, huh? Well I didn’t. So... here we are.

This part is the beginning to both of the smutty parts I’m going to write for this, so it’ll be linked on either post and either post will be linked here, once I have them all done and posted on the blog.

LIFE EDIT: Eventually, loves... I’ll get around to posting the smutty conclusions to both men. When I do, those will be linked to this post.

Enjoy this teaser, hopefully?

HUGE SHOUTOUTS TO : @wrestlingismyguiltypleasure and @schizoauthoress​ (your suggestions and that helpful input at the end, ahhh.. i owe you my life)  as well as @wardl0w because I have probably bugged the living hell out of all three of them as I attempted this and they were seriously huge helps to me with this.

Characters / Pairings:

Drew McIntyre / Female!omega reader - version 1, coming soon

Roman Reigns / Female!omega reader - version 2, coming soon

Warnings:

This is an attempt at me, writing alpha/omega again. So there will be knotting, mate bite marks, etc. In addition to that, there will be smut in the second part of these, whichever man you guys choose. There’s also hints of unwanted confrontation between Orton and Reader to start this off with and it gets... handsy, ewwww. But I had to have a way to work in both guys and make it work, so.. here we are. There’s also gonna be swearing. If I need to issue any other warnings those will be on the follow up posts.

Tagging:

@kyleoreillysknee​ @rampagewriting​ @writertoo18​ @thatnerdwriter​ @wrestlingismyguiltypleasure​ @chasingeverybreakingwave​ @waywardwrestlewritingwaif​ @sassymox​ @champbucks​ @hungmanhorsecarriage​ @wardl0w​ @ryantaylorgirl​ @dilfmoxley​ @hotyeehawman​ @darbysallin​ @gabbynorth98​ @bec0m​

@linziland13​ @irish-newzealand-idian-dutch​ 

Other Stuff:

[ about my writing - masterlist - tag list doc ]

[ Roman ] or [ Drew ]

The scent was absolutely intoxicating. So understandably, when it filled my nose for the fourth time that night, I found myself standing. Making my way out into the hallway. Shoving people out of my way. Now, I wasn’t running or anything, because my grandma always told me it’s better to be chased than do the chasing but… I was power-walking.

And, as per usual, not paying a lick of attention to where I was going or my surroundings. I was solely focused on this mysterious scent because deep down inside, I knew exactly where it was going to lead me and damn it, I might put up one hell of a show about being independent, but heat cycles are hell and yeah, maybe I get lonely as of late. Maybe I’ve been longing to find my Alpha. Maybe I want the comfort of knowing that I’m not doomed to be forever alone and I do have a mate out there, somewhere...

It hit me then, around the same time that my thighs absolutely flooded with slick and I started to feel all woozy. I hadn’t taken suppressants. In fact, I had somehow managed to completely forget about my heat cycle’s speedy approach.

I mean, between moving and getting called up to the main roster, life has been a whirlwind for me lately. And tonight I hadn’t taken them before I came to the arena because I was excited. Tonight was my first night on the main roster. And in the excitement of that, I’d forgotten my suppressants… again.

To be fair, I haven’t ever really adhered to taking them steadily to begin with, so there you go...I never really had anyone constantly riding me to do so growing up. I was mostly left to my own devices, free to do what I wanted and make my own choices. So, yeah, this isn’t my first rodeo with a surprise heat cycle.

I shoved all the thoughts out of my noisy mind, pausing my walk to attempt focusing. Centering myself so that I could really fix on the scent and the direction it came from. And in my distraction, that gave Orton the perfect opportunity to slither up and corner me before I even had a chance to properly respond.

“Doll.”

“I have a name, you prick.” I rolled my eyes as I shrank away, nose wrinkling at the oversaturation of his scent as it invaded my nose and momentarily drowned out that heavenly aroma I’d been attempting to follow before I got distracted like a dumb bitch.

He chuckled, putting himself closer to me. Leaning down a little. And the audacity of this fucking man, he even had the nerve to reach up and move my hair away from my neck, his nose burying there as a lewd growl rose up from the depths of his chest.

I shoved at him and cleared my throat. “I was kind of in a hurry, do you mind knocking it the fuck off, jackass? Go sniff someone else, ew.”

“C’mon now, hon… You know what’s happening to you. You know you need me.”

“Like I need a bullet wound to the head, Orton. Fuck off.” I tried to duck beneath his arm but his other hand caught on my hip, keeping me pinned between him and the wall. By now, the scent of him was so overpowering and gross that my stomach was lurching. My consolation thought as I began to panic a little and tried to think of a quick way out of this confrontation was that maybe if I just threw up on the asshole, he’d get away.

Somehow, I didn’t see that happening. Orton doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who picks up on cues, verbal or non-verbal. Likes to assert that dominance he fancies himself to have.

He chuckled again.

Then suddenly, the scent was back and it was overpowering his stench. ,, Thank God.” I thought to myself, daring to mutter the words under my breath. I found myself peering over Randy’s shoulder, waiting on whoever the intoxicating scent I’d been following originally to show themselves.

And when he stepped out behind Randy and into view… If I thought I was wet before, whew… I was absolutely flooded beyond all hope now. I swallowed hard, biting my lip, locking eyes with him. Randy seemed to realize that my attention was wandering and this of course, only made him up his game.

His hips brushed boldly against mine and I cringed, pretending to gag when I felt the way Orton strained at his trunks. At the moment, Randy was completely and blissfully unaware as to what fate awaited him if he were stupid enough to turn around and honestly?

I’m enough of a bitch that I was hell bent on not alerting Randy to it, either. Instead, I took a few shaky breaths and stared up at him defiantly. “Why do I need you, Orton? They make vibrators bigger than that fun sized Tootsie Roll I’ve heard you’re packing every day of the week. I don’t need you. Or anyone.”

I knew that part was a lie because as all this was going on, my body was in a literal frenzy at the sight of my Alpha. My skin was tight, I could barely breathe. I was doing good to think straight and form words, honestly. I was a split second away from being overwhelmed. Because thanks to my Alpha showing themselves, my heat cycle went from a mild annoyance to almost intolerable within a split second.

I needed to get away from Randy. I needed to get somewhere and calm down. But I wanted to stay exactly where I was, curious to see if my Alpha was here for the reason I’d ventured out of hair and makeup in the first place.

So far, all he was doing was standing there. Watching my little confrontation with Randy. The tension in his body quickly gave away his feelings on the matter, however. And that’s what kept me quiet. Allowed me to let Randy keep digging his own damn grave.

Because it amused me.

And I needed to know that my Alpha was actually a good Alpha. I needed to know he’d protect me, no matter what. I also needed to know that he knew when to fuck off and allow me to handle things on my own.

I wanted to test his boundaries too, if I’m being perfectly honest.

Randy bit his lip, staring down at me as if I were food and he was a starving man. He raised a hand and rubbed his chin in thought, eyes not leaving mine for a second. “Why do you need me? Well, it’s like this, doll. I want you. And you’re not in the mindset right now to turn down any Alpha who offers himself up, just goin off of that sweet little scent you’ve got yourself right now. Just drop the act, princess. You and I both know that if you don’t find an Alpha, things are going to get real messy back here. Real fast. And I don’t think you want that now, do you hon?”

,, what I want is for you to back the fuck away. Find a tube of toothpaste or some cologne or a shower, something… anything to rid yourself of the stench you’ve got yourself.” the thought came but I was treading carefully, so I kept it internal, choosing only to give a soft laugh and roll my eyes at Randy instead.

“You know exactly zilch about me and my ‘delicate state’, first of all. Secondly? I wouldn’t choose you for my Alpha if you were the last one on earth.” I managed to get the words out. I managed to keep my eyes off of my actual Alpha, who still stood by watching intently, fists clenched tight now.

When he gave a quiet growl and started to approach, the flood in my panties only got so much worse.

And naturally, Randy thought this meant that something he’d said was getting through and that I was just playing hard to get… He pressed me against him, a hand going to my cheek as he gave a smug grin and let his gaze settle on me thoughtfully. “I knew it.”

“Like I said, Randy, you really don’t have a single fucking clue.” I tried to squirm free from his grasp but the fever raging in my body and the overwhelming scent of my true Alpha as he grew angrier and angrier combined with the slightest panic I was feeling at being fucking cornered like an animal by Orton, those were all working against me and I couldn’t extract myself.

His answer was to smirk and chuckle again. “You realize I can scent you and I know exactly what’s on your mind right now, right?”

“Good, then you know I want to stab you in the eyeball with my stiletto. Or reach down, grab that little shrimp dick of yours and twist til it comes off in my hands?” I quipped, a sweet smirk on my face as I boldly met his gaze. When I picked up on him, slowly inching his face closer to mine, I swallowed hard. It felt as if my throat were closing up and it was quickly becoming clear to me that if I thought I had this under control, I really didn’t. Randy wasn’t going to stop or go away. And he wasn’t going to let me get away either.

Desperately, I found my gaze shifting over Randy’s shoulder. I locked eyes with my Alpha and mouthed, “Any day now?…” almost impatiently. I wanted Randy the entire fuck away from me. And I was really starting to realize that I couldn’t achieve that on my own. I was fully in over my head.

Typical of me, I’m afraid.

I have to admit, the fact that my Alpha had yet to actually do anything had me in an internal uproar. It had me thinking that maybe I’d gotten the wrong read on him when I watched an earlier promo in the night.

Before I had a chance to consider it fully, that my Alpha might not be a good guy either, two things happened. One, Randy’s hand left my cheek and his mouth closed in even more, rough lips almost about to brush mine and disgusting stench for a moment blocking out the scent of my Alpha. His hand settled on my hip and he was pulling me against him. 

I planted a hand firmly against his chest, palm down. “What the--?” I didn’t even get to finish my sentence because from behind Randy, my Alpha’s throat cleared.

Randy grumbled to himself, picking up on the presence of my Alpha. But it was too late.

My Alpha locked eyes with me and nodded, indicating that I needed to move now, while Randy was distracted, and trust me, I wasted absolutely no time doing that. I extracted myself from between Randy and the wall I’d had my back pressed against and not even a split second later, my Alpha’s fist went smashing into Randy’s face and he had him pinned against the wall, a forearm across his throat.

And I didn’t think, I just ran.

I ran until I was out in the parking garage and then I stopped, catching my breath. It passed through my mind that maybe I should go back inside and at least attempt to be there when the brawl taking place in the hallway was over, but honestly?

I needed to get myself together. To get calm. To process and catch my breath and try to puzzle everything out.

And yeah, maybe parts of me were curious. Wondering if my Alpha would seek me out, or whether the incident in the hallway was just him stepping in because I asked…

The door to the garage flew open a few feet away and I rose up slightly, eyes darting around. The scent of my Alpha filled my senses and I bit my lip, taking a few shaky breaths right as he started to call my name. I opened my mouth to answer but nothing came. His footsteps were getting closer and closer.

My heart was racing and his scent hung heavily in the air around us, making me dizzy as the heat took over in my body. He touched me, and almost the instant I felt his hand on my shoulder, I could feel my body cooling down. This wave of relief washed over me and all I could think was that if this is what his touch felt like, I’d absolutely love more of it.

I inhaled deep, preparing myself to turn around…

[ roman ] [ drew ]

[heyyyharry]

Chapter 8: The Blacksmith’s Son

(from ‘The Conman and the Maid’ Series)

…in which Y/N meets Harry’s family and his first love.

Word count: 6.3k

AU: princess!y/n, conman!harry, prisoner!harry.

Series description: Y/N is a princess and Harry is a prisoner in her castle. With his help, she escapes from her arranged marriage in search of a happy ending, if there is one.

Wattpad link (original character Reyna as Y/N)

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Hemera, the capital of the kingdom of Theros, was one of the largest and richest cities in the world, as the inhabitants were mostly merchants. It was assessed through gates, enclosed by a protective wall, and punctuated with towers and arrow slits, therefore, was the safest and most dangerous place to be in a war.

If the enemies had taken over the castle, these were the first people whose blood would spill. The thought made Y/N shiver as she entered through the gate. Was it concerning that it was the first thing to cross her mind?

Shaking her head, she rode Thunder faster to catch up with Harry. Not a single person knew who she was as they passed her like she was one of them. Harry glanced over at her with a look of confusion on his face. If only she could explain to him why she couldn't stop smiling, but all she could do was ask him to slow down. They weren’t being chased anymore, at this moment at least.

The city was crowded with buildings. Situated at the centre the tall spire of a church. People on the streets wore colourful clothes, and there were indistinct conversations and laughter everywhere.

Y/N hadn’t been allowed to look outside her carriage when she’d come here with her family, so this almost felt like the first time she was here. As they travelled past some dancers on the main street watched by admiring ladies, one of the men handed her a rose and kissed her hand. Fascinated, she asked Harry if they could stay and watch. But he only gave the stranger a spiteful look and urged her to go faster.

They took a turn onto a less crowded street, and he inquired, "So where does your uncle live?"

"Uh...near the castle," she mumbled.

"Where specifically?" He slowed down for her to catch up, his voice cautious, "I mean, what's the street name?"

"I don't remember the name but I remember the route from the castle. Just take me there and I'll figure it out."

"It takes a day to go from here."

As he said nothing more and stared reluctantly at her, she asked, "so...what are we going to do?"

"We can...spend a night at my house. It's only fifteen minutes away and--"

"That's great! Let's go to your house then!"

Her excitement surprised him but couldn't stop the childlike smile from spreading across his face. He gave her a signal to follow, kicked his horse and rode ahead. It was silly how she'd gone through all that trouble to see her uncle, and now she was wishing tomorrow wouldn't come too fast. What would she do when she finally made it to the castle? Would she tell Harry the truth then, or before? How would he react? Would she ever get to see him again?

Besides, she still owed him an answer. She wished she’d said no when he’d asked that night. A conman courting a princess would be so absurd. Her uncle would never allow that. The people would never allow that. How was she going to choose between betraying her title and betraying him?

Just one more night, she told herself, pretend to be Rain for one more night, and whatever happens, will happen.

"Welcome to my village," Harry said in the least enthusiastic tone she had ever heard. But as she scanned her eyes around, his tone finally made sense. This must be the poorest area in the capital. It looked like a tiny version of what was happening in Isolde during the wintertime, except there was no other excuse for these people to look angry and tired other than being poor.

She tried to keep the smile on her face so she wouldn't hurt his feelings, but it'd be a lie to say she wasn't disappointed.

"Harry!" A young woman dropped her buckets full of water the second she saw their horses from afar. Harry jumped off Lightning to catch her in his arms and lifted her feet off the ground with his strong bear hug, while she was sobbing into his neck.

"Gemma," he breathed harshly, his eyes pressed shut. That was his sister. She’d thought he was dead like all the other Southerners who’d entered Isolde. Y/N gracefully got off her horse and led Thunder toward them.

"Thank Heaven, you're still alive!" Gemma said as Harry wiped away her tears and kissed her forehead. "They told me that you were captured. How did you escape?"

"I got some help," he said, turning back to Y/N.

Gemma's eyes went wide as Y/N said hello. But before Y/N could properly introduce herself, the woman wrapped both arms around her and trapped her in a suffocating hug. "I don't know who you are, but thank you for saving his life."

Y/N looked at Harry, a smile stretching her lips. To his sister, she said, "it was your brother who saved my life."

Gemma let her go but kept both hands tight on Y/N's shoulders. "I'm so glad he met you. You're so kind and beautiful."

"Thank you," Y/N said shyly. The word 'beautiful' fitted Princess Y/N better than it did Rain. Rain -- the princess' maid, dirty hands, messy hair, wearing rags for clothes -- was far from beautiful. Still, it made her happy whether Gemma had meant it or just being nice.

After hearing the short version of what Harry and Y/N had gone through, Gemma got emotional and insisted that Y/N stayed with them for a few days. But Y/N kindly refused because she had to leave tomorrow morning.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see Harry's smile fading.

"Come inside!" Gemma tugged at Y/N's arm, pushing Harry's shoulder. "Ma will be so happy to see you."

Y/N almost forgot that he had a mother, who was sick. He'd never mentioned what illness it was, but ever since he left, Gemma had been staying at this house instead of her husband's because their mother couldn't be left alone.

Following them, Y/N slipped through the curtains into a room dimly lit by sunlight from a square window above the bed, where lay Harry's mother.

"Ma, look who's home," Gemma said.

Y/N stood by the entrance, hand wrapped around Harry's forearm. Flashbacks ran through her mind, and she saw herself rushing into her mother’s chamber the night her mother had passed away. The memory sent a cold shiver down her spine as she leaned closer to Harry.

His mother weakly propped herself up and sat upright with Gemma's support. The second she saw Harry's face, however, she gasped and jumped right out of the bed. Y/N let him go as a reflex, and his mother threw her arms around his neck, tears running down her face.

"Ed! My dear Ed, you're home!" she wailed and turned to Gemma. "Go get your brother, Gemma! Your father is home!"

Y/N was frozen to the spot, her mouth formed a silent 'o' as Gemma gave her a sad smile and quietly left the room. Harry kissed his mother's forehead and whispered, "I'm here, my love," in her ear, his eyes locked with Y/N's. "It's me, your dear Ed. I'm home."

.

.

.

Y/N had known that Harry’s childhood had been unpleasant, but this was far from what she’d expected. She should be upset that he hadn’t trusted her enough to tell her about his mother’s sickness, but she knew this wasn’t easy to talk about. His mother was mentally ill, which was why all the good doctors in the land could not cure her. She’d lost her mind since her husband had sacrificed himself to protect their family in a war between the South and the North.

She’d been right to worry. The people in the capital were always the first to suffer the consequences of war.

"Sometimes she remembers who I am. But most of the time, I'm her dear Ed," Harry chuckled, leaning a shoulder against the door while toying with the gold ring on her finger. They were outside the house, while Gemma stayed in the bedroom to keep an eye on her mother. The poor woman was finally getting some sleep without waking up every five minutes calling out her late husband's name.

"She’s been sick since I was born, but it only got worse after he’d died. The kids around here used to call her the crazy lady, and I was so ashamed of her that I even joined them and made fun of her when we ran into her on the street. Those kids didn’t know I was her son because she didn't remember me, but I always felt so shitty afterwards."

Y/N stepped closer, putting a hand to Harry's cheek as his hand rested on her lower back. "When we first met, you joked that I talked like the crazy lady in your village," she recalled, making him laugh as he wiped away a tear.

"Yeah. You still remind me of my mum." He brushed a strand of hair out of her face, his lips arched. "You're so gentle yet headstrong. In a good way, of course."

"Oh, Harry." She tiptoed, pulled his face down and kissed him with a tenderness that made her chest throb. It was a terrible idea to be affectionate towards him when she had to turn him down eventually, but she couldn't help it. She loved him.

The thought of saying goodbye and never seeing him again formed the tears that stung her eyes. When she heard his warm laughter, she glanced back up, and he cupped her face between his palms, their lips meeting again. She kissed him back. But she wasn't allowed to. She had to stop. Now.

"Harry.” She jerked away, both of them breathless. "Can you show me around?"

He rolled his eyes, bringing her hand to his chest. "There's nothing to see here, Peach. This village is like a big funeral. Because we all die a little bit every day."

Y/N swatted his chest for that joke as both of them guffawed. "Well, I'm already dressed in black." She lifted her skirt. "So would you like to be my escort to this funeral?"

"That'd be my pleasure, Lady Peach." He intertwined their fingers together and kissed the back of her hand, a smile touching his pink lips.

.

.

.

The market was probably the most crowded place in this village. It was not very different from the ones she'd been to before, only less full, so she didn't have to worry about slipping into a sea of strangers. Most sellers were cold and distant, but there were a few nice old ladies who recognised Harry and pinched his cheeks as he stopped by.

One lady asked if Y/N was his wife. He neither confirmed nor denied it, but he did steal a glimpse at her to see her reaction. She blushed and smiled back. In the fictional world inside her head, however, she wasn't a princess, they were married, and lived happily ever after.

"There are headbands over there and you decided to buy a bloody dagger," he joked when she gave the coins to the merchant and turned back to him, swinging the pointy blade in a silly manner that made him snort.

"Be careful with that, sexy. You might hurt yourself," said the middle-aged man who owned the shop.

Before she could respond, Harry snatched the weapon from her hand and stabbed it into the desk. The wooden surface cracked down to the centre. He yanked the dagger out of the wood and tossed it to her. She caught it effortlessly. All had happened in two seconds.

"That's my wife you were talking to." Harry scowled at the man whose face was colourless. "The last person who’d messed with her got his balls cut off and fed to our dog Whiskers. Right, darling?"

Whiskers. What a funny name for a dog. "Right, my dear," she said, smiling at the man's crotch, and he recoiled behind his counter like a scared little mouse.

Harry smoothed his palm over the crack on the table, and with a smirk, took her hand and escorted her away. When they had left the market, she turned to him and pointed the tip of her blade to the opening of his shirt, batting her lashes seductively. "Was that a proposal I heard?"

That joke stopped him in his tracks. He took her hand that was holding the dagger, put the dagger back into its sheath at her waist and held her hips, drawing her closer. Their eyes locked, her heart pounding. "You still owed me an answer, Peach. One question at a time."

A thousand voices in Y/N's head were screaming no, but the butterflies in her stomach were cheering her on. Fuck it! she thought and pulled his mouth down to hers, arms tightened around his necks as his encircled her waist. A cool breeze blew through their clothes and they pulled back just a bit to catch their breath. He smelt so nice, like pine trees, wildflowers, and home.

"I kept thinking about us...at the waterfall," he whispered, his voice so husky it sent a shiver down her spine. She felt as if his fingertips were burning through the thin fabric of her shirt and trembled as she brought both hands to his face. If this was wrong, she never wanted to be right again.

"Harry, I--"

"Are we fucking on the street now?"

The voice made them spring apart. Harry kept his fingers around her wrist, staring dagger at the man in front of them.

"Gideon," he spat out the name with disgust. She’d never heard about this guy before, but from Harry's previous reaction, she assumed they weren't exactly friends.

With a contemptuous smile, Gideon made his way toward them. He was more muscular than Harry, just not as good looking. And the fabric he was wearing was expensive. He surely wasn't from here. He put his hands on his hips, looking Harry up and down. "I haven't seen you in a while. Didn't they say you were dead?"

"Let's go, Peach."

"Oooh, is this your new girl?" Gideon reached for her arm when they sidestepped him. As a reflex, Harry grabbed her dagger. She caught his wrist as Gideon bounced back, hands shot in the air.

"Don't fucking touch her or I'll cut your damn fingers off."

The threat startled her, but Gideon was unfazed; he relished Harry's anger. The bastard rubbed his chin, eyeing her up, a smirk tugging at his thin lips. "Does she feel as good as Kennedy?" His question turned her stiff. "Or should I also fuck her to find out myself?"

"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

"Harry!" She tightened her grip around Harry's waist as Gideon started walking backwards with the assholest smirk. Harry was giving him exactly what he wanted.

"You don't deserve Kenny, you piece of shit! Don't let me see you again!"

She held Harry tightly until Gideon was gone. A few villagers gave them judgemental stares as they passed by, but she didn't give a damn about them. She had never seen her Harry so enraged and violent. His face was red, the veins popped out on his neck, and his jaw and fists were clenched tight.

That must be Kenny's husband -- the rich man she'd agreed to marry because she thought Harry was dead. Was that why Harry hated him so much? Or had there been a long history between them? She hoped it was the latter. Because she wouldn't know what to do if deep down Harry still longed for the first love that had gotten away.

"Are you all right?" he asked, his voice was much gentler as he stared down at her with concerned eyes. There was her Harry.

"Yes. Are you?" She held his wrists while he was cupping her face.

He seemed indisposed to speak. "That bastard doesn't live in this village anymore. But you should stay away from him."

"Was that Kenny's husband?" To her disappointment, he gave her nothing but a "yes" to confirm what she already knew.

It must be difficult for him to mention Kenny in front of her. Though they weren't exactly lovers, they had been acting like it for the last couple of weeks. But if he couldn't say the name of his first love unless he was angry with whom she'd married, then she might still mean something to him. Unsettling thoughts crept back into Y/N's head. Too many fucking thoughts. Too many fucking feelings.

.

.

.

They arrived back at Harry's house before sunset to help Gemma with dinner. Gemma was talking to her husband outside the house. The second he saw Y/N, he ran to hug her like they were old friends.

One lesson Y/N had learned since she’d left the North was that normal people loved hugs, whereas royalty hated body contact for some reason she still couldn't figure out. It used to be so odd and uncomfortable for her, but she liked it now, very much.

Gemma's husband was a hunter. His name was Caleb. He looked older than Gemma, and borderline scary, with his big beard and many scars on his arms. But from the way he interacted with his wife, Y/N could tell he was a nice family man. Caleb and Gemma reminded Y/N of her parents somehow. The bittersweet comparison made her heart tingle.

Once the introductions were through, they came into the house and sat around the table to chat. Meanwhile, Gemma was preparing the meal in the kitchen. Y/N had volunteered to help though she had never cooked before. However, she'd learned how to use a sword, shoot arrows, and ride a horse, so cooking should be easy.

Gemma insisted that she worked alone, though. She said the men were useless and Y/N was a guest. Besides, Caleb didn't leave Y/N alone with his endless questions about her kingdom and life in her father's castle.

He said he’d never left this village and was curious to know what was beyond Wind Valley. How Harry and Y/N had crossed it was still beyond his imagination. Caleb's life must be so easy. For her, the less you knew about the world, the easier your life was.

She didn't participate much in the conversation and let Harry do most of the talking, and he seemed fine with it. He was talking happily again as if their earlier encounter with Gideon hadn't almost triggered him to kill a man. He didn't seem like himself. That was not her Harry.

The footsteps at the entrance of the house made all three of them turn their heads. In the doorway stood a young girl, a beautiful one, with long brown hair and a gentle-looking face.

Kenny. The name sprung up in Y/N's head when Harry jumped to his feet and took the girl in his arms. Her arms were locked around his neck, her eyes shut, a crease appeared between her brows as she held him closer. They stayed attached as if they were the only people in the room, and everyone else, including Y/N, had faded into dust.

Y/N's chest throbbed unpleasantly at the sight, while her fingers clawed at the wooden surface of the table.

Harry finally let go, and Kenny began to inspect his face. "I thought...I thought you were--" She slapped a hand over her mouth, too emotional to finish that sentence. Y/N's heart was rattling inside her chest when Kenny traced her fingertips across his features. Suddenly, she burst into tears and hugged him again.

He rubbed her back, laughing softly, "It's okay. I'm safe now. I'm home." That was the same tone he'd used earlier when he was talking to his mother and pretending to be his deceased dad. Almost the same words too.

Why was he talking to Kenny like that? Why did he sound like a husband reuniting with his wife? That's somebody else's wife, cried the voice inside her head. But she knew her subconscious mind didn't really care. She was only jealous of the bond they had, too embarrassed to even admit it to herself.

When Harry and Kenny finally joined them at the table, Harry's eyes met Y/N's and his beam vanished. She didn't know what it meant -- Guilt? Disappointment? Or regret? Was this the moment he finally realised he'd been living a false fantasy this whole time? Now that he finally felt something real again? The lump in Y/N's throat grew almost too big, suffocating her.

Caleb switched his eyes from Y/N, to Harry, and to Kenny, quickly catching on to what was happening, so he turned around in his seat and told Gemma, who was at the back of the house, "Kenny's here!"

"Oh, Kenny! When did you get here?"

Kenny let out a soft laugh as she arched her neck and shouted back, "Just this morning! I came to visit my mum!"

Y/N shifted her gaze from the girl to her hands on the table. Kenny didn't live in this village anymore. Harry had said that. She hoped Kenny wouldn't stay for long.

"I'm spending the night at my mother's house," Kenny said to Harry and Caleb, making Y/N's heart sink. "My hus--Gideon...has already gone back home."

Why didn't she say her husband? What was she afraid of? Harry wasn't in love with her anymore. Did she know that? The questions were pounding in Y/N's head as she thinned her lips, breathing in again.

"This is Rain," Harry finally said. Her eyes bounced from her hands up to his face to catch his smile.

Suddenly, she was angry at him. He didn't get to smile and act like he hadn't just snuggled up to another woman. Still, she turned to Kenny and introduced herself, once again saying the fake name she'd gotten tired of.

"I'm Kennedy, but everyone calls me Kenny. I'm Harry's...best friend." That little pause made such a big difference, which annoyed Y/N. Still, she kept that remark to herself.

The rest of the conversation was just Caleb asking Kenny about her family, and her answering reluctantly whenever she had to bring up her husband. Her freaking husband -- the one she was married to and would spend the rest of her life with.

Y/N was fuming inside. But once she had calmed down, it occurred to her that she and Kenny were not much different. When she reunited with her uncle, she would be royalty again, which meant she would never see Harry again, and one day have to marry a prince or a king. She would love her husband, because why would she settle for an unhappy marriage? But would she ever forget Harry, her first real love?

He was also Kenny's first real love, and maybe still Kenny's only one. She shouldn't be angry at Kenny; she should feel sorry for her, sympathise with her. Because neither of them could end up with him.

Caleb stopped his story midway as he remembered he hadn't gotten the horses back from his brother's stable. He asked Harry to go with him, promising that it wouldn't take long, and Harry was happy to help. But from the look he gave Y/N before walking through the door, she knew he worried about leaving her and Kenny alone.

Did he think she was going to hurt his precious little Kenny?

Y/N felt her stomach churn as the men departed. Silence hung over the room for what seemed like forever. Her ugly nails suddenly became so fascinating that she could continue staring at them for the rest of the night, just so she wouldn't have to chat with Kenny. They really had nothing in common but Harry. It wasn't like they would start talking about him.

"What do you think of Harry?"

But Y/N guessed she was wrong. She glanced back up, meeting Kenny's chocolate eyes, and her lips twitched slightly. "What do you mean?"

"Do you...have feelings for him?"

She appreciated Kenny's straightforwardness though it made her uncomfortable. Was this the kind of topic people who shared the same love interest normally discussed? She had never experienced anything like this before, so she hoped she wasn't making a fool out of herself.

"No," she said when she couldn't find any reason to tell the truth. She thought it was only fair that it was Kenny's turn to answer her own question. But Kenny said nothing. Instead, she complimented Y/N's delicate features and called her beautiful.

Kenny was more beautiful than her. If this girl put on an expensive gown and a crown, she could be a real princess. Princes and gentlemen would be lining up to ask for her hand. She wouldn't have to settle for that rude Gideon. Maybe then, when she had so many great options, she would leave Harry alone.

Y/N couldn't believe it. Did she really consider playing matchmaker just to get rid of Kenny? That was low for a princess. She almost didn't recognise herself.

The silence, once again, began to stretch. She was waiting for Kenny to ask about her adventure with Harry. At least Stefan, Caleb, and Gemma had. People were usually curious about the story. But Kenny didn't raise a single question. She was fine with knowing that Rain, who used to be a maid in King Willem's castle, had helped Harry out of prison, somehow they had made it back to Theros alive, and most importantly, Rain allegedly didn't have feelings for Harry. That seemed to be enough for Kenny.

The flame in the fireplace was dancing in Kenny's eyes as she spoke again, "can I tell you a secret?"

Y/N grew stiff. "A secret?"

"Yes. But you cannot tell anyone."

"But...Why me?"

"Because we just met. I'd rather be judged by someone I just met than someone I know," Kenny said, her smile fading.

Y/N straightened her back and took a deep breath. That sounded like a justified answer. But she hoped the secret wasn't something as serious as Kenny having committed murder. Y/N already had a hard time dealing with her own crimes; she couldn't take on someone else's guilt.

"I'm not here to see my mum," Kenny said, and Y/N stopped picking at her own arm. "I lied to Gideon that my mother was sick so he would let me go. He didn't care about my mother to even check on her to see if I was lying. I came because...because my sister's husband saw Harry at the gate. I had to see for myself if that was true."

Y/N didn't know what to say. A part of her had always known Kenny had come back to this village because Harry was home. To hear it from the girl only made it worse.

"My father was poor, so my mother wanted me and my sisters to marry rich. She didn't approve of Harry. She said, 'as long as I'm still your mother, you will not marry the blacksmith's son.'" Kenny raised her eyebrows as she simpered, "She was so happy to hear that he was dead. She didn't care that it nearly killed me."

Y/N knew exactly how it felt. She thinned her lips and scrutinised Kenny. Her feelings towards this girl kept shifting back and forth between jealousy and sympathy. But the next thing Kenny said sent her brain into lockdown, "I'll ask him to run away with me."

What did she mean? Ask whom to run away with her? Harry? Y/N's Harry?

"I'll ask him tonight. We'll run far away from here and start a family. And we'll come back to visit his family once in a while. I don't care about Gideon's wealth, only my mother does. He doesn't love me. And I can't love him." Kenny placed her hands over Y/N's, her voice desperate yet hopeful. "I was so relieved to know that you're only his friend. Because I could...I could never compete with you."

What was happening? Please, stop. Stop talking, please...

"I'm telling you this because I need to get it off my chest. No one has loved me the way Harry did. D-Do you...do you think he still does?"

Y/N could say no. She wanted to say no and tell Kenny to get rid of that idea because Harry was hers now. But her conscience didn't let her answer on his behalf. When did he ever say that he was hers? She had made it up all in her head because she loved him and felt possessive of him. She didn't know what he wanted. It might not be her.

She parted her lips, her breathing unsteady as Kenny squeezed her hands, asking for the answer she couldn't give. The words rolled out of her tongue before she could swallow them, "You should ask him."

"Really?" Kenny said brightly, and Y/N nodded her head, her smile didn't reach her eyes. "Thank you! I'll speak to him in private after dinner. Then, I'll ask him."

And Y/N would wait. She hoped there was ale. She would drink a lot of ale while expecting the worst.

"Kenny, can you lend me a hand?"

"Coming!" Kenny shouted back to Gemma and hurried to the back of the house. Quickly, Y/N got to her feet and rushed after her.

In the kitchen full of cooking smoke, Gemma was struggling with the steaming pot of soup while making sure the fire was going at a steady heat. Y/N didn't know how it worked. She had never watched people cook before.

She stood rigid in the doorway as Gemma asked Kenny to fry the fish. Kenny gracefully moved around the chairs and collected different ingredients on the crooked shelves. Y/N watched them carry out their tasks so effortlessly, like when she danced with her sword. Sword-fighting suddenly looked like a children's game now.

"Just leave us, Rain. You don't have to do anything," Gemma said, and Y/N should have fled right away. But she was her father's daughter. Arrogance ran in her blood. She had to go in.

"I want to help," she said and padded across the kitchen to where Gemma was standing.

"Okay." Gemma nodded her head at the raw pork on one of the dishes. "You can roast the pork."

Y/N rubbed her eyes as the smoke made them water and fumbled through the ingredients and vegetables. She had no clue how to start. How should pork be roasted? What should it be roasted with? Did you start by chopping it, or putting the ingredients on it? Wait, did you put ingredients directly on the pork, or into the pot?

"Are you looking for onions?" Kenny's voice made her spin around.

"Yes, onions!" She accepted those from Kenny. Thank you, Kenny.

She believed she had seen Stefan cut an onion before. If she wasn't engulfed in smoke, she would have recalled it already. She picked up a random knife she saw on the table, staring attentively at the round vegetable as if it was the first time she'd seen it. It was in the wrong colour! Right, she must peel its skin first.

She wiped the beads of sweat upon her brows with her sleeve and started peeling. She had to do it quickly so Gemma and Kenny wouldn't get suspicious. Once she had the white onions that looked like the ones Stefan had cooked, she picked up the knife again. Thanks to her sword skills, she chopped them perfectly and wiped her hands with a cloth.

"Here. Use this pan." Gemma handed her a pan and that was actually the first time she'd held it in her hands. But these women should not know that. She was Rain, not Princess Y/N of Isolde. Rain was a maid, who should be an expert of pans and pots.

She suppressed a smile at her own stupid joke and poured a bit of oil into the pan. Look at her. She was cooking like she'd done it since she was born. She proudly placed the pan over the fire. But right as she put the onions in, the oil splattered onto her arms and she bounced back, dropped the pan and bumped into Gemma.

The world stopped. Four eyes set on her. She stumbled over her apology and blindly reached for the pan to pick it up. The heat stung her fingertip and she jerked away, sucking the burnt finger into her mouth.

As her heart finally slowed down, she stared at the oil-covered onions on the ground. She'd not only ruined dinner, but also her dignity.

"Are you okay?" Gemma grabbed Y/N's arm, but she pulled away, her mouth wrinkled. It was meant to be a smile, but she was on the verge of tears.

When Kenny asked, "Would you like to lie down for a moment?" and told Gemma, "She's probably exhausted," Y/N almost screamed at her to shut up and stop being so nice.

She couldn't hate Kenny if Kenny was nice. Why wasn't Kenny a money-hungry monster, or only mean to her when Harry wasn't around? She wanted to hate Kenny so much. She needed a reason to believe Kenny didn't deserve Harry. But Kenny was too freaking nice to her. Kenny was perfect. And Y/N couldn't even fry onions.

Before she could utter another word, Harry's mother appeared in the doorway. The woman squealed when she saw Kenny and ran to give her a hug. "I miss you, my sweet daughter-in-law. Where's your husband? Where's my son?"

Daughter-in-law?

"Uh...He went out with Caleb. He'd be back soon," Kenny said with a smile.

Harry's mother pinched her chin. "What about your puppy Whiskers? Does he eat well?"

Whiskers? Was that the name Harry had given his and Y/N's imaginary dog? Except it wasn't theirs. It was his and Kenny's first.

Y/N could see him and Kenny telling the same joke and sketching out their bright future, where they were married and had a dog named Whiskers. That was the future they could have if they ran away tonight.

"Let's go, Ma. It's not safe for you to be here," Gemma said and led the sick woman out of the kitchen.

Kenny looked over at Y/N and lifted a shoulder. "Mama Styles doesn't know what she's talking about. She thinks I'm married to Harry."

"And you let her believe that?" Y/N blurted as she couldn't help it, but Kenny didn't seem offended at all.

"I often came over to check on her after Harry was away. I never said that I was his wife, she just assumed that I was, because I always gave her news of him to keep him alive inside her head." Kenny's jaw worked for a moment, her thick eyelashes fluttering to hold back tears. "She has a weak heart. She wouldn't have been able to handle such terrible news. I told her that he was a merchant so he always travelled and didn't have time to visit her. But she wasn't angry at him. She was happy to know that he had a decent job, and alive. She enjoyed the made-up stories about us and our dog Whiskers." Kenny paused for a moment. "We'd always said we'd get a dog."

The girl ended the last sentence with a laugh, so soft yet so destructive. It caused Y/N more pain than her burnt finger. She was burning from inside out; her heart was inflamed. This fire couldn't be put out.

Tears stung her eyes but she tried to hold them back. She wasn't going to cry in front of Kenny.

"The men are home. Let's feast!" Gemma exclaimed brightly as she dashed into the kitchen, putting an end to the depressing atmosphere.

Y/N carried the dishes outside to set the table. Her footsteps faltered when she heard Harry's voice and saw him come in through the front door. He smiled at her. And she smiled back. She felt like crying again.

.

.

.

Dinner was awful. Not the food. The food was great -- though there was no fried onion because Y/N had wasted the last ones -- everyone's exuberance was what made it so awful. Even though her stomach was growling, she ate very little.

Harry's mother paused the conversations a few times to ask, "who's this girl?" Y/N had lost count of the times she'd repeated her fake name, but the old woman still couldn't remember it. She already had a daughter-in-law, anyway. Why should she remember the name of a stranger?

When dinner was over, Y/N helped Gemma clean the table. She overheard Kenny ask Harry to meet her outside but decided to turn a blind eye to them and return to the kitchen. She busied herself washing the dishes. She was less clumsy when she was sad, which was a good thing. She finished the work quickly without breaking anything and then excused herself to go back to her room.

'Room' was such a fancy word. It was a storage place with a window. Gemma had rearranged it to leave just enough space for a dirty mattress on the floor. But Y/N didn't mind. It was still better than sleeping in the woods.

She sat on the mattress, hugging her knees to her chest and letting her worries consume her. She didn't know how long she'd been sitting there when the wooden door creaked open and warm light split her face into matching halves. Harry stepped in and shut the door again.

"Why are you sitting in the dark?" he asked in hushed tones and sat down in front of her.

"It's not dark. There's the moon."

Her answer made him smile. His eyes moved to the little window above her head. "There's the moon," he repeated as if he'd never noticed the moon before.

Seconds were ticking away in silence. Why hadn't he said anything? Did he come in to tell her what she was afraid to hear? That must be the reason why he was silent. He was trying to find the right words to break this news to her, to break her heart. How stupid she was to think she could compete with his first love.

Silence became loud. Too loud. Deafening. She had to break herself out of the prison inside her head. If this must end, he deserved to know the truth. His eyes met hers as she worked her jaw. She had spent all that time sitting here practising her speech. But with his presence, the words got stuck at the back of her throat and wouldn't come out.

Say it. Say it. Say--

"My real name is Y/N. Daughter of King Willem. Princess of Isolde."

[sodapaladin]

Top 10 Games of 2020

Time again for PawelCyril/SodaPaladin’s GOTY 2020 countdown! As usual, these are not games that came out in 2020, but games that I played in 2020. At least when it came to gaming, I had a great year.

Honorable Mentions: Final Fantasy VIII: I loved everything about this game except for the actual gameplay. I didn’t enjoy the battle system one bit. Far too many flawed ideas. But everything else was so enjoyable. The story was cheesy and ridiculous, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. It might actually be my favorite main Final Fantasy.

Fall Guys: This TV show-esque challenge is tons of fun with friends, even though I’ve still yet to win a single time. See Saw is the worst game, btw, and if you like it, I hate you. :)

Sonic Mania: Best Sonic game in years that made me smile from ear to ear, but I forgot if I played it this year or last year, so I’ll put it here haha.

10. Super Metroid: I finally played my “first” Metroid game after years of friends badgering me, and they were right. It’s a good game. I’m not as wild about the music and map design as some people, but it is indeed a fun game that holds up well. The atmosphere of the ghost ship was incredible.

9: Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution: I’m a casual Yugioh fan at best, having not played since the GX era. I like the original manga and first few anime series, but everything in the past decade is a mystery to me. Feeling nostalgic, I bought this hoping it wouldn’t be too overwhelming, and was pleasantly surprised with how accessible it is to all sorts of fans. There are tons of cards and opponents from all eras of Yugioh. I’ve learned to play with the new abilities, and can also enjoy the rules like I’m used to by playing through Duelist Kingdom. I didn’t expect to enjoy this as much as I do, but I could easily put dozens of more hours in.

8: Ogre Battle 64: I’m still apparently near the beginning of this game after 40 hours, because I’m the slowest gamer on earth, but I’m enjoying every minute of it. While I love strategy games, they tend to be turn-based. This RTS RPG has been super satisfying.

7: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night: It’s exactly what I expected it to be: Symphony of the Night 2. And that’s a good thing. I have some minor gripes with the bloated inventory and crafting systems, but the core exploration is a joy.

6: Super Mario Odyssey: Of course it’s great. I’m sure everybody knows this already, so I don’t have much to say. The amount of love put into all of the costume references made me smile with each one. Rocking the Picross explorer suit!

5: Persona 5 Royal: I hadn’t put too much time into the vanilla P5, so I figured I may as well play the definitive version when I saw it on sale. I have loads of complaints about the story, characters, and abysmal pacing, but despite all of that, it’s still a stylish, fun game that I’m enjoying a lot.

4: Animal Crossing New Horizons: You all knew this would be on here. The timing for this game was perfect. I haven’t touched it in a couple months now only because I know I’ll get sucked back in, and I’ve already put in a couple hundred hours.

3: Street Fighter III: Third Strike: Never expected to get into fighting games this year, but here we are. I picked up the SF Anniversary Collection on a whim because it was a sale. I mainly intended to play SF2, the one I’m most familiar with, but gave Third Strike a try because my good friend @arkthepieking recommended it. I can see why. This game is smooth. I’ve since tried other fighting games to recapture that magic, but I started with the best. The intrinsic motivation of winning through your own skill, from hard work and practice, is such a great feeling. Makoto forever.

2: Moon: Remix RPG Adventure: As a fan of Chulip, I had been curious about Moon for a long time, and I’m so happy it finally was released in English. It’s exactly what I hoped it would be: Chulip 0. The core ideas are still there, but better executed due to being less punishing. The music system where you buy CDs was a fun, novel idea at the time, and the atmosphere as a whole is charming. It’s an incredible, unique experience that I don’t think everyone would enjoy, but those who give it a chance may discover something wonderful.

1: Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling: Sometimes with spiritual successor fan games, I can’t help but feel I’d rather play the original. Like I love WarGroove, but it doesn’t quite scratch the same itch as just playing Advance Wars sometimes. I expected Bug Fables to be a cute love letter to Paper Mario, but it blew my expectations away. I would dare say it even surpasses Paper Mario in many ways. Everything about it is a delight. The story, the characters, the battles, the music, and the setting. There are tons of sidequests for backstory and lore, too. The main trio are so likeable, each having their own motivations and feeling like the main character of their own story, and I’m amazed at how naturally they warmed up to each other over the course of the game. Bug Fables may be one of my favorite games period, and I cannot emphasize enough how much I love it.

[infinitestarsintheskye]

The Lady and the Chauffeur Name Thing

So at the end of my LAST installment of my FS Downton Abbey AU, Christmas at the Abbey, I promised that if ONE person wanted an explanation of the many new names that popped up I would write it. Well many weeks ago now the lovely @valentinaonthemoon asked for such a list, and I am a woman of my word, even if I completely forgot about and only remembered about it just now. I’m going to pop it under a read more bc it is going to get LONG  and also contain ALL OF THE SPOILERS for that series. 

OKAY SO

We’ll do this in birth order I think. Nicknames are in () 

Eilidh May FitzSimmons, born December 12th 1919 - The first of the many babies!! As many of you will know if you have been following me for a while, Eilidh May was, pre-finale of course, my utter ride or die name for baby girl Fitzsimmons. I think I have like three or four fics with this particular name in it, I loved it so much. Eilidh is the Scottish variation of Helen, and means sun-ray, which ugh wouldn’t that just be so perfect for a little FitzSimmons baby. I was just utterly in love with the idea of FS giving their baby a Scottish name (as you will see in the NEXT FS baby) and the fact that this had a space/star/sun/celestial twist to it just absolutely SOLD IT for me. I should add, for all my non-scottish followers that Eilidh is pronounced Ay-Lee. I have no idea how gaelic pronunciation works, I just know how to say it.  Her middle name, May, doesn’t need much explanation. I just loved the idea of them giving their little girl a middle name after someone on the team. 

George (Georgie) Lincoln Campbell, born 2nd October 1921 - Okay ngl, I got real lazy with this name. Mary and Matthew’s (who Daisy and Lincoln were in the place of in this fic) son was also named George, and I liked it, I thought it would be cute if he was called Georgie, as a bit of a variation. His middle name comes from his father, obvi, who, in keeping with BOTH canons (the noise I made when I figured out I could do that I swear. I’m so sorry Lincoln it was just far too good an opportunity to pass up), I killed off on the day he was born. My apologies. 

Hamish Phillip FitzSimmons, born 6th January 1922 - Oh this name. A lot of people REALLY don’t like this name, which is fine. As I said with Eilidh, I was really on a kick of giving FS babies Scottish names. I originally dismissed Hamish, and it just wouldn’t leave me alone, and just utterly grew on me. I actually went to school with a Hamish, he was a fair few years below me and he was just the tiniest, most adorable little toot! From what I can gather, Hamish is an anglicised version of Seamus or Seumus, which is the gaelic version of James, which is a very long and roundabout way of honouring Fitz’s middle name, but I still love having that connection. The middle name, Phillip, again, this name was a love of mine before this fic came about and it just seemed so natural to me that they would name their son after Coulson, and there was just no other name I liked so much with Hamish 

 Kathleen (Kathy) Skye FitzSimmons, born 30th May 1925 - I have no really grand explanation for this name, other than Kathleen is a special name to me, and I love using it in stories. It fit in well I thought with the 1920′s style of naming (yes I did that extensive googling) and as I say it is a very dear name to me and FitzSimmons are deserving of it. Skye, again, I’m just going through the checklist of names from the team. This was in NO WAY  a narcissistic naming, I promise, I just really think they’d give their child that as a middle name, as also this was my way of slipping a lil bit of Scottish into her name too. Just a smidge :)

 Hazel June Sousa, born 14th October 1926 - Oh Hazel. Hazel is just a name I really love. It is also the name of a dear friend of mine who I don’t get to see very often, and I just love it. Honestly I was just trying to find names that worked with the last name Sousa and Hazel just popped into my head. Again it works with 1920′s naming trends, (again with the googling) and yeah I just really love it. The middle name June comes from the fact that in this fic, Daisy and Sousa get married in the month of June. I thought that was a nice way of honouring their relationship, through their daughters name :)

Finley (Flint) Alphonso Mackenzie, born 28th May 1927 - So Mack and Elena adopting Flint is basically canon isn’t it??!?!? He is their son I will have no arguments. SO finding a name that Flint would work for as a nickname, bc lets be real no one was naming their child Flint in 1926, I had to find a roundabout way, was NOT EASY. I still have no idea how Flint could come from Finley, but it is close enough to make sense. By the time I got to Flint I had already named five children and was getting a bit lazy, and so his middle name is just the same as his fathers first name, which is still a very common middle name tactic. 

Emily Lorna FitzSimmons, born 12th October 1927 - Again, by the time I got to poor little Emily, I had named six children already. Emily I just like. Every Emily I have ever met has honestly been the nicest and sweetest person I have ever known. It has a good track record for me and it just sounds so nice with Fitzsimmons. Lorna, Lorna comes from my own personal headcanon for Fitz’s mum’s name, and so I think that’s where Lorna comes from, as a way of honouring Fitz’s mum.  It is also believed to derive from the name of the Scottish town Lorne, so snuck another bit of Scotland into baby FitzSimmons’s name :) 

Arthur (Archie) James FitzSimmons, born 14th August 1929 - If you all cast your minds back, at the very start of the Lady and the Chauffeur, I named Jemma’s dad, Lord Shieldshire, Arthur Simmons. So this was my way of honouring dear old Donk, but they call him Archie, just so he’s his own wee man. James, again, got a bit lazy, same middle name as Fitz. Also v Scottish name, we are 5/5 for Scottish baby FitzSimmons :)

Eve Margaret Sousa, born December 24th 1929 - Eve, well, she was born on Christmas Eve. I cast around for ages trying to find Christmasy names. She was Robyn for a little while, I considered Noel, but that felt a little too contemporary, so she was Eve! And yes, Margaret is my little wink to Agent Carter. I couldn’t help myself. 

Violet Faith Mackenzie, born 6th April 1930 - I actually had a lot of fun finding this name. I briefly considered calling her Hope, but no, that felt a little too on the nose for me. The name Violet comes from obviously the little purple flower, but the flower itself means hope, which I liked. Out of the three surnames, I feel like Mackenzie is the easiest out of all of them to find names for, (maybe it’s because I’m Scottish and know a fair few people with that Mac/Mc sound at the start of their surname) and I played around with a few possibilities, but honestly I just fell in love with Violet. Faith comes from the fact that faith is very important to both Mack and Elena and I wanted to consider that and honour that in the naming of their little girl. 

 Edward (Teddy) Donald FitzSimmons, born December 1st 1932 - The last (for real this time) little FitzSimmons baby of this verse. Blame Fitz being forever broody and Jemma just loving their babies so much, and also being an easy burst when it comes to Fitz and their babies. This name, boy oh boy, this name was HARD. Girls names for FitzSimmons babies, for some reason, easy as pie for me, I have a list as long as my arm of girls names I love for them. As for boys names, Hamish is the only one that has really stuck long term for me. All of the names I found for this poor wee boy that I liked were just a bit too modern, so I had to go searching again. I saw Edward, realised it could be shortened to Teddy and fell in LOVE. Only in this verse would I really get away with calling a baby Teddy so I took the chance and ran with it, and now little dark haired blue eyed Teddy FitzSimmons runs around rent free in my brain. His middle name, is not really obvious why I chose it at first glance. Again I struggled. I couldn’t really find any more Scottish names that I liked, or at least ones that i could give poor Simmons a fighting chance of pronouncing properly (Lachlan is still on my list and I have NEVER heard anyone not Scottish pronounce that first syllable properly). So Scottish was out, and so I went to my next mainstain of family names. And Deke or Enoch were the only two male names I hadn’t touched. Enoch was going to be impossible to find a link (trust me I tried) but DEKE, comes from a common nickname for Donald. So Donald he was. 

I hope you enjoyed this little (haha) list! I just love putting thought and meaning into names, and this kind of gives you a little glimpse into my naming process. Yes I know I will be a nightmare if I ever have children. That is a whole SEPARATE and ever changing and evolving list. 

[cerealandchoccymilk]

Trigun Bookclub: Trigun Vol.1-2, Chapter #08

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CW: Some of my analysis in this post touches the topic of suicidal ideation (there will be a warning around that portion).

I’m doing a deep-read of the Japanese original print (reread) and Overhaul 1.0 (first read) side-by-side, and writing down everything I notice from small details, version differences, translation differences, etc.

The volume numbers will be mismatched for most of the remainder of Trigun, since the Japanese first edition is 3 volumes while all later versions are 2 volumes.

As always, here are the non-analysis panels aka just my homosexual mumbling:

And the rest is under the cut.

[link for if the images aren’t in horizontal rows]

This chapter is the beginning of the Japanese Volume 2, which is from #08 to #13 (plus the pilot as a bonus).

Starting off with the cool as balls shot of Vash being shot a billion bullets at! I did write "rule of cool" here since I thought he was just magically evading the firing squad. However, on second thought, I think Neon specifically ordered the gang to not actually shoot him, judging by how he says "not bad" immediately afterwards. It's his way to test Vash, to see if he flinches.

[cw sui] The "You ain't afraid of dyin', are ya?!" line stuck out to me a lot... Many rereaders (and I assume first-timers too, at this point in the bookclub) know that Vash is... casually suicidal? I'm not sure if that's the right way to put it, but he doesn't have much of a sense of self-preservation. He's not seeking death, of course, but he's not exactly avoiding it either.... This becomes much more apparent and relevant at the end of Trigun and in Maximum, so I'll leave it until I get to those parts. [/cw]

Dear god the crotch shot. okay (squeezing this into a row because I don't really want this guy's balls to take up the whole screen lmao)

I've always loved how Nightow draws these circles to show spinning motion in his artwork!! It's simple but it really pops... it's just so so (chef's kiss)

I wonder just what Vash's next move was going to be here? He's pretty much cornered... but I guess he can always get out of any situation, as he usually does.

Vash's expression of sheer confusion is golden. I love him lmao

Meryl!!!!!!!!! Milly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We missed you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love how immediately after he calls Meryl a little girl he gets spooked by the Big Girl instead.

This is not directly translatable, but I find Milly's line here very cute. In Japanese, she says「…私は――　ミリィ…トンプソンとゆいます　えとえとイチオー スタンガンミリィとは私のコトをゆいます」 The correct word for "I'm called [smth]" here would be 言います(iimasu), but the pronunciation ゆいます(yuimasu) is a bit childish in this context. If I recall correctly, isn't Milly the youngest of many siblings? Maybe it's a little quirk showing that youngest-sibling aspect of hers.

Meryl asking Vash to be a "responsible adult" for once.... lol

This is the first time his name has been called since his encounter with Kaito and the beginning of the BL gang' hijack. I completely forgot that Kaito has no idea who he is!! Vash didn't give him a name; he's just been calling him あんた("you") the whole time!!

Excuse the messier handwriting from here on… I was working on this during a car ride.

A detail in the Japanese version - this line was originally written「おまえが消したって話んなってるJULY(あのまち)だが…」with "JULY" having a ruby pronunciation note of あのまち("that city").

This part was initially written to be a translation suggestion but I decided to just keep it a JP phrasing note:

「あのガレキが俺の見た最初の風景だ」 "That mountain of debris was the first thing I saw."

Translation suggestion - Here, Neon says「サシの勝負だ」, where サシ means "face-to-face" or "one-on-one." I would say it's more like "This fight is between just the two of us," to show more of the respect Neon has for Vash.

More of this respect is shown in the next page, where they make a promise that Neon will step back if Vash wins the duel. Neon recognizes Vash's skill and ideology, and treats him as an equal.

And here's the action!

I found interesting that Neon's war-cry/exclamation "ha" was actually written in kanji as 派. The kanji by itself means group or faction, but considering Neon's character, maybe it's supposed to be a reference to the word 派手(hade), meaning "gaudy?"

This duel definitely isn't following regular duel rules... but no one said it was unfair or anything. Maybe this is just how they are in No Man's Land.

Neon shoots with his dynamo-gun (?) instead of his cool engraved pistol.... Anyways, his first strike is at Vash, and they all hit the rocks that are falling between them. Vash then shields himself with one of those rocks by jumping in the same direction as it.

And he's doing another frontflip!! In sync with the falling rock!! With a wound in his gut!! In midair and upside down, he precisely shoots five rounds into Neon. It hits his dynamo, but looking closely I can see that maybe he got his arm shot too.

damn....

A bit of a tangent - many of Neon's actions are reminiscent of old Japanese culture, which is very interesting. His pose during his first appearance in Chapter #05 (how did i remember that. i checked just in case and i was right), where he sort of squats and extends his open palm to the front, is a very stereotypical kabuki pose. Again, I don't know about the specifics of kabuki, but his pose on the the panel where Vash jumps also looks kabuki-esque to me. Neon's respect towards Vash as a fellow gunslinger and his beliefs on dignity reminds me of bushidō. It's not representative of all aspects, of course, but there are definitely elements incorporated in his character.

This line (including the speech bubble after it) is a bit weird when translated so it will have to be tweaked, but a direct translation would be:

「このままではブレーキングはおろか…　船体ごと爆発する可能性があります！！」 "If it continues like this, the ship itself may blow up, let alone brake!!"

I'm pretty sure "brake" (miswrote in the image, will fix later) here means that they won't be able to put on the brakes due to the boiler malfunction. But I don't know shit about machinery or how to phrase this. (shrug)

That’s it for Chapter #08! As always, the Japanese annotations are in the reblogs.

[migleefulmoments]

Abb/y has something to s/ay

Let me premise this by reminding everyone that Abby -like Trump-doesn’t “get” comedy. They literally do not understand jokes, punchlines, or humor. So a satirical show about the Hollywood song writers falls flat. Her time away did nothing to sway her conspiratorial aspirations or her misogynistic hatred of Mia. She watched Royalties not once, but twice... not to enjoy Darren’s creativity and performance, not to support the celebrity she stans, and not even to crack up at the humor, no she watched twice because she was looking for confirmation bias. She wanted to document all of the ways Darren wrote his CrissColfer truth into Pierce’s life and she obsessively listened to all of the diss-tracks he wrote to attack his wife.  

Let me also premise this by saying I loved the show. I thought it was funny and the songs are so damn catchy.  The lyrics are quintessential Darren- funny, very clever, and raunchy.  

******************************************

R/oyalties, the Tale of Two Shows with a Heaping Side of Meta

ajw720. So I just finished watching R/oyalties for the second time, this time solely focused on the meta.  Look, we all know, the show is not good, it was not well written and the short format didn’t help as there was no option to develop character or plot.  But D knew it would not be good, he apologized for it back in January 2019.  And I think the effort he put into acting was the effort it deserved. Ok.

But his songs were genius.  As were the videos, hence why i call it the tale of two shows.  It truly was like watching content made by completely different people. I concur with MH, D is “intensely talented.”  And the part of this show he poured his blood, sweat, and tears into, the songs, are evident of this.

But this is a post about that Heaping Side of Meta. I think D, knowing that that show would not be made in the manner he envisioned, instead used it as a vehicle to make some bold statements and parallels with his career and public life.  Shall we begin?  And please, unlike the perfect song, this is not a perfect post and after the second round of watching i canceled my Quibi subscription and never plan to look back, so please feel free to add. I know some of these have been pointed out but I thought it was valuable to have one post.

One idea to inpsire the song?  A tiny FROG on a dime.

D’s shirt 1st seen in Episode 2: “It is hard to soar like an Eagle when you are surrounded by turkeys”

And of course “Call me Goldilocks bitch”  Remind you of something?

How about the entirety of Episode 3 when we are told that an artist is completely the product of the team.  That no matter what the artists expresses they want, it doesn’t matter because the Label/manager/publicist/on camera agent/legal will always have a say. And how it will play in America or the Foreign market are key metrics of how the product is produced and presented.  I love the line of the songwriter that tells P/ierce and S/ara to “get out while they are young.”  Or the line by one of her team “we don’t want something different, we want something the same that is different.”  And in the end P&S simply took one of KK old songs and reworked it, making something different that is not different and her team loved it.  

And of course, the line that was an utter slap in the face to the most over praised “director” of an indie band video ever when D reminds her of the real director in his life, the man set to direct major motion pictures, “you know who would be perfect to direct? C/hris.  C/hris would shatter this.”

Not much in Episode 4, but the gorilla suit in my opinion was mocking of a certain MMR video where we watched Swiller and a banana in a song about a gorilla.  Images I never need to see in my head again.

Episode 5, a gem, I am still so fucking proud of D and how he mocked her throughout the entirety of the episode.  New lines I love of that amazing song he wrote about her (in addition to those i posted previously here) “Some people say I’m a  genius, which comes from the greek word for Latin, and other people will say, alright in fact i’m a fuckin’s genius” “I’m not saying I’m a god, but I’m not saying I’m not a god.”  Mocking at its finest made all that much better by the band’s name “Switchback Jacket” that D describes as “butt rock emo” that is performed by a band that doesn’t actually sing, they are just the public image.  He literally told us that what we see is an image created for the public and that it is completely fake.  And he used his beard to make this statement. Just brilliant.  I cannot praise him enough for this, stealing her moment in the sun and making her look like an utter fool, telling us just how narcissistic she is.

Also some wonderful lines from that episode that are beyond telling:

“Power, it felt good to remind Kevin that I hold power over him. You always want to be the one with power”

“p/ierce wouldn’t know where to take a shit if I didn’t tell him.”

“she is like my wife except we don’t have sex and we are friends.”

“alright boss, I am ready to record that song, but where should i take a shit?”

“You will do anything to succeed.”

Episode 8 starring “Poly Amorous and the Unicorn Guild” an episode used to shine a light on how absurd it is that people believe D&PBB lived with platonic roomie B/enny for something like 4 years.  3 grown ass adults, all of whom have money to spare lived together in a relatively small house for four years.  It is pure comedy that anyone would believe that this is normal.  But hey these are the same people that explained away the infamous arm around her while at an awards show with D looking on:

And the cherry on top of this episode, the inclusion of C/huck (for some background, see my post here).

I really like the one bit of dialogue between P&S, where D pretty much tells us once again that M will use anyone to get what she wants:

“Did it ever occur to you that maybe just maybe, I don’t like where we are now? There were a lot of really great things about the way things were.  Things that are worth preserving.  Not that you just take and use and through out.”

Episode 9 had some really impactful lines:

“you think i wouldn’t steal for my career? You think I wouldn’t lie?  I would do anything.”

The Neils being the nameless individuals, nothing more than a number, who are the ones who actually create the product.  And then the song, some of the translations are D telling you how he feels, because sometimes i think in terms of his public image he is just a Neil trying to escape the cage that has been built around him:

“I dream about getting away, I have been locked up in this cage wishing i could make my escape. I hate that I need you.”

And finally Episode 10, where we learn the Neils get no credit and no royalties. This reminds me of a script C wrote that never saw the light of day but suddenly the next season of AHS had the same theme as his script.

And that is all i got, if you have more please add. I think the fact that D took what he knew would be a mediocre project and projected his voice and story throughout it was pretty genius and a smart way to utilize this vehicle, that was clearly payout for so many that have used him for years and to shine a bright light on the truth.

elicc  The “perfect song”’s performer is called Bailey Rouge, a clear link to TLOS.

He is a genius.

ajw720   @elicc damn, that was on my list and I forgot. And we all know who Red is inspired by, so seems fitting Bailey Rouge would get the perfect song.

ajw720. Just adding one more I thought about putting in my original post but admittedly think it’s a stretch. But maybe not? Just adding here for fun.

When Theo tells P to bottle up all his romantic feelings I couldn’t help but think of a certain chapter in a book

*******************************************

Oy Vei! Abby didn’t use her time away getting any therapy or perspective.  She hasn’t learned any lessons. I have no doubt she’s been reading just as much as she did before and she’s speaking to Cassie, Flowers et al all day. It’s really sad. It’s sad that she can’t see how silly she sounds, what an asshole her version of Darren is. If she could restrain herself even a little bit it might come off less unhinged because turning every single moment of Royalties into some crisscolfer wet dream reeks of desperation. 

Abby hates Royalties. In last week’s “Dear D” she had the audacity to say 

....Fans that are beyond devoted and mainly because of the way you have treated fans with respect and a level of caring that far surpasses the majority of public figures.  And while I am not enjoying the show itself, the music shows how diverse you are as a writer and how you can virtually write for anyone or any genre. The songs are fantastic.  Memorable.  And really fun.  

She knows the the Langs wrote the show and Darren wrote the songs but what she can’t seem to comprehend is that Darren IS Royalties. Everything in the show is Darren’s.  

Staying in the closet would be less painful than trying to express oneself through a short-form satirical comedy.  Can you imagine trying to express your devastation and pain through Kick Your Shoes off or Break It In? 

“I’m the king of the hard fuck....pile drive the bed like a young buck...if you like feathery shit thats pretty cool but I don’t need that...people say I fuck too soft, saying that I can’t please a woman” 

BTW Abby- “call me goldilocks bitch” isn’t a reference to TLOS it’s a reference to Goldilocks and Three Bears because because he fucks perfect, not too soft, not too hard. It’s much more believable that he is referring to a random nursery rhyme than it is to believe he is referring to a children’s book his lover/husband/boyfriend wrote 8 years ago. You might love the book but Chris has moved on and written new things. 

Darren wrote funny lyrics. I loved Kick Your Shoes Off because it’s written by a man whose watched his wife and female friends wear painful shoes for the same of fashion even though its painful as fuck.   

“Yeah, I’m a bad bitch so don’t be mad bitch. I turned the room into a catwalk like a sad bitch. I can’t feel my toes in these stilettos. when I walk out my roomate says you’ll regret those....Beauty is pain but oh I look amazing.  You won’t hear me complaining but oh my instep (inside?) is screaming...kick your shoes off (kick em off) ooooooo I do what I want..(Kick em off) ooooo Hey I can’t walk in these, blisters start to bleed now both my feet are swollen. Kick your shoes off (Kick em off).....It’s like i feel so good when my shoes are on, but like i also feel sooooo good when they are off” 

Abby’s convinced I am So Much Better Than You is straight up about Mia because Mia is in the video. She listened to it on repeat the day after it came out. In her “Letter to D” last week she said 

Especially after you made an effort to mock her for the entirety of Tuesday when her episode aired (and for the record I am still really, really proud of what you did with that episode and how you handled the roll out, that is the fighter I admire and that inspires me.  I listened to I am so much better than you on repeat on my drive home from work yesterday).   

Good Lord  The lyrics are as silly as all the other songs: “My mirror wants to bone me (but it can’t because it’s a mirror)” How did Abby miss the obvious TLOS mirror/ Halloween costume reference here?  

“You keep doing push ups while I get buff eating mac and cheese (with overpriced lobster and truffles because I’m worth it)”  

“Some people say I’m a genius (which comes from the greek work for latin) Some other people will say yeah I’m right I’m a fucking genius (I’m not saying I’m a god but I’m not saying I’m not a god). 

“And even when you sneeze, God blesses me, he blesses me. And even when you sneeze, god blesses me, he blesses me, he blesses me”

“I’m am so much better than you at everything”. 

She believes Darren would be- and stay- married to a women that he publicly ridicules and attacks. I don’t get why she thinks that is something admirable . 

She thinks Also You is referring to Ben living with them.  Where to start with this one? She says

“Episode 8 starring “Poly Amorous and the Unicorn Guild” an episode used to shine a light on how absurd it is that people believe D&PBB lived with platonic roomie B/enny for something like 4 years.  3 grown ass adults, all of whom have money to spare lived together in a relatively small house for four years.  It is pure comedy that anyone would believe that this is normal.  But hey these are the same people that explained away the infamous arm around her while at an awards show with D looking on”

I’m gobsmacked.  Also You is about Polyamory. She doesn’t even understand her own theories if she thinks that is the message Darren wants to share about Mia and Ben.  In no world would someone try to proclaim their wife was cheating on them with a live-in houseguest by writing an episode called Poly Amorous and the Unicorn Guild.  Also, someone needs to explain cuckholding to her because her theories about Ben and Mia make Darren a cuck.  

OMG I just realized that Darren is a cuck and Royalties proves it.  He hired Kether to be his costar in Royalties,...Kether is in You’re the Worst as Lindsay.  Lindsay cuckholds her husband. Bam! mic drop.   

Why isn’t Perfect Song about Mia, you know, if we are playing confirmation bias “No one is as good as you because you're my perfect song” 

[hoardlikegoldenirises]

johnnywyatt wedding outfits cause i... have NO self control. and just do things. for fun. just because i enjoy them. technically for a fic but it’s not done yet so i can’t link that.

i’d like to, in theory, draw an actual illustration with this but i like to design things so that’s what i did instead. maybe in the future. 

post on twitter: link 

re: beadwork:

transcription of what the jewelry detail image says:

“I think it would be nice if Wyatt had a collar stud mounted with some beadwork, as a small thing. BUT. I'm white. And it's really not my place to try to design something like that, with visual language I don't understand and lack the cultural context for.”

idk that i have anything more to add, really, but i want to include some links to some actual Indigenous artists/info about finding them--

profiles of beadwork artists: https://www.vogue.com/vogueworld/article/indigenous-beadwork-instagram-artists-jewelry-accessories 

a contemporary beader/jeweler: http://dorlah.tripod.com/index.html

and Beyond Buckskin's list of Native-run businesses: http://www.beyondbuckskin.com/p/buy-native.html

I have..... words.... about all the rest.

So have a readmore for all my words:

As far as everything else

Here’s my notes on some of that: 

(my condolences if readmores don’t work for you)

For the outfits overall, I wanted them to be a little less... well, boring, for one. I didn’t want to go with simply the traditional tuxedo style so I looked for different kinds of shirts and jackets I could use that were a little less typical but still suitable--though overall this does make them less formal, especially the lack of bowties. 

This works for me cause I was also considering a less formal wedding--still nice and fancy but not like... church-going. not white tie. Not even a huge event. Friends and family, you know?

I’m also just a fan of upright collars. Which I’m sure is tooootally not obvious to anyone who’s seen a lot of my outfit designs through the years. 

I liked Wyatt in all-white. I dunno why. I just thought it worked. That’s very classic but still a little bold. Johnny... I am not sure if I can explain why I ended up choosing the dark colors or the blue velvet... but I like it. The silk lining is SUPPOSEDLY Liberty London but I’m not sure how true that is--it’s from a random Etsy listing that’s actually for a pocket square. lol.

Shoes... shoes.... I just love drawing shoes and I like outfits where the shoes pop. So I went. a little ham. wyatt’s are based on a pair of red leather men’s boots I found on google.. with some modifications so they aren’t just the same as the pair I found--I used a few different references including western and cowboy boots. these red things were the main inspiration though--

For Johnny’s shoes I also used severa different references--mostly women’s Chelsea boots, wanting to retain some of the cowboy boot influence (idk WHY i just thought it was fun and he’s worn cowboy boots a few times), but also a fire-themed pair of suede Louboutin high heels, which is where I got the overall color scheme from--

yes i do collage my refs

as far as jewelry and accessories-- like I said I didn’t feel comfortable trying to design a beadwork collar pin for Wyatt but ideally he would have that small bit of his culture. 

in the WIP fic johnny proposes For Real (after already planning some) with a leather bracelet w/ infinity charm--as you can see. I just thought it was romantic and suited Wyatt’s overall very masculine sense of style... a sparkly diamond ring didn’t seem like the right choice to me, and I kind of wanted them to have the same number of rings. 

Tye mentioned the possibility of Johnny having a matching bracelet too which I had NOT thought of since Wyatt’s return gift was a little less concrete, but it is very cute to think about...

YES johnny is wearing diamond stud earrings. I just think it’s cute.

The cuff links were really just me saving a few varieties of cuff links and seeing what I liked.... just noodling around. I knew I wanted red enamel and I initially wanted some kind of pave diamond settings but I spent so long between saving refs and actually drawing this that I forgot my original idea XD So I just made up a new one. Arguably it fits some of the theming with the wedding rings BECAUSE

the wedding rings are shooting star themed.

i know, it’s corny. call me a cornivore.

moreso i originally wanted to work the infinity into both of their rings but I ended up dropping that mostly.

I saved a lot of pictures of various shooting star and comet themed rings--comet rings are actually an existing style and I looked at those a lot and at various shapes and tried to come up with something that evoked some of those but uh without like. stealing a specific design. I think I managed?

(you can also see peeks at designs for wyatt’s dad’s wedding ring where i decided on the simple 2 diamond band)

Wyatt’s was kind of hard for me to design at first.... though I def wanted some kind of art deco style for some reason? maybe just saw a ring and went, damn that’s cool. but i wanted it to retain the shooting star motif--it went through a few versions trying to work that in until I finished designing Johnny’s and realized something and just simplified Wyatt’s down a lot and let the motif be in the fact that it matched and also had sparkly stones.

As far as material, me and Tye had several entire conversations about heatproof jewelry (for johnny obvs) and i decided no stones, and on using ceramic... I also spent a bit of time looking up jewelry stuff and metal types and eventually settled on black colored titanium carbide (ceramic) for Johnny and on black zirconium for Wyatt, since his doesn’t need to be fireproof. Wyatt's ring has a fire opal (LISTEN. romance.) and gold + diamonds from father's ring (the band with diamonds) and... 

I did it so that even without a stone Johnny’s still was faceted to match the opal on Wyatt’s..... yes.... i know...... i amaze me too.

I’m not actually sure if the process to make the metal black (assuming it’s not naturally black?) would hold under extreme heat but I figure re-blackening is less of an ordeal than like.... making an entire new ring. not that even ceramic would hold up if he went nova, but... that is truly asking a lot lmfaooo he can just put it in a special unstable molecule pouch or something. before he, you know, uses his emergency ultra-huge explosion power. yeah, ring would be the least important in any situation where he burns hot enough to destroy... *squints*... a material used on spacecraft for heat shielding. 

that’s def a ring that has to be very precisely and carefully made. 

....

anyway.

i think... that’s everything..... very long post...... if you read it.... congrats? i’ll probably add a fic link to this post when i actually finish it, not for another month at least tho lol

maybe someday i will get around to drawing an actual drawing using these outfits.

[quarterfromcanon]

2019 Fic Writing Roundup

I was tagged by my lovely friend @catty-words.

Total 2019 Word Count: 58,159

Total 2019 Hits: Asdfghjkl; Oh gosh, it’s much harder to tell when the work is only on Tumblr!  I’ll tally up the notes from there to get the closest approximation I can. It looks like there are 174 total (a mix of likes and comments) on the pieces that I posted from this past year.

Other 2019 AO3 Stats: N/A, although I did finally join AO3 *this* year, so next time around there’ll actually be things to put here! :)

Total 2018 Word Count: Published? None. I think I might have tried writing a little bit of something for myself somewhere in there, but I didn’t get back to any kind of public fandom writing until 2019.

Total 2018 Hits: None. What a difference a year can make! I look forward to comparing 2019 to whatever’s yet to come in 2020!

Other 2018 AO3 Stats: N/A

links and titles to 2019 works

Oooh, this is actually a good opportunity to list them chronologically rather than in publication sequence. Let me see if I can get them sorted. (If, however, you’d prefer to read them in the order that they were published, you can click here and simply open the installments in reverse, since Tumblr displays things oldest-to-newest.) All of the following were written for the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend fandom and feature Heather x Valencia as their central pairing.

1. Barrier  [1,385 words] - Following where we last saw them in 1.09, Josh and his friends continue their beach day now sans Rebecca’s presence. Consequently, Valencia’s critical eye falls on the only other woman in their company - Heather.

2. Unexpected [3,003 words] - The conclusion of 1.18 leaves Valencia with a lot of emotional baggage to unpack. As one of West Covina’s most frequented locales, Home Base is the first place that springs to mind where she might chase away her sorrows (or perhaps just air them out verbally while all other involved parties are away at Jayma’s wedding). Heather finds herself pulled into comfort and commiseration despite her efforts to avoid involvement.

3. Lost Control and Tumbled Overboard Gladly [3,265 words] - Heather goes to her parents’ home for the first holiday visit since moving out on her own. She has her new friend Valencia in tow. Sincere conversation and the rare allowance of vulnerability break down Heather’s walls with an ease that takes her by surprise.

4. Such Sweet Nothing [1,362 words] - Valencia and Heather return to V’s apartment after their Labor Day afternoon of story-swapping and quality time together. Valencia revels in the joyful acquirement of the second gal pal of her adult life. Heather contends with the dawning realization that her interest in Valencia may not be purely for friendship.

5. There’s A Reason Not to Want This (But I Forgot) [2,418 words] - Internet sleuthing with Rebecca pulls Valencia right back into a Josh fixation spiral. Heather must also face some unresolved feelings: namely, a crush now so intense it can no longer be denied.

6. Habits [3,599 words] - The desire to protect Valencia’s heart overrides the instinct to shield her own, and so Heather ends the self-imposed avoidance of her company. She arrives on V’s doorstep with a helpful cover story and some unfortunate news that needs to be broken gently.

7. I Want Not to Want Anything [1,314 words] - Heather Davis gets Santa Ana Winded.

8. Breathless [3,673 words] - A talk with Heather about Rebecca’s impending marriage to Josh leads Valencia to reassess what matters to her. A rosé-fueled jaunt to a local green space gives rise to the persistent inkling that what - or rather who - she really wants may be a lot closer to her than she’s ready to admit.

9. No One’s Really Got It Figured Out Just Yet [3,289 words] - Valencia throws the bachelorette party for Rebecca. Gurl Group antics and H+V flirting tactics set to hits from the mid ’90s and 2000s ensue. 

10. Evading [2,207 words] - In the wake of events from 3.05 and 3.06, Heather and Valencia have a much needed heart-to-heart. They put some important truths into words while treading lightly around a few unspoken facts so delicate they’re best left in the margins.

11. How Long Do You Plan to Keep Me at the Back of Your Mind? [2,442 words] - An evening welcoming Valencia’s girlfriend Beth to be an honorary member of the Gurl Group doesn’t go quite as smoothly as planned when Heather has a difficult time harnessing her lingering feelings.

12. You and Me, Always Between the Lines [1,828 words] - Now that she has spoken with all of her immediate family members and closest friends, Valencia is prepared to announce her first romantic relationship with a woman on social media. In Beth’s absence, she seeks the moral support of her best friend. Heather is readily by her side for this next big step in Valencia’s coming out journey.

13. Gradation [2,503 words] - Valencia’s time with Beth is at an end and, in her hour of heartbreak, she returns to the same place for comfort as the previous occasion when she found herself suddenly single: across the bar from Heather.

14. Rough Draft [2,625 words] - Valencia and Heather FINALLY get together. Valencia experiences her own “Oh My God, I Think I Like You” freak out.

15. Strategy [1,212 words] - Heather and Valencia have a stay-at-home date night featuring deliberately cringey pick up lines and tangled limbs on a couch in the dark.

16. Verity [3,834 words] - Heather temporarily resumes her role as Valencia’s assistant coordinator when they plan a vow renewal celebration for Paula and Scott. On this night, the recently remarried couple may not be the only two pouring out their hearts in a room full of loved ones...

17. Different and the Same [1,035 words] - Valencia and Heather just moved into their own place. They spend their first morning there together and make good use of the privacy and freedom this new residence affords.

18. Finishing Touches [1,157 words] - Heather and Valencia personalize the interior of their new living space. The situation soon devolves into paint-splattered hijinks.

19. Patterns in the Light [1,058 words] - Despite the fact that they are literally cohabitating and have professed their feelings for each other, Valencia remains a clumsily flirty nerd and I love her for it. Heather does, too.

20. Sage [1,324 words] - After being trapped in a car with someone she didn’t want to be trapped in a car with, Heather returns covered in a dead woman’s ashes. Valencia’s time as a ghost-beleaguered home energy cleanser has arrived at last. She is uniquely qualified to save the day.

21. Portage [1,707 words] - Heather has plans for a couple’s trip with Valencia. The only obstacle is keeping it a secret between the two of them.

22. The Courage and the Strength I Need [1,957 words] - Valencia struggles during Heather’s business trip because it is their first time apart since becoming a couple. They FaceTime to ease the pain of distance and talk about their future.

23. Wanna Be With You All Alone [1,237 words] - Heather comes back from the aforementioned work travel to find that Valencia has made special welcome home arrangements.

24. Midnight, Fright and Candlelight [1,426 words] - A quiet evening is interrupted by a power outage. Heather and Valencia find a surprisingly wholesome and G-rated way to pass the time. 

25. Next to You [1,550 words] - The big yearly Davis Family Reunion quickly approaches. Valencia prepares to accompany Heather to this event and be introduced to many members of her extended family.

26. Warm Whispers [1,683 words] - Heather and Valencia just want to be all cute and domestic and spend the morning fooling around. Their cats disrupt these pursuits in typical feline fashion.

27. “When We’re Together, Darling, Every Night Is Halloween.” [1,228 words] - Heather and Valencia get ready to attend a Gurl Group Halloween party. Their second annual couple’s costume? Gomez and Morticia Addams. 

28. #afewofmyfavoritethings [2,838 words] - Nathaniel, Rebecca, Valencia, Heather, Paula, Scott, and Tommy all rent a cabin for vacation. This piece follows them through a day of wintertime fun. Pure fluffiness here and I had the best time writing every second of it.

Favorite Fic: Probably #afewofmyfavoritethings. I packed it with elements I personally love and moments I was hoping my new friends in the fandom would like. Plus, it was honestly just so good for my soul to write these characters in a soft world where they could engage in classic snow day activities and enjoy each other’s company.

Hardest Fic: I knew there were a few installments of Femslash February where I wrote whole paragraphs or even pages I didn’t keep/decided to revise, but I was pretty sure I also remembered at least one where I wrote an entire separate piece. My sleep schedule was, shall we say, not advisable during February but it was also easily the most exhilarating month of my year. I tracked down the evidence of that rewrite and it turns out the incident I recalled was for Unusual Kiss (the prompt for Day 4 of FF). The original involved something to do with butterfly kisses because, evidently, my inclination to link Valencia to winged beings knows no bounds. I’ve got to admit that I’m still fond of the concept of Valencia giving Heather a subtle “kiss” during a hug in that painfully frightening time before Beth when she was afraid to outright kiss a woman in any way that couldn’t be dismissed as platonic. There’s a good chance an interaction of that nature could appear somewhere in the full story. I am notoriously drawn to that angst period of undisclosed pining so the temptation is quite strong. Still, I’m glad I used the version I actually posted and saved elements of the first draft for later. Fragments of their conversation from the original will probably make it into the final tale, but I think I prefer to sprinkle them across several exchanges instead of divulging them all at once.

Do You Plan to Take Prompts in 2020? Sort of yes and sort of no. I am participating in the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Valentine Exchange, which involves a prompt-esque note from the participant each of us were assigned as our guide to spark inspiration for the gift. It’s also possible that there’ll be some writing prompt list posted somewhere along the way just like Femslash February was last year, and I’ll end up wanting to join the fun. Other than that, though, I’ll mainly stick to the one writing project in an effort to hone my focus.

What was the best thing about 2019? I’d definitely say the bonding and interactions with other members of the fandom. The encouragement and support I received from them remains the primary motivation for me to keep writing and chasing after the ongoing goals I set for myself.

What was the worst thing about 2019? The most honest answer that my mind immediately supplied is death of a close relative. While that isn’t the sole reason for the dip in my creative output (especially since there were multiple months between my last published fic and the passing in question), I know it could certainly be counted among the contributing factors to an overarching writing problem I had. Even before my family’s loss, there was a shift in my thought process that only got worse once there was more on my plate in my personal life. There were many times I sat down wanting to write again but it felt too difficult and intimidating to commit words to the page. I couldn’t seem to transfer them from my mind to the keyboard and I’d invariably switch to doing something else. I developed this terrible internal conviction that insisted the larger fic I wanted to write wouldn’t work as well as the shorter installments. That gnawing insecurity would have me believe one month’s worth of well-received efforts was already such a marvel that anything beyond that point was somehow pushing my luck. Where did the mental voice originate and why couldn’t I shake it? It’s difficult to parse out but what I do know is that I’ve firmly decided 2020 is going to be a year I put it on silent. I know what it’ll mean to me for everything that’s been floating in my head to finally be told in one cohesive format, and to have the satisfaction of giving my favorite characters the ending my heart says they deserve. It’s a sense of closure that’s worth the pursuit.

Any last thoughts for 2019? The bad parts of the last twelve months made me want to essentially say “good riddance” to the year, but the good parts were far too treasured to wish all of 2019 away. I am so grateful for the new people I met and friendships that solidified during that time. I especially owe my most heartfelt appreciation to @catty-words, @notbang, and @monaiargancoconutsoy. Thank you for everything. <3

Goals for 2020

Finish. The. Fic.

I believe everyone I know who writes fanfic has already been tagged but, if you haven’t gotten the chance to look back over your writing year, by all means, use these questions to give it a go! :)

[makeste]

BnHA Smash!! 01 and 02: Smash!!Might is a Fucking Menace

okay, so. I have about a million other things I should be doing instead, including (1) responding to asks and/or finishing in-progress metas, (2) reading Vigilantes, and last but not least, (3) actually making a dent in the ever-increasing backlog of Actual Work That I Really Should Be Doing Instead.

so naturally I’m procrastinating by taking my first stab at reading BnHA’s cute 4-panel omake spinoff series, BnHA Smash!! IT JUST MAKES SENSE. look, I have exactly one thing I felt like actually doing and not procrastinating today, so I might as well do the thing. basically it’s my attention span’s world and I’m just living in it.

anyway! so apparently this series was scanlated by good ol’ Fallen Angels. that’s right; prepare yourselves for some very creative cursing, fellas. other background info for anyone who, like me, is unfamiliar with this spin-off: this series debuted on November 9, 2015, a little over a year after the original series. said original series was currently at chapter 66, meaning the Final Exam arc was just wrapping up.

so now that we’re all properly oriented, let me go over a few disclaimers real quick and then we’ll get started!

all comments are my unspoiled reactions from my initial readthrough of the chapter. I did a quick edit for grammar and clarity afterward, and added a few ETAs in the process, but aside from that there are no changes.

I’m aware that not everyone may be familiar with Smash!! even if they’ve read/watched the original series, so I’ve tried to make this recap comprehensible even if you haven’t read the spin-off. that being said, it’s probably more enjoyable if you have, so you can either purchase the first volume from Viz here, or read the chapter online (I don’t want to link directly, but the spin-off is available on most of the usual sites. literally just google “read mha” and you’ll find some good options).

this readthrough contains a handful of sorta-kinda spoilers for the BnHA manga, although there are no direct spoilers. just an indirect reference to a joke in chapter 242, as well as a reference to a theory which as of now is in no way canon. but just to be on the safe side I’m posting a heads-up.

and I think that’s it! so here we go.

so we’re opening with a brief summary of the series. people have superpowers and shit’s nuts. you know the drill

there’s also a brief description of the way that the superhero economy works, complete with Mt. Lady’s employees unionizing and demanding better pay

...what

guys I keep staring at this and thinking that surely, SURELY it doesn’t say what I think it says. sidekick... what... manager??

you know what? Viz unfortunately doesn’t include this series as part of their subscription package (WHAT AM I PAYING YOU FOR, VIZ), but it does at least include a free preview of Smash, and I bet you that this, the first fucking page of the series, is a part of that preview. so... let’s see...

okay, see, this actually makes sense! so did the FA scanlating team collectively all have a fucking stroke?! just, what??

this is one of the reasons why I had difficulty reading Vigilantes too, tbh. those early chapter scans were, uh. but at least Vigilantes has a Viz scanlation too. I don’t want to spend 10 bucks just to read one volume of this, but we’ll see. anyways

so now there’s a strip about baby!Izuku watching his favorite clip of All Might saving one hundred people from a bus accident or whatever

lol Inko you should not have left your shrewdly calculating four-year-old son unattended omg

TWELVE MONTHS’ WORTH OF TEXTBOOKS HOW CAN THIS EAGER YOUNG MIND RESIST

and this is why you don’t leave your credit card info saved on the computer when you have kids. life lessons learned today

this is the first indicator we have ever had that baby!Izuku wasn’t perfect and was, in fact, capable of being a little shit and giving his mom plenty of gray hairs in his own special way. ngl, I fucking love it

also 12,800 yen is about $118 USD, which is honestly a really good deal for a year’s worth of textbooks. he got three boxes of books! I just googled the average cost of college textbooks, and the google article said the average student spends about $1200 a year. so this is a fucking steal tbh

OH MY GOD INKO HOW MANY TIMES MUST HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF BEFORE YOU LEARN

at least install a fucking adblocker ffs. you’re lucky quirk supplement ads are the worst of the ads he’s getting! PARENTAL CONTROLS

now we are cutting to a comic about baby!Izuku defending another boy from my problematic fave, as seen in page one of the original series!

lmaooo

I’m not clear on how much of this spin-off can actually be considered canon. my understanding is that it is Horikoshi-reviewed and approved, even though he doesn’t actually write it. but it’s obviously a humor series, so a lot of it is just going to be jokes. that being said, I think my approach is going to be “if it’s not completely ridiculous and doesn’t contradict the actual manga, go ahead and consider it canon”

(ETA: I might change this up after reading the first two chapters. most of these strips would have terrifying implications if they were actually canon sob.)

anyhoo, this actually does contradict the manga in that we saw this encounter play out very differently. but I kind of wish it was canon regardless because looool. these cocky preschoolers and their fucking Battle Tears

the next comic is Mt. Lady accidentally stepping on a guy’s face and the guy being way too fucking happy about it (read: having a fucking nosebleed and taking an upskirt shot). we’re just going to skip this entirely. this is another problem I was having with Vigilantes too. you know, for all my complaints about Mineta and such, BnHA as a whole is so much tamer than it could be, and I need to give Horikoshi credit for that. he mostly knows where to draw the line, and to his credit he’s also much, much better about this kind of thing than he was when he first started. maybe Mineta’s standings in the character poll results are helping to clue him in

anyway, I’ll mostly just skip past the iffy stuff because I don’t have patience for it and there’s still plenty of other stuff to cover. so on to the next strip

which features a bunch of reporters fawning over Mt. Lady’s flashy quirk while Kamui Woods laments in the shadows

and yet we know this kid will have a prominent rise within the next six months. it’s so strange to revisit the start of the series and see how much things have changed in such a short time

oh my god

no one who dresses up as a giant mushroom could possibly have good intentions. I. just

and look at the fucking disappointment in Deku’s eyes. KAMUI WOODS HE BELIEVED IN YOU!

now some strange man is coming up to Deku and is all HEY YOU, YOU’RE A HERO OTAKU, TELL ME WHAT TO BUY MY SEVEN-YEAR-OLD SON FOR HIS BIRTHDAY. better not ask him unless you’re prepared to shell out $120 bucks for some fucking textbooks

hey, what!!

WE DIDN’T EVEN GET TO SEE WHAT HE BOUGHT HIM? unless it’s the action figure the kid appears to be holding? but I’m just going to go ahead and assume Izuku recommended the number one best gift that any seven-year-old child would love, i.e. a giant sword

now it’s a sludge monster omake!

so Izuku is trudging home all depressed after CERTAIN INCIDENTS, and Sludgey is glooping his way out of a sewer towards him

oh no All Might

my biggest takeaway from this is the fact that the entire second half of chapter one takes place after All Might has emerged from a fucking sewer. I forgot all about that somehow. or maybe it never fully processed until just now. but omg. this entire chapter must have smelled so fucking bad. these poor kids

wow All Might

sure called that one wrong. ah well nobody’s perfect

looooool

lmao, Smash!!All Might appears to be quite a bit more vain than the original. wow dude

btw, friendly reminder (and I think this is something that was actually pointed out to me after one of the recaps; that’s one of my favorite things about doing these) that All Might, after saving Deku, actually read his notebook before signing it. super-fast, I guess, because he’s the best. but yeah, so he knew exactly how smart and observant Deku was, and how much he wanted to be a hero. his decision to pick him as his successor didn’t just come out of the blue; even before the “my body moved on its own” thing, there was a lot Deku had going in his favor. this is one of those little details of which BnHA has so many, and which I love

lmao what the fuck

ngl this version of the series would have been amazing in its own way. but yeah. so this is why we clearly can’t assume everything in Smash!! is canon lol. but I can already tell I am going to enjoy the shit out of this series

now we’re cutting to Deku running at Sludgey in order to save Kacchan, oh shit. the most dramatic part of chapter one. clearly no moment is sacred

sob what

I don’t understand this strip at all. is this supposed to be a serious moment inserted unexpectedly among this multitude of joke strips? or did I miss the punchline? heeeeelp

(ETA: okay so. my best guess is that All Might wrote all over Deku’s life-saving advice, and so the joke is that Deku no longer knows what to do when assaulting sludge men because HIS NOTES ARE RUINED. idk. what does 25 P mean??)

now All Might has Done The Thing and saved my boys, and now Mt. Lady is helping with the cleanup. scooping up all the bits of sludge and putting it in trash bags

oh my god

nope nevermind. nope. nope

-- shit. okay, you know what? this first chapter has been a real in-your-face reminder of the fact that the sludge monster was not made of cute sparkly 2018-trending-fad slime, but was in fact composed of RAW FUCKING SEWAGE. (ETA: to be clear, I’m pretty sure the joke in this strip is that she accidentally picked up dog-doo during her clean-up. but still, the fact that it was indistinguishable from the rest of the gunk speaks for itself.) I think I forced myself to gloss over this fact originally due to the nope factor. but just. Izuku and Katsuki were both choking to death on this shit?? and just, how the fuck did they make it out of this not traumatized

and also, like. All Might was straight up going to leave Izuku alone afterwards, just, “well enjoy your autograph, fine citizen” and blasting off out of there. and everyone fucking saw Katsuki almost suffocate to death later on, and after giving him a pat on the back they fucking let him go off on his own too? and you can’t even make the argument that this was Just Another Day In Quirk Society either, because more than a year later, Katsuki is still a bona fide fucking celebrity from the media coverage of his attack. it clearly was not something that happens every day. in conclusion, these kids are resilient as fuck, and thank god for that because people apparently just do not give a shit, holy christ

anyway. at least Mt. Lady had gloves

OH MY GOD

I FUCKING KNEW IT OH MY GOD. THE ROIDS. MUSCLES LIKE THAT DON’T JUST GROW ON TREES, I DON’T CARE HOW MANY LBS OF GARBAGE THIS KID HAULED OFF THE BEACH. THIS BOY BEEN HITTIN THE JUICE

Smash!!Might is so fucking shady omfg. probably sells cheap counterfeit electronics on Amazon

oh shit and that’s the end of the fucking chapter lol. that’s it?? that was only eight pages. fuck it, let’s read another. but first here’s Horikoshi’s note on the spin-off

so he really feels that Neda gets the spirit of the series and understands him. that’s very encouraging. the best spoofs and parodies are done out of love. I really think I’m going to enjoy this series

so! onward to chapter two

so here’s All Might dressed as Mr. 2 Bon Clay from One Piece, I guess??

“you know what’s funny? dressing a man in girl’s clothes LOL.” guys can we grow the fuck up. and also acknowledge that All Might can look good in anything, so this questionable gag wouldn’t have even landed anyway. you work that tutu All Might

lmao check out the past users of OFA here

All for One for All theory fucking confirmed lol. just look. that’s him in the back of the conga line. clearly

so Deku is all “hell yes why would I possibly say no??” but then

HIS LIMBS. lmao. sign here

in all seriousness, given the shit this kid has been through since the part of the series, All Might probably should have gotten him to sign a liability waiver of some sort. not that it would have stood, since Deku is underage! anyways Deku you totally have grounds to sue the shit out of the Symbol of Peace should you ever choose to do so. and the trend of Smash!!Might being shady af continues yes please give me more I love it

so now All Might is giving Deku his fitness plan which has a really elaborate name

given that this is Smash!!Might, I can’t help but wonder if this plan is in actuality some sort of MLM scheme. All Might are you trying to get Deku to do Herbalife

lol what in the fuck

the original series skipped right over a hell of a lot, it would seem. like the time Deku traveled to Arizona and fought coyotes in a poncho

I’m starting to suspect that Neda-sensei might be on some sort of substance. “let’s see what jokes can I make about chapter 2 of BnHA. I know, I’ll send the protagonist to a fictionalized version of the American Southwest in a sombrero, and then turn him into a 65-year-old oil tycoon.” naturally

lmao that’s really it, that’s the strip. moving right along. okay??

now Izuku is staring at the intimidating piles of Beach Trash and is all “I HAVE TO PICK ALL THIS SHIT UP?”

omg Deku no

somebody call Marie Kondo. Deku none of this is salvageable. not even to reuse in a color page photoshoot spread four years from now

OH SHIT

PROVED ME WRONG OH SNAP. SHOWED ME RIGHT WHERE I COULD PUT THOSE SASSY TAKES. MY BAD DEKU I’M SORRY

anyways I don’t know what Smash!!Might is so upset about. he probably wove some kind of clause into the contract Deku signed that allows him a percentage of the profits. unless Deku already spent it all on textbooks

what the fuck is this fucking series lmao

time for a round of “what is All Might casually crushing in this panel?” is it (a) a cardboard box, or (b) like, a mini-fridge or some fucking shit. IT COULD BE EITHER. IT MAKES EQUALLY AS MUCH SENSE EITHER WAY. “HEROES THESE DAYS ARE [FLEEEEEEX] OBSESSED WITH BEING FLASHY” 

holy shit no wonder he ran away to the Sierra Nevada. it’s only a matter of time before this freak fucking kills someone

NOW WE’RE CUTTING AWAY TO KAMUI WOODS DRESSED LIKE A DAFFODIL, IN THE SAME FUCKING COMIC STRIP, BECAUSE REASONS

my jokes about the mangaka being high as a fucking kite when he wrote this are gradually becoming less jokes and more serious inquiries??

lol so he coincidentally just stumbled across All Might and Deku at this exact moment

AND IT WAS A FUCKING REFRIGERATOR OH MY FUCKING GOD

do you guys remember during the final exam when All Might beat the everloving shit out of Deku and Kacchan, and everyone was all “JESUS CHRIST WOULD YOU LEARN TO FUCKING HOLD BACK A LITTLE THEY ARE CHILDREN YOU MANIAC.” but now we can see plain as day that he was, in fact, holding back. anyways Smash!!Might is terrifying as shit and if this had been the main series I would have already pegged him as the final villain by this point

here he is now wearing an old-timey bathing suit but looking more like an escaped convict than anything else

this panel is actually canon. I’ve decided. this 100% definitely happened at some point. especially the swimsuit

now two bikini babes are walking up and they’re all “IS THAT ALL MIGHT??” with excited sparkly eyes because they don’t know that he’s actually a deranged con artist who crushes refrigerators like empty soda cans. this spin-off has truly opened my eyes

LOOK AT THIS SKEEVY FUCK. JUST LOOK

AND NOW HE’S RUNNING OFF AND LEAVING DEKU TO DROWN IN EXHAUSTION, SON OF A

“SUDDEN BUSINESS” KSJLDKF SMASH!!MIGHT IS A FUCKING MENACE TO SOCIETY AND ALSO DOES NOT GIVE ONE SINGLE FUCK. NOT ONE!! HE’S OUT THERE FUCKLESS, AND NO ONE IS SAFE

now Deku is approaching his mom all serious and says he wants to change up his diet

and she’s looking at the menu he prepared all impressed and thinking that she might join him. as long as it’s for your health, Inko. if this manga starts making jokes about your weight, I will beat it over the head with Deku’s textbooks

OMFG

THIS WENT IN THE EXACT OPPOSITE DIRECTION I WAS EXPECTING, AND THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING THING I’VE EVER READ WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK. the whole fucking family is on the juice. and the fucking mangaka is on some special juice of his own oh my stars

now we’re cutting to Mt. Lady stomping on a car

thank fuck no one was actually in there. also does she not wear shoes

and also, it only just occurred to me that she must be another person with a special quirk costume, because her suit shrinks and expands along with her. Hagakure and Momo are really getting shafted by the costume design team here. they need to fire some people

anyway so Mt. Lady slipped on this carelessly placed vehicle and fell down and crushed an entire building whoops

bruh, you think you’re “ow.” let’s hope that building was empty too

and now she’s toppling another building just fucking because, I guess. and saying she can’t do urban areas

lmao and now the sidekick [CENSORED] manager from chapter one is back to guilt-trip her omg

I need this man to show up in every freaking chapter. please. respect my wishes

and now Izuku is standing on top of his collected pile of garbage screaming in victory

I only just realized that there’s still a big old Pile O’ Trash on this beach, though. someone needs to haul all of this junk away. or else get All Might and Mt. Lady to crush it all with a combined effort

oh shit here it comes y’all, the famous “eat my hair” scene. potential comedy gold right here omg

lol what the fuck

this man is a fucking billionaire and he’s out here clipping coupons and deleting pictures of his son in order to make room for them smdh

okay now we’re doing the hair scene

oh. oh no. I know where this is going sob please keep this comic rated PG for the children Neda

motherfucker they really --

Smash!!Might is a straight-up felon. this man has no fucking scruples. that’s okay Midoriya-shounen, if you don’t want to eat my hair we could just try some REDACTED, jesus christ I am going to need some bleach for my eyes after this

OR LET’S JUST STRAIGHT UP GO THERE WHY NOT

lmao sob. well, two chapters in and we’ve established that no territory is off-limits here. it’s a brave new world. wow

 so that’s it! our introduction to BnHA Smash!! I enjoyed it a lot and I will definitely be reading more! I’m not sure what kind of schedule I’ll keep, but this is a really good procrastination manga thus far, so knowing me I might actually work my way through this relatively quickly. especially since the Manga At Large is on break this week. anyways my deepest apologies to the many people who have been requesting for me to start Vigilantes instead. I just need something lighter right now, and this is a good fit. one of these days I’ll get my shit together with the other two spinoffs as well.

[a-bit-too-much-of-a-zelda-fan]

LinkedUniverse Fanfic Ch. 4: The Beach pt. 2

Stop! You’ve Violated the Law!

So, you’ve stumbled upon this original post for my Linked Universe fanfiction. That’s okay, it happens to everyone. As of March 2021, I’ve uploaded the entirety of this fanfic to my Archive of Our Own page. Along with finally giving the story a name--Oops! All Links: A Linked Universe Story--I made substantial edits to some of the chapters. These range from minor stylistic revisions to fixing a gaping plot hole that kinda completely broke the character conflict in the earlier chapters. I also renamed and renumbered (but not reordered) the chapters. Specifically, this is now Chapter 5: Stars and Stories.

The AO3 iterations of these chapters are the definitive versions. So, if you would like to read this fanfiction, please do so on AO3, right here. With this embedded link. Hehe. Geddit? Link?

Note: My screen name on AO3 is FrancisDuFresne. Yes, that is me. I am not plagiarizing myself.

Anyway, for posterity’s sake, the rest of the original post is below the cut.

Continuation of my @linkeduniverse narrative you can find here Thank you again @jojo56830 for creating this AU that is so inspiring to write for! Word count is 2143.

Wild checked his Sheikah Slate. The map function was finally working again, having lost reception in the cave. The village the nine heroes were traveling to was still a day’s walk away. He looked up from the slate and stared into the distance. The beach faded into rolling hills, obscuring their destination. He turned back to his companions.

They were drying off from their swim. Hyrule found wood washed up on the shore and started a fire with it. The orange flames complemented the purple dusk as the sun set. Wind and Twilight sat together facing the ocean. Wind was splayed out, enjoying the view that reminded him of home. Twilight had his knees tucked close to his chest, hugging his shins.

The younger of them turned to the older. He was about to compliment him on his Great Spin Attack back in the water but stopped when he saw his face. An odd expression played across Twilight’s features. Was it sadness? Contemplation? Regret? Wind couldn’t tell but decided against asking. It was probably better, he reasoned, to let Twilight be.

Wild started walking back to the fire. Legend looked up at him, opening his mouth as if about to say something. Wild shot him a glare, then spoke. “Before you ask me rudely, I’ll just say it. The village is a day’s walk away. Once we leave this beach, it’ll be hills for a few hours, a brief walk through light woods, then flatlands to finish it off. If we don’t hit any snags, we’ll be there by sundown.”

A general murmur of acknowledgment passed around the circle. Wild sat down between Four and Warrior and lowered his head. He felt awful for letting his friends down in the cave. “Guys,” he began. “I’m sorry about back there. I didn’t think that would happen.”

No one spoke for a moment. Warrior spoke up. “Don’t worry about it. Luckily, Sky here kept a cool head and was able to guide us out. Just warn us when that might happen again. It always pays to have a contingency.”

“Wait a moment,” Sky piped up. “What do you mean ‘if we don’t hit any snags?’”

Wild sighed. “There may or may not be enemy camps in that forest. My map can’t say for sure. I’d say we’re well-prepared for a fight, though. How’s our arrow count?”

Legend shuffled through his pouch. “Forty-two. We’re going to want to stock up when we hit that village. You sure your weapons are battle-ready?”

He was referring to the chipped sword and dented stalfos shield lying by Wild’s pouch. He was going to ask Wild about the shield but figured that the fight damaged his original shield beyond repair. Wild wasn’t very selective about the weapons he used. “Yes,” Wild said sharply. “They’ll be fine.”

“So, monsters,” Warrior said. “What are we looking at?”

“I can’t tell. Could be moblins, bokoblins, who knows? At least this time we’re walking through the woods during the day. I’ve had enough fights in the dark for a while.”

“Hm. Well, we’ll just have to be on full alert. Which also means we should get some shuteye.”

Wind patted Twilight on the shoulder, got up, and strolled over to the fire. “Wait,” he said. “I still want to know about Four’s power.”

The shortest Link’s Four Sword had the power to split him into four separate heroes. Prior to using it in desperation during the stalfos fight, he had never mentioned it to any of his companions. It took so much energy out of him that he fainted immediately after becoming whole again. He only woke up hours later, when they had reached the beach.

Four sighed. “Well, it’s my sword. It was gifted to the Hylians by the Minish race. It was originally called the Picori Blade. The sorcerer Vaati shattered it when he unleashed evil upon Hyrule. I journeyed the kingdom finding four sacred elements. With the help of the Minish, I forged it into this.”

He raised the Four Sword, firelight playing off the blade. Like Sky’s Master Sword, it somehow seemed to reflect light brighter than anything else around it. “The Four Sword,” the hero continued. “It has the power to split me into four people. They’re fragments, not copies. My personality splits between them. We used to argue a lot, but now we can fight in perfect unison.”

Sky, Wind, and Legend exchanged glances. They had all gone through a similar process to make their swords. They used sacred flames, pure metals, and dwarven blacksmiths and a great fairy, respectively. It occurred to them that there seemed to be a pattern.

Four continued: “It takes a lot of energy out of me to use that power. I didn’t want the burden of you all pressuring me to use it. I’m sorry.”

“Like I said earlier,” Legend spoke up. “Don’t worry about it. Without that, we would have kicked the bucket back there.”

A moment of silence passed. Legend scanned the group. “So, that being said, anyone else have any powers they haven’t mentioned? Now would be an opportune time to tell us.”

Wind perked up. “You know that my sword can stop time, right?”

“Yes. How could we forget with you always telling us? It would help if you actually remembered that when we’re in combat. I seem to remember Twi needed to save your hide in the cave because you forgot. Again.”

“Geez, I get it. Don’t have to rub it in.”

Time froze. He did indeed have powers he had never told anyone but Malon of. The masks he acquired in Termina were instrumental in stopping Majora’s Mask, but he hated wearing them with a passion. Wearing a dead person’s soul had always made him feel sick. The Fierce Deity’s Mask terrified him. Its power was so great that he feared if he ever put it on again, he might not want to take it off.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by Legend pointed flourishing his left wrist. Everyone looked at it expectantly, figuring some transformation would happen. It didn’t. “This bracelet here is a gift from my counterpart in an alternate world,” he said. “His name is Ravio. Dunno where he got the thing, but I can use it to transform myself into a painting.”

This was met by a mix of mild surprise and indifference. “What?” Legend asked. “No big reaction?”

Sky shrugged. “Well, that sounds cool and all, but how useful can it really be?”

Legend snorted and cocked an eyebrow. “You’d be surprised. It’s gotten me out of many a sticky spot.”

“Why haven’t you used it around us yet, then?” Hyrule prodded.

Silence. Legend flushed and sat there a moment, then admitted: “I… haven’t had a good chance to use it.”

“You probably could have used it in the cave,” Sky suggested. “We were surrounded by walls. Could’ve pulled a sneaky on the Stalfos.”

“Well, I haven’t used it for so long that I… kinda forgot about it.”

Wind shouted out, “Ah ha! Look who’s forgetting useful powers in the middle of combat, now!”

Time chuckled. “You do have to take it off and put it back on every time you get dressed. You’d think you would remember of it.”

“Listen!” Legend growled. “I just wanted to tell… urgh, whatever.”

The Links had a good laugh over this all. Time sighed in relief. No attention had fallen on him after all. As much as he hated keeping secrets from his friends, he was still afraid they would ask him to use the masks. Worse still, if they would become afraid of him. Fortunately, that discussion could wait until another day. A day that might never come, Time hoped.

After the laughter subsided, Four remembered the question that had been nagging at him all day. “Alright, so after I rejoined and fainted, Legend carried my weapons. Who carried me?”

“It was Twi. Not really a shock, is it?” Warrior said. “He picked you up as soon as I made sure you weren’t dead.”

It didn’t occur to Four that it wouldn’t be obvious that he fainted, that they might think he died. They had never seen anything like that before. “Oh. Thanks. Didn’t mean to give you guys a scare like that.”

Warrior shrugged. “Eh, you’re good.”

“Thanks. But what about Twi? Is he okay? He’s been sitting there by the water since we got out.”

Time was facing away from the water. He turned around to face his friend. Twilight was in the same position as before, staring off into the ocean. The sun had long set, so all that could be seen out there was the stars and their reflections. Still facing Twilight, Time said to the rest of them: “It’s probably not the first time he’s carried a fallen friend on his back. Maybe he’s reliving bad memories?”

Wild bowed his head fraction and sighed. “He wouldn’t be the first. Someone ought to check on him.”

“I will,” Time said. “Don’t wait on us to get some rest. We have a long day ahead.”

“When is it ever not a long day?” Wind muttered. This got a few giggles.

With a grunt, Time pushed himself off the sand. He turned and strolled over to Twilight. He paused a moment to appreciate the beautiful ocean view. The breeze was getting chilly. Content, he lowered himself to the ground next to Twilight.

“Twi.” Time said. “What’s wrong?”

Twilight kept staring ahead, but Time could tell his eyes were red and his cheeks damp. Time had never seen him this upset; it was a tad unnerving. “I need a minute,” he choked out, “okay?”

Time shook his head. “You’ve had plenty of minutes. What’s wrong?”

“It’s just… carrying Four out of there reminded me of a really terrible thing that happened… At one point, Midna was mortally wounded by a light spirit. As a wolf, I ran all the way to Hyrule Castle with her on my back. She barely managed to say that we needed Zelda.

“I was terrified that she wouldn’t make it. It was pouring that night. By the time I reached Castletown, my fur was sopping wet. I couldn’t get into the castle through the gate, so I had to take the sewers in. Every detour, every obstacle, every monster slowed me down. I felt like there was a clock ticking in my head, reminding me that Midna was on borrowed time.”

Clock ticking in his head, Time thought. If only he knew.

“Once we reached Zelda, she said that it wasn’t her duty to save Hyrule. It was up to Midna and me. Then she held Midna’s hand in hers and…”

Twilight choked up again. He didn’t bother to wipe the fresh tears off his face. After staying silent for almost a minute, he continued. “Zelda gave her life force to Midna, reviving her. By the time Midna realized what was happening, it was too late. She was screaming, begging Zelda to stop, but before we know it, Zelda was just… gone.

“Of course, it ended up working out for us all. For the most part. But that was awful. Carrying Four wasn’t really that bad. We knew he was okay, and I only needed to carry him until he woke up. But—”

“But,” Time interrupted, “the strangest things can trigger these awful memories. Trust me, I know… I’m sorry. About what happened that night.”

With a sniffle, Twilight finally looked up at Time. Between the puffy eyes, tear-stained cheeks, and wind-disheveled hair, Twilight was an utter wreck. Time gazed into his eyes. They had a certain depth to them that he saw every time he looked in a mirror. His expression softened.

“Come here,” Time said as he put an arm around his friend and pulled him closer. They sat there a while in silence. The only sound was the gentle surf moving to and fro ahead of them. The breeze brought a biting chill now, and Time could feel Twilight shiver under his arm.

Time withdrew his arm and stood. He turned to face the fire. It was starting to die off. The Links seemed to either be asleep or falling so. Wind was snoring softly. Wild was rolled on his side and could have been asleep had the faint light of his Slate not been glowing. Time remembered their earlier exchange about Twilight not being the only one to relive bad memories.

Twilight stood as well, and the two heroes walked forward together. They laid down in the company of their other selves, their friends. It was a beautiful scene: nine young heroes circled around a dying fire on a secluded beach, starlight glittering off the ocean. As the embers cooled and flickered to darkness, so were the Links stolen by sleep.